Sri ganeshaye namah

Origin of Cosmopolitanism

Cosmopolitanism can be traced backto Diogenes of Sinope (c. 412 B.C.)

Once he was asked “where he came from”,he answered: “I am a citizen of the world(kosmopolitês)”

The Stoics : “Each human being dwells in twocommunities –

1. the local community of our birth, and

2. the community of human (i.e. Worldcommunity).

Cosmopolitanism : According to Kant

In 1795, essay Perpetual Peace, Immanuel Kant stagesa ius cosmopoliticum (cosmopolitan law/right) as aguiding principle to protect people from war, andmorally grounds this cosmopolitan right by theprinciple of universal hospitality

Concept of world state where of which individual is animmediate citizen and where the state can disappear

There should be an international authority superior tothe states for the enforcement of international law

Meaning and Definition

Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that allhuman beings belong to a single community,based on a shared morality. A person whoadheres to the idea of cosmopolitanism inany of its forms is called a cosmopolitan.

In a cosmopolitan community individualsfrom different places (e.g. nation-states) formrelationships of mutual respect.

Contd…..

Cosmopolitan is a person who has lived inand knows about many different parts ofthe world and who believes that principlesof distributive justice should extendglobally.

Kwame Anthony Appiah suggests thepossibility of a cosmopolitan community inwhich individuals from varying locations(physical, economic, etc.) enter relationshipsof mutual respect despite their differingbeliefs (religious, political, etc.)

Cosmopolitans Reasoningto Rawl’s

Cosmopolitan believes that Rawl’s reasoning tothe Law of the Peoples focuses morepeople(states) instead of individuals and rules outthe principles of distributive justice to foreignpeople.

Cosmopolitan tries to extend the scope of theapplication of Rawl’s principles to the economicrelations among nations.

Contd…….

According to them global difference principle byRawl’s as a principle of distributive justice is notadequate to deal effectively many significantissues around global distribution of wealth andresources.

As an alternative to global difference principle,cosmopolitan theory argues for minimum floorprinciple by which the basic needs of theindividual ought to be satisfied by certain bundleof commodities by which each has equalstandard of living.

Two streams of Cosmopolitanism

Broadly two streams of cosmopolitanthinkers :

Ethical cosmopolitanism advocates globalsocial justice but tends to have little to sayabout the political or institutional structuresnecessary to its realization.

Political (or institutional ) cosmopolitanismhas much to say about the structures andforms of political life necessary for thecreation of more democratic governance,from the local to the global levels, but tendsto be less explicit about the value or purposeof democracy.

Issues of discussion

1. Why cosmopolitan social democracy ?

2. What are the regulative principles ofcosmopolitan social democracy?

3. How plausible is cosmopolitan socialdemocracy in the context of a world in whichmight appear to trump right?

Why Cosmopolitan Social Democracy

The scope of justice knows no boundaries.

Poverty and enormous inequalities coexistwith huge concentration of wealth andaffluence.

In some extreme circumstances protective orcorrective intervention in the domestic affairsof the states may be necessary in order toadvance justice or remedy injustice.

Globalization & Global Inequality Global inequality ranks as ‘by far the greatest source of

human misery today’.

Principle source of misery is globalization and in particularthe current neo-liberal form of economic globalization .

Neo-LiberalViews:

Absolute gap accelerating-relative income gap declining-last two decades absolute poverty declining and alsoinequality

Since globalization promote free trade and investmentflows it contributes significantly to economic growth andthereby lifting out poverty

According to their view economic globalization is the onlyeffective path leading to global poverty reduction.

CosmopolitanArguments:

Asserts both the poverty and inequality areworsening rather than reducing and it is aconsequence of economic globalization.

Benefits of globalization are spread unevenlybetween/within countries.

Accelerating absolute income to health gapsreinforces patterns of global exclusion anddisempowerment making globalizationunsustainable.

According to cosmopolitan reading neo-liberal economic globalization is the principlesource for widening disparities of life-chancesacross the globe.

Regulative Principles of Cosmopolitan Social Justice Cosmopolitanism believes that national

community defines the limits of moral community.

