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Call for Papers "Towards a Global Leviathan? Examining the (Dis)Advantages of a World State" International Conference and Summer School Ghent University Ghent (Belgium) 8-11 September 2008 __________________________________________________ In the present debate on globalisation and global justice, political philosophy once more ties in with the old philosophical idea of cosmopolitanism. The current interpretation of the Greek idea of kosmopolitès or world citizen seems to supply a model that combines many ethical and political dimensions of the discussion on globalisation. In this revival of cosmopolitanism, one aspect catches the eye: these authors who approach the subject in a positive way, hasten to say that they do not aim to mark the contours of a world state. Moral cosmopolitanism seems to be more or less acceptable and has many spiritual fathers. Political cosmopolitanism, on the contrary, is being received reluctantly and is tentatively treated as the illegitimate child of political theory. This striking fact forms the point of departure for the conference and brings about the following question: Why is it that contemporary political philosophy avoids the subject of a world state? Although, in recent literature, we can observe a fairly great consensus about the necessity of global institutional reforms at political and economic levels, it seems as if Kant's famous warning about a universal despot as a kind of global Leviathan a priori paralyses all ideas towards a global state. Or is it the seemingly huge task that puts off possible authors of a political blueprint for the world in the first place? After all, the model of a global state not only includes a clear political and juridical definition, but also a reliable scientific approach in these times of global climate changes and impressive demographic evolutions (increase of the ageing population, overpopulation, immigration...). This is why the original question of the desirability of a world state raises other important questions: - Are institutional reforms on a global scale necessary? - How far can those reforms reach? - What risks do those reforms imply? - What risks does a global state involve? - What is the link between global justice and a world state? - Does a world state necessarily result in a global Leviathan or absolute despotism? - How do global state and democracy relate to each other? - What is the alternative to a world state? - To what extent must a world state be federal or confederate, supranational or intergovernmental? - Can a possible world state be grafted onto existing political models? - What is the link between the traditional nation state and a world state? Within the scope of this conference, beside papers on the above-mentioned issues, we also welcome papers on the following subjects: - Cosmopolitanism and global justice - Patriotism versus universalism - Global constitutionalism - Ius cosmopoliticum and the state - Rawls and a global state - Nation state and globalisation - Reforms of the UN - The EU as a global player - Human rights and state sovereignty - The political framework of economic globalisation - Nationalism, citizenship and transnational identity - Constitution of a supranational state - Global economy and a world state - The history of cosmopolitanism - Pluralism and political power in an international context - Immigration, nationality and (open/closed) borders Confirmed speakers: - James Bohman, Department of Philosophy, Saint Louis University, USA - Simon Caney, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University, UK - Philippe Van Parijs, Hoover Chair of Economic and Social Ethics, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium - Hauke Brunkhorst, Institut für Soziologie, Universität Flensburg, Germany - Otfried Höffe, Department of Philosophy, Universität Tübingen, Germany - Anthony McGrew, Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton, UK - Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Germany - Katrin Flikschuh, Government Department, London School of Economics, UK - Darrel Moellendorf, San Diego State University, USA - Pauline Kleingeld, Leiden University, Netherlands - Luis Cabrera, Political Science, Arizona State University/University of Birmingham, USA/UK - Nigel Dower, Philosophy, University of Aberdeen, UK - Campbell Craig, Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton, UK - Catherine Lu, Department of Political Science, Mc Gill University, Canada - Brian Baxter, School of Humanities, University of Dundee, UK This international and interdisciplinary conference on the political and philosophical implications of institutional cosmopolitanism is hosted by the Institute for Law, Ethics and Society (In Rem, Ghent University) and co-organised by the Centre for Human Rights (CHR, Ghent University), by the Centre for Ethics and Value Inquiry (Cevi, Ghent University) and by the Institute for Global Governance (Ghent University). Deadline for abstract submission: March 1, 2008. Accepted presenters will be notified by May 15, 2008. Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be e-mailed as a Word-document to: Diederik Vandendriessche <[email protected]> Submissions should be prepared for blind review. For more information: http://www.globalleviathan.org __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org
