Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context: Conceptualizing Past and Present
An international conference in Stockholm, 24–26 November 2011
Book of Abstracts
Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
Call for Papers: Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context
Since the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War academic interest in cosmopolitanism has been growing. Ironically, global tendencies outside academia have been characterized by increased emphases on
particulars (religious, cultural, ethnic). Has cosmopolitanism turned out to be the ‘false consciousness’ of
an essentially Occidentalist or capitalist globalization process, which contrary to its own ideals reproduces
segregation and disrespect for human rights? Or is cosmopolitanism to be interpreted in the opposite way,
as a historically-evolved possibility of overcoming xenophobia and antagonism?
In order to approach these questions we need to re-think cosmopolitanism in its historical context. The
aim of the conference is to present new perspectives and insights on a discourse rather dominated by
ahistorical presumptions. The contextualization of cosmopolitanism will contribute with an understanding of its explicit and implicit meanings and its significance within contemporary political thought. Also in
the quality of an analytical tool, cosmopolitanism is in need of further theory and research, as well as historical contextualization. In post-Communist scholarship, cosmopolitanism is often treated as a universal,
in order to explain, criticize or legitimize processes of, or responses to, globalization. We try to look at it
also as a historically contingent concept, both empirically and theoretically. An important question is how
our perception of historical and contemporary cosmopolitanism has changed in the wake of the events of
1989.
From the point of view of conceptual history, cosmopolitanism is treated as a controversial concept that
dialectically indicates as well as constructs the world. Political concepts acquire new, sometimes irreconcilable, meanings, by virtue of the ways they are used in specific situations. Correspondingly, a conceptual
practice can also re-define its contextual framework. During the period when discussions of cosmopolitanism have taken place, the understandings of concepts such as man, citizen, state, city, nation, sovereignty,
politics, border, right, asylum, migration, Europe, humanity, have fluctuated. This is an important consideration when discussing contemporary problems of globalization from a ‘cosmopolitan’ perspective. How,
when and why do pragmatic appropriations and semantic transformations occur?
Cosmopolitanism has an important legacy in Western Enlightenment, with its implicit Eurocentrism and
Occidentalism. Symptomatically, cosmopolitanism has been suggested as a source of identity for the European Union. Political cosmopolitanism has its roots in the same Enlightenment, which saw the birth of the
secularized and civilizing conception of Europe. The Eastern parts of Europe have since then functioned as
a border concept, continuously reproducing a harmony creating (Western) Europe, in contrast to its alien
and problematic shadow. Europe has traditionally been described as a universalistic civilization (the
birthplace of Reason, Science, Human Rights), but has paradoxically been dependent upon old patterns of
essentialist dichotomization. Behind Europe’s projections on its anti-democratic and traditionalist ‘others,’ there also reside neglected human rights problems, associated with marginalized groups within
Europe.
We welcome contributions on cosmopolitanism from historical disciplines (conceptual, intellectual, cultural, social, economic and general) but also from philosophy, literature, art, political science, sociology,
anthropology, and studies on human rights, gender, postcolonialism, and religion.
Organiser: Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, Södertörn University
Coordinator: Kristian Petrov
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
Abstracts
Abstracts in alphabetical order, by (first) author’s last name.
Tatiana Artemyeva
Professor, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, [email protected]
Citizens of the World: Identities of the Russian Nobility
In the Russian language the term ‘Russian’ has two senses. ‘Russian’ may mean nationality or citizenship.
For the Russian nobility the second meaning was more important than the first and determined it. The
genealogical origins of the Russian nobility were international indeed. For example, Russian princes descended from the Scandinavian prince Rurik, the Lithuanian prince Gediminas and Tatar princes. To be a
Russian noble meant not to be an ethnic Russian, but to serve the Russian Empire. From the Peter the
Great time Russian tsars married foreign princess and the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II was formally (ethnically) Russian only for 1/64 part. The most ‘national’ and may be the most prosperous ruling for Russia
was realized by Catherine the Great (1762–1796), who was German according her origin. In the epoch of
Enlightenment Russia began to identify itself as a European state. Thus it began to share Western values
and as a result began to be opened for Western influences. We can see three main origins of intellectual
influences in the Enlightenment: France, Germany and Britain. The French thought was brought to Russia
with French modes, the style of courteous life and political thoughts. The German influence was connected
first of all with metaphysics and natural sciences (most of Russian scientist, especially in academic institutions, were Germans). England was the origin of influence in political and natural philosophy. Scottish
philosophy was particularly important for Russians first of all as moral and social philosophy and political
economy. The main agents of influence were so called noblemen-philosophers who were internationally
educated, knew languages and communicated (personally or in written form) with European intellectuals.
They felt themselves as ‘citizens of the world’ and realized the cultural and intellectual unity with the
West. It was the nobility who developed ideas of civil society, democracy, freedom and legislation in 18th
and 19th centuries. Only in the second half of the 19th century so marginal a group as Russian intelligentsia took its turn.
The elite-ness of nobility, expressed in a special way of life, the system of values and even in French that
had become the language of internal communication, was rather a prerequisite of cultural openness and of
an attempt to live in the ‘wide world’, than an evidence of the caste narrowness. The ‘noblemanphilosopher’ felt himself a ‘citizen of the world’ and belonged equally to Russian and European culture.
Feyzi Baban
Associate Professor, Political Studies Department, Trent University, [email protected]
Cosmopolitan Europe: Border Crossings and Transnationalism in Europe
In recent years European politics has witnessed two simultaneous developments, which are indicative of
two contradictory trends. The first is an emphasis on the idea of a cosmopolitan Europe, as facilitated by
further European integration. This accelerated integration is said to be creating a cosmopolitan Europe in
which citizenship is decoupled from its national bearings and supra national European institutions facilitate the emergence of new identities and belongings that are not necessarily national in origin. The second trend points toward an increasing visibility of right wing parties and movements expressing hostility
towards cultural multiplicity and an official denunciation of multiculturalism, accompanied by a closure of
borders and denial of rights to non-European nationals. The paper will argue that these seemingly contradictory trends are not necessarily contradictory but instead complimentary in erecting real and imaginary borders around Europe. The paper further argues that growing transnational populations within
Europe such as immigrants, refugees, non-residents and non-status individuals act as a corrective to this
false perception of a cosmopolitan Europe by bringing the ‘outside in’ and challenging the notions of
European borders and established identities. To illustrate this argument the paper will concentrate on the
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
experience of third generation Turkish-Germans. Instead of traditional cosmopolitanism, the experience
articulated by in-between transnational populations such as Turkish-Germans constitute a contrapuntal
cosmopolitanism in which divergent and contradictory experiences are read together as a way of illustrating on-going inclusions and exclusions within European body politic and as Sandro Mezzadra argues has
the potential to ‘decompose’ traditional understandings of European citizenship, putting ‘citizenship in
motion.’
Moira Bernardoni
PhD Candidate, Marie Curie project ENGLOBE, Middle East Ankara University,
[email protected]
Envisaging the Production of Cosmopolitan Space
Starting from a commitment to figure out the necessary conditions for the development of an intercultural
dialogue, in this contribution I sketch out a reflection that aims at envisaging a cosmopolitan society by
examining (urban) space as an active instrument of social change. Accordingly, in my discussion of cosmopolitan urbanism the leading question will be the following: ‘Is a cosmopolitan society possible without
a cosmopolitan space?’ Henri Lefebvre’s 1974 classic treaty The Production of Space will provide my main
theoretical framework to focus on the production of cosmopolitan space as an essential requirement for
rethinking cosmopolitanism.
In the urban context, three main meanings and uses of the notion of cosmopolitan emerge. They refer to,
respectively, a cosmopolitan attitude, a cosmopolitan project and a cosmopolitan city. My leading assumption is that every society has a particular perception of spatiality and produces its own space. More specifically, in the era of globalization, space is conceptualized as a ‘space of flows’, due to space-time compression. The hypermobility of capital, goods, people and ideas produces not only a network of global
cities, but also simultaneous processes of spatial homogenization and fragmentation. If by cosmopolitanism we mean the desire and intention of engaging with the socio-cultural difference, the analysis of the
idea of ‘cosmopolis’ leads us directly to examine public space as the place par excellence of the encounter
with diversity, i.e. a space shaped by an inherent plurality of cultural values. Despite the current deep
transformations of the traditional public spaces, the conceptualization of a civil society becoming global
through the new media and the Internet calls for a rethinking of the notions of citizenship and cultural
identity beyond national and territorial borders. How is it possible a passage from a global civil society to
a cosmopolitan one?
My argument is that, despite the current unevenness of socio-economic conditions, globalization inherently pushes towards a cosmopolitan outcome – literally, it pushes us towards becoming ‘citizens of the
world’. The reason is that global processes affect us all, since every local territorialized act produces global
repercussions. Because cosmopolitan space is supposed not to deny, but rather enhance diversity as a
constituent element that shapes the identity of our globalized world, my research focuses on already existing social and spatial everyday practices that show a degree of authentic cosmopolitan attitude. The trialectical unity theorized by Lefebvre—the unity of spatial practices, space of representation (conceptualization of a cosmopolis) and representational spaces (cosmopolitan public space)—is thus a necessary
condition to implement any real cosmopolitan project.
