Zlatko Skrbis

Locating Cosmopolitanism Between Humanist Ideal and Grounded Social Category

The emerging interdisciplinary body of cosmopolitanism research has established a promising field of theoretical endeavour by bringing into focus questions concerning globalization, nationalism, population movements, cultural values and identity. Yet, despite its potential importance, what characterizes recent cosmopolitanism research is an idealist sentiment that considerably marginalizes the significance of the structures of nation-state and citizenship, while leaving unspecified the empirical sociological dimensions of cosmopolitanism itself. Our critique aims at making cosmopolitanism a more productive analytical tool. We argue for a cosmopolitanism that consists of conceptually and empirically identifiable values and outlooks. While there has been some progress made in this direction in the recent literature on cosmopolitanism, most writing still considers cosmopolitanism as something so delicate that it cannot be measured. Furthermore, in order to appreciate the full currency of the concept, we argue that researchers must not only agree on some common determinants of cosmopolitanism and cosmopolitan dispositions, but also ground their analyses of cosmopolitanism in the context of enduring nation-state structures.

The ambivalence of ordinary cosmopolitanism: Investigating the limits of cosmopolitan openness

Despite diverse understandings of cosmopolitanism, most authors agree that cosmopolitans espouse a broadly defined disposition of ‘openness’ toward others, people, things and experiences whose origin is non-local. It is argued that such an attitude is expressed by an emotional and ethical commitment towards universalism, selflessness, worldliness and communitarianism, and that such values should be identifiable in the practices, attitudes and identifications of individuals. By using data generated through qualitative focus group research, this paper extends the development of Lamont and Aksartovas (2002) category of ‘ordinary cosmopolitanism’. The participants in this study saw themselves as beneficiaries of an increasingly interconnected world, and they generally expressed cosmopolitan sentiments by referring to easily accepted opportunities associated with globalisation (eg. travel, cuisine, music) rather than the more difficult aspects of openness such as showing hospitality to strangers, or accepting human interest ahead of perceived national interests. Their positive views were counterbalanced, however, by sentiments of ‘dilution of national culture’ and ‘culture loss’. We argue that cosmopolitanism is a set of structurally grounded, discursive resources available to social actors which is variably deployed to deal with issues like cultural diversity, the global, and otherness. Ironically these discourses, which are the basis of the everyday accounts we describe, mirror academic debates on globalisation, suggesting the immersion of theorists in these discursive webs of meaning that structure responses to things global.

Transnational Families: Theorising Migration, Emotions and Belonging

The transnational family is a symptom of our increasingly globalised lives, which take place across borders and boundaries, thereby eroding the possibilities that places of birth, life and dying will coincide. The idea of transnational family implies dynamics, flux and change, yet it is also embedded in unyielding and stable structures that impact upon the experiences of family members. These structures are represented by the institutions of the host society, the restrictions imposed by geography, international politics and law, technologies that enable communication and travel and the strength of ties with family members back home or in other places. This paper provides a backdrop for discussions on the transnational family by interrelating three key dimensions of the transnational family experience: migration, emotions and belonging. It begins by drawing on the earliest systematic account of this conceptual triad, represented by Thomas and Znanieckis seminal study The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1918/1974). The argument proceeds by outlining the ways in which emotions have been co-opted into existing studies of transnational family life.

The Sociology of Cosmopolitanism:Globalization, Identity, Culture and Government

The dream of a cosmopolitical utopia has been around for thousands of years. Yet the promise of being locally situated while globally connected and mobile has never seemed more possible than today. Through a classical sociological approach, this book analyses the political, technological and cultural systems underlying cosmopolitanism.

