„[...] cosmopolitian identity is elitist and representative of a mobile middle class, cultural tourists dabbling rootlessly in a variety of cultures in a relentless search for new experiences, aesthetic stimulation and cultural novelty and unable to sustain a sense of local connection or responsibility for the growing number of socially and cultural excluded“ (Featherstone, 2002)
„cosmopolitanism is not a practice of an elite. international economic migration, transnational labour markets and flows of political refugees have created groups of people who have to combine the contradictions of different cultures within their everyday lives. such groups cannot be part of a single nation state, indeed this dislocation is neccessary for their survival. [...] these groups, characterized by their in-between status, demonstrate that neither nation-state nor ethnic group has the monopoly on loyalty … there is an intermediate space where a set of alternatives might emerge, based for example on hybrid identities. [...] increasingly, people have biographies which relate to more than one place. we might say a polygamous relationship to place is becoming the norm: and as one is in love with many places, one develops deep connections to more than one culture. even when forced to be plurally located, affective relations may follow… this aspect of cosmopolitanization is very important and concerns the integration and transcendence of contradicitons between cultures, and at the same time, the preservation of commitment to localities…“ (Beck, 2001)
„stephanie says … that she wants to know … what country shall i say i’m calling from across the world?“ (the velvet underground, 1969)