Tamara Caraus
Researcher, New Europe College Bucharest, [email protected]
Cosmopolitanism and the Legacy of Eastern European Dissent
In my paper I intend to investigate whether Eastern Europeans’ dissent may provide any lesson for the
contemporary debates on cosmopolitanism. The paper will focus on the dissident thinking of Charta 77, a
human right movement in socialist Czechoslovakia, especially on the writings of Jan Patocka (1907–1997),
philosopher, cofounder and spokesperson of Charta 77, and Vaclav Havel, cofounder and leader of this
dissident movement.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
The paper will explore two sets of interrelated questions. The first set of questions concerns the possibility and practice of dissidence: In the name of what values were the dissents’ clams formulated? Are these
values local, national, international or universal? What legitimates the dissidents’ permanent questioning
and contestation of the given/imposed meanings in a political regime? My assumption is that Charta 77
civil, non-violent resistance to a hegemonic ideology and to a totalizing system was possible through the
appeal to universal values. i.e. human rights, and to a cosmopolitan vision that considers that ultimate
units of moral concern are individual human beings, not states, certain regimes or particular forms of
human associations. The second set of questions will concern the possible contribution of the Eastern
European dissident thought to a non-foundationalist cosmopolitan theory that has to tackle several unavoidable tensions: How should look like a cosmopolitan project in the alleged post-metaphysical and
post-universalistic theoretical framework? Is cosmopolitanism possible without universalism? How
should we conceive cosmopolitanism after the scepticism towards the grand narratives of modern ideologies? How can one justify cosmopolitan values without falling back on some conceptions of a fixed human
nature or a shared system of belief? What does it mean to be cosmopolitan today, given the plurality of the
interpretative standpoints in the contemporary world? In this context, my hypothesis is that Jan Patocka’s
concept of ‘permanent questioning’, ‘applied’ by Vaclav Havel, provides us a minimalist framework for
conceiving a non-totalizing and post-universalist cosmopolitanism theory, avoiding the postulation of a
global ‘overlapping consensus’ and exploring the dynamics of contestability and disagreement. In addition, given the universality of cosmopolitan principles, a shadow of totalitarianism is on every cosmopolitan theory. Every new proposal of a cosmopolitan approach risks formulating a new legitimating narrative
that will take the vacant place of previous ‘grand narratives’. A new grand narrative should be suspected
of having, more or less voluntary, ideological intentions. From this perspective, the legacy of Eastern
European dissidence provides, once more, a valuable resource for thinking a cosmopolitan political theory.
Georg Cavallar
Senior Lecturer, Dep. of Philosophy, University of Vienna, [email protected]
Kant’s Law of World Citizens: A Historical Interpretation
Publications which draw attention to the historical dimension of the current cosmopolitan discourse have
been rare. In this paper, I try to contextualize Kant’s law of the world citizens, and offer a historical interpretation while avoiding the pitfalls of historical relativism. I build on a previous essay, where I have clarified the concept of cosmopolitanism, distinguished among its various forms, namely epistemological, economic or commercial, moral, theological, political, and cultural versions, and argued for the compatibility
of moral, legal and theological cosmopolitanisms. There is a three-part division in Kant’s philosophy concerning the highest good and the future of the human species: The foundation of a cosmopolitan condition
of perpetual peace, a global legal society of peaceful states, a ‘cosmopolitan whole’, perhaps a world republic is the highest political good. The establishment of a global ethical community is – secondly - the highest
moral good in this world. Finally, the highest good proper coincides with the transcendent kingdom of
God, the intelligible world, the kingdom of Heaven or a moral realm. This paper focuses on one particular
aspect of the global legal society, namely Kant’s cosmopolitan law. I will also try to illustrate how this law
relates to other conceptions of hospitality rights developed in international legal theory from Francisco de
Vitoria up to Kant’s time. I will make comparisons and suggest where Kant’s originality should be located.
Kant has sharply distinguished between law and virtue, between external compliance with norms or legality and an inner disposition, between prudence and morality, between the doctrine of rights and the philosophy of history. In the latter, Kant understands Nature reflectively and tentatively as a ‘moral facilitator’ of the education of the human species. There is a tension between the human species propelled or
instigated by Nature towards legal and moral ends on the one hand and an understanding of human history as a collective learning process, whereby humans are seen as more or less autonomous agents not
manipulated by Nature. The next section thus focuses on this very philosophy of history: on the role of the
‘spirit of commerce’ to promote more peaceable relations among communities, on the so-called four-stage
theory, doux commerce, global integration, and mutual self-interest. I will finish with some general remarks on Kant’s cosmopolitan law and how it can be criticized.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
Carl Cederberg
Senior Lecturer, School of Culture & Communication, Södertörn University, [email protected]
Emmanuel Levinas and the Notion of the Human as the Ground for Critique of Humanism
In his critique of the notion of the human, Foucault claimed that the notion was an 18th century invention,
soon to disappear. This is certainly true for the post-Kantian ‘empirico-transcendental doublet’ that he
helped us investigate. But the notion of the human is older than this. Arguably, philosophy has always
revolved around the notion of the human. And, as we will see, the notion of the human has always been
tied to a notion of critique. According to classical humanism, only by transcending the present in a critical
attitude, does one truly fulfil one’s humanity. But after Nietzsche and especially in the jargon of late 20th
century French Philosophy, the notion of the human stands exactly for that which must be criticized. This
paper thus sets as its aim to 1) paint a swift history of the transition of the notion of the human, from Plato
and classical humanism onwards to 20th century antihumanism, as well as to 2) show how the trajectory
of the notion of the human interacts with that of the notion of critique, and finally 3) present the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas as an attempt to harness the critical force of the antihumanists in a new understanding of the human.
Carmen Cozma
Professor, Faculty of Philosophy and Social-Political Sciences, Al.I.Cuza University of Jassy, [email protected]
A cosmopolitan Manner of Philosophizing in the Present-Day World Culture: Phenomenology of Life
One of the most significant directions of the world-wide contemporary philosophy, ‘phenomenology of
life’ of Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka represents a major path of thinking and acting for the promotion of what
does mean the universal valuable in human beingness by disclosing and unfolding an essential modality of
understanding and shaping some paradigms of world culture. The Polish-North American philosopher is
an original author – especially known through her magnum opus in four tomes: Logos and Life (1988–
2000)—and a reputed activist doing exceptional work to foster a culture of dialogue in the world—as
founder and president of the World Phenomenology Institute and also of the Center for the Promotion of
Cross-Cultural Understanding (both of Hanover, New Hampshire, USA). The impressive Tymienieckan
philosophical work has imposed itself as a great contribution to the heralding of a ‘New Enlightenment’
encompassing the all humanity in the endeavour of creating, maintaining and developing the well-being
and the common good of mankind, in securing the human common fate. Putting in act a holistic and dynamic philosophy upon life and human condition, the ‘phenomenology of life’ offers a viable pattern of
communication between different cultures, of overcoming any kind of contradictions in dealing with the
fundamental issues of living together and sharing-in-life. We can find ‘roots’ and ‘wings’ for tackling and
comprehending in a better way our cosmopolitan humanness, due to the opening of a creative approach of
identity and otherness, based on the authentic values of freedom and dignity of humans, by admitting
differentiation and also by working for harmony in the play of life (in its totality). Throughout new concepts and a very own complex vision of the respect for life, the philosophy-in-act of Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka manifests valences of an integrator enterprise in interpreting the cosmopolitan status of the philosopher in nowadays, in affirming the role of a responsible citizen of the world.
Tania Espinoza
PhD Candidate, King’s College, Cambridge, [email protected]
Cosmopolitanism of the Not-All, from a Psychoanalytic Point of View
Kant's cosmopolitanism entails a paradox. On the one hand, it is the interest of 'humanity as a whole'
which must always remain the ultimate horizon of our ethical choices. And on the other, we know from
the antinomies of pure reason that this 'whole' does not exist as an empirical reality. From a certain point
of view, humanity is, to use a psychoanalytic expression, 'not-all'. This is a paradox into which the very
possibility of Enlightenment runs. The scholar is entitled to the free exercise of his reason insofar as he
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
'regards himself as a member of the community as a whole' [als Glied eines ganzen gemeinen Wesens/Weltbürgergesellschaft], a regulative and not constitutive totality. In other words, autonomy depends
on members of the city with its particular interests being able to assume a point of view that, from the
perspective of speculative reason, is untenable.
In a recent essay, the French psychoanalyst Jacques Alain-Miller reminded us that the pressing question of
the exemplarily cosmopolitan science from which he speaks is still: is it for everyone? The elitism that
generally accompanies the practice of psychoanalysis suggests otherwise. And yet, its worldwide dissemination has followed paths that challenge the patterns of linguistic, geographical domination of the AngloSaxon academy. Psychoanalysis today is as alive in Mexico City, Sao Paolo and Ljubljana as in Vienna, Paris
or New York.
The history of psychoanalysis is cosmopolitan; it is a history of adoption, exile and incessant trespassing
of literal and metaphorical frontiers. Freud's flight to London in 1938 ‘to die in freedom', is emblematic of
this ‘Jewish science’s’ traumatic relationship with nationalism's darkest side. Cosmopolitanism is also at
the core of psychoanalytic theory, where Freud's de-centring of the ego makes room for the foreign to
come within the boundaries of the self; and where the dream mechanism of displacement distributes
meaning where we least expect it. In the unconscious there is nothing too remote, neither in time nor in
space; and the 'stranger', as Julia Kristeva reminded us, is our most intimate neighbour.
I propose to sketch a way in which psychoanalysis, through its dialogue with Kant and two little known
episodes of its cosmopolitan history—the journey of the Polish psychoanalyst Eugenia Sokolnicka to
France and of the Viennese Marie Langer to Argentina—can update an ethics of cosmopolitanism that
confronts its paradox, and makes the 'not-all', the impossibility of making humanity 'whole', its point of
origin.
Johan Fornäs
Professor, School of Culture & Communication, Södertörn University, [email protected]
Signifying Europe: Symbols and Mediations
This text discusses examples of mediated and mediating symbols used to build trust in Europe as a shared
transnational project. It starts with a general discussion of globalisation and transnational mediation, and
then briefly exemplifies how money, flags, anthems and other symbols work to suggest identifications.
The five key European symbols ratified by the Council of Europe and the European Union are then introduced, and it is shown how these leading European institutions understand the role of political symbols in
the on-going transnational unification process. Each of these key symbols is then presented and analysed,
indicating how the EU and other pan-European actors have chosen to express a sense of shared identity
and meaning. It is scrutinised how selected such symbols are used as multi-layered mediating tools in
creating loyalty and reinforcing faith in collective societal institutions of markets and states and in the
corresponding imagined supra-national community. It is shown how dominant European symbols strive
to balance between homogenisation and fragmentation, and which key values they tend to link to European identity. The analysis locates a core identifying formula of ‘an ambivalent desire for communication
with others’. However, it also finds a major set of tensions around this thematic core, understanding
European identification as a dynamic process of mediation rather than as a limited and limiting object.
