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,

ignorance Ignorance is a lack of knowledge and understanding. The word "ignorant" is an adjective that describes a person in the state of being unaware, or even cognitive dissonance and other cognitive relation, and can describe individuals who are unaware ...

and

uncertainty Uncertainty refers to epistemic situations involving imperfect or unknown information. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown. Uncertainty arises in partially observable ...

in the

modern age The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...

, and he coined the terms "

risk society Risk society is the manner in which modern society organizes in response to risk. The term is closely associated with several key writers on modernity, in particular Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens. The term was coined in the 1980s and its popula ...

" and "

second modernity Second modernity is a phrase coined by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck, and is his word for the period after modernity. Where modernity broke down agricultural society in favour of industrial society, second modernity transforms industrial s ...

" or "

reflexive modernization The concept of reflexive modernization or reflexive modernity was launched by a joint effort of three of the leading European sociologists: Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Scott Lash. The introduction of this concept served a double purpose: to ...

". He also tried to overturn national perspectives that predominated in sociological investigations with a

cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizen ...

that acknowledges the interconnectedness of the

modern world The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...

. He was a professor at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

and also held appointments at the ''Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme'' (FMSH) in Paris, and at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

Life

Beck was born in the Pomeranian town of Stolp,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

(now Słupsk in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

), in 1944, and grew up in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. He began university studies with a focus on law at

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, and from 1966 onwards studied

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

at the University of Munich. Starting in 1972, after earning a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

, he was employed at Munich as a sociologist. In 1979 he qualified as a university lecturer with a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

thesis. He received appointments as professor at the universities of

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

(1979–1981) and

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

(1981–1992). From 1992 until his death, Beck was professor of sociology and director of the Institute for Sociology at the University of Munich. He received numerous international awards and honors, including election to the Council and Executive Board of the German Society for Sociology. From 1995 to 1997 he was a member of the ''Kommission für Zukunftsfragen der Freistaaten Bayern und Sachsen'' (

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

n and

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

State Commission for Questions Concerning the Future). Beginning in 1999, he was the speaker of the DFG research programme on

reflexive modernity The concept of reflexive modernization or reflexive modernity was launched by a joint effort of three of the leading European sociologists: Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Scott Lash. The introduction of this concept served a double purpose: to ...

. From 1999 to 2009 Beck was a spokesman of the Collaborative Reflexive Modernization Research Centre 536, an interdisciplinary consortium of four universities in the Munich area funded and overseen by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Beck's theory of interdisciplinary reflexive modernization on a basis of a wide range of topics in appropriate research was empirically tested. The theory of reflexive modernization works from the basic idea that the rise of the modern industrial age produces side-effects across the globe that provide the institutional basis and coordinates that modern nation-states question, modify, and open for political action. He was active as sociologist and public intellectual in Germany and throughout the world, regularly intervening in debates on the European Union, climate change and nuclear energy. At the time of his death, he and his international research group were only 1.5 years into the 5-year research project "Methodological Cosmopolitanism – in the Laboratory of Climate Change" (the Cosmo-Climate Research Project), of which Beck was the

Principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often u ...

. For this research project he received the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant, scheduled to terminate in 2018. Along with Beck, sociologists David Tyfield and Anders Blok lead work packages within the overall project. The project also fostered international research collaboration with various research 'hubs' in East Asia through the Europe-Asia Research Network (EARN). In cooperation with EARN, Beck and sociologist Sang-Jin Han had been set to lead a 2-year project for the

Seoul Metropolitan Government The Seoul Metropolitan Government is a local government of Seoul, South Korea. The mayor is elected to a four-year term by the citizens of Seoul and is responsible for the administration of the city government. The Seoul Metropolitan Governmen ...

beginning in 2015. Beck was a member of the Board of Trustees at the Jewish Center in Munich and a member of the German branch of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...

. He was married to the German

social scientist Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of socie ...

Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim. He died of a myocardial infarction on 1 January 2015, at the age of 70.

Research contributions

For 25 years, Beck delivered new diagnoses to the following question: How can social and political thought and action in the face of radical global change (environmental destruction, financial crisis, global warming, the crisis of democracy and the nation-state institutions) be intertwined in a new modernity? A radicalized modernity, for Beck, attacks its own foundations. Institutions such as the nation-state and the family are globalized 'from the inside'. Beck studied

modernization Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...

