The Promise—and Limits—of Embedded Cosmopolitanism: Restraint, ‘The Enemy’, and the Problem of Incompatible Communities

This chapter discusses the promise and limits of an embedded cosmopolitanism position by placing it in the context of war. This is where popular particularist appeals to care and consensus have obvious and practical limits. It makes a specific reference to two prominent norms that relate to the conduct of organized violence, namely the prohibition against torture and the principle of non-combatant immunity. The chapter illustrates two extremes of an embedded cosmopolitan position and highlights how embedded cosmopolitan insights can help identify and avoid ‘traps of membership’.

The Morally Constitutive State

This chapter discusses the idea of the morally constitutive state. It introduces the second point of theoretical opposition for embedded cosmopolitanism. This forms an approach to international ethics that was extracted from MacIntyre’s essay on patriotism; the approach is termed as communitarian realism. The chapter also addresses statist perspectives, namely the extended political liberalism, from which John Rawls champions his ‘Law of Peoples’, and the ‘constitutive theory of individuality’ of Mervyn Frost.

Remapping the Community: Feminist Ethics and the Challenge to ‘Communities of Place’

This chapter discusses an outline of the shared ground between communitarian political thought and one branch of feminist ethics. These claim to reject abstraction and impartiality in ethical reasoning. The central argument is that this antagonism yields very useful insights for normative IR theory.

Impartialist Cosmopolitanism

This chapter discusses a detailed outline of the first point of opposition for an embedded cosmopolitan position, called ‘impartialist cosmopolitanism’. There are many works that have approached the questions of global justice and duties to ‘distant strangers’ from impartialist cosmopolitan perspectives; this chapter focuses on only a few of them. The chapter addresses those liberal cosmopolitan positions that draw on the work of John Rawls and seeks to survey the points of disagreement found at the centre of an influential debate. Emphasis is drawn on the inclusive and critical capacities claimed by impartialist cosmopolitan positions.

Conclusion

This concluding chapter discusses the implications on the inclusive potential of a particularist route to ethical cosmopolitanism. It explores variations on the morally constitutive community and studies the concepts of complex selves, dislocated communities, and connected critics. The last section in this chapter is devoted to the inclusion from an embedded cosmopolitan perspective and its promise, limits, and insights. Important lessons are taken from the previous chapters as well.

Embedded Selves, Transnational Duties, and Distant Strangers

This chapter discusses the groundwork for constructing a qualified ethical cosmopolitan position. It maintains that normative International Relations (IR) theory must respond to the attempts to challenge the very nature of morality. The chapter distinguishes between two distinct aspects of any moral perspective, namely: the understanding of the moral agent upon which it relies, and the ‘sphere of equal moral standing’ that it allows.

Introduction: Qualifying Cosmopolitanism?

This introductory chapter discusses the question of qualifying cosmopolitanism. It discusses concepts such as cosmopolitanism, ethical cosmopolitanism, and contemporary international politics. It also presents a new term, ‘embedded cosmopolitanism’, which is examined throughout the book. An overview of the following chapters is provided as well.