Universität Wien

210162 SE BAK9 Political Theories and Research on Theories (2020S)

Migration Issues in Democratic Theories. On the contradiction between human rights and popular sovereignty at the borders of democracy

6.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work

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Details

max. 40 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 20.03. 09:45 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Friday 03.04. 09:45 - 16:30 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock
  • Friday 15.05. 09:45 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Friday 05.06. 09:45 - 16:30 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Europe’s political modernity is built upon two philosophical sources. Most States value democracy as a political regime while also integrating key tenets of liberalism into their constitutions. Hence the description of those States’ regime as liberal democracies. According to conventional wisdom, liberalism and democracy are thus compatible, and even mutually reinforcing. They would provide a fine-tuned balance between the ability for a people to decide on its fate and a universal respect of each individual’s moral worth regardless of her origins or belongings. However, at the borders of democracy, this understanding proves to be misguided. For people’s ability to decide for themselves may (and with an increasing frequency do) run counter some individual’s rights, including an inchoate freedom of movement. Taking this conflict of principles between democracy and liberalism as a starting point, this seminar will explore the different solutions suggested by political theorists to articulate those two traditions and critically examine their potential consequences for migration policies. Organized in three chapters (covering respectively the conceptual relations between hospitality and cosmopolitanism, the issue of justice in migration policies, and the idea of an unbounded democracy), we will look mostly at modern and contemporary literature, including authors such as J. Rawls, C. Schmitt, H. Arendt, J. Habermas, or E. Balibar.

This seminar blends together elements of political theory and history of ideas. It is directed towards students, who are willing and motivated to engage with complex historical and theoretical texts, directly connected and relevant to a contemporaneous issue, and discuss them in class.

By the end of this seminar, students should be able to
1) discuss and explain various theoretical concepts;
2) articulate and deploy complex political theories and relate them to contemporary academic and public debates;
3) critically assess the adequacy of core political concepts in light of contemporary and historical events;
4) defend and justify written and spoken arguments with strong textual evidence.

Assessment and permitted materials

a) Active participation to the seminar (20%)
b) Oral presentation of a text in front of the class (20%)
c) Critical essay to submit by the end of the seminar on either an article of political theory or a migration policy (50%)
d) An up-to-date bibliography on the issue considered in the essay (10%)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

In order to getting a passing grade, students are expected to participate to the discussions that will take place during the seminar, to summarize and briefly present orally one article of political theory to their co-students and to submit by the end of the seminar a short critical essay (1500 to maximum 2000 words) discussing in normative terms either an article of political theory touching upon the issue of migration, or a public policy regulating migration.

Examination topics

The seminar’s material covers both the texts discussed during the lectures and the content of the lectures themselves.

Reading list

Kant, Immanuel, Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch, 1795 : 1-38.
Derrida, Jacques, Of Hospitality, Stanford University Press, 2000 : 43-77
Rawls, John, A Theory of Justice, Harvard University Press, 1971 : 1-18 and 47-70.
Walzer, Michael, Spheres of Justice. A Defence of Pluralism and Equality, Basic Books, 1983 : 31-63.
Carens, Joseph H., « Aliens and Citizens. The Case for Open Borders », The Review of Politics, vol. 49, n° 2, 1987 : 251-73.
Miller, David, On Nationality, Oxford University Press, 1995 : 49-80.
Schmitt, Carl, The Concept of the Political, Chicago University Press, 1996 (1932) : 19-58.
Habermas, Jürgen, « On the Relation between the Nation, the Rule of Law, and Democracy » in The Inclusion of the Other. Studies in Political Theory, Cambridge (Ma.), Polity Press, 1998 : 129-153.
Abizadeh, Arash, « Democratic Theory and Border Coercion. No Right to Unilaterally Control Your Own Borders », Political Theory, vol.36, n°1, 2008 : 37-56.
Arendt, Hannah, “ The Decline of the Nation-State and the End of the Rights of Man” in The Origins of Totalitarianism, Schocken Book, 2008 (1948) : 369-384.
Balibar, Étienne, « World Borders, Political Borders » PMLA, 117(1), 2002 : 71-78.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:21