Aleksandra Glabinska
MA, Stockholm University, [email protected]
The Concept of Human Nature and Dignity during the Polish Renaissance: Traces of a Multicultural Learning Milieu in the 16th century
For our spirit is free. With help of our thoughts the spirit is moving throughout different places, looking at
them and reflecting about everything. Here we are in Poland, but despite of this we are wondering about
events happening in east and west, perceiving as we were there following those who left. We discus with
those, who are far away and even wake up dead humans to converse with, holding them, as if they were alive,
with love, in our arms.
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These words were written by Jan ze Trzaciany, a Polish philosopher and professor at the Jagiellonian University of Krakow. It is a fragment of his Latin treatise concerning human nature and dignity, published in
1554 in Krakow. He was one of many representatives of a new, humanistic movement at the Jagiellonian
University. Lecturers were opposing a scholastic way of learning, arguing for studying various antique
philosophers and thinkers, intending to read Aristotle’s texts in the original, omitting scholastic comments. They wanted to renew education with rhetoric, history, music, as well as to include artes liberals in
the new curriculum. Many lecturers were bilingual or even trilingual; they spoke Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
Renaissance humanist studies emphasized education of a special type of individual, a ‘spiritual citizen’.
The renewed contemporary interest in the concept of dignity and human rights is a consequence of the
post-WWII crisis, the new shape of Europe and the whole, globalizing, world after the Cold War. In Poland
‘the revolution of dignity’ began in 1980. During this time, the ethos of Solidarity was created. Workers
wrote on theirs banderols: ‘Give us back our dignity’!
The concept of dignity, developed by Renaissance philosophers, can instructively be related to, as well as
contrasted with, the cosmopolitan ideas of human rights as an equal foundation for the whole of humanity. At the same time the notion of dignity is implied in the semantic field of multicultural education. In the
paper, contemporary educational notions of bilingualism, the importance of uplifting, supporting and
widening the cultural consciousness of the student, practicing in different milieus, and so on, are compared with, and problematized from the viewpoint of, the Renaissance thinkers’ emphasis on the importance of dwelling between many cultures, on the border line.
Katrin Goldstein-Kyaga
Professor, School of Culture & Communication, Södertörn University, [email protected]
The New Cosmopolitanism, Intercultural Education and Peace
The new cosmopolitanism which has emerged during recent years is rooted in an old tolerant multicultural view and at the same time dissociates itself from a cosmopolitanism which actually represents hidden Western universalism. It is often combined with concepts such as critical, dialogical and vernacular in
an attempt to find a middle-way between mono-culturalism and particularistic multiculturalism. However, there are two contradictory and seemingly incompatible characteristics in the new cosmopolitanism:
1) How to create universal ethics? and 2) how to accept and tolerate cultures of the whole world?
In my paper I will relate the new cosmopolitanism to intercultural education. This is in line with Ulrich
Beck’s reasoning in applying methodological cosmopolitanism to the social sciences including education.
Moreover, I will discuss the inherent contradiction in the new cosmopolitanism mentioned above and how
a cosmopolitical intercultural education can contribute to research about creating peaceful societies in a
globalized world.
Ksenia V. Golovko
PhD Candidate, Faculty of Philosophy, St. Petersburg State University, [email protected]
Equal as Utopia of Democracy in Époque of Globalization According to Jaques Ranciere
The goal of this paper is to represent and to analyse the central themes of contemporary French philosopher Jacques Ranciere’s works on equality and democracy in multicultural society.
Jacque Ranciere raises in his works a set of conceptual questions regarding the notion of revolution, community, refusal and equality. Nowadays these topics are a standard part of the discourse on politics and
aesthetics. The French philosopher, however, problematizes the present condition of politics and argues
against the mainstream understanding of democracy as a mere system of government. Disagreement and
inequality offer, in his opinion, an alternative view on democracy.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
Ranciere tries to rethink and to overcome the logic of consensus, which he understands to be the main
concept of democracy, and which, in his opinion, treats the reality, interests and values indiscriminately.
The ‘real’ democratic community is pictured by the philosopher in a paradoxical, contradictory and conflicting dimension. The central questions of Ranciere’s analysis can be summarized as follows:
•
•
•
•
Why is the free democratic community unable to eradicate social contradiction and ethnical conflicts?
Why do emigrants and the underprivileged have no place in the society where they live?
How can a society solve problems which can not be solved rationally?
How should we understand a society which is not equal to itself?
Developing the topic of the marginals Ranciere underlines the failure of any political application of the
time-honoured philosophical concept of totality which automatically leaves out any element not responding to its grand pattern. This, Ranciere argues, clearly explains the fact of alienation of the marginals, the
underprivileged, and emigrants. Altogether, humanism causes the contemporary western society to establish some form of a punitive mechanism, which works against anything potentially dangerous to the existence of ‘the ideal community’. The drama of this society lies in the inner contradiction between an attempt to eliminate the conflict and its fatal manifestation. Humanism and democracy generate models in
which the defense against terrorism turns into a form of state terror, while the concept of human rights
mutates into a weapon against humanity. According to Ranciere, the contemporary democracy is essentially Marxist, except that it turns historical necessity into the necessity of the global market. The latter
determines the rules, the principle of consensus, as the only form of democracy. Ranciere’s theory belongs
to a tradition of thought which treats the conflict character of the society as something we are unable be
change but can analyze. The philosopher understands the utopian character of his idea of equality. Consequently, it makes equality an important moral category. Altogether, the concept of the society which is not
identical to itself, the society in perpetual conflict, is essential to the understanding of this new form of
subjectivity.
Yulia Gradskova
Post-doctoral fellow, Centre for Baltic and East European Graduate School, Södertörn University, [email protected]
Soviet ‘Education of Internationalism’—Between Expansionism and Cosmopolitanism?
(1960s–1980s)
In the centre of the presentation is the analysis of the rhetoric of Soviet ‘internationalism’ as part of the
Soviet education of the young people. When the external use of the ‘proletarian internationalism’ by the
Soviet state’s expansionism is well known, the different internal application of this ideology did not get
enough attention of the researchers yet. The education of internationalism was an important part of the
Soviet educational policies – the Clubs of the international friendship (KIDs) in 1960–1980s were functioning in majority of schools, Komsomol organizations, summer camps and vocational centres. The rhetoric of
‘internationalism’ included different elements: starting from teaching about ‘friendship of the Soviet nations under the leadership of the great Russian people’ and ‘friendship of people from the socialist countries’ up to education against racism and colonialism. Soviet youth was constantly reminded about problems of the ‘developing countries’ and was expected to publicly demonstrate its disagreement with authoritarianism and social inequality abroad as well as to take part in contests of political songs, solidarity
fairs and other activities aimed for help to people from the ‘countries fighting for freedom’. One of the
important examples of the Soviet activity of ‘internationalism’ could be campaign of solidarity with Chile
(1973–1989) that I will pay particular attention in my presentation. This campaign included not only participation in the officially organized meetings, but also semi-independent activities of the part of the youth
aimed for ‘helping the Chilean people’ (voluntary work during the summer, distribution of information
about Chile and Chilean culture, etc.).
I argue that the official Soviet ‘education of internationalism’ led to contradictory consequences on the
level of everyday practices and interpretations. Public response varied from open hostility to the ‘Other’
(particularly to the ‘other’ in need of help) to attempts of using the official structures of education of ‘internationalism’ for the purpose of getting new knowledge about the world outside the Iron Curtain. Some
part of the young people attempted also to use the structures for education of internationalism (first of all
KIDs) in order to practice their own understanding of multiculturalism and civic activism of ‘solidarity’.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
Sarah Grunberg
PhD Candidate, Graduate School for Social Research, Warsaw, [email protected]
Racial Difference in an Extremely Homogenous Society: Barriers to Individual and Societal
Development of Cosmopolitanism
The cosmopolitan ideology projects the idea that all human beings, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender,
belong to a single community. This ‘love for humanity’, philosophy of universal inclusion, blindness to
particularity, and ability to share a common worldview based on moral responsibility to all human beings
is key in the cosmopolitan ideology. Based on these aspects of cosmopolitanism, how can racially different
individuals in a homogenous environment adopt this cosmopolitan view, if the racially dominant group
see them and treat them as fundamentally, culturally, and biologically different? When discrimination and
exclusion occur in racially homogenous societies, what is the meaning of cosmopolitanism for individuals
who are racially different in these societies? I will specifically focus on African and biracial individuals in
the extremely racially homogenous Poland, and what this means for the overall development of cosmopolitanism.
Heike Härting
Associate Professor, Département d'études anglaises, University of Montreal, [email protected]
Imre Szeman
Professor, Dep. of English and Film Studies, University of Alberta, [email protected]
Popular Cosmopolitanism and Contemporary Film Culture (joint paper)
This proposal for a joint presentation on the relationship between critical concepts of cosmopolitanism
and contemporary film productions grows out of a collaborative research project on ‘Cosmopolitan Film
Cultures.’ Headed by Heike Härting (Université de Montréal), Markus Heide (Humboldt Universität Berlin)
and Imre Szeman (University of Alberta), and funded by a TransCoop Research Grant of the Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation, our project examines the ways in which cosmopolitan formations of culture and
identity impact on the narrative and cultural production of contemporary film and its multiple audiences,
and vice versa: the ways in which film participates in the constitution of new cosmopolitanisms.
Why cosmopolitanism in relation to film? While it might be uncommon to use the concept of the cosmopolitan in connection with it, film in all its aspects—production, circulation, criticism, marketing, and reception—has always been ‘intrinsically international’ and a matter of ‘cultural exchange’ (Tom O’Regan).
The various forms of cultural exchange that mark international film practices, however, are highly uneven.
Moreover, understanding film through an international lens has tended to organize the analysis of cultural
exchange in the various contexts of film making in terms of a comparative national perspective that juxtaposes or relates distinct national cinemas and production practices to one another. For this reason, there
has been a lacuna of theory and criticism that considers the cosmopolitan imaginaries that develop alongside and in addition to the always already global character of film. We argue that bringing together theories of cosmopolitanism and film enables a critical approach to understanding contemporary conditions
and practices of cosmopolitanism and of film production and narrative--one that no longer takes the nation or national identity production as its single or primary point of analysis. More specifically, cosmopolitan film practices, we suggest, engage with the global economy of film making, particular film genres (e.g.,
border films and humanitarian documentaries), and cosmopolitan cinematic narrative strategies that seek
to translate the disjunctures and displacements characteristic of cosmopolitanism into cinematic form.
