Seyla Benhabib Another

Cosmopolitanism
23800 - 2PE093, 2010
by Lennart Spolander
________________________________________
Seyla Benhabib is a well known political scientist and a
democratic theorist, supporting deliberative and discursive
Multicultural rooms ... Following the spirit of Immanuel Kant,
Hanna Arendt, Jürgen Habermas and feminist scholars.

She can be listened to on YOUTUBE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfQqPdcAG60
“Conversation with history: Seyla Benhabib”
 Seyla Benhabib Another
Cosmopolitanism
23800 - 2PE093, 2010
by Lennart Spolander
________________________________________
Seyla Benhabib (1950-) is Professor of Political
Science and Philosophy at Yale University, and
director of the university program in Ethics, Politics,
and Economics and a well-known contemporary
philosopher.
In her works she combines critical theory with
feminist theory. In Situating the self: gender,
community, and post-modernism in contemporary
ethics, 1992, she positioned herself as a crucial moral
philosopher by criticising and developing the
discourse ethics, or communicative ethics, originally
formulated by Jürgen Habermas.
The works of Hannah Arendt have been of importance
for Benhabib.
 Seyla Benhabib Another
Cosmopolitanism
23800 - 2PE093, 2010
by Lennart Spolander
________________________________________
She is also deeply inspired by Immanuel Kant’s
philosophical works, among other Kant’s Perpetual
peace, not the least when formulating her cosmopolitan
view. In this view the rights as citizens of each an every
individual are crucial, where Benhabib struggles with the
tensions that not the least women and immigrants pose to
traditional understandings of citizenship.

Benhabib’s model for a modern democratic state is a

liberal democracy with strong deliberative and discursive
multicultural rooms including a weak pluralistic law
praxis, based on 1) egalitarian reciprocity 2) voluntary
self-ascription and 3) freedom of exit and association, all
imbedded in a world with porous borders. And now -
time to read her!
 Seyla Benhabib Another
Cosmopolitanism
23800 - 2PE093, 2010
by Lennart Spolander
________________________________________
The book Another Cosmopolitanism was published in 2006 , the
chapters was written in 2005, and the original manuscript by Seyla
Benhabib was written in 2004 for the Berkeley Tanner Lectures.
Three scholars – Jeremy Waldron, Bonnie Honig and Will Kymlicka
has commented on Benhabibs text, and “the last word” (in the book)
has Seyla Benhabib, where she comments on her critical readers.

Jeremy Waldron (1953-) There are several recordings on YOUTUBE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLuRUOByWa8

Waldron is a professor of law

and philosophy at the New
Yourk School of Law. In
201 2010-2011 he will be
working working on half-time basis
at Oxford University.
 Seyla Benhabib Another
Cosmopolitanism
23800 - 2PE093, 2010
by Lennart Spolander
________________________________________
Waldron is one of many scholars who's interest lies in
different academic fields - jurisprudence/law, politics,
moral and political philosophy.
Waldron is a “liberal” in his worldview, both in the
general way as in the specific American senses of that
world.

He has in the last years written about terrorism and

torture, and criticize how US under the Bush years has
been running “the war on terror”.

The article “Torture and Positive Law: Jurisprudence

For the White House “ from 2005, became a book 5
years later - “Torture Terror and Trade-Offs.
Philosophy for the White House” (2010)
 Seyla Benhabib Another
Cosmopolitanism
23800 - 2PE093, 2010
by Lennart Spolander
________________________________________
Bonnie Honig (1959-) is professor of Political
Science at Northwestern University and a researcher at
American Bar Foundation, Chicago.
Honig taught for many years at Harvard University, but
A controversy when she was not offered tenure, made
her leave for Northwestern.

Her specialities is democratic and feminist theory .

Bonig argues that both order and stability are essential
aspects of politics. Both consensus and contestation are
vital for democracy.
She has used binary oppositions in her writings , like
contestation vs. consensus, foreignness vs. familiarity,
decision vs. deliberation , normality vs. exception, in
order to obtain new and revealing perspective in political
theory.
Lecture by B Honig is accessible on YOUTUBE.
 Seyla Benhabib Another
Cosmopolitanism
23800 - 2PE093, 2010
by Lennart Spolander
________________________________________
Will Kymlicka (1962- ) is a Canadian political philosopher.
He is one of the few (non-Fulbright) professors who has
teach for a long period at universities in East, especially at
The Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.
Kymlicka is best known for his work on multiculturalism,
A word that today has come under fire from both right-wing
scholars as well as political extremists and journalist like
Christopher Caldwell.
 Seyla Benhabib Another
Cosmopolitanism
23800 - 2PE093, 2010
by Lennart Spolander
________________________________________
Kymlicka has been trying in his work/books to provide a liberal
framework for a just treatment of minority groups.
He argues that group-specific rights are in line with liberalism;
Special group representation rights, self-government rights; and
poly-ethnic rights (Sihk’s don’t need to wear MC helmets ,...)
The major trend has been an increasing awareness and rights for
minorities, indigenous people, and immigrants ... (in the western
world, although the majority of immigrants and refugees live in
the developing countries). Kymlicka seems to take a western
liberal view for granted ...
Will Kymlicka present his views on Multiculturalism and
Minority Rights: West and East in JEMIE Issue nr 4, 2002
http://www.ecmi.de/jemie/download/Focus4-2002.Kymlicka.pdf

In a very new book by P Bauhn and D Demirbag-Sten In defence

of liberty (2010) they criticise “the normative multiculturalism” .