Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 250

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the politics of modern societies was dominated by a major conflict of interest between workers and employers – in Marx’s terms, between the non-owning working class and the propertyowning capitalist class. The conflict centred on issues of wealth distribution as trade unions and labour parties sought a more equal distribution of the socially produced wealth. Such struggles still continue, of course. But Ulrich Beck (1992, 2002, 2009) argues that this distributional conflict is losing its significance as environmental risks rise to prominence. He says that more people are beginning to realize that their fight for a share of the ‘wealth cake’ is futile if the cake itself is being poisoned as a result of pollution and environmental damage (Beck 2002: 128). Beck argues that:

the knowledge is spreading that the sources of wealth are ‘polluted’ by growing ‘hazardous side effects’. This is not at all new, but it has remained unnoticed for a long time in the efforts to overcome poverty…. To put it differently, in the risk society the unknown and unintended consequences come to be a dominant force in history and society. (1992: 20–1)

Industrial societies are slowly dissolving as environmental problems build up; this is an unintended consequence of the rush for economic growth and material prosperity. Beck (1999) argues that we are, in effect, moving into a ‘world risk society’ – a new type of society in which risk consciousness and risk avoidance are becoming central features – because environmental pollution does not respect national boundaries. No matter where industrial production or consumption takes place, its consequences can be felt in very distant locations. The relatively rich countries are not immune from industrial pollution and global environmental damage. We will remain dependent on science and high technology, though, because it is only through these that industrial processes can be safely and effectively managed.

Beck wants to show us that the environmental issue is moving from the margins of political concern towards the centre. Most of the risks we face are the products of human activity; they are not like the purely natural disasters of film and television. This means that the environment becomes an issue for political debate and decision-making, and we can see the creation of environmental organizations and Green political parties in the 1970s as the first step towards inclusion of environmental issues into mainstream politics.