Cosmopolitanism

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Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community. This is contrasted with ideologies of patriotism and nationalism. Cosmopolitanism may or may not entail some sort of world government or it may simply refer to more inclusive moral, economic, and/or political relationships between nations or individuals of different nations[citation needed].

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[edit] Cultural cosmopolitanism

Cultural cosmopolitanism pertains to wide international experience. Cosmopolitan, meaning citizen of the world, refers to a taste or consideration for cultures besides one's own culture of origin, as with a traveler or globally conscious person. The term derives from Greek κόσμος (cosmos) meaning world + πολις (polis) meaning city, people, citizenry, and was widely used by ancient philosophers, such as the Stoics and Cynics, to describe a universal love of humankind as a whole, regardless of nation. The term may also be used as a synonym for 'worldly' or 'sophisticated'.

[edit] Philosophical cosmopolitanism

Further information: Global justice, Moral universalism

Philosophical cosmopolitans are moral universalists: they believe that all humans, and not merely compatriots or fellow-citizens, come under the same moral standards. The boundaries between nations, states, cultures or societies are therefore morally irrelevant.

The cosmopolitan writer Demetrius Klitou argues, in "The Friends and Foes of Human Rights", that cosmopolitanism is a major friend and a necessary element of the human rights movement. Furthermore, Klitou argues that a cosmopolitan "Human identity" is as necessary for the triumph of human rights, as a European identity is for a political European Union. He controversially argues that "This is a major dilemma for the European project. We have a European Union, but no Europeans or a European identity. The same is equally true for human rights. We have human rights, but no Humans or a human identity" (p. 44).

Some philosophers and scholars argue that the objective and subjective conditions arising in today's unique historical moment, an emerging planetary phase of civilization, creates a latent potential for the emergence of a cosmopolitan identity as global citizens and possible formation of a global citizens movement.[1] These emerging objective and subjective conditions in the planetary phase include everything from improved communications technology such as cell phones, tv, internet, satellites; space travel and the first images of our fragile planet floating in the vastness of space; global warming and other ecological threats to our collective existence; new global institutions such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, or International Criminal Court; the rise of transnational corporations and integration of markets often termed economic globalization; the emergence of global NGOs and transnational social movements, such as the World Social Forum; and so on. Globalization, a more common term, typically refers more narrowly to the economic and trade relations and misses the broader cultural, social, political, environmental, demographic, values and knowledge transitions taking place.

[edit] Political and sociological cosmopolitanism

Ulrich Beck (b. May 15, 1944) is a sociologist who has posed the new concept of cosmopolitan critical theory in direct opposition to traditional nation-state politics. Nation-state theory sees power relations only between different state actors, and excludes a global economy, or subjugates it to the nation-state model. Cosmopolitanism sees global capital as a possible threat to the nation state and places it within a meta-power game in which global capital, states and civil society are its players.

It is important to mark a distinction between Beck's cosmopolitanism and the idea of a world state. For Beck, imposing a single world order is considered hegemonic at best and ethnocentric at worst. Rather, political and sociological cosmopolitanism rests upon these fundamental foundations:

  • "Acknowledging the otherness of those who are culturally different"
  • "Acknowledging the otherness of the future"
  • "Acknowledging the otherness of nature"
  • "Acknowledging the otherness of the object"
  • "Acknowledging the otherness of other rationalities"

Cosmopolitanism shares some aspects of universalism – namely the globally acceptable notion of human dignity that must be protected and enshrined in international law. However, the theory deviates in recognising the differences between world cultures. Thus, a "cosmopolitan declaration of human rights" would be defined in terms of negatives that no one could disagree upon. In addition, cosmopolitanism calls for equal protection of the environment and against the negative side effects of technological development.

According to those who follow Beck's reasoning, a cosmopolitan world would consist of a plurality of states, which would use global and regional consensus to gain greater bargaining power against opponents. States would also utilise the power of civil society actors such as Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and consumers to strengthen their legitimacy and enlist the help of investors to pursue a cosmopolitan agenda. Some examples:

  • States hand over the global monitoring of human rights and environmental issues to NGOs like Amnesty International and Greenpeace who enjoy a high level of legitimacy in the public sphere.
  • States support NGOs to persuade consumers to "divest" from products that break cosmopolitan human and environmental codes.

Other authors imagine a cosmopolitan world moving beyond today's conception of nation-states. These scholars argue that a truly cosmopolitan identity of Global Citizen will take hold, diminishing the importance of national identities. The formation of a global citizens movement would lead to the establishment of democratic global institutions, creating the space for global political discourse and decisions, would would in turn reinforce the notion of citizenship at a global level. Nested structures of governance balancing the principles of irreducibility (i.e., the notion that certain problems can only be addressed at the global level, such as Global Warming) and subsidiarity (i.e., the notion that decisions should be made at as local a level possible) would thus form the basis for a cosmopolitan political order.[2]

[edit] Cosmopolitanism in practice

The most successful attempts of cosmopolitanism so far are the minor successes of the European Union, such as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive which forbids companies from selling products with lead within the EU. As the European market is significant as a whole, this forces companies globally to remove environmentally destructive chemicals from their products. In this way, the EU counters a global risk through regional transnational co-operation which has enough clout so that it cannot be challenged in the courts of the World Bank and the IMF.

[edit] Critique of cosmopolitanism

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Some critics of cosmopolitanism suggest that national affiliations are important to persons' identities, and that cosmopolitanism would strip an important component of social fulfillment and belonging from individuals. Critics of economic cosmopolitanism argue that the economies of nation-states are necessary for an international economy to function, and a single world economy would fail. Critics of moral cosmopolitanism argue that loyalty is a virtue, and insofar as one does no wrong to people of other nation-states, one's priority should be the people of one's own country.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ GTI Paper Series see Dawn of the Cosmopolitan, paper #15, and Global Politics and Institutions, paper #3
  2. ^ GTI Paper Series see Global Politics and Institutions, paper #3

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Resources

  • Amanda Anderson. 1998. Cosmopolitanism, Universalism, and the Divided Legacies of Modernity. In Cosmopolitics: Thinking and Feeling beyond the Nation, edited by P. Cheah and B. Robbins. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Kwame Anthony Appiah, 2006. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a world of strangers. New York: W. W. Norton and Co.
  • Bruce Robbins. 1998. Comparative Cosmopolitanisms. In Cosmopolitics: Thinking and Feeling beyond the Nation, edited by P. Cheah and B. Robbins. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press.
  • 2005. The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism, edited by Gillian Brock and Harry Brighouse. Cambridge University Press.
  • 2005. Power in the Global Age, by Ulrich Beck. London: Polity Press
  • Kleingeld, Pauline, Brown, Eric, "Cosmopolitanism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2002 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2002/entries/cosmopolitanism/>.
  • ref 1: GTI Paper Series see Dawn of the Cosmopolitan, paper #15, and Global Politics and Institutions, paper #3
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