DOCSLIB.ORG

Can the Relationship Between Higher Education and Cosmopolitanism Be

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Can the Relationship Between Higher Education and Cosmopolitanism Be Can the relationship between higher education and cosmopolitanism be explained by field of study? Rahsaan Maxwell Department of Political Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [email protected] October 12, 2020 Acknowledgements Cameron Ballard-Rosa and Marc Hetherington provided helpful comments on previous ver- sions. 1 Abstract One of the most divisive debates of our time is whether societies should be more or less cosmopolitan. One reason for the divisiveness is the overlap between cosmopoli- tanism and other societal cleavages. For example, post-secondary qualifications are strongly associated with greater cosmopolitanism. This relationship is remarkably ro- bust but it is unclear whether educational attainment directly affects cosmopolitanism or whether pro and anti-cosmopolitan people sort into different educational trajec- tories. In this paper, I explore whether contradictory findings can be explained by previous studies mis-specifying the aspect of education that affects cosmopolitanism. I use the Dutch LISS Panel to focus on field of study; an important source of vari- ation within post-secondary education. I find that respondents with humanities or social sciences degrees are more cosmopolitan than respondents with physical science or technical degrees. However, controlling for field of study cannot account for the cosmopolitanism gap across educational attainment. Moreover, there is no evidence that a post-secondary degree in humanities or social science subjects causes more cos- mopolitanism. It is more likely that cosmopolitan people sort into humanities and social science subjects. This has implications for our understanding of the relationship between cosmopolitanism and education as well as the formulation of worldviews more broadly. 2 1 Introduction One of the most divisive debates across Western Europe and North America is whether societies should be more or less cosmopolitan (Kriesi et al. 2012). The central principle of cosmopolitanism is that humans are part of one community (Appiah 2006). Cosmopolitans believe humans should not be limited by nation-state boundaries and societies should be open to immigration, multiculturalism, and robust international institutions (Beck and Grande 2007; Maxwell 2019). Opponents of cosmopolitanism believe societies should limit ethnic diversity, privilege national sovereignty, and maintain historical traditions. The debate be- tween these perspectives is so intense, it may restructure social cleavages across Europe and North America (de Wilde et al. 2019; Hooghe and Marks 2018). One reason for the divisiveness of cosmopolitanism is its overlap with other societal cleav- ages. Most notably, studies show that higher educational qualifications are associated with more support for cosmopolitanism (Hainmueller and Hiscox 2007; Hakhverdian et al. 2013; Igarashi and Saito 2014). This is a remarkably robust relationship, and is consistent over time and across country contexts. However, there is an ongoing debate about how to inter- pret the relationship between educational attainment and cosmopolitanism. Some scholars find evidence that educational attainment has a direct causal effect on cosmopolitanism (Cavaillé and Marshall 2019; d’Hombres and Nunziata 2016; Margaryan, Paul and Siedler 2019). Other studies suggest the divide is due to pro and anti-cosmopolitan people sorting into different educational trajectories (Finseraas, Skorge and Strøm 2018; Kunst, Kuhn and van de Werfhorst 2020; Lancee and Sarrasin 2015). In this paper, I explore whether these contradictory findings can be explained by previ- ous studies mis-specifying the aspect of education that affects cosmopolitanism. The logic of the causal relationship is that higher education provides information, cognitive skills and exposure to a broad range of people, all of which sensitize students to the value of cosmopoli- tan diversity (Nie, Junn and Stehlik-Barry 1996; Stubager 2008; Surridge 2016). However, scholars may have overlooked important variation within post-secondary education in how 3 information, skills and socialization operate. The key variation within post-secondary education that I examine is field of study. Post- secondary education includes a wide range of subjects, from art history to mechanical engi- neering. Within that range, humanities and the social sciences are the most likely to promote contextual understanding of social issues, which may be directly compatible with an openness to diversity and cosmopolitanism. In comparison, physical sciences and technical subjects are less likely to engage social issues and are more likely to rely on formal codified rules (Guimond, Begin and Palmer 1989; Ladd and Lipset 1975; Persson 2012). This does not im- ply that physical sciences and technical subjects are associated with anti-cosmopolitanism. Instead, the key insight is that humanities and the social sciences are more strongly related to cosmopolitanism. Therefore, the relationship between post-secondary education and cos- mopolitanism might only be present (or might be stronger) for people who study humanities or social sciences. I use the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel. The longitudinal data structure is particularly useful for my inquiry because it allows me to observe cosmopolitanism before and after respondents receive post-secondary degrees in dif- ferent fields of study. This provides leverage on whether education affects cosmopolitanism in ways that would not be possible with cross-sectional data. The LISS panel is also useful because it provides information on respondents’ field of study; a level of detail not often found in large panel studies. The LISS panel also allows me to analyze multiple indicators of cosmopolitanism: