I will explain Cosmopolitanism first, which is one part of the Cosmopolitanism/Communitarianism dichotomy. This dichotomy stays at the fondation of our International system and world order.

In the same time the corporation and its ideology has at base cosmopolitanist ideas. This is my personal opinion and it is presented here.

So, let us embark to a trip back in time, 2500 years ago in ancient Greece.

At that time, the world was that of the independent city-states. They were not aware in their daily life about countries, or empires. In their understanding, the meaning and essence of life was the city (you should read here – polis). All religious, social, and political activity of people had at its center the city. Whatever was outside the polis, were considered either beasts, or gods. Try to imagine!

So, the meaning, and essence of life was the polis. The city was their Universe, and the value of life was stemming out from the city. The polis was the source of value.

But what happend when the macedoneans got in the scene and conquered the independent cities ? That happend at 338BC, after the battle of Chaeronea. Their view about world entered into a deep crisis. They couldn’t explain anymore the reason of world and life for a while, now they were making part into an empire.

The system of reference that made their life morally meaningful, being a free citizen of polis dissapeared, as cities lost their independence. While moral and political crisis was deepening a new religous atitude emerged in purpose of making their life meaningful. It was the Stoicism.

The differences between men of different cities were not taken into consideration anymore, as it was in the old World Order. Human nature was a part cosmic nature governed by the divine law of nature. “There is one divine universe, one rational human nature, and therefore one appropriate attitude to all men”. The Stoic was the citizen of the cosmos, not of the polis,and the attitude that was been cultivated since was that of a citizen of the one universal city. That citizen is a cosmopolitan.

There is one thing that deserves to be mentioned. Cosmopolitanism doesn’t aims to a world governance, or domination. In fact that was the problem, the world governance – the empire, which generated the Cosmopolitan thought. as a reaction to the old world order collapse.

Being back to our times. I will present in a future post, how in fact the Cosmopolitanism really shaped our international system.

Stepping in into corporation’s ideology, we all know that a corporation is an international system, that is based on bussines activities. Usually it is a transnational, and transcontinental organization which competes more and more with the main actors of the international arena – the states.

Being an international system actor, the corporation is shaped by the written and unwritten laws of the international system, including by its cosmopolitan/communitarian essence of world order.

Bibliography:

- cosmopolitanism – “International Relations Theory, New Normative Approaches” by Chris Brown,