F1615 Globalization, Ethics, Welfare and Human Rights (Global Challenges core)
Schönherr-Mann Hans-Martin
Course description - Economy, Welfare and Human Rights under Conditions of Globalization
Globalization has different effects in different fields: primarily as an economic and political process, originating as far back as the imperialism of the 19th century, and continuing at least up until the worldwide financial crisis 2008; political regarding different fields of international cooperation, for example in the United Nations concerning an international agenda for climate politics combined with efforts towards technological innovation in energy production; in the global political influence of the USA or for example China; and the global reflections of regional political conflicts as in the Ukraine, the Iranian efforts to develop nuclear technologies; worldwide terrorism and the so-called global war on it, and so on. The spread of neoliberalism weakens the national states as well as supranational organizations. The welfare state, especially, has been the object of political reforms aiming to reduce its costs with the consequence of increasing social inequality. Conversely a lot of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have emerged in recent decades as well as a number of protest movements based on ethical, political, economic or ecological ideas and criticisms, which try to try to combat the different outgrowths of global capitalism. Naturally globalization is accelerated by computerization, especially the internet, which has become a field of war as well a controlling system, but on the other hand also a place of communication between individual citizens. It also therefore offers opportunities for people power and the fight for human rights.
The course offers possibilities for the students to work on the themes of globalization applying different disciplines and different national perspectives; for example, economic, political, humanitarian, social or technological perspectives on globalization in their own countries.
Teaching Methods: Lectures, discussions, student presentations, reading and analysing texts together in the Seminar.
Evaluation
Reading