Module SGIA3201: THE ETHICS OF VIOLENCE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3201: THE ETHICS OF VIOLENCE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• This course will explore how far and in what we ways we can talk about ethics in relation to international relations. It will examine two important 'Realist' traditions in international relations, namely scepticism which denies the possibility of ethics, and internationalism which asserts a 'morality of states', and against these, discuss a third and more radical approach - cosmopolitanism. These approaches will be applied to three main areas concerning the use of violence: the ethics of warfare; human rights and the ethics of intervention; and the nature and status of international institutions, especially the UN.

Content

• This module explores how far and in what ways ethics apply in connection with international relations, examining two important 'Realist' traditions: 'scepticism' and 'internationalism', and a more radical approach - 'cosmopolitanism'. These approaches are applied to three main areas concerning the use of violence: the ethics of warfare; human rights and the ethics of intervention; and international institutions, especially the UN. It thus enables students to place ethical aspects of international relations within the context of their earlier and more general studies and to appreciate the wide impact of ethical issues, concepts and theories in debates on the use of violence.
• Students taking the course should develop knowledge and understanding of the material and the subject specific and key skills necessary for the production of essay, presentation, literature review and project for assessment.

Learning Outcomes

• Through the module, students should acquire subject specific knowledge of:
• important elements of political philosophy and normative political theory in the context of ethical debates over the use of violence in international relations
• techniques and methods for theorising and investigating this area of political activity
• the contested and dynamic nature of the politics of violence in international relations
• the problems of analysing specific political events in appropriate context
• the interaction of a range of actors in establishing conceptual and theoretical frameworks for thinking about violence, and how those more directly involved respond to and utilise these ideas.

• Through the module, students should also further develop subject specific skills, enabling them to:
• identify and apply appropriate methods of political analysis in support of analytical argument, including the analysis and evaluation of competing theories, concepts and explanations
• effectively utilise diverse sources, including appropriate primary sources
• understand the significance of political ideals and ideas to the subject of the ethics of violence
• demonstrate an independent and self-critical approach to learning.

• During the module, students will demonstrate and further develop important key skills. They should be able to:
• retrieve and utilise a wide range of information using their own initiative
• accurately assess the suitability and quality of resources
• plan and complete written and other assignments on-time and in appropriate formats
• show flexibility in using knowledge and subject specific skills to meet the specific demands of the module
• take responsibility for their own work.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching and learning is by three lectures at the start of the module to introduce the main theoretical approaches the module deploys and then by eleven seminars distributed through the rest of the academic year. The lectures offer initial instruction in these approaches as they may not be familiar, imparting basic information necessary for the module and enabling staff to highlight the key differences that underpin much of the rest of the course.
• Thereafter, the module uses seminars to set out the principal issues and questions raised by the topic and to provide a framework for subsequent debate, analysis and discussion exploring the contested and dynamic nature of the subject. Seminars offer an opportunity for considering the particular problems of context in this field, and the difficulties of weighing up a variety of factors in reaching analytical conclusions.
• Formative assessment is by 2000-word essay. This offers students an opportunity to get to grips with the approach of the module via a familiar writing exercise. In particular, the module's emphasis on normative theory and the depth of disputes about how to understand the ethics of violence require some getting used to and this exercise offers students that chance.
• Summative assessment is by literature review and case-study project. Literature reviews are focused principally on the theoretical and/or conceptual aspects of the course, via specific pieces of literature. The aim is to develop an analytical critique that places the specific piece in appropriate context and assesses the extent to which the piece should be regarded as important, or even seminal, in our thinking about ethics and violence in international relations. The aims of the case-study project are for students to examine, analyse and assess the ethical issues surrounding the use of violence in a specific international political instance. The cases, chosen from a specified list, raise serious and controversial ethical issues about the use of violence and challenge students to come to a reasoned, well-argued judgement about both the international political response as it actually occurred, and to defend a superior course of action or draw more general lessons.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One 2000 word essay.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University