, ecological problems,

individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own need ...

ization and

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

. Later in his career, he embarked on exploring the changing conditions of work in a world of increasing global

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

, declining influence of unions and flexibilisation of the labour process, a then new theory rooted in the concept of

. Beck also contributed a number of new words to German and anglophone sociology, including "

", "

and Brazilianization ( Brasilianisierung). According to Beck, all contemporary political thinking emanates from the methodological nationalism of political thought and sociology (and other social sciences). Risk society was coined by Ulrich Beck and

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 ...

during the 1980s. According to Beck and Giddens, the traditional industrial class structure of modern society is breaking apart. Globalization creates risks that concern people from all different classes; for example, radioactivity, pollution, and even unemployment. Affluent households act to insulate themselves from these risks, but cannot do so for some; for example global environmental change. The poor suffer them. He points out that risks are also socially constructed and some risks are perceived as more dangerous because they are discussed in mass media more frequently, such as terrorism. Risk society leads to analysis of risks, causing prejudgment. Beck was the editor of the sociological journal, ' (in German, since 1980), author of some 150 articles, and author or editor of many books.

The Spinelli Group

On 15 September 2010, Beck supported the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

's Spinelli Group initiative to reinvigorate

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments ( provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single ...

in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. The

Union of European Federalists The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a European non-governmental organisation, campaigning for a Federal Europe. It consists of 20 constituent organisations and it has been active at the European, national and local levels since 1946. H ...

and its youth organisation

Young European Federalists Young European Federalists (french: Jeunes Européens Fédéralistes, JEF) is a political youth organisation. Active in most European countries, it seeks to promote European integration through the strengthening and democratisation of the Europ ...

have been promoting the idea of European federalism for over 60 years, with a "belief that only a European Federation, based on the idea of unity in diversity, could overcome the division of the European continent". Prominent supporters of the initiative include

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (born 20 July 1925) is a French politician who served as the 8th President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. He served as Minister of Finance of France from 1981 to 1984. He was a Member of the European P ...

, Daniel Cohn-Bendit,

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who was the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium ...

Andrew Duff Andrew Nicholas Duff, OBE (born 25 December 1950) is a British politician who presided over the Union of European Federalists (UEF) from 2008 to 2013. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for ...

and

Elmar Brok Elmar Peter Brok (born 14 May 1946) is a German politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1980 until 2019, who is best known for his role as chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is a mem ...

Awards

*1996 City of Munich Cultural Prize of Honour *1999 CICERO speaker price award *1999 German-British Forum Award for outstanding service to German-British relations (together with Anthony Giddens) *2004 Award of DGS for outstanding achievements in the field of public achievement in sociology *2005 Schader Prize, the most prestigious award for social scientists in Germany *2014 Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Contribution to Future Research of the International Sociological Association *In 2013 he received an ERC advanced grant to carry out the Cosmo-Climate Research Project (Methodological Cosmopolitanism: In the Laboratory of Climate Change), with David Tyfield and Anders Blok amongst others. *Honorary doctorates (8): University of Jyväskylä, Finland (1996), University of Macerata, Italy (2006), University of Madrid (UNED), Spain (2007), Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (2010), University of Lausanne, Switzerland (2011), Free University of Varna, Bulgaria (2011), University of Buenos Aires, Argentina (2013), St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Bulgaria (2013).Soziologe Prof. Dr. Ulrich Beck wird neuer Ehrendoktor der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
, Mitteilung der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt vom 8. November 2010; retrieved, 3 January 2015

