ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the a dramatic rise in public debates and parliamentary decisions for national legislations intending to outlaw gendered and cultural difference of minority orthodoxy as it is visible in various continental European countries. With respect to the European Union (EU) the outlook on gender equality and group minority difference is linked to legislative measures that unfold through a web of EU Anti-discrimination Directives. Francis Cheneval suggests that contemporary cosmopolitanism is rooted in the philosophy of modernity, in particular in Kant's philosophical considerations of the meaning of contract, proposing the individual's emancipation from Absolutism. The chapter demonstarates how a superiority paradigm is linked to Kantian philosophy, leaving a problematic normative legacy to discourses on cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism today. It is crucial that cosmopolitan concepts willingly foster social equality and hybrid cultures; thus, it is important that there is a continual debate about what kind of affiliations could create social bonds, solidarity and commitment in the contemporary global context.
