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CS92PROD
Global Justice, International Pluralism, and War

CHUM 341
Spring 2010
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: GOVT 341, AMST 353
Certificates: International Relations

Responding to the massive inequalities in the world, and in particular to the existence of extreme poverty, there has been a growing chorus of demands to apply principles of social justice at the global level. At the same time, the emergence of a global discourse of human rights has led to calls for a redefinition of traditional notions of sovereignty and to the idea that international institutions and even individual states have a responsibility to protect people from severe violations of their rights throughout the world. Realizing these ideals, however, may require intervention in the domestic affairs of individual countries. And in a world where only a few states have the ability to intervene, we face the ironic situation in which the demand for justice can become, or at least be seen as, a cloak for a new (or not so new) kind of colonial domination. Even more ironically, intervention to protect human rights becomes another occasion for war, one in which observing the restraints required by the laws of war, themselves rooted in conceptions of human rights, becomes problematic. This course will explore the conundrums that arise when we take seriously the claims of global justice in a world of at least nominally independent states, one in which the possibility of war cannot be ruled out.

Essential Capabilities: Ethical Reasoning
Ethical reasoning: this course focuses on normative issues bearing on international relations in general, and specifically on the use of violence.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS CHUM
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Student Option
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (GOVT)(GOVT-Intl.)(GOVT-Theory)
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on APR-18-2024
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