Report: Cosmopolitan role-play

Philosophical background

Upon exploring this conceptual corner of the cosmos, we encounter a rich philosophical tradition, that seems eager to outline a crucial difference between what is regarded as ‘cosmopolitan’ and that which is considered ‘cosmopolitical’.

The first historical evidence for a general form of cosmopolitanship can be found in ancient Greece with Diogenes’ proclamation that he was a ‘citizen of the world’. Although helpful as a starting point, we can only speculate on what it means. This changed in the centuries that followed, as the concept made its way via the Stoics to Immanuel Kant, where it reappeared in his fabulous book Toward Perpetual Peace (1795). Herein Kant envisioned the cosmopolitan ideal as a future utopia wherein all wars would be dissolved. Peace would be its perpetual centrepiece, around which life revolves en evolves – in a pre-Darwinian sense.

More recently, Bruno Latour and Isabelle Stengers have tried to reframe Kant’s impetus for idealistic thinking. In Whose Cosmos, Which Cosmopolitics? (2004), for instance, Latour argued against a kind of mononaturalist cosmopolitanism that imposes a shared worldview upon cosmopolitans while it evidently dismisses Latour’s plurality of perspectives that permeates our common world. Plurality here serves to acknowledge the uniqueness of perspectives that at first glance seem identical. To accommodate Latour’s perspective, Stengers has offered us an ‘openly constructivist approach’ that surpasses the mononaturalist approach, by affirming these perspectives as ‘possible’ and worthy of notice. (Cosmopolitics, 57).

Despite critiques aimed at resisting certain kinds of cosmopolitanism, the cosmopolitan approach is still seen as relevant. In a relatively recent defence, Kwame Anthony Appiah builds upon a notion of cosmopolitanism by incorporating a kind of pluralism – specifically the idea that many values are worth living by – and a form of fallibilism – here meaning the idea that knowledge is provisional and subject to revision. The approach has been aided by a strong conviction that the expression ‘everybody matters’ is personally true, and preferably even universally true. (Cosmopolitanism, 144).

Perhaps more astonishingly, in Jacques Derrida’s essay Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences (1966) we implicitly discover a recipe for reconciling ‘cosmopolitanism’ and ‘cosmopolitics’. In reading his provocative essay, we are indirectly challenged to view ourselves as entities in a role-play. Instead of simply reciting a scripted narrative, we are enticed into creating meaning through freeplay. According to Derrida, we do not intervene in the world from an absolute origin, rather, we approach reality from a near-infinity of unique roles that cannot be circumscribed as a totality. In other words, we leave traces in all our verbal and non-verbal interactions.

The Cosmopolitan role-play closely parallels this Derridean insight. By convention, the Cosmopolitan role-play is the furthest thing from being propaganda. All information presented as part of the role-play is freely interpretable to the highest degree possible. This liberal view has been put in place to allow for maximal creativity and novelty in problem solving. Moreover, the role-play seeks to facilitate freeplay by allowing us to, among other things, retract, recombine, substitute, and transvalue (the truth value of) any expression that captures our attention. This opens up a cascade of options to spin the cosmopolitical narrative to our liking. As cosmopolitans, our imagination is the limit.

The core mechanism of the role-play

By design, 35 participants are invited to take part in the Cosmopolitan role-play as representatives of the fictitious superstate of Globeria. At the start of the role-play, each member of the transsovereign Elect – the central cosmopolitical body – receives one envelope that contains two critical components, namely a character card and a score counter. These are supposed to complement the main engine of the role-play, a virtual tour around the world with 24 captivating global dilemmas. At each dilemma, one solution gets presented by the moderator of the role-play. It is up to all members of the Elect to either greenlight or redlight proposed solutions by respectively, and simultaneously, showing a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Since people are seated at different tables, a democratic landscape will emerge at the end of each dilemma.

Each member of the Elect is called a Guardian, and carries a shared responsibility to safeguard the future of Globeria. Before the role-play commences, all Guardians can get to know each other, and may seek to freely exchange character cards among each other. These character cards contain multiple roles and items of interest, that Guardians can choose to employ during their political career in the Elect.

The role-play ends after one Guardian has been awarded the role of Transitioner. The Transitioner is essential for ensuring a peaceful transfer of power between the incumbent and incoming Elect. Moreover, the legacy of Globeria hinges on proper execution of this prestigious, or even sacrosanct, role.

To be eligible for transitionership, each member of the Elect receives one score counter that they can use to tally their points. Each time a Guardian is able to align their vote with the majority vote of the table, one point is added to their score counter. A second point is added if a Guardian manages to also align their vote with the majority vote over all tables in the room. Responsibilities and quests have been added to the character cards, so that Guardians can earn extra points. Lastly, a prisoner’s dilemma has been included as a game component to add intrigue to the role-play.

The virtual tour, character chards, and score counting combined, are what give the role-play its intricate, yet socially critical, nature.

The gameplay in practice

After months of preparation and weeks of promotion, the 10^th of March marked a pivotal point, as I would finally be able step into my role as moderator and guide the Elect during their political journey to ensure a sustainable and just future for Globeria. Eventually, seven out of the 35 available seats were filled, which resulted in a slight disappointment at first. But with only minimal changes made to the original concept, we were more than ready to playtest the first Cosmopolitan role-play.

Once all roles had been assigned, I took it upon myself as moderator to address the other Guardians by introducing the first global dilemma. I read out loud the following:

In an unprecedented move, the Pope declares a state of ecological emergency, stating that Earth is in dire need of an integral ecology. This concept, central to the encyclical Laudato Si’ emphasises the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic issues. The Pope called for a worldwide implementation of integral ecology, urging nations to prioritise the common good and the preservation of Earth for future generations. This powerful message raises a crucial question: should the Elect subsidise initiatives that increase student participation to spread the method of integral ecology?

It took some time for us to overcome the initial burden of tranquility, but after a series of interactions had taken place and critical questions were raised, everyone had become attuned to the core mechanism of the role-play and we got creative at expressing ourselves from our respective roles. At each dilemma, different roles were explored, novel insights were gained, and alliances were forged. What had once been merely a concept gradually started to become real.

At the three-hour mark, a diverse range of dilemmas had been explored, pertaining to topics such as water scarcity, climate disaster, reforestation, corruption, and neocolonialism. Each of the discussions had resulted in unique political constellations and surprising majority votes. As the role-play came to an end, we realised how quickly time had passed. Things had to be rounded up, so we sat together, tallied our points, and selected a winner. Technically, one winner was selected, and awarded the title of Transitioner, but at that moment we all felt like winners, because we had been part of a mesmerizing and memorable experience.

Integral ecology and philosophy

Despite its focal role, scoring points alone does not contribute to improving the world, nor does it bring us much closer to understanding ourselves as cosmopolitans (or cosmopoliticians). This is why the Cosmopolitan role-play operates at the intersection between integral ecology and philosophy. In the encyclical Laudato Si’, published by the Vatican in 2015, we find a variant of reductive holism, that enables us to reduce the world to its totality, without having to circumscribe its limit. The approach, called integral ecology, shows us how connected we are with the world that surrounds and emanates us. We are not fully separate from the things we observe and describe. In everything that we speak of we leave traces, as Derrida knew all too well.

We do not only leave traces in our verbal interventions, but in all our actions. The Cosmopolitan role-play can teach us the art of leaving traces par excellence. It offers a sandbox, that we can use to assess the effects of our political actions on others. Furthermore, it ignites stories that would not have originated otherwise. In a way, the role-play expands interpersonal creativity and serves to instill foreknowledge about dilemmas that may occur in the future. Hence, when ordinary citizens respond inert to real life problems, cosmopolitans are prepared to adequately advise on a wide range of topics. And through shared ecology, this knowledge can be transferred to others, with the intent of preserving our precious yet precarious cosmopolitical landscape.

Contact

Do you want to learn more about the Cosmopolitan role-play, and its possible revival? You can visit our Discord server to ask questions, share suggestions, and dive into the world of Globeria.

Recommended readings

Appiah, Kwame Anthony (2006). Cosmopolitanism.

Derrida, Jacques (1966). Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences.

Derrida, Jacques (2001). On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness.

Kant, Immanuel (1795). Toward Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch.

Kleingeld, Pauline and Eric Brown (2019). Cosmopolitanism.

Latour, Bruno (2004). Whose Cosmos, Which Cosmopolitics?

Pope Francis (2015). Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.

Stengers, Isabelle (2010). Cosmopolitics.