Cosmopolitan Identity Research Articles

Cosmopolitan identity, authority, and domestic support of international organizations

AbstractWhat effect does the institutional design of international organizations (IOs) have on their domestic support? In this article, we focus on interactions between citizens’ social identity and institutional characteristics that may have the potential to polarize citizens’ IO attitudes. We argue that citizens’ cosmopolitan identity makes them react in diametrically opposed ways to IO settings on the authority dimension. Transferring more authority to an IO may make citizens with higher levels of cosmopolitan identity more supportive of the IO, while citizens with lower levels of cosmopolitan identity should become even more skeptical. We test our expectations by conducting a factorial survey experiment in six different countries. The empirical results support our argument. As cosmopolitan identity is strongly connected to the newly evolving domestic cleavage regarding international cooperation and global governance, reforms to IO authority settings thus have the potential to further increase the polarization of domestic attitudes toward IOs.

Fairweather Cosmopolitans: Immigration Attitudes in Latin America During the Migrant Crisis

Abstract What explains voter attitudes toward immigration in Latin America? This article argues that increased refugee arrivals moderate the impact of social identities on immigration attitudes. We propose that informational cues associated with increased immigration make cosmopolitan identities less important—and exclusionary national identities more important—determinants of immigration preferences. Analyzing 12 Latin American countries from the 2017–2022 wave of the World Values Survey, we demonstrate that cosmopolitanism is positively associated with pro-immigration attitudes, but only in countries experiencing low-to-moderate refugee inflows. Conversely, nationalism is negatively associated with pro-immigrant attitudes, and increasingly so as refugee inflows increase. The uneven distribution of refugee migration has therefore reshaped public opinion in Latin America by moderating the effects of competing social identities (i.e., cosmopolitanism and nationalism). These findings contribute to broader debates on the behavioral impacts of immigration by highlighting an indirect mechanism by which increased immigration may generate anti-immigrant hostility.

The redefinition of a Chinese sports hero’s public image: evidence from the reactions on Chinese social media to Sun Yang’s international trial

This study traces the metamorphosis of Chinese Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang’s public image from a national sports hero to an ordinary individual on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. To explore the interplay between national identity construction and mediated discursive (de-)heroization of athletes, we employ discourse theories and a self-constructed corpus to analyze popular Weibo posts and follow-up comments during and after Sun Yang’s controversial international doping trial. The findings demonstrate the influential role of Chinese state-run media in shaping online public opinion, contrasting with Sun Yang’s less strategic self-presentation. Weibo discussions feature conflicting discourses, including xenophobic nationalism, anti-authority sentiments, and cosmopolitan liberal values. Initially prevalent nationalistic views diminish following criticism from a state newspaper, which emphasizes adherence to international rules. This case illustrates the challenge for elite athletes in balancing a patriotic image with a cosmopolitan identity as China seeks to increase global influence and support.

The Elite Global Citizen: How Wealth Shapes Cosmopolitan Identity and Charitable Intentions

ABSTRACTIn four studies, we provide the first empirical examination of how wealth relates to cosmopolitan identity and its consequences for charitable intentions. Study 1 demonstrated that wealth positively predicted cosmopolitan identity in a 60‐nation dataset (n = 90,350). Study 2 replicated this finding with multi‐item measures in the United States, India and Australia (total n = 861); self‐esteem and self‐efficacy accounted for this association. Study 3 demonstrated the mediating role of cosmopolitan identity in explaining the link between wealth and charitable intentions (n = 351). Study 4 provided causal evidence for these relationships by experimentally manipulating wealth perceptions in the United States and India (total n = 537). People who were made to feel wealthy (as opposed to poor) reported greater self‐esteem and self‐efficacy, which flowed through to heightened cosmopolitan identification, and finally to increased charitable intentions. Together, these studies suggest that structural economic realities may impose psychological barriers to cultivating global citizenship, hence implicating prosocial downstream consequences.

