Syllabus
Cosmopolitanism and Internationalism Joseph Grim Feinberg, feinberg@flu.cas.cz
Tuesdays, 13:20 – 14:55
In recent decades the phenomenon of nationalism has been established as a major field of scholarly research, but much less attention has been paid to nationalism’s beleaguered other, the idea that particular differences among people should be overcome or brought together as equal parts of a entity that encompasses all humankind. Rather than simply taking universalism to be the opposite of nationalism, this class will examine the various forms taken by universalism, specifically in the notions of cosmopolitanism and internationalism as they develop historically in relation to traditionalist and nationalist defenses of particularity. Although we place cosmopolitanism and internationalism together as reactions to particularism, we will also attempt to understand their differences, with regard both to the context of their historical origins and to the roles they play in contemporary political theory.
Course requirements
· Regular attendance in class and demonstrated understanding of assigned readings;
· One student presentation: students will be assigned days when they will present on a problem raised by the day’s topic of discussion, taking into consideration both the required reading and at least one other text;
· One final paper, max. 10 pages (18,000 signs).
Course schedule
Week 1 (1. 10. 2019). Introductory Discussion: The Search for the Universal
Week 2 (8. 10.). Cosmopolitanism and Ancient Imperialism I: The World of Hellen
Required reading: Brown, “Hellenistic Cosmopolitanism” Moles, “Cynic Cosmopolitanism” (esp. pp. 105–111)
Recommended further reading: Lavan, et al., eds. Cosmopolitanism and Empire Heater, “Origins of Cosmopolitan Ideas”
Week 3 (15. 10.). Cosmopolitanism and Ancient Imperialism II: Paul’s Revolution
Required reading: Badiou, St. Paul, chs. 1 and 10
Recommended further reading: the rest of Badiou
Week 4 (22. 10.). Cosmopolitanism and Ancient Imperialism III: Other Cosmoi
Required reading: Chun, “Chinese Cosmopolitanism”
Recommended further reading: LaViolette, “Swahili Cosmopolitanism in Africa and the Indian Ocean World, A.D. 600–1500”
Week 5 (29. 10.). Cosmopolitanism and Modern Imperialism: The Enlightenment
Required reading: Kant, “Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View”
Recommended further reading: Kant, Toward a Perpetual Peace Schlereth, The Cosmopolitan Ideal in Enlightenment Thought: Its Form and Function in the Ideas of Franklin, Hume, and Voltaire, 1694–1790
Week 6 (5. 11.). Toward a Nationalism for All?
Required reading: Herder, Outlines book VIII, ch. 5 and book IX ch. 1
Recommended further reading: Malachuk, “Nationalist Cosmopolitics in the Nineteenth Century” Forster, “Introduction” to Herder, Philosophical Writings, pp. xxx-xxxv
Week 7 (12. 11.). Proletarian Internationalism I: “The Workers Have No Nation”
Required reading: Marx, The Communist Manifesto (excerpts) Marx, “Introduction to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right” (excerpt) Luxemburg, The National Question (excerpt)
Recommended further reading: Brenner, Really Existing Nationalisms
Week 8 (19. 11.). Proletarian Internationalism II: Leninism and the Right to Self-Determination
Required reading: Stalin, Marxism and the National Question, sections I–III and VII
Week 8 (26. 11.). Proletariat and Diaspora: Austro-Marxism and the Nations without Land
Required reading: Bauer, The Question of Nationalities and Social Democracy, pp. 281–291 Medem, “The Worldwide Jewish Nation?”
Week 9 (3. 12.). Cosmopolitanizing (Western) Cosmopolitanism:
Required reading: Delanty, “Not All Is Lost in Translation”
Recommended further reading: Ngcoya, “Ubuntu: Toward an Emancipatory Cosmopolitanism?” Park and Han, “Another Cosmopolitanism: A Critical Reconstruction of the Neo-Confucian Conception of Tianxiaweigong (天下爲公) in the Age of Global Risks” Ward, “Human Suffering and the Quest for Cosmopolitan Solidarity: A Buddhist Perspective” Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe
Week 10 (10. 12.). A New Cosmopolitanism?
Required reading: Mignolo, “The Many Faces of Cosmo-Polis: Border Thinking and Critical Cosmopolitanism”
Recommended further reading: Ingram, Radical Cosmopolitics, part 2. “Cosmopolitics from the Bottom Up” Cheah and Robbins, eds. Cosmopolitics
Week 11 (17. 12.). A New Universalism?
Required reading: Tomba, Insurgent Universality, ch. 2
Recommended further reading: Buck-Morss, Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History
Week 12 (7. 1. 2010). Concluding discussion
Annotation
In recent decades the phenomenon of nationalism has been established as a major field of scholarly research, but much less attention has been paid to nationalism’s beleaguered other, the idea that particular differences among people should be overcome or brought together as equal parts of a entity that encompasses all humankind. Rather than simply taking universalism to be the opposite of nationalism, this class will examine the various forms taken by universalism, specifically in the notions of cosmopolitanism and internationalism as they develop historically in relation to traditionalist and nationalist defenses of particularity.
Although we place cosmopolitanism and internationalism together as reactions to particularism, we will also attempt to understand their differences, with regard both to the context of their historical origins and to the roles they play in contemporary political theory.