Ethical cosmopolitanism applies to the wholeworld that chooses about what policies we shouldprefer, or what institutions we should establish,should be based on an impartial consideration ofthe claims of each person who would be affected

Beitz and others argue that the demands of socialjustice cannot be limited by arbitrary national,ethnic or territorial boundaries but on the contrarytranscend them .

Contd….

‘the new circumstances of cosmopolitanism’ arethe common structures of action andinterconnectedness which transcends nationalfrontiers. Cosmopolitan justice is thereforeprincipally concerned with the justification orethical grounds ‘for the redistribution ofwealth from rich to poor across the globe’

Cosmopolitanism is a normative theory whichdelivers a profound critique of the currentconstitution and conduct of existing system of'distorted’ global governance

Cosmopolitan accounts of justice are construedupon four principles:

Firstly, Principle of Egalitarian Individualism:individuals are the primary units of moral concern,not states or nations or other collectivities

Secondly, the equal worth of individuals such thatall should enjoy equal status in the institutionalorders which shape their life chances

Third, both of the above require that every personis due impartial treatment in respect of theirclaims such that reasoning from the position of theother – a practical empathy as it were- is essential.

Fourth, that in the realization of global justicepriority attaches to those in most urgent need orthe most vulnerable in order to eradicate seriousharm.

Contd….

These principles tend to have institutionalexpression in justice literature but the EthicalCosmopolitanism silent about the institutional andpolitical structures which might deliver greaterglobal social justice in contrast with the PoliticalCosmo which has much to say about the institutionaldesign.

These complementary silences suggest that perhapsit is in combination, in the form of an account ofcosmopolitan social democracy, that both can beginto offer a more convincing cosmopolitan philosophyof global governance

Contd….

Governing globalization promote both globaldemocracy and global justice which is a project forthe cosmopolitan social democracy

Therefore Cosmopolitan social democracyengages ethical cosmopolitanism with politicalcosmopolitanism.

Cosmopolitan social democracy seeks to supportand institutionalize some of the core values ofsocial democracy – the rule of law, politicalequality, democratic governance,Cosmopolitanism and Global Justice social justice,social solidarity, and economic efficiency- withintransnational and global power systems.

Cosmopolitan Paradise vRealist Dystopia Communitarian ,neoliberal, realist and others

make some critiques to the Cosmopolitan SocialDemocracy on theoretical ,institutional, historicaland ethical grounds and argues that the project isfatally flawed as principle arguments are:

Inappropriate: Communitarians such as Kymlickaargues that:

In a culturally heterogeneous world there can beno shared understandings of justice or democracyowed to some global community the very idea ofcosmo

‘the only forum within which genuine democracyoccurs is within national boundaries’

Contd….. Impractical:

For political realists, sovereignty and anarchypresent the insuperable barriers to the realization ofsocial democracy beyond borders.

Irrelevant : Theorists have significant doubts as tothe relevance and desirability of the cosmo socialdemocracy: Argues:

Fundamental issue not democratic governance buteffective and powerful global governance

Accelerating global inequality and loomingenvironmental calamities cannot be resolved bycosmo social democracy

Contd…

Invidious:

Likely to cause uncontrollable tension between anormative commitment to effective nationaldemocracy and desire for democracy beyond thestate.

Democratic practices and decisions likely tooverride or negate the other democraticcredentials leading to invidious and dangerousinterventionist impulses

Conclusion

Cosmopolitanism stands opposed to any viewthat limits the scope of justification to themembers of particular types of groups, whetheridentified by shared political values, communalhistories, or ethnic characteristics

These principles tend to have institutionalexpression in justice literature but the EthicalCosmopolitanism silent about the institutionaland political structures which might delivergreater global social justice in contrast with thePolitical Cosmo which has much to say about theinstitutional design.

Contd….

These complementary silences suggest thatperhaps it is in combination, in the form of anaccount of cosmopolitan social democracy,that both can begin to offer a moreconvincing cosmopolitan philosophy ofglobal governance

But the cosmopolitan moment may not havearrived yet but its energies have not beenextinguished.