In this presentation, we will argue that contemporary documentaries that engage with the negative effects
of and responses to globalization contribute, in both productive and problematic ways, to a nonnormative notion and practice of cosmopolitanism. We will begin with Pheng Cheah’s observation that
popular nationalism and cosmopolitanism are not mutually exclusive but, if brought into closer proximity,
constitute a politically transformative force. Cheah, however, remains skeptical about the formation of a
‘popular cosmopolitanism’ able to generate or sustain the rise of a mass-based global political conscious-
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
ness. In part, as we want to argue, the reasons for this general reluctance to imagine cosmopolitanism as a
popular, supra-national political practice are related to the ways in which cosmopolitanism has been conceptualized as championing a universal human community, marked (in the Kantian sense) by trade and
‘perpetual peace,’ while signifying (in its Marxian sense) a necessary stage of global capitalist production.
Normative cosmopolitanisms (e.g., Seyla Benhabib’s notion), then, are often unable (a) to move beyond
given political imaginaries, and (b) to mobilize culture in a non-anthropological way (e.g. Appiah’s ‘rooted
cosmopolitanism’).
We want to suggest, however, that linking film—and specifically contemporary documentaries—and cosmopolitan theory (particularly Cheah’s, Mignolo’s, and Harvey’s engagement with cosmopolitanism) helps
to imagine the possibility of ‘popular cosmopolitanisms.’ Such a theoretical alliance would help us account
for the ways in which the media-generated image has become the central means through which we perceive and produce our environment and, more importantly, through which we generate a popular cosmopolitan imaginary of conflicted, heterogeneous and intersecting cultural affiliations, responsibilities, and
identities. The possibility of a popular cosmopolitanism is visually meditated specifically through those
documentaries that imagine (a) producing a political outcome; and (b) naming a global audience (with all
its possible problems). To explore these thoughts we will address the global popularity of political documentaries and their mass-distribution through u-tube, while discussing in more critical detail the ways in
which such documentaries as Stephanie Black’s Life and Debt (2001) project a critical popular cosmopolitan consciousness articulated (a) by those societies that historically and presently feel the pressure of
globalization, economic and political cosmopolitanisms and (b) draw from a history of resistance and
dissents whose conceptual roots have always been cosmopolitical.
Tobias Hübinette
Researcher, Multicultural Centre, Stockholm, [email protected]
Transracial Adoption, White Cosmopolitanism and the Fantasy of the Global Family
Transracial adoption of children as well as of adults is a practice that has been going on for centuries, although a common dehistoricized understanding would probably date it to the post-war era and connect it
to today’s adoptions from the Third World to the West. However, during the classical colonial period from
the 15th century to the first half of the 20th century it was not only non-white native children or adults who
were adopted by white colonisers and settlers – also the opposite occurred in the European colonies in the
Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The existence of these ‘inverted’ transracial adoptions is well documented in literary and autobiographical texts as well as in historical and official documents, and in art and
visual culture. At that time, the white transracial adoptee who had been transformed into the Other was
stigmatized and even demonized as something of an ethnoracial monster transgressing the boundaries
between Europeans and non-Europeans. In the contemporary postcolonial era, transracial adoption in
practice solely means the adoption of children of colour to white adopters whether it is on a transnational
or a national level. At the same time, the memory of the ‘inverted’ transracial adoptions is still kept alive in
both literary, cinematic and visual representations and narratives, and the white adoptee who had gone
native and had become the Other is nowadays romanticized and even portrayed as something close to an
antiracist.
This paper aims at reconceptualising transracial adoption within the framework of the European’s fundamental problem with and lack of being able to attach to the lands and the peoples outside Europe by
making use of the concepts of indigenisation and autochtonisation, and by analysing a collection of classical colonial, late colonial and postcolonial literary, cinematic and visual narratives as well as tracing the
transformation of the white transracial adoptee from a tragic to a romantic figure and the shift to today’s
transracial adoptions which took place on an imaginary level by the way of fantasies of transspecies adoptions already in the mid-war years. The paper argues that the contemporary Westerner’s need to and
desire for creating family ties with the Others has deep historical roots which has resulted in what can be
called a particular progressive and antiracist Whiteness, namely a white cosmopolitanism and a vision of a
global future family which is discernable in, above all, contemporary visual culture in the form of interracial families and global family images with children or adults of different races dancing together, holding
each others’ hands, hugging each other or just being together. The desire to affiliate and kin with the
Other, the glorification of today’s white adopters of Third World children and the romanticizing of the
transracial white adoptee which on the surface may appear so different from each other, can according to
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
the paper be seen as a combined attempt at dealing with and accommodating a near future when whites
have not only become a minority but also when the West is not hegemonic anymore, and when family ties
to the Others will be crucial to survive in a new truly postcolonial world.
Jamil Khader
Professor, English Department, Stetson University, [email protected]
Cosmopolitanism and the Infidelity to Internationalism: Repeating Postcoloniality and the
World Revolution to Come
In this paper, I argue that cosmopolitics theory displaces and occludes the aesthetic and political possibilities for constructing radical forms of international subjectivities namely, revolutionary internationalism,
which remain grounded in collective modalities of local difference especially, nationalism, subalternity,
and ethnic particularism. For cosmopoliticans, recent revolutionary changes around the world simply
constitute a sign of the potential of social media technologies especially, face book and twitter, to construct communities of struggle and resistance within transnational and cosmopolitan networks. As such,
cosmopoliticians translate the political, and the politics of dissent and revolutionary change in particular,
into an ethics of the fragmented multitude, one that is embodied in the exclusivist agendas of global civil
society and transnational social movements that re-enact, rather than counteract, the logic and ideological
coordinates of global capitalism and serve as an alibi for US imperialism. Drawing on and extending Slavoj
Žižek’s exhortation to repeat Lenin, I will argue for the need to recuperate revolutionary internationalism
today within a revisionist, even redemptive, project that retroactively reads postcoloniality as one of the
central referents of the history and theory of internationalism especially, in Lenin’s writings. Lenin, I contend, did not simply provide a new language and broader theoretical vocabulary for articulating the concerns of the national liberation movements in the colonies, as the standard critiques of Lenin have it, but
that he located the language of hope and messianism that characterizes socialist internationalism in the
postcolonial field of possibilities. Only a true commitment to revolutionary internationalism, as it is bound
to emerge from within the specific material conditions of postcoloniality, where the field of revolutionary
possibilities is still open for the construction and stabilization of an alternative egalitarian world order,
can maintain the relevance and critical edge of cosmopolitics theory.
Alexander Kustov
Research Associate, Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, National Research University—Higher
School of Economics, [email protected]
Humanity-Building: Premises and Promises
The paper calls for the reassessment of the state-building concept, challenging its national constituent and
integrating cosmopolitan principles. The current awareness of common global problems and similar
changes in people’s life all over the world have raised the hot debate on globalization within international
politics and social sciences, explicitly challenging the assumption that the nation-state is inevitably determinative, affirming the establishment of human rights regimes (Donnelly 1986), giving a renewed impetus
to the cosmopolitan discussion (Nussbaum 2011[1994]) and revealing the methodological nationalism
(Beck 2002; Wimmer and Glick Schiller 2002).
At the same time, the weakness of nation solidarity within a country is usually seen as an urgent problem
(Huntington 2004), as one of the main reasons for state inefficiency, ethnic conflicts and a weak civil society. While already well-established European states start to construct supranational institutions and
strive for a supranational European identity (Castells 2003), most states see so-called nation-building as a
major policy priority.
Considering the irrefutable need for the greater prosperity and recent global developments, the history of
numerous failed attempts to create ‘nations’ and the logical unimportance for the size of an ‘imagined
community’, the cosmopolitan state-formation vision of humanity-building can be stipulated. The realization of humanity-building requires a major revision of citizenship legislations and identity-building policies, but, in fact, as I will argue, it is more about recognizing the failure of the Westphalian and related
nationalist projects, the real practice of divisible sovereignty and globalization.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
Here I understand humanity-building as simply a set of practices and policies aimed at creating the understanding of worldwide interconnectedness and common interests, or, even more strongly, identity of humanity as a whole, implying certain rights and obligations. In other words, humanity-building could be
referred as the explication of an ‘actually existing process of cosmopolitanization’, described by Ulrich
Beck.
Maria Kyriakidou
PhD Candidate, Dep. of Media and Communications, London School of Economics, [email protected]
The Mediation of Cosmopolitan Agency: Distant Suffering and the Cosmopolitan Public
The media coverage of humanitarian crises and distant suffering has long been in the public and academic
agenda with regard to the question of the ethics of the spectatorship of suffering. More recently, this question has been re-addressed in the context of the relationship between globalisation and the media and the
potential of the latter to establish bonds of commitment and responsibility between far away others and
form the basis for the construction of a global or cosmopolitan public. The present paper aims at addressing this question through an empirical focus thus enriching a hitherto largely theoretical debate. Theoretically, the paper follows sociological conceptualisations of cosmopolitanism as an emerging social condition in modern societies and suggests its exploration in relation to processes of mediation at a global level.
It argues that such an actually existing cosmopolitanism should be studied as a process ‘from below’
rather than theorised as a project ‘from above’. This paper will therefore address these issues by empirically exploring the mediated construction of the viewers’ agency in relation to distant crises. Empirically
based on a study of Greek audiences discussing distant disasters and action at-a-distance, the paper explores the ways viewers themselves articulate their sense of agency vis-à-vis the suffering of distant others. Focusing on the possibilities of action viewers regard to be available to them and the kind of actions
they undertake, the paper will argue that action at-a-distance is fragmentary, circumstantial and often
independent of the viewer’s emotional engagement. These limitations are embedded in broader cultural
and political discourses of cynicism and powerlessness deeply entrenched in the national and local culture. In this context, cosmopolitan agency is illustrated as limited and the cosmopolitan public as an
equally fragmentary and elusive concept. This discussion will, therefore, contribute both empirically and
theoretically to questions about the concept of cosmopolitan citizenship and its conditions as well as the
relationship between media and cosmopolitanism.
