Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 155

Giddens has developed a theoretical perspective on the transformative changes happening in the present-day world (Giddens 2002, 2011). We live in what he calls a ‘runaway world’ marked by new risks and uncertainties of the sort outlined by Ulrich Beck (1999). Living in a digital, information age also means an increase in social reflexivity. Social reflexivity refers to the fact that we have constantly to think about, or reflect upon, the circumstances in which we live our lives.

When societies were shaped by custom and tradition, people could follow established ways of doing things in a more unreflective fashion. Today, many aspects of life that for earlier generations were simply taken for granted become matters of open decision-making. For example, for hundreds of years people had no effective ways of limiting the size of their families. With modern forms of contraception, and other forms of technological involvement in reproduction, parents can not only choose how many children they have but even decide what sex those children will be. These new possibilities, of course, are fraught with new ethical dilemmas.

Yet the idea of a runaway world does not imply that we have inevitably lost control of the future. In a global age, nations certainly lose some of the power they used to have. The 2008 financial crash demonstrated that individual governments have less influence over their national economies than once they had. But, as many governments acted collaboratively to formulate strategy and provide funds to assist the worst-hit countries, the crisis also showed that nations can work together to exert some influence.

Voluntary groups and social movements outside the framework of formal politics can also have an important role, but they will not supplant orthodox democratic politics. Democracy is still crucial, because these groups make divergent claims and have different interests – those who actively campaign for more tolerance of abortion and those who believe entirely the opposite, for instance. Democratic governments must assess and react to these varying claims and concerns.

Sociology as a discipline is not unaffected by these social changes, and sociologists are becoming more reflexive about their own research practice and its effects on participants. The divide between academic ‘experts’ and unknowledgeable ‘laypeople’ seems far less rigid today. Those who participate in interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, and so on, are increasingly included in other aspects of the research process – advising on appropriate questions, identifying ethical issues, and reading and commenting on draft research reports. This deeper involvement can enhance the validity of research findings, as sociologists can check their interpretations with participants before arriving at firm conclusions. On present trends it is likely that reflexivity will continue to spread to more areas of social life.