Abstract
Ulrich Beck, a German sociologist who does not need prior presentation, cast his diagnosis of risk society as a new emerging ethos where social class and hierarchies blurred before the figure of risk. Although he shed light on the post-industrial society of the 1990s, today, the society he studied seems pretty different. Hence, a new fresh insight should be placed. This chapter introduces readers to the conceptual foundations of Thana Capitalism, as it was critically debated in the author's book The Rise of Thana Capitalism and Tourism. The risk society sets the pace for a new facet of capitalism where the other´s pain remains the main commodity to exchange. Far from being a more egalitarian society, as Beck said, in the days of Thana capitalism, a ruling elite governs the destiny of a precaritized workforce. The novel The Hunger Games represents perfectly how this society works. Additionally, the author brings some reflection on the connection of Thana capitalism and the spectacle beyond the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
TopIntroduction
Doubtless, social scientists in general and sociology, in particular, should pay homage to Ulrich Beck not only in view of his main innovative contributions to the fields of modern sociology but also because his ideas shed light on the postmodern sociology. Beck has introduced innovative argumentations that invariably has shaken the sociology from the slumber it was. These new ideas and concepts discussed by Beck in the fields of sociology were of paramount importance to imagine a society marked by higher levels of uncertainness and fear. His conception of risk and contingency has relevance for sociology even today. Let´s remind readers that Beck publishes the first edition of Risk Society: towards new modernity in 1992. In this book he unfolds elegantly all his genius to expand the current understanding of global modernity. For some reasons, which are very hard to precise here, Beck dates back the origin of risk society to Chernobyl´s accident. As he notes, Chernobyl should be understood as a founding event which laid the foundations of a new stage of capitalism. As a disrupting event, Chernobyl shows two important aspects of modern society. Technology which occupies a central position in human security paved the ways for the rise of the apocalypses unless dully regulated. Secondly, the risk society moves in a climate of uncertainty and complexity as never before. To wit, risk plays a leading role drawing the social institutions of a new society. Having said this, society has made from the notion of risk its centrepiece. As an accident of global impacts, Chernobyl created a paradoxical situation where the same technology disposed to make of human life safer led gradually toward an apocalyptic disaster. This paradox seems to be no other thing than the essence of technology in a risk society, as Beck adheres.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Ulrich Beck: Was a German sociologist dedicated to the study of modern capitalism and society.
Dark Consumption: It is type of consumption where the “Other´s death” is commoditised and exchanged in society.
Thana Capitalism: It is a term developed by Maximiliano Korstanje to explain the next stage of global capitalism which passed from risk society to Thana-capitalism.
Risk Society: It is a term coined by Sociologist Ulrich Beck to denote the change to a new stage of capitalism mainly marked by the proliferation of risks.