Table Of ContentThe Future of Minority Studies
A timely series that represents the most innovative work being done in the broad fi eld
defi ned as “minority studies.” Drawing on the intellectual and political vision of the Future
of Minority Studies (FMS) Research Project, this book series will publish studies of the
lives, experiences, and cultures of “minority” groups— broadly defi ned to include all those
whose access to social and cultural institutions is limited primarily because of their social
identities.
For more information about the Future of Minority Studies (FMS) International Research
Project, visit www.fmsproject.cornell.edu.
Series Editors
Linda Martín Alcoff, Hunter College, City University of New York
Michael Hames- García, University of Oregon
Satya P. Mohanty, Cornell University
Paula M. L. Moya, Stanford University
Tobin Siebers, University of Michigan
Identity Politics Reconsidered
edited by Linda Martín Alcoff, Michael Hames- García, Satya P. Mohanty, and Paula M. L.
Moya
Ambiguity and Sexuality: A Theory of Sexual Identity
by William S. Wilkerson
Identity in Education
edited by Susan Sánchez- Casal and Amie A. Macdonald
Rethinking Chicana/o and Latina/o Popular Culture
by Daniel Enrique Pérez
The Future of Diversity: Academic Leaders Reflect on American Higher Education
edited by Daniel Little and Satya P. Mohanty
Minority Reports: Identity and Social Knowledge in Nineteenth- Century American
Literature
by Michael Borgstrom
Colonialism, Modernity, and Literature: A View from India
edited and with an introduction by Satya P. Mohanty
Ghetto Images in Twentieth-C entury American Literature: Writing Apartheid
by Tyrone R. Simpson II
History, Trauma, and Healing in Postcolonial Narratives: Reconstructing Identities
by Ogaga Ifowodo
Identity, Political Freedom, and Collective Responsibility: The Pillars and Foundations of
Global Ethics
by Eddy M. Souffrant
Previous Publications
Eddy Souffrant, PhD
Parceling the Globe: Philosophical Explorations in Globalization, Global Behavior and
Peace (2008, coedited with Danielle Poe)
Formal Transgression: John Stuart Mill’s Philosophy of International Affairs (2000)
Identity, Political Freedom,
and Collective Responsibility
The Pillars and Foundations
of Global Ethics
Eddy M. Souffrant
IDENTITY, POLITICAL FREEDOM, AND COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY
Copyright © Eddy M. Souffrant, 2013.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-36582-8
All rights reserved.
First published in 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the
United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of
the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan
Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998,
of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above
companies and has companies and representatives throughout the
world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United
States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-47389-2 ISBN 978-1-137-33797-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137337979
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Souffrant, Eddy M., 1959-
Identity, political freedom, and collective responsibility : the pillars
and foundations of global ethics / Eddy M. Souffrant.
pages cm.—(Future of minority studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Group identity. 2. Liberty. 3. Political science—Philosophy.
4. Responsibility. 5. Ethics, Modern—21st century. I. Title.
HM753.S68 2013
305.8—dc23 2013019332
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Scribe Inc.
First edition: December 2013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Marcel and Julien:
You inspire me to be in the present and
to see in it an inviting future.
For Fellow Travelers of Consciousness and Spaces:
May the borders be increasingly fluid,
and may the dignity of our common humanity
in the global square be strengthened!
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Part I: Identity
1 Collective Identity 13
Introduction 13
Sources of Identity 14
Singular and Collective Identity 14
Cartesian Collective Identities 15
2 Common Identity: Linguistic and Racial Identity 19
3 Using History and Nation as Structures of Identity 23
National Identity 23
Global Citizenry: The State’s Way 29
4 From Regional to Global Identity 33
Expressions and Forms of Identity 33
5 Créole, Créolité, Créolization 39
Natural Adaptations 39
6 Contextual Identities 43
The Nature of Identity 43
Liberating Identities from Oppressive Institutions 45
7 Identity and Social Negotiations 49
Oppressive Liberties 49
8 Contemporary Options 53
Emancipatory Identities 53
Composite Identities 55
Composite Identities: The Caribbean Condition 56
Diasporic Identities 58
viii contents
9 Pineau’s Reminder: The Creative Process 61
Whence Does a Writer Derive Her Sense of Identity? 61
10 Caribbean Philosophy: In Guise of a Conclusion 65
Approach to a Resolution 65
Its Used Markers (Color/Language) 66
Part II: Democracies: Thoughts of Informal Democracy,
Moral Prescription, Globalization, and Sovereignty
11 The Polity 73
Philosophy and Contemporary Realities 73
Citizenship and Informal Democracy 73
12 Global Democracy and Sovereign International Agents 81
David Held’s Cosmopolitan Democracy 81
13 Lessons for Global Democracy 85
Sovereignty, Democracy, and Globalization 86
Global Democracy at the Crossroads 86
The Principle of Responsibility 90
14 Transnational Ethics 95
Multiple Appurtenance and Anarchy 95
15 Migration 101
Informal Democracy 101
16 Searching for Freedoms 105
Political Representation in Informal Democracies 105
Public Accountability 107
17 Inclusion and Accountability 121
18 Toward a Collective Responsibility 131
Part III: Morality: Morality, Unpredictability,
and Collective Responsibility
19 Morality in an Unpredictable World 139
Introduction 139
Moral Philosophy in the Present 141
Morality in Real Contexts 141
Moral Liberators 141
Moral Activism 143
contents ix
20 On Being Moral 145
Inclusive Morality 145
Social Belongingness 145
Moral Agency and the Collective 147
Agent Responsibility and Nontraditional Agency 151
21 Three Conceptions of Collective Responsibility 155
Protecting the Vulnerable 155
Responsibility in the State of Nature 158
Group Responsibility 164
22 Examples of Collective Responsibility in Practice 171
Health Insurance and Collective Responsibility 171
Wal- Mart and Collective Responsibility 174
Conclusion 178
Part IV: Conclusion: Thoughts on a Caribbean
Philosophy and on How Not to Do Global Ethics
23 Africana Modernity, Global Justice, and
Collective Responsibility 185
Introduction 185
Africana Cosmopolitanism 188
24 Allegiance, Global Ideologies, and
Contemporary Directions 193
Vigilance of Survival 193
Douglass’s Haiti 195
Douglass’s Liberalism 197
Expansionism and Imperial Service 199
Douglass’s Allegiance to American Liberalism 200
The Datum of Modernity 203
25 Radicalism à la Mode or Outmoded 207
Global Justice 209
26 Collective Responsibility Revisited 215
Conclusion 219
Works Cited 221
Notes 227
Index 243
