Reflecting on the experience of Sri Lankan Catholic return migrant workers from Italy, I suggest that these unlikely cosmopolitans-far from being celebrated for their tolerance and worldliness-are often regarded by the non-migrant community as ungrateful and indulgent sojourners. This unflattering facet of cosmopolitanism counterintuitively shifts openness to the world towards a post-migratory uneasiness and estrangement at home. While this article supports the aim of reclaiming the concept from its habitual elitist location, it shows that the unglamorous cosmopolitanism of transnational labor is often viewed by non-migrants with resentment, suspicion, and misapprehension. Recent work on cosmopolitanism has emphasized how globalization generates multifarious connections that situate migrants from underprivileged origins at the center of global cultural flows, making them emblematic of an emerging working-class cosmopolitanism.
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