Thinking Differently About Cosmopolitanism: Theory, Eccentricity, and the Globalized World

Cosmopolitanism and relevant notions—that is, notions
that appear either as synonymous or allied with, or even inimical to,
cosmopolitanism (e.g., globalization, universalism, multiculturalism,
citizenship, patriotism, nationalism)—are widely discussed in philoso-
phy of education and, more generally, in educational studies. There has
been a vast literature on such topics, deriving from diverse and often
contradictory accounts of what cosmopolitanism is about. The diversity
of sources, the complexity of associated themes, and the richness
of diverging perspectives are often experienced as disconcerting by
many readers and researchers, who feel unable to locate in most of
the available theoretical production an incentive for a discussion
in fresh terms of what cosmopolitanism might be; of what related,
alternative, or even opposed conceptions might involve; and of why
cosmopolitanism might constitute an educational ideal. Therefore, the
abundance and proliferation of material related to cosmopolitanism
invites conceptual discussion and requires some work in the direction
of crucial clarifications.