Ulrich Beck’s Scientific Leadership Profile

Abstract

Since the 1980s Ulrich Beck has been engaged in systematically developing a multi-layered theoretical and empirical diagnosis of the self-transformation and self-interrogation of modern societies and politics. This diagnosis has had a growing international and interdisciplinary impact during the decade up to the present, as indicated by three facts: (1) Beck is ranked as one of the most globally cited social scientists. (2) His books have been translated into more than 35 languages. (3) Today, there is a vast body of interdisciplinary literature in dialogue with Ulrich Beck’s work that has used this framework for a great variety of issues. These include social inequality and class, politics and power, work and labour markets, economics, international relations, war and military, business and management, insurance, law and justice, criminology, terrorism, love and family, youth, media, technology and culture, science studies, environmental politics and global warming, social theory, and last but not least globalization and cosmopolitanism.