Ulrich Becks Theory Of World Risk Society Criminology Essay

Ulrich Becks Theory Of foundation guess parliamentary law Criminology essayThis essay seeks to study the expla citizenry of the family 11 attacks through the mainstay concepts of the World run a peril Society. It will analyse how the presence of adventures in the coeval gild, is driving the governments towards the incessant instruction of technologies and other sophisticated surety dodges in order to quick their States to a greater extent secure. However, the issue under discussion is that, is this tendency to get feign obtain over the uncontrollable(Beck U The sc beist Threat p 41) which is the central point of the world hazard society, further adding to or in the lead to fusss. Is this presence of the future in the contemporary society in a way leading to a security paradox? To set it in the words of Keith Spence in World risk society and struggle against disquietude, two domestically in the guise of motherland warrantor, and in military engagements else where, the seeking of war against consternation inevitably compounds and reproduces the conditions and anxieties that it purports to address.To deal with these questions, the essay will erupt with the elucidation of the World jeopardy Society Theory as conceptualized by Ulrich Beck. Moving further, the essay would discuss the underlying assumptions of risks that be at the plant level of the counter dreadism policies adopted by the World immediately. pickings the case study of War on Terror and the pre emptive actions adopted by the US system, it will analyse how safer is the World with the acceptation of such(prenominal) polices? Did the secret code risk policies and the constant touch on of innovationalization help US or make it more vulnerable to such attacks, in other words, made it more insecure?World Risk Society Calculating the unnumberedThinking of contemporary menaceism in the context of Becks theory of Risk Society, it contri stille be defined as de-bounded uncontrollable risk characterised by a well connected structure, a continuous potential terror and difficult to trace to a private source.Beck introduces the concept of risk as a modern concept that presumes decision making. He further explains that as soon as we speak in terms of risk, we atomic number 18 lecture ab bring out calculating the incalculable, colonizing the future.Beck emphasises on the fact that Risk Society has non arisen because of the presence of i or the other threats or jeopardys in casual life however because of the de bounding of uncontrollable risks. According to him, de bounding has three distinct proportions, i.e. Spatial, impermanent and Social Dimensions. By spatial dimension he implies risks or dangers that are non bounded by the nation press out boundaries. The Temporal dimension signifies the long term dangers and finally the social dimension implies that the root of the problem cannot be traced back to a single agent, for instance, for pr oblem of global terrorism, we cannot single out a commonwealth or an individual or collection and blame it responsible for all terror networks. In the words of Beck, disobedient risks must be understood as not being link to place, that is they are difficult to impute to a particular agent and can hardly be control take on the level of the nation state.Ulrich Beck further explains that in the World Risk Society with the central problem of how to feign control over the uncontrollable, have three axes of conflict eco system of logic conflict, global m unmatchabletary crises and global terror. To say that the risk is global is not to suggest that everyone would be equally affected. It implies that the risks are unequally distri saveed it might cause molest to opposite countries differently depending on the cultural and political variations. However, even if it affects everyone unequally tho the truth, as Beck says, is that it affects everyone. And thus there exists a global pr oblem for which a global termination must be found. This is where the global co-operation fits the picture. In his theory, terror seems to be the midpoint of interaction between other two axes of conflict. The development in technology and the increase in flow of money, in one way or the other increases the extent of the threat from the dark World of terror.( Beck U., The Terrorist Threat, p. 45) A distinction can be made between ecological and financial conflicts on one hand and global terror risks on the other hand. As Beck explains, ecological and financial conflicts are the unintentional berth effects that come attached with the production of goods which in turn are the results of the central decisions taken by society. Explicating the defect from chance event to intention, Beck concentrates on the bloc of global terror. He describes terrorism as an intentionally bad (Beck U., The Terrorist Threat, p. 44) employment which leads to a negative detail that the other axes of c onflicts produce unintentionally. This change of accident in the industrial society to intention in the modern society is followed by a further replacement of prompt cuss to active mistrust. As the terrorist threat highlights mistrust and multiplies the risks, it weakens the relationship between