political theory|visiting speakers|masters in legal and political theory

*This is a compulsory module for students registered on the MA Legal and Political Theory programme and is not available as an optional module.

Peer-assisted...

Peer Assisted Learning Sessions (PUBL0070)

How should we deal with diversity? Human beings differ in our religious convictions, our cultural identities, our race and ethnicity, our privilege, our...

Equality, Justice and Difference (PUBL0023)

How should we deal with diversity? Human beings differ in our religious convictions, our cultural identities, our race and ethnicity, our privilege, our gender, our sexual orientation, our ability, and more. How should we organise our societies given that we don’t agree about how to live? This module examines one of the most pressing political problems facing contemporary pluralist societies: how can we ensure that all individuals are treated equally, while respecting the fact that each individual is different?

The module examines responses to the claims of 'difference' from a range of political ideologies: liberalism, feminism, and multiculturalism. It critically examines the recent work of various political theorists, such as Brian Barry, Chandran Kukathas, Will Kymlicka, Susan Moller Okin, Anne Phillips, John Rawls, Charles Taylor, and Iris Marion Young. In this applied course we are interested in both the philosophical issues, and how the normative values involved should be used to guide policy decision-making and practice, building skills in analytical argument by exploring these issues. After a normative grounding, the module explores these conceptual questions through concrete case studies. For example, previous presentations of this module have included: religious exemptions to generally applicable laws, language policy in Quebec and Wales, and fair access to higher education.

This module is organized into a number of discrete seminar series that cover the major influential theorists and schools that have developed since the early...