Ulrich Beck

Ulrich Beck (1944–2015) was a German sociologist and professor at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He studied sociology, philosophy, psychology and political science, received his doctorate in 1972 and completed his habilitation in 1979. He gained international recognition with his book Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity (1986). His key concepts included reflexive modernization, the second modernity and methodological cosmopolitanism. Beck was also a Visiting Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2014, he received the International Sociological Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for a distinguished contribution to futures research.