As we witness regressive political responses to global interdependence by means of deregulation, tariff hikes and border control, we are reminded of Ulrich Beck (1944-2015). He called this zombie politics; obsolete responses to post-national problems. Beck argued these politics fail to recognize the world’s metamorphosis: that security, justice, and democracy are now cosmopolitan, not national, tasks.

Sociologist Ulrich Beck is well-known for his term Risk Society (Beck, 1986). He wrote that the central conflicts of society have changed from class-based struggles over wealth in the industrial age, to global conflicts over risks produced by modernization itself. Think environmental destruction, nuclear threats and genetic engineering. These risks are no longer limited in space, time, or social class. They are global, invisible, and irreversible and thus challenge the assumptions of traditional institutions, politics, and science.

Beck’s World at Risk (2007) builds on this. Beck argues that we now face a new organizing principle: not class or wealth, but the distribution and perception of global risks. These risks, such as terrorism, climate change, pandemics, and financial collapse, are not accidents or anomalies, but the systemic side effects of industrial and technological progress.

In other work, he showed that the foundations of modern society; nation-state boundaries, economic sovereignty, and traditional institutions; are dissolving. New social realities are emerging that defy conventional categories, such as digital risks and global cities acting as political actors. Risk becomes a structuring force, generating new norms and cross-border coalitions.

Beck used the term subpolitics; decision-making with major social consequences occurring outside traditional institutions (Beck, 2000). Multinational corporations, NGOs, and technocratic elites operate beyond democratic control, hollowing out the state. Yet globalization remains politically moldable through civil society, transnational cooperation, and institutional innovation. The key challenge is democratizing global power without reverting to nationalist protectionism.

Beck introduced cosmopolitan realism to replace what he called the failed realism of national sovereignty (Beck, 2005). He called for a new global political economy in which states shift between renationalization (protectionism, nationalism) and transnationalization (shared sovereignty, global cooperation). Power is dispersed: capital, civil society, and global media now operate beyond state borders. Traditional political categories—left/right, national/international—are becoming obsolete in a meta-power game where the rules themselves are being rewritten.

In The Metamorphosis of the World (Beck, 2016), Beck critiqued methodological nationalism, the idea that inequality and justice can still be explained within national frameworks. Instead, he showed how social inequality merges with natural inequality, as in climate vulnerability. Rising global expectations of equality, driven by human rights and media, outpace institutions' ability to respond. Climate change becomes a prime example of cosmopolitan risk. This shows both new injustices and opportunities for cross-border solidarity.

Beck proposed emancipatory catastrophism, the idea that catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina or Fukushima reveal hidden inequalities and mobilize new forms of public engagement. Global risks prompt societal self-reflection and may catalyze cosmopolitan reforms and democratic renewal. These shocks carry the potential to build cosmopolitan communities of risk, networks of cooperation that transcend national borders, Beck wrote.

Beck’s message is clear: only by embracing the cosmopolitan condition can we make the world (not just America ;-) livable again.

References

Beck, U. (1986), Risikogesellschaft: Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

Beck, U. (2000), What is Globalization?, Cambridge/Malden: Polity Press.

Beck, U. (2005), Power in the Global Age - A new global political economy, Cambridge/Malden: Polity Press.

Beck, U. (2007), Weltrisikogesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

Beck, U. (2016), The Metamophosis of the World, Cambridge/Malden: Polity Press.