Marinus R.R. Ossewaarde

Cosmopolitanism and the Society of Strangers

In this article the implications of cosmopolitan thought for the cohesion of groups are explored. The central argument is that cosmopolitanism signals a shift from sociality to humanity, which eyes an all-inclusive society of strangers as its end result. Cosmopolitanism is discussed as a manifestation of the mentality of the global elite, as world citizenship, as a politics of human rights, as a religion of humanity and as global mores. In these distinct dimensions, cosmopolitanism appears to pave the way for the society of strangers.

The national identities of the ‘death of multiculturalism’ discourse in Western Europe

Since the late 1990s, multiculturalism is discussed, in newspapers more than in scientific discourses, as a public policy failure in West European nations. The Netherlands was one of the first to have declared multiculturalism ‘dead’. In the UK, the death of multiculturalism followed mainly from the 2005 London bombings. In Germany, the story of the failure of multiculturalism became popularized with the publication of Thilo Sarrazins bestseller Germany is Abolishing Itself [Deutschland Schafft Sich Ab] in 2010. This article seeks to highlight key rhetorical expressions of the climactic period of 1 June 2010–1 March 2011. The twofold argument is that (1) the death of multiculturalism discourse in the Dutch, German and British newspapers manifests an attempt to reinforce particular monoculturalist visions of a national identity through the sociocultural construction of the other, the Muslims; and (2) in the different national newspapers, the death of multiculturalism discourse, with the corresponding media stereotyping of Muslims (as expressed in slogans, metaphors, neologisms, and so forth), varies according to the rhetorical usages of national legacies. In what follows now, three issues that recurrently appear in the death of multiculturalism discourse are discussed, namely, un-enlightenment, cultural imperialism and totalitarianism.

THE WELFARE STATE'S MAKING OF COSMOPOLITAN EUROPE: Individualization of social rights as European integration

This article seeks to analyze the extent of welfare state tendencies towards individualization of social citizenship rights from the perspective of Cosmopolitan Europe (Beck and Grande 2007, Cosmopolitan Europe). Empirical study of legislated reforms to national insurance benefit schemes in three European countries since 1980 suggests that individualization processes transform modern West European societies through the construction of self-sufficiency, the individualization of responsibility, and the personalization of social services. Although European welfare states vary with respect to the extent of individualization of social categories, late modernization processes appear to transform national solidarities into a cosmopolitan solidarity and hence affect all modern institutions of welfare states, including bureaucratic categories, legal rights, and meaning of work.

Theorizing European societies

Explores key sociological concepts and theory in relation to European crises, identity, inequality and social order. It offers a firm understanding of the modernization of Europe and everyday European life, while not neglecting the historical context. Essential reading for students of sociology in European contexts.

Citizenship in Civil Society

Abstract This article seeks to provide a conceptual framework to complement and guide the empirical analysis of civil society. The core argument is that civil society must be understood, not as a category of (post)industrialized society, but as one of individualized society. Civil society is characterized by individualism that is sustained and protected by the civil values of autonomy and emancipation. This, accordingly, implies that empirical data of civil society can be understood most fruitfully within the framework of individualized society. Classical sociology, however, perceives this very individualism and its values as being antagonistic to its own civic vision. Hence, the crucial question is whether there can be any scope for citizenship, classically understood, within civil society. This article begins with the conceptual reconstruction of the social organization of civil society. Thereafter, two distinct civil society perspectives—mediating structures and Tocquevillianism—are explored to see how civil individualism and citizenship relate to each.

The Continuation of the Dialectic in Sociology

A rapidly changing ‘society’ that requires ‘new units of analysis’, ‘new roles for sociology’, and new democratic commitment to ‘the publics’ has implications for the identity and calling of sociology. In this so-called ‘identity crisis’, some sociologists have introduced the so-called ‘after dialectics’ thesis and argue that social conditions have now become such that the possibility of a dialectical sociology has disappeared. In this article, the argument is introduced that such a diagnosis rests on a common misunderstanding of dialectics. Particularly drawing inspiration from the works of C. Wright Mills and Alvin Gouldner, this article seeks to retrace the classical or Greek meaning and the original significance that they attributed to dialectical sociology, in its resistance to ideological thought and practice. The concluding paragraph provides an overview of some recent movements in sociology, such as the dialogical turn and public sociology, and compares them with the (reconstructed) dialectical approach.

