ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out the case for the idea of critical cosmopolitanism as a distinctive kind of cosmopolitanism. The notion of critical cosmopolitanism suggests a particular approach to cosmopolitanism that highlights its primarily critical characteristics. The chapter discusses some of the key defining features of critique, focusing on the conception of critique associated with the Hegelian-Marxist and critical theory heritage as the most relevant tradition. Critical theory thus gave expression to a moral vision of the future possibilities of society as deriving from a process of social transformation driven forward by its internal dynamics. Cosmopolitanism refers to a specific kind of reality and is not merely a normative or interpretative approach that can be conducted without reference to social reality. The contemporary relevance of cosmopolitanism consists of its critical significance as both an analysis of social and political problems and as an account of the social world in terms of immanent possibilities for transcendence.
