The Reinvention of Politics

Those who advocate ideas about "postmodernity" and"post-industrialism" offer radical critiques of existing social andpolitical institutions. But they provide very little in place ofthose institutions. It is all very well to criticize thelimitations of social democracy, the welfare state, trade unionism,and social classes as agents of change, but once these have beenthrown into crisis what other institutions do we have to depend on? The Reinvention of Politics, suggests we should think againabout forging a new model of politics for our times. An active,devolved civil society, Beck argues, can sustain the claim thatmodernity is inherently democratic. For many issues now - forexample, those involving technology, environment protest, thefamily, or gender relations - belong to the domain of what theauthor calls "subpolitics". The postmodern critique of modernity, in Beck's view, is based onmistaken generalizations about a transitional phase in theevolution of modern society. What is needed, he argues, is thereinvention of politics, corresponding to th new demands of asociety which remains modern, but which has progressed beyond theearlier form of industrial society. This book will be essential reading for second-year undergraduatesand above in the fields of social and political theory, sociologyand political science.