Beck's Sociology of Risk: A Critical Assessment

The German sociologist Ulrich Beck has elaborated a highly original formulation of the theory of risk and reflexive modernization, a formulation that has had a significant impact upon recent sociological theorizing and research. This article examines Beck's sociology of risk in the context of his broader social theory of reflexvity, advanced modernization and individualization. The article argues that Beck's work is constrained by several sociological weaknesses: namely, a dependence upon objectivistic and instrumental models of the social construction of risk and uncertainty in social relations, and a failure to adequately define the relations between institutional dynamism on the one hand and self-referentiality and critical reflection on the other. As a contribution to the reformulation and further development of Beck's approach to sociological theory, the article seeks to suggest other ways in which the link between risk and reflexivity might be pursued. These include a focus upon 91) the intermixing of reflexivity and reflection in social relations; (2) contemporary ideologies of domination and power; and (3) a dialectical notion of modernity and postmodernization.