Valerie Lazarenko
BA student, Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, [email protected]
Cosmopolitanism and World Culture
Cosmopolitanism is a conception of a world outlook that proclaims ideas of world citizenship and domination of interests of the whole world on the interests of a particular nation. Unlike conceptions of patriotism or nationalism, that affirm self-actualization and self-development of a certain nation as the highest
value for society, cosmopolitanism means replacing these options with a similar idea towards the whole
planet.
The earliest manifestations of cosmopolitan ideas appeared in Ancient Greece in Cynic philosophy, but the
development of this movement relates to the 20th century, when such processes as merging and converging of cultures appeared and assimilation of national societies began.
From a cultural point of view, on the one hand, cosmopolitanism in the branch of culture causes a lot of
positive changes, creating a special ‘cultural sphere’ around the globe. Representatives of different nations
and cultures share experiences and positive achievements, making cultural heritage of a certain country,
which includes humanitarian, scientific and artistic values, common for the whole-world society. Such
sharing has been one of the aspects of cultural development since the intensive collaboration between
countries began in the end of the 20th century.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
On the other hand, the cosmopolitan tendency does not appreciate evolution and natural development of
national cultures, which should be subordinated to global interests. Therefore cosmopolitism can cause a
risk of extinction of diversity of national cultures and languages. Such negative processes can hurt the
above mentioned ‘cultural sphere’, make it monotonous, uniform and uninteresting, and subordinate it to
ideology. The last point is the most dangerous one, because such a subordination is a way to restrict cultural development that can stall culture on one particular level.
All things considered, cosmopolitan tendencies in culture have both positive and negative consequences.
The most effective way of solving this problem is to distinguish between the advantages and disadvantages of this process in order to affirm reciprocal action between cultures but prevent possible disastrous
consequences of one-sided assimilation and extinction of national cultures. Such a solution will help hitting the targets of building a society that will make use of all the positive aspects of a cosmopolitan orientation.
Rebecka Lettevall
Associate Professor, School of Culture & Communication, Södertörn University, [email protected]
The Nansen Passport as a Cosmopolitan Project?
After the First World War, Europe counted over ten million refugees. Stateless persons became a pressing
political issue in another way than it had been before. The Norwegian scientist and diplomat Fridtjof Nansen initiated a means to handle this politically and socially complicated problem by introducing a special
refugee passport issued by the League of Nations and called the Nansen passport.
In this paper, I illustrate how the new European system, based on the principle of nationality, both caused
the problem and gave rise to the new forms of international cooperation that helped to solve it—
nationalism and internationalism developing alongside each other. There was no Council of Europe to
implement ideas and ideals of rights and justice in the legislation of the new states or for the people who
were not citizens. The situation after the First World War was in many ways disastrous as the geopolitical
re-drawing of the map of Europe had resulted in many individuals becoming stateless, without citizen
rights. The situation must be changed. But how?
The Nansen passport is understood as an effort to solve the absurd situation of citizenship that emerged
in Europe after the First World War. My aim is to discuss to what extent the Nansen passport can be considered as a cosmopolitan project. What is the historicity of concepts such as cosmopolitanism? An overall
purpose is to discuss to what extent and in what way cosmopolitan ideals prevailed during the inter-war
period, often referred to as dominated by nationalism and protectionism.
Nina Lex
PhD Candidate, Marie Curie project ENGLOBE, Berlin, [email protected]
Exemplary Universality: Global Citizenship according to Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau is regarded as the epitome of the auto-critique of the Enlightenment. His culturally
critical analysis not only allows for an extended understanding of the precarious position of the subject,
but also for building a bridge between patriotism and solitary existence which, in a more and more globalized world where the term society obtains a hybrid meaning, still seeks explication.
When faced with Rousseau’s theory of the subject, we encounter mainly a single confrontation denoted by
the terms man and citizen. But foremost, younger receptions, such as those present in Tzvetan Todorov or
Frederick Neuhouser, emphasize that Rousseau’s aim wasn’t just marking the human condition as a diremption, but establishing a third way open to man. The moral Individual introduced in Émile ou de
l’éducation, which celebrates its 350th anniversary next year, therefore represents the self-determined
individual; a synthesis between man and citizen. Referring to Todorov, this subject can neither be understood as the solitary being who is solely confined to his own body, nor as the citizen who inhabits merely
the city; but is an individual who inhabits the world. Based on reciprocity and due to mutual recognition
the sovereign individual embodied by Émile allows for considering the others according to moral acting.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
While freedom in terms of autonomy remains the primordial imperative, Rousseau constitutes that only
through becoming aware of the existence of others, as well as by the gaze of others, man discovers his own
existence and forbears from the naïve view on himself. Amour propre as a capacity of mutual perspectivetaking therefore becomes the pre-condition of human rationality and, according to this, the landmark of
togetherness. This savage inhabiting the cities thus represents a universal, cosmopolitan identity, not least
because he is by definition not limited to one polity.
Rousseau’s egalitarian stance allows him to gain a position beyond the relativistic contextualization of
ethical norms of culture or universalistic levelling of multiculturalism. Entirely reformulated with our
present knowledge, Rousseau's theory allows for, in my opinion, the opportunity to conceive the individual as oscillating between his diversification and his common existence, his impulse and his reflection and,
therefore, offers a path to togetherness beyond political extremism, stoical renunciation or isolated existence, marking Rousseau’s relevance for the challenges society still has to face today.
Ingrid Martins Holmberg
Associate Professor, Dep. of Conservation, University of Gothenburg, [email protected]
Dilemmas Within and Without: Inquiring the Nexus of Romany Cosmopolitanism and National Heritage Politics
This paper aims at highlighting and discussing some of the constitutive dilemmas that arise in the nexus of
historical cosmopolitanism as conveyed by the Romany People (defined by association), and national heritage politics as it is conducted in contemporary planning and regulation in a Swedish context. Leaving out
here other core aspects and effects of heritage politics, the authorized heritage discourse (Smith) nevertheless seems to serve and enhance notions of place-bound identity on the spatial scale of the nation.
Since heritage, history and memory are core stances for social identity and recognition, notions such as
these render invisibility to any vagrant individual, group or social strata. This dilemma has been managed
within the heritage discourse in relation to indigenous people, such as the Sami in a Swedish context, but
has not yet been discussed in relation to the Romany.
The particular history/prehistory of Romany cosmopolitanism and migration into and within Sweden, has
hitherto left substantial traces at certain phases within the Swedish public field of social planning as well
as within research, but has left only few traces in contemporary notions and perceptions of the Swedish
national heritage, weather in scholarly research or in public heritage actions (cf. SOU 2010:55). The paper
will bring forth, 1) a historical perspective on the Swedish Romany history up until today, with particular
focus on epistemological dilemmas, 2) particular conditions which obstruct any attempts to range Romany history into national heritage, to be highlighted through theoretical stances of subalternism (Spivak)
and insurgent citizenship (Holston 2009), 3) implications for an extended heritage conception and politics.
Mica Nava
Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of East London, [email protected]
Visceral Cosmopolitanism: from Alterity to Mere Difference
Mica Nava will discuss some of the conceptual and historical issues raised in her book Visceral Cosmopolitanism: Gender, Culture and the Normalisation of Difference. This focuses mainly on the UK twentieth century metropolitan experience and is concerned with cosmopolitanism as a ‘structure of feeling’—as an
empathetic, inclusive and sometimes eroticised range of feelings and attitudes towards others, otherness
and the foreign—which finds expression in vernacular and domestic forms as well as in commerce, social
science and the arts.
The paper will track changes in this cosmopolitan mood from a counter culture of modernity a century
ago to part of quotidian life today—hence the shift from alterity to mere difference, to the normalisation of
difference in contemporary urban UK culture. In the process the paper will draw attention to the crucial
part played by women in the historical formation of the present. Similarly it will highlight the unexpected
influence of twentieth century British class relations on the relative diminution in the significance of epi-
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
dermal difference. The paper will also look at the geopolitical and historical specificity of race and difference in UK.
David Östlund
Senior Lecturer, School of Culture & Communication, Södertörn University, [email protected]
Virtues and Vices of a World Citizen Nation: Peaceable Conscience—Neutral Disloyalty in
Wars of ‘Swedology’
Besides her economic Cinderella story, one major reason for the disproportionate interest in Sweden as a
case in point from the 1930s to the 1970s was her peaceable profile. In the positively charged part of the
genre dubbed ‘Swedological writing’ (David Jenkins 1968), there was a recurring claim that her peaceful
internal development—her cultivation of negotiation and pragmatic compromise between major interest
—was related to her long history of peace founded on neutrality. The claim was that Sweden was ‘A Model
for a World’, ‘A Champion of Peace’, in both respects (to cite two book titles from 1949). With her strong
support for the UN after WWII, and her stance of ‘active neutrality’, Sweden appeared to be the ideal mediator, taking the universal interest of mankind as her point of departure: the truly responsible member of
the community of nations. Wasn’t she the model of civic virtue among citizens in the Republic of Cosmopolis, a nation acting in the impartial interest of the world as a whole? This ‘world conscience’ would gradually shift physiognomy from that in style of Dag Hammarskjöld to that of Olof Palme: an increasingly vociferous supporter of small nations’ interests visà-vis Superpowers, and the interests of the Third World
versus those of the industrialized countries (so often fighting their Cold War by proxy, perverting the
process of decolonization). Thus positive ‘Swedology’ tended to use old tropes in new ways. But already
during WWII Swedish neutrality had become a centrepiece in a soon growing negative ‘Swedology’, debunking idealizations, fighting the Swedophiles’ agendas by turning the little kingdom into a deterrent.