Attitudes towards globalization and cosmopolitanism: cultural diversity, personal consumption and the national economy

One of the widely accepted consequences of globalization is the development of individual outlooks, behaviours and feelings that transcend local and national boundaries. This has encouraged a re-assessment of important assumptions about the nature of community, personal attachment and belonging in the face of unprecedented opportunities for culture, identities and politics to shape, and be shaped by, global events and processes. Recently, the upsurge of interest in the concept of cosmopolitanism has provided a promising new framework for understanding the nexus between cosmopolitan dispositions and global interconnectedness across cultural, political and economic realms. Using data from a representative social survey of Australians this paper investigates the negotiation of belonging under the conditions of globalization. The data tap into attitudes and behaviours associated with a broad gamut of cosmopolitan traits in the domains of culture, consumption, human rights, citizenship, and international governance. They show how cosmopolitan outlooks are shaped by social structural factors, and how forms of identification with humanity and the globe are fractured by boundaries of self and others, threats and opportunities, and the value of things global and local.

PASSIONS AND POWERS: EMOTIONS AND GLOBALISATION

Over the past few decades a vast amount of scholarly material has been published in the fields of globalisation and emotion studies, yet the two have seldom been discussed in tandem. Although globalisation is not a new phenomenon, social scientists began serious theoretical engagement with it only recently (Robertson 1992). Globalisation is increasingly seen as impacting on every field of human endeavour: from religion and politics to economy and sport. As Bauman (1998: 1) memorably puts it:

Introduction - Negotiating belonging: Migration and generations

‘‘Belonging’’ may well be one of the ‘‘softer’’ social science concepts but it is central to any discussion of some of the hardest issues facing human societies today: immigrant integration and cultural diversity. The question of belonging has the capacity to mobilise individuals, communities and nations, emotionally and politically particularly around the contentious question of citizenship rights and the management of ethnic and religious diversity in pluralist Western democracies. Yet, despite its contemporary relevance and importance and the associated increase in academic interest (Savage, Bagnall and Longhurst; Moran; Yuval-Davis, Kannabiran, Vieten and Hage), the concept of belonging is relatively ill defined. It is generally agreed that belonging is not a static phenomenon but rather a set of processes that are central to the way in which human relationships are conducted. Individuals and groups are caught up in a continuing and dynamic dialectic of seeking

Cosmopolitanism: Uses of the Idea

Preface Introduction Identity Citizenship Ethics Networks, Cosmoscapes and Encounters Mediated Cosmopolitanism Ordinary Cosmopolitanism Conclusion

Home Visits: Transnationalism among Australian migrants

Abstract As a perspective developed primarily in anthropology, ‘transnationalism’ has until recently been dominated by ethnographic and textual analyses. While not problematic for any particular study, the overwhelming dominance of these methodologies has created two major theoretical shortcomings; a tendency to inflate the prevalence of transnational models of living, and the attribution of an egalitarian or emancipatory character to transnationalism, generally in the absence of systematic evidence. In this article we attempt to remedy these problems by examining the frequency and determinants of one tangible indicator of transnational activity in migrants to Australia: visits home. Our results suggest three important conclusions: 1) not all migrants visit home at all, and only about 11 per cent do so on a regular basis; 2) there are major between-group differences in migrants’ capacity to visit home; and 3) the earlier concepts of assimilation and migration order are of substantial significance in understanding transnationalism.

From Migrants to Pilgrim Tourists: Diasporic Imagining and Visits to Medjugorje

This article explores ways in which Croatian migrants in Australia relate to the Catholic apparitional site in Medjugorje (Bosnia and Herzegovina), a pilgrimage destination where the Virgin Mary has allegedly been appearing to a group of Croatians since the early 1980s. It examines the complex experience of ethnic and spiritual rejuvenation that ensues when migrants undertake a double journey ‘home’ and to Medjugorje. What emerged from this research is a complex dynamic between ethno-specific and universalist readings of Medjugorje and their interconnectedness with secular and sacred dimensions of home visits. For some older migrants, particularly those who have no home to go back to, and for those whose visit home makes them increasingly aware that they are tourists in their old homeland, Medjugorje becomes an imagined surrogate home. This place allows them to partake in spiritual peace, and immerse themselves in the superficial Croatian domesticity that locals are happy to provide as part of their servicing of tourists. Medjugorje thus represents a place which domesticates and provides an anchorage for their sense of belonging and allows them to express their diasporic brand of Croatianism.