The New Welfare—Warfare State: Challenges to the Sociological Imagination:

C. Wright Mills introduced his concept of the sociological imagination during the Cold War to warn against what he perceived as increasing moral and political indifference and the incapacity of people to relate their own private worlds to world history. Hence, social scientists failed to see that the welfare and peace at home, to which they contributed, were supported by wars waged somewhere far away. The post-Cold War epoch is characterised by new unprecedented challenges raised by neo-liberalism, global capitalism, biotechnology, eugenics, racial hygiene and the biologisation of social policy. The new world is ruled by political, economic and technological forces that closely cooperate with each other and determine world and local histories. The changed social structures also imply that domestic and foreign policies undergo mutations. Yet, they remain the two sides of the same coin, which has now become the neo-liberal objective of unhindered global capitalism. The ‘new’ or ‘updated’ social imagination still strives to unmask hidden powers that justify their dominion.

The dialectic between romanticism and classicism in Europe

This article provides an application of Alvin Gouldners dialectic between Romanticism and Classicism to the constitutional process of European identity formation. Gouldner introduced his dialectical sociology in a critical attempt to destroy compulsive identification with any fixed idea of order. In an attempt to destroy compulsive identification with any Romantic or classical idea of Europe, this article shows how Europes identity, as it has been represented in the Constitutional Treaty (CT), as well as in sociological works, is being shaped by predominant Romantic and classic thought structures and social movements. The central argument is that the dialectic between Romanticism and Classicism in Europe is most clearly observed in the debates about democracy, human rights and rule of law — the classical values that constitute the EUs entry criteria.

The political vision of Europe during the ‘refugee crisis’: missing common ground for integration

Abstract This article analyses imaginaries of political decision makers of the European Union in the context of the ‘refugee crisis’ and interprets them according to theories of European integration – neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. Speeches, interviews, statements and press releases of the 28 heads of state and government and two Commissioners are analysed through a qualitative content analysis. The aim of the article is to derive prospects for European integration from the imaginaries. We found that the European imaginaries expressed by the largest group of heads of state and government remain blurred without clarification which position is taken on European integration, while the imaginaries expressed by the Commissioners are mainly characterised by support of further integration. Our interpretation of the European imaginaries suggests that the prospects for further integration remain limited according to neofunctionalism, but are higher following liberal intergovernmentalism. In policy fields that are directly related to the management of the crisis further cooperation can be expected.

The illusion of the digital commons : ‘False consciousness’ in online alternative economies

Digital commons such as Wikipedia, open-source software, and hospitality exchanges are frequently seen as forms of resistance to capitalist modes of production and consumption, as elements of alternative economies. In this article, however, we argue that the digital commons cannot by themselves constitute genuine forms of resistance for they are vulnerable to what we call ‘the illusion of the digital commons’, which leads to a form of ‘false consciousness’ that Sloterdijk designates as deep-rooted cynicism. This cynicism, we argue, ties in with the contemporary discontent with practices in the ‘sharing economy’, in which we pay particular attention to the practice of hospitality exchange on platforms such as BeWelcome, Couchsurfing, and Airbnb. We utilize Georg Simmel’s theory of money to explicate how exchange relations are mediated by technologically enabled explicit and implicit price mechanisms. Accordingly, we argue that the technologically mediated practice of digital commoning can constitute the ‘illusion of the commons’, an apparent form of commoning through digital exchanges that is inherently vulnerable to foster non-emancipatory practices. We argue that this results in a form of cynicism: of commoners that are disillusioned by ‘the power of things’. Only a ‘politics of the digital commons’, a democratic governance that keeps a check on the vulnerability of digital exchanges, and a free relation to technologies can help in avoiding the illusion of the digital commons.