Prof Delanty CERC sem 3Oct2006

Europe and the Rise of Asia: A Cosmopolitan View: 

Europe and the Rise of Asia: A Cosmopolitan View Gerard Delanty Visiting Research Fellow, Deakin University, Melbourne and Professor of Sociology, University of Liverpool, UK CERC, University of Melbourne, Seminar Presentation, 3 October, 2006

The Question: 

The Question What is the significance of the rise of new centres of economic and political power in Asia for Europe? Is it possible to conceive of the relation of Europe to Asia in cosmopolitan terms? Is cosmopolitanism exclusively European or can it take different cultural/civilizational forms?

My Background: 

My Background Reinterpretation of the European cultural and political heritage Social Theory and Europeanization (The comparative historical sociology of modernity (multiple modernities) Social and political theory (in particular cosmopolitanism)

The Cosmopolitan Perspective: 

The Cosmopolitan Perspective An alternative to exclusively economic and security concerns Suggests an alternative to internationalism, globalization as well as nationalism A key element is the value of global justice Recognition of the perspective of the other Concern with overlapping allegiances Related to the capacity for self-transformation in the cultural and political resources of a society Self-problematization and pluralization Normative implications of globalization

Preconditions of Cosmopolitanism in Europe: 

Preconditions of Cosmopolitanism in Europe More interpenetration of European societies Europeanization now intermeshed with globalization Europe as a multi-centred reality – not just one centre Europeanization no longer speared headed by the state (no longer an exclusively state-led project) Diffuse borders and end of East/West divide Changed relation between the core and the periphery Absence of closure and the implications of the eastern enlargement Decline of the West (multipolar world) Changed relation to the United States Long tradition of cosmopolitanism in western thought

Expressions of Cosmopolitanism: 

Expressions of Cosmopolitanism Not a supranational state emerging, but rise of a European identity, which coexists with national and regional identities. Europeanization of individual and collective levels Rise of a European public sphere/European public discourse European civil society Resistance to globalization Europe as a player in the world Idea of ‘a post-western Europe’ The Europeanization of Turkish Islam

Internal and external cosmopolitanism: 

Internal and external cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism most developed within Europe but also has an external dimension, which is less developed European challenges to US hegemony Relation with Asia becoming more important (examples: ASEM since 1996) Until now Europeanization was shaped by internal factors; today the external is coming increasingly to the fore

The Problem of the External Context: 

The Problem of the External Context Model 1: Economic liberalism If Europe embraces the global market there will be nationalist reaction Model 2: Fortress Europe If Europe resists globalization by economic protectionism and increased security etc antiwestern sentiments will be provoked in Asia. Neither of these models can be a basis for the future

Why is Asia important for Europe?: 

Why is Asia important for Europe? Unprecedented social change in Asia – economic, demographic, political, cultural The centre of global power is shifting from West to East Global markets are making a huge impact on Europe Europe as a global actor Need to solve together the problems of the world risk society The growing importance of EU external relations (neighbourhood policy etc) Growing interest in Asia for European and different kinds of relation than to the US (more cosmopolitan than one based on national interests) The EU sets an example for China Economic interdependence Need to oppose Occidentalism and find alternatives to the Clash of Civilizations

Cosmopolitanism in Asia: some problems: 

Cosmopolitanism in Asia: some problems Asia much larger – greater extent of diversity (China, Japan, Islamic world, India as the major civilizational traditions) and radically different modernities (and experiences of colonization). Here pluralism is an obstacle. Not a comparable Asian cultural and political heritage in cosmopolitanism to the European Major national rifts (in Europe the conflict between Germany and France has long gone) National sovereignty strong and greater authoritarianism, less democratization Weaker civil societies Large disparities between rich and poor Not an Asian identity in the sense that there is a European identity Would appear that only the elites are cosmopolitan

Preconditions of Asia Cosmopolitanism: 

Preconditions of Asia Cosmopolitanism Transnational civil society Growing democratization Need to have positive relations with Europe in order to challenge the US Growing regionalism Civilizational heritage: earlier expressions of cosmopolitanism in the world religions (Hinduism, Confucianism, and Islam) Asian cognitive structures will become more important Overlapping cultural communities (Asia has more hybrid cultures than Europe) Globalization and wealth creation

Some Expressions of Asian Cosmopolitanism: 

Some Expressions of Asian Cosmopolitanism Questioning of East West division Asian multiculturalism Discursive democracy on regional level in China More and more Asian summits - APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) - Asian Bank ‘Flexible citizenship’ (A. Ong’s thesis) Chinese postmodernism Travel, changing patterns of consumption Some empirical evidence of transnational identity (cf Asiabarometer) Asian and European links becoming more important - Europe and Asia Foundation - ASEM

Some Conclusions: 

Some Conclusions Although Asian cultural diversity will prevent a common Asian identity emerging, it does play a role in building a transnational regional identity Cosmopolitanism can be an alternative to nationalism and to globalization It makes sense to speak of an Asian cosmopolitanism, although different and less developed from the European it is nonetheless significant Could argue that the external dimension of cosmopolitanism is more developed in Asia where the internal dimension is less developed Despite the relative absence of cosmopolitanism on the level of the state, there is evidence of cosmopolitanism on other levels: civil society, regional (subnational) and transnregional, cultural Islamic fundamentalism is not an Asian phenomenon but was born in European countries and was a product of transnationalism. Cosmopolitanism v fundamentalism is a more accurate characteirxzation of the current situation than West/Europe v Asia. Occidentalism (hatred of the West) is not merely directed against the West/Europe Need to rethink European identity in way that has a more positive approach to Asia

Related publications: 

Related publications Gerard Delanty, editor, European and Asia Beyond East and West, London, Routledge, 2006 Gerard Delanty and Chris Rumford Rethinking Europe: Social Theory and the Implications of Europeanization. London: Routledge, 2005 Gerard Delanty 2006 ‘The Cosmopolitan Imagination: Critical Cosmopolitanism and Social Theory’, British Journal of Sociology, 57 (1): 25-47 Ulrich Beck and Edgar Grande (2007) Cosmopolitan Europe, Cambridge: Polity Press. Will Kymlick and Baogang He eds (2005) Multiculturalism in Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Contact Details: 

Contact Details School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK. Email: delanty@liverpool.ac.uk Web site: http://www.liv.ac.uk/sspsw/staff/biogs/delanty.htm