Patrimonial Brotherhood, Polis Citizenship, National Membership, Cosmopolitian Belonging: Semantic Transformations of Overlapping Concepts

The paper presents comparative analysis of alternative concepts of political identities of membership on the background of evolutionary forms of political belongings to autonomous political bodies from primitive bands and tribes to modern nations and evolving global community. It is demonstrated that new and larger scales of political organization and membership are re-conceptualized in well-accustomed mental and lingual ways producing new conceptual understanding. Thus, Solon in bringing about his seisachtheia voiced return to the old standards of kinship but re-conceptualized as citizenship. All fellow city dwellers are a kind of ‘kin’ but not of blood but political (polis-based) bond. Equally development of sovereign territorial states was re-conceptualized in terms of common ‘origin’ or nation. The paper further discusses options for conceptualizing a new global scale political network. Cosmopolitianism, globalism and other identities that have been voiced by Kant, Marx, Teilhard de Chardin, Russell, Einsein and more recent thinkers and politicians are discussed and compared.