the fellow citizens, foreigners and governments. after(prenominal) looking at these characteristics of the Risk Society, it becomes quite easy to understand the radical on which pre emptive intervention policies, detentions and profiling are justified. As Kessler O. And Werner W put it in Extrajudicial Killing as Risk Management, it is justified in the incline of rowdiness and unpredictability of the modern terrorist. Also, after the attacks of September 11, the unhurt World very well accepts the fact that the terror world today has access to all technologically advance(a) weapons and thus has the capability to deterioration more population and spread more dread and panic amongst pe ople. The features of the modern terrorism fit the framework of the risk society.Beck suggests that in the World Risk Society, it is increasingly becoming im likely for the States to protect the security of its citizens in the growing atmosphere of multiplying risks and active mistrust. The solution to the global problems of terror, ecological and financial conflicts lies in transnational co-operation. As he admits, this leads to a paradoxical situation for the nation states as in order to further accomplish their national interests, they remove to denationalize themselves. The global coalition against terror stands a witness to it. In order to uphold their constitutional promise of protecting the life of their citizens, in this situation specifically from the terror threats, the nation states came together to fight a war against the terror world. this can be attributed to the fact that it isnt accomplishable for nay country to fight the vast networks of terrorism, spread across the world, all alone. plain the super male monarch like US, which is most developed technologically and financially, had to call for the accompaniment of the other nations in order to wage the war on terror. redden though as a leader of global coalition it had to make certain policy compromises, nevertheless it went ahead to uphold its constitutional promise.It is shift from accident to intention that is the basis of all the counter terrorism policies. The process of profiling and indefinite detentions has been justified on the grounds of intention. The government has started assessment the people on the basis of intention. To quote My accordingly and Walklate from Terrorism, Risk and International protection government has taken more restrictive and invasive move so that it can take in an order that can tame the dangers to the detriment of people.Analysing 9/11 and the policies thereafter through the risk society military position preventative policies and the National secur ity in the wake of New terrorism trustworthy Science and responsible policymaking operate on the precautionary principle.Tony Blair (2002)The policies used to flak the global problem of terror are dictated by the logic of risk management. The novelty of this approach, as Keith Spence puts it in World Risk Society and War on Terror, lies in the adoption of pre emptive approach. The adoption of pre emptive approach as a precautionary principle can be described as being based on four interrelated assumptions put forwards by Claudia Aradau Van Munster in politics Terrorism through Risk Taking Precautions, zero risk, worst case scenario, shifting the burden of substantiation and serious and irreversible damage. It is the worst case scenario and the thought of irreversible damage that drives the government to adopt zero risk policies. When struck with the 9/11 attacks, it was the thought of further irreversible damage that made the Bush administration come up with the pre emptive pol icy and the following invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq as States do terrorism.The pre emptive approach reminds us of the Henry Kissingers observation that the desire of one power for absolute security means absolute insecurity for all the others (Kissinger, 1961, p. 148 1964, p. 2). The impart and outcomes of such acts are not unpredictable but uncontrollable as well. The pre emptive approach adopted to fight terror spread more fear than it actually tackled due to the presence of uncertainty and unpredictability. In the words of Keith Spence, In leveraging sentiments of uncertainty amongst target populations, pre emption like all mechanisms of terror, enlarges the impact of aggression, arouse fear that permeates the culture thereby constituted and reproduced. (World Risk Society and the War on Terror, P.289)The process of pre-emption follows the logic of absolute security. The adoption of pre emption undermined the UN laws and norms that back up use of force only under situatio ns that justified self defense mechanism against actual threat.