Cosmopolitanism

The term cosmopolitanism means focusing on the world as a whole rather than on a particular locality or group within it. It also means being at home with diversity. While its main meanings refer in this sense to an orientation or capacity of individuals, the noun cosmopolitan is also used to describe the actual diversity of specific countries or cities and the growing interconnection of the whole world across national and other boundaries.

Precisely because the world is so intensively interconnected today, cosmopolitanism has become an important theme in philosophy and social science—and, indeed, in practical affairs. Interest in cosmopolitanism has also been fueled by anxieties over identity politics, including issues of race and gender, and mul-ticulturalism. Many commentators are worried that efforts to support different ways of life undermine the common culture required by democracy. They think that too much respect for ethnic and cultural differences among nations undermines attempts to enforce universal human rights.

There are, however, two potential lines of confusion built into the idea of cosmopolitanism. First, does it refer to what is common to the whole world and unites humanity, or does it refer to appreciation of the differences among different groups and places? And, second, does it refer to an individual attitude or ethical orientation, or does it refer to a condition of collective life?

Part of the attraction of the idea of cosmopolitanism is that it seems to refer at once to a fact about the world—particularly in this era of globalization—and to a desirable response to that fact. Ulrich Beck suggests thinking of two linked processes. The growing interconnection of the world he calls “cosmopolitanization,” reserving “cosmopolitanism” for the attitude that treats these as a source of moral responsibility for everyone. This is a useful reminder that growing global connections can become a source of fear and defensiveness rather than appreciation for diversity or sense of ethical responsibility for distant strangers. Globalization can lead to renewed nationalism or strengthening of borders—as has often been the case since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But, of course, Beck hopes that instead a cosmopolitan attitude will spread. He emphasizes that risks such as environmental degradation turn the whole world into a “community of fate.” Cosmopolitanism is, for him, the perspective on what humanity shares that will help us deal with this.

The link, for Beck and many other cosmopolitan thinkers, is ethical and political. A cosmopolitan cares about people to whom he or she does not have a strong personal connection and about the world as a whole. But there are other approaches to cosmopolitanism that place more stress on diversity: appreciating difference and forging connections across lines of difference that are potentially transformative even if they don't necessarily operate at the level of the world as a whole.

This entry reviews the history of cosmopolitanism and looks at four different approaches to cosmopolitanism and their implications.