It's not about Race: Kant's Anti-Colonialism

What is it about?

This article offers a new interpretation of Kant’s cosmopolitanism and his anti-colonialism in Toward Perpetual Peace. Based on historical evidence not previously considered alongside Perpetual Peace, I suggest that Kant’s leading concern is the negative effect of European expansionism and intra-European colonial rivalry on the possibility of peace in Europe. To maintain the integrity of his philosophy of history, Kant distinguishes between war between particular dyads, in particular spaces, and with particular non-state actors to put forward new typology of antagonism. I examine the implications for Kant’s system of Right concluding that his anti-colonialism co-exists with his racial hierarchy.

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