immigration attitudes, support for the European Union (EU), political party support and social contacts with non-Dutch people. I find that field of study is associated with cosmopolitanism. Respondents with hu- manities or social sciences degrees are generally more cosmopolitan than respondents with physical science or technical degrees. In addition, the cosmopolitanism gap across fields of study is roughly similar to the cosmopolitanism gap between respondents with and without post-secondary education. However, controlling for field of study cannot account for the 4 cosmopolitanism gap across educational attainment. Moreover, there is no evidence that getting a post-secondary degree in humanities or social science subjects causes more cos- mopolitanism. It is more likely that cosmopolitan people sort into humanities and social science subjects. The results in this paper have several implications. First, by examining field of study, I offer a new perspective for the established literature on education and cosmopolitanism. The main focus of previous research has been educational attainment, but I show that respondents who do not have post-secondary degrees but study the humanities or social sciences are just as cosmopolitan as respondents with post-secondary degrees in physical sciences or technical subjects. If we want to understand how educational stratification relates to cosmopolitanism, a new line of inquiry on field of study may be just as important as standard analyses of educational attainment. This paper also engages debates about whether educational attainment has a causal effect on cosmopolitanism. Respondents with post-secondary degrees in humanities and social sciences subjects are the most cosmopolitan subset, but there is no evidence that their education caused an increase in cosmopolitanism. Instead, my results suggest they were more cosmopolitan prior to their education, which is consistent with the logic of sorting. Sorting suggests that cosmopolitanism may be a sticky disposition that is formed early in life (Hetherington and Weiler 2018; Sears and Valentino 1997). This connects to research which finds educational divides in political tolerance (Dra˘zanová 2017; Sniderman et al. 1996) and authoritarianism (Stubager 2008) already exist before education occurs. In addition, the evidence for sorting challenges conventional wisdom that cosmopolitanism is most prevalent among the young and fades as people age (Favell 2008; Recchi 2015). My findings engage debates about when and how worldviews are incubated (Gross 2013; Gross and Simmons 2014; Lerch, Russell and Ramirez 2017), and suggest that early-life socialization is a key stage for future analysis. Finally, this paper deepens our understanding of how cosmopolitanism overlaps with 5 other societal divides. If educational attainment and field of study are equally important for understanding the connection between education and cosmopolitanism, cross-cutting cleavages may open possibilities for compromise. Future studies should explore this in more detail as cosmopolitanism will likely remain a salient social and political issue across Europe and North America for the foreseeable future. 2 Fields of study and cosmopolitanism The analysis in this paper departs from the insight that fields of study involve different subject matters, forms of analysis, and cognitive skills, all of which may be related to social and political attitudes and behavior (Ladd and Lipset 1975; Lopez, Gurin and Nagda 1998). For the purposes of this paper, I distinguish between humanities and social science degrees on one side and physical science and technical degrees on the other.1 Research suggests that people who study physical sciences or technical subjects are more likely than humanities or social
Load more

Recommended publications
  • CRITICAL THEORY and AUTHORITARIAN POPULISM Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism
    CDSMS EDITED BY JEREMIAH MORELOCK CRITICAL THEORY AND AUTHORITARIAN POPULISM Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism edited by Jeremiah Morelock Critical, Digital and Social Media Studies Series Editor: Christian Fuchs The peer-reviewed book series edited by Christian Fuchs publishes books that critically study the role of the internet and digital and social media in society. Titles analyse how power structures, digital capitalism, ideology and social struggles shape and are shaped by digital and social media. They use and develop critical theory discussing the political relevance and implications of studied topics. The series is a theoretical forum for in- ternet and social media research for books using methods and theories that challenge digital positivism; it also seeks to explore digital media ethics grounded in critical social theories and philosophy. Editorial Board Thomas Allmer, Mark Andrejevic, Miriyam Aouragh, Charles Brown, Eran Fisher, Peter Goodwin, Jonathan Hardy, Kylie Jarrett, Anastasia Kavada, Maria Michalis, Stefania Milan, Vincent Mosco, Jack Qiu, Jernej Amon Prodnik, Marisol Sandoval, Se- bastian Sevignani, Pieter Verdegem Published Critical Theory of Communication: New Readings of Lukács, Adorno, Marcuse, Honneth and Habermas in the Age of the Internet Christian Fuchs https://doi.org/10.16997/book1 Knowledge in the Age of Digital Capitalism: An Introduction to Cognitive Materialism Mariano Zukerfeld https://doi.org/10.16997/book3 Politicizing Digital Space: Theory, the Internet, and Renewing Democracy Trevor Garrison Smith https://doi.org/10.16997/book5 Capital, State, Empire: The New American Way of Digital Warfare Scott Timcke https://doi.org/10.16997/book6 The Spectacle 2.0: Reading Debord in the Context of Digital Capitalism Edited by Marco Briziarelli and Emiliana Armano https://doi.org/10.16997/book11 The Big Data Agenda: Data Ethics and Critical Data Studies Annika Richterich https://doi.org/10.16997/book14 Social Capital Online: Alienation and Accumulation Kane X.