Cosmopolitanism and Affect in Henry James’ The Ambassadors

This essay explores the interplay between cosmopolitanism and affect in Henry James’ The Ambassadors. It reads the novel’s protagonist, Strether, as an embodiment of the cosmopolitan flâneur and examines how he complicates and challenges this identity as conceptualised by Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin. Due to his evasive cosmopolitan identity, Strether fails to maintain affective bonds with other characters. As such, The Ambassadors challenges James’ own sense of cosmopolitanism by staging various iterations of affect, most notably grief, guilt and loss, as undermining the cosmopolitanism the novel at first seems to promote. I conclude that Strether’s acute emotional responses can be read as a critique of the cosmopolitan flâneur who possesses a level of detachment that is not desirable. The novel levels a critique against cosmopolitanism’s seeming universalism. This tends to promote an abstract ideal that disregards the cosmopolite’s individual emotions and sensations – in The Ambassadors, cosmopolitanism is a fundamentally unethical way of living.

Shifts in Residential Mobility Predict Shifts in Culture.

Does residential mobility change cultures, or is it merely a downstream indicator for other forces? Using large-scale surveys of citizens of 18 industrialized nations, we find that increased rates of residential mobility predict living in a more dynamic society at least 10 years in the future: one in which residents are more satisfied with their lives, have greater optimism, endorse more individualistic concepts, are more open to new ideas, have a greater sense of freedom of action, feel able to make friends more easily, express a more cosmopolitan identity, believe that their society rewards merit, and hold their community to a higher standard for treatment of minorities. These findings are echoed in the experience of Americans who have themselves recently moved, where we find that having successfully moved predicts a future sense of personal thriving, optimism, and a belief that merit is rewarded.

Caught between two worlds: Social identity change among second‐generation Afghan immigrants in Iran

AbstractThis study investigates the identity processes among second‐generation Afghans living in Iran and evaluate the relevance of the social identity model of social change (SIMIC) to understand their unique experiences. We conducted 23 in‐depth interviews and analysed the data using grounded theory method. The findings showthat Afghan youths' efforts towards integration often fail due to unfavourable responses from the host society, compounded by the perceived discriminatory environment. In addition, in line with SIMIC, the results show that participants lacks socio‐psychological resources linked to previous group membership and this leads to poorer mental health. Finally, we explore the engagement in de‐labelling, the formation of purposeful social bonds, and the development of a cosmopolitan identity among our participants as the main identity‐oriented mechanisms to navigate the challenges of being rejected by both one's and the host community.

Bridging the gulf: How migration fosters tolerance, cosmopolitanism, and support for globalization

AbstractImmigration has been shown to drive ethnocentrism and anti‐globalization attitudes in native‐born populations. Yet understanding how global integration shapes intercultural relations also necessitates clear evidence on how migration affects the attitudes of migrants. We argue that migration can foster tolerance, cosmopolitan identities, and support for international cooperation among migrants who experience sustained contact with other cultural groups. We evaluate this theory with the first randomized controlled trial resulting in overseas migration, which connected individuals in India with job opportunities in the Persian Gulf region's hospitality sector. Two years after the program began, individuals in the treatment group were significantly more accepting of ethnic, cultural, and national out‐groups. Migration also bolstered support for international cooperation and cultivated cosmopolitan identities. Qualitative and quantitative evidence links these changes to intercultural contact overseas. By focusing on migrants rather than native‐born individuals, our study illustrates how cross‐border mobility can facilitate rather than undermine global integration.

Memory Writing and Cosmopolitan Identity in Timothy Mo’s Pure

ABSTRACT In his recent novel Pure (2012), Timothy Mo maps the complex interaction between memory and identity in the post-9/11 context. The novel interweaves the memory narratives of four protagonists and mainly describes the protagonist Snooky’s attempts to negotiate between the Islamic world and the West. This essay draws on memory studies to explore how memory shapes the protagonists’ cosmopolitan identity. The novel contests the binarism prevalent in both Western and fundamentalist Islamic discourses and proposes a cosmopolitan identity that extends beyond the established narrative. This paper argues that the novel explores the otherness inherent in seemingly homogeneous memory narratives and thus nuances the self-versus-other narrative. It suggests that the normative role of collective memory in identity formation may compromise cultural reconciliation. Pure criticizes the constraints of collective memory and reveals the challenges to cosmopolitan identity in a conflict-ridden world.

