Towards antagonistic cosmopolitanism. A theoretical attempt to work though the controversy about the shape of global democracy
Towards antagonistic cosmopolitanism. A theoretical attempt to work though the controversy about the shape of global democracy

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the analysis of the relation between two concepts, namelycosmopolitan democracy and agonistic multipolar order, whose author is Chantal Mouffe, inthe context of the dispute about the preferred shape of global democracy. Both approaches arepresented in the literature as opposing. The main thesis of the present article is the possibilityof connecting them, but according to dialectical principles. The point is not about a smoothconsensus but about the fact that the contradictions between those views can be treated asa condition of their interweaving. To this aim, I use two theoretical concepts: of antagonisticcosmopolitanism by Tamara Caraus and of antagonistic global constitutionalism by ChristofRoyer. On this basis I claim that Mouffe’s rejection of cosmopolitanism is not thoroughlycoherent with her own assumptions. I acknowledge her argumentation that cosmopolitandemocracy might lead to pluralism without antagonism but at the same time I suggest thatMouffe’s postulate of the multipolar order can lead to pluralist antagonism without agonism.It is only the establishment of cosmopolitan institutions and rules that will allow for reallyagonistic and radically pluralized global politics, thanks to which it will be possible to solvethe contemporary world problems effectively. For these reasons agonistic cosmopolitanismcan be regarded as the most optimal variant of global democracy.

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