Popular in Social Sciences

Books

City Time: On Being Sentenced to Rikers Island

Independent Scholar David A. Campbell

Culture and Society

The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place

New York University Harvey Moltoch

Economics

Gender and Economics

University of California Santa Barbara Shelly Lundberg

American Politics

Keeping the Republic

Boston College Marc Landy

Banks and Policy Organisations

Greening the financial sector

European Investment Bank Matteo Ferrazzi

British Politics

Entrepreneurial thinking: the politics and practice of policy impact

University of Sheffield Matthew Flinders

Culture and Society

Carceral Entrapments: Views from the Prison/Street Interface in India

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Mahuya Bandyopadhya

The Cosmopolitan Political Project Today

View more insights in Social Sciences - Political Science

View more figures from University of Leeds

View the page of Richard Beardsworth

Read the Study

Richard Beardsworth discusses the philosophy and morality of cosmopolitanism to international relations

Image courtesy of interviewee. January 29, 2024

Generating Workspace

Export as PDF

This video video discusses the concept of cosmopolitanism, tracing its philosophical roots back to ancient Greece, particularly to the cynic Diogenes. Cosmopolitanism is defined as a mindset and philosophy that distinguishes between local, particular identities and a broader, universal identity that welcomes humanity. The speaker emphasizes that individuals can possess multiple identities and responsibilities, which makes them adaptable rather than fixed in their political identity.

In the context of international relations, the speaker asserts the need to shift focus from national security to human security, emphasizing the importance of individual rights, protection from atrocities, and fostering global accountability. This video video highlights a historical progression of cosmopolitan thought following major global events, particularly after World War II and the end of the Cold War.

However, the speaker notes a shift back towards nationalism and identity politics in recent years, partly reacting to unresolved inequalities. They argue that as global challenges such as climate change and migration increase, a cosmopolitan mindset that prioritizes tolerance, openness, and a collective approach is crucial for addressing these issues.

The speaker calls for a pragmatic and realistic application of cosmopolitanism, which integrates local and global perspectives to provide hope and solutions to emerging challenges. Ultimately, they argue that cosmopolitanism can guide future generations in navigating complex global crises by fostering cooperation and a sense of shared responsibility.

Language:

Export as PDF

Export as PDF
Here are some similar articles that discuss themes related to cosmopolitanism, identity, international relations, and the balance between local and global perspectives:

1. **"Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers" by Kwame Anthony Appiah**
This article explores the ethical implications of cosmopolitanism in a diverse world, discussing the importance of recognizing our shared humanity while respecting local identities.

2. **"From Nationalism to Cosmopolitanism: The Challenges of Global Citizenship"**
This piece examines the transition from nationalist thought to cosmopolitan ideals in political philosophy, particularly in light of global challenges like immigration and environmental crises.

3. **"The Rise of Nationalism in a Globalized Era"**
This article analyzes the resurgence of nationalism and identity politics, exploring the reasons behind this trend and the implications for global cooperation and cosmopolitan principles.

4. **"Human Security: A Global Perspective on Human Rights"**
This work discusses the concept of human security, emphasizing individual rights and global accountability as essential components in addressing contemporary global issues.

5. **"Cosmopolitanism and Global Justice"**
This article delves into the discussions of justice on a global scale, focusing on how cosmopolitan philosophy can provide frameworks for equitable responses to global inequalities.

6. **"Climate Change and National Identity: The Challenge for Global Cooperation"**
This piece investigates how climate change impacts national identities and the necessity for a cosmopolitan approach to foster international collaboration in addressing environmental issues.

7. **"Globalization and Identity: The Duality of Belonging"**
This article explores how globalization shapes individual and collective identities, focusing on the tension between local affiliations and broader cosmopolitan ties.

These articles collectively engage with the themes presented in the video, touching upon the philosophical roots of cosmopolitanism, its practical implications in international relations, and the ongoing tension between nationalism and a global mindset.

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.000 --> 00:01.365
It's, it's a philosophy

00:01.705 --> 00:05.805
and it's a mindset, in the tradition around it.

00:06.145 --> 00:09.245
One usually goes back to sort of a basic gesture

00:09.865 --> 00:13.885
in the fourth century, Greece, by,

00:14.535 --> 00:16.805
Diese, the cynic Isogenous of sic

00:17.305 --> 00:18.645
who when he was asked the question,

00:19.105 --> 00:20.405
he sort of lived in a tub.

00:20.725 --> 00:23.005
I think, as we all know, when he was asked the question,

00:23.785 --> 00:25.085
where are you from?

00:25.875 --> 00:30.805
Said, I am Cosmo, which means literally,

00:31.085 --> 00:33.485
I belong to the city of the universe.

00:34.385 --> 00:37.925
And that, in a sense, sets up whether it's one event

00:38.065 --> 00:40.165
or whether there are many events, that's not the issue.

00:40.545 --> 00:44.765
But that kind of mindset sets up a way of thinking

00:45.865 --> 00:49.005
and more than a way of thinking as, as we'll talk about

00:49.645 --> 00:51.885
a way of thinking where one is making a distinction in the

00:51.885 --> 00:55.485
sense between two communities or at least two communities.

