Capitalism, the politics of hate, and everyday cosmopolitanisms

Abstract

This article takes its cue from Joel Kahn's reformulation of the Kantian account of cosmopolitanism, which highlights the way that 'popular' cosmopolitan practices tend to emerge between localized individuals and groups who are forced to live side by side with 'others', in the absence of impositions from above or outside that fracture the relations normally established between actors who 'cannot avoid offending each other' but recognize that they 'cannot do without associating peacefully'. We live in times in which an ever-expanding variety of postures of resentment and hate are being politically instrumentalized in different regions of the world, and not simply around ethno-racial, cultural, and religious difference. Although some of this may repeat past historical experiences or needs to be understood in terms of specific national or regional histories, the article explores how the contemporary politics of resentment and hate has new dimensions that can be linked to the mounting contradictions of neoliberal capitalism and the transformations that it has produced in politics, culture, sociality, personhood, and identity. Looking at the situations currently encountered in the North Atlantic world and Brazil, the analysis highlights the obstacles to reversing disturbing tendencies through the normal politics of contemporary representative democracy, but also shows how anthropological research reveals counter-movements to them in what are not always obvious places. This confirms the wisdom of Kahn's argument that we are often looking for solutions in the wrong places and with a misplaced confidence in the global beneficence of Western liberal traditions.

K antiimperiálnímu pojetí politiky a ekonomiky: od ekosociální krize ke globální budoucnosti

“…Na mnoha mí stech sve ta v tomto sme ru sledujeme silnou tendenci k politicke instrumentalizaci za s ti a nena visti. Mnohy m z te chto projevu mu z eme rozume t jako opakova ní zna my ch historicky ch zkus eností ode ny ch do dobovy ch a mí stní ch specifik, ale neme li bychom proto pr ehle dnout, z e "politika resentimentu a nena visti naby va novy ch rozme ru , ktere lze spojit s naru stají cí mi rozpory neolibera lní ho kapitalismu a prome nami, jez vyvolal v politice, kultur e, socialite , osobnosti a identite " (Gledhill 2019).…”

Guerras culturais, batalhas alegóricas:

“…Na sociedade brasileira Dossiê Guerras Culturais -https://revistaecopos.eco.ufrj.br/ ISSN 2175-8689 -v. 24, n. 2, 2021 DOI: 10.29146/ecopos.v24i2.27699 319 ocorre, portanto, uma progressiva contaminação entre a prática política e as ações e discursos de ódio, tanto nas redes quanto fora delas. Essa aproximação não se limita apenas à arena política tradicional Gledhill, 2019). Ela é identificada também no domínio privado, isto é, na casa, na família, na igreja, nas relações entre amigos, vizinhos, etc.…”

Exquisite Corpses and backward glances: European social anthropology 2019

“…He particularly notes the prevalence of the Romantic inversion of the ranking of ‘primitive’ and ‘civilised’ that has become common in the West and informs the tourists’ aspirations: a misunderstood loosely directed ‘spirituality’, a supposed harmony with nature, and social or expressive integrity. This idealising of the soi disant ‘primitive’, which dates back to before Rousseau, is alerted as a hazard in anthropology’s engagement with a wider popular public in a number of other articles published this year (Gledhill 2019b; Offrias and Roecker 2019).…”