Social Change over the Last 50 Years

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Social change over the last 50 years has all been about new threats, uncertainties, risks and crises. Discuss this with reference to at least three blocks of DD100 Over the last 50 years, social change has moved away from what was felt as a golden age of harmony, routine, tradition and predictability into a society that seems to face many threats including environmental devastations, threats of climate change and global warming, increased crime, terrorism and uncertainties about globalization. Giddens (1999) characterized this as a ‘run away world’ which he quotes “For better or worse, we are being propelled into a global order that no one fully understands, but which is making its effects felt upon all of us” (Giddens, 1999,Lecture 1) The securities of life 50 years ago have been transformed within the family, employment and in welfare. For some, insecurity, uncertainty and threats have replaced the tight reins that used to hold society together. In this essay I will be discussing some of these threats, risks, crises and uncertainties that are currently in the public domain, some of which seem to stem from globalization. I will be then looking to see if these uncertainties have been exaggerated and if any of these issues can be interpreted as giving people greater opportunities and choices. In the conclusion of the essay I will make a decision based on the evidence offered throughout DD100 on whether or not the essay question generally reflects society today. One of the major threats that many of us are deeply concerned about in today’s society is that of unemployment. Book 4 of DD100 centres around globalization and Book 3 looks at the flexibility of the labour market. Pessimistic globalists believe globalization has brought with it new threats, dangers and uncertainties. Book 4 – ‘a globalizing world’ suggests that British jobs are no longer safe as the
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