Cosmopolitanism Represented in Ocean's Eleven Movie Script

Globalization has become a primary concern today, leading to significant shifts in social relations and making various global issues more visible. It is characterized by conditions where one can move easily from one place to another. Thus, it blurs the meaning of one's identity and citizenship. Hence, this research uses a structuralist approach and cosmopolitanism. The object of this research is Ocean's Eleven movie script which contains similar issues. The aim is to discover how cosmopolitanism is represented in Ocean's Eleven movie script and to find what kinds of cosmopolitanism are experienced by Ocean's Eleven characters. The researcher used the structuralism approach, Stuart Hall's concept of representation, cosmopolitan identity, and imaginative cosmopolitanism. Then by applying literary criticism, the researcher found that the representation of cosmopolitanism in Ocean's Eleven movie script is shown through character, dialogue, and narration. In addition, the cosmopolitanism shown by the characters of Ocean's Eleven is included in cultural cosmopolitanism. Based on the results, this research can be used as a model for further researchers in finding cosmopolitanism issues in literary works.

A Life Uprooted: A Dalit Refugee Remembers. A Tale of Loss and Rehabilitation

Translation not only connects writers to new readers but also shapes and alters the course of literary history across caste, class and gender boundaries. Translating Dalit writing entails personal and political ramifications. It comes with a set of conflicts - dealing with one’s limitations and restrictions that is the result of a particular kind of upbringing, of one’s caste-based subjectivities and of a carefully constructed cosmopolitan identity that translators translating into English are usually embedded in. The translators are expected to display a deep understanding of their position as translators and the responsibilities they own up to by making an unmistakably political choice. First and foremost a reader, they engage at a visceral level with the narrative of pain and oppression. According to Rita Kothari, translation is one of the many consolidations that show a Dalit subject as an active participant in Indian democracy. The concerns about the authenticity of English as the target language should best be sidestepped as “its ideological potential to "translate" the Dalit life from fatalism to an identity of rights outweighs considerations of its distance from

Anti-mobile placemaking in a mobile world: rethinking the entanglements of place, im/mobility and belonging

In this article I revisit debates about the socio-cultural importance of place and permanence in a hypermobile world order. I zoom in on everyday practices in a small municipality located in the Austrian Nock mountains region which is at once characterized by a history of cross-border mobilities and pronounced support for nativist ideas and parties. I shed light on the experiences and perspectives of village inhabitants who detest liberal ideals about cosmopolitan forms of belonging, instead insisting on tropes of indigeneity and place attachment (Heimatverbundenheit). I argue that rather than writing such sentiments off as backward, traditionalist ways of relating to the world, social scientists need to pay attention to them. They make visible a deepening chasm between scholarly imaginaries about mobile, cosmopolitan identities and people’s lived experiences in an increasingly fragmented global political arena. Taking the lived antagonisms of a hypermobile world order seriously, I aim critically to examine ideas of movement, place and cosmopolitanism pervading modern thought.

Social Conflict and Outgroup Sentiment in South Korea: Evidence from the Yemeni Anti-Refugee Campaign

AbstractResearch on attitudes toward immigrants and refugees largely focuses on intergroup conflict and related threats imposed by outgroup members. This study shifts the analytic focus to intragroup conflict: a domestic struggle among natives over how to handle recently arrived refugees and on their perception of foreign workers in general and Muslims in particular. By exploiting an exogenous variation in the interview timing of a nationally representative survey conducted in South Korea, a “new immigration destination,” this study offers a causal estimate (local average treatment effect) of domestic societal conflict on outgroup attitudes. Results from regression discontinuity (RD) analysis show that in its aftermath—immediately following the completion of a controversial e-petition sponsored by the anti-refugee group demanding that the government extradite asylum seekers—the public opinion of Korean adults toward foreign workers and Muslims became more, not less, favorable. Heterogeneous treatment effects are also found across two respondent-level characteristics: cosmopolitan identity and relative deprivation. Specifically, the focal relationship is more pronounced among individuals who identify less with cosmopolitan citizenship and among those who are more relatively deprived.

