Pervasive Uncertainty in Second Modernity: An Empirical Test

Recent discussion of social change implies that, for a number of reasons, to dowith globalisation, shifts in family life styles and labour markets, morecritical attitudes toward the authority of officials and experts and greaterawareness of possibilities and options, social life is more strongly affected bya sense of uncertainty. It also implies that uncertainty is pervasive and notspecifically linked to fears about specific contingencies. It is associated withan orientation towards self-direction and a rejection of tradition andconformity. This thesis has been widely discussed, but rarely tested usingquantitative data. This paper uses data from a recent national survey carriedout by the ESRC Social Contexts and Responses to Risk network to show thatuncertainty and security concerns are strong, but are in fact linked totraditionalism and conformity rather than to a critical and reflexive awareness.A high value is attached to self-direction, but this is linked to privilegedsocial status rather than attitudes of pervasive social uncertainty. In generalthe values posited by recent discussion seem to be associated more closely withimmediate social position than with the society-wide impact of socialchange.