Professor Ulrich Beck

Professor at Ludwig Maximilian University Munich and London School of Economics

Ulrich Beck is Professor for Sociology at the University of Munich, and has been the British Journal of Sociology LSE Centennial Professor in the Department of Sociology since 1997. He has received Honorary Doctorates from several European universities. Professor Beck is editor of Soziale Welt, editor of the Edition Second Modernity at Suhrkamp. He is founding director of the research centre at the University of Munich (in cooperation with three other universities in the area), Sonderforschungsbereich - Reflexive Modernisation financed since 1999 by the DFG (German Research Society).

Professor Beck's teaching concentrates on modernisation theory, sociology of risk, transformation of work and social inequalities. At LSE, he runs a graduate seminar on aspects of contemporary social theory for both MSc and research students. He has recently finished a book on World at Risk (climate change, terrorism, financial crisis), which summarizes his theoretical, empirical, and political engagement in this field for many years.

His most recent research activities include a long-term empirical study of the sociological and political implications of 'reflexive modernization', which explores the complexities and uncertainties of the process of transformation from first to second modernity. Specifically he is working on unpacking cosmopolitanism for the social sciences: a research agenda.