00:55.985 --> 00:59.245
One which is a community that we are in, which is local

00:59.505 --> 01:02.965
and particular, for example, the city in which we live,

01:03.385 --> 01:06.565
the kinds of identities that we are committed

01:06.565 --> 01:07.765
to within that city.

01:08.625 --> 01:12.565
And on the other, a much broader identity, which is open

01:12.625 --> 01:15.725
to others, which is open to,

01:15.785 --> 01:17.805
now we talk about being open to humanity,

01:18.225 --> 01:20.485
and it can be open to the universe as a whole.

01:21.415 --> 01:24.525
Those two communities, one which is particular

01:24.585 --> 01:27.725
and bound bordered, and one which is open

01:28.185 --> 01:30.565
and open to as larger communities

01:30.565 --> 01:34.485
as possible within our imaginations is what structures

01:35.065 --> 01:36.925
the cosmopolitan way of thinking

01:37.225 --> 01:40.885
and structures, the way in which it orientates itself within

01:41.025 --> 01:44.405
any particular kind of activity, be it cultural activity,

01:44.635 --> 01:47.125
political activity, institutional activity.

01:47.385 --> 01:51.405
So just to, to ride on that for a second, it's quite clear

01:51.405 --> 01:55.725
that cosmopolitanism, as it came out through Greek stoicism

01:55.725 --> 01:59.045
and cynicism, was very influential on the Christian

01:59.045 --> 02:01.285
distinction between the city of heaven

02:01.585 --> 02:04.525
and the city of Earth, like Augustinian distinction.

02:05.145 --> 02:06.325
But it's also very clear,

02:06.625 --> 02:10.165
and one can find cosmopolitanism not simply in Christianity,

02:10.225 --> 02:11.845
though it is,

02:12.235 --> 02:15.125
more reflected upon within the Western tradition

02:15.395 --> 02:16.725
than outside it.

02:16.985 --> 02:19.085
And perhaps we want to come back to that as well.

02:19.665 --> 02:22.765
Um, it's also that sense of concentric circles.

02:22.825 --> 02:25.285
You know, I may well start with myself, my friends,

02:25.385 --> 02:29.045
my relations, my region, my nation,

02:29.865 --> 02:31.805
and, you know, ultimately humanity.

02:31.985 --> 02:34.685
And therefore, rather than having a particular identity,

02:35.145 --> 02:37.085
and this is useful at this moment in time

02:37.085 --> 02:40.565
where we're very much in identity politics rather than

02:40.565 --> 02:42.485
having a political particular identity.

02:42.745 --> 02:44.165
We have multiple identities

02:44.225 --> 02:47.565
and we work according to those identities,

02:47.745 --> 02:50.765
and we work with our responsibilities according

02:50.785 --> 02:52.525
to those different identities.

02:52.535 --> 02:53.605
We're not fixed.

02:54.025 --> 02:56.525
And I think that is a very important way of thinking,

02:56.825 --> 02:58.845
the cosmopolitan disposition as

02:58.845 --> 02:59.845
Well. Well, so I would

02:59.845 --> 03:02.205
say, what is cosmopolitanism?

03:02.555 --> 03:06.085
It's a mindset, it's a philosophy, it's a way of thinking,

03:06.145 --> 03:08.925
and it's a way of trying to steer your own behavior

03:09.345 --> 03:11.245
or the behavior of the institutions

03:11.245 --> 03:12.525
that you are working for.

03:12.675 --> 03:14.845
That is a lot that I think it's clear

03:14.845 --> 03:19.405
that it's predicated on that distinction between two sorts

03:19.405 --> 03:22.885
of communities or a various layering of communities.

03:23.545 --> 03:27.445
If we take international relations, both as, as as as the,

03:27.785 --> 03:31.245
the activity of relations between states, the international,

03:31.785 --> 03:34.565
and we also think of it as the, as the discipline

03:34.565 --> 03:35.605
of international relations.

03:35.705 --> 03:39.045
And quite a lot of cosmopolitan scholars now work in

03:39.045 --> 03:42.325
that discipline, rather than political philosophy

03:43.105 --> 03:44.205
or other humanities.

03:45.145 --> 03:49.085
Um, then we're looking really at the 20th and 21st century.

03:49.385 --> 03:51.645
And in the 20th century, it's quite clear that

03:52.355 --> 03:56.165
international relations is predominantly organized by

03:57.025 --> 04:00.005
nation states and the state system.

04:01.065 --> 04:03.805
And so a sort of cosmopolitan approach to

04:03.805 --> 04:08.645
that which increases really accelerates I think,

04:08.655 --> 04:11.525
after the second World War with the Universal Declaration

04:11.525 --> 04:13.405
of Human Rights, and then again

04:13.455 --> 04:16.885
after the end of the Cold War in the 1990s,

04:16.885 --> 04:18.845
perhaps the most important acceleration.

04:19.425 --> 04:20.685
Um, I think we're in a moment

04:20.745 --> 04:23.205
of deceleration at the moment, and we'll come to that.

04:23.355 --> 04:27.725
Yeah. Uh, what's important there is that yeah,

04:28.035 --> 04:32.005
international relations needs to be thought more in terms,

04:32.225 --> 04:36.085
for example, not of national security, but human security.

04:36.265 --> 04:38.725
So there the whole question of international development,

04:38.725 --> 04:41.325
sustainable development, the question of protection

04:41.625 --> 04:43.325
of humans and individuals

04:43.325 --> 04:47.405
and populations rather than questions of national security.

