Second modernity
Encyclopedia
Second modernity is a phrase coined by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 sociologist
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 Ulrich Beck
Ulrich Beck
Ulrich Beck is a German sociologist who holds a professorship at Munich University and at the London School of Economics.-Life:...

, and is his word for the period after modernity
Modernity
Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...

.
Re-modernity is a renaissance of modernity through realization that not all risks can be controlled. Family, politics, science, and religion were all institutions that promised protection from risks—both natural risks (earthquakes, floods, pandemics, environmental issues) and social risks (unemployment, divorce).

In second modernity these systems become part of the problem, not the solution, since they cannot offer the same social integration as they did prior to the 1960s. Finally realising that this is the case, people can reassess the situation and try to come up with new solutions that better reflect the changes brought by this reflexive modernization
Reflexive modernization
The concept of reflexive modernization was launched by a joint effort of three of the leading European sociologists - Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Scott Lash...

.

The "solution" according to Ulrich Beck, though, is a "cosmopolitan realpolitik" in which the dilemma that national interests can no longer be promoted nationally is recognised (Beck 2006, 173).

See also

  • Late modernity
    Late modernity
    Late modernity is a term that has been used to describe the condition or state of some highly developed present day societies...

  • Reflexive modernization
    Reflexive modernization
    The concept of reflexive modernization was launched by a joint effort of three of the leading European sociologists - Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Scott Lash...

  • Postmodernity
    Postmodernity
    Postmodernity is generally used to describe the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist after modernity...

  • Great Recession, often seen as a failure of modern capitalism
    Capitalism
    Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

  • Nanotechnology
    Nanotechnology
    Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...

    , a possible second Industrial Revolution
    Industrial Revolution
    The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

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