Re-embedding European Social Citizenship through Cosmopolitanism

Authors

  • Laura Leonardi University of Florence
  • Gemma Scalise University of Florence

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v8i3p643

Keywords:

Social citizenship, Europeanisation, Cosmopolitanism, civil society, transnational solidarity

Abstract

This article tackles the issue of social citizenship in Europe, beyond its legal and political defini-tion, as the result of social mechanisms and practices, and it assumes the cosmopolitan perspective as a conceptual tool for the interpretation of changes in its principles and structure as related to Europeaniza-tion and globalisation. It starts from the heuristic value of the concept, grounded in modern industrial so-cieties and built on its institutions and forms of social solidarity. Then it draws on the debate about the challenges of the welfare state and capitalism’s transformations, as well as on the impact on social citizen-ship of the European integration process. It proposes cosmopolitanism as a lens for catching cosmopolitan ideas, narratives and values that contribute to creating new practices of solidarity and mutual recognition, which are the basis for the construction of new kinds of sustainable social citizenship in Europe. The Euro-pean social forum of 2012 has been considered a significant case study for an empirical exploration of the cosmopolitan imagination as a factual process. A cosmopolitan epistemology takes shape, based on the values of commons and global public goods. Meanings, actions and practices enhanced by social actors, building solidarity in diversity and following global-local logics, show forms of recognition of otherness and of sharing global responsibilities representing a tendency towards a new conception of European social citizenship. Social rights and recognition beyond territorial boundaries are at the core of the construction of a cosmopolitan citizenship in Europe.

Author Biographies

Laura Leonardi, University of Florence

Laura Leonardi (PhD in Political Sociology) teaches Comparative Social Analysis and Sociology of the European Integration at the School of Political Sciences “Cesare Alfieri”, University of Florence. From 2008 she holds the Jean Monnet Chair “Social Dimension and European Integration”. From 2001 to 2007 she was holder of a Jean Monnet Module. Among her most recent publications: Introduzione a Dahrendorf (Laterza, 2014), La società europea in costruzione. Trasformazioni sociali e integrazione europea (Florence University Press, 2012), “Disuguaglianze, redistribuzione ed equità nel modello sociale Europeo” (Quaderni di Sociologia, 59, 2012).

Gemma Scalise, University of Florence

Gemma Scalise is research fellow in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Florence. Her research interests focus on identity change in post-national Europe, social citizenship challenges in the EU, Europeanisation and local-global relations. Among her latest publications: “The narrative construction of the European identity. Meanings of Europe ‘from below’ (European Societies, 17(4), 2015), “Toscani, italiani e europei. Narrazioni e identità nell’Europa in costruzione” (Rapporto italiani nel mondo, Caritas-Migrantes, 2015); “What does the word “Europe” make you think of? Conceptualisations of Europe in a local context” (Redefining Community in Intercultural Context, 3(1), 2014); “European identity construction in the public sphere. A case-study on the narratives of Europe (International Journal of Cross-cultural Studies, 2(2), 2013); “Esplorando l'identità europea, tra approcci teorici e ricerca empirica. Riflessioni sul dibattito in corso” (CAMBIO. Rivista sulle trasformazioni sociali, 4, 2012).

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Published

14-01-2015

How to Cite

Leonardi, L., & Scalise, G. (2015). Re-embedding European Social Citizenship through Cosmopolitanism. PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO, 8(3), 643–668. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v8i3p643

Issue

Vol 8, No. 3 (2015). Special Issue: Cosmopolitanism and Europe

Section

Special Issue

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