Giddens sees in globalization the birth of new individualism, change in the range of
professional work, i.e., more people arrange their professional career than before, acquire new
qualifications and skills and transfer them in a different professional context. So we can at least
find in Giddens’ globalization confirmation for feedback loops R2, R4a, R4b and R5 (Fig. 3).
Yet the development of information and communication technology (ICT) causes the
digitalization of world finances, pushing free markets on the level of virtuality. Giddens often
refers to the well-known Y2K computer failure threat. Thankfully, the catastrophe did not come,
but the global society was seriously alarmed. The threat still exists, however, because a lot more
of our financial transactions depend on ICT.
Another matter that Giddens (1990) talks about is the global risk of social disorientation,
which affects the citizens of the world, and the ecological risk, connected with the threat of
health risk. These risks reduce people’s quality of life (Fig. 3).