04:48.105 --> 04:50.685
And then, you know, the question of the individuals, so

04:50.685 --> 04:53.605
that the individual is both an object of concern

04:53.745 --> 04:55.165
for international politics.

04:55.475 --> 04:58.525
Yeah. Uh, as clearly with human rights, it is,

04:58.785 --> 05:01.445
but is also that the individual is also accountable.

05:01.625 --> 05:04.405
So making state leaders accountable

05:04.465 --> 05:07.445
for their actions in international relations.

05:07.825 --> 05:10.605
And there the whole doctrine of the responsibility

05:10.705 --> 05:14.965
to protect, which became important through the 1990s

05:15.025 --> 05:18.165
and was in many ways, ratified, doctrinally

05:18.195 --> 05:19.725
through the two to the,

05:19.725 --> 05:21.085
through the naughties the first decade

05:21.185 --> 05:23.325
of the two thousands there, the question

05:23.325 --> 05:26.165
of protecting populations from genocide,

05:26.195 --> 05:27.445
from ethnic cleansing,

05:27.715 --> 05:30.245
from crimes against humanity, from war crimes.

05:30.795 --> 05:35.125
That is all very much part of this more cosmopolitan way

05:35.125 --> 05:37.965
of looking at co at international relations.

05:38.425 --> 05:42.405
So that what is the immediate, focus is not the state,

05:43.065 --> 05:45.005
but the population citizens

05:45.025 --> 05:47.045
and individuals that make up states.

05:47.465 --> 05:51.125
And there a more cosmopolitan mindset is trying to,

05:51.385 --> 05:54.045
in a sense, shape state behavior

05:54.185 --> 05:56.765
and expectations in a cosmopolitan

05:56.995 --> 05:57.995
Direction.

05:58.205 --> 06:00.325
I think there's a lot to be said about that, particularly

06:00.325 --> 06:02.765
with the fate of responsibility to protect

06:02.975 --> 06:05.685
after the, in the intervention in Libya.

06:05.825 --> 06:07.645
But we could come to that later,

06:07.645 --> 06:08.845
if there's a question on it.

06:09.345 --> 06:12.645
So just in some with regard to international relations,

06:13.345 --> 06:14.645
the focus is trying

06:14.645 --> 06:17.925
to take it away from the state national security

06:18.585 --> 06:20.845
to the human, to the individual,

06:21.345 --> 06:24.645
and to more individual, responsibilities

06:25.145 --> 06:27.085
and individual accountability.

06:28.625 --> 06:31.245
And there the ultimate focus, if I can just sort

06:31.245 --> 06:34.365
of sum it at the end, 'cause it's the, the major point is

06:34.365 --> 06:36.965
what you are looking at is you're looking at a normative

06:37.115 --> 06:40.325
horizon for international relations in terms

06:40.465 --> 06:45.295
of basic tenets of justice, whether it be

06:45.985 --> 06:49.175
human rights, whether it be human needs, human capabilities,

06:49.805 --> 06:53.335
climate justice, sustainable development, and so forth.

06:53.615 --> 06:57.455
Cosmopolitan global politics, which was,

06:58.045 --> 07:01.215
published in 2005, if I remember rightly.

07:01.635 --> 07:04.215
And I think really that book, it was an important book

07:04.215 --> 07:05.215
because,

07:05.315 --> 07:08.015
and it is an important book, even if the times have changed.

07:08.635 --> 07:12.095
Um, it, it very much set out the fact

07:12.095 --> 07:16.095
that cosmopolitanism isn't something distinct from a

07:16.655 --> 07:18.575
abstract from international relations,

07:18.575 --> 07:20.935
that it's actually already embedded in

07:20.935 --> 07:22.055
international relations.

07:22.325 --> 07:24.175
That it, that those who are arguing

07:24.315 --> 07:27.215
for cosmopolitan kinds forms of behavior,

07:27.475 --> 07:28.855
be it individual collective,

07:29.245 --> 07:31.655
that they're not being sort of utopian.

07:32.195 --> 07:34.775
Um, and, and wishy-washy,

07:35.375 --> 07:37.495
actually cosmopolitan thoughts

07:37.495 --> 07:41.215
and practices are embedded international relations since the

07:41.215 --> 07:45.375
emergence of Universal Declaration of Human rights in 1948.

07:45.375 --> 07:48.895
That seems to me the, the major thesis of that book.

07:49.435 --> 07:53.375
And from that book, really Patrick sort of argues for,

07:53.375 --> 07:56.295
you know, therefore it's not just state actors

07:56.365 --> 07:57.375
that are important.

07:57.465 --> 08:01.015
There are, you know, international organizations, NGOs,

08:01.015 --> 08:03.855
this is not a new thesis, but within the Cosmopolitan

08:03.855 --> 08:05.215
perspective, what in,

08:05.295 --> 08:07.495
I think in many ways he was underlining for people

08:08.035 --> 08:10.895
and it was very much taken up from his book, is

08:10.895 --> 08:13.215
that there are other actors who are going

08:13.215 --> 08:15.535
to put pressure on states Yeah.

08:15.845 --> 08:17.575
With regards to a more right.

