Blog 5- Risk Society

Ulrich Beck is a renowned sociologist who has dealt with the questions of uncontrollability, ignorance, and uncertainty.  He is most known for his coining of the term “risk society.” In Beck’s book, Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, he speaks about the risks of modernity and how our new and developing technology is creating long lasting consequences that we are uncertain about and have a lack of understanding in. Risk is defined as “a systematic way of dealing with hazards and insecurities induced and introduces by modernization itself” (21).  Beck states on page 21 that “modernization risks appear in geographically specific areas, as well as unspecifically and universally.” Beck attempts to have readers understand the full effects of the risks we all experience in daily life by encompassing every area of life in his statement. 

Beck claims on page 9 that his book “contains some empirically oriented, projective social theory- without any methodological safeguards.” This research method, therefore, can be seen as Beck’s own knowledge and his theories on risks that the world is in danger of.  There is a lack of understanding in his eyes that presenting risks can’t be solely scientific or solely social, he states that there needs to be a level of “scientific and social rationality” (30) in discussing these issues. Risk society is defined by Beck on page 24 as, “ a catastrophic society” in which “the exceptional condition threatens to become the norm.” This statement can support the fact that we are currently on our way to becoming a risk society.  With all of the nuclear weaponry and extreme circumstances of our environment, everyone runs the risk of turning the world as we know it into a risk society. 

Beck appeals to his audiences’ sense of logic, emotions, and ethicality in his piece.  He states on page 21 that “in the modernization process, more and more destructive forces are also being unleashed, forces before which the human imagination stands in awe.” In this statement alone, Beck appeals to emotions, logic, and the ethicality of the human race.  No one wants to die, evoking the feelings of fear while reading words like “destructive.” Deep down people read and realize that they are fascinate by the powers of these destructive technologies despite knowing its ethically incorrect.