The Consequences of Modernity (PDF)

In this major theoretical statement, the author offers a new and
provocative interpretation of the institutional transformations
associated with modernity. We do not as yet, he argues, live in a
post-modern world. Rather the distinctive characteristics of our
major social institutions in the closing period of the twentieth
century express the emergence of a period of 'high modernity,' in
which prior trends are radicalised rather than undermined. A
post-modern social universe may eventually come into being, but
this as yet lies 'on the other side' of the forms of social and
cultural organization which currently dominate world history.

In developing an account of the nature of modernity, Giddens
concentrates upon analyzing the intersections between trust and
risk, and security and danger, in the modern world. Both the trust
mechanisms associated with modernity and the distinctive 'risk
profile' it produces, he argues, are distinctively different from
those characteristic of pre-modern social orders.

This book build upon the author's previous theoretical writings,
and will be of fundamental interest to anyone concerned with
Gidden's overall project. However, the work covers issues which the
author has not previously analyzed and extends the scope of his
work into areas of pressing practical concern. This book will be
essential reading for second year undergraduates and above in
sociology, politics, philosophy, and cultural studies.