Anyone

Rapport (anthropological and philosophical studies, U. of St. Andrews, Scotland) makes the case for an unpopular view of humans: that beneath or beside cultural specificity and differences exists a universally recognizable figure he calls "Anyone." This Anyone is the subject of a cosmopolitanism grounded in Enlightenment rationality that Rapport offers and explores as an alternative to multicultural ways of understanding human diversity and co-existence. Organizing the material into three parts, he first explores what Cosmopolitanism is, was and could be. The second part offers an ethnographic account of one Rickey Hirsch in order to elucidate the figure of Anyone in multiple social contexts. The last part considers the need for universal ways to register Anyone and their "personal truth" in order to construct a cosmopolitan ethos of what Rapport calls politesse. An afterward reflects on Jewish cosmopolitanism and elective affinities between it and Rapport's own project. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Nigel Rapport is Professor of Anthropological and Philosophical Studies at the University of St. Andrews, where he directs the Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies. He has also held a Canada Research Chair in Globalization, Citizenship and Justice. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.