08:17.585 --> 08:19.935
Based form of behavior and action.

08:20.955 --> 08:24.935
And I think that, you know, within that,

08:25.305 --> 08:28.015
there was a, a really interesting focus for me.

08:28.275 --> 08:30.855
And, and that's where I very much appreciated this book

08:30.855 --> 08:33.935
and then wrote a book myself on, cosmopolitanism

08:34.115 --> 08:35.815
and International Relations theory.

08:36.415 --> 08:39.175
I think what was very important for me in that book was

08:39.175 --> 08:40.895
therefore just how one could think

08:41.785 --> 08:44.135
activities like sustainable development,

08:44.405 --> 08:47.015
what ultimately became the sustainable development agenda,

08:47.435 --> 08:50.895
after, you know, the, the millennium goals that time

08:51.675 --> 08:55.850
and climate, which clearly has again, accelerated since,

08:55.850 --> 08:58.765
even though it was critical in 1990s, there was a lot

08:58.765 --> 09:00.605
of political resistance to it at that time,

09:00.765 --> 09:03.045
particularly obviously from the fossil fuel

09:03.045 --> 09:04.085
lobby as we know.

09:04.645 --> 09:07.405
I think what Patrick was able to do with

09:07.405 --> 09:11.085
that right spaced approach to international relations is say

09:11.265 --> 09:13.885
how people were acting more

09:13.885 --> 09:18.325
and more in a global framework with cosmopolitan intent,

09:18.325 --> 09:21.085
particularly around justice in development

09:21.465 --> 09:22.765
and climate issues.

09:23.715 --> 09:28.195
I think the period in which there was a lot of work on

09:28.785 --> 09:32.525
cosmopolitanism within international relations, I think

09:32.645 --> 09:34.965
that period was very much the 1990s

09:35.665 --> 09:38.445
and the first decade of the 21st century.

09:39.105 --> 09:41.285
I'm not myself researching on cosmopolitan

09:41.305 --> 09:43.925
and political philosophy at the moment, so I wouldn't want

09:43.925 --> 09:45.965
to step on what colleagues know better than me.

09:46.385 --> 09:50.085
But I certainly get the sense that really from

09:50.625 --> 09:52.245
really beginning with nine 11

09:52.625 --> 09:56.045
and then the financial crisis of 2008,

09:56.265 --> 09:58.485
and then the difficult

09:58.865 --> 10:01.845
and very problematic intervention in Libya,

10:01.855 --> 10:05.005
which undercut reduction of responsibility to protect,

10:05.345 --> 10:08.125
it seemed increasingly that we were entering a new world.

10:08.185 --> 10:09.565
We had the emergence of China,

10:09.865 --> 10:11.525
we had the coming emergence of India.

10:11.825 --> 10:13.165
The global order was changing.

10:13.665 --> 10:16.245
And I think for many people, cosmopolitanism,

10:16.245 --> 10:18.885
particularly if they were a bit skeptical about it,

10:18.945 --> 10:20.645
you know, they felt it was a bit

10:20.755 --> 10:22.565
wishy-washy, a bit too liberal.

10:23.045 --> 10:26.525
I think they felt that it was really a peer, a period

10:26.525 --> 10:30.205
of thinking, which was in some ways related

10:30.305 --> 10:31.645
to American hegemony.

10:31.945 --> 10:33.565
You needed the American hegemony

10:33.625 --> 10:35.685
to actually have your cosmopolitan argument.

10:35.905 --> 10:37.205
If you didn't have that argument,

10:37.475 --> 10:39.245
look at responsibilities to protect.

10:39.545 --> 10:41.525
If you didn't have that hegemony,

10:41.755 --> 10:44.005
then in fact things were gonna break down pretty quickly

10:44.585 --> 10:47.085
and international relations was gonna change

10:47.185 --> 10:51.445
and be much more influenced by power, tensions of power,

10:52.025 --> 10:53.805
and the economy than it was

10:53.865 --> 10:56.605
by normative consideration, considerations of justice.

10:57.045 --> 10:58.765
I think that is a, it's a good argument.

10:58.925 --> 11:00.005
I think it's a clear argument.

11:00.165 --> 11:01.645
I think it's taken sometimes too far

11:01.835 --> 11:03.565
because I think the critical

11:03.985 --> 11:07.205
and normative edge of cosmopolitanism, particularly

11:07.205 --> 11:08.685
with regard to global issues

11:08.705 --> 11:11.565
and global problems like global health, think back

11:11.565 --> 11:14.365
to the pandemic, think back, back to the problem of access

11:14.365 --> 11:16.845
to vaccines in the developing countries.

11:16.845 --> 11:20.205
Yeah. Um, major problems, of justice there,

11:20.495 --> 11:22.525
which were never sought out or governed.

11:22.865 --> 11:24.325
The question of, of climate.

11:24.945 --> 11:27.205
Um, the question of artificial intelligence,

11:27.215 --> 11:28.725
these are global issues,

11:29.305 --> 11:31.925
and to argue that they can be sorted out

11:31.945 --> 11:35.805
or settled at national levels through the state system,

11:35.945 --> 11:37.165
is itself naive.

