Focused on the recently hotly debated topic at the crossroads of various human and social sciences, this book investigates the emergence of the cosmopolitan idea of literature and its impact on the reconfiguration of the European and non-European political spaces. The birthplace of this idea is its designers’ traumatic experience as induced by the disconcerting condition of their abode.The thesis is that the eighteenth and nineteenth century’s cosmopolitan projects that grow out of such deep frustrations trace the twentieth century’s global democracy. This hidden origin of cosmopolitan projects dismantles the usual European representation of modernization as universal progress as myopic. Rather than being a generous action of prominent subjects such as Voltaire, Kant, and Goethe, or Bakhtin, Derrida and Deleuze, cosmopolitanism is an enforced reaction of the instances dispossessed by injury that search for the ways of healing it. Yet as soon as their remedy establishes itself as the ground for universal reconciliation, it risks suppressing other’s trauma, i.e. turns from politics into a police. Articulating the author’s position in the recent debates on the structure of democracy, the epilogue suggests an alternative strategy.

The politics of the twenty-first century is marked by dissent, tumult and calls for radical change, whether through food riots, anti-war protests, anti-government tirades, anti-blasphemy marches, anti-austerity demonstrations, anti-authoritarian movements and anti-capitalist occupations. Interestingly, contemporary political protests are borne of both the Right and Left and are staged in both the Global North and South. Globally, different instances of protest have drawn attention to the deep fissures which challenge the idea of globalisation as a force for peace. Given the diversity of these protests, it is necessary to examine the particular nature of grievances, the sort of change which is sought and the extent to which localised protest can have global implications. The contributions in this book draw on the theoretical work of Hardt and Negri, David Graeber and Judith Butler, among others, in order explore the nature of hegemony, the Occupy movement, the Arab Spring, the responses of authorities to protest and emotion and public performance in, and representation of, protest. The book concludes with David Graeber’s reply to reviews of his recent The Democracy Project: A History, A Crisis, A Movement. This book was published as a special issue of Global Discourse.

Global Justice and Our Epochal Mind explores the mind of our epoch, defined as the period since the Nuremberg Trial and the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. Xunwu Chen examines four defining ideas of this epoch—global justice, cosmopolitanism, crimes against humanity, and cultural toleration—as well as the structural relationships among these ideas. Chen argues that the mind of our epoch is essentially the mind of humanity. Its world view, horizon, standpoint, norms, standards, and vocabularies are of humanity, by humanity, and for humanity, and all are embodied in human institutions and practices throughout the globe. Meanwhile, our epochal mind has a dialectical relationship with particular cultures bearing normative force. As a metaphysical subjectivity and substance, humanity is the source of all human values in our epoch and defines what can and should be human values and virtues. Humankind, therefore, are a people with socio-political and legal sovereignty, sharing a common fate. This novel study brings a cross-cultural approach and will be of great interest to students and scholars of philosophy, political science, sociology, and the humanities more broadly.

As each power vies for its national interests on the world stage, how do its own citizens' democratic interests fare at home? Alan Gilbert speaks to an issue at the heart of current international-relations debate. He contends that, in spite of neo-realists' assumptions, a vocal citizen democracy can and must have a role in global politics. Further, he shows that all the major versions of realism and neo-realism, if properly stated with a view of the national interest as a common good, surprisingly lead to democracy. His most striking example focuses on realist criticisms of the Vietnam War. Democratic internationalism, as Gilbert terms it, is really the linking of citizens' interests across national boundaries to overcome the antidemocratic actions of their own governments. Realist misinterpretations have overlooked Thucydides' theme about how a democracy corrupts itself through imperial expansion as well as Karl Marx's observations about the positive effects of democratic movements in one country on events in others. Gilbert also explodes the democratic peace myth that democratic states do not wage war on one another. He suggests instead policies to accord with the interests of ordinary citizens whose shared bond is a desire for peace. Gilbert shows, through such successes as recent treaties on land mines and policies to slow global warming that citizen movements can have salutary effects. His theory of "deliberative democracy" proposes institutional changes that would give the voice of ordinary citizens a greater influence on the international actions of their own government.

Contested globalizations -- Rival transnational networks -- Politics in a global system -- Globalizing capitalism : the transnational neoliberal network in action -- Promoting multilateralism : social movements and the UN system -- Mobilizing a transnational network for democratic globalization -- Agenda-setting in a global polity -- Domesticating international human rights norms -- Confronting contradictions between multilateral economic institutions and the UN system -- Alternative political spaces : the world social forum process and "globalization from below"--Conclusions: Network politics and global democracy.

World Christianity publications proliferate but the issue of methodology has received little attention. World Christianity: Methodological Considerations addresses this lacuna and explores the methodological ramifications of the World Christianity turn. In twelve chapters scholars from various academic backgrounds (anthropology, religious studies, history, missiology, intercultural studies, theology, and patristics) as well as of multiple cultural and national belongings investigate methodological issues (e.g. methods, use of sources, choosing a unit of analysis, terminology, conceptual categories,) relevant to World Christianity debates. In a closing chapter the editors Frederiks and Nagy converge the findings and sketch the outlines of what they coin as a ‘World Christianity approach’, a multidisciplinary and multiple perspective approach to study Christianity/ies’ plurality and diversity in past and present.

Democracy is increasingly seen as the only legitimate form of government, but few people would regard international relations as governed according to democratic principles. Can this lack of global democracy be justified? Which models of global politics should contemporary democrats endorse and which should they reject? What are the most promising pathways to global democratic change? To what extent does the extension of democracy from the national to the international level require a radical rethinking of what democratic institutions should be? This book answers these questions by providing a sustained dialogue between scholars of political theory, international law and empirical social science. By presenting a broad range of views by prominent scholars, it offers an in-depth analysis of one of the key challenges of our century: globalizing democracy and democratizing globalization.

These proceedings, from the 1990 CAMDUN conference cover the structure of the UN, NGOs and the roles of UNAs, communication globally through the UN, and restructuring the UN.

“Fake news,” “alternative facts,” and daily attacks on the media from the Trump White House are redefining the media’s role for a new generation. Mainstream media has traditionally allowed journalists two roles. In order to remain ethical, they must either be neutral observers reporting the facts or signal that they are biased interpreters espousing a partisan agenda. In this provocative new work, leading global media ethicist Stephen Ward suggests that journalism needs to embrace a third path and begin practicing a new kind of journalism: democratically engaged journalism. It is only by breaking free of dualistic ethical practices that the world’s media will be able to address ‘Trumpism’—a heady mix of populism, authoritarian leadership, narrow patriotism, and moral tribalism (Us versus Them). Weaving in rich examples from daily journalism, this timely book will address practical questions such as how to cover a constant torrent of presidential “tweets,” how fact-checking plays a part in democratically engaged media, and how journalists should respond to the pressure to be patriotic in their coverage of global issues such as immigration and the impact of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy. At issue is the need to construct a new journalism ethics for today’s social context. We need a new approach to journalism ethics not only to report on the Trump presidency but also for reporting in a digital, global world.