Organizers

Cristian Dimitriu, Alasia Nuti, Isaac Taylor

Venue

Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften Bad Homburg

http://www.forschungskolleg-humanwissenschaften.de/index.php/en/

Speakers

Cristian Dimitriu (Justitia Amplificata), Luara Ferraccioli (University of Amsterdam), Axel Gosseries (Université Catholique de Louvain), Tamar Meisels (Tel Aviv University), Alasia Nuti (Justitia Amplificata/University of York), James Pattison (University of Manchester), Isaac Taylor (Justitia Amplificata), Gabriel Wollner (Humboldt University Berlin), Lea Ypi (LSE).

Conference Description

The guiding idea of the European Union is that more can be achieved by working together than by acting alone. Yet a number of recent challenges call into question Europe’s collective capacity to promote prosperity and justice. Controversies over the terms of migration and the fair distribution of refugees among member-states suggests an isolationist attitude is present in many countries. The disagreements between Greece and its creditors over the terms of sovereign debt repayment is fuelled by the suspicion that the EU is not working for everybody. And many European countries’ reaction to the Syrian civil war has been thought by many to have been inadequate. This conference aims to explore the normative issues underlying these challenges. Topics include:

What moral prohibitions apply to states taking military action against terrorist groups? Do the standard principles of just war theory apply to military counter-terrorist operations or do they need to be modified for this "new" type of conflict? Under what circumstances (if any) is targeted killing of known terrorists permissible? Should states concerned with their security provide inducements to actors engaged in foreign conflicts rather than entering them directly?

Are states entitled to default on their sovereign debts? If so, under what conditions? What principles should rule sovereign debt restructuring? What are odious debts, and how would a feasible institutional arrangement eradicate them? And why should current generations honour debts incurred by previous ones? What is the connection between sovereign debts, human rights, corruption and complicity?

Which are the specific challenges in justice in migration faced by the EU today? How should the EU respond to the refugee crisis and, in general, to asylum seekers? Has freedom of movement translated into justice for those European citizens who temporarily or circularly migrate within the EU? And, how should (in)justice in temporary migration within the EU be theorized?