From engagement to detachment: divergent cosmopolitanisms among transnational Chinese students

ABSTRACT What does it mean to be cosmopolitan, or a global citizen? Often perceived as a privileged state of cultural consumption and mobility, cosmopolitanism is frequently critiqued as a new form of social stratification and discussed in relation to nationalism. This article reconceptualizes cosmopolitanism by foregrounding its moral and affective dimensions, framing it as both an ethical, deliberate practice and a forced adaptation to structural constraints. Drawing on interviews with 60 Chinese international students in the United States, I identify two distinct forms: activist cosmopolitanism, marked by moral engagement and collective activism, and cynical cosmopolitanism, characterized by individual autonomy, skepticism, and emotional detachment. Both emerge from shared experiences of liberal arts education, community engagement, and relational assimilation, but diverge in response to discrimination, residential mobility, and gendered adversity across sending and receiving contexts, with consequences for mental health. Lacking communal support, cynical cosmopolitans adopt individualist coping strategies and may develop a stance of “non-identity” as a protective mechanism. This study challenges dominant views of cosmopolitanism as either elite capital or a natural outcome of mobility. It highlights how Chinese students, despite their privileged status, can cultivate varied forms of cosmopolitan orientations, offering new insight into their potential for global social change.