Ulrich Beck's Legacy

This article presents the core ideas of Ulrich Beck and his legacy is evaluated. The first part introduces the most widely known concepts, disseminated in the national and international contexts, centered on the works from the period following the publication of his book "Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity". The quest for transforming sociology, both theoretically and methodologically, was a central drive in the approach proposed by Beck, questioning the zombie concepts permeating the area. From social theory, Beck started to significantly influence other areas within the discipline, highlighting environmental sociology and risk theories. The second part presents more recent works, focusing on the cosmopolitanization concept. This is not part of a normative proposal, but rather an analytical one of a process that has seized our contemporary world, largely independently of our intentions. Reading this part of his work is highly relevant to understand both the intellectual and political challenges permeating the complex metamorphoses of our time. The axle of the final part is his last research into climate change and how Beck and his team were facing the need of empirically translating the richness of the sociologist's ideas and insights. Fundamentally, the aim of this article is to highlight how his legacy opens innumerable and creative possibilities of recreating the social sciences field.19122723

Agricultura familiar, multifuncionalidade da agricultura e ruralidade: interfaces de uma realidade complexa.

Nas últimas décadas, assistimos à revitalização do debate em torno da agricultura familiar pela incorporação das discussões sobre as múltiplas funções da agricultura num rural que não pode mais ser visto como domínio exclusivo da atividade agrícola e dos agricultores. No contexto brasileiro, acreditamos que essa discussão deva ser permeada pela análise de como processos diferenciados de distribuição fundiária e desenvolvimento econômico e o tipo de agricultura resultante geram ruralidades específicas com características como, no caso da agricultura familiar, a manutenção de práticas sociais e de trabalho marcadas pelas relações de parentesco e vizinhança presentes numa sociedade de interconhecimento. Partindo desse princípio, este trabalho analisa a agricultura familiar de um bairro rural do município de Ouro Fino - MG, sua herança histórica e sua participação na criação de uma paisagem natural e humana que muito contribui para a atratividade da região

The Politics and Situatedness of Emerging Technologies

[R]evolutionary technologies are rapidly making their way into the market, bringing with them greater precision, enhanced flexibility and — at least when compared to some conventional approaches — lower costs. The pace at which these new technologies, their tools and applications, are making their way out of the laboratory and into our hands appears to be accelerating. And while artificial intelligence, and gene editing tools such as the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system, appear to hold substantial promise, and unparalleled opportunities, great uncertainty exists over their trajectory and potential (unintended) risks. It is therefore not surprising that their development has been paralleled by calls to innovate responsibility, to assess the efficacy of currently legislative regimes, to integrate broader societal issues, and to actively engage the public on the trajectory that these technologies may, or may not, take. Bringing together contributions and perspectives from the multidisciplinary S.NET community, The Politics and Situatedness of Emerging Technologies critically examines dynamics that exists between politics, emerging technologies and the public. Collectively, the chapters illuminate the fundamental role of dialogue, politics, policy and governance frameworks in shaping, and embedding, all emerging technologies — and their products — into society

Practices of Innovation and Responsibility: Insights from Methods, Governance and Action

Over the last decade we have witnessed a significant maturation of the debate around the potential impact of nanotechnologies and other emerging technologies. A global risk research agenda has been developed to address key areas of uncertainty, and we have seen a shift towards ‘responsibility’, ‘responsible development’ and ‘responsible innovation’ of these technologies and their products. But what do we mean by ‘responsible research and innovation’ (RRI)? And how is this concept being operationalized in relation to emerging technologies? Bringing together contributions and perspectives from the multidisciplinary S.NET community, Practices of Innovation and Responsibility: Insights from Methods, Governance and Action examines the question of how RRI may be put into practice, via concrete methods and approaches, and as anticipatory practices designed to shape the innovation process itself