Cosmopolitics and the dialogical self

Authors

  • Rik Pinxten Ghent University (Cultural anthropology and the Study of religion)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/edu.2018.224.16154

Abstract

Cosmopolitics is growing as an alternative to identity battles, a critical form of cosmopolitanism. This contribution claims that such an alternative will only be feasible with individuals as dialogical selves. Ethnographic interviews with Muslims and Christians of different generations yield insights into their notions of personhood. Different notions of person are then checked against the new predicament of cosmopolitics in urban settings. The traditional notion of ‘full person’ can be distinguished from that of ‘partial persons’, subjacent to the views of the dialogical self. Educational and social benefits of the ‘partial person’ concept are outlined. Qualitative research into the perception of the person as a ‘partial person’ opens the way to an appreciation of the dialogical self approach, especially in the context of an ever more urbanized humanity. Against that background, cosmopolitics is being re-discussed as a possible avenue for a global society.

Keywords: cosmopolitics, dialogical self, intercultural learning.

Author Biography

Rik Pinxten, Ghent University (Cultural anthropology and the Study of religion)

studied philosophy and ethical studies at the R.U.Ghent, Belgium. He was guest professor at Northwestern Univ., Chicago, and at Syracuse Univ., NY, Univ. Vienna, Austria. Field work: Navajo Indians, USA; Turkish immigrants, Europe. He became a researcher at the N.S.F. of Belgium in 1972 and ordinary professor at Ghent University in 1983, till 2012, in Cultural anthropology and the Study of religion. He did research on cognition, religion and culture , in a comparative perspective.

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Published

2018-07-12

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 4 (2018): October/December

Section

Articles

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