Running Head: ULRICH BECK’S RISK SOCIETY AND CORONAVIRUS 1

Ulrich Beck’s Risk Society and Coronavirus: A study on the rise of 2020

Pandemic

Prethee Majbahin

Department of Criminology, University of Dhaka

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Abstract

We are living in the era of new modernity which is reflexive in nature and essentially gives birth

to a risk society. Human civilization has almost reached to the epitome of evolution, industries

are growing rapidly and as a result, the human society is being threatened by new kind of risks.

With the advancement of science and technology new dangers are being exposed. Until recent

times, mankind was endangered by external risks like natural hazards but in the present era of

industrialization, the nature of risk has undergone a tremendous change. Risks in the new society

are created by the sources of wealth. Specifically, industrialization and its side-effects are

manufacturing a wide range of hazardous, even deadly consequences for societies and as a result

of globalization, such risks are affecting the world as well. This paper aims to explain how

industrialization and globalization is contributing in emerging global risks like climate change and

transmission of infectious diseases. Moreover, the interconnected links between these global

phenomena will be discussed through the lens of Ulrich Beck and his concept of risk society. This

is a qualitative research as the resource materials are all from secondary sources, like books,

newspapers and journals.

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Ulrich Beck’s Risk Society and Coronavirus: A study on the rise of 2020

Pandemic

The contemporary theorist, Ulrich Beck introduced a German term ‘Risikoyessellschaft’ or ‘Risk

Society’ in his book Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, originally published in German in

1986. In this book Beck argues that industrial society has created new dangers which were

unknown in previous age and these new risks are not restricted to one particular nation or social

group rather such risks generated as a byproduct of the advancement of modern technologies and

know no border.

Beck's major contribution was systematically building risk into a theory of modern society and its

dilemmas. He sees risk as a defining feature of modern society itself, forming the dark side of

industrial expansion, technical and scientific success, and economic growth which has stimulated

changes in family structure, structure of political and cultural organization as well as social

relations among them. Beck focuses above all on environmental and health risks, especially genetic

technology. He suggested that we are living in the second modernity which is characterized by

new risks with a “potentially global impact”. Beck sees this second modernity as risk and

uncertainty prone society. Another key concept for the risk society is ‘reflexivity’, the ability of

humans to reflect upon the past and using their past knowledge to influence what they can do in

the future.
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As societies change over time and new risk society emerges, the ability and role of science is

played down. On one hand, the scientific approach to managing risk is inadequate, according to

Beck. He suggests that society as a whole is dominated by risks which threaten physical life and

livelihood and also occupy the collective psyche. The existence of the modern threats of our era

such as global warming, increased mobility of disease and nuclear radiation seem to support

Beck’s claims (Rosa, 2006).

Moreover Beck believes that industrial modernity has reached its limits and on it’s way to be

undergoing a period of transformation and it will be moving irreversibly to a new epoch which is

labeled as “reflexive modernity’’ by him. (Beck, 1999). So, according to Beck, ‘reflexive

modernity’ is the transition from ‘industrial society’ to ‘risk society’. He also claims that the

success of industrial modernity is producing outcomes that are undermining their own material

benefits or have a potential to do so. Beck also mentioned that globalization, gender revolution,

underemployment and global risks (ecological crisis and the crash of global financial markets)

are the five interrelated processes those are the products of modern society but undermine it’s

modernity by increasing the exposure of individuals and the society as a whole to risk. (Beck,

1999)
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Globalization, Climate Change and Risk Society

Globalization and environment are interconnected. The increasing pattern of globalization

consequently affects our ecosystem and climate changes as a result. The causes of climate change

lie deep within modernity. Countries become more industrialized and increase the production of

goods to meet demand and these industries in turn emit various greenhouse gases which acted as

a major contributor in the climate change. Even composition of the atmosphere is altering due to

the emission of tone of toxic gases such as methane and carbon dioxide through various activities

like production, transportation, agriculture and consumer practices. Moreover, our atmosphere is

gradually warming due to the accumulation of these gases. The impact of this climatic change can

cause natural hazards, transmission of infectious diseases, rise in sea-levels and extreme

temperature. For Beck, in risk society, risks arises as the by-products of development. He also

mentioned that ecological risks and public health scares have been repeatedly translated into new

regulatory regimes. (Dingwall, 1999, 481)

Contemporary Risks

Arise as the unintended consequences of modernity

Are transmitted over space and time

Are invisible to the senses – depend on scientific knowledge

Figure 1: The novelty of contemporary risks (Beck, 1992)

