Global Ethics

Mainstream IR theory has traditionally downplayed a concern with ethics, often relegating normative concerns to the domestic sphere. To correct for this, cutting edge work in the field has started to develop tools to confront some of the most pressing global issues: for instance conflict, atrocity, increasing inequality, migration, displacement, and climate change. This course sets out a series of frameworks with which to understand and act upon these issues, as well as examining arguments about the key actors in international ethics and analysing the logics of various responses to ethical problems. The course explores the relationships between theory and practice and between ethics and politics, and is structured around both close examination of the academic literature and application to ‘real world’ situations and cases.