Paper short abstract:

By looking at Gibraltar, I will approach the question 'in which ways do cultural areas such as 'the Mediterranean' make sense for our informants?'.

Paper long abstract:

The unity of the Mediterranean as a cultural region has been discussed in anthropology exclusively by means of structural characteristics. The question if "the Mediterranean" means anything at all to our informants has never entered the discussion. The focus of my paper focusses is threefold: first, the discursive use of the Mediterranean as cosmopolitan, both in the fields of political ideology and local identifications is envisioned. Second, cosmopolitan forms of local social organization are analyzed. It also discusses the current boom of the term "Cosmopolitanism" in academia, stripped off cultural and social embeddedness. Using mainly the british colony of Gibraltar and other Mediterranean examples I will show that as lived identification and social organization, cosmopolitanism is not necessarily opposed to local ways of living