Adam, Beck, van Loon (eds.): The Risk Society and Beyond. Critical Issues for Social Theory (2000)

Ulrich Beck’s best selling Risk Society established risk on the sociological agenda. It brought together a wide range of issues centering on environmental, health and personal risk, provided a rallying ground for researchers and activists in a variety of social movements and acted as a reference point for state and local policies in risk management. The Risk Society and Beyond charts the progress of Beck’s ideas and traces their evolution. It demonstrates why the issues raised by Beck reverberate widely throughout social theory and covers the new risks that Beck did not foresee, associated with the emergence of new technologies, genetic and cybernetic. The book is unique because it offers both an introduction to the main arguments in Risk Society and develops a range of critical discussions of aspects of this and other works of Beck.

Editors Barbara Adam, Ulrich Beck, Joost van Loon
Publisher SAGE, 2000
ISBN 076196469X, 9780761964698
232 pages

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Frank Webster: Theories of the Information Society, 3rd ed. (2006)

Coping in an era of information flows, of virtual relationships and breakneck change poses challenges to one and all.

In Theories of the Information Society Frank Webster makes sense of the information explosion, taking a sceptical look at what thinkers mean when they refer to the ‘Information Society’ and critically examines the major post-war theories and approaches to informational development. This third edition brings the book right up to date with both new theoretical work and, social and technological changes (such as the rapid growth of the Internet and accelerated globalization), reassessing the work of key theorists in light of these changes.

This book is essential reading for students of contemporary social theory and anybody interested in social and technological change in the post-war era. It addresses issues of central concern to students of sociology, politics, communications, information science, cultural studies, computing and librarianship.

Edition: 3
Published by: Routledge, 2006
ISBN: 978-0-415-40633-8
Pages: 312

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John Tomlinson: The Culture of Speed. The Coming of Immediacy (2007)

Is the pace of life accelerating? If so, what are the cultural, social, personal and economic consequences?

This stimulating and accessible book examines how speed emerged as a cultural issue during industrial modernity. The rise of capitalist society and the shift to urban settings was rapid and tumultuous and was defined by the belief in ‘progress’. The first obstacle faced by societies that were starting to ‘speed up’ was how to regulate and control the process. The attempt to regulate the acceleration of life created a new set of problems, namely the way in which speed escapes regulation and rebels against controls. This pattern of acceleration and control subsequently defined debates about the cultural effects of acceleration. However, in the 21st century ‘immediacy’, the combination of fast capitalism and the saturation of the everyday by media technologies, has emerged as the core feature of control. This coming of immediacy will inexorably change how we think about and experience media culture, consumption practices, and the core of our cultural and moral values.

Incisive and richly illustrated, this eye-opening account of speed and culture provides an original, essential guide to one of the central features of contemporary culture and personal life.

Publisher SAGE, 2007
ISBN 1412912024, 9781412912020
Length 180 pages

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