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Different Perspectives on Global Justice: a Fusion of Horizons

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Different Perspectives on Global Justice: a Fusion of Horizons DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBAL JUSTICE: A FUSION OF HORIZONS by Frank Aragbonfoh Abumere Dissertation submitted to the Department of Political Science at LUISS Guido Carli for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and to the Faculty of Sociology / History, Philosophy and Theology at Bielefeld University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) Supervisor 1: Prof. Sebastiano Maffettone, LUISS Guido Carli Supervisor 2: Prof. Dr. Andreas Vasilache, Bielefeld University Rome and Bielefeld, 31 October, 2014. ABSTRACT When he was asked where he came from, Diogenes of Sinope (404 - 323 B.C.) famously declared: “I am a citizen of the world.”1 The Cynic’s declaration resonates with our intensively and extensively globalised world. Just as it was important whether a person sees him/herself as primarily a citizen of a particular polis or a citizen of the universal cosmopolis during the Cynic’s time, so also it is important – if not even more important – whether we see ourselves as primarily members of a state or the global society today. This dissertation is aimed at delving into the debate on global justice. There are many ways to deal with the issue of global justice. I have chosen one way; to focus on cosmopolitanism contra statism in relation to resource curse with a view of arriving at a fusion of horizons. Essentially, cosmopolitanism and statism are attempts by political philosophers to set moral standards for our world. In our world today, there is need to set standards of behaviour in certain essential aspects of life. Standards are indispensable because the consequences of lack of standards are frighteningly negative. Imagine a world without standards. I am of the opinion that a world without standards will end up in self-destruction. Without standards we will not be able to live together in harmony since there will be no common ground for the harmonization of our interests. Consequently, to use Hobbes’ nuance, we will go back to the state of nature where it is the war of all against all. But it is not enough to have standards; those standards have to be just. For unjust standards could as well pitch us against one another thereby we will find ourselves yet in some form of state of nature. So, if standards are indispensable, just standards are even more indispensable. Just standards, supposedly, will make the world a peaceful place and the earth a better place for its inhabitants. This is why I am delving into the subject matter of this dissertation. For me, this is an endeavour to look at some aspects of global justice in terms of what they are and then proffer solutions as to what they ought to be. What I hope to achieve with this dissertation is to convince some of my readers that whether we are cosmopolitans or statists, it is possible for us to be globally just at least to some reasonable extent. This dissertation is divided into an introduction, six chapters which are further divided into sub-chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction introduces the subject matter of the 1 Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers. Ed. R.D. Hicks, 1972: Book VI (Chapter 2), p. 63. Page 2 of 252 dissertation and presents my position on the subject matter. The first chapter discusses the theoretical and conceptual differences between cosmopolitanism and statism, and discusses the methodological approach that will be used in the dissertation. The second chapter is divided into six sub-chapters. The first sub-chapter presents an overview of cosmopolitanism and statism. The second and third sub-chapters discuss the views of two statists namely John Rawls and Thomas Nagel. The third and fourth sub- chapters discuss the views of two cosmopolitans namely Charles Beitz and Thomas Pogge. While the sixth sub-chapter discusses Sebastiano Maffettone’s intermediary position between the cosmopolitan and the statist views. The third chapter focuses on resource curse. It presents a descriptive analysis of resource curse in general, and then contextualises it in sub-Saharan Africa paying particular attention to the cases of Nigeria, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The fourth chapter, relying on the descriptive analysis in the third chapter, provides a preliminary prescriptive analysis of resource curse. Then the fifth chapter extends the prescriptive analysis by examining the moral relationship