Works

Among his major works are: * Beck, Ulrich (1974) ''Objectivity and normativity. The theory-practice debate in modern German and American sociology''. Reinbek, Rowohlt. * Beck, Ulrich with Michael Brater and Hans Jürgen (1980). ''Home: sociology of work and occupations. Basics, problem areas, research results'', Rowohlt paperback Verlag GmbH, Reinbek. * Beck, Ulrich (1986) '' Risikogesellschaft – Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne'' (''Risk Society'') * Beck, Ulrich (1988) ''Gegengifte : die organisierte Unverantwortlichkeit''. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. * Beck, Ulrich (1992) ''Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity''. London: Sage * Beck, Ulrich & Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim (1994) ''Riskante Freiheiten – Gesellschaftliche Individualisierungsprozesse in der Moderne'' * Beck, Ulrich & Giddens, Anthony & Lash Scott (1994) ''Reflexive Modernization.Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Vossenkuhl, Ziegler, photographs by T. Rautert (1995) ''Eigenes Leben – Ausflüge in die unbekannte Gesellschaft, in der wir leben'' * Beck-Gernsheim, Elisabeth & Beck, Ulrich (1995) ''The Normal Chaos of Love''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich (1995) ''Ecological Politics in an Age of Risk''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich (1996) ''The Reinvention of Politics.Rethinking Modernity in the Global Social Order''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich (1997) ''Was ist Globalisierung?'' * Beck, Ulrich (1998) ''Democracy without Enemies''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich (1998) ''World Risk Society''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich (1999) ''What Is Globalization?'' Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich (2000) ''The Brave New World of Work''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Adam, Barbara & Beck, Ulrich & Van Loon, Joost (2000) ''The Risk Society and Beyond: Critical Issues for Social Theory''. London: Sage. * Beck, Ulrich & Beck-Gernsheim, Elisabeth (2002) ''Individualization: Institutionalized Individualism and its Social and Political Consequences. London: Sage. * Beck, Ulrich & Willms, Johannes (2003) ''Conversations with Ulrich Beck''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich (2005) ''Power in the Global Age''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich (2006) ''Cosmopolitan Vision''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, U., & Grande, E. (2007). ''Cosmopolitan Europe''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich. (2009). ''World at Risk''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Angelika Poferl and Ulrich Beck (eds.) (2010) ''Große Armut, großer Reichtum. Zur Transnationalisierung sozialer Ungleichheit.'' Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag. * Beck, Ulrich & Grande, Edgar (2010
"Varieties of second modernity: extra-European and European experiences and perspectives"
''

British Journal of Sociology ''The British Journal of Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1950 at the London School of Economics. It represents the mainstream of sociological thinking and research and publishes high quality papers on all asp ...

'', Vol 61, Issue 3, pages 406–638. * Beck, Ulrich (2012) ''Das deutsche Europa'', Berlin * Beck, Ulrich (2013) ''German Europe''. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Beck, Ulrich and Ciaran Cronin (2014) ''Cosmopolitan Vision''. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Essays

*”World citizens of all countries, unite! Democracy beyond the nation-state: Europe must make a beginning. Theses for a cosmopolitan manifesto”. (World Citizen manifest) in. ''The Time'', 1998 No. 30 *”The Society of the Less. The burst dream of the rise in Germany”, ''ZDF'', 17 January 2005 *”Gentle world power Europe. Vision of a cosmopolitan empire that no longer relies on national ideas”, in: ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' 5 July 2005 *”Blind to reality”, in: ''Frankfurter Rundschau'', 3 September 2005 *”Europe can not be built on the ruins of the nations”, with Anthony Giddens, In: ''The World'', 1 October 2005 *”Farewell to the utopia of full employment”, in: ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'', 4 November 2006 *”Tragic individualization”, in: ''Sheets for German and international politics'', 2007, Issue 5, pp 577-584. *”God is dangerous” in ''Die Zeit'', 2007 No. 52. *”The error of the caterpillar”, in: ''Frankfurt general newspaper'' 14 June 2011 *”Fainting, but legitimate”, in: ''the daily newspaper'' (taz) 28 October 2011 *”Machiavellis power”, in: ''Der Spiegel'', 8 October 2012 *”For a European Spring!”, in: ''the daily newspaper (taz)'', 23 November 2012

