Cosmopolitanism is one of those ubiquitous concerns which, while never going away entirely, seems to return regularly with a difference -- with renewed urgency, novel ramifications, and new challenges. In the 21st century we inhabit a world in which extractive capitalism has expanded to reach almost every corner of the earth and every aspect of our lives; in which the planetary environment is at risk, as evidenced by the loss of biodiversity, the effects of climate change, and the devastating global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; in which revolutions in information technology, social media, and artificial intelligence have opened up new frontiers of innovation and communication, but also new possibilities for surveillance and epistemic murk; in which borders are fastidiously maintained and continuously traversed, not least of all by a global surge in refugees who are unwelcome at home and vilified abroad; in which authoritarian regimes are ascending, fueled by new forms of racism and nationalism, including anti-immigrant and anti-refugee politics. New forces are at play: they bring people together while also putting them at risk and in conflict in unforeseen ways. What does it mean to be a "citizen" of such a world? The Oxford Handbook of Cosmopolitanism presents a collection of essays that, taken together, undertake a fruitful rethinking of cosmopolitanism for our times.
