Beck, Ulrich and Grande, Edgar (2010) Varieties of second modernity: the cosmopolitan turn in social and political theory and research. British journal of sociology, 61 (3). pp. 409-443. ISSN 0007-1315
Abstract
The theme of this special issue is the necessity of a cosmopolitan turn in social and political theory. The question at the heart of this introductory chapter takes the challenge of 'methodological cosmopolitanism', already addressed in a Special Issue on Cosmopolitan Sociology in this journal (Beck and Sznaider 2006), an important step further: How can social and political theory be opened up, theoretically as well as methodologically and normatively, to a historically new, entangled Modernity which threatens its own foundations? How can it account for the fundamental fragility, the mutability of societal dynamics (of unintended side-effects, domination and power), shaped by the globalization of capital and risks at the beginning of the twenty-first century? What theoretical and methodological problems arise and how can they be addressed in empirical research? In the following, we will develop this 'cosmopolitan turn' in four steps: firstly, we present the major conceptual tools for a theory of cosmopolitan modernities; secondly, we de-construct Western modernity by using examples taken from research on individualization and risk; thirdly, we address the key problem of methodological cosmopolitanism, namely the problem of defining the appropriate unit of analysis; and finally, we discuss normative questions, perspectives, and dilemmas of a theory of cosmopolitan modernities, in particular problems of political agency and prospects of political realization.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www2.lse.ac.uk/BJS/Home.aspx |
| Additional Information: | © 2010 London School of Economics and Political Science |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ISI, second modernity, methodological cosmopolitanism, world risk society, individualization, cosmopolitization, political agency |
| Library of Congress subject classification: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JC Political theory |
| Sets: | Departments > Sociology |
| Rights: | http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/rights/LSERO.htm |
| Identification Number: | UT ISI:000281856800001 |
| URL: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/29600/ |
Actions (login required)
 |
Record administration - authorised staff only |