Perilaku Identitas Kosmopolitan dalam Novel The Star and I Karya Ilana Tan

Literary works are often seen as a reflection of society in the era in which and when the work was produced. The Star and I novel by Ilana Tan is a literary work that reflects the life of cosmopolitan society in the current era of globalization. Cosmopolitan identity has become an increasingly popular topic in the humanities and literature. This paper aims to analyze how cosmopolitan identity behavior is reflected in the novel The Star and I by Ilana Tan. This type of research is literary research using a qualitative approach and descriptive method. In this analysis, the novel The Star and I by Ilana Tan is chosen as the object of research because this novel describes a complex and pluralistic life that can reflect a cosmopolitan identity. The results of this study show how the concept of cosmopolitan identity is represented by the characters in the novel and how these characters interact with their environment. The results also show that cosmopolitan identity in the novel can be understood through characters who are able to navigate cultural differences and build relationships with people from different backgrounds. Cosmopolitan identity is also reflected in the way the characters articulate their thoughts, feelings and behaviors about identity and nationality. It is hoped that this paper can contribute to researchers and observers of literature in understanding how cosmopolitan identity is reflected in literary works and how literary works can play a role in promoting an understanding of cosmopolitanism in an increasingly globalized society.

An Investigation into UK University Students Identity Negotiation through Naming Practice and Choices: the Case of Chinese International Students

This article explored how Chinese international students negotiated identity options via naming practice and choices in the UK. The existing literature has mainly discussed the Chinese students practice of adopting English names, and scant attention has been paid to the identity construction of international Chinese students through choosing between their English and ethnic names in an English-speaking context. In this case, this research was situated in the UK, a less studied context, to gain a holistic understanding of students identity negotiation. Using a qualitative approach, this research conducted four semi-structured interviews among Chinese international students studying in the UK. The findings demonstrated that when they selected an English name which can present their authentic selves, uniqueness, or wishes. Besides, when deciding whether to adopt their English names or Chinese names in the British academic community, they hold different interpretations of contextual needs, cosmopolitan identity, as well as cultural identity and ethnic belonging. The implications and limitations were also discussed in the end.

Towards a Richer Understanding of Language and Identity in the MNC: Constructing Cosmopolitan Identities Through “English”

Bringing in insights from sociolinguistics, this conceptual paper advances the theorizing on language and identity in the MNC, viewed as socially constructed by individuals in interaction when they cross fluid linguistic and geographical boundaries. We posit that the identities of global business professionals in the MNC are not intrinsically tied to nationality and native language, they are rather cosmopolitan and constructed in interactions in English as the working language (BELF: English as a Business Lingua Franca). We further conceptualize the multilingual MNC as a social constellation – providing the context for processes of identity construction but also shaped by them. We outline three propositions that capture the ways in which BELF contributes to the construction of a cosmopolitan identity on three dimensions (individual, interactional and contextual) in multilingual professional MNC settings. The first one concerns the identification of individuals as participants in BELF interactions drawing from their different linguistic resources, national origins and professions, and previous experiences. The focus in the second one is on BELF interactions that manifest an orientation to both sharedness and difference in skills, knowledge and social relations. The third proposition concerns the MNC context in terms of enabling BELF interactions and being (re)constructed as a social constellation with fluid linguistic and geographical boundaries. We further elaborate on the methodological implications of sociolinguistic and cosmopolitan approaches to IM research on identity in general, and how our propositions could guide future research on language and identity in the MNC in particular.

The Transformation of Chinese Women’s Identity in Hollywood Films—The Role of Zhang Ziyi as an Example

This article examines and compares Zhang Ziyi’s star identity and image in China and the West by using several films in which she acted that enjoyed fame on the international stage, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha, as case studies. The evolution of her Asian female identity in American cinema is further analyzed by combing through her career development in Hollywood. At the same time, it is useful to describe her as a symbol of the Asian consumer market by examining how her cosmopolitan identity, described as a “modern woman”, is represented in advertisements or magazines for brands she represents. This paper seeks to reveal the development of Chinese female identity as revealed by the character of Zhang in Hollywood films. It finds that Zhang has shaped the Western perception of Chinese female immigrants with her outstanding performance through comparing her perceptions in the West and China. Moreover, her remarkable influence and identity symbol promote the localization of overseas brands in Asian markets.

