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Beck’s later work followed that of other sociologists (Vertovec and Cohen 2002; Benhabib 2006) into a theory of cosmopolitanism (Beck 2006; Beck and Grande 2007). Beck’s version begins from a critique of ‘nation-state-based’ thinking – that is, theories which take (national) societies as their main unit of analysis. Beck (2006: 18) argues that this ‘national outlook’ ‘fails to grasp that political, economic and cultural action and their (intended and unintended) consequences know no borders’. In our age of globalization and environmental crisis, where national borders are becoming more permeable and individual states are less powerful, social reality is being transformed in a thoroughly cosmopolitan direction. And the process is occurring behind the backs of sociologists. If allowed to develop without direction, cosmopolitanization presents as many threats as opportunities, particularly for those who are exploited by multinational corporations traversing the globe seeking cheaper labour and maximal profits.

Beck argues that the narrow viewpoint of the nation-state becomes an impediment when it comes to tackling new risks, such as global warming, or dealing effectively with global health pandemics such as the Covid-19 outbreak in late 2019 and 2020. Beck suggests we need a cosmopolitan system based on the acknowledgement and acceptance of cultural diversity. Cosmopolitan states do not fight only against terrorism but also against the causes of terrorism in the world. To Beck, cosmopolitanism provides the most positive way to cope with global problems, which may appear insoluble at the level of the individual state but are manageable through cooperation. New forms of activism are also appearing as we see the emergence of a field of ‘sub-politics’. This refers to the activities of groups and agencies operating outside the formal mechanisms of democratic politics, such as ecological, consumer or human rights groups.

Beck concedes that thinking in universal or cosmopolitan terms is not really new. Previously, the idea of citizenship beyond the nation-state was the preserve of well-travelled and well-connected social elites who voluntarily chose to see themselves as ‘Europeans’, for example, or as ‘citizens of the world’. Roudometof (2018) traces the first usage of the term back ‘at least 2,000 years’, with the modern concept being widely used in the period of the French Enlightenment to refer to ‘a citizen of the world’. Cosmopolitanism today has much stronger roots in global processes and is therefore, at least potentially, more effective. Beck argues that it is not enough for sociologists simply to analyse the emerging cosmopolitan world society; if the problems associated with globalization are to be tackled, they should also be involved in shaping it in positive directions.