
Radical Cosmopolitics
The Ethics and Politics of Democratic Universalism
James D. Ingram(Author)
Columbia University Press
Published on 15. October 2013
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-231-16110-7 (ISBN)
Description
While supporting the cosmopolitan pursuit of a world that respects all rights and interests, James D. Ingram believes political theorists have, in their approach to this project, compromised its egalitarian and emancipatory principles. Focusing on recent debates without losing sight of cosmopolitanism's ancient and Enlightenment roots, Ingram confronts the philosophical difficulties of defending universal ideals and the implications for ethics and political theory. In morality as in politics, theorists have generally focused first on discovering universal values and second on their implementation. Ingram argues that only by prioritizing the development and articulation of universal values through political action in the fight for freedom and equality can theorists do justice to these efforts and cosmopolitanism's universal vocation. Only by proceeding from the local to the global, from the bottom up rather than from the top down, on the basis of political practice rather than moral ideals, can we salvage moral and political universalism. In this book, Ingram provides the clearest, most systematic account yet of this schematic reversal and its radical possibilities.
Reviews / Votes
James D. Ingram's argument in defense of a 'cosmopolitanism from below' is not only admirably articulated and grounded in the history of ideas and a careful assessment of contemporary debates. It is also extremely courageous intellectually: being fully aware of the past and present mystifications that affect them, he gives up neither on implementing universalistic values nor on combining the ethical and the political. His 'realism of possibility' begins with prudence and leads to endeavor. -- Etienne Balibar, author of We, the People of Europe?: Reflections on Transnational Citizenship This is an impressive work of scholarship that provides an important warning about the dangers of thinking on behalf of others. Political Studies Review James D. Ingram's book is a treat... It accomplishes the rare feat of opening a dialogue between various philosophical traditions that seldom bother to respond to each other. Books and IdeasMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
624 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-231-16110-7 (9780231161107)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2015
1st Edition
De Gruyter
from
€52.95
Available for download
Person
James D. Ingram teaches political theory at McMaster University.
Content
Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1. Cosmopolitanism from the Top Down 1. Universalism in History 2. Cosmopolitanism in Ethics: Tensions of the Universal 3. Cosmopolitism in Politics: Realizing the Universal Part 2. Cosmopolitics from the Bottom Up 4. Rethinking Ethical Cosmopolitanism: From Universalism to Universalization 5. Rethinking Political Cosmopolitanism: From Democracy to Democratization 6. The Politics of Human Rights Conclusion Works Cited Index
Read the introduction to Radical Cosmopolitics: