Special theme introduction: methodological cosmopolitanism across the socio-cultural sciences

Abstract

The cosmopolitan sociology of Ulrich Beck has been widely recognized as making vital contributions to crosscutting conversations on globalization and transnational studies, including these debates that are being played out on the pages of Global Networks. Beck's impassioned critique of ‘methodological nationalism’ in his own discipline of sociology, in particular, has often served as a springboard for programmatic calls to attend more closely to transnational actors, issues, and processes. However, beyond the occasional acknowledgement, comparatively less attention has been paid so far to the potentialities, specificities, and practicalities of Beck's affirmative alternative vision for the socio-cultural sciences, that of ‘methodological cosmopolitanism’. Building on and extending out from research experiences obtained in Beck's East Asia and Europe-focused Cosmopolitan Climate Change (Cosmo-Climate) project, this special theme brings together experts from across a range of socio-cultural research fields to discuss and critically interrogate the challenges and capacities of doing methodological cosmopolitanism.