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Reconsidering institutional cosmopolitanism : global poverty and the importance of the state in international political theory

journal contribution
posted on 2009-02-01, 00:00 authored by Steven SlaughterSteven Slaughter
Cosmopolitan scholarship has been at the forefront of efforts to consider political structures capable of realising justice in a more robust manner than prevailing global governance arrangements. In particular, the arguments of Thomas Pogge have contributed significantly to scholarly thinking about global poverty and his scheme of 'institutional cosmopolitanism' aspires to institutionalise human rights in the structures of global governance. This essay critiques the capacity of Pogge's cosmopolitan approach to productively guide political action in relation to global poverty by questioning whether global institutions generated by human rights are sufficient to address global poverty. The argument in this essay is that a viable guide to political action which alleviates global poverty must also take account of the potential utility of the state. This essays draws upon republican ideas to contend that cosmopolitanism needs to encompass a robust account of local institutions such as the state.

History

Journal

Global change, peace & security

Volume

21

Pagination

37-52

Location

London, England

ISSN

1478-1158

eISSN

1478-1166

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2009, Taylor & Francis

Issue

1

Publisher

Routledge