Tra cosmopolis e nazione

This article analyzes the relationship between the concepts of cosmopolis and nation, inspired by recent theoretical reflection within the fields of postcolonial and cultural studies. In particular, it focuses on the need for - and on the implications of - a novel way of understanding the cosmopolitan subject and a reconceived cosmopolitan project. While addressing the geographical dimensions of cosmopolis, it also argues that a cosmopolitan city ought to be theorised as a limes, a threshold in the definition of "the political", but also as both a metaphorical and a material space; as a modern laboratory where an endless negotiation over the nature and the functioning of the very principles of citizenship and cultural identity takes place.