‘Plural and shared: The sociology of a cosmopolitan world’ is the title of a talk that Prof. Vincenzo Ciccheli of the University of Paris Sorbonne will give on Tuesday from 6 to 7pm at the University of Malta’s Lecture Theatre 2, Francis Ebejer Hall, Msida campus.
Society is witnessing the phenomenon of identitarian closure and the rise of xenophobic feelings and discourse, as evidenced by the return of anti-Semitism and the upsurge of Islamophobia. Those who see themselves as ‘losers’ in the global economic competition, as being excluded from wealth distribution, are often tempted by identitarian closure as a fallback position. It is imperative to explore the shape taken by the opening and closing of boundaries at both the macro and micro levels.
How is human experience being shaped in such a world?
Boundaries that define social groups are becoming porous in some cases; in others they are becoming increasingly closed and rigid
In an attempt to answer this question, an investigation was carried out based on two scales of analysis: the scale of the cosmopolitan world and its global cultural dynamics; and the scale of everyday life and ordinary socialisation to otherness.
This twofold perspective constitutes the innovative approach of this presentation. The cultural boundaries that serve to define and unite identities, social groups and communities are becoming blurred, open and porous in some cases; in other cases, however, these boundaries are becoming increasingly closed and rigid.
Prof. Cicchelli is an associate professor at University Paris Descartes and a research fellow at Gemass (CNRS/Paris Sorbonne). He is currently the series editor of Youth in a Globalizing World. His primary research and teaching interests are in global studies, cosmopolitanism, international comparisons and youth conditions in the Euro-Mediterranean area.
The seminar is being convened by Paul Clough, Peter Mayo and Michael Briguglio as part of the Work in Progress in the Social Studies seminar series, which is in its 20th anniversary year. The public is invited to attend.