We do not Live in an Age of Cosmopolitanism but in an Age of Cosmopolitisation: The ‘Global Other’ is in Our Midst

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Beck
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Methodological Nationalism ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Social

As against the current state of the art, this article argues for a cosmopolitan vision in the social sciences and, more specifically, for a cosmopolitan turn in social and political theory and research. A critique of the prevailing methodological nationalism leads to a presentation of an agenda for researching really existing cosmopolitisation. The proposed paradigm shift is illustrated by graphic examples of drastically altered social relations and social inequalities drawn from around the globe, and its urgency is underscored by an analysis of the political dynamics and transformations characteristic of the world risk society. The development of a cosmopolitan vision in the social sciences demands not simply the token adoption of methodological cosmopolitanism, but the painful excision of deep-seated Western and Eurocentric biases.

Cosmopolitanizing Catastrophism: Remembering the Future

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 291-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Levy
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Iterative Approach ◽  
Relational Understanding ◽  
Methodological Nationalism ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Paradigmatic Change

Ulrich Beck’s quest to unshackle the social sciences from their methodological nationalism has yielded numerous influential concepts. In his last work he theorized the transformation of a globally connected world through the notion of ‘metamorphosis’ understood as a form of radical (paradigmatic) change. This transfiguration is driven by different perceptions of catastrophism, carrying the potential to re-shape world risk society. In this essay I critically assess what Beck refers to as ‘emancipatory catastrophism’. I suggest substituting emancipatory with cosmopolitan catastrophism. Cosmopolitan catastrophism seeks to adjoin an event-centered approach with a relational understanding of world risk society. By emphasizing cosmopolitan trajectories we avoid the linear fallacies plaguing earlier theories of modernity. Beck’s iterative approach provides us with a heuristic tool, which addresses the ongoing interplay of universal scripts and local appropriations in the context of contingencies and uncertainties. Previously seen as residual, catastrophism becomes the center of our analytic efforts.

Reframing Power in the Globalized World

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 793-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Beck
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Global Business ◽  
Methodological Nationalism ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Global Power ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Age ◽  
Globalized World

This paper throws light on the global power games being played out between global business, nation-states and movements rooted in civil society. It offers an account of the changing nature of power in the global age and assesses the influence of the counter-powers. The thesis is that, in an age of global crises and risks, the creation of a dense network of transnational interdependencies is exactly what is needed to regain national autonomy, not least in relation to a highly mobile world economy. The author thereby argues that a paradigm shift of the social sciences is needed, from `methodological nationalism' to `methodological cosmopolitanism'.

scholarly journals Review article: Towards a context-driven research: a state-of-the-art review of resilience research on climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 1119-1133
Author(s):  
Ringo Ossewaarde ◽  
Tatiana Filatova ◽  
Yola Georgiadou ◽  
Andreas Hartmann ◽  
Gül Özerol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Current State ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The Social ◽  
Energy Justice

Abstract. The twofold aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of resilience research with regard to climate change in the social sciences and propose a research agenda. Resilience research among social scientists is characterized by much more diversity today than a few decades ago. Different definitions and understandings of resilience appear in publications during the last 10 years. Resilience research increasingly bears the mark of social constructivism, a relative newcomer compared to the more long-standing tradition of naturalism. There are also approaches that are indebted to both “naturalism” and “constructivism”, which, of course, come in many varieties. Based on our overview of recent scholarship, which is far from being exhaustive, we have identified six research avenues that arguably deserve continued attention. They combine naturalist and constructivist insights and approaches so that human agency, reflexivity, and considerations of justice and equity are incorporated into systems thinking research or supplement such research. Ultimately, we believe that the overarching challenge for future research is to ensure that resilience to climate change does not compromise sustainability and considerations of justice (including environmental, climate, and energy justice).

