The concept of reflexive modernization or reflexive modernity was launched by a joint effort of three of the leading European sociologists:

Anthony Giddens Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is ...

Ulrich Beck Ulrich Beck (; 15 May 1944 – 1 January 2015) was a German sociologist, and one of the most cited social scientists in the world during his lifetime. His work focused on questions of uncontrollability, Sociology of scientific ignorance, ignora ...

and Scott Lash. The introduction of this concept served a double purpose: to reassess sociology as a science of the present (moving beyond the early-20th-century conceptual framework), and to provide a counterbalance to the postmodernist paradigm offering a re-constructive view alongside

deconstruction In philosophy, deconstruction is a loosely-defined set of approaches to understand the relationship between text and meaning. The concept of deconstruction was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who described it as a turn away from ...

. The concept built upon previous notions such as

post-industrial society In sociology, the post-industrial society is the stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy. The term was originated by Alain Touraine and is closely related t ...

(

Daniel Bell Daniel Bell (May 10, 1919 – January 25, 2011) was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor at Harvard University, best known for his contributions to the study of post-industrialism. He has been described as "one of the leading ...

) and postmaterial society, but stresses how in reflexive modernization,

modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular Society, socio-Culture, cultural Norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the ...

directs its attention to the process of

modernization Modernization theory or modernisation theory holds that as societies become more economically modernized, wealthier and more educated, their political institutions become increasingly liberal democratic and rationalist. The "classical" theories ...

itself.

Completion of modernity

The main thesis deals with the changes brought on by the realization of

's ideals, such as

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

and education, the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...

civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

, changes that marked the shift to the second modernity. The authors consider it a reflexive modernity because it opposes its earlier version, in the same way as the first modernity opposed feudal traditionalism. As a consequence, the institutions of the first modernity are beginning to crumble in the face of

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

cultural globalization Cultural globalization refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations.; This process is marked by the common consumption of cultures that have been diffused by t ...

. The state is starting to lose its importance with the rise of transnational forces (corporations, NGOs), the family is splitting apart with rising divorce rates favoured by the flexibility of work and the women's liberation, losing its supportive function in the process, religion is reduced to a cultural artifact, traditional political action is boycotted because of a lack of identification with the parties' goals. Therefore all previous sources of

solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

lose momentum with the rise of individualization.

Consequences

focuses on the dissolution of traditional institutions and the rise of transnational forces, while promoting a new type solidarity in the face of the human made dangers of the risk society, exacerbated by the inherent limits being discovered to all forms of social knowing.

proposes a

third way The Third Way is a predominantly centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by advocating a varying synthesis of Right-wing economics, right-wing economic and Left-wing politics, left-wing so ...

of social policies aimed at tackling the new challenges to identity and life choices created by the biographical risks and uncertainties of reflexive modernity.

Zygmunt Bauman Zygmunt Bauman (; ; 19 November 1925 – 9 January 2017) was a Polish–British sociologist and philosopher. He was driven out of the Polish People's Republic during the 1968 Polish political crisis and forced to give up his Polish citizenship. ...

talks about the social effects of globalization, as it seems to create new divisions between the people connected to the global flux of information (the "tourists") and those excluded from them, not needed as workforce anymore (the "bums").

Ronald Inglehart Ronald F. Inglehart (September 5, 1934 – May 8, 2021) was an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He was director of the World Values Survey, a global network of social scientists who have carried out representat ...

studies the shift of human values from material to post-material in the Western societies by analysing the

World Values Survey The World Values Survey (WVS) is a global research project that explores people's values and beliefs, how they change over time, and what social and political impact they have. Since 1981 a worldwide network of social scientists have conducted ...

databases; and

Pippa Norris Pippa Norris (born 10 July 1953) is a British American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. She is the McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, and she has served as the ...

stresses the importance of cultural globalization over economical globalization, while also talking about the new divisions, such as the

digital divide The digital divide is the unequal access to information technology, digital technology, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and the internet. The digital divide worsens inequality around access to information and resources. In the Information ...

Characteristics

Reflexive modernization is a process of

that is characteristic of risk society whereby progress is achieved through reorganization and "reform". Science and technology as it is used for the purpose of reflexive modernization is less concerned with expanding the resource base, but rather with re-evaluating that which is already being used by society. There is a constant flow of information between

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

, and progress is achieved through the resulting reforms,

optimization Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfiel ...

s and

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

s. Examples of reflexive modernization that have recently gained political momentum are

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

and the

precautionary principle The precautionary principle (or precautionary approach) is a broad epistemological, philosophical and legal approach to innovations with potential for causing harm when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. It emphasizes cautio ...

. The

new social movements The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various Western world, western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy ...

(feminist, green, and pirate parties) are also considered to be an expression of reflexive modernization.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

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