The utopia of cosmopolitanism vs. the individual quest to become cosmopolitan

Many have dreamt and thought about a peaceful, post-national global community in which people, despite their differences, could live together in harmony and solidarity. This is nothing but a utopia, a term the English philosopher Thomas More coined in 1516 for an ideal, imaginary society (which stood in sharp contrast with the contentious social life and chaotic politics in Europe at the time). In this talk, I reflect on the (dis)connections between the utopian political and philosophical visions of cosmopolitanism and the more individual attempts of people to obtain a cosmopolitan outlook or disposition, a desirable contemporary form of cultural capital. What does it take to become cosmopolitan? Can one ever reach this goal or does it always remain an unfinished process of becoming? Does one actively need to travel in search of “Otherness” or is it enough to (passively) let “difference” come to you? How are individual cosmopolitan quests facilitating or, on the contrary, hindering broader societal ideologies and projects of cosmopolitanism?status: publishe