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Climate Change and Infectious Diseases

Climate change is a by-product of industrialization. Global warming and rising global average land

are two current concerns about global climate change which are linked with different patterns of

infectious diseases. Several evidences showed that the global average land and sea surface

temperature have increased by 06℃ since the mid nineteenth century. In 1999, the UN

Intergovernmental Panel on climate change (IPCC) mentioned that much of the warming observed

in the last 50 years can be attributed to human activity (Altribritton, 2001), specially due to

excessive emission of greenhouse gases that trap within the atmosphere. Global warming may

affect the prevalence of many infections and diseases. Higher temperature leads to changes in

humidity which can affect the biology and ecology disease vectors and intermediate hosts and

consequently the risk of transmission. (Githeko, 2000). A research team from the US and China

collected some samples of earth’s oldest glacial ice from Tibet. After examining the team

discovered 28 ancient viruses in the 15,000 year old ice which were previously unknown to

scientists. Also experts of The Ohio State University and Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory

believe that as global warming continues leading to more ice melt, unknown viruses could thaw

out and infect humanity (Martin, 2020). Recently the report comes as the planet is infected with

the unknown coronavirus.

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Globalization and Boomerang Effect

We live in the age of globalization and it creates interdependence among nations. In the past,

resources, products and ideas were exchanged through travel and trade but that didn’t create any

interdependence among people of the world. At time though the societies were related, they are

not interconnected or depended on each other. So this won’t be counted as globalization.

The phenomenon of globalization has derived from the concept of “community”. Community

refers to a group of people who share common interest and territory. There were different

communities in the past world. With time, interactions among communities increased, so the

interdependence. Thus, communities were enlarged and nations formed. Then the nations and

states involved in warfare for power and prosperity. The system of global governance derived from

these wars. In the middle age, nations signed treaties, trade expanded. And then, capitalism

changed the nature of globalization. Moreover, in last centuries, more importantly, over the last

decades, solidity has tended to “melt”. Everything is becoming liquefied. People came out from

their own territories, started travelling to places and acquiring more informations. And then hyper-

mobility of people, things and information has created gaseousness in the globe. Because of

liquidity and gaseousness, globalization is characterized by several flows like- interconnected

flows, multidirectional flows, conflicting and reverse flows. Global flows that interconnect with

each other at several points and times are called interconnected flows. For example: sex industry

requires an interconnection between the flow of trafficked people and the flow of customers.

Another flow that interconnects with it is drugs and sexually transmitted diseases. All these are

interconnected with each other in different points. On the other hand, multidirectional flow refers

a process where all sorts of things are flowing into different directions. For example: several things
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flow out of the United States and the Western world to different corners of the globe. At the same

time, different other flows are coming into the United States and Western countries. The ongoing

“war” on terror between the United States and Islamic jihadists refers to conflicting flows. While

Al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists groups implementing terrorist attacks to create a global

influence, the US is involved in counter terrorism. Reverse flow is one direction process which

back forces on the source. This was named as the “boomerang effect” by Ulrich Beck. For

example, with globalization and industrial success, environmental risk factors, such as air, water

and soil pollution, chemical exposure, ultraviolet radiation and climate change reportedly

contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries, according to a WHO report which was published

in 2016.

The 2020 Pandemic: Globalization of coronavirus

Globalization is a worldwide phenomenon. There are structures that has expanded globalization.

Routes, paths, bridges can be seen as structures. There are an increasing number of bridges which

has created a link between nations. People can move from one country to another within a few

hours. But there are many structural barriers as well. People are now involved in global network.

They use emails, telephones, mobile to communicate. Communications throughout the world is

increasing the strength of global network also global interdependence. All sort of social

networking can be done with internet. Internet has come as a blessing into our lives. People know

what’s going on in the other corner of the world within a few minutes. Banking, trading, travelling

have become easier than ever. This flow of people and information from different geographic

borders allow infectious diseases to spread rapidly than ever. In the early twenty-first century,
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there are fears that the processes of globalization may contribute to several deadly diseases. As

people are traveling overseas, etiologists suggest that the spread of infectious diseases across the

world has increased in recent time, the outbreak of novel COVID-19 or the coronavirus is the most

recent case.