11:37.345 --> 11:40.005
So there's another kind of naivety that we're working

11:40.005 --> 11:43.205
with at the moment, which is in a sense one of,

11:43.465 --> 11:46.725
of not being able politically to get

11:46.865 --> 11:49.205
beyond the nation state jurisdiction

11:49.585 --> 11:52.405
and really make our international organizations think

11:52.405 --> 11:54.245
of the UN at the moment and,

11:54.305 --> 11:56.125
and, you know, its weakness,

11:56.185 --> 11:58.325
to make these organizations very effective.

11:58.505 --> 12:01.765
So I think even if cosmopolitanism, it's a,

12:01.875 --> 12:05.605
it's in a new time which no longer has that if you like,

12:05.605 --> 12:08.965
that American hamy there to, to, to, to support it.

12:09.545 --> 12:13.325
Uh, and therefore cosmopolitan is, is is very clearly,

12:13.805 --> 12:16.925
dependent on a certain kind of liberal state behavior.

12:17.665 --> 12:21.485
At the same time, cosmopolitanism has a lot to say

12:21.545 --> 12:23.605
to the kinds of problems we need to address.

12:24.225 --> 12:27.765
And when we get to it, there are clear research,

12:28.585 --> 12:30.845
you know, lines of, of thinking

12:30.845 --> 12:32.325
that need to be engaged with.

12:32.385 --> 12:35.285
So I would say the change has done the political project.

12:35.875 --> 12:37.805
It's no longer the same as it was,

12:38.265 --> 12:40.925
but it doesn't mean to say that its pce,

12:41.305 --> 12:42.845
has been lost far from it.

12:43.705 --> 12:46.325
You know, we do live in a time of identity politics.

12:46.325 --> 12:49.245
We live in a time of nationalism of populism.

12:49.505 --> 12:51.805
It, there's clearly been a swing back Yeah.

12:52.055 --> 12:54.725
After the 1990s and two thousands.

12:54.745 --> 12:58.285
Partly that swing is predicated on the fact that, you know,

12:58.285 --> 13:00.285
the, we, I dunno who exactly the we is there,

13:00.285 --> 13:02.125
but lemme just say it rhetorically, you know,

13:02.125 --> 13:04.845
we haven't sorted out radically in inequalities both

13:05.125 --> 13:06.845
domestically and internationally.

13:07.105 --> 13:11.445
And, and populism ha has, has clearly exploited that,

13:11.545 --> 13:14.045
ha has, you know, has fitted into the gaps

13:14.095 --> 13:16.885
where there is real inequality, and,

13:16.945 --> 13:20.045
and certainly in the West mobilized people in,

13:20.105 --> 13:22.765
in very much an anti cosmopolitan way of looking at things.

13:22.835 --> 13:26.325
Yeah. Uh, you know, fixed identities, nationalism, it's,

13:26.475 --> 13:29.285
it's very much not the, the Cosmopolitan project.

13:29.905 --> 13:32.525
And I think that, you know, one of the things that needs

13:32.665 --> 13:36.805
to be done, just to sort of think ahead, is, is

13:36.825 --> 13:39.565
to sort of renegotiate, rethink

13:39.565 --> 13:42.565
that cosmopolitan political project in relation to

13:42.565 --> 13:43.645
where we are now.

13:44.385 --> 13:46.805
Um, you know, basically 20 years on

13:47.295 --> 13:49.765
after the end of a certain kind of world order,

13:50.115 --> 13:53.485
even if we're still in transition to a new world order.

13:54.765 --> 13:58.285
I would say immediately there are two, I think firstly,

13:58.625 --> 14:01.965
and I think both are, both are predicated in the fact

14:01.965 --> 14:04.605
that we are in, we are in difficult times.

14:04.945 --> 14:06.445
We, we are in dark times.

14:07.065 --> 14:09.125
And I think we just simply need to accept that

14:09.145 --> 14:13.645
and work with it and be as hopeful as possible, within

14:13.795 --> 14:16.405
what is, not an enlightened age.

14:16.745 --> 14:19.005
Um, and, and there are very clear reasons for it.

14:19.305 --> 14:23.205
Um, the, I think the first thing is

14:23.745 --> 14:26.365
at a time where, you know, it could be one of

14:27.335 --> 14:29.205
walls are going up Yeah.

14:29.905 --> 14:32.885
Um, that

14:34.625 --> 14:36.645
people, citizens of nations

14:36.905 --> 14:40.725
and of nation states are as open as possible,

14:41.105 --> 14:43.565
and as tolerant as possible of others.

14:44.085 --> 14:45.765
I think that is gonna be, it's, it's,

14:45.835 --> 14:46.925
it's difficult already.

14:47.345 --> 14:51.285
We know, you know, we know that,

14:52.415 --> 14:53.965
there are, there there's a greater

14:53.965 --> 14:56.405
and greater sense of divisions between selves

14:56.465 --> 14:59.525
and others at the moment than there has been really,

14:59.785 --> 15:01.645
you know, for, for at least 30 years.

15:02.465 --> 15:05.205
Um, and populism has fed on that obviously.

15:05.545 --> 15:08.645
And I think, you know, with regard to the walls coming up,

15:08.885 --> 15:11.125
I think particularly of migration,

15:11.225 --> 15:15.005
and the way in which climate will clearly reinforce the,

15:15.025 --> 15:17.765
the acceleration of migration movements across the world,

15:18.385 --> 15:21.605
to try to try and counter the mindset

15:21.865 --> 15:23.885
and the politics and the morality.

