Dr Joy Zhang is invited to give a talk at the Collège d’études mondiales‘ annual seminar, 'Social Sciences at the Age of Second Modernity', this coming Monday. This event is a tribute to Ulrich Beck.

Zhang's talk, Cosmopolitan Communities and the Reworking Of Boundaries, draws on her ongoing research on China's governance of environmental and biomedical sciences. It argues that cosmopolitan belonging is a form of performative identity. Its key characteristic lies in a 'liberating prerogative', which enables individuals to participate in the solution of common problems creatively. It is this liberating prerogative that coerces the state out of political monopoly and marks the cosmopolitan moment.

Event Programme

A Tribute to Ulrich Beck -Social Sciences at the Age of Second Modernity 
Monday May 18th, 2015
Maison de l'Amérique latine, 217, boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris 75007

9.00 Welcome with café and croissants
9.30-9.45 Opening by Michel Wieviorka and Elisabeth Beck
9.45-10.00 A Visual Tribute To Ulrich Beck

10.00-11.30 Round table "For A Cosmopolitanisation Of Social Sciences"

– Nancy Fraser (New School for Social Research/Collège d'études mondiales), moderator, Introduction
– Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim (Universität München): Why Methodological Cosmopolitanism? Because It Makes A Difference
– Daniel Levy (Stony Brook University, New York): Cosmopolitan Catastrophism: Remembering the Future
– Sabine Selchow (London School of Economics and Political Science): With Beck Into The Future Of Political Studies: Introducing A 'Cosmopolitan' Approach To Global Politics

11.30-12.45 Round Table "Regionalism and Globalization"

– Yvon Le Bot (Collège d'études mondiales), moderator
– Alain Touraine (CADIS/EHESS): A Global Approach Of Regional Problems
– Ernesto Ottone (Universidad Diego Portales / Collège d'études mondiales): Ulrich Beck en Amérique latine : l’aventure tronquée
– Joy Zhang (University of Kent): Cosmopolitan Communities and the Reworking Of Boundaries

Lunch

14.30-15.30 Round Table "Beck’s Concept of Second Modernity and East Asian Development"

– Michel Wieviorka (Collège d'études mondiales), moderator
– Sang-Jin Han (Seoul National University): Why Is The Idea Of Second Modernity More Appealing To East Asia Than The West?
– Young-Hee Shim (Hanyang University): Second Modernity And Individualization: An East Asian Experience
– Emiko Ochiai (Kyoto University): The Logics Of Compressed And Semi-compressed Modernity In Asia

15.30-16.00 Guest Lecture "The Web Revealing Social Reality"

– Maurizio Ferraris (Università di Torino)
– René Frydman (Collège d'études mondiales), moderator

16.00– 16.30 Coffee break

16.30-17.45 Round Table "New Technologies and Social Sciences"

– Hervé Le Bras (Collège d'études mondiales)/ Anne Boyer (Université de Lorraine), moderators
– Elisabeth Beck, (Universität München): Global Technologies, Local Values
– Vincent Duclos (Collège d'études mondiales): Information Technology And Health: Ethical, Clinical And Political Implications
– Daniel Andler (Université Paris-Sorbonne): Technology-Enhanced Learning And Natural Cognition: Principles And Practices
– Christian Walter (Collège d'études mondiales): Framing Finance: Technology, Risk, Ethics

17.45-18.00 Conclusions and prospects