Unit 5: Resolving Conflictive Claims For Justice: Revisiting The Individual -Collective Debate
Among the myriad of issues of applied global justice are questions that pertain to conflicting claims of fairness. Having explored empowerment, agency, and distributive justice in the previous unit, this unit turns to an analysis of global justice and resolving conflictive claims. Specifically, how might you apply the theoretical material to situations that arise when various individuals, groups, or communities make apparently competing claims for justice? While particular societies may have conflict resolution mechanisms to mete out justice, are there parallel effective mechanisms when the discussion shifts to global justice? Of singular significance are two scenarios: conflicts between individuals' claims of justice vs. those claims of a community and conflictive claims made by different communities. Such questions are examined in two specific contexts: gender/sexuality and race/ethnicity. For the former context, this unit will focus on female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual orientation; for the latter context, this unit will discuss self-determination and genocide.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 21 hours.
Unit 5 Current Events Exercise
While this exercise is optional, you are strongly encouraged to complete it. This activity is designed to deepen your understanding of course material by linking such material to current events. Follow the instructions in the document. It may be beneficial to present your findings and answers to the questions by posting to the course discussion forum and responding to other students' posts.