180486 SE Faces of Justice (2009S)

Justice is one of the most frequently used concepts in political discourse. We lament and condemn the unjust indifference of affluent nations towards the tragedy in Darfur. We are outraged by the immoral behavior of corporations and try to devise alternative remedies to global poverty. We appeal to the community's sense of justice when we get sanguine over the recognition of gay rights. No matter what the public debate is about, people always claim to know what the right thing to do is. Yet, what they mean by justice depends on the context and, more importantly, on the interests at stake. Contemporary political theory has understood that justice is an "essentially contested concept" (Walter B. Gallie). In the pluralistic societies of the 21st Century, its meaning is the object of continuous public debate, without the perspective of a settled definition in sight. On the other hand, given its central role in understanding political discourse, one needs to carefully unpack and analyze the different faces justice takes. Three areas of theorizing emerge from a general survey of the recent literature. Firstly, the debate in the civic and political sphere has been revolving around the following question: what legal rights need to be established in order to approximate the ideal of justice? Secondly, the socio-economic sphere presents us with another stringent problem: what forms of material inequality are compatible with the principles of justice? Last but not least, issues of cultural difference are yet one more source of controversy: what identity claims should be recognized from the standpoint of justice? This course will try to offer a parallel survey of these three dimensions in both domestic and international realms in an attempt to better understand the challenges that the concept of justice poses for students of politics. Dominant liberal theory will be presented in dialogue with its critics and detractors.

NB:
The instructor will provide the students, as far as possible, with the texts of the syllabus. Most articles will be compiled in a reader ("Handapparat"), available at the department's secretary, from which copies can be made.