Admission requirements
None.
Description
What is the idea of ‘justice’? Is it man-made or divine, is it something universal, local or personal, is it ‘just’ an ideal beyond our grasp, or something that may guide our practical decisions? How have people in different places and times perceived justice? And how does justice relate to law? Whereas most political philosophers have addressed the problem of justice by investigating how ‘perfect justice’ can best be achieved through certain social arrangements, this global challenges course rather focuses on human experiences of injustice and their responses, notably subsequent efforts to realize justice by reducing injustice.
For, thinking about justice often begins with an awareness of instances of injustice and possible ways to address them. Whereas the concept of justice can never be captured in a definite form, the realities of injustice are often very tangible. However, perceptions of what is just and unjust may differ among people and social groups. Communities and individuals have always drawn upon cultures, religions, and ideologies as important sources of ideas about justice. In the nineteenth and twentieth century, the rise of the nation-state has enhanced the expectations of national and international law to provide the mechanisms to address injustices, including global injustices.
This course will look both at the idea of justice as well as at a number of specific injustices, and the ways they have been addressed. These global injustices include poverty, gender discrimination, ethnic discrimination, environmental degradation and impunity for gross human rights violation after regime change.
The course is thus not intended to provide students ‘the final answer’ to what justice means; rather, it is designed to make and assist students (to) consider how justice can be thought of and realised.
Course objectives
By the end of the course students will:
- Understand the complexity of the concept of justice
- Understand different disciplinary perspectives on justice
- Distinguish between normative and empirical approaches
- Apply disciplinary ideas on justice in a specific region, community, or institution
- Find, evaluate and critically read academic literature and other information
- Report on their findings orally and in writing using the appropriate formats
Timetable
Please see the LUC website: www.lucthehague.nl
Mode of instruction
Two seminars will follow the plenary lecture each week. In each seminar, students work on a particular case study or problem, and have the opportunity to put theory into practice. Through seminar debate, Blackboard discussion, PowerPoint presentations, supervisory meetings and coursework, students are given the opportunity to present and defend their ideas within an academic setting, and to actively take part in group projects.
Plenary Lectures
2-hour, 7 weeks, on Mondays
Plenary lectures are given in which a number of basic global challenges of justice are discussed in various contexts and from various perspectives, and disciplines, as well as the methodology to research it within the given discipline.
Generally, for the plenary lectures of this course there will be no required reading. The lecturer will put her or his lecture notes on Blackboard after the lecture. In some cases there may be recommended reading.
Seminars
2×2-hour, 7 weeks, on Wednesdays and Fridays
Seminars and the required assignments provide the students the opportunity to apply the newly gained knowledge, as well as train their academic skills.
Assessment method
- Interactive engagement with course material: assessed through In-class participation (16% of final grade): Ongoing Weeks 1 – 7
- Individual engagement with course readings: assessed through Weekly web-postings
(300 words; 20% of final grade): Weeks 1 – 7 - Understanding of course content :assessed through Group Presentations (2 per student; 24% of final grade):Ongoing Weeks 1 – 7
- Expression of holistic understanding of the course: assessed in Final essay
(3000 words; 40% of final grade): Week 8
Blackboard
This course is supported by a BlackBoard site.
Reading list
The literature for each seminar will be placed on the Blackboard, where the majority of articles and chapters can be found. Students are required to print the literature themselves. In the case that material cannot appear on Blackboard due to copyright restrictions, the web link will be placed. Students will then need to retrieve and print the literature themselves.
Registration
This course is only open for LUC The Hague students.
Contact information
Course Convenor: Prof Jan Michiel Otto.
Emails for Prof. Otto are to be sent to his Assistant: Hannah Mason (h.e.mason@law.leidenuniv.nl)
Weekly Overview
Week 1
Justice: What?
Week 2
Justice: How?
Week 3
Economic Justice
Week 4
Gender Justice
Week 5
Justice & Social Cleavages
Week 6
Justice related to natural resources and the environment
Week7
Justice Across Time and Space
Preparation for first session
There is no required preparation for the first lecture.