‘Stalwart Sweden’ (an ironic book title from 1943) could thus be portrayed as the paragon of the egoistic
shirker of a nation, betraying the community of democracies—and its universal values—by concessions to
Nazi Germany, and after the war by refusing to join Norway and Denmark entering NATO, while counting
on NATO in the case of a Soviet attack—sacrificing nothing in defence of the free world. And after all: was
a nation continuously ruled by one socialist party 1932–1976 a true democracy? Were ‘The New Totalitarians’ (a book title from 1971) a fifth column, fraternizing with enemies of the West all over the world,
or even something worse? Or seen from another angle: wasn’t ‘hedgehog Sweden’s’ dazzling technological
modernity epitomized by her death-bringing arms export? Wasn’t she the deceitful face of Enlightenment
turned cynical?
Kristian Petrov
Post-doctoral fellow, Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, Södertörn University, [email protected]
From Europeanism to Cosmism in Late Soviet Foreign Policy
Although the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, after the fall of communism has come out
of the closet as a ‘cosmopolitan’, the word itself was an irreconcilable invective throughout Soviet history.
However, it is precisely in a cosmopolitan tradition, it is argued here, that one can find clues in order to
reconstruct Gorbachev’s concept of a European home. But the paradigmatic shift from the traditional
‘anti-imperialist’ Soviet outlook, towards a recognition of global interdependency, convergence and a
search for ‘universal consensus,’ where so-called ‘human’ values were placed above the international class
struggle, did not only feed from the Enlightenment idea of Europe as a paragon for a future global federation. Gorbachev was particularly influenced by an early 20th century current, which often is referred to as
Russian cosmism. The aim of the paper is to indicate the cosmic dimension of Gorbachev’s cosmopolitan
vision of a European house. The paper concludes with reflections on what the conceptualisation of a
European, or even global, home, can tell us about the fall of communism and what impact the concept has
had on today’s search for a common European identity and international integration. An argument is advanced that the notion contained paradoxes, anachronisms and ironies that rather contributed to the dislocation of post-Soviet Russia from Europe.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
Eva Piirimäe
Senior Researcher, Institute of Government and Politics, University of Tartu, [email protected]
Herder and Cosmopolitanism
Johann Gottfried Herder is mainly known as a father of nationalism and an outspoken critic of cosmopolitanism. Herder indeed rejects the three main cosmopolitan theories of his time, those represented in the
work of Isaak Iselin, Voltaire, and Immanuel Kant. Yet he also sharply criticises modern imperialism and
national chauvinism, and his ‘nationalism’ is intertwined with his theory of republican patriotism.
Furthermore, in his later years Herder explicitly embraced a distinct kind of cosmopolitanism, designating
this position as ‘true cosmopolitanism’. What is this ‘true cosmopolitanism’ and how does it relate to his
theory of patriotism?
I shall argue in my paper that Herder’s ‘patriotism’ and ‘true cosmopolitanism’ cannot be understood
without reconstructing his account of human natural sociability as well as his theory of civilisation
[Bildung der Menschheit]. In the early stages of human history, Herder maintains, humans are capable of
very strong sociable affections, which however, are limited to their own linguistic and cultural nation, and
are reinforced by animosity to other nations. Greek and Roman nations develop on this basis a new, moral,
idea of patriotism which contains normative (republican) ideas about domestic politics, while continuing
to resort to aggressive foreign policy. In the modern period, Herder argues, nations should maintain, or
recreate, these original elements, while further ‘purifying’ these sentiments from animosity to foreign
nations.This is possible since humans’ capacity of abstract thought is increasing in history, as reflected in
the rise and spread of Christianity as a religion of the universal brotherhood of men. This process, in turn,
is supported by the spread of commerce as a means of communication between nations and that of
enlightenment as the ‘commerce of minds’.
At the same time, Herder is well aware that the process of civilisation is frought with serious risks and
dangers and offers a sophisticated account of the main countervailing forces to the rise and spread of ’purified patriotism’ in the modern age. First of all, abstract thinking disconnects moral notions from their
sensuous roots and hence renders them motivationally powerless. Second, modern technology contributes to the rise of large sovereign states, the rulers of which are apt to make humans mere ‘cogs in the
machine of the state’. Furthermore, this process is attended by the rise of false consciousness, philosophers celebrating the new metropolitan forms of sociability and as well as the highly abstract ideals of
‘love of mankind’, which in turn leads to the neglect or even scorn of one’s own language and customs
among the people. Even worse, the politicians of modern states know only too well how to fraudulently
present their aggressive foreign policy as guided by patriotism or cosmopolitanism. Precisely these very
developments which make the ‘purification of sentiments’ possible can hence seriously weaken or even
destroy the national sentiments. Yet Herder is adamant that this need not be so, if modern nations understand the logic of the process of civilisation as well as the foundations of human sociability and the true
‘dignity’ of man, as taught by the Christian religion. Hence Herder’s answer to these modern challenges is
to strengthen the Christian natural sociability of nations by emphasising their various moral duties: the
one of cultivating their language and emotionally reconnecting to it through a reappropriation of national
heritage (the early lyrics of their nations), the one of respecting the moral ideal of a ‘republic’ as the essence of true fatherland, and the one of ‘cultivating the sentiments of peace’ to other nations.
Frank Ejby Poulsen
PhD Candidate, Dep. of History and Civilisation, European University Institute, [email protected]
Anacharsis Cloots and the Birth of Modern Cosmopolitanism
Anacharsis Cloots is today a forgotten figure of the French revolution, not only for historians of the revolution, but also for cosmopolitan theorists. When a figure from the Enlightenment is sought for cosmopolitanism, Kant comes as the unique candidate. However, in the nineteenth century Cloots was still regarded
as the archetype of cosmopolitanism. Either gone wrong, as nationalists argued; or representing the diversity of humankind in one polity, as Melville who referred to Captain Ahab’s multicultural crew in Moby
Dick as a ‘Clootz [sic] deputation’.
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This paper wishes to re-introduce Cloots’ political thought in context, and to argue that he can be considered as an original (in both sense of the term) thinker of modern cosmopolitanism. Firstly, his ideas were
a logical conclusion to the 1789 Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen: if all men are
born universally free and equal, then no one can claim authority on the other without legitimate consent,
and no group of men can oppose another group sovereignty without violating natural freedom and equality. Secondly, Cloots’ system was also the revolutionary atheist conclusion to previous debates on natural
law: natural rights pre-exist civil society, but if there is no God as legitimate sovereign to edict and enforce
them, then only nature edicts them, and the people—the whole humankind—is God, the legitimate sovereign.
Finally, one could wonder if his ideas could be applied today, or if contemporary concepts could be considered as originating from Cloots’ system. Could the ‘sovereignty of humankind’ form a better basis to
apply the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Could it legally be a better basis to justify external
intrusions in nation-states’ affairs? His contradictions are also contemporary: how to conciliate in a global
polity the need of local self-determination with universal law? If sovereignty, as Cloots argue, is too dangerous to be left in the hands of a group of people, would it not lead to a risk of universal tyranny in the
hands of a conceptual humankind? For these reasons, Cloots’ political thought should be considered as an
interesting angle of reflection for the history of cosmopolitanism and cosmopolitan theory.
Valida Repovac-Pašić
PhD Candidate, University of Berkeley/Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo,
[email protected]
Cosmopolitanism versus Multiculturalism
The idea of Cosmopolitanism is drawn from ancient philosophy and re-actualized in contemporary social
and political theory as a new 21st century World’s Enlightenment. Contemporary cosmopolitan thinkers
such as Seyla Benhabib, Ulrich Beck, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Robert Fine, David Held
and many others are applying Stoic principles to our postmodern context. Their argumentation is that
today’s antagonisms and conflicts, both local and global, can be resolved through the prism of cosmopolitanism, which improves tolerance, aids the reestablishment of dialogue, and fosters mutual recognition.
The idea of cosmopolitanism corresponds with world integration processes and the way they impact and
eventually prevail over the nation-state.
A very significant point in postmodern cosmopolitan theories is the critique and rejection of the concept
of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism as a concept was theoretically developed in the beginning of the
1980s and applies, according to the cosmopolitans, only to ‘collective categories of diversity and is oriented (more or less) in the first instance on a homogeneous group … Therefore the multiculturalism is
opposed to the transnational individualization...’ (Beck 2004). On the other hand, cosmopolitanism is
about universal norms and values which overcome the distinguishing line between the ‘us’ and the ‘them.’
Seyla Benhabib sees cosmopolitanism as a ‘dialogic universalism’ (normative and political project of the
dialogue, negotiation, mediation) or the possibility of ‘us’ with all our attributes to dialogue with the ‘others’ in all their differences (Benhabib 2008).
The aim of this paper is to analyse and compare these two concepts.
Márton Rövid
PhD Candidate, Dep. of International Relations and European Studies, Central European University,
[email protected]
The Cosmopolitan Gypsy: On the Transcendence of National Citizenship in the Light of the
Case of Roma, an Allegedly Non-Territorial Nation
The Roma are increasingly seen as a group that challenges the principle of territorial democracy and the
Westphalian international order. While diverse in customs, languages, church affiliations, and citizenship,
the Roma can also be seen as members of a non-territorial nation. One international non-governmental
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
organization, the International Romani Union, advanced claims for the recognition of the non-territorial
Romani nation and advocated a general vision in which people are no longer represented on the basis of
state. The manifesto ‘Declaration of Nation’ claims that the Roma have survived for several centuries as
distinct individuals and groups with a strong identity without creating a nation-state, so therefore, their
example could help humanity find an alternative way to satisfy the need for identity without having to
lock it to territorial boundaries. The paper studies theories of post-national citizenship in the light of the
case of Roma. What are the empirical preconditions of the transcendence of liberal nationhood? Under
what circumstances can claims of post-national citizenship be justified? To what extent do transnational
social, religious, and ethnic movements challenge the foundations of the so-called Westphalian international order, in particular the trinity of state-nation-territory? What forms of political participation do
they claim? Do transnational nations pose a different challenge to normative political theory than other
transnational communities?
By studying the case of Roma, the paper relates the literature on diasporas and global civil society to cosmopolitan theories thus offering a new typology of boundary problems. The paper demonstrates that the
trinity of state-nation-territory is challenged from all three directions. Trans-state, transnational and nonterritorial forms of solidarity and political action are thriving. Such developments challenge state-centric
liberal, multicultural and nationalist theories alike. The paper discusses five potential ways cosmopolitan
theories may respond to such challenges.
