PSCI 7024: Seminar in Political Theory
Topic: Justice Theory
Spring semester 2009 • M 3:35-6:05 pm • KETCH 116
Instructor: Steve Vanderheiden
Office: Ketchum 21 • Office Hours: M 11-12, W 9-10,
and by appointment
E-mail: vanders@colorado.edu • Phone: 303-492-7440
Course
description:
This is a course in contemporary political theory, focusing
upon the development of justice theory over the past four decades. It begins with the liberal egalitarianism of
John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice,
examines the “Equality of What?” debates that followed, then considers three
main areas in which justice theory has flourished in recent years, organized a
series of important article-length essays and three important books. The first of those areas concerns the
question of the scope of justice, with cosmopolitans urging that justice
principles not be confined to the internal allocations of goods within nations,
as Rawls maintained throughout his work, but that they be applied also to
relations between and among nations and peoples. The second concerns the idea of recognition,
which Iris Young defends as an alternative way of theorizing justice, distinct
from (if not in competition with) distributive justice. Finally, we shall consider Martha Nussbaum’s
development of the capability theory of justice (first articulated by Amartya
Sen), and her extension of that theory to issues of justice to persons with
disabilities and animals. Throughout,
our focus shall be upon the development of these areas of justice theory,
rather than upon debates between liberal egalitarians sympathetic to Rawls and
their many and varied critics, so we shall largely eschew coverage of this
secondary literature, except where relevant to considering cosmopolitan justice
theory and capability or and recognition-based theories of justice.
Course
requirements and grading:
Each seminar participant is responsible for writing
three short (1500 word) review essays and one journal-length seminar paper, and
leading discussion of one weekly topic over the course of the semester. These assignments are described below:
Review
essays: During the first seminar meeting, each student will
sign up for three weekly topics (with no more than two students claiming each
topic), from which review essays will be drawn.
Essays should not merely summarize the readings for the week, but should
critically discuss key themes or issues that arise in several of the assigned
texts or in chapters, raising questions or issues from the arguments or
analyses. Review essays must be strictly
limited to 1500 words, and should be modeled upon similar essays in scholarly
journals (e.g. Political Theory or Perspectives on Politics) or
semi-popular publications (e.g. the New
York Review of Books or the Boston
Review), they offer an opportunity to try out arguments that might be made
in the seminar paper, absent the commitment to develop them into a full
paper. Essays are due in the class
meeting for a given week’s topic.
Seminar
paper: The seminar paper should represent original research
and should follow the formatting conventions of a major journal to which it
might be submitted. For examples of
several reference formatting options, see recent issues of Political Studies, Political
Theory, and The American Political
Science Review (note that other journals relevant to the seminar’s topic
may use variations on one of these formatting styles). Papers need not necessarily be submitted for
publication to the journal for which they are written, but they must be prepared for submission by using the
appropriate text and referencing styles.
Paper topics must be approved by the instructor in advance. Seminar papers are due on May 4.
Grading:
In addition, students are expected to attend all seminar meetings,
having prepared for them by reading all required materials, and to actively
participate in seminar discussion.
Overall, then, the final grade will be calculated from the following
weighted distribution:
Review essays (3) 30%
Seminar paper 50%
Participation 20%
Students must complete all required components in
order to receive a passing grade for the course. Incompletes are available only under
extraordinary circumstances and with
the prior consent of the instructor.
Texts:
Five required texts for
this course are available for purchase at the CU bookstore:
Simon Caney, Justice Beyond Borders (
Martha Nussbaum, Frontiers of Justice (Belknap Press,
2006)
Pogge & Moellendorf,
eds., Global Justice: Seminal Essays
(Paragon House, 2008)
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, revised edition
(Belknap Press, 1999)
Iris Marion Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference (
In addition, several
assigned readings for the seminar can be found online, in CULearn.
University and course policies:
Disability accommodations: If you qualify for accommodations because of a
disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely
manner so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services determines
accommodations based on students’ documented disabilities. Contact:
303-492-8671, Willard 322, http://www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices
Religious observances: Campus policy regarding religious observances requires
that faculty make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students
who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams,
assignments or required attendance. Students needing to miss class or
exams for religious observances must inform the instructor during the first two
weeks of the term. See http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html
Classroom behavior: Students and faculty share responsibility for maintaining an
appropriate learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to such
behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Faculty have the
professional responsibility to treat all students with understanding, dignity
and respect, to guide classroom discussion and to set reasonable limits on the
manner in which they and their students express opinions. Professional
courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals
and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics,
sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. Class
rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will
gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun.
Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make
appropriate changes to my records. See the polices at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and
at
http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code
Discrimination and harassment: The CU Boulder policy on Discrimination and Harassment,
the
Honor code:
All students of CU Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the
academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may
include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, and
threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be
reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; 303-725-2273). Students
found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to
both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions
(including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion).
More information on the Honor Code can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and
http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/
Seminar
reading and discussion schedule:
January 12: Introduction
January 19: MLK holiday (no class)
January 26: Rawlsian Justice, Part 1: Theory
John Rawls, A
Theory of Justice, revised edition, chs. 1-3
February 2: Rawlsian Justice, Part 2: Institutions
John Rawls, A
Theory of Justice, revised edition, chs. 4-6
John Rawls, “The Idea of Public Reason,” in CUL
February 9: Equality of What? Contested Indices of Egalitarian Justice
Ronald Dworkin, “What is Equality? Part 1: Equality of
Welfare,” in CUL
Ronald Dworkin, “What is Equality? Part 2: Equality of
Resources,” in CUL
Amartya Sen, “Equality of What?,” in GJSE
Martha Nussbaum, “Human Capabilities, Female Human
Beings,” in GJSE
Richard Arneson, “Two Cheers for Capabilities,” in CUL
Michael Walzer, “The Distribution of Membership,” in GJSE
February 16: The Cosmopolitan Challenge: Opening Arguments
Onora O’Neill, “Lifeboat Earth,” in GJSE
Peter Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” in CUL
Thomas Nagel, “Poverty and Food: Why Charity is Not
Enough,” in GJSE
Charles Beitz, “Justice and International Relations,”
in GJSE
Brian Barry, “Humanity and Justice in Global
Perspective,” in GJSE
Henry Shue, Chapters 1-2 of Basic Rights, in GJSE
February 23: Do/Should National Borders Matter to Justice Theory?
John Rawls, “The Law of Peoples,” in GJSE
Darrel Muellendorf, “Constructing the Law of Peoples,”
in GJSE
David Miller, “The Ethical Significance of
Nationality,” in GJSE
Robert Goodin, “What is So Special about Our Fellow
Countrymen?,” in GJSE
Jeremy Waldron, “Special Ties and Natural Duties,” in GJSE
Michael Blake, “Distributive Justice, State Coercion,
and Autonomy,” in GJSE
Thomas Nagel, “The Problem of Global Justice,” in CUL
March 2: Cosmopolitanism Triumphant?
Allen Buchanan, “The Law of Peoples: Rules for a
Vanished Westphalian World,” in CUL
Kok-Chor Tan, “Liberal Toleration in Rawls’s Law of
Peoples,” in GJSE
Thomas Pogge, “An Egalitarian Law of Peoples,” in GJSE
Hillel Steiner, “Just Taxation and International
Redistribution,” in GJSE
Charles Beitz, “Human Rights as a Common Concern,” in CUL
Joseph Carens, Aliens and Citizens: The Case for Open
Borders,” in GJSE
Seyla Benhabib, from Another Cosmopolitanism, in CUL
March 9: Cosmopolitan Justice: Further Issues
Jürgen Habermas, “Citizenship and National Identity,”
in GJSE
David Held, “Democray: From City-States to a
Cosmpolitan Order?,” in GJSE
Thomas Pogge, “Cosmopolitanism and Sovereignty,” in GJSE
Allen Buchanan, “Theories of Secession,” in GJSE
Joshua Cohen, “Minimalism about Human Rights: The Most
We Can Hope For?,” in CUL
Robert Dahl, "Can International
Organizations be Democratic? A Skeptic's View,” in CUL
James Tobin, "A Comment on Dahl's
Skepticism," in CUL
March 16: Caney’s Cosmopolitanism, Part 1: Theory
Simon Caney, Justice
Beyond Borders, chs. 1-4.
March 30: Caney’s Cosmopolitanism, Part 2: Application
Simon Caney, Justice
Beyond Borders, chs. 5-8.
April 6: Young’s Theory of Justice as Recognition, Part 1: Displacing
Distribution
Iris Marion Young, Justice
and the Politics of Difference, chs. 1-4.
April 13: Young’s Theory of Justice as Recognition, Part 2: Identity and
Difference
Iris Marion Young, Justice
and the Politics of Difference, chs. 5-8.
April 20: Nussbaum’s Capability Theory, Part 1: Disability
Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers
of Justice, chs. 1-3
April 27: Nussbaum’s Capability Theory, Part 2: Foreigners and Animals
Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice, chs 4-6.