Gendering Kant: Cosmopolitan Right and the Ethics of Care in Parliamentary Diplomacy

Abstract

Speaker: Nádia Loureiro, NOVA University Lisbon This paper offers an innovative reinterpretation of Immanuel Kant’s cosmopolitan right through the theoretical lens of feminist ethics of care to rethink the moral foundations of parliamentary diplomacy. It argues that, when reframed from a relational and gender- conscious perspective, Kant’s moral philosophy provides valuable insights into how international parliamentary organisations (IPO) can advance justice, peace, and solidarity through deliberation and empathy. By bringing Kantian political thought into dialogue with care ethics, the paper bridges universal moral principles and situated practices of diplomacy, proposing a new understanding of cosmopolitanism as both rational and affective. The analysis draws on feminist reinterpretations of Kantian thought, notably by Onora O’Neill, Pauline Kleingeld, and Alix Cohen, which challenge the traditional perception of Kantian ethics as overly abstract and detached from lived experience. Instead, they highlight its potential for relational autonomy, interdependence, and moral responsibility. Building on this scholarship, the paper explores how IPOs, such as the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), exemplify a gendered cosmopolitanism that operationalises care, dialogue, and moral reciprocity in the pursuit of human rights, gender equality, and collective security. Parliamentary diplomacy, viewed through this ethical prism, emerges not merely as an extension of state representation but as a moral practice grounded in mutual recognition and attentiveness to vulnerability. Women parliamentarians, through their transnational engagement and advocacy for inclusion and social justice, enact a form of public reason that blends rational deliberation with care-based responsibility. This dynamic redefines cosmopolitan hospitality, a central Kantian principle, as an ongoing moral commitment to responsiveness and solidarity across borders. By combining Kant’s cosmopolitan ideal with feminist care ethics, the paper contributes to a broader rethinking of the moral architecture of global governance. It advances the notion that soft power can be ethically reimagined when informed by care, responsibility, and reciprocity, rather than domination or paternalism. This approach positions parliamentary diplomacy as a living expression of cosmopolitan right, one that grounds universal principles in the moral texture of human relationships and in the everyday practices of representation and dialogue.