Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2009, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (3): 133-145.

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The Consensus and Differences of Three New Political Concepts

  

  • Online:2009-05-20 Published:2009-05-20

Abstract:

Giddens, Beck, and Bauman, forming the threehorsed chariot in the Western social theoretical world since the 1990s, have reached a reflective consensus separately from the perspectives of emancipatory politics, defected decision, or order pursuit: The inherent political paradoxes in Western modernity are becoming more overt in the age of globalization and will be replaced by some new political forms. They each have depicted the new future of life politics, subpolitics, and republic politics. The main differences in the three concepts are: Giddens investigates the dilemma and future of modernity from the paradox of Enlightenment rationality; Beck reveals the increasing risks in contemporary society from the antinomy of Science, and Bauman criticizes the modernity problems from the vision of Antirationalism. Their differences on the basis of consensus have produced complementary relations between Giddens’ nationstate standpoint, Beck’s cosmopolitan methodology, and Bauman’s postnationstate vision. This is a triangle prism for us to think about the contemporary Western modernity problems.

Key words:  Bauman, Beck, Giddens, new political concept, new urban immigrants ,  general social capital , local social capital  , social inclusion