Earlier this semester, I was exposed to the idea of the risk society in my “Media Literacy” course (being taught online from Barcelona by Jörg Müller, a researcher at IN3). I was so taken with the concept that I chose to write abstracts for two peer-reviewed articles on the subject for this week’s UMS research assignment. If your interest in the topic is at all piqued by following information, check out the transcript of Ulrich Beck’s 2006 lecture at the London School of Economics (LSE) at the conclusion of this post.
1. Beck, U. (1992). From Industrial Society to the Risk Society: Questions of Survival, Social Structure and Ecological Enlightenment. Theory, Culture & Society, 9(1), 97-123
Abstract: Munich University’s Ulrich Beck proposes his theory of the “risk society,” or how rapid modernization has shaped society’s strategies in dealing with risk. He notes that in preindustrial society, catastrophic events were either classified as “strokes of fate” or “religiously motivated.” Industrial risks, he indicates, are inherently political ones (e.g. conflicts between states). Beck argues that as economies slide toward the “mega-technological” age, risks to postindustrial society are largely defined by modernity itself. He uses the example of nuclear energy to illustrate his claims frequently, pointing to the risk presented by unforeseeable accidents. Here, economic risk merges with ecological risk; markets that modern society has created in order to build security paradoxically increase potential risk. Beck is critical of current risk management systems, stating, “Acceptable risks are ultimately accepted risks.” The article offers a view of how further globalization will cause risk analysis to be ingrained in society to an even greater degree, but warns that individuals not depend solely on decision makers to evaluate risk for them.
2. Cottle, S. (1998). Ulrich Beck, ‘Risk society’ and the Media: A Catastrophic View? European Journal of Communication, 13(1), 5-32.
Abstract: Simon Cottle examines the significant ideas behind Beck’s “risk society” through the lens of mass communications, and questions both the absence of existing literature on how media fits into Beck’s model and the aspects of this topic that Beck misses in his own work. Cottle looks closely at the idea of “reflexive modernization” – the notion that progress in modern society is attributable to the reform and restructuring of existing institutions. He observes that the media plays the crucial role of watchdog in Beck’s conceptualization of the risk society, being the sector best positioned to interpret contemporary risk elements. This is because, according to Beck, risk is not real in the technological era until it becomes “visible” to knowledge-processing bodies. Cottle continues with his own exposition of this aspect of modern society. He acknowledges the significant intellectual achievement behind Beck’s work, but critiques the German’s sociologist’s ultimately cursory treatment of mass communications in his theoretical framework.
> Living in the world risk society [Economy and Society]