Christoph Senft
PhD Candidate, Marie Curie project ENGLOBE, University of Potsdam, [email protected]
‘If this universal oneness could be understood by all…’: The Concept of Cosmopolitanism in
Ashwin Sanghi’s The Rozabal Line
In my paper I would like to present some aspects of my dissertation project with the working title ‘Towards Transmodern Literary Historiography—Local Past and Global Designs in Recent Indian English
Fiction’. In this project I have a closer look at some examples of very recent Indian English fiction that I
regard as (counter-) visions and narratives of global history and order. The works I discuss are textual
representations of local histories and global designs and (un-)consciously reflect upon the experiences of
globalisation/globality in past and present – experiences that cannot be grasped by clear-cut concepts of
interpretation. Indian Novels in English, using both ‘colonial’ and ‘regional’ languages and symbols, being
part of a well-oiled cultural industry and often having a wide ‘Western’ reader- ship, are harmonious images of alleged universality and, at the same time, transmodern counter-(hi)stories of both Indian and
global reality.
One of the ambiguous concepts of interpretation in the novels is the notion of cosmopolitanism. On the
one hand, it is described and represented in various facets on the textual level. On the other hand, it is
implemented and lived by the authors writing these texts: born in India, living somewhere between
Europe/the US and their country of origin and seemingly sharing universal values.
But following a transmodern approach as it is put forward by Mignolo, we have to ask our- selves in how
far the category of cosmopolitanism has been an implementation of Western knowledge and power
schemes. To a certain degree cosmopolitanism certainly is the re-application of a category developed in
the course of encounters with cultures and cultural milieus in Europe ‘lacking’ in modernity that have
created a particular understanding of a unified world that has to be attained. On the other hand, European
thought is of course not the exclusive source of the cosmopolitan idea. Cosmopolitanism is thus at least
the result of a complex process of interrelated perceptions and rationalisations which are still at work, for
example in various cultural practices like the one of English fiction produced by Indian authors. These
perceptions and rationalisations have to be interpreted in order to uncover existing hierarchies of conceptualisation.
As an example I would like to discuss one text that exemplifies some ideas and problems regarding the
concept of cosmopolitanism: Ashwin Sanghi’s The Rozabal Line (2008). Critically reflecting upon this text
might provide interesting insights into the conceptualisations of cosmopolitanism as generally discussed
at this conference.
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
Marina Simić
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, [email protected]
Cosmopolitan Belonging and Othering: What is Left Unsaid in the Serbian Practice of Cosmopolitanism as Anti-Nationalism
In this paper I focus on the relationship between processes of identification, location and politics in Serbia.
Drawing from my fieldwork research in Serbian towns of Belgrade, Novi Sad and Subotica, I record the
way a particular group of people – mostly young, well-educated and relatively high social status Serbs feel
dislocated by recent socio-political changes which they feel have left them with a ‘spoiled identity’.
I have been interested in the discursive practices that these people use to constitute themselves as cosmopolitan 'European' subjects and the tactics they employ in comparing themselves to concepts, ideals
and stereotypes about how, and who, they would like to be. My question was how these discourses articulated symbolic elements into moments of social action in ways different from other possible identification
strategies like that of nationalism, which dominated the region in the recent years. Thus, I paid special
attention to nationalist sentiments in relation to cosmopolitanism – as my informants made clear the link
between their anti-nationalist attitude and cosmopolitan belonging. They use different strategies of othering (especially what is known as ‘nesting-Orientalism’) for allocating nationalism to different internal
others (notably so called ‘urban-peasants’ and various others ‘newcomers’) in order to create a space for
themselves which will enable them to identify with the imagined cosmopolitan ‘others’ of the ‘West’.
These discursive strategies of positioning frequently excluded any direct talk about the recent Yugoslav
past and violent disintegration of the country, but focus on more nuanced ways of building the antinationalist stance. I explore how these strategies of ‘half-talk’ create space for cosmopolitan positioning
that actually renders any multi-ethnic dialogue in the country obsolete and, in the same time, makes visible the very national location that my informants wanted to escape.
Michael Skey
Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of East London, [email protected]
‘Are we all cosmopolitan now?’: An Examination of the Varying Meaningfulness and
Comensurability of Everyday Engagements with ‘Otherness’
The literature on cosmopolitanism has mushroomed in the past decade or more as attempts are made to
theorise; new patterns of mobility, interactions between previously distant social groups and the emergence of institutions to manage these processes. Investigations into practical or everyday forms of cosmopolitanism have been useful in grounding some of the more theoretical of these debates. However, the
concept is poorly defined and many studies still don’t address the varying meaningfulness and commensurability of different cosmopolitan practices.
In this paper, I build on the arguments of those who have emphasised the strategic aspects and temporal
dimensions of cosmopolitan expressions and practices, (Skrbis et al, 2004, Skrbis & Woodward, 2007,
Kothari, 2008), by focusing on the conditional nature of many of these engagements, the resources and
constraints that different actors operate with or under and, as a result, the varying commitments they
have to different ‘others’.
Illustrative examples from a study of social identities in England and newspaper coverage of foreign sport
stars are used to theorise cosmopolitanism, as a perspective that is periodically articulated, in relation to
specific needs, contexts or prompts, rather than being an inherent property of particular individuals,
groups or situations. A final section puts forward a typology for more effectively assessing, and analysing,
the meaning and significance of these engagements.
Roman Sukholutsky
PhD Candidate, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, [email protected]
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
The Morning After: Shifting the Focus of the Cosmopolitan Debate from Political to Moral
Cosmopolitanism in the Wake of the Events of 1989
The two main branches of nowadays cosmopolitan thought are Moral and Political Cosmopolitanisms.
While Moral Cosmopolitanism promotes the idea of globally unified moral values and commitments which
justify political organization and institutions that may be imposed on individuals Political Cosmopolitanism maintains that some kind of unified political community encompassing the whole humanity is required for realization and implementation of cosmopolitan ideal.
Despite the variety of its philosophical and academic definitions the term Cosmopolitanism is used nowadays primarily in its Moral sense while in the past numerous Political cosmopolitan projects were proposed and discussed. Unlike Political Cosmopolitanism Moral Cosmopolitanism is vague, unclear and requires almost no concrete actions thus remaining relatively untouched by the present political conditions
and the current international situation. The purpose of this paper is to explain the abandonment of Political cosmopolitan aspirations and along with it the abandonment of more active and concrete cosmopolitan action and a clear preference of Moral cosmopolitanism which allows detachment form current political situation and does not require immediate changes of political world order.
I claim that the final blow to Political Cosmopolitanism with its aspiration to develop a world state or at
least a federation was delivered by the end of the Cold War. After 1989 for the first time in history the
democracy won a broad support among nations and was agreed to be the most desired form of government, even though the humanity remained divided; there was an expectation that governments, international organizations and citizens of the world will devote themselves to an attempt of solving global problems and will adopt the principles of global citizenship. The actual developments were very different and
the world witnessed the revival of religious and nationalist approaches requiring the preservation of different communities' cultural identities. An understanding that even in such favorable conditions as the
post Cold War years humanity has not moved into the direction of at least partial political unity "killed"
the hopes of Political Cosmopolitanism and forced the research and debate about Cosmopolitanism into
philosophical and purely unrealistic moral areas such as theories of social justice. The end of the Cold War
became the final blow and the following 1990s were the Morning After for Political Cosmopolitanism and
cosmopolitans.
Oleksandr Svyetlov
PhD, Institute of Public Memory/Museum of Soviet Occupation, Kyiv, [email protected]
Nationalism vs. Patriotism: Theory and Practice in the Context of Inter-Ethnic Conflicts in
Poland and Ukraine
The events of the past still have an influence on the present Polish-Ukrainian relations, as they constitute
public narratives of the shared past and condition the vision of each other. Memory of collective wrongs
and atrocities suffered in the past from another ethnic group often burdens people with strong resentment. Today Poles and Ukrainians seek a new relationship in a common European house. Never before
have the conditions been so favourable for the reassessment of the 20th century nationalisms in Poland
and Ukraine.
G. Santayana once said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Therefore I
would like to focus on the reasons and outcomes of the 1943–47 clashes and ethnic cleansing operations
in Poland and Ukraine with the emphasis on the current historical discourses on the Polish-Ukrainian
history. In the past the actions of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the Polish Armia Krajowa (AK), the USSR and the new Polish state played a central role in
the context of mutual Polish-Ukrainian violent conflicts in the bordering regions of Galicia and Volyn ́.
With the emergence of independent non-communist Poland and Ukraine, those wishing to understand
their neighbours unavoidingly have to talk about common historical experience.
Therefore it is of special academic and public interest to conduct investigation into the temporal and
qualitative dynamics of past conflicts in Poland and Ukraine, as well as the scope and possibility for mutual reconciliation through (re)interpretation of former violent clashes by way of detailed examination of
how the past events are remembered / assessed / commemorated. It will be done through comparative
analysis of regional and trans-national remembrance aspects. My second aim is the exploration of these
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
conflict dynamics, as well as the elaboration of an appropriate theoretical framework for the explanation
of the factors which contributed to violent conflicts and suffered injustice. I would also like to develop a
framework for understanding the nationalism that would integrate various theories into a coherent model
and will become applicable for my case study. As a topic of academic inquiry these are new areas and this
constitutes my primary motivation for undertaking research.
Heather Tidrick
PhD Candidate, University of Michigan, [email protected]
Contextualising Post-Socialist Hungarian Anti-Gypsyism in the Expanding European Union
This essay attempts to clarify Hungarian understandings of cosmopolitanism and perceived threats to the
Hungarian nation through the lens of anti-Gypsyism. Drawing on my own ethnographic research on postsocialist Roma integration and institutional practices in Hungary, I discuss contemporary post-socialist
anti-Gypsyism in the historical context of late 19th and early 20th century Hungarian nationalism and the
particularities of fin-de-siècle Hungarian industrialization and embourgeoisiement. I argue that social
patterns that emerged in this earlier period—namely, the widespread and profound ambivalence about
these processes of modernization in Hungary and the central role that the capital city of Budapest played
in the process—help to explain social exclusion and anti-Romani violence in contemporary Hungary and
the particular expressions of anxiety centred around such issues as demographic change and ‘Gypsy
crime.’
