Ulrich Beck quotes

Ulrich Beck was a German sociologist best known for his work on risk society and reflexive modernization. His research critically examined how modern societies respond to new risks produced by technological and social change. He contributed significantly to global sociology and continues to influence debates about globalization and social theory. Here are 28 of his quotes:

Accordingly, globalization is not only something that will concern and threaten us in the future, but something that is taking place in the present and to which we must first open our eyes. (Ulrich Beck)
Initially, the horrific images of September 11th triggered an enormous wave of solidarity. View quote
Ulrich Beck
All theory of modernity in sociology suggests that the more modernity there is, the less religion. In my theory we can realize that this is wrong: atheism is only one belief system among many. View quote
Ulrich Beck
The basic assumption of the secular society is that modernity overcomes religion. View quote
Ulrich Beck
Western countries in particular can today no longer be separated from Muslim societies, because they have them within themselves. They are themselves internally globalized. View quote
Ulrich Beck
Global conditions are far too complex to be able to imagine that they could ever be really controlled by one power. View quote
Ulrich Beck
You cannot make peace with terrorists. The normal dividing lines between war and peace do not apply. View quote
Ulrich Beck
Relinquishing apparent national sovereignty does not have to entail a loss of national sovereignty, but can actually be a benefit. View quote
Ulrich Beck
And it also became clear that these conditions of inequality and historical injustice have given rise to a feeling of hate in the world - a deeply felt hate that cannot easily be overcome with a few good words. View quote
Ulrich Beck
The idea that you surrender your identity when you relinquish national powers is unhelpful. No, indeed, precisely the opposite is the case: if done in an intelligent way, you attain the sovereignty to better solve national problems in cooperation with others. View quote
Ulrich Beck
Neither science, nor the politics in power, nor the mass media, nor business, nor the law nor even the military are in a position to define or control risks rationally. (Ulrich Beck)
Europe itself is an embodiment of this diversity. View quote
Ulrich Beck
In the first instance, therefore, global terrorism created a kind of global community sharing a common fate, something we had previously considered impossible. View quote
Ulrich Beck
But it then very soon became clear that the response of a war against terrorism, initially conceived of in a metaphorical sense, began to be taken increasingly seriously and came to entail waging a real war. View quote
Ulrich Beck
Nonetheless, we continue to be obsessed with finding or inventing a European nation which, as in the nation state, guarantees homogeneity and thus an appropriate form of democracy and centralized government. View quote
Ulrich Beck
You need education. You need subsistence protection. We need jobs and social security. These are preconditions under which it will perhaps be possible to deal with these complex circumstances. View quote
Ulrich Beck
The world has become so complex that the idea of a power in which everything comes together and can be controlled in a centralized way is now erroneous. View quote
Ulrich Beck
We are living in a world that is beyond controllability. View quote
Ulrich Beck
In the final analysis, terror is also another proof of the fact that the superpower is not really a superpower. It was vulnerable. View quote
Ulrich Beck
I held a conference in Harvard where Americans said they didn't believe in risk. They thought it was just European hysteria. Then the terrorist attacks happened and there was a complete conversion. Suddenly terrorism was the central risk. View quote
Ulrich Beck
And the terror itself is an example of the world's uncontrollability. (Ulrich Beck)
We do not yet have the solutions to these questions, but the awareness that we live in an endangered world is present in more and more life situations. View quote
Ulrich Beck
You could say that we are living in an internally globalized country. View quote
Ulrich Beck
I forced myself to think what is the new concept and it became clear to me that it was risk, not only in technology and ecology, but in life and employment, too. View quote
Ulrich Beck
When they come to Europe, they are confronted by still closed borders. Thus, the concept of open borders is a very selective concept, one that is not taken seriously at all in the experience of non-Europeans. View quote
Ulrich Beck

Ulrich Beck

Ulrich Beck - Image
Photo: International Students’ Committee, CC BY-SA 3.0
Occupation: German Sociologist
Born: May 15, 1944
Died: January 1, 2015
Quotes count: 28

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