ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of how to conceptualize cosmopolitanism for empirical research. Drawing upon the notion of openness as a principle discourse of contemporary cosmopolitanism studies, the chapter explores the application of performative and qualitative approaches to researching cosmopolitanism as a form of openness to cultural difference. It proposes that forms of cosmopolitan openness can be effectively studied through the application of qualitative and performative models of social research, and can usefully complement more positivistic quantitative research models. Because they highlight the assembled and contingent nature of cosmopolitan sentiments and the way such attitudes are afforded and constructed within particular contexts, it is argued that this approach is well suited to exploring cosmopolitanism as an emergent and processual dimension of social life.
