The global relevance of Tagore’s cosmopolitan educational philosophy for social justice in a post-Westphalian world

Abstract

This article suggests that Tagore’s conception of cosmopolitan education may provide the basis for progressing matters of global social justice, when considering the problem posed by Nancy Fraser in her essay ‘Reframing justice in a globalizing world’ - “How can we integrate struggles against maldistribution, misrecognition and misrepresentation within a post-Westphalian frame?”. Fraser’s notion of reframing matters of justice for a post-Westphalian world is employed as the context within which Tagore’s educational philosophy is considered in order to progress international social justice. Towards this end, the article briefly reflects on the cosmopolitanism perspective, setting the scene for an exploration of Tagore’s educational philosophy, in particular his distinctive conception of cosmopolitanism. The article develops the argument that framing pedagogy centred on Tagore’s principles of cosmopolitan education to produce cosmopolitan-minded citizens can help bring about social, political and economic change at local, national and international level, in order to integrate the three-dimensional struggle for social justice as outlined by Fraser. The article concludes by suggesting what can be done at the institution and curriculum level to help foster the cosmopolitan attitude.