Concluding Essay: Cosmopolitanism as Doctrine, Attitude, and Practice

Abstract:This concluding essay engages with the basic conceptual ideas underlying the entire dossier on cosmopolitanism in a way that combines a historical with a sociological perspective. It distinguishes between alternative ways in which histories of cosmopolitanism can be narrated. It also comments on the normative consequences resulting from a concept of cosmopolitanism as “practice.” Further reflections are devoted to cosmopolitanism’s close connection with marginality, mobility, and exile. The relationship between cosmopolitanism and empire is seen as paradoxical. While imperial ruling classes have often sported universalist ideologies, their authority tends to be challenged in the name of rival universalisms.