15:24.465 --> 15:26.285
Uh, 'cause there is a morality.

15:26.315 --> 15:28.685
It's a morality of protect your own when things are

15:28.685 --> 15:31.805
difficult, the morality of, you know, wolves going up.

15:31.805 --> 15:34.125
That is going to be a very important thing to do.

15:34.145 --> 15:35.925
And then we, we need to look ahead to that.

15:36.385 --> 15:38.405
Uh, I would say that's the first thing.

15:39.165 --> 15:41.805
I think the second thing is related to it,

15:41.985 --> 15:43.965
but is, is an extension of it.

15:44.665 --> 15:47.885
It is obvious that the threats that are coming this century,

15:48.665 --> 15:53.245
are, are increasing, in global scale

15:53.625 --> 15:55.605
and planetary impact, even though

15:55.605 --> 15:59.805
that those impacts are local, they are planetary nature,

16:00.185 --> 16:04.005
and that the conjunction of crises, are,

16:04.005 --> 16:07.165
are becoming more and more frequent what we're calling

16:07.165 --> 16:09.965
therefore an age of poly crisis rather than

16:09.965 --> 16:11.205
simply several crisis.

16:11.925 --> 16:14.685
I think with that, the younger generations coming

16:14.685 --> 16:18.605
through now, coming through secondary school, coming

16:18.605 --> 16:21.205
through university, you know,

16:21.505 --> 16:24.685
moving on from an undergraduate degree or an MA degree or,

16:24.825 --> 16:29.605
or doing a doctorate, these generations need a mindset

16:30.065 --> 16:33.045
and a skillset to be able to address these problems

16:33.045 --> 16:35.805
and threats coming and they are going to be very difficult.

16:36.425 --> 16:38.765
And I think cosmopolitanism has a role there,

16:39.345 --> 16:44.045
but it's gotta be a role in many ways that is pragmatic,

16:44.515 --> 16:47.925
that is realistic about what can be done in

16:47.925 --> 16:49.405
what is a very difficult world,

16:49.405 --> 16:51.045
where there'll be lots of trade-offs.

16:51.745 --> 16:55.805
And that nevertheless also gives hope to these generations,

16:55.915 --> 16:58.365
many of whom are obviously, particularly with regard

16:58.365 --> 17:01.805
to the futures of climate, are feeling very anxious.

17:01.865 --> 17:05.565
And we know, we know what an echo anxiety is that there is

17:06.075 --> 17:07.245
with these generations.

17:07.735 --> 17:10.325
There is a sense that, is there a future,

17:10.645 --> 17:12.805
I think cosmopolitanism what it can do.

17:13.715 --> 17:16.885
Yeah. It, it can give a sense of a horizon,

17:17.065 --> 17:18.645
it can give a sense of a future.

17:19.585 --> 17:21.125
But to do that well

17:21.145 --> 17:24.285
and for people to actually like, take it seriously,

17:24.395 --> 17:27.925
take the cosmopolitan argument seriously, it needs

17:27.925 --> 17:31.605
to have traction in what is local and every day as well.

17:31.945 --> 17:34.205
So that we need to, what we need to bring together.

17:34.265 --> 17:36.605
And I think the 1990s very clearly failed

17:36.745 --> 17:39.245
and hence the backlash against it.

17:39.665 --> 17:42.805
Uh, we need to bring together more the global and the local.

17:43.425 --> 17:46.085
Um, and I think, you know, I think the reality is

17:46.085 --> 17:47.725
that we're facing will do that so

17:47.725 --> 17:51.885
that the cosmopolitan mindset trained on the local can at

17:51.885 --> 17:53.565
the sense open up a future

17:54.075 --> 17:56.805
whereby actually people can address these problems

17:57.355 --> 17:59.405
with hope rather than despair.

00:00 - It's, it's a philosophy and it's a mindset, in the tradition around it. One usually goes back to sort of a basic gesture in the fourth century, Greece, by, Diese, the cynic Isogenous of sic who when he was asked the question,

00:19 - he sort of lived in a tub. I think, as we all know, when he was asked the question, where are you from? Said, I am Cosmo, which means literally, I belong to the city of the universe. And that, in a sense, sets up whether it's one event or whether there are many events, that's not the issue. But that kind of mindset sets up a way of thinking and more than a way of thinking as, as we'll talk about a way of thinking where one is making a distinction in the

00:51 - sense between two communities or at least two communities. One which is a community that we are in, which is local and particular, for example, the city in which we live, the kinds of identities that we are committed to within that city. And on the other, a much broader identity, which is open to others, which is open to, now we talk about being open to humanity, and it can be open to the universe as a whole. Those two communities, one which is particular

01:24 - and bound bordered, and one which is open and open to as larger communities as possible within our imaginations is what structures the cosmopolitan way of thinking and structures, the way in which it orientates itself within any particular kind of activity, be it cultural activity, political activity, institutional activity. So just to, to ride on that for a second, it's quite clear that cosmopolitanism, as it came out through Greek stoicism and cynicism, was very influential on the Christian

01:59 - distinction between the city of heaven and the city of Earth, like Augustinian distinction. But it's also very clear, and one can find cosmopolitanism not simply in Christianity, though it is, more reflected upon within the Western tradition than outside it. And perhaps we want to come back to that as well. it's also that sense of concentric circles. You know, I may well start with myself, my friends,

02:25 - my relations, my region, my nation, and, you know, ultimately humanity. And therefore, rather than having a particular identity, and this is useful at this moment in time where we're very much in identity politics rather than having a political particular identity. We have multiple identities and we work according to those identities, and we work with our responsibilities according to those different identities.

