The Politics of Humanity

“Humanism, human rights, and humanitarianism have been dismissed on both the right and the left as sentimental residues of a naïvely moralistic politics that does more harm than good when applied to the real world.  But when they are cynically abandoned, as has happened in our increasingly troubled times, the consequences can be dire.  In this volume, an international and interdisciplinary array of distinguished scholars breathes new life into these traditions for a world that needs them now more than ever.”
—Martin Jay, Ehrman Professor of European History Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

“This collected volume is a passionate testimony for defending humanity, justice, and cosmopolitan values in times of multi-level global crisis. It brings together a range of distinguished international scholars addressing burning issues like migration and the political situation in Hong Kong, combined with principled reflections on the social, ethical, and legal foundations of human co-existence with an emphasis on difference, alterity, and vulnerability so urgently needed for a cosmopolitan conception of justice.”                                                                                                                                                                    —Sophie Loidolt, Professor of Philosophy, Chair of Practical Philosophy, Institut für Philosophie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany

This book is the collaborative response of engaged scholars from diverse countries and disciplines who are disturbed by the contemporary resurgence of anti-democratic movements and regimes throughout the world. These movements have brought with them vitriolic “nationalist” polemics, state-supported violence, and exclusionary anti-immigrant policies, less than a century after the rise and fall and horrific devastations of fascism in the early 20th century.   

Richard A. Cohen is Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, USA.

Tito Marci is Dean of Law Faculty and Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Rome, Sapienza, Italy.

Luca Scuccimarra is Professor of History of Political Thought and Chair of Department of Political Science at the University of Rome, Sapienza, Italy.