The current deadly coronavirus outbreak, which has originated in Wuhan, China shows how a

crisis in one corner of the world can create shockwaves to other corners, nations those are near and

far. The affluent capital of Hubei province, Wuhan has placed it 13th among 2,000 Chinese cities

in Bloomberg’s supply chain database as it is best known as an auto manufacturing and logistics

hub, having more than 500 factories and other facilities and experienced a boom in technology and

the services sector in recent years as well.

In 2002, SARS outbreak originated in China which caused almost 800 death and infected more

than 8,000 people over nine months stretching into 2003. Several statistics show how such

globalization has changed the world in the years since the SARS outbreak. It’s difficult to measure

how much China has emerged from its relative isolation in the first two decades of this century.

For example, number of outbound tourists has increased from 16.6 million trips in 2003 to 149.7

million in 2008, CNN reported. (2 February, 2020). Globalization and tourism produce many kinds

of health impact which can affect the host population along with the migrant, both positively and

negatively. So, tourism is likely to be one contributing factor to how the coronavirus has spread

far more rapidly than SARS did and even though the SARS virus was far more lethal with a fatality
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rate of 9.6 percent than the COVID-19 which has an estimated 2.1 percent fatality rate. Until

January 22 of this year, the COVID-19 has already killed and infected more people in less than

two months than SARS did in nine months back in 2002. According to a BBC report, there are

more than 42,000 confirmed cases in China and death toll passed 1000, with another 40,000-plus

infections reported in Asia. (11 February 2020). According to New York Times, the infectious

coronavirus has been detected in at least 24 other countries, most involving people who traveled

from China.

In less than a month, Italy had the highest number of cases and deaths outside of china, with 463

deaths and at least 9,172 of people infected throughout all the regions of the country. The number

of death tolls increased by 50% on March 8 alone. As Italy has an enriched tourism, it has been a

hub for people from different corners of the world. As the virus needs time to expose the

symptoms, the infected people can spread it unknowingly. Having no specific symptoms, the very

first case in Italy was undetected for a long period of time, some officials believe this is the

reason for such a high number of cases in the country. (Steven, 2020)

Spain is currently the second most-affected European country with coronavirus. This country has

encountered an increase of coronavirus cases in the third week of March. The first confirmed case

was recorded on first February and cases got closer to 1000 within the first month of March which

rose to more than 64,000 on 27 March. Tourism, a crucial sector for Spain, is expected to face an

adverse impact due to the global coronavirus fears as experts suggest that tourism may lead to the

spread of this deadly disease.

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Iran, another country from where coronavirus spread to rest of the world, currently has more than

32,000 confirmed cases. It has reported more than 2,300 deaths until now and a number of

countries have traced their coronavirus-infected having contracted the disease during travel to Iran

as this country has been suspected to have delayed revealing about the spread of corona virus in

their country. Many government officials and politicians including MPs in Iran have contracted

coronavirus as well. To reduce further spread Iran announced the temporary release of

approximately 70,000 prisoners, according to Mizan news agency. (Perveen, March 27, 2020)

The fourth most-affected European nation is France where the number of confirmed cases crossed

29,000 while the death toll reached close to 1,700. A worker at Disneyland Paris was reported by

Reuters as having contracted the coronavirus as the first confirmed case in France. Since then the

French government has banned public gatherings. The ongoing outbreak remains a concern to the

French tourism industry as coronavirus fears are resulting in a drop in visitors.

Outbreak of Coronavirus in Bangladesh

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The wind of globalization has swept over many South and Southeast Asian nations and reached

the shores of Bangladesh as well. Bangladesh, in the last few decades witnessed a significant

increase in the globalization trend, more specifically for the emerging market economies.

Recently, some of the advocates of globalization including Stiglitz and another Nobel-winning

economist Paul Krugman have pointed out some of the hidden costs of globalization including

increased volatility and recurrent global risks are the result of industrial revolution and the ICT

revolution. Air quality in Bangladesh was the worst in the world last year and Dhaka was the 21st

most polluted city, according to 2019 World Air Quality Report. (The Daily Star, February 26,

2020).

Due to globalization, migration to foreign land has become a common phenomenon. According to

International labor Organization (ILO). Each year, more than 400,000 workers leave the

Bangladesh for overseas employment. Thousands of Bangladeshis have been working in different

countries where infections have been reported,” Dr. Kanak Kanti Barua, the vice chancellor of

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in Dhaka, told BenarNews. (Chowdhury K.,

March 3, 2020).

