title: Second modernity as a research agenda: theoretical and empirical explorations in the 'meta-change' of modern society.
abstract: In this article we are reformulating the theory of reflexive modernization as an empirical research programme and summarize some of the most recent findings which have been produced by a research consortium in Munich (integrating four universities, funded by the German Research Society (DFG)). On this basis we reject the idea that Western societies at the beginning of the twenty-first century move from the modern to the post-modern. We argue that there has been no clear break with the basic principles of modernity but rather a transformation of basic institutions of modernity such as the nation-state and the nuclear family. We would suggest, therefore, that what we are witnessing is a second modernity. Finally, we reform the theory of reflexive modernization in reaction to three uttered objections.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich. u.beck@uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lau
mesh_terms: D036262:Empirical Research; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D012922:Social Change; D012961:Sociology; D019366:Western World