The cosmopolitan perspective: sociology of the second age of modernity

'Second age of modernity' is a magical password that is meant to open the d oors to new conceptual landscapes. The whole world of nation sovereign tv i s fading away - including the 'container theory of society' on which most o f the sociology of die first age of modernity is based upon. In this articl e I propose a distinction between 'simple globalization' and 'reflexive cos mopolitization'. In the paradigm of the first age of modernity, simple glob alization is interpreted within the territorial compass of state and politi cs, society and culture. This involves an additive, not substitutive, conce ption of globalization as indicated for example by 'interconnectedness'. In the paradigm of the second age of modernity globalization changes not only die relations between and beyond national states and societies, but also t he inner quality of the social and political itself which is indicated by m ore or less reflexive cosmopolitization as an institutionalized learning pr ocess - and its enemies.