Beck's Risk Society on a Global Scale

The challenge of voting in today's world

This informal article is inspired by numerous ideas I have acquired through my Jr. College and 1^st Year University education. It applies epistemology, anthropology, sociology, and globalisation studies to understand and address two contemporary problems.

In his book Risk Society, Ulrich Beck notes that modernisation has produced many hazards and risks characteristic of the 20^th and 21^st Century. Two major problems are especially pertinent today:

1. Climate Change and 

2. Economic Collapse

These two problems are truly global in scale. Their impact is or will be felt across the world regardless of borders and their solutions necessarily involve concerted, multilateral action. The unilateral actions of single nations or political blocs cannot conclusively solve these problems. However, concerned voters find it difficult to make informed decisions about these issues due to its specialist nature. Only select government agencies, NGOs, industry experts and academic communities possess the technical knowledge to thoroughly assess and address these problems. Voters’ relative ignorance compromises their ability to cast sound votes and make informed choices through the democratic process and, even if they do, such unilateral action does not solve the problem because concerted multilateral action is lacking. In light of these issues, it seems that national democratic processes cannot cope with the demands of global problems.