Beck, Asia and second modernity

Calhoun, Craig (2010) Beck, Asia and second modernity. British Journal of Sociology, 61 (3). pp. 597-619. ISSN 0007-1315

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Abstract

The work of Ulrich Beck has been important in bringing sociological attention to the ways issues of risk are embedded in contemporary globalization, in developing a theory of ‘reflexive modernization’, and in calling for social science to transcend ‘methodological nationalism’. In recent studies, he and his colleagues help to correct for the Western bias of many accounts of cosmopolitanism and reflexive modernization, and seek to distinguish normative goals from empirical analysis. In this paper I argue that further clarification of this latter distinction is needed but hard to reach within a framework that still embeds the normative account in the idea that empirical change has a clear direction. Similar issues beset the presentation of diverse patterns in recent history as all variants of ‘second modernity’. Lastly, I note that ironically, given the declared ‘methodological cosmopolitanism’ of the authors, the empirical studies here all focus on national cases.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www2.lse.ac.uk/BJS/home.aspx
Additional Information:	© 2010 London School of Economics and Political Science
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Date Deposited:	05 Sep 2012 15:07
Last Modified:	24 Mar 2024 04:30
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/42626

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