Anyone: The Cosmopolitan Subject of Anthropology

by Nigel Rapport

Overview

The significance that people grant to their affiliations as members of nations, religions, classes, races, ethnicities and genders is evidence of the vital need for a cosmopolitan project that originates in the figure of Anyone – the universal and yet individual human being. Cosmopolitanism offers an alternative to multiculturalism, a different vision of identity, belonging, solidarity and justice, that avoids the seemingly intractable character of identity politics: it identifies samenesses of the human condition that underlie the surface differences of history, culture and society, nation, ethnicity, religion, class, race and gender. This book argues for the importance of cosmopolitanism as a theory of human being, as a methodology for social science and as a moral and political program.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782385264
Publisher:	Berghahn Books
Publication date:	05/01/2014
Series:	Methodology & History in Anthropology , #24
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.51(d)
Age Range:	1 - 17 Years

About the Author

Nigel Rapport is Professor of Anthropological and Philosophical Studies at the University of St. Andrews, where he directs the Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies. He has also held a Canada Research Chair in Globalization, Citizenship and Justice. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION: INTENT AND STRUCTURE

• A cosmopolitan project
• ‘Everyman’ and ‘Anyone’
• Singular values
• Cosmopolitanism and liberalis
• Category-thinking and politeness
• Dead dogma?
• Envoi

PART 1. COSMOPOLITANISM AND COSMOPOLIS: DEFINITIONS AND ISSUES

1.1 A History and Overview

• Founding moments
• Contemporary Voices and Issues
• Cosmopolitanism is a specific kind of morality
• Cosmopolitanism is a specific kind of normative programme
• Cosmopolitanism is a specific kind of social condition
• Cosmopolitanism is a specific kind of attitude or orientation
• The cosmopolitan is a specific kind of actor
• Anthropological Critiques
• Epistemological critique of cosmopolitanism
• Real-political critique of cosmopolitanism
• Cosmopolitanisms

1.2 A Cosmopolitan Project for Anthropology

• What cosmopolitanism is and what it is not
• Multiculturalism, Utilitarianism, Globalization, Pluralism
• Human universalism and cultural diversity
• Voluntarism and community belonging
• The fluidity of experience
• Cosmopolitan hope
• Human Rights, World Cities, Worldwide Issues
• Global governance
• Cosmopolitan politesse

PART II: ‘MY NAME IS RICKEY HIRSCH’: A LIFE IN SIX ACTS, WITH MARGINALIA AND A CODA

Act I
Notes in the Margin I
Act II
Notes in the Margin II
Act III
Notes in the Margin III
Act IV
Notes in the Margin IV
Act V
Act VI
Coda

PART III: ANYONE IN SCIENCE AND SOCIETY: EVIDENCING AND ENGAGING

3.1 Personal Truth, Subjectivity as Truth

• Introduction
• A Kierkegaardian excursus
• Personal truth as political and physiological
• Personal truth as physical environment
• Nietzsche’s ‘night-time’ (Umnachtung)
• Conclusion: The pragmatism of personal truth

3.2 Generality, Distortion and Gratuitousness

• Introduction
• Simmel’s distortions
• Beyond Simmel
• Generality and the route to human science
• Modelling the one and the whole
• Bodily characteristics as individual and general
• Generality and the route to liberal society
• Conclusion: Distortion revisited

3.3 Public and Private: Civility as Politesse

• Introduction: ‘Politesse’
• Politesse as naturally occurring
• Anthropology and interactional routine
• Anthropology and communication
• Politesse as political policy
• Anthropology and global society
• Politesse as ethos of global becoming
• Politesse as lived practice
• Case-studies of complex society
• Invitation to politesse
• Conclusion: Good manners

AFTERWORD: JEWISH COSMOPOLITANISM

• Jew, Israeli, Cosmopolitan

Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Contributing to the rich and diverse literature on cosmopolitanism that has come out of the social sciences and humanities over the past decade and a half, Nigel Rapport offers us a robust discussion of the topic… While one of the several edited volumes published on cosmopolitanism during the past decade and a half might be a better first read for those unfamiliar with the topic, this book would serve as an excellent follow-up. In particular, this book will be of interest to scholars of cosmopolitanism, human rights, and contemporary anthropological theory.”  ·  Anthropos

“This is an elegantly written and well-organised book on a subject whose star continues to rise. Those who are familiar with Rapport’s project will be anticipating its publication with some excitement. Those who are not familiar with his work are in for a treat in that this is the culmination of his work so far… He is an exceptional essayist and although each chapter might stand alone, together they form a considerable contribution which is significant both in terms of the theoretical and moral advance of the discipline.”  ·  Peter Collins, Durham University

“The book is one of the first full-length monographs on the cosmopolitan project in anthropology, and should draw a wide readership…[It]is well researched and brings together a wealth of important scholarly sources. Readers stand to learn much from the discussion.”  ·  Lisette Josephides, Queen’s UniversityBelfast

From the Publisher