Held and McGrew: Governing Globalization

Held, D. & McGrew, A., 2002. Governing Globalization: Power, Authority and Global Governance, Polity.

David Held’s theory of cosmopolitan society notes that globalization has caused an increase in social, political and economic activity across political boundaries, growth in networks and flows of finance, trace and culture, a speeding up of global interactions and a deepening of impacts from these global interactions. These four factors create a milieu that thus changes the nature and character of the nation-state. Held points out five distinct changes that globalization brings upon the nation-state:
1.) A self-determining national collectivity can no longer be simply located within the borders of a single nation-state;
2.) It cannot be presupposed that the locus of effective political power is synonymous with national governments;
3.) The practical nature of political authority and the capacity to rule are changing shape;
4.) The nurturing and enhancement of the public good increasingly requires coordinated multilateral action;
5.) Distinctions between domestic and foreign affairs, international political issues and external questions are no longer clear cut.
Held points out that, “the new circumstances of cosmopolitanism give us little choice but to consider the possibility of a common framework of standards and political action, given shape and form by a common framework of institutional arrangements (Held 2002:308)

Held goes on to point out three distinct schools of cosmopolitan thought.
The Stoics were the first to refer to themselves as cosmopolitans. This cosmopolitan thought was developed by emphasizing that we lived in two worlds: one which is local and given to us by birth and another which is “truly great and truly common.” Each person lives in a local community and a wider community of human ideals, aspirations and argument. The Stoics’ perspective does not require that we relinquish local concerns, but they must see these as morally contingent on the development as the human as a whole. The main point is that we are initially human beings in a world of human beings and secondary members of polities.

The second view of cosmopolitan society that Held proposes is that of the weltburger, the Enlightenment and specifically Kant’s writings. Kant specifically combined cosmopolitanism with the idea of “the public use of reason”. This view of reason can then generate a critical vantage point from which to scrutinize civil society. The advance of this goal was the escape from dogma and un-validated authority while also removing the constraints on “the public use of reason”. People were asked to step outside of the realm of “dictatorial authority.” This then asked the individual to learn to think of themselves as participants in a dialogue, through which they come to an understanding with others about the nature and appropriateness of the demands made upon them. (Held 2002:310) He advocated a cosmopolitan right to enter into un-coerced dialogue. Cosmopolitan right transcends the particular claims of nations and states and extends to all in the universal community.

The third view is that of Beitz, Pogge and Barry, among others. There are three key elements: Egalitarian individualism: the ultimate unit of moral concern are individual human beings. Reciprocal recognition: the status of equal worth should be acknowledged by everyone. If people are marginalized or fall outside this framework they suffer disadvantage not primarily because they have less than others in this instance, but because they can participate less in the processes and institutions that shape their lives. Impartialist reasoning: reasoning from the point of view of others. Each person should enjoy the impartial treatment of their claims – that is, treatment based on principles upon which all could act.