In this book I attempt to sustain a single proposition, namely that for the first time in human history the imperative to be reflexive is becoming categorical for all, although manifesting itself in only the most developed parts of the world. This thesis does not rest upon any form of sociological Kantianism. There is no ‘ought’ attaching to intensified reflexivity and no stern voice of duty urging increased reflexive deliberation.

Instead, the thesis is that the emergence of a new conjuncture between the cultural order (ideationally based) and the structural order (materially based) is shaping new situational contexts in which more and more social subjects find themselves and whose variety they have to confront – in a novel manner. This is the practical consequence and manifestation of nascent morphogenesis. What each and every person has to determine is what they are going to do in these situations. Increasingly all have to draw upon their socially dependent but nonetheless personal powers of reflexivity in order to define their course(s) of action in relation to the novelty of their circumstances. Habits and habitus are no longer reliable guides. The positive face of the reflexive imperative is the opportunity for subjects to pursue what they care about most in the social order. In fact their personal concerns become their compasses. Its negative face is that subjects can design and follow courses of action that are inappropriate to realising their prime social concerns and whose negative outcomes rebound upon them.