The Oxford Handbook of Cosmopolitanism

The Oxford Handbook of Cosmopolitanism presents a collection of essays that undertake a fruitful rethinking of the historical, economic, political, philosophical, and ecological dimensions of cosmopolitanism for the 21st century. Cosmopolitanism is one of those ubiquitous concerns which, while never going away entirely, seems to return regularly with a difference -- with renewed urgency, novel ramifications, and new challenges. In the 21st century we inhabit a world in which extractive capitalism has expanded to reach almost every corner of the earth and every aspect of our lives; in which the planetary environment is at risk, as evidenced by the loss of biodiversity, the effects of climate change, and the devastating global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; in which revolutions in information technology, social media, and artificial intelligence have opened up new frontiers of innovation and communication, but also new possibilities for surveillance and epistemic murk; in which borders are fastidiously maintained and continuously traversed, not least of all by a global surge in refugees who are unwelcome at home and vilified abroad; in which authoritarian regimes are ascending, fueled by new forms of racism and nationalism, including anti-immigrant and anti-refugee politics. New forces are at play: they bring people together while also putting them at risk and in conflict in unforeseen ways. What does it mean to be a "citizen" of such a world? The Oxford Handbook of Cosmopolitanism presents a collection of essays that, taken together, undertake a fruitful rethinking of cosmopolitanism for our times.