Social Inequality: The Modern Risc Society

The article analyzes the problem of social inequality in modern society on the example of the countries of the European Union. The main challenges of social transformations are considered using the concept of risk society. The possession of one or another type of capital in the social field (mostly related to talents and skills) generates differences and, ultimately, existential inequality, when some people have the opportunity to live in an inclusive society, while others do not. In this regard, modern states face the question of what new challenges are created by the previous forms of social inequality in the context of technological shifts. It is concluded that the combination of new and old inequalities with technological transition has led to the emergence of a new risk associated with what can be called civil exclusion by analogy with social exclusion. This risk is associated partially with the displacement of a part of society from the production of a common goods or products. The main challenge of modern society has become the for- mation of a deeply divided society, where citizens differ not only in terms of income, but also in their skills, abilities, opportunities for self-realization in professional, creative, technological senses. Civil rejection also leads to the correction of democratic mechanisms, within which those dissatisfied with the new way of life are marginalized.