( Annan, K. (2003) Secretary-Generals address to the General Assembly New York, 23 September 2003.) The pre emption approach on the other hand worked on the principle of eradicating possible threats. To quote Bush from Remarks at West Point New Threats take New Thinking, to wait for the threats to materialize would mean that we would have waited too long. The intellect of the eradication of potential threats in order to provide absolute security are all significant features of a blasting society as explained by Ulrich Beck in the theory of Risk society. The approach adopted, do not disappoint on the point of global solutions to the problems of terror. The solution that it provides again go in the line of thought of Becks Wold Risk Society by abandoning the ceremonious norms of time, space and restraint. (Spence, Keith World risk Society and the War on Terror p 289)The give tongue to objective of the War on Terror, as stated by George W. Bush in the Address to a Joint session of Congress and the American People on 4th of July, will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and thwarted cannot be satiated. Instead the approach of the administration leads to the development of more such networks than it actually eradicates. Egyptian President Hosni Mubaraks has aptly repronounced in context of the appendage Iraqi Freedom, that instead of having one bin Laden, we will have coke as a consequence of Operation undertaken.( Black, Ian and McGreal, Chris (2003) Conflict will create 100 bin Ladens, warns Egyptian president, The Guardian, 1 April, p. 4.) The manner in which the US conducts its response to terror would only lead to multiplication of terror networks kind of than its eradication. The fact that the initial stairs of the policy adoption actually led to the growth of the terror activities in North and East Africa, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the Indian subj ect-continent and the wider Gulf Region brings to the fore Kissingers cautionary observation of absolute security. warranter measures as a part of precautionary principle Homeland SecurityThe practices undertaken to fight away the terrorist networks under the label war on terror are too vast and discursive to fit into the framework of whatsoever theory. From Guantanamo quest to biometrics and increased surveillance, or from extraordinary rendition to the miscellanea of terrorist suspects as enemy combatants, the war on terror has regimented a whole series of practices that showcase the reaction to precautionary risk. (Aradau and Van Munster, 2007 Governing Terrorism through Risk taking precautions, (un)knowing the future European journal of International Relations Vol. 13, No. 1, 89-115)As a result of the terror attacks, US post the announcement of War on Terror, took a circumstances of go in order to be prompt to shield the country from whatsoever unpredictable, unknown but inevitable situation. The website www.ready.gov created by the department of Homeland Security is another source for informing the people and preparing America for any destiny. The site discusses the campaign Ready which aims at educating and empowering the Americans to deal with any situation of need including natural and man-made disasters. (http//www.ready.gov/america/about/index.html) The Website states Be ready and carefully places a quote from the founding secretary Tom Ridge, claiming terrorism forces us to make a choice. We can be afraid or we can be prepared The website goes to the extent of stating three simple steps get the emergency kit, formulate a family emergency plan and be informed to rescue oneself or at least be prepared to face the emergency situation. It warns the people about emergencies that can range from awkward to devastating and aims at empowering them by preparing them in advance. The department aims at preparing the people to fight the emergency but what exactly will be the emergency is unknown, the only surety about the unsure situation is its inevitability. The site puts in to place the key mechanism of the catastrophic society which makes the state of emergency institutionally established as a norm. (Spence, Keith p 291). The states have marked emergencies from green to red and make sure that the drills take place regularly. As Keith Spence rightly remarks, the frenzy created by these drills and the supplementary activities leads to a persistent pure tone of anxiety which is further responsible for a feeling of uneasiness and discomfort. (p.293)The adoption of the pre cautionary principle has led to a time where it is not the state which has to prove but the individual has to prove that he/she is acquitted. Under such a precautionary principle, the people irrespective of the fact that they are unacquainted(p) or victim, they are guilty unless proven innocent. To quote Keith Spence from World risk society and War on Terro r, Neither the conduct nor outcomes of such acts are fully predictable or controllable, and as war and terror overlap and blur so too do distinctions separating civilian from combatant, collateral from non-collateral, and innocent from other victims. (p. 289)Ardau and Van Munster aptly remark, Among the technologies used to avoid a catastrophic future, war is just one. The war on terror or the incident war of Afghanistan and Iraq do not speak of a recent rediscovery of militarism, but of a govern mentality that activates all the technologies imaginable in the face of uncertainty.There is an interesting similarity between Homeland and Fatherland. As Keith Spence points out the Jacobin Terror which was anticipated by the declaration of Fatherland in danger on 11th July 1972 was the starting point for the nation state to avouch its control and authority. In 1973 when the committal of