Membership, Morality and Global Justice : A Study of Feminist Contributions to Cosmopolitan Ethics

Abstract: This paper is a project based on a theoretical approach, where my aim is to search for the core elements of a viable feminist cosmopolitan ethics.  To further that purpose I identify, discuss, and compare some of the main components of such an ethics as proposed by political theorists Seyla Benhabib and Iris Marion Young.  In doing so I hope to contribute to the ongoing project of cosmopolitan feminism.  My task in this project is to answer the following questions; what are the main components of Seyla Benhabib and Iris Marion Young´s feminist cosmopolitan ethics? Second; where do Benhabib and Young stand with regards to the relationship between the principle of state sovereignity and the human right to membership? Finally, based on a comparative reading of Benhabib and Young´s theories I ask; what should be some of the core elements of a viable feminist cosmopolitan ethics? I argue that for a feminist cosmopolitan ethics to be considered viable, it must carry within itself an impetus towards increased respect for the basic human rights of the 64.9 million persons that are currently displaced due to conflicts, war, persecutions and human rights violations.  Following a comparative reading of some of the main components of Seyla Benhabib and Iris Marion Young´s cosmopolitan ethics, I promote a vision of feminist cosmopolitan ethics that carries within itself the hope that is inherent in the promise of human rights, while at the same time offering the tools that are necessary to identify and rectify the structural injustices exprssed in the status and real-life situations of the 64.9 million persons that are currently displaced due to conflicts, war, persecutions, and human rights violations.