POLS309 - World Politics and Justice

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

Professional outcomes in government, policy development and advocacy requires a workforce knowledgeable about contemporary global political developments with the capacity to evaluate policies pertaining to issues of social justice.
This unit examines how conditions of globalisation shape the conduct of world politics in the twenty-first century. Where once nation-states exercised exclusive sovereignty over their territorial borders, today global flows and trends have undermined the demarcation between the domestic and international realm. This unit examines the key political questions that arise from this dynamic, including: human rights; global democracy; war and justice; refugees and forced migration; humanitarianism and the Responsibility to Protect; religion, and new wars. The roles of United Nations and other international organisations and NGOs will also be analysed, with particular attention paid to the question of how we might envisage a more just world.

The aim of this unit is to provide students with a deep understanding of issues of justice in the context of globalisation and world politics.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Describe the nature and significance of world politics and global governance and the political contexts in which they operate (GA5)

LO2 - Critically discuss diverse political perspectives on global justice in world politics, particularly with respect to marginalised, disadvantaged, and vulnerable peoples and communities (GA1, GA2)

LO3 - Demonstrate the capacity to gather, analyse and advocate ethical solutions to political problems through evidence-based argument and evaluation of secondary and primary sources (GA3, GA4, GA8)

LO4 - Apply concepts, theories, trends and methods used in the study of world politics to the analysis of interests, ideas, institutions and political behaviour in a way that informs students’ own practices of engaged citizenship (GA9, GA10).

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include: 

• Theories of world politics 
• State sovereignty and the nation-state 
• International organisations, NGOs and international cooperation 
• The United Nations and its main agencies  
• Human rights and Indigenous rights 
• Global democracy 
• Global justice 
• Refugees and forced migration 
• Humanitarianism and the Responsibility to Protect 
• Global terrorism and homegrown terror 
• Nuclear weapons 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit engages students in active learning activities, such as reading, writing, discussion and problem-solving to promote analysis, synthesis and evaluation of class content. Students encounter ideas through lectures and discuss and assimilate material through tutorial classes. Students will also act collaboratively to deliver tutorial presentations. Collaborative learning is an important component of active learning and sits within a community of inquiry theoretical framework. It provides opportunities for a group of individuals to collaborate in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and mutual understanding. 

This 10-credit point unit has been for 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as lectures, tutorials, reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video etc.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment tasks for this unit have been designed to contribute to high quality student learning by both helping students learn (assessment for learning), and by measuring explicit evidence of their learning (assessment of learning). Assessments have been developed to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. These have been designed so that they use a variety of tasks to measure the different learning outcomes of the unit.  

The descriptive task (quiz) gives students opportunity to describe the nature and significance of world politics and global governance and the political contexts in which they operate.  

The student-led analytical task (presentation) enables students to critically discuss diverse political perspectives on global justice in world politics, particularly with respect to marginalised, disadvantaged, and vulnerable peoples and communities. 

The major written task (essay) allows students to gather, analyse and advocate ethical solutions to political problems through evidence-based argument and evaluation of secondary and primary sources and to apply concepts, theories, trends and methods used in the study of world politics to the analysis of interests, ideas, institutions and political behaviour in a way that informs students’ own practices of engaged citizenship. 

The schedule provides scaffolded learning with opportunities for students to monitor their own progress, practise their skills and receive feedback.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Baylis, J., Smith, S. and Owens, P. (2017). The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  

Beeson, M. and Bisley, N. (2017). Issues in twenty-first century world politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Edkins, J. and Zehfuss, M. (2014). Global politics: A new introduction. London: Routledge. 

Ip, K.K.W. (2016). Egalitarianism and global justice: From a relational perspective. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Jackson, R.J. (2013). Global politics in the 21st century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Juergensmeyer, M. (2014). Thinking globally: A global studies reader. Berkeley: University of  

California Press.  

Kavalski, E. (2015). Encounters with World Affairs: An Introduction to International Affairs. Farnham: Ashgate. 

Lamy, S., Masker, J.S., Baylis, J., Smith, S. and Owens, P. (2017). Introduction to global politics. New York: Oxford University Press. 

O’Byrne, D.J. (2016). Human rights in a globalizing world. London: Palgrave.  

Park, Susan. (2018). International Organisations and Global Problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  

Sluga, G. and Clavin, P. (2016). Internationalisms: A twenty-first century history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Weiss, T.G. (2013). International organization and global governance. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.