Individualization (Beck)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22367248 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Craig D Lair (0000-0001-9350-0044, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Publication date | 2008-01-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | OTHER |
| Venue | The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosi077 |
| OpenAlex | W4251210663 |
| ISBN | 9781405165518 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
The German sociologist Ulrich Beck has raised anew a topic that has been central to social theory since its very beginnings: What role does the individual play in the social world? Beck (1992) has done this by putting forth what has come to be known as the “individualization thesis,” or the theory that the individual is becoming the central unit of social life. As Layte and Whelan (2001: 213) describe it, Beck “hypothesized that individual behavior was becoming less bound by traditional norms and values and sources of collective identity such as social class.” Instead, Beck argues that one's life is increasingly a reflexive or self‐steered phenomenon, something that one must accomplish oneself. Thus, in contrast to traditional times where social norms and regulations emanated from the collectivity, “[t]he decisive feature of ... modern regulations or guidelines is that, far more than earlier, individuals must, in part, supply them for themselves, import them into their biographies through their own actions” (Beck and Beck‐Gernsheim 2002: 2)
Aesthetics · Epistemology · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Psychology · Sociology and Education Studies · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |