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Author Archives: Frank Ejby Poulsen, Ph.D.
O’Brien, Karen — Narratives of Enlightenment
Introduction: cosmopolitanism, narrative, history Cosmopolitan history: “‘Cosmopolitanism’ is no longer a term much favoured by intellectual historians: as an idea, it seems to lack intellectual content; as a category of political thought, it has no referent. [footnote: “the last investigation … Continue reading
Hazard, Pierre – Cosmopolite
Historiographie du mot “cosmopolite.” Hazard, Pierre (1930) “Cosmopolite.” In Mélanges d’histoire littéraire générale et comparée offerts à Fernand Baldensperger, 354-364. Paris: Libraire ancienne Honoré Champion. Résumé: Apparition au XVIe siècle : 1560 Guillaume Postel De la République des Turcs et, là … Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Cosmopolitanism, Eighteenth century
Tagged Cosmopolite, Pierre Hazard
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Avenel’s biography of Anacharsis Cloots
Avenel, Georges (1865), Anacharsis Cloots: L’orateur du genre humain, Paris : Librairie internationale. This is one of the very first biography existing on this not so well-known history character of the French Revolution, Anacharsis Cloots. The merit of this book is … Continue reading
Bélissa, Marc: Les patriotes européens et l’ordre républicain cosmopolitique 1795-1802
Bélissa analyses the conquests made by the new French Republic in Italy (an IV-V), Switzerland (an VI-VII), Holland (an III), and Belgium (an III-IV). These countries are called “sister-Republics.” Patriots in these “sister-Republics” are European militants and support the French … Continue reading
Dédéyan: le cosmopolitisme européen sous la révolution et l’empire
Dédéyan, Charles (1976) Le cosmopolitisme européen sous la Révolution et l’Empire. 2 vols. Paris: Société d’édition d’enseignement supérieur. One of the rare books of intellectual history about cosmopolitanism in Europe. Written in French, it is focusing on the periods immediately … Continue reading
On Nussbaum, cosmopolitanism and patriotism (and nationalism)
Martha C. Nussbaum, professor at University of Chicago Law School, published in 1994 an article praising a “cosmopolitan stoic education” over a “national education” that started debates in the English speaking world about cosmopolitanism. The article is a reaction against … Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Cosmopolitanism, Research themes
Tagged American debate, cosmopolitanism and patriotism, education, Nussbaum, patriotism
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Schlereth: The Cosmopolitan Ideal in Enlightenment Thought
Schlereth, Thomas (1977) The Cosmopolitan Ideal in Enlightenment Thought: Its Form and Function in the Ideas of Franklin, Hume, and Voltaire, 1694-1790. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. Thomas J. Schlereth studied how the cosmopolitan ideal had a “noticeable … Continue reading
French cuisine and national identity
I read in this week’s French equivalent to Time magazine Le Point an interview of gourmet critique Christian Millau, creator of the famous restaurant guide of the best restaurants, that ‘French cuisine does not exist.’ Actually, it is a point … Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Cosmopolitan comments on the news
Tagged French cuisine, French identity
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Back in France: diversity and integration
I am back in France and have been staying for a month now. I left about 7-8 years ago and only came back a few days twice a year for season holidays to visit my parents. My contact with French … Continue reading
Rousseau et le paradoxe d’une pensée cosmopolitique anti-cosmopolite
Dans la pensée de Rousseau, il y a un paradoxe sur lequel on se penche de plus en plus. Une certaine acrimonie face aux cosmopolites, alors que Rousseau exprime une pensée cosmopolitique en reprenant le grand projet de Saint-Pierre d’une … Continue reading
Cosmopolite, cosmopolitain, cosmopolitisme: définitions et problèmes
Que faut-il comprendre aujourd’hui des mots cosmopolite, cosmopolitisme ? D’abord si l’on reprend ‘histoire de l’apparition de ces mots, il faut bien se rendre à l’évidence que notre conception actuelle est liée au paradigme dominant du nationalisme qui nous pousse … Continue reading
Scandinavian literary weekend
This weekend was under the sign of cosmopolitan literature. First of all, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio received the Nobel Prize in literature: ‘author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning … Continue reading
Thesis graded
My thesis has been graded and I received the best grade possible in the Danish system: 12. That makes it an A in the ECTS system. Plus an excellent assessment of my work by my supervisor and my ‘censor’. I … Continue reading
Looking for a job in London
