Contemporary Debates in Political Theory

This course aims at reconsidering Liberal Democracy in the wake of an increasingly pluralised and divided world. Although democracy is a widely endorsed modern ideal and a guiding principle in both domestic and international politics, disagreement emerges on what exactly democracy means, why it might be a good thing, which values it entails and/ or what institutions give expression to it and, finally, how and whether liberal democratic justice should be endorsed globally. This course will consider Liberal Democracy from the vantage point of Rawls’ theory, with the aim of confronting this influential perspective with recent debates emerging in political theory. The course is designed with a mixture of Guest lectures and seminars and will cover several topics ranging from more standard debates on the meaning of democratic equality, tolerance and religions and global justice to more recent topics/issues in this debate, such as European Integration, Historical Injustice and Transitional Justice.

Teacher: Prof. Valentina Gentile