Abstract

VARA, Ana María. One Year Without Ulrich Beck: From Risk Society To The Metamorphosis Of The World. Rev. iberoam. cienc. tecnol. soc. [online]. 2016, vol.11, n.32, pp.215-237. ISSN 1850-0013.

German sociologist Ulrich Beck’s sudden death on January 1, 2015, represents a significant loss for social science, not only due to the scope and impact of his forty years-long work but also because he was very active in two lines of action: his theoretical work in sociology and his role as an intellectual committed to public discussion. Many theorists engaged in productive exchanges with him, making a contribution to the diffusion and refinement of his thought; and a lot of empirical research was done following his theoretical frameworks. Although he did not work specifically on science and technology studies, his complex views on society always included science and technology, as well as the environment, as inseparable components of social life in late modernity. His main contribution to STS is perhaps the linking of some of its main topics to mainstream social theory. In this obituary we intend to briefly analyze some key notions, as well as his work on the production of knowledge and non-knowledge, on gender and family issues, and on the impact of climate change in the "metamorphosis of the world", his last contribution to sociological thinking.

Keywords : Ulrich Beck; Risk society; Individualization; Cosmopolitization; Metamorphosis of the world.