02:52 - We're not fixed. And I think that is a very important way of thinking, the cosmopolitan disposition as Well. Well, so I would say, what is cosmopolitanism? It's a mindset, it's a philosophy, it's a way of thinking, and it's a way of trying to steer your own behavior or the behavior of the institutions that you are working for. That is a lot that I think it's clear

03:14 - that it's predicated on that distinction between two sorts of communities or a various layering of communities. If we take international relations, both as, as as as the, the activity of relations between states, the international, and we also think of it as the, as the discipline of international relations. And quite a lot of cosmopolitan scholars now work in that discipline, rather than political philosophy or other humanities. then we're looking really at the 20th and 21st century.

03:49 - And in the 20th century, it's quite clear that international relations is predominantly organized by nation states and the state system. And so a sort of cosmopolitan approach to that which increases really accelerates I think, after the second World War with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and then again after the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, perhaps the most important acceleration. I think we're in a moment

04:20 - of deceleration at the moment, and we'll come to that. Yeah. what's important there is that yeah, international relations needs to be thought more in terms, for example, not of national security, but human security. So there the whole question of international development, sustainable development, the question of protection of humans and individuals and populations rather than questions of national security. And then, you know, the question of the individuals, so that the individual is both an object of concern

04:53 - for international politics. Yeah. as clearly with human rights, it is, but is also that the individual is also accountable. So making state leaders accountable for their actions in international relations. And there the whole doctrine of the responsibility to protect, which became important through the 1990s and was in many ways, ratified, doctrinally through the two to the, through the naughties the first decade

05:21 - of the two thousands there, the question of protecting populations from genocide, from ethnic cleansing, from crimes against humanity, from war crimes. That is all very much part of this more cosmopolitan way of looking at co at international relations. So that what is the immediate, focus is not the state, but the population citizens and individuals that make up states. And there a more cosmopolitan mindset is trying to,

05:51 - in a sense, shape state behavior and expectations in a cosmopolitan Direction. I think there's a lot to be said about that, particularly with the fate of responsibility to protect after the, in the intervention in Libya. But we could come to that later, if there's a question on it. So just in some with regard to international relations, the focus is trying

06:14 - to take it away from the state national security to the human, to the individual, and to more individual, responsibilities and individual accountability. And there the ultimate focus, if I can just sort of sum it at the end, 'cause it's the, the major point is what you are looking at is you're looking at a normative horizon for international relations in terms of basic tenets of justice, whether it be human rights, whether it be human needs, human capabilities,

06:49 - climate justice, sustainable development, and so forth. Cosmopolitan global politics, which was, published in 2005, if I remember rightly. And I think really that book, it was an important book because, and it is an important book, even if the times have changed. it, it very much set out the fact that cosmopolitanism isn't something distinct from a abstract from international relations, that it's actually already embedded in

07:20 - international relations. That it, that those who are arguing for cosmopolitan kinds forms of behavior, be it individual collective, that they're not being sort of utopian. and, and wishy-washy, actually cosmopolitan thoughts and practices are embedded international relations since the emergence of Universal Declaration of Human rights in 1948. That seems to me the, the major thesis of that book.

07:49 - And from that book, really Patrick sort of argues for, you know, therefore it's not just state actors that are important. There are, you know, international organizations, NGOs, this is not a new thesis, but within the Cosmopolitan perspective, what in, I think in many ways he was underlining for people and it was very much taken up from his book, is that there are other actors who are going to put pressure on states Yeah.

08:15 - With regards to a more right. Based form of behavior and action. And I think that, you know, within that, there was a, a really interesting focus for me. And, and that's where I very much appreciated this book and then wrote a book myself on, cosmopolitanism and International Relations theory. I think what was very important for me in that book was therefore just how one could think activities like sustainable development,

08:44 - what ultimately became the sustainable development agenda, after, you know, the, the millennium goals that time and climate, which clearly has again, accelerated since, even though it was critical in 1990s, there was a lot of political resistance to it at that time, particularly obviously from the fossil fuel lobby as we know. I think what Patrick was able to do with that right spaced approach to international relations is say how people were acting more

09:13 - and more in a global framework with cosmopolitan intent, particularly around justice in development and climate issues. I think the period in which there was a lot of work on cosmopolitanism within international relations, I think that period was very much the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century. I'm not myself researching on cosmopolitan and political philosophy at the moment, so I wouldn't want to step on what colleagues know better than me.

09:46 - But I certainly get the sense that really from really beginning with nine 11 and then the financial crisis of 2008, and then the difficult and very problematic intervention in Libya, which undercut reduction of responsibility to protect, it seemed increasingly that we were entering a new world. We had the emergence of China, we had the coming emergence of India. The global order was changing.

10:13 - And I think for many people, cosmopolitanism, particularly if they were a bit skeptical about it, you know, they felt it was a bit wishy-washy, a bit too liberal. I think they felt that it was really a peer, a period of thinking, which was in some ways related to American hegemony. You needed the American hegemony to actually have your cosmopolitan argument. If you didn't have that argument,

10:37 - look at responsibilities to protect. If you didn't have that hegemony, then in fact things were gonna break down pretty quickly and international relations was gonna change and be much more influenced by power, tensions of power, and the economy than it was by normative consideration, considerations of justice. I think that is a, it's a good argument. I think it's a clear argument. I think it's taken sometimes too far

11:01 - because I think the critical and normative edge of cosmopolitanism, particularly with regard to global issues and global problems like global health, think back to the pandemic, think back, back to the problem of access to vaccines in the developing countries. Yeah. major problems, of justice there, which were never sought out or governed. The question of, of climate. the question of artificial intelligence,

11:27 - these are global issues, and to argue that they can be sorted out or settled at national levels through the state system, is itself naive. So there's another kind of naivety that we're working with at the moment, which is in a sense one of, of not being able politically to get beyond the nation state jurisdiction and really make our international organizations think of the UN at the moment and,

11:54 - and, you know, its weakness, to make these organizations very effective. So I think even if cosmopolitanism, it's a, it's in a new time which no longer has that if you like, that American hamy there to, to, to, to support it. and therefore cosmopolitan is, is is very clearly, dependent on a certain kind of liberal state behavior. At the same time, cosmopolitanism has a lot to say to the kinds of problems we need to address. And when we get to it, there are clear research,

12:28 - you know, lines of, of thinking that need to be engaged with. So I would say the change has done the political project. It's no longer the same as it was, but it doesn't mean to say that its pce, has been lost far from it. You know, we do live in a time of identity politics. We live in a time of nationalism of populism. It, there's clearly been a swing back Yeah. After the 1990s and two thousands.

12:54 - Partly that swing is predicated on the fact that, you know, the, we, I dunno who exactly the we is there, but lemme just say it rhetorically, you know, we haven't sorted out radically in inequalities both domestically and internationally. And, and populism ha has, has clearly exploited that, ha has, you know, has fitted into the gaps where there is real inequality, and, and certainly in the West mobilized people in, in very much an anti cosmopolitan way of looking at things.

13:22 - Yeah. you know, fixed identities, nationalism, it's, it's very much not the, the Cosmopolitan project. And I think that, you know, one of the things that needs to be done, just to sort of think ahead, is, is to sort of renegotiate, rethink that cosmopolitan political project in relation to where we are now. you know, basically 20 years on after the end of a certain kind of world order, even if we're still in transition to a new world order.

13:54 - I would say immediately there are two, I think firstly, and I think both are, both are predicated in the fact that we are in, we are in difficult times. We, we are in dark times. And I think we just simply need to accept that and work with it and be as hopeful as possible, within what is, not an enlightened age. and, and there are very clear reasons for it. the, I think the first thing is at a time where, you know, it could be one of

14:27 - walls are going up Yeah. that people, citizens of nations and of nation states are as open as possible, and as tolerant as possible of others. I think that is gonna be, it's, it's, it's difficult already. We know, you know, we know that, there are, there there's a greater and greater sense of divisions between selves

14:56 - and others at the moment than there has been really, you know, for, for at least 30 years. and populism has fed on that obviously. And I think, you know, with regard to the walls coming up, I think particularly of migration, and the way in which climate will clearly reinforce the, the acceleration of migration movements across the world, to try to try and counter the mindset and the politics and the morality. 'cause there is a morality.

15:26 - It's a morality of protect your own when things are difficult, the morality of, you know, wolves going up. That is going to be a very important thing to do. And then we, we need to look ahead to that. I would say that's the first thing. I think the second thing is related to it, but is, is an extension of it. It is obvious that the threats that are coming this century, are, are increasing, in global scale and planetary impact, even though

15:55 - that those impacts are local, they are planetary nature, and that the conjunction of crises, are, are becoming more and more frequent what we're calling therefore an age of poly crisis rather than simply several crisis. I think with that, the younger generations coming through now, coming through secondary school, coming through university, you know, moving on from an undergraduate degree or an MA degree or, or doing a doctorate, these generations need a mindset

16:30 - and a skillset to be able to address these problems and threats coming and they are going to be very difficult. And I think cosmopolitanism has a role there, but it's gotta be a role in many ways that is pragmatic, that is realistic about what can be done in what is a very difficult world, where there'll be lots of trade-offs. And that nevertheless also gives hope to these generations, many of whom are obviously, particularly with regard to the futures of climate, are feeling very anxious.

17:01 - And we know, we know what an echo anxiety is that there is with these generations. There is a sense that, is there a future, I think cosmopolitanism what it can do. Yeah. It, it can give a sense of a horizon, it can give a sense of a future. But to do that well and for people to actually like, take it seriously, take the cosmopolitan argument seriously, it needs to have traction in what is local and every day as well.

17:31 - So that we need to, what we need to bring together. And I think the 1990s very clearly failed and hence the backlash against it. we need to bring together more the global and the local. and I think, you know, I think the reality is that we're facing will do that so that the cosmopolitan mindset trained on the local can at the sense open up a future whereby actually people can address these problems with hope rather than despair.

Faculti AI can make mistakes