This book provides a fresh examination of the cosmopolitan project of post-war Europe from a variety of perspectives. It explores the ways in which European cosmopolitanism can be theorized differently if we take into account histories which have rarely been at the forefront of such understandings. It also uses neglected historical resources to draw out new and unexpected entanglements and connections between understandings of European cosmopolitanism both in Europe and elsewhere. The final part of the book places European cosmopolitanism in tension with contemporary postcolonial configurations around diaspora, migration, and austerity. Overall, it seeks to draw attention to the ways in which Europe’s posited others have always been very much a part of Europe’s colonial histories and its postcolonial present.
This book examines the cosmopolitan project of post-war Europe and offers a postcolonial appraisal of its recent history. The focus is not on pluralising the narratives of Europe, but with forging an understanding of European cosmopolitanism – of history, identity, politics – more adequate to its colonial past and present multicultural constituencies.
