Contemporary normative debates about democracy beyond nation-states have largely centred on the claims of two broad camps: the 'liberal cosmopolitans' and the 'deliberative democrats'. This article offers an alternative perspective developed from the work of philosopher John Dewey that I call 'pragmatic cosmopolitanism'. First, my argument for pragmatic cosmopolitanism briefly outlines the Deweyan ethical ideas that serve as my normative grounding for the transnationalisation of democratic life. This grounding is primarily based on an ethic of growth that sees the use of critical intelligence and imaginative representation as the key basis for extending moral and political boundaries beyond nation-states. In the second part, I flesh out this framework by providing normative responses to what I identify as the four problems of transnational democracy: problems of constituency, democratic scope, social prerequisites and practical institutionalisation. These responses focus attention on the important roles of leadership and representation in constituting the political agency of transnational democratic publics. The role of leaders and representative practices is emphasised because they are central elements in the development of transnational democracy that are neglected by the liberal cosmopolitan and deliberative approaches.
Recent conflicts and crises in international relations have tested the ethical commitments of many cosmopolitans. However, this article argues that cosmopolitanism can be morally compelling and practically useful if it is conceived pragmatically as a set of ideals that guide interactions concerning cross-border problems. It argues that a will to believe in cosmopolitanism can be rationally justified by historical achievements and present tendencies in social conditions. Cosmopolitan beliefs are warranted, first, by demonstrating the empirical relevance of cosmopolitan ethics as a ‘living option’ in a new era of interaction and interdependence. Second, a pragmatic reorientation of cosmopolitan theory is conducted to widen the basis for identifying cosmopolitan action and permit a reconstruction of its ideals appropriate to today's pluralistic world. Finally, cosmopolitan ideals of equality, critical intelligence, and intercultural dialogue are developed as guides to addressing cross-border problems, drawing on the issue of climate change to illustrate how they become operative. A pragmatic faith in these ideals is thus justified by empirical hypotheses concerning the historical tendencies and latent potentialities of human experience, rather than metaphysical premises attached to a supernatural force or universal Reason.
This article seeks to illuminate the figure of the child in democratic politics by arguing that children play a constitutive role as temporary outsiders who present both renewal and risk to the demos. Using Hannah Arendt's concept of natality, we begin with an ontological account of children as new individuals that are central to renewing democratic freedom and plurality.In the second section, we explore how children can be conceived in terms of political risk by focussing on Arendt's debate with Ralph Ellison concerning the de-segregation of American schools in the 1960s. Their arguments about whether children should appear in politics underscores the constitutive role that child-adult relationships play in debates about the normative fabric of democratic society. Finally, we use the radical democratic theory of Chantal Mouffe to argue that children can be characterised as an excluded group of potential adversaries that appear in political contests over claims to represent the demos. From this perspective, the article reveals that children are central figures in democratic politics because they are constituents of an unknown future polity.
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