85495 - Justice, Multiculturalism and Human Rights

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to analyze the main theoretical approaches to justice, multiculturalism and human rights per se and in their mutual relationships. The course will address and discuss the main contemporary paradigms and doctrines of justice, multiculturalism and human rights, with particular attention to the investigation of the theoretical contradictions that affect their translation into policies and to the analysis of some model/cases of practical application. At the end of the course the student knows the main theoretical approaches to justice, multiculturalism and human rights and he/she is able to critically discuss how their inherent contradictions affect practices and policies.

Course contents

The aim of the course is the analysis of the contemporary theories on multiculturalism and cultural relativism in the frame of constitutional democracy. In the course we will discuss the questions of multiculturalism and cultural relativism with particular reference to the relationship between collective rights and individual rights, to the problem of value pluralism, to the relation between majority and minorities, to the conditions of integration, to the question of multiplicity of religious identities.

More specifically, we will examine the following topics:

1. The current theories of human rights. Human rights and dignity;
   
2. The theories of multiculturalism; Multiculturalism and integration; Multiculturalism and feminism.
3. Theories on cultural relativism.
4. The current debates about justice

Readings/Bibliography

Justice

A. MacIntyre, Dependent Rational Animals, Lasalle: Open Court, 1999.

R. Nozick, Anarchy State Utopia, Oxford: Blackwell, 1974.

M. Nussbaum, M. Nussbaum, Human Functioning and Social Justice: In Defense of Aristotelian Essentialism in "Political Theory", Vol. 20, No. 2. (May, 1992), pp. 202-246 

J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press, 1971 (selected passages).

J. Rawls, Political Liberalism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1993 (selected passages).

Multiculturalism

S. Benhabib, The Claims of Culture, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

S. Benhabib, Another Cosmopolitanism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 13-80. 

W. Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

S. Moller Okin (ed), Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. 

C. Taylor, The Politics of Recognition, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.

Human Rights

J. Finnis, “Grounding Human Rights in Natural Law,” American Journal of Jurisprudence, 60 (2015): 195–225.

G. Gozzi, Rights and Civilizations. A History and Philosophy of International Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019 (Chapters 1 and 5).

S. Holmes -C. Sunstein, The Cost of Rights: Why Liberty Depends on Taxes, New York: Norton, 1999.

A. Sen, Human Rights and Asian Values, New York: Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, 1997.

Teaching methods

15 classes, each 2-hour long, for a total of 30 hours.

Active participation from students is important and will contribute to the final grade.

Assessment methods

The oral exam will take place after the end of the classes and will consist of three/four questions aimed at assessing the student’s level of knowledge of some of the most important topics addressed by the course, as well as her/his ability to critically analyse and verbally articulate them.

Students attending the classes have to prepare 3 readings, to be freely chosen - no more than one from a single section - in the previous list for the oral exam.

Attending students have the option of writing a paper on a topic examined during the course. The paper must be 6-8 page long; details about pagination can be found on Virtuale.

The ability of the student to achieve a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the topics addressed by the course, to critically assess them and to use an appropriate language will be evaluated with the highest grades (A = 27-30 con lode).

A predominantly mnemonic acquisition of the course's contents together with gaps and deficiencies in terms of language, critical and/or logical skills will result in grades ranging from good (B = 24-26) to satisfactory (C = 21-23).

A low level of knowledge of the course’s contents together with gaps and deficiencies in terms of language, critical and/or logical skills will be considered as ‘barely passing' (D = 18-20) or result in a failing grade (F).

Non-attending students are required to read:

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Chapter 1, §§ 1-4 and Chapter 2, § 11.

John Rawls, Political Liberalism. Part One: Political Liberalism: Basic Elements; and Lecture IV: The Idea of an Overlapping Consensus.

In addition, one book of their choice or two articles of their choice in the list of required readings.

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders have the right to special accommodations according to their condition, following an assessment by the Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact the teacher but get in touch with the Service directly to schedule an appointment. It will be the responsibility of the Service to determine the appropriate adaptations. For more information, visit the page:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

 

Teaching tools

Students with a form of disability or specific learning disabilities (DSA) who are requesting academic adjustments or compensatory tools are invited to communicate their needs to the teaching staff in order to properly address them and agree on the appropriate measures with the competent bodies.

Office hours

See the website of Alina Scudieri