ABSTRACT
Individualization has been widely viewed as one of the key processes, in the context of globalization. Nevertheless, this phenomenon is still arguable. Some sociologists argue that it is one of the fundamental changes in the nature of society and politics at the present stage of modernity. Individualization appears as a result of the retreat of classical institutions such as the state, class, nuclear family, and ethnic group. The process of individualization is often regarded as an emancipatory trend since as individuals are freed from traditional bonds and discover more social spaces open for their autonomy. At the same time, some authors have expressed critical views on individualization, since it produces more risks and uncertainty for individuals’ lives and identities (Bauman 2001; Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 2002). Many anxious voices expressing concerns about this process argue that individualization might come about at the expense of various forms of the common good in general, and of various forms of solidarity in particular. At present, some commentators critically assess rising individualism, seeing it as one of the core features of the cultural context that has enabled the types of proximate actions precipitating the crisis and even view the “individualistic models of the human being as being hostile to human well being” (Archer 2010).