In the year of 2019-20, at least 55,335 workers have returned to Bangladesh, among them

24,281 workers have returned from Saudi Arabia. These returnees are at the high risk in

spreading the deadly coronavirus as many of them are not even maintaining quarantine

rules prescribed by the authority. The first three cases confirmed by one of the major
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Bangladeshi health authorities, Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research

(IEDCR), included two people who recently returned from Italy, a global hotspot of the virus that

first broke out in China’s Hubei province. One of them is a woman and the other two are men.

Bangladesh has 48 confirmed cases with 5 death cases so far. However, the intensity of

infection is still unclear in Bangladesh.

The Aftermath of this global Crisis: What’s Next and What We Need

Humankind is facing a global crisis. Nobody actually knows how long the COVID -19 epidemic

will last in this world, nobody knows how long the humankind must wait for a vaccine to fight

against this deadly diseases. The world economy might face the darkest days in upcoming years

as factory closures and production suspensions are already weakening the global supply chains.

Countries are on lockdown, industries are being shut-down, automakers are worrying about

shortages of parts; textile makers are being deprived of fabric, women are being victim of domestic

violence during their quarantine period, cybercrime is rising at an alarming rate, luxury-goods

retailers are starving of customers, the tourism sector have become hotbeds of contagion and the

effectiveness of public health care services is another major challenge being faced by the

authorities around the world. The human society is going through a transition and nobody knows

where all these will end. Such transition reflects the characteristics of ‘reflexive modernity’

defined by Ulrich Beck.

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The emergence of coronavirus as a world health epidemic and fears of it’s spreading have brought

blessings to humankind. As countries have halted air and ground travel, motor vehicles, power

plants and industrial facilities have nearly come to a complete stop, the amount of carbon emissions

being released into the atmosphere has been significantly reduced. The European Space Agency

and Pollution monitoring satellites from NASA have detected significant decreases of greenhouse

gases over China and many other parts of the world as China is not only part of the world where

emissions from travel have slowed down due to coronavirus pandemic. Almost every U.S. Air

flights have been suspended.

The coronavirus crisis might change the world by introducing new socio -economic

spectrums like less individualism, a return to faith in scienc e and serious experts, a rise of

telemedicine and a healthier lifestyle. But to rise against this corona war we need to make

a choice between global solidarity and national isolation. The global problems that humankind is

now facing can be solved only by global-operation. The prominent Israeli Historian Yuval Noah

Harari, in his contemporary writing on coronavirus pandemic titled ‘The World after Coronavirus’

denotes that we need to share information globally to defeat the virus outbreak. For example,

China can teach the U.S. and other countries many valuable lessons about coronavirus and

effective measures to deal with this crisis. Countries need to be willing to share information openly

and humbly seek advice and should be able to trust each other. For example: what an Italian

scientist discovers today can save lives in Tehran tomorrow. When the UK government faces

dilemmas between effective policies, it can get advices from the Koreans who have dealt with

similar situation few days ago. We must build a bridge between nations to encourage the spirit of
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global cooperation and trust to fight against this global crisis. Unfortunately, at present no nations

do any of these things. A collective paralysis has gripped and terrified the international

community. Countries need a travel agreement to make all these plans possible. Suspending all

international travel for months will create tremendous hardships, and hamper the war against

coronavirus. So allowing at least a trickle of essential travelers to continue crossing borders:

scientists, doctors, journalists, politicians is a must to ensure global solidarity is a must to combat

the outbreak of this deadly diseases.

Conclusion

There are a number of criticisms of Beck’s ‘Risk Society’, for example: his approach of ‘risk

society’ has been called “utilitarian and objectivist”. Some sociologists have condemned it as

overly deterministic, with little to no scope for bringing about change (Hughes and Edwards 2002).

According to Bluhdorn, Beck has proposed a historical determinism which is Marxist in feel, as it

claims that industrialization and its associated form of modernity gives way to the risk society

(Bluhdorn 2000). Others have criticized it as a passing fad rather than an academic approach with

lasting influence (Dingwall 1999). However, Beck’s concept of risk society has opened new doors

to researches on global risks such as climate change and transmission of infectious diseases. It is

complex but a persuasive and powerful one as it includes an analysis of how the perception of risk

is distinct to the modern era, the nature of reflexivity and how we manage risk. His thesis has been

a great contributor to understand the contemporary global crisis like the coronavirus pandemic
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which has affected the whole world with deadly consequences. Yet every crisis is also an

opportunity. We must hope that the current epidemic will help humankind to realize the acute

danger posed by global disunity and modernity that is beyond controllability.

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