German social theorist of modernity Ulrich Beck (b. 1944) is an advocate of a cosmopolitan approach to the social sciences. Alongside Jürgen Habermas and Niklas Luhmann, Beck is one of the three most prominent contemporary German sociologists. He recognizes Habermas's influence on his work through his intellectual obligation to the continuation of the Enlightenment project. He distinguishes himself from Niklas Luhmann by grounding his work in a strong subject-oriented approach.

Risk Society

Ulrich Beck is widely recognized for developing the concept of the risk society. Indeed, Beck published Risk Society in 1986, and only a few months later, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster confirmed his claim that our society is being transformed by technologies that are beyond our immediate control. Risk societies are borderless societies characterized by the ...

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