Social geography I: Time and temporality

2021 ◽  
pp. 030913252110093
Author(s):  
Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Social Geography ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social

Time and temporality have gained renewed attention in the social sciences. This report examines such research in social geography, contextualising these developments in earlier geographical scholarship. It excavates the contemporary ways in which time and temporality’s relationship with space is conceptualised to analyse social relations, social inequalities and social justice. The report discusses three domains: intimate space-times, life stage and life-course; migration, mobility and social inequalities; and human–nature relations in the past, present and future. The report argues that the temporal framings and strategies of how people engage with unequal socio-spatial relations are core to the enduring concerns of social geographers.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Lewens
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Potential Functions ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
The Third ◽  
Current State ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Compare And Contrast

Many evolutionary theorists have enthusiastically embraced human nature, but large numbers of evolutionists have also rejected it. It is also important to recognize the nuanced views on human nature that come from the side of the social sciences. This introduction provides an overview of the current state of the human nature debate, from the anti-essentialist consensus to the possibility of a Gray’s Anatomy of human psychology. Three potential functions for the notion of species nature are identified. The first is diagnostic, assigning an organism to the correct species. The second is species-comparative, allowing us to compare and contrast different species. The third function is contrastive, establishing human nature as a foil for human culture. The Introduction concludes with a brief synopsis of each chapter.

Queer as Materialism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Noyé ◽  
Gianfranco Rebucini
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Queer Theory ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Family Resemblance ◽  
Marxist Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Feminist Thought ◽  
The Social

Since the 2000s, forms of articulation between materialist and Marxist theory and queer theory have been emerging and have thus created a “queer materialism.” After a predominance of poststructuralist analyses in the social sciences in the1980s and 1990s, since the late 1990s, and even more so after the economic crisis of 2008, a materialist shift seems to be taking place. These recompositions of the Marxist, queer, and feminist, which took place in activist and academic arenas, are decisive in understanding how the new approaches are developing in their own fields. The growing legitimacy of feminist and queer perspectives within the Marxist left is part of an evolution of Marxism on these issues. On the other side, queer activists and academics have highlighted the economic and social inequalities that the policies of austerity and capitalism in general induce among LGBTQI people and have turned to more materialist references, especially Marxist ones, to deploy an anticapitalist and antiracist argument. Even if nowadays one cannot speak of a “queer materialist” current as such, because the approaches grouped under this term are very different, it seems appropriate to look for a “family resemblance” and to group them together. Two specific kinds of “queer materialisms” can thus be identified. The first, queer Marxism, seeks to theorize together Marxist and queer theories, particularly in normalization and capitalist accumulation regimes. The second, materialist queer feminism, confronts materialist/Marxist feminist thought with queer approaches and thus works in particular on the question of heteropatriarchy based on this double tradition.

Sociality, Spirituality, and Meaning Making: Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Cacioppo ◽  
Louise C. Hawkley ◽  
Edith M. Rickett ◽  
Christopher M. Masi
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Aging

Scientific theories in the natural sciences posit invisible forces operating with measurable effects on physical bodies, but the scientific study of invisible forces acting on human bodies has made limited progress. The topics of sociality, spirituality, and meaning making are cases in point. The authors discuss some of the possible reasons for this as well as contemporary developments in the social sciences and neurosciences that may make such study possible and productive.

Bedrock or social construction? What Anthropocene science means for political theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Arias-Maldonado
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Scientific Concept ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Quest For Meaning ◽  
Natural Scientists

How should political thinkers deal with environmental science? The question has acquired a new urgency with the rise of the Anthropocene, a scientific concept rapidly assimilated by the social sciences and the humanities. In that respect, some critics have levelled against it the well-known objections that environmental political thinkers and philosophers have directed towards science at large in the past. Anthropocene science might lead towards planetary governmentality, imposing a reductive way of understanding both the planet and sustainability. This article will claim that a clear demarcation between scientific and sociopolitical enquiries is needed. Political thinkers should take the findings provided by natural scientists as the basis for normative exploration and the quest for meaning. Arendt’s reflections on truth and factfulness will help to make this point.

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