Toward education for cosmopolitanism in a nation state: The case of Israel

This article seeks to examine the possibility of education towards cosmopolitanism from a local lens. First, I will briefly address the challenges facing the nation state today from a cultural, economic, and political perspective. After reviewing the challenges, I will critically discuss the educational teachings of two of today’s most prominent cosmopolitan thinkers—Anthony Appiah and Martha Nussbaum. Next, I will seek to bridge the tension between cosmopolitan and national approaches, by discussing Will Kymlicka and Catherine Walker’s “Rooted Cosmopolitanism” as a golden path promoting cosmopolitan values in the nation state. Kymlicka and Walker’s discussion will allow us to examine the case of the State of Israel. My claim will be that founding Israeli citizenship on Jewish and democratic values, which are particular but also recognize our common humanity and the dignity of difference, if implemented from a rooted cosmopolitan lens, can imbue the Israeli national project with a much-needed cosmopolitan potential. I will also briefly examine the objectives of the Israeli National Education Act from 1953 (and its amendments) in light of the cosmopolitan literature and try to propose a few directions for a future public debate on the issue.