The vision of cosmopolitanism holds considerable promise for achieving citizenship and social inclusion in a globalized world. Cosmopolitanism can be understood as a political philosophy and project of world citizenship and a cultural orientation and disposition premised on “a conscious openness to the world and the potential for a relational dialogue with people and things that are culturally different” (Emonstpool and Woodward 2018: 1). Academic discussions of cosmopolitanism have been reinvigorated in the context of contemporary processes of globalization, transnational mobilities, and multicultural urbanism, resulting in a substantial literature reflecting a range of disciplinary approaches and academic debates. We situate our research within an emerging sociology of cosmopolitanism, characterized by a concern with the ways in which cosmopolitanism emerges in everyday life, including through market processes and practices of consumption in contemporary consumer culture. Within consumer culture, global brands are important sites where individuals encounter images of cultural diversity, principles of global social and environmental responsibility, and opportunities to engage cosmopolitan practices, yet little academic attention has been paid to investigating the ways in which cosmopolitan consumption is articulated and supported by such market cultural forms and broader market arrangements. The purpose of our project is to remedy this gap by exploring the emergence of particular kinds of cosmopolitanism and cosmopolitan practice, as they emerge from entangled processes of everyday consumption, brands and branding activity, as well as broader market arrangements.
Using a novel theoretical and methodological approach that bridges micro-, meso-, and macro-societal levels, we pursue three objectives: 1) to determine how cosmopolitan consumption is mediated and supported by global companies and their brands, particularly through implementing corporate social responsibility (meso-level); 2) to examine how Canadian consumers use, negotiate, and relate to cosmopolitan experiences or practices assembled by brands (micro-level); and 3) to investigate how cosmopolitan consumption is influenced by broader economic, political, and social institutions, power relations, and market developments (macro-level). We ask: How are diverse Canadians engaging with the world around them and cultivating cosmopolitan dispositions through consumption activity? How is cosmopolitanism articulated through market practices, forms, and arrangements? Our analysis will draw attention to the limitations, contradictions and tensions bound up with market-based cosmopolitan principles and expressions, contributing a nuanced understanding.
This Project is supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.