POL559 Global Justice: Contemporary Debates

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2011
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Dufek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Stanislav Balík, Ph.D.
Division of Politology – Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucie Pospíšilová
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 U43
Prerequisites (in Czech)
Schopnost číst texty v anglickém jazyce (tzn. pasivní znalost), ochota aktivně participovat v diskusích. Tento kurz bude sestávat z krátkých přednášek, po kterých následuje seminární diskuse k tématu vycházející z krátkých písemných příprav. Předpokládá se, že studenti/tky budou mít prostudovanou povinnou literaturu a budou se zapojovat do seminárních diskusí.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
During this course students will acquire knowledge of contemporary debates within Anglo-American political philosophy on the issue of global or cosmopolitan justice and the related institutional measures. Based on this knowledge, course participants will be able to analyze both the general assumptions and motivations of cosmopolitan thinking about justice and the specific arguments and key concepts that have gained prominence in these discussions. Upon completing the course, students will be able to confront the cosmopolitan position(s) with more critical and/or restrained perspectives and also apply them to practical-political repercussions as regards, for example, immigration or humanitarian intervention.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction: Couse Mission and Organization
  • 2. Universalism and Particularism
  • 3. Why Global Justice?
  • 4. Variants of the Cosmopolitan Argument
  • 5. The Law of Peoples (Rawls)
  • 6. Circumstances of Justice: Is There a Global Basic Structure?
  • 7. Harming the Poor?
  • 8. Moral and Political Cosmopolitanism
  • 9. Moral Equality and the World Community of Humans
  • 10. Questions About Global (In)equality
  • 11. Global Justice and Global Democracy
  • 12. (Im)migration
  • 13. Use of Armed Force
Literature
    required literature
  • DUFEK, Pavel. Úrovně spravedlnosti: Liberalismus, kosmopolitismus a lidská práva (Levels of Justice: Liberalism, Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights). Brno: Mezinárodní politologický ústav MU, 2010, 300 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-5317-5. info
  • Sociální kritika v éře globalizace : odstraňování sociálně-ekonomických nerovností a konfliktů. Edited by Marek Hrubec, Translated by Martin Brabec. Vyd. 1. Praha: Filosofia, 2008, 479 s. ISBN 9788070072868. info
  • POGGE, Thomas Winfried Menko. World poverty and human rights : cosmopolitan responsibilities and reforms. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008, viii, 352. ISBN 9780745641447. info
  • MILLER, David. National responsibility and global justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, vi, 298. ISBN 9780199235056. info
  • BENHABIB, Seyla. Another cosmopolitanism. Edited by Jeremy Waldron - Bonnie Honig - Will Kymlicka - Robert Post. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, xii, 206. ISBN 0195183223. info
  • CANEY, Simon. Justice beyond borders : a global political theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, 319 s. ISBN 0199297967. info
  • Global justice. Edited by Thomas W. Pogge. 1st pub. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2003, vi, 272 s. ISBN 0-631-22712-1. info
  • SCHEFFLER, Samuel. Boundaries and allegiances : problems of justice and responsibility in liberal thought. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 221 p. ISBN 019924149X. info
  • RAWLS, John. The law of peoples with "The idea of public reason revisited". 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001, viii, 199. ISBN 0674005422. info
Teaching methods
The course consists of shorter lectures and in-class seminars; these two parts of each class are not strictly separated. Students' position papers based on asigned readings are discussed in the seminars.
Assessment methods
Course evaluation has four parts: (1) Position papers. Students are expected to submit at least six shorter essays or position papers, dealing with a topic (or topics) discussed in the assigned readings. These papers should then serve as a basis for in-class discussions. Each position paper will receive 0-5 points, based on its quality (2) Presentation. During the term, each student (or a group of students) will have an opportunity to outline the content of both the compulsory and recommended readings publicly for the rest of the class. Students will receive 0-9 points for their presentation, based on its quality and information value. (3) In-class activity (up to 1,75 points each time). (4) Final essay (10 standard pages), on a topic corresponding with the course contents (0-15 points). The overall assesment (A through F) will be determined by the total poiont score from these three activities
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2012, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2017.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2011, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2011/POL559