Modernity And Risk

Anthony Giddens is a famous western social theorist. With his outstanding works in social science field, we never forget his structuration theory that almost marks his whole social ideas. As a matter of fact, the structuration theory is so attractive for most people that it can easily make us to neglect his other social theories. Such as risk society theory, it still deserves us a systematically research.For this point, this paper tries to attain a systematically recognition through dividing four parts to explore Giddens risk society theory: first, we mainly explore his basic concepts of risk and risk society; second, we try to find how modernity and risk combine internally; Third, we focus on his perspectives of modern world's risks; lastly, we'll explore his ideas of counter-fight-risks in the ways he provided with social macroscopically accesses and individual microcosmic perspectives.In the process of exploration, we find Giddens' risk society theory is so tightly combine with his views of modernity that many ideas of risk and risk society are illustrated basically on his knowledge of modernity. So, we should never forget to discourse Glidden's' ideas of modernity when we begin to systematically explore his risk society theory. As a whole, which Giddens focuses on social macroscopically and individual microcosmically analysis of modern risks is one of the most important characteristics of his risk society theory. With his social macroscopic views, whatever is from internal dynamic mechanism of modernity or is from institutional layers of modernity, the modernity is a risk. And with his individual microcosmic views, the conscious of risk also is a risk. As a result, we can say in most degree that this analysis method deserves his risk society theory to avoid many limits that other risk society theorists confront when they just use single orientation. Through exploration, we also find Giddens' ideas of counter-fight with modern risks. As he stresses, the Utopian Realism and social movements have a positive effect in reducing the modern risks, which are brought out by modernity. Meanwhile, Giddens also attributes his creative ideas to fight with modern risks in the individual layer, like protective cocoon etc.