Risk Society

Question 1

What are Becks 4 suggestions for navigating a risky world?

Answer 1

1) Revival of non-authoritarian scientific reasoning
2) Recognise fallibility (institutional self-criticism)
3) End of central politics (reclaim legitimacy through more participatory, dialog and process based politics)
4) Develop sub-political actors (media, citizen groups)
He wants us to reflexively modernise faster

Question 2

What are the characteristics of new risks?

Answer 2

1) politically driven (arise from techno-scientific decisions)
2) internally caused and created
3) risks are universally prevalent (“democratic smog”)
4) Risks become incalculable and a far harder to prescribe blame

Question 3

(Rustin 1994)

Answer 3

Beck’s functionalist roots cause him to assume that institutions play a role with each other rather than compete against each other -> focus on power of capital is restricted to the role it has on techno-scientific decisions rather than the pure economic power itself.

Question 4

Becks definition of a risk society (1992)

Answer 4

“a systematic way of dealing with hazards and insecurities induced and introduced by modernity itself”

Question 5

(Douglas 1992)

Answer 5

Risk consciousness represents risk perception which is formed through individualistic terms (like Beck). This deepens inequalities as peoples responses to risk are either individually buying their way out or scapegoating a disadvantaged group. This reduces solidarity (unlike Beck)

Question 6

(Scott 2000)

Answer 6

Argues against the notion that we have moved away from a class society to a risk society. Money always reduced risk but never offered complete security, this is true in the before and after of this thesis.

Question 7

(Lash 2000)

Answer 7

Argues against the name ‘risk society’ as it entails social determinism, social structures etc. Suggests we should use the phrase ‘risk culture’ to avoid this and to allow room for reflexive thinking and indeterminate causation.

Question 8

(Curran 2015)

Answer 8

risk occupies the same structural position for Beck as class does for Marx

Question 9

(Lash 1994)

Answer 9

networks of information and communication structures, the people who make techno-scientific decisions (such as what counts as ‘legitimate’) Beck ignores inequalities here

Question 10

(Smart 1999)

Answer 10

Becks ‘risk society’ could be renamed the ‘ambivalent society’
Beck argues as everything is through direct/indirect human influence, the age of excuses are over. This is based on the false belief that everything is controllable

Question 11

(Bauman 1992)

Answer 11

Further modernisation of modernity, or rationalisation and rationality is unlikely to remedy the issues faced by modernity/rationality (counter argument that Beck argues we must promote post-industrial techno-scientific practice orientated towards self-limitation and control)

Question 12

(Giddens 1990)

Answer 12

reality of modernity is that things are not subjected to our predictions and control. Beck seems to be overly optimistic assuming that if certain conditions are put in place that techno-scientific specialists can avoid this truth

Question 13

(Beck 1994)

Answer 13

more reflection, more experts, more self-awareness (and so on) will open up a world with more possibility (Giddens never suggests this about reflexive modernity)