Beyond class and nation: reframing social inequalities in a globalizing world.

Full Abstract

From the start individualization theory is the investigation of the paradigm shift in social inequality. Furthermore it shows, how the transnationalization of social inequalities bursts the framework of institutional responses - nation state (parties), trade unions, welfare state systems and the national sociologies of social classes. In this essay I shall try to conceptually elucidate the 'cosmopolitan perspective' on relations of social inequality in three cases: (1) the inequality of global risk; (2) the Europe-wide dynamic of inequality; and (3) transnational inequalities, which emerge from the capacities and resources to transcend borders. Before that I take up Will Atkinson's question: 'What exactly constitutes individualization and to what extent has it really displaced class?' (Atkinson 2007: Abstract).

Author information

Author/s: Beck, Ulrich (U);

Affiliation: Insitut fur Soziologie, Ludwig-Maximillans-Universitet, Munich. u.beck(-atsign-)lmu.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comment; Journal Article

Journal: The British journal of sociology (Br J Sociol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Dec; vol 58 (issue 4) : pp 679-705; discussion 707-15

Dates: Created 2007/12/13; Completed 2008/04/08;

PMID: 18076391, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentOn: Br J Sociol. 2007 Sep;58(3):349-66. (PMID: 17727498)

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