I am currently unable to find some time to post more on cosmopolitanism. I am dividing my time between my current part-time job, and my job search as I am moving to London on 1 October. I am also looking … Continue reading
The state of the Iranian state
My Armenian Iranian friends tell me a lot about the state of the Iranian state — or the lack thereof. I was surprised to hear that there are no taxes in Iran, neither direct or indirect. Sounds like paradise for … Continue reading
Master’s thesis submited
Today I submitted my master’s thesis; three copies by snail mail — I had to choose airmail for the shortest possible delay. I guess that makes it the less environmental-friendly thesis of all. Now I am crossing my fingers for … Continue reading
Posted in MA thesis, NICTs for academics
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Link to RSF’s advice for foreign journalists covering human rights situation during Beijing Games
So it seems that the next Olympic games will be a tremendous communication-information-sign-warfare. In this communication battle that history showed totalitarian regimes always win — although they do not win the war — democratic countries are most probably going to … Continue reading
Ulrich Beck: A New Cosmopolitanism is in the Air
Here is a link to an article by German sociologist Ulrich Beck published in November 2007, which is a translation of the original into English: http://www.signandsight.com/features/1603.html It is quite summing up the arguments developed in his three last books on … Continue reading
Todorov: La conquête de l’Amérique, La question de l’autre
Todorov, Tzvetan. La conquête de l’Amérique : la question de l’autre. Paris: Seuil, 1982. In this book, Tzvetan Todorov, renowned Franco-Bulgarian writer and director of research at the Centre National de Recherches (CNRS) in Paris, investigates the Spanish conquest of … Continue reading
Armenian Iranian refugees in Vienna
In Vienna I have been living in a student hall of residence for two years. Not all rooms are rented to students. Some are also rented to Iranian refugees of Armenian decent — the most important Christian minority in Iran. … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmopolitan experiences
Tagged Armenian Iranian, asylum USA, Iran, minority, minority in Iran, refugee
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Idea for a wiki project site on cosmopolitanism
I am fairly new to the blogosphere, and I found a cool blog for academics, especially in the humanities, advising on the latest NICTs for educational purpose–academhack, which is listed in my blog links on the right navigation bar. There’s … Continue reading
Posted in NICTs for academics, Research projects, Wikis
Tagged NICTs for academics, Teaching tools, technology for academics, wiki
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Foucault and the academe
Personally I do not understand at all where most of the people who write about Foucault or use Foucault in their studies (particularly in the fields of sociology and philosophy) get their interpretation of Foucault from. When I started to … Continue reading
Posted in Foucault, Method in the history of ideas
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MA thesis abstract
I have now finished writing my thesis, which only needs a very last light-editing touch. As a teaser, I publish here the abstract: Cosmopolitanism is not a well-known entity in political theory. Therefore, a history of this political doctrine is … Continue reading
Posted in MA thesis
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Deadline
I have a deadline to keep. I should be finished by the end of the month, i.e. Monday 30 June 2008. All I have left to do is some final round of editing, cutting 47,000 words to 35,000, proofreading, and … Continue reading
Posted in MA thesis
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Encouraging words
I received on 9 June some very encouraging words from my academic supervisor, who commented on the draft of my MA thesis I sent him, congratulating me for my “nice piece of work”, and also stating that he was “impressed … Continue reading
Posted in MA thesis
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Setting up a new blog on my research activities
I have decided to set up a new weblog in order to publicise my research activities and personal research themes and projects. I hope to create a network of interest around my activities, make myself known, and get acquainted with … Continue reading
Frank Ejby Poulsen, Ph.D. 
Obama’s Foreign Policy: A Cosmopolitan Policy in the Interests of the U.S.A.
Candidate Obama signed an article in the well-known scholarly journal of international relations Foreign Affairs, July/August 2007, entitled “Common Security for our Common Humanity.” There are a few reasons why Obama can be called a cosmopolitan politician as well as … Continue reading →