Interviews

*“Freedom or capitalism”. Ulrich Beck in an interview with Johannes Willms, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2000 *”Interview, Telepolis”, 28 November 1997 *"Choice will not save the country," interview in New Window *”An encounter” (Memento of 6 July 2007 at the Internet Archive) with Beck on Lake Starnberg, ''Der Tagesspiegel'' 23 September 2005 *"Unemployment is a victory": Interview with Constantine Sakkas, in: ''Der Tagesspiegel'' on 30 November 2006. *"Anyone can create their own God," in the Tagesspiegel of 20 July 2008 *”Questions of faith. A new enthusiasm”, talk with Arno Widmann, in: ''Frankfurter Rundschau'', 15. August 2008 *”Action in the state of not knowing”. Ulrich Beck, Risk Society theorists, on the turncoats of the financial crisis and the importance of Europe. in: ''Frankfurter Rundschau'', 5 November 2008 *”Merkel engages in the dressing up box in”: ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'', 12. February 2010 *”A strategically staged mistake”, talk with Andreas Zielcke in: ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'', 14. March 2011 *”In bed with the others”, Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim in conversation with Ulrich Gutmair, in: ''taz: Die Tageszeitung'' 12 October 2011 at *”The common identity should first be identified”, Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim in conversation with Jeanette Villa Chica, in: ''Tages-Anzeiger,'' 9 November 2011 *”Love across national borders”, Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim, in: ''Time Campus'' 22 November 2011 *”About the Merkiavellismus”, talk with Nils Minkmar, in: ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', 16 January 2013 *”More Willy Brandt dare Ulrich Beck and Martin Schulz on the future of Europe”, in: ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', 24 May 2013

Literature on Beck

*Richard Albrecht, ''Differentiation - pluralization - individualization: make-up process in the German society'', in: ''Trade union Monatshefte'', Vol 41 (1990), No. 8, S.503-512 (PDF, 137 kB) *Klaus Dörre. ''Reflexive modernization - a transition theory''. *''For analytical potential of a popular sociological time diagnosis'', Ruhr-University Bochum, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, mediocrity and madness. A proposal to goodness, trans, mediocrity and madness.. Collected distractions, SuhrkampFrankfurt am Main 1988, pp 250-276 *Monika E. Fischer: ''Space and time. The forms of adult learning of modernization theory point of view'', publishing Schneider Hohengehren, Baltmannsweiler 2007 *Ronald Hitzler: Ulrich Beck, in: ''Current theories of sociology. Shmuel N. Eisenstadt to Postmodernism'', Dirk Kaesler, CH Beck editors, Munich, 2005, pp 267-285, *Karl Otto Hondrich. ''The dialectic of collectivization and individualization - the example of couple relationships'', in: ''From Politics and History'', H. 53, 1998 5 December 1998 pp 3-8 *Thomas Kron (ed.): ''Individualization and sociological theory, Leske + Budrich'', Opladen 2000 *Angelika Poferl: Ulrich Beck, in: Stephan Moebius / Dirk Quad Fly ( ed.): ''Culture. Theories of the present, VS Verlag für Social Sciences'', Wiesbaden 2006, *Angelika Poferl / Natan Sznaider (ed.): ''Ulrich Beck's cosmopolitan project. On the way to another sociology'', Nomos, Baden-Baden 2004 *Armin Pongs: ''Ulrich Beck - The Risk Society, trans .: What kind of society are we living in?'' 999dilemma Verlag, Munich 2007, pp 47-66 *Gisela Riescher: ''Political Theory in the presence of individual representations of Adorno Young'', Kröner, Stuttgart 2004, pp 43–46, *Volker Stork: The "second modernity" - a brand? To Antiquiertheit and negativity of social utopia of Ulrich Beck, UVK Verl.-Ges., Konstanz 2001,

References

External links

Professor Ulrich Beck
– his staff page at the

LSE LSE may refer to: Computing * LSE (programming language), a computer programming language * LSE, Latent sector error, a media assessment measure related to the hard disk drive storage technology * Language-Sensitive Editor, a text editor used ...

Homepage of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Beck

Ideas radio show, discusses Ulrich's concepts of risk in science and societyNew media artwork inspired by Ulrich Beck's work, created by eco-art collaborative EcoArtTechInterview with Ulrich Beck: “Nationalism does not leave much room for the recognition of others”

Barcelona Metropolis Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, 2009.
Europe’s Times and Unknown Waters, Cluj-Napoca, Marga, Andrei (April 2009). "The society of risk? Ulrich Beck, Risikogesellshaft. Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne"Interview with Ulrich Beck: "Germany has created an accidental empire"