Transnational Cosmopolitanism Kant, Du Bois, and Justice as a Political Craft

Based on the theoretical reconstruction of neglected post-WWI writings and political action of W. E. B. Du Bois, this volume offers a normative account of transnational cosmopolitanism. Pointing out the limitations of Kant's cosmopolitanism through a novel contextual account of Perpetual Peace, Transnational Cosmopolitanism shows how these limits remain in neo-Kantian scholarship. Inés Valdez's framework overcomes these limitations in a methodologically unique way, taking Du Bois's writings and his coalitional political action both as text that should inform our theorization and normative insights. The cosmopolitanism proposed in this work is an original contribution that questions the contemporary currency of Kant's canonical approach and enlists overlooked resources to radicalize, democratize, and transnationalize cosmopolitanism.

1. The limits of Kant's anti-colonialism and his philosophy of history; 2. Vertical and horizontal readings of Kant's principles; 3. Du Bois and a radical, transnational, cosmopolitanism; 4. Race, identity, and the question of transnational solidarity in cosmopolitanism; 5. A transnationally cosmopolitan counterpublic; References; Index.

Inés Valdez is Assistant Professor of political science at Ohio State University. Her work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Political Research Quarterly, and Political Studies, among other outlets. She is the recipient of the Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellowship at the Princeton University Center for Human Values (2017–18) and an Experienced Researcher Fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation (2018–21).