Humanity, Rights, and the Ideal of a Global Critical Cosmopolitanism

Amos Nascimento

Globalization brings important challenges and opportunities for a Critical Theory of cosmopolitanism. In this chapter I discuss this issue according to four steps. The first is to establish a dialogue with contemporary disciplinary perspectives that provide interesting and sophisticated accounts of cosmopolitanism. Many of these approaches, however, are limited due to their selective focus and lack of clear normative criteria to define what counts as a critical perspective. The second step considers the German tradition of Critical Theory because it speaks more directly of human rights as criteria for cosmopolitan endeavors and offers a robust interdisciplinary framework to articulate various approaches that contribute to critical cosmopolitanism. Yet, this tradition is not global enough because its claims are generally bound to European idiosyncrasies. Therefore, a third step examines authors who share the intentions of Critical Theory but expand its framework by revealing these biases and addressing a diversity of human rights issues related to Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, thus leading us toward a global critical cosmopolitanism. In the process of mapping this variety of positions, we progressively realize that cosmopolitan theories must not only account for the challenges and opportunities of globalization but also affirm the plurality of human identities, experiences, and contingencies. Accordingly, a new ideal for a Critical Theory of cosmopolitanism must be sensitive to the voices of children, women, the poor, ethnic identities, and excluded groups in different geographic locations. In summary, therefore, I hope to show that a global critical cosmopolitanism needs to be inclusive and global enough, so that it can be experienced as a truly cosmopolitan cosmopolitanism.

What is cosmopolitanism? This old concept has experienced a recent resurrection and is being applied in various ways in contemporary philosophy, sociology, political science, international relations, literature, anthropology, law, and global studies. Undoubtedly, this concept continues to be applied because it speaks directly to the contemporary challenges and opportunities of globalization. On the one hand, recent global challenges have been related to the weakening of nation-states, the creation of multilevel political structures, the spread of chronic poverty, the volatility of financial markets, greater political instability, ongoing international conflicts, transnational environmental problems, and the need to mitigate the impacts of climate change, among other issues. On the other, opportunities have arisen in relation to the recognition of a plurality of identities, the emergence of multicultural societies and new forms of individual and collective agency, increasing communication and interaction among cultures, the affirmation of contextual values and perspectives, the expansion of accessibility to education, and the promotion of human rights. The concept of cosmopolitanism has been used in direct relation to each one of these aspects.

As a result of this variety, we now have different labels to specify the kind of cosmopolitanism at stake. We speak of moral cosmopolitanism, legal cosmopolitanism, political cosmopolitanism, economic cosmopolitanism, cult