Konsekwencje nowoczesności Anthony Giddens
(2008)
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego ISBN: 9788323325444
👤 About the Author
Anthony Giddens
Emeritus Professor at the Department of Sociology, London School of Economics; Life Fellow of King's College, Cambridge
Anthony Giddens, baron Giddens (ur. 18 stycznia 1938), to wybitny angielski socjolog, znany z teorii strukturnacji, godzącej agencję i strukturę, oraz holistycznego ujęcia społeczeństw nowoczesnych. Ukończył psychologię i socjologię na University of Hull, wykładał w Leicester i Cambridge (profesor socjologii ponad 25 lat), był dyrektorem London School of Economics (1997-2003). Obecnie profesor emerytowany na LSE i life fellow King's College, Cambridge. Autor ponad 34 książek w 29+ językach, m.in. 'The Constitution of Society' (1984) i 'Sociology' (ponad 1 mln egz.). Piąty najczęściej cytowany autor nauk humanistycznych w 2007 r., wpłynął na politykę 'Trzeciej Drogi', doradzał T. Blairowi, w 2004 otrzymał dożywotni tytuł barona i zasiada w Izbie Lordów. Jego interdyscyplinarna praca obejmuje globalizację i późną nowoczesność.[1][2][3][4][6]
Late modernity, as described by Anthony Giddens, presents a world radically different from traditional structures. Its foundation is disembedding – the detachment of social relations from their local context. Mechanisms such as money and expert systems facilitate this. However, this new freedom, combined with the globalization of time and space, gives rise to a risk society where uncertainty becomes the norm. This article explains how these processes shape our identity and daily lives.
Disembedding: Mechanisms of Late Modernity
Key to understanding contemporary society is the process of disembedding, which involves extracting social relations from their local, traditional moorings. Two pillars drive this: symbolic tokens, like money, enabling anonymous exchange, and expert systems (e.g., medicine, law), which guarantee order in interactions with strangers. Thanks to these, interactions can occur across vast, global distances.
Modernity also redefines time and space. Time, emptied of local meanings and standardized by the clock, becomes a universal frame of reference. This allows for the coordination of actions on a global scale, detaching interactions from the requirement of physical presence and shared location.
Risk Society and Threatened Security
Unlike traditional threats (e.g., natural disasters), modern risks are a byproduct of our development – such as financial crises or ecological catastrophes. Ulrich Beck termed this state a risk society. Giddens views risk as an existential condition, linked to the necessity of continuous choice in an individual's life. Beck, on the other hand, focuses on global, systemic threats that the individual cannot control.
This permanent uncertainty impacts ontological security – the fundamental sense of continuity and predictability of the world, which tradition formerly provided. In modernity, it becomes a resource that must be constantly striven for.
The Individual as Manager of Fate: Trust and Reflexivity
In late modernity, the individual becomes the manager of their own destiny. Their biography is no longer "given" but becomes a project requiring constant reflexivity – monitoring and revising choices in light of new information. As tradition loses authority, we must place trust in abstract systems, such as finance or science, which we do not fully understand.
Our experience becomes mediated – filtered through media and technology, a process intensified by digitalization. Even intimacy and community undergo transformation, drawing patterns from public representations rather than direct bonds. Individual responsibility for life increases, and its price is constant existential anxiety.
Conclusion
In a world where certainty is a scarce commodity and identity an ongoing project, we face a fundamental question. Are we condemned to permanent anxiety, or does this necessity of choice hold the potential to create a more conscious life? Late modernity leaves us with the task of finding a new definition of community and security, rooted not in tradition, but in conscious co-creation.
📄 Full analysis available in PDF
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "disjunction" in the context of late modernity?
"Disentanglement" is the process of detaching social relations from their traditional, local contexts, enabling them to operate on a large spatial and temporal scale. This is a key mechanism of late modernity, enabling globalization and abstract connections.
What role do symbolic tokens and expert systems play?
Symbolic tokens (e.g., money) and expert systems (e.g., medicine) are instruments of dissociation. They enable interactions between anonymous entities and build trust in the abstract, impersonal institutions that guarantee their validity.
How does late modernity change the concept of time?
Late modernity standardizes and unifies time, emptying it of local content. The clock and calendar become universal reference grids, enabling the extension of social relations across vast distances and the effective management of life.
What does "risk society" mean according to Ulrich Beck?
According to Ulrich Beck, a "risk society" is one in which threats (e.g., ecological, financial) are no longer external but are a byproduct of modernity itself. Risk becomes an integral element of order, creating a permanent state of anxiety.
How does late modernity influence the construction of individual identity?
In late modernity, individual identity is no longer "given" by tradition, but becomes a task and a project to be continually realized. Individuals must reflectively construct a coherent narrative about themselves, managing their own destiny in conditions of uncertainty.
What is ontological security and why is it threatened?
Ontological security is a fundamental sense of continuity within one's self and the predictability of the world. In late modernity, this is undermined by the erosion of tradition and the need for constant choices, which leads to the need to build individual "anchors" of stability.
Related Questions
What is dissociation and what mechanisms drive it in late modernity?
How has modernity changed the perception of time and space?
What is the "risk society" and how does it differ from traditional societies?
What are the main differences between Anthony Giddens' and Ulrich Beck's conceptions of risk?
What is ontological security and why is it threatened in late modernity?
What is reflexivity and how does it shape an individual's biography?
What role does trust in abstract systems play in modern society?
What does it mean that experience in late modernity is mediated?
How do the processes of modernity impact the sphere of intimacy and community?
Why does an individual become the "manager of their own fate," and what are the consequences?
🧠 Thematic Groups
Teoretyczne podstawy późnej nowoczesności: Obejmuje analizę kluczowych koncepcji Anthony'ego Giddensa, takich jak rozczepienie relacji społecznych, refleksyjność oraz erozja tradycji, a także perspektywę Ulricha Becka na społeczeństwo ryzyka.
Kluczowe mechanizmy i ich wpływ: Skupia się na roli symbolicznych tokenów (pieniądz), systemów eksperckich oraz standaryzacji czasu w kształtowaniu globalnych więzi i procesów społecznych, umożliwiających funkcjonowanie na odległość.
Konsekwencje dla jednostki i społeczeństwa: Analizuje, jak późna nowoczesność wpływa na konstruowanie tożsamości, zarządzanie własną biografią, poczucie bezpieczeństwa ontologicznego oraz doświadczanie wszechobecnego ryzyka i lęku egzystencjalnego w zglobalizowanym świecie.
