Individualisation

A term from sociology that describes the process of the transition of the individual from external- to self-determination. The development can be divided into two historical phases: the first, beginning with the Enlightenment, goes hand in hand with the disintegration of traditional ties and increasing the self-determination of the individual. The second phase (according to Giddens and Beck) is the present development in the society of a new radicalisation and universalisation as a result of political and economic processes of acceleration that are aspects of globalisation. As levels of education improve and prosperity increase, lifestyles continue to become increasingly pluralised. Gender-specific identities that formed in industrial society are dissolving, and class and status are becoming obsolete as social classifications.

Literatuur:
Anthony Giddens, ‹Leben in einer posttraditionalen Gesellschaft›, in: Reflexive Modernisierung. Eine Kontroverse, Frankfurt 1996, S.113–195
Ulrich Beck, ‹Das Zeitalter der Nebenfolgen und die Politisierung der Moderne›, in: Reflexive Modernisierung. Eine Kontroverse, Frankfurt 1996, S.19–112
Michel Foucault, ‹Subjekt und Macht›, in: Analytik der Macht, Frankfurt 2005, S.248–250