Governing in an Unjust World: Justice and International Institutions

POLI60181 Governing in an Unjust World: Justice and International Institutions 15 Semester 1 Postgraduate Taught Level 6 Miriam Ronzoni Unit coordinator Politics 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 7.5 This course presents 1) some of the major contemporary philosophical debates about global justice; 2) main arguments in favour and against global democracy and different global institutional orders; 3) in depth analysis of a broad range of specific global policy issues. Rough course structure: <ol> <li> Introductory seminar</li> <li> Global Justice I: Cosmopolitanism, Statism, Nationalism</li> <li> Global Justice II: Intermediate Positions</li> <li> Global Democracy: For and Against</li> <li> Legitimacy and Domination in Global Institutions</li> <li> Labour Standards in a Globalised World</li> <li> Tax Havens, Tax Competition, and Tax Avoidance</li> <li> The International Regime of Intellectual Property: Drugs, Seeds, and Beyond</li> <li> Fairness in Global Trade?</li> <li> A Just Climate Change Policy?</li> <li> Recap</li></ol> Problems of global justice are at the forefront of debates in contemporary political theory. This course aims to introduce postgraduate students to these debates, both in a general manner and by applying some of their insights to specific problems of global politics, such as labour standards, trade, migration, tax avoidance, climate change, the need for more democratic global governance, and global public health. We shall use these insights both to assess existing institutions from a justice perspective, and to think of new possible institutional solutions to address pressing global problems. The course will address questions such as:- How should resources, opportunities and power be distributed on the global scale?- Are current global institutions sufficiently just, democratic, or legitimate? Is global democracy possible/desirable?- How, if at all, should global migration, world trade, global tax avoidance, the politics of climate change, the availability of life-saving drugs in poor countries, and low labour standards be regulated?  On completion of this unit successful students will be able to: <ul> <li> Understand and assess various positions on central problems of global justice.</li> <li> Develop their own responses to urgent and theoretically complex problems of global justice.</li> <li> Think of possible institutional solutions to implement those responses.</li> <li> Identify normative questions to be addressed in policy formulations (ethical policy analysis).</li> <li> Present critical arguments concerning the issues discussed in the course.</li> <li> Engage with one another in a critical yet respectful manner.</li></ul> Teaching will take place in weekly two-hour seminars. Students will be assigned reading and preparatory questions for each seminar. Every two-hour session will consist of group-based discussion of the readings set. Every meeting will start with (normally two) student presentations, and then the floor will be open for common discussion. Presenters will be encouraged to coordinate the content of their presentation in advance and to engage critically with one another. This can be done, for instance, by either focusing on different aspects of the reading material, or by establishing a “dialogue” between the two presentations (such as by defending two contrasting views, or with a presenter/discussant model). 0 Other 10% 2 Written assignment (inc essay) 75% 7 Oral assessment/presentation 15% <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width:376px;"> Essay</td> <td style="width:94px;"> 3500</td> <td style="width:161px;"> 75%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:376px;"> Presentation</td> <td style="width:94px;"> 20 min</td> <td style="width:161px;"> 15%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:376px;"> Participation</td> <td style="width:94px;"> n/a</td> <td style="width:161px;"> 10%</td> </tr> </tbody></table>  Y The following texts offer a good place to start. <ul> <li> Caney, Simon, ‘International Distributive Justice’, Political Studies 49 (2001)</li> <li> Pogge, Thomas, World Poverty and Human Rights, Polity, 2002</li> <li> - Iris Marion Young, “Responsibility and Global Labour Justice,” Journal of Political Philosophy (2004);</li> <li> - P. Dietsch and T. Rixen, “Tax Competition and Global Background Justice,” Journal of Political Philosophy (forthcoming, available at: <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2012.00419.x/pdf">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2012.00419.x/pdf</a>);</li> <li> - Vandana Shiva, “Biopiracy,” in Protect or Plunder? Understanding Intellectual Property Rights (Zed Books: 2001);</li> <li> - T.Pogge, “Human Rights and Global Health: A Research Program”, Metaphilosophy  (2005);</li></ul> Seminars 20 0 130 TimetableMonday 3-5 Roscoe 2.10