The Cosmopolitan Ideal Challenges and Opportunities [Paperback]

Cosmopolitanism is coming of age.?? The editors of this volume have assembled animpressive series of cutting-edge contributions on the topic.?? Coming from differentperspectives, the chapters seek to steer a path toward a global critical cosmopolitanism - where critical does not mean a rejection of the cosmopolitan ideal ? but rather amore self-reflective approach cognizant of the likely exclusion or repression ofrelevant others under prevailing power constellations.Committed to the cosmopolitan project, the authors of this book nevertheless pose a serious challenge to its purely normative definition. By?engaging?in a wide range of analyses--from?human rights to?basic conceptual?assumptions,?from?conditions of intercultural communication to prospects and pitfalls of a globalized idea of democracy--this?well-conceived volume aims to advance a critical cosmopolitanism by problematizing its Western roots.?It admirably succeeds.Critically interrogating the popular concept of cosmopolitanism, this book offers new insight of what it means to be a world citizen today.Cosmopolitanism has resurfaced as a prominent perspective within philosophy and the social sciences. Its critics, though, suggest that contemporary cosmopolitanism is abstract and ultimately meaningless, or that it is the globalized expression of a very European, and modern, ideal.This book aims to develop a new cosmopolitanism: one that is critical, inclusive, and relevant for the twenty-first century. The first section considers why we should behave as cosmopolitans at all; why do we owe some concept of justice to those who are suffering some form of injustice around the world? The book then moves beyond normative debates, using empirical studies on practical concerns to explore the ways in which we can break with traditional structures, practices, and power inequalities that have been based on disregard and subordination. Extending the scope of cosmopolitanism to incorporate issues such as gender, asylsD