Cosmopolitans and anticosmopolitans as forces constructing and deconstructing the ‘order’ of civilizations
Characterized in the article are the categories of cosmopolitans and anticosmopolitans, while the main assumptions of their respective Weltanschauungs are also highlighted. Further on, the immense diversity of these groups is portrayed along with the examples showcasing how they can be seen as social forces, political options, collectives, etc. For that reason, the article consists of an analytical conclusion allowing for the foundations for creating an appropriate typology.
Later on in the text, a number of theoretical inspirations aimed at understanding and studying contemporary civilizations are introduced. Each respective concept adds depth to the problem, eventually aiming at those of Eisenstadt’s, the most crucial ones for the paper’s purposes, which describe civilizations as ontological images. Some attention has also been paid to musing on the concepts of alienness and collective identity, which are just as important for the characteristics of the anticosmopolitan stance as they are for reflections on contemporary civilizations.
The last part of the paper binds its previous considerations and provides examples of activities constructing and deconstructing, as well as simultaneously constructing and deconstructing, the civilizational order, each present in the cosmopolitan and anticosmopolitan stance.