One central challenge to the cosmopolitan idea of distributive justice is that it is unable to accommodate and appreciate the special ties and commitments that characterize the lives of ordinary individuals and that are of value to them. Among these special ties and commitments that cosmopolitan justice seems to rule out are those associated with nationalism and patriotism. My aim in this book is to defend cosmopolitanism against this challenge. I will argue that, properly understood, cosmopolitan justice can allow for special concern and obligations on nationalistic and patriotic grounds, and that it can do so without forfeiting the cosmopolitan commitment to global egalitarianism. This work is, therefore, largely defensive, so to speak. But in clarifying the bounds of cosmopolitan justice in light of the special demands of nationalism and patriotism, I hope to present a distinctive understanding of the cosmopolitan idea of justice.

The literature on cosmopolitanism is rapidly growing. Yet this increasingly well-worked area remains rather untidy. Defenders of the cosmopolitan position themselves are not always clear or united on what their position is with respect to nationalism and patriotism. Although few, if indeed any, cosmopolitans would reject nationalist and patriotic practices altogether, some do give the impression that nationalist and patriotic commitments must be justified by reference to cosmopolitan goals, and that these partial commitments are morally defensible only if they serve the ends of cosmopolitan justice.