Nationbuilding efforts embodied in 19th and early 20th century Hungarian architecture, music, literature,
and néprajz (ethnology) demonstrate an urgent concern for locating the essential Hungarian self and
finding an articulation of that self that could be simultaneously authentically Hungarian yet also modern.
This ethical, political, aesthetic, and intellectual project was centred in the diverse and multiethnic city of
Budapest, where the process of industrialization and urbanization was extraordinarily rapid. In this context of social disruption, cosmopolitanism came to have a generally negative connotation with a strongly
Semitic
association,
suggesting
an
interrelated
set
of
dichotomies
between
Jewish/modern/urban/cosmopolitan and Hungarian/authentic/rural/’landed’. The emphasis on land ownership and particular forms of labour productivity in traditional Hungarian peasant values has reinforced
the devaluation and social exclusion of Roma and Jews due to their historically distinctive roles in the
changing Hungarian economy.
In the postsocialist period, as Hungarians long for full recognition of their Europeanness and achievement
of a ‘normal life’ (Fehervary 2002) in the context of resilient, long-standing tensions between ‘Eastern’
and ‘Western’ Europe (Balibar 2009), older discourses regarding the threatened Hungarian nation are
easily resuscitated with new variations. Exploring the contours of these old and new discourses about the
threats to Hungarianness, this essay ultimately illustrates some of the limitations to cosmopolitanism as a
future vision for European citizenship.
Galin Tihanov
George Steiner Professor of Comparative Literature, Queen Mary, University of London, [email protected]
Cosmopolitanism in the Discursive Landscape of Modernity
Thinking historically about cosmopolitanism invites us (a) to understand how ideas of cosmopolitanism
and a cosmopolitan world order have been legitimized or challenged; (b) to offer a hypothesis about the
principal function of discourses of cosmopolitanism in modern societies (by ’modern’ one would consensually mean societies since roughly the last quarter of the 18th century), or, to put it differently, to
begin to recognize the specific place of cosmopolitanism in the discursive landscape of modernity; and c)
to identify the historically evolving domains (political, artistic, scholarly, etc.) in which ideas and sentiments of cosmopolitanism have been articulated. In my paper I focus at more length on (b) and (c). I begin
by constructing a hypothesis about the underlying function discourses of cosmopolitanism perform in
modernity. Once the dual nature of these discourses is elucidated, I concentrate on their domains of articulation, limiting my examples to political philosophy and the history of comparative literature, with
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
particular emphasis on two enduring ideas with Enlightenment provenance (the idea of eternal peace and
that of world literature), whose afterlives I address selectively in order to expand and detail my argument.
Elena Trubina
Professor, Institute for Social and Political Studies, Ural Federal University, [email protected]
Multiscalar Cosmopolitanism and Relational Legacy: On the Selective Appropriation of the
Neoliberal Globalization Discourse
The philosopher Martha Nussbaum believes that it is possible to extend the scope of one’s affective ties
and draws a map of the world composed of concentric circles (humanity as a whole is the largest). This is
to suggest that national borders shouldn’t stop one from feeling a cosmopolitan solidarity with geopolitically remote people. These and similar normative assumptions are problematized by a range of empirical
studies that show just how controversially distance, scale, affect, and identity are interconnected in
people’s affiliations, attachments, and cosmopolitan predilections. The comments on the possible collusion of academic debates and media discourses with transnational corporations and public-policy circles
are convincingly made. In this paper, I argue that Russia provides an interesting empirical context for
illuminating how selectively the neoliberal globalization discourse is cajoled into assemblages of authoritarian politics and digitized tele-technologies. I address the ways in which the theories and practices of
cosmopolitanism co-exist with those of division. In particular, the argument—that the problems of underdevelopment do not come from the global economy itself but lie mainly in the societies themselves—gets
appropriated by the nationalist creative workers in order to popularize the hierarchical core–periphery
divide within the country, with the core defined as cosmopolitan and the rest as parochial and backward.
Empirically, this paper attempts to map out how the connections with others have been established and
maintained among different scale levels: an individual life, friends and family, community, city, nation, and
the planet. The historical shift from the limited geographic and social mobility characteristic of the socialist years to the new territorial and organizational configuration that emerged during the transition years
is taken into consideration. Many Russians take spatial freedom to be the most valuable achievement of
these new times. The tourists’ encounters with different urban experiences, a chance ‘to see how people
live elsewhere’ (a phrase from many interviews), make them more critical toward the things they see at
home. On the other hand, as more and more Russian regions, at least through the Internet, become included in the patterns of global system change, their various legacies become included in these transformations in ways that will often amplify locally established relationships of power. In particular, I look at
how the Russian citizens’ strengthening connections with the world may interact, not only with a dark and
malicious gloating over various misfortunes that others are subjected to, but with an indifference to the
planet and living things.
Ksenija Vidmar Horvat
Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, [email protected]
Patriotic Cosmopolitanism? Rethinking Cosmopolitanism from a Western Balkan’s Perspective
The paper examines the concept of cosmopolitanism as it has been elaborated in current sociological
thought. Cosmopolitanism is governed by an ethos of global concern for the humanity, especially the deprivileged and marginalized, and is an advocate of a just global order in which the ‘others’ take part in the
postnational social contract as equals. Both these missions, however, can be accomplished only when
cosmopolitan subject becomes actively engaged in local social life. Confronting the cosmopolitan discourse, articulated through the idealized figure of the stranger, it is argued that the real migrating strangers and the ‘aliens’ of today’s world are indeed dislocated and dispossessed of their native homelands; but
it is their exclusion and suffer which unfolds within the localized territories of the nation states, not an
abstract world of global citizens, which forces their up-rootedness to become a re-localized trauma. In the
first part, the author thus argues that cosmopolitanism needs to reclaim its locality; only this way, it can
become perceived as a legitimate actor in the definition of national culture and its openness towards the
‘strangers’. The second part of the paper examines the politics of reterritorialization and re-localization
thorough the case of the post-Yugoslav remembered ‘cosmopolitanism’. The concluding argument is that
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Cosmopolitanism in a Wider Context—Book of Abstracts
critical theory of cosmopolitanism needs to rebuild in its epistemology a historical perspective and make
the cosmopolitan agenda an integral part of citizenship. This means a redefined relationship between
cosmopolitanism and patriotism which has to be reflected in educational curricula.
Andrew Vincent
Professor, Dep. of Politics, University of Sheffield, [email protected]
Reluctant Cosmopolitanism: The Problem of Cosmopolitanism
The critical intuition I am wending my way uneasily around is that it is now de rigueur (in some circles) to
be cosmopolitan, almost equivalent to being humanitarian, tolerant or liberal-minded. Alternatives to
cosmopolitanism can thus be too horrible to contemplate. This sense of moral or legal rightness attached
to cosmopolitanism makes me intellectually uneasy. However I am no less—if not more—uncomfortable
with the various critics of cosmopolitanism, an assorted band of nationalists, culturalists, multiculturalists,
variants on postcolonialism and postmodernism, who all strike me as even more critically in error. In one
sense I am seeking a via media. The structure of my talk is to very briefly sketch some genealogy (I say
genealogy in the sense of not seeing progress as paramount in articulating the concept of cosmopolitanism), and further to comment on some perplexing etymology and provenance to the idea of cosmopolitanism. I then consider briefly some of the traditional arguments on cosmopolitanism, which in my reading
hovers mainly around moral and legal claims. In criticizing the various moral and legal accounts I also
raise difficulties with some of the more standard critiques of cosmopolitanism. Finally I turn to what I
think is a somewhat neglected component of argument in cosmopolitanism, namely its political rendition.
This later idea best encapsulates for me the sense of a reluctant cosmopolitan.
Aaron C. Vlasak
Humanities Faculty Fellow, Syracuse University, NY, [email protected]
Plato’s Kunikos Kosmopolitēs
Many are willing to ascribe certain cosmopolitan principles of justice to Socrates. This is not surprising as
the later cosmopolitans claimed a Socratic heritage. Few are willing to extend such principles to Plato.
The philosophic dog as the image of the ideal political leader that we see in Republic, Book II seems to
confirm this common reading. The dog, we are told, is friendly with the familiar and angry at the strange.
If this were Plato’s ideal, indeed he would not be cosmopolitan. His recommended treatment of strangers
would amount to a clear denial of Kant’s cosmopolitan right to hospitality. I argue, however, that on
Plato’s own terms it is irrational to get angry at strangers. This is patently clear from the discussion of
misology and misanthropy in the Phaedo. The mistake of misologues and misanthropes is basically the
same. Misologues grow to hate ideas after their unwarranted beliefs are continually debunked. Similarly,
misanthropes grow to hate people after their unwarranted trust in people is continually betrayed. Both
misologues and misanthropes precisely make the mistake of the Republic dog. They are friendly with the
familiar without a good experience. In a dog-like way, they make claims and trust people without good
reason. Such a disposition is bound to be upset and tend toward the other dog-like disposition, that of
believing in nothing and hating people for no good reason. Along these lines, to say the Republic dog is
philosophic is to make the philosopher out to be either a fool or a nihilist. The true philosopher, of course,
is neither. Rather than the true philosopher, the image of the political leader in the form of the dog depicts
the realistic leader, who Plato would call the ‘philosopher in exile.’ This realistic image is juxtaposed to
the ideal ruler, the true philosopher, someone like Socrates, deserving of the epithet, kunikos kosmopolitēs.
Plato and Socrates share a certain cosmopolitan ideal of justice, a right to hospitality. An important difference between the Kantian and the Socratic/Platonic right to hospitality is that the Kantian version is
founded upon the presumption of humanity in the stranger, whereas the Socratic/Platonic version is
founded upon the refusal to presume anything in advance of a good or bad experience. Owing to the frequent misuse of the concept of humanity in politics, I conclude by suggesting, the Socratic/Platonic right
to hospitality better serves us than the Kantian.
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