Beck - The Metamorphosis of the World: How Climate Change is Transforming Our Conc

Copyright Ulrich Beck 2016

The right of Ulrich Beck to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2016 by Polity Press

Polity Press

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Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

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Malden, MA 02148, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-9021-6

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Beck, Ulrich, 1944-2015, author.

The metamorphosis of the world / Ulrich Beck.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7456-9021-6 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-7456-9022-3 (pbk.) 1. Social changeEnvironmental aspects. 2. Climatic changesSocial aspects. 3. RiskSociological aspects. 4. Environmental sociology. 5. Social evolution. I. Title.

HM856.B43 2016

303.4dc23

2015032724

Typeset in 11 on 13 pt Sabon

by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited

Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon

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1 January 2015 was a splendid winter day: blue sky, sun all over, snow sparkling with light. It was scenery out of a picture book, filled with magic. In a joyful mood, Ulrich and I set out for a walk in the nearby park, Munich's famous Englische Garten. Some weeks before, at the beginning of December, Ulrich had sent a preliminary and unedited version of Metamorphosis to Polity Press, and just some two or three days previously, at the end of December, he had received the first reviews. While initially he had been somewhat irritated by some of the comments, now, in the course of our walking and talking, he came to see that they did indeed touch upon important issues. Immediately he started on a course of brainstorming, and I joined in. We spoke of adding new parts that would help to clarify and improve critical issues.

But then, in the midst of our brainstorming, the end.

A sudden heart attack.

Ulrich died.

A few days later, I tried to record the major points we had been talking about on that beautiful New Year's day. But, try as hard as I could, I could not accomplish the task. Memory failed me. All I could remember were fragments, bits and pieces. The essence was gone.

In February 2015, the LSE paid a special tribute to Ulrich. At an event held in his honour, Anthony Giddens spoke of Metamorphosis, calling it an unfinished book. In the following months I learnt the truth of his statement. This was when the task of transforming the preliminary manuscript into a book began and kept me going and going. It was but the last chapter in a long story that involved many people and was closely associated with Ulrich's ERC Advanced Grant Methodological Cosmopolitanism In the Laboratory of Climate Change.

From the very beginning Anders Blok (Copenhagen) and Sabine Selchow (London) had been engaged in discussing first drafts of the manuscript. Both Blok and Selchow, in their own way, have given much time, energy and expertise to this task. Thanks to their efforts, the manuscript gained in depth and theoretical foundation as well as in precision and empirical detail. Furthermore, numerous people some also members of the ERC team, some colleagues from a variety of academic backgrounds, some based in Munich, some living in faraway regions and continents have come up with fruitful suggestions and inspired new ideas. The following persons took part in this network of cosmopolitan cooperation: Martin Albrow (London); Christoph Lau (Munich); Daniel Levy (New York); Zhifei Mao (Hong Kong); Svetla Marinova (Sofia); Gabe Mythen (Liverpool); Shalini Randeria (Vienna); Maria S. Rerrich (Munich/Blackstock, South Carolina); Natan Sznaider (Tel Aviv); John Thompson (Cambridge); David Tyfield (Lancaster/Guangzhou, China); Ingrid Volkmer (Melbourne); and Johannes Willms (Munich). Once again Almut Kleine (Munich), trained by twenty years of working with Ulrich, bravely navigated through his handwritten notes and corrections and typed her way through many versions of the text. And Caroline Richmond at Polity did a wonderful job copyediting the text and ironing out any wrinkles that remained.

But, before that, there was the task of completing the unfinished book. It was a challenge indeed, and it needed the collaboration of three individuals.

Fortunately, as Ulrich and I had been close companions and colleagues for so many decades, the subject of metamorphosis had been part of our daily discussions indeed, our daily lives. I had seen Ulrich struggling with it and eventually coming to terms with it. Furthermore, I could build on the experience of four books and numerous articles we had written together. Yet, when it came to producing a final version of Metamorphosis a version ready for print each chapter presented a series of open questions, from metaphors of mysterious meaning to arguments based on unknown sources. In such moments and there were many of them John Thompson, close colleague and most loyal friend, stepped in, investing enormous amounts of time and energy, of sociological knowledge and publishing experience. Whenever I longed for a break, for some time off from Metamorphosis, or even for a chance to finish my own book, John patiently brought me back in line, pressed me to go on, or went ahead himself. Time and again, he helped to make sense of and revise incomplete sentences, paragraphs that ended abruptly, and text (written in English) that sounded too German.

But, in the end, both John and I would have been at a loss if it had not been for Albert Grber, scientific coordinator of the ERC team and noted expert on every detail of Ulrich's writings. During the difficult period directly following Ulrich's death, Albert did not only have a major role in steering the project through serious problems; at the same time he also actively contributed to finishing Metamorphosis. He ingeniously tracked down references, unearthed remote quotations, and compiled a list of relevant authors and publications.

In this way the unfinished manuscript gradually gained in shape and was eventually transformed into a book. I am deeply indebted to John and Albert, and my warmest thanks go to both of them.

I hope that, taken all together, we have done well, at least on most occasions. I hope the result allows us to see the vision Ulrich had in mind when he started on the journey to Metamorphosis