ПАРАДОКСЫ ТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНО-ПРОСТРАНСТВЕННОГО РАЗВИТИЯ РОССИИ

Objective of the study is to identify the main trends in the development of Russian regions that were formed throughout the post-Soviet period. The article presents the results of a retrospective analysis of data obtained in the course of studies of Russian regions from the early 1990s to 2022. The methodological basis of the research. In the course of the study, various theoretical and methodological approaches were used, including A. Touraine's actionism, actor-network theory, the concept of a society of universal risk, the concept of a systemic accident. Perrow and a number of others, including the approach developed by the author of the article based on the contradiction of free and normalized action. Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used in the research. A retrospective study of their results is based on the interpretation of globalization as flows and networks and the theory of the global city. Research results. The article shows that spatial development is not identical to regional development, and economic development in the regional space may be unrelated or poorly connected with the vital activity of local society. Its main actors are Moscow (at the place of registration and payment of taxes) corporations. The formalization and bureaucratization of the federal administration increases the possibilities of its centralization, which does not contribute to regional development. Governance in Russian conditions has always combined centralization with a certain freedom of action of regional and local actors due to the vastness of the territory and the diversity of regional life. The lack of autonomy in decision-making at the regional and local levels, standardization of requirements in vital areas for the population (education and health) lead to their degradation and, as a result, become factors of depopulation of vast territories. Modern spatial transformations are focused on the formation of a communication network characteristic of the era of globalization with large agglomerations as nodes. It has an indirect relation to the development of regions, being carried out on their territory and at the expense of their resources. The article also demonstrates the traditional connection between industrial and socio-cultural development in Russia on the example of the Chelyabinsk region. It is shown that the technocratic nature of modern transformations leads to the formation of a cosmopolitan identity. Prospects of the study are connected with further research of the main vectors of territorial and spatial development of Russian regions, which are associated with the economic, technological and socio-cultural development of Russia as a whole.

Cheek, Pamela L. Heroines and Local Girls: The Transnational Emergence of Women’s Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century

Cheek, Pamela L. <i>Heroines and Local Girls: The Transnational Emergence of Women’s Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century</i>

От мотивации к инвестированию: изменение тренда образовательной языковой политики

The article discusses changes in the trend of educational language policy under the influence of the change in the general paradigm of language policy from ethno-cultural to national-functional. The desire to learn second or foreign languages is seen not as a result of motivation, but as a result of investment, assuming that the learner has complex, multiple identities that change in time and space and are reproduced in social interaction. Today, the concepts of identity and investment are basic in the theory of language learning and teaching. In the context of globalization, new modes of production and socialization, the compression of time and space are shaping identities, loyalty and citizenship in a new way. The digital world presents more and more opportunities for contact with the whole world and this has a strong influence on identity. Students roam freely in the digital space, and their ability to identify and analyze systemic trends determines their willingness to invest in a particular language. The modern model, which takes into account the constant change of identities, places investing in the zone of intersection of the concepts of identity, human capital and ideology. The choice, promotion and protection of languages is determined by the mechanisms of pride and profit. The study of certain languages can serve instrumental purposes and provide material advantages, provide a sense of pride in belonging to a particular nation, give legitimacy to the discourses and forms of expression supported by this imaginary community. For example, learning lingua franca allows students to think about other forms of national identity, such as global citizenship. Identity is always a battlefield in which the habitus and desires of learners are constantly at war with dominant ideologies and alternative futures. During periods of political and ideological conflict, the problem of the existence of hybrid or cosmopolitan identities is exacerbated and can have a serious impact on national unity and territorial integrity. All these factors should be taken into account when forming a nationally oriented educational language policy and be included in the new concept of education in Russia.