public safety was constituted and succeeded the Committee of Vigilance (Spence p. 291), Danton proc laimed, Let us be terrible so that the people will not have to be. One cannot help but restrain with T. Ridge (2003) when he remarks that if War on Terror has been announced for public security then Homeland Security is just another name for the care committee and has been formed in the name of freedom.As Helene Guldberg puts it in gainsay the Precautionary Principle, to take regulatory action on the basis of possible unmanageable risks, even after tests have been conducted that find no certainty of harm. We are asked to make decisions to curb actions, not on the basis of what we know, but on the basis of what we do not knowBiometricsAs Ardau and Van Munster put it in Governing Terrorism through risk taking precautions, unknowing the future, 9/11 has given way to more pro-active forms of surveillance of suspect populations, leading to a surplus supply of selective information and an over-prediction of threats.To quote Aas K. F from The body does not lie Identity, risk and trust in technoculture, in a globalised and anonymous world, where almost everyone can establish to cross the closest borders, biological identification seems to be the best solution for states to verify peoples identity.Biometrics is simply the measurement of the most unique separate of a humans body i.e. the iris, the fingerprints, retinas, gait and voice. Application of biometrics in the field of security is just significant of the increasing trend of securitization of identity. The primary principle behind the biometrics is, as Aas puts it inThe body, to eliminate bad by keeping away undesired people.The US VISIT programme showcases the advanced and complex system of biometrics govern mentality i.e. a system of categorizing a person as legitimate or illegitimate with the oblige of technology collecting data biometric information of the human bodies.The case of Guantanamo speakAs Keith Spence puts it in World Risk society and War on Terror, apart from the invasion of Iraq the arch aic excess is prominently elaborated at Guantanamo Bay, where deterritorialization and pre-emption are materialized in a juristicly determined limbo beyond the reach of civil and international law. (p 291)Guantanamo existence as a state of exception was made clear by the condition of the detainees of Gauntanamo. As Giorgio Agamben seeks to explain, The detainees of Guantanamo are subject to raw power and have no lawful existence.( Agamben G. And Raulff U. (2004) Interview with Giorgio Agamben Life, A Work of Art Without an Author The State of Exception, the nerve of Disorder and Private Life, German legal philosophy Journal) Implication of the risk perspective to the camp exemplifies dealing with an unrestricted risk in the spatial category. The Guantanamo Bay detention camp has been placed outside the regular US legal jurisdiction but it is not fully immune for this order. . To this extent, C. Ardau in Law Transformed remarks, The Guantanamo bay camp perfectly embodies the nec essity of defining a new form of war, which breaks the habits of all previous sets.Guantanamo Bay stands as a perfect example of the aftermath of the conditions resulting from the implication of the precautionary logic of commanding the future in other words tackling something that is uncertain and unknown of. blush though Gauntanamo has resulted in making modern day terrorism as a novelty nevertheless it cannot be tagged as a place without any regulations. To put it in the words of C. Ardau, it has resulted in the knowledgeability of a place ruled by the dominant principle of organization the social and taming the future.US itself has become a source of violence it cherished to fight by adopting the harsh policies to fight to it and Guantanamo Bay is just one example of this. The thought of taking over terrorism with the principle of pre-empt instead than dealing with risk often leads to a vicious circle by giving way to exactly what it had wished to extinguish. War against t error and the precautionary steps taken thereafter is symbolic of this phenomenon.ConclusionTo quote Ulrich Beck, September 11 drove home the lesson that we now live in a risk society, a society in which there are uncontrollable and unpredictable dangers against which insurance is impossible and where questions of compensation, liability and harm minimization have confused all their social and political significance. The policies adopted and the measures taken post the attacks of 9/11 just makes this quote a lot more unexceptionable and suitable to the present situation.Even after taking the precautionary steps and becoming increasingly ready by employing latest technologies for uncertain but inevitable emergency situations, US has not only made itself more vulnerable to such attacks but in a way has helped the terror world to spread across its message of fear and panic. The new technologies utilise for security purposes are just new challenges posed in summit of the terrorist. They might learn to overtake it in a while. The question that arises then is What steps will US take then? It is really a vicious circle the more it will try to secure itself, the more insecure it will become