Reimagining Cosmopolitanism conference

Thursday, May 8
4:00–5:00pm Raqs Media Collective artist talk
5:00–7:00pm Cavalcade exhibition opening and reception
Register here

Friday, May 9
9:30am–6:30pm Conference panels
Register here

Cosmopolitanism is among the issues that, while never going away entirely, seem to resurface periodically with a difference—with renewed urgency, novel ramifications, and new challenges. Today we inhabit a world in which extractive capitalism has expanded its reach to virtually every corner of the earth and every aspect of our lives; in which the planetary environment is at risk, as evidenced by the loss of biodiversity, extreme weather events, climate change, and the devastating and ongoing global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; in which revolutions in information technology, social media, and artificial intelligence, while opening new frontiers of connection and communication, have enhanced possibilities for new forms of surveillance, siloed publics, toxic discourse, and overall epistemic murk; in which borders are fastidiously enforced and yet continuously infringed, not least by a global surge in refugees who are unwelcome at home and vilified abroad; and in which authoritarianism is on the ascendency, fueled by new instantiations of racism, populism, and nationalism. In short, novel forces are at play, bringing people together but also putting them at risk and in conflict in unforeseen ways.

What does it mean to be a “citizen” of such a world? This conference brings together contributors to the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Cosmopolitanism and marks the culmination of the Reimagining Cosmopolitanism project, which set out to undertake a fruitful rethinking of the concept for our times.

As part of the project, the research team commissioned the Delhi-based Raqs Media Collective to create a new work in response to the themes addressed in the volume. Their Neubauer Collegium exhibition, Cavalcade, will open as part of the conference.