The Project of Humanity
Defining humanity has always implied drawing a boundary dividing the « human » from the « inhuman » (or the « inept to be human », « undeserving to be counted as human » or « in need to be humanized »). Politics of humanity is the practice (underlying the philosophical gloss of humanism) of drawing, shifting and redrawing such a boundary according to the political agenda of each era. In this paper, defined by the author as an exercise in sociological hermeneutics, two contemporary related forms of that pratice are explored. The first part focuses on the contrarieties of globalization and their effects over the type of humanity which is privileged in our time. The second part deals with the consequences of multiculturalism and the right to recognition (of one’s difference). Lastly, the author speaks for a new strategy of humanity-building.