×
![]( "Buchcover ISBN 9780745694276")
'This is an extremely important book by one of the foremost socialscientists of our time. Beck's work more than any other has broughtsocial theory into the public domain of political debate andenvironmental policy. In The Reinvention of Politics hecharts the terrain of [a] radical ecological politics. Against aglobal background of rising fundamentalist tendencies he shows thepotential for a remoralization of science and industrialism and acitizen politics beyond left and right, East and West. Powerfularguments and brilliant analyses make this book a must foracademics and practitioners alike.' Barbara Adam, University ofWales, Cardiff
'A book that makes a dramatic difference to our understanding ofmodernity. Beck delivers sociological insight of startlingoriginality with his central image of politics oscillating betweenmodern institutions and counter-modern repudiations. His accountsof the destructive symbiosis between Enlightenment ideals andRomantic shibboleths should inspire fundamental changes in socialand political thought.' Ira Cohen, Rutgers University
'Insightful overview of the changing face of modern politics.'The Sociological Review
The Reinvention of Politics
Rethinking Modernity in the Global Social Order
von Ulrich Beck, übersetzt von Mark RitterThose who advocate ideas about „postmodernity“ and„post-industrialism“ offer radical critiques of existing social andpolitical institutions. But they provide very little in place ofthose institutions. It is all very well to criticize thelimitations of social democracy, the welfare state, trade unionism, and social classes as agents of change, but once these have beenthrown into crisis what other institutions do we have to depend on?
The Reinvention of Politics, suggests we should think againabout forging a new model of politics for our times. An active, devolved civil society, Beck argues, can sustain the claim thatmodernity is inherently democratic. For many issues now - forexample, those involving technology, environment protest, thefamily, or gender relations - belong to the domain of what theauthor calls „subpolitics“.
The postmodern critique of modernity, in Beck's view, is based onmistaken generalizations about a transitional phase in theevolution of modern society. What is needed, he argues, is thereinvention of politics, corresponding to th new demands of asociety which remains modern, but which has progressed beyond theearlier form of industrial society.
This book will be essential reading for second-year undergraduatesand above in the fields of social and political theory, sociologyand political science.