The Sociology of Cosmopolitanism Globalization, Identity, Culture and Government

by Kendall, Gavin; Woodward, Ian; Skrbis, Zlatko

• ISBN13: 9780230008687
• ISBN10: 0230008682
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-06-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The dream of a cosmopolitical utopia has been around for thousands of years. Yet the promise of being locally situated while globally connected and mobile has never seemed more possible than today. Through a classical sociological approach, this book analyzes the political, technological and cultural systems underlying cosmopolitanism.

Author Biography

GAVIN KENDALL is Professor of Sociology at Queensland University of Technology, Australia. His research interests include social theory, social order and the relationship between culture and socio-technical problems. His previous books include Using Foucaults Methods (with Gary Wickham), Understanding Culture (with Gary Wickham) and State Democracy and Globalization (with Roger King).
 
IAN WOODWARD is Senior Lecturer in Cultural Sociology at Griffith University, Australia and a Faculty Fellow of Yale Universitys Center for Cultural Sociology, USA. In addition to publishing many papers on the cultural aspects of cosmopolitanism, he has written extensively on consumption practices, subject-object relations and material culture. He is the author of Understanding Material Culture.

ZLATKO SKRBIS is Professor of Sociology at the University of Queensland, Australia. His research interests are located in the intersecting area of migration, nationalism, and globalization. He is the author of Long-Distance Nationalism and Constructing Singapore (with Michael Barr), and his recent articles include papers in the Sociological Review, Theory, Culture & Society and Ethnic and Racial Studies. He is a lead investigator on a longitudinal study of Australian young people and their life trajectories.

Table of Contents

Preface
Problems in the Field of Cosmopolitanism
The Question of Belonging: the Nation State and Beyond
Cosmopolitanism and the Political Realm
Cosmopolitanism as a Political Lifestyle: Morality, Technology and Style
Thinking, Feeling and Acting Cosmopolitan: The Ideal Types and their Expression in Everyday Cultural Fields
The Cosmopolitan Symbolic Universe and Communities of Sentiment
Conclusion: Cosmopolitanism as an Intellectual and Political Project
References