    [Show full text]
  • Sage. Cosmopolitan Liberalism and Its Limits Craig Calhoun Cosmopolit
    Forthcoming in R. Robertson, ed.: Cosmopolitanism. London: Sage. Cosmopolitan Liberalism and its Limits Craig Calhoun Cosmopolitanism is in fashion. It is valued in clothing style and eating habits, leisure travel and business connections, musical taste and ethical commitments. I have previously criticized the too easy conflation of these different dimensions. This tends to give a tone of moral self- righteousness to matters of personal style, and it tends to deflect attention from the extent to which these sorts of cosmopolitanism rest on positions of personal privilege. I have termed this the “class consciousness of frequent travelers”. Here, I want to take up a different but related theme, the renewal of political liberalism as cosmopolitanism. Most versions of cosmopolitanism are contained within liberalism. They are grounded in thinking about individuals – their rights, tastes, and potential travels through the world, and indeed also their ethical obligations. They have much less to say about social transformations that would raise the opportunities and standards of living of the poor or collective struggles that might bring these about. In this they share something with 19th century bourgeois liberalism. Compared to previous aristocratic closure of opportunities it helped underwrite a new openness. But it offered much less to struggles to transform capitalist inequalities. And it was often actively hostile to attempts by craft workers and others to defend their traditional communities.i So it is today with those enthusiastic about a range of new technologies and willing to accept the economic relations that shape their distribution and use. There is a tension running through modern history between struggles to open new individual opportunities – for those with the resources to take them up – and struggles to transform social structures to benefit those much less well off.
    [Show full text]
  • Doers Dreamers Ors Disrupt &
    POLITICO.EU DECEMBER 2018 Doers Dreamers THE PEOPLE WHO WILL SHAPE & Disrupt EUROPE IN THE ors COMING YEAR In the waves of change, we find our true drive Q8 is an evolving future proof company in this rapidly changing age. Q8 is growing to become a broad mobility player, by building on its current business to provide sustainable ‘fuel’ and services for all costumers. SOMEONE'S GOT TO TAKE THE LEAD Develop emission-free eTrucks for the future of freight transport. Who else but MAN. Anzeige_230x277_eTrucks_EN_181030.indd 1 31.10.18 10:29 11 CONTENTS No. 1: Matteo Salvini 8 + Where are Christian Lindner didn’t they now? live up to the hype — or did he? 17 The doers 42 In Germany, Has the left finally found its a new divide answer to right-wing nationalism? 49 The dreamers Artwork 74 85 Cover illustration by Simón Prades for POLITICO All illustrated An Italian The portraits African refugees face growing by Paul Ryding for unwelcome resentment in the country’s south disruptors POLITICO 4 POLITICO 28 SPONSORED CONTENT PRESENTED BY WILFRIED MARTENS CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES THE EAST-WEST EU MARRIAGE: IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO TALK 2019 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS ARE A CHANCE TO LEARN FROM LESSONS OF THE PAST AND BRING NATIONS CLOSER TOGETHER BY MIKULÁŠ DZURINDA, PRESIDENT, WILFRIED MARTENS CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES The East-West relationship is like the cliché between an Eastern bride and a Western man. She is beautiful but poor and with a slightly troubled past. He is rich and comfortable. The West which feels underappreciated and the East, which has the impression of not being heard.
