Together with the beginning of the new year, the world received news of the death of Ulrich Beck, one of its most valued sociologists. The terms he introduced into the scholarly lexicon serve as a symbolic testament to this achievement.
openSecurity editor Robin Wilson reflects on the work of German intellectual - and frequent openDemocracy contributor - Ulrich Beck, who sadly passed away on 1 January.
At least at first, freedom dies without human beings being physically hurt. The author is convinced that the freedom risk is the most fragile among the global risks we have experienced so far. He calls for a digital humanism.
Individuals should be able to feel that not all of the risks of the world, and especially not those of banks and states threatened with bankruptcy, are being dumped onto their shoulders. But that something exists that deserves the name “European Community”.
