Table to discussion from the text (by S. Costa, 2005): Cosmopolitan Democracy Cosmopolitan democracy: conceptual deficits and political errors

Abstract:

Both the appeal to some universal ethics and the evocation of a global civil society constitute the core of the "cosmopolitan democracies" theories, presented as either reality data or political desideratum. The paper aims at showing that in the terms formulated by the cosmopolitan democrats both ideas rely on evolutionist presuppositions. Institutions, values, and cultural ways of life effective on societies situated in the northern hemisphere end up being regarded as both per se superior and models for general application. Against such reorganization of the world, the paper indicatively cites necessary precautions in order to have both the international cooperation of social actors and the globalisation of human rights contribute towards overcoming particularisms in the several regions, taking into consideration, at the same time, the cultural particularities of the different regional contexts.

Key words: Cosmopolitan democracy; World civil society; Human rights.

http://socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-69092005000100004