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmopolitanism’ As an Analytic for the Comparative Study of Globalization and Education
    Rethinking ‘Cosmopolitanism’ as an Analytic for the Comparative Study of Globalization and Education Noah W. Sobe Loyola University Chicago This article proposes that for scholars in comparative and international education the study of “cosmpolitanisms” offers a productive avenue for thinking outside of the traditional paradigms of area studies and for understanding the new world-generating optics and multi-layered geographies that appear to be emerging with globalization. The piece explores the concept of “vernacular cosmopolitanisms” and discusses recent scholarship – on 21st century American education and on early-20th-century Yugoslav education – that have used cosmopolitanism as an analytic category. The article argues that studying actually, existing cosmopolitanisms is a useful strategy for examining the ways that solidarities are formed, identities are developed, and principles of inclusion and exclusion are elaborated amidst local and global assemblages. ne of the key analytic challenges that globalization presents is the need to develop social science research strategies appropriate to understanding emergent social, political and culturalO forms. In this article I argue that the study of cosmopolitanisms offers a productive avenue for thinking outside of the traditional paradigms of area studies and for understanding the new world-generating optics and multi-layered geographies that appear to be emerging with globalization. These new, often non-territorial configurations bring people, knowledge, institutions, and objects together
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmopolitanism: Rethinking the Agenda of Education Abroad Brian Whalen1 & Michael Woolf 2
    Critical Essay Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad © 2020 Brian Whalen & Michael Woolf The work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Volume 32, Issue 3, pp. 72-98 DOI 10.36366/frontiers.v32i3.580 Cosmopolitanism: Rethinking the Agenda of Education Abroad Brian Whalen1 & Michael Woolf 2 Abstract Cosmopolitanism is an ambiguous and inherently paradoxical notion. Because of the complexities it raises, it generates analyses and discourses that challenge simplistic assumptions embedded in theory and practice of education abroad. Global citizenship, comprehensive internationalization, cultural relativity, immersion, cross-cultural learning, and community engagement are some of the concepts deconstructed through the lens of cosmopolitan ideas and histories. Cosmopolitan philosophies are also of particular and special relevance to student experience in international education. In short, cosmopolitanism is not one idea but a field of meaning, a cluster of profound propositions that might collectively enrich the curriculum of education abroad. Keywords: cosmopolitanism; history and philosophy; deconstructing the agenda; nationalism, cultural history Introduction: What is Cosmopolitanism? What is it not? Cosmopolitanism... is a philosophy and ethical orientation that takes account of the dense enmeshment of human beings - the connections 1 CAPA: THE GLOBAL EDUCATION NETWORK, LONDON, UK 2 AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT COUNCIL (AIRC), BETHESDA, MD, USA Corresponding author: Michael Woolf, CAPA: The Global Education Network, [email protected] Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad 32(3) Whalen & Woolf between them, the bonds that link them, the interests that divide them, and the clashes of ethical and political outlook. Cosmopolitanism is a philosophy for the age of human interconnectedness, and generates a politics for a ‘small world’ (Brown & Held, 2010, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Smashing Cosmopolitanism: the Neo-Liberal Destruction of Cosmopolitan Education in East-Central Europe
    Smashing Cosmopolitanism: The Neo-liberal Destruction of Cosmopolitan Education in East-Central Europe Robert J. Imre University of Newcastle Zsuzsa Millei University of Newcastle Critiques that seek to examine cosmopolitanism as a concept suffer from a severe popularity problem. Rather than engage in this pro/con debate, we are interested in demonstrating that cosmopolitanism can wax and wane, ebb and flow, and has appeared as a grounding ideology for educational programs before, only to be torn asunder by those seeking to consolidate regime change. We do not suggest that cosmopolitanism is good and righteous politics, normatively opposed to or supporting patriotism, nor is it ideologically left, right or centre. We see a burgeoning cosmopolitan outlook in a particular time and place, that was smashed by political and social forces both unforeseen and powerful, changing foundational concepts of education in East-Central Europe in general and Hungary in particular. s a popular concept in the English-speaking world, cosmopolitanism conjures up notions of a well-read, well-fed, bourgeoisie with economic and social capacities to move around the worldA using their networks and sophisticated understandings of cultural diversity. A cosmopolitan understanding of the world encompasses a commitment to universal human rights, universal human potential, and a deeply embedded acceptance of difference and diversity. These ideas are core parts of a universalist frame of reference, and a philosophical underpinning of a particular view of the modern world held during the Industrial Revolution until today (Held, 2003). This paper challenges the idea that cosmopolitanism exists exclusively in the post-Cold War period in East-Central Europe, and also challenges the idea that the Hungarian education system was a monolithic neo-Stalinist version of ‘ideology expression’.
