Risk society and the distribution of bads: theorizing class in the risk society

Abstract

Ulrich Beck states in the Risk Society (1992) that the rise of the social production of risks in the risk society signals that class ceases to be of relevance; instead the hierarchical logic of class will be supplanted by the egalitarian logic of the distribution of risks. Several trenchant critiques of Beck's claim have justified the continued relevance of class to contemporary society. While these accounts have emphasized continuity, they have not attempted to chart, as this paper will, how the growing social production of risk increases the importance of class. This paper argues that it is Beck's undifferentiated, catastrophic account of risk that undergirds his rejection of class, and that by inserting an account of risk involving gradations in both damages and calculability into Beck's framework, his theory of risk society may be used to develop a critical theory of class. Such a theory can be used to reveal how wealth differentials associated with class relations actually increase in importance to individuals' life-chances in the risk society. With the growing production and distribution of bads, class inequalities gain added significance, since it will be relative wealth differentials that both enables the advantaged to minimize their risk exposure and imposes on others the necessity of facing the intensified risks of the risk society.

Barriers to effective climate change mitigation: the case of senior government and business decision makers

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Complexity, Knowledge Politics and the Remaking of Class: Response to Levins

“…Here we draw upon the recent work of Curran (2013aCurran ( , 2013b, who in turn uses Beck's (2009) thesis of reflexive modernization and world risk society to illuminate a transformation and revitalization of the category of "class." Following Beck (2013), one can see conceptions of class divided into a four-fold grid that emphasises the reproduction or transformation of society along one axis and a focus on the social distribution of "goods" only or also of risks and their associated "bads."…”

Petri dishes of an archipelago: the ecological rubble of the Chilean salmon farming industry

“…Collapses foment economic and scientific opportunities that the wealthy and politically powerful can exploit through technical solutions. These inevitably lead, however, to new problems that in turn require new solutions in a continuing accelerated cycle that orchestrates a charade of human intention and control (Brantz 2011;Curran 2013;Dumit 2012;Giddens 1999).…”