ABSTRACT
The ideology of contractualism, manufactured risk, the rise of the contract(ing out) state, and the seemingly inexorable process of commodifying social relations are all dystopian features of late modemity. Yet a 'utopian realist' analysis of late modemity also yields signs of hope for global and local human welfare. Among these signs is the growing 'ethic ofhumanity'. This ethic is expressed in second and third generation human rights, for example, as weIl as in notions of social citizenship (Fraser and Gordon, 1994) - a broader concept than social demoeratie citizenship (Guild, 1996). This paper explores tensions between what I will describe as apocalyptic and utopian dimensions of late modemity.
