World Anthropologies: Anthropological Cosmopolitanisms and Cosmopolitics

Abstract

To present the world anthropologies project (WA), this article explores the existence of three kinds of anthropological cosmopolitanisms and cosmopolitics: imperial, liberal, and radical. Imperial cosmopolitics reproduces the hegemony of the Anglo-American core in the world system of anthropological production. Liberal cosmopolitics is a step ahead but naturalizes the West's prominent place in the global production of knowledge. Radical cosmopolitics is currently epitomized by the WA. It problematizes Anglo-American centrality and criticizes Eurocentrism. The WA is a hybrid of diverse theoretical and political debates. It has important singularities: It is not located in the discipline's center, and it is a political critique of and action against the existing global anthropological hierarchy. Critical transnationalism and cosmopolitanism are sources of inspiration for the WA. The WA believes that anthropologists can take advantage of globalization's heterodox opportunities to go beyond metropolitan provincialism, to improve the conditions of conversability, and to benefit from the diversity of anthropologies and from the resulting heteroglossic cross-fertilizations.