Cosmopolitan nationalism: ordinary people making sense of diversity†

Abstract

ABSTRACT. This article challenges the theoretical opposition between nationalism and cosmopolitanism with empirical research on the ways in which a group of ordinary Australians talked about multiculturalism in the 1980s and again in the 2000s. It shifts attention from identity work to the understanding of day‐to‐day social relations: it finds that they are strongly nationalist and yet also display a cosmopolitan embrace of the benefits of cultural diversity. They draw on the inclusionary resources of Australian nationalism and its history to strengthen their cosmopolitanism and calm their anxieties about living with diversity. Their commonsense conceptualising of Australia's contemporary multicultural society in terms of a mix of individuals rather than an ensemble of groups is crucial to understanding why cultural diversity has been embraced within the framework of the nation.

An aesthetics of diasporic citizenship: the example of Lebanese women in the UK

“…This results in either an unproblematic representation of 'the migrant' and 'the citizen' and its controversial binary construction (Mushaben 2006, Bhimji 2008 or an idealistic synthesis of oppositional categories such as 'cosmopolitans' (read: universalist and inclusive) and 'locals' (read: particularist and exclusionary) without paying much attention to the mechanisms that produce these attitudes (Roudometof 2005, Brett andMoran 2011). That being said, future joint theoretical endeavours will certainly be beneficial to the wider debate around migration and citizenship but key categories such as migrant, citizen and identity need to be problematized to avoid essentializing migrants' subjectivities or reducing complex practices to a point on a cosmopolitan -local continuum.…”

Cosmopolitan Acceptance: A Model for Understanding Views of Acceptance Towards Asylum Seekers

“…The argument against adopting a cosmopolitan outlook was a conviction that a loyalty to national ties must take precedence over global considerations. 37 Cosmopolitanism and nationalism, however, need not be seen as diametrically opposed. Contrary to any belief that cosmopolitan and national affiliations are mutually exclusive, the argument has been made that a cosmopolitan awareness can co-exist alongside national loyalty and attachment.…”

Nationalist cosmopolitanism: the psychology of cosmopolitanism, national identity, and going to war for the country

“…Ariely, 2012;Savage, Wright, and Gayo-Cal 2010). Others found a positive association between national identity and cosmopolitan commitment to cultural diversity (Brett and Moran 2011). Even though growing interest in the cosmopolitanism-nationalism debate is sweeping across social sciences, on balance, more research is needed to gain a fuller understanding of the relationship between cosmopolitanism, national identity, and patriotism at the individual level.…”