The Metamorphosis of the World: How Climate Change is Transforming Our Concept of the World

Abstract

Ulrich Beck’s The Metamorphosis of the World is a comprehensive theorization of the world we live in today. It is the embodiment of a selection of his most influential works intertwined and ma- tured as Beck refined his thoughts and ideas throughout his academic career. Beck (1944–2015) sets out to explore and answer the globally incessant ques- tion of what world we live in, or more specifically, “what is the meaning of the global events unfolding before our eyes on the television?” (p. 3). He does this not only for the benefit of the reader, but for his own understanding and analysis. Beck highlights the lack of theorization of explicating the current state of the world, as a result of climate change, and seeks to rectify the situation by pro- viding an exhaustive account of examples to show how the process the world is currently embarking on, “meta- morphosis,” is taking place, before identifying how the acceptance instead of resistance of such change could lead to a greater, cooperative Earth.