Understanding the ancient and long sidelined concept of cosmopolitanism has suddenly found a fresh impetus and urgency. Globalization, international migration, multiculturalism and global social movements, as well as atrocities committed by those with narrow religious and ethnic identities, have led to reposing of two basic cosmopolitan questions: Can we ever live peacefully with one another? What do we share, collectively, as human beings? The term cosmopolitanism has attracted many understandings and uses over the years. Covering the global, national, social and personal levels of analysis, the authors consider the multiple meanings of the term in the past and in the present and develop new ways of conceiving cosmopolitanism. Through challenging old assumptions and advancing new analytical frameworks, the collection provides a full and representative set of views on the nature, definition and prospects of cosmopolitanism. Written by eminent scholars and publicly recognised intellectuals from a variety of cultural backgrounds, this book is the most comprehensive account of the theory and practice of cosmopolitanism yet attempted.

About the Author
Robin Cohen is Dean of Humanities at the University of Cape Town and a Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. Steve Vertovec is Director of the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) Research Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford and Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg), Berlin.

Reviews
Conceiving Cosmopolitanism is one of the better texts to consult in search of answers ... some outstanding contemporary figures have contributed essays to the collection. * Sociology *
The value of Conceiving Cosmopolitanism lies in this acute awareness amongst the contributors that while cosmopolitanism may furnish some of the tools for a new framework for a post-national global era, it suffers from potentially crippling weaknesses. * Sociology *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199252282
Author Steven Vertovec
Format Paperback
Page Count 328
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 488g
Dimensions(mm) 233mm * 156mm * 17mm