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmopolitanism in the Modern Social Imaginary
    Craig Calhoun Cosmopolitanism in the modern social imaginary Article (Published version) (Refereed) Original citation: Calhoun, Craig (2008) Cosmopolitanism in the modern social imaginary. Daedalus, 137 (3). pp. 105-114. ISSN 0011-5266 DOI: 10.1162/daed.2008.137.3.105 © 2008 American Academy of Arts and Sciences This version available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/42642/ Available in LSE Research Online: November 2012 LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website. Craig Calhoun Cosmopolitanism in the modern social imaginary One day in the early 1980s, I was rid- to see who else might be passing through ing in the backseat of an old Land Rover the seemingly empty desert. My curiosi- through the desert southwest of Khar- ty was mild–I had been in the Sudan toum. There was no road, but the land- only a month or two and didn’t think I’d scape, mostly flat, was marked by the know anyone–until I realized that in occasional saint’s tomb distinctive to fact I did know the face looking back at Sudanese Islam.
    [Show full text]
  • Liberal Cosmopolitanism and Economic Justice
    LIBERAL COSMOPOLITANISM AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE Katherine Erbeznik A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2008 Committee: Steven Wall, Advisor Rachel A. Vannatta Graduate Faculty Representative Fred D. Miller, Jr. Ellen Frankel Paul Jeffrey Moriarty ii ABSTRACT Steven Wall, Advisor The goal of this dissertation is to answer two questions: Is global poverty unjust, such that coercive remedies may be imposed to alleviate it? And if so, does it justify global redistribution as a remedy? This dissertation takes up the same task initiated by Thomas Pogge in his 2002 book, World Poverty and Human Rights, in that the theory of justice from which these questions are answered assigns priority to negative duties of non-interference, rather than positive duties of assistance. More specifically, the theory of cosmopolitan justice underlying this evaluation is that of natural rights liberalism in the tradition of John Locke and Robert Nozick. According to this theory, global poverty could be unjust only if it was the result of violating individual rights. The first half of the dissertation explores the ways in which Pogge claims poverty is the result of rights violations – that such poverty is the result of a tainted global history and that the current distribution of global resources violates the right to fair shares, – ultimately denying that these ground the injustice of poverty. Instead, I argue that global poverty is unjust because a distribution of resources that contains severe poverty violates the minimal access proviso, a constraint on property rights that takes the deprivation of others to limit the property rights of some.
    [Show full text]
  • 2013 National History Bowl National Championships Round 17 First Quarter
    2013 National History Bowl National Championships Round 17 First Quarter 17 1. This speech asserts that "absolute justice" will bring about "a new heaven and a new earth" and claims "there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem." This speech uses an anecdote about sailors who are instructed, "cast down your bucket where you are," to encourage collaboration between whites and blacks. This speech's deliverer included it in his autobiography Up from Slavery. For 10 points, name this speech given in a certain Southern city by Booker T. Washington. ANSWER: Atlanta Exposition Address [or the Atlanta Exposition speech; or the Atlanta Compromise speech; prompt on Atlanta speech] 014-12-72-17101 2. A stoker searches for the prostitute Felice in this place in one novel. That novel, about Jake Brown's return to this place, was written by Claude McKay. A poem with this title suggests "sag[ging] like a heavy load" and "dry[ing] up like a raisin in the sun" as answers to the question "what happens to a dream deferred?" Alain Locke was a "dean" of this place, whose other luminaries included Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes. For 10 points, name this New York district that underwent a cultural Renaissance in the early twentieth century. ANSWER: Harlem [prompt on New York City until "this title"] 020-12-72-17102 3. The outcome of this event was supported years later by the case of Myers v. United States. In the follow-up to this event, one participant said, "I almost literally looked into my open grave," about casting his ballot.
