Issues in International Justice

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Justice is often seen, in contemporary political theory, as the most important aspect of political institutions. Ours is a world where there is immense suffering and growing inequality, both of which are questions of distributive justice but in different ways. By a number of standards, absolute poverty has dropped remarkably in the last few years, while inequality worldwide and within countries is growing. In this module, we will examine some of the most important approaches to distributive justice with a specific regard to their implications for international distributive justice. With this focus, we will be considering quite concrete proposals for how to cope with the facts of global poverty and its implications for citizens of wealthy nations like Ireland. Both the theoretical and practical aspects of global justice involve complex questions of equality and rights. We will pay particular attention to the tensions that the interplay between justice and human rights creates.