Abstract

This paper urges readers to rethink the notions “mobility” and “travel” with an eye to how they may help us craft a more supple discourse of cosmopolitanism. The majority of cosmopolitanism discourses privilege mobility and travel experiences of subjects in the metropolis and sideline and downplay those of the postcolonial (and especially rural) subjects. The paper attempts to broaden the discourses of cosmopolitanism by a critical interrogation of Kant’s cosmopolitan ideal and its implications for postcolonial societies. It identifies a “postcolonial moment” of cosmopolitanism that is largely ignored in mainstream analyses. This moment can be glimpsed by exploring two narratives of rural villagers who break free from their epistemic enclosures. This moment can only be fully appreciated by deploying broader conceptions of “mobility” and “travel” which capture not only these concepts’ corporeal connotations, but their imaginative and virtual connotations as well.