Distributive Justice, Poverty, and the Global Financial System

This course examines how to deal with fairly distributing the benefits and burdens of international cooperation and especially the role of international development aid in alleviating poverty. Students confront not just a debate on priorities (such as, which comes first, political or economic rights?), but fundamental disagreements about the role of international aid for the most vulnerable countries.

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Topics covered

This course seeks to answer several questions:

Why are so many countries poor?
What are our responsibilities in the face of poverty?
How to implement principles of distributive justice?
What is the role for national and international financial institutions?
How to fix the international financial system: What are the implications for development?
How to strengthen the financial architecture for development?
How good are international financial institutions with delivering results?
How to create more value for the most vulnerable populations?

Course design

As opposed to the typical academic setting in which theories are presented—normally one at a time—this course is integrative and shows how a variety of conceptual prisms are needed to interpret real ethical challenges and propose concrete solutions.