    [Show full text]
  • Kant and Contemporary Liberal Cosmopolitanism
    Preliminary Communication UDC 172.16:[1:329.12] Received November 30th, 2008 Rafał Wonicki Warsaw University, Institute of Philosophy, Krakowskie Przedmiescie 3, PL–00–047 Warsaw [email protected] Cosmopolitanism and Liberalism: Kant and Contemporary Liberal Cosmopolitanism Abstract The author of this paper compares Kant’s notion of cosmopolitan right with contemporary liberal cosmopolitanism of such theorists like James Bohman (Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University) and David Held (Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science). These two theorists bring Kant’s cosmopolitan right and reshape it by taking into consideration the process of globalization and the fact of pluralism. It is neces- sary to investigate how far these authors have changed the insight into Kant’s cosmopolitan right and its implications as well as how deeply the authors reshape the classical liberal political vocabulary. Key words Immanuel Kant, David Held, James Bohman, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, democracy Introduction Currently, it is observed that the issues of political philosophy and political science concern not only the internal state relations but also the internation- al, trans- and supranational relations. The perspective of describing political phenomena shifted from the national and local to the global and cosmo- politan. Moreover, the language of political theories has changed. Numer- ous authors consider this situation to be the result of dwindling explanatory power of the classical political theories and their less adequate descriptions of virtual mutual relations of states and other political actors or entities. As a result, new social and political science theories have evolved. Numerous authors, Giddens, Beck, Held, and Bohman among them, formed theories which describe the “global” political reality and make it more comprehen- sible.
    [Show full text]
  • JS Mill's Political Thought
    P1: JZZ 0521860202pre CUFX079B/Urbinati 0 521 86020 2 cupusbw December 26, 2006 7:38 This page intentionally left blank ii P1: JZZ 0521860202pre CUFX079B/Urbinati 0 521 86020 2 cupusbw December 26, 2006 7:38 J. S. MILL’S POLITICAL THOUGHT The year 2006 marked the two hundredth anniversary of John Stuart Mill’s birth. Although his philosophical reputation has varied greatly in the interven- ing years, it is now clear that Mill ranks among the most influential modern political thinkers. Yet despite his enduring influence, and perhaps also because of it, the breadth and complexity of Mill’s political thought is often under- appreciated. Although his writings remain a touchstone for debates over liberty and liberalism, many other important dimensions of his political philosophy have until recently been mostly ignored or neglected. This volume aims, first, to correct such neglect by illustrating the breadth and depth of Mill’s political writings. It does so by drawing togetheracollection of essays whose authors explore underappreciated elements of Mill’s political philosophy, including his democratic theory, his writings on international relations and military inter- ventions, and his treatments of socialism and despotism. Second, the volume shows how Mill’s thinking remains pertinent to our own political life in three broad areas – democratic institutions and culture, liberalism, and international politics – and offers a critical reassessment of Mill’s political philosophy in light of recent political developments and transformations. Nadia Urbinati
    [Show full text]
  • 1. the Idea of Kosmopolis: Two Kinds of Cosmopolitanism
    1. The Idea of Kosmopolis: Two Kinds of Cosmopolitanism Rebecka Lettevall Until relatively recently, cosmopolitanism was considered to be totally out of date. It began to reappear around the time of the col- lapse of the Soviet empire and the end of the Cold War, and has become a fairly common concept within several scholarly disci- plines. The complicated political processes of internationalism have contributed to the increasing interest in cosmopolitan ideals amongst not only historians and intellectual historians, but also political scientists, philosophers and sociologists. Some plausible causes for this shift in interest are, of course, the above-mentioned end of the Cold War, but also the increasing intensity of globaliza- tion in a broad sense. I use globalization here in a manner similar to Ulrich Beck, who instead calls it globalism, referring to economic globalization and the belief in a world market.1 This fact demands a cosmopolitan world order, as national states are not capable of handling many of the global problems on their own. So cosmopol- itanism is a part of our experience, which is a fact we need to ac- cept, consciously or unconsciously.2 Much of this newfound interest in cosmopolitanism has come out of the social sciences even if well-known philosophers like Martha Nussbaum have been greatly involved in the topic as well. But it is a concept which has to be discussed within the human sci- ences, whose perspective then allows for an awareness of herme- neutical understanding as well as the impact of time, and is very 1 Beck, Ulrich Was ist Globalisierung? (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1997).
    [Show full text]