Cosmopolitanism and Its Discontents: Rethinking Politics in the Age of Brexit and Trump (Political Theory for Today)

Cosmopolitanism is one of the most venerable intellectual traditions in the history of political philosophy. From the ancient Greek Diogenes’ claim to be “a citizen of the world” through to Kant’s Enlightenment vision of a world government and even into our own time, the idea of cosmopolitanism has stirred the moral imagination of many throughout history. Arguably the Brexit referendum result and the election of Donald Trump in 2016 marked the first major public repudiation of the transnational, globalizing cosmopolitan ideals that have arguably dominated politics in the liberal democratic West since the end of the Cold War. This volume reconsiders cosmopolitanism and its discontents in the age of Brexit and Trump by bringing together the great thinkers in the history of political philosophy and contemporary reflections on the problems and possibilities of international relations, human rights, multiculturalism, and regnant theories of democracy and the state. Cover 1 Cosmopolitanism and Its Discontents 2 Series page 3 Cosmopolitanism and Its Discontents: Rethinking Politics in the Ageof Brexit and Trump 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Introduction 8 Part I: Foreshadowing of the Cosmopolitanism Debate before Kant 16 Chapter 1 18 Cicero between Cosmopolis and Republic 18 Notes 29 References 30 Chapter 2 34 Johannes Althusius’s Cosmopolitan Defense of Local Politics 34 Cosmopolitanism in the Early Modern Holy Roman Empire 36 Fellowship and Covenant: The Making of a People in Althusius 41 Conclusion 46 Notes 48 References 48 Chapter 3 52 Cosmopolitanism in Early Modern Jewish Political Thought 52 The Study of Nature and Cosmopolitanism 53 The Jews and Cosmopolitanism 56 Trade and Cosmopolitanism 59 Conclusion 60 Notes 63 References 64 Chapter 4 68 Rousseau’s Paradoxical Cosmopolitan Anti-Cosmopolitanism 68 Rousseau’s Cosmopolitanism 69 Rousseau’s Anti-cosmopolitanism 75 Notes 80 References 80 Part II: Kant’s Cosmopolitanism and Its Critics 82 Chapter 5 84 A Cosmopolitanism that Populists Could Love 84 The Value of Republican Self-Government 85 The People’s Honor 89 Immigration, Political Autonomy, and the Rule of Law 94 Abbreviations 97 Notes 98 References 99 Chapter 6 102 Citizen Marx 102 Marx’s Critique of Capitalist Cosmopolitanism 103 Marx’s Praise for Proletarian Internationalism 113 Conclusion 119 Notes 120 References 120 Chapter 7 124 Nietzsche’s Good Europeans 124 Universality and Hospitality 125 Good Europeans 127 Beyond Inheritance 131 Conclusion 133 Abbreviations 135 Notes 135 References 137 Chapter 8 140 Global Enframing, Authentic History, Dasein 140 A Time of Crossing 140 The Poet as Founder-Guardian 143 Gods, Ancient, and Modern 146 A Modern Destiny? Philosophy, Enframing, and Machenschaft 147 In Search for “Roots”: Singing the Authenticity of Da-sein 151 Notes 154 References 155 Part III: Cosmopolitanism in Contemporary Politics and Economics 158 Chapter 9 160 John Rawls against the Clash of Civilizations 160 The Major Flaws of an Important Book 162 Rawls’ Contribution 165 Western Ethnocentrism 169 Various Sources of Individualistic Resistance 172 Conclusion 174 Notes 175 References 175 Chapter 10 178 Glocalism and Democracy in James Tully’s Critique of Cosmopolitanism and Imperialism 178 Democracy as Public Philosophy 180 Kant’s Cosmopolitan-Imperial Legacy 183 The EU as an Alternative to Cosmopolitan Imperialism 185 Glocalism as Alternative to Cosmopolitanism 187 Conclusion: From Seattle to Porto Allegre 189 Notes 191 References 191 Chapter 11 194 Rethinking the Democratic Boundary Problem 194 What Is the Question? 194 What Are the Answers? 197 Which Answers Work? 202 Notes 208 References 210 Part IV: Populism, Nationalism, and Democratic Citizenship 214 Chapter 12 216 “Forced to be Free” 216 Laicité as a Political Principle 219 Disparate Treatment vs. Disparate Impact 222 Laicité as a Religious Principle 224 Laicité and Public Identity 226 The Ban on the Hijab 227 Nationalism and the Rejection of Cosmopolitanism 229 Notes 232 References 233 Chapter 13 234 Demos or No Demos? 234 Citizenship and Its Four Dimensions 234 EU Citizenship and Democracy: Elements, Particularities, and Flaws 235 Does the EU Need a Demos and an Identity? 240 The Chicken and Egg Question of Demos Building 241 What Is European Identity? 243 Empirical Findings 245 Citizenship and Democracy in the EU: Conclusions 246 Notes 248 References 248 Chapter 14 252 A Decline in Democratic Say? 252 JAMES ALLAN 254 PIERRE MANENT 259 CONCLUSIONS 264 Notes 266 References 267 Index 270 List of Contributors 286 This volume examines the cosmopolitanism ideal from ancient to contemporary times. It grapples with the question: Is there still relevance today for the idea of the "citizen of the world" that transcends national borders in the aftermath of the Brexit Referendum result and election of Donald Trump in 2016?