between causality and responsibility on different levels in the context of resource curse. The sixth chapter examines possible arguments against my attempt to fuse the horizons of cosmopolitanism and statism. It reviews my hypothesis, recapitulates the key issues in the dissertation and then summarises the benefits of fusing the horizons of cosmopolitanism and statism. Finally, the concluding part of the dissertation disclaims the notion that my adopted fusion of horizons is a negation of cosmopolitanism and statism, and then reiterates my position on the subject matter of the dissertation. Page 3 of 252 Abstract Als er gefragt wurde, woher er käme, erklärte Diogenes of Sinope (404-323 v.Chr.): „Ich bin ein Weltenbürger.“ Des Zynikers Erklärung lässt sich gut mit unserer heutigen globalisierten Welt in Einklang bringen. So wie es damals wichtig gewesen ist, ob sich eine Person in erster Linie als Bürger einer bestimmten Polis oder als ein Weltenbürger verstand, so ist es auch heute wichtig - wenn nicht sogar noch wichtiger geworden - ob wir uns selbst als Mitglieder eines bestimmten Staates oder einer globalen Gesellschaft verstehen. Diese Dissertation setzt sich mit der Debatte über globale Gerechtigkeit auseinander. Es gibt mehrere Arten oder Methoden, mit denen man das Thema von globaler Gerechtigkeit bearbeiten kann. Ich werde mich auf den Kosmopilitismus und den Etatismus im Bezug auf den Ressourcenfluch konzentrieren, um zu einer Horizontverschmelzung beider zu gelangen. Wesentlich für den Kosmopilitismus und Etatismus sind die Herangehensweisen der politischen Philosophie, damit sie moralische Maßnahmen für die eine Welt andenken können. In der heutigen Welt gibt es einen großen Bedarf, Verhaltensnormen in einigen wesentlichen Aspekten des Lebens zu setzen. Bestimmte Standards sind unverzichtbar, weil die Folgen von mangelhaften Standards erschrekend negativ sind. Stellen Sie sich eine Welt ohne Normen vor. Ich bin der Meinung, dass eine Welt ohne Normen zu ihrer Selbstzerstörung führen würde. Ohne Normen können wir nicht miteinander in Harmonie leben, denn es würde keine Harmonisierung unserer unterschiedlichen Interessen möglich sein. Dementsprechend, um auch Hobbes mit einzubeziehen, werden wir zum Naturzustand zurückkommen müssen, in dem es zum Krieg aller gegen alle kommt. Allerdings reicht es nicht aus, Normen zu haben, da diese Normen zudem auch gerecht sein müssen. Eine ungerechte Norm kann vielmehr dazu führen, uns gegeneinander zu stellen, was wiederum erneut zum Naturzustand führen würde. Also, wenn Normen unentbehrlich sind, sind gerechte Standards umso wichtiger. Gerechte Normen werden die Welt angeblich zu einem friedlicheren Ort machen und sie in einen besseren Ort für all ihre Bewohner verwandeln. Deshalb möchte ich mich mit diesem Thema in meiner Dissertation beschäftigen. Für mich ist es eine Bestrebung, ein paar Aspekte einer globalen Gerechtigkeit darzustellen und dessen Ermöglichungsansätze aufzuzeigen. Mit dieser Dissertation hoffe ich, meine Leser davon überzeugen zu können, dass egal, ob wir Kosmopolitaner oder Bürger eines Staates sind, es für uns möglich ist, globale Gerechtigkeit in einem guten Ausmaß herzustellen. Page 4 of 252 Die Dissertation selbst ist unterteilt in einer kurzen Einführung, sechs Hauptkapitel die wiederum in mehrere Unterkapitel aufgeteilt sind, und letzlich einen Schluss. In der Einführung stelle ich sowohl das Thema der Dissertation als auch meine eigene Position dar. Beim ersten Kapitel geht es dann in der Folge um den theoretischen und begrifflichen Unterschied zwischen Kosmopolitismus und Etatismus. Zudem stelle ich hierin das methodologische Verfahren, das in der Dissertation verwendet wird, dar. Das zweite Kapitel wird in sechs Unterkapitel unterteilt sein. Das erste Unterkapitel stellt einen Überblick über den Kosmopolitanismus und Etatismus dar. Bei dem zweiten und dritten Unterkapitel geht es um die Ansicht zweier Vertreter der Staatsbürger- Perspektive. Namentlich, John Rawls und Thomas Nagel. Im dritten und vierten Unterkapitel behandele ich zwei Kosmopolitaner: Charles Beitz und Thomas Pogge. Das sechste Unterkapitel diskutiert daraufhin Sabastiano Maffettones vermittelnde Ansicht zwischen kosmopolitanischer und staatsbürgerlicher Ansicht. Das dritte Kapitel stellt sich dem Thema des Ressourcenfluchs. Es stellt eine allgemeine Analyse des Selbigen vor und kontextualisiert sie im Gebiet der Sub-Sahara in Afrika. Genauer hin in Bezug auf Nigeria, Angola, und die demokratische Republick Kongo. Das vierte Kapitel basiert auf den deskriptiven Analysen des dritten Kapitels, um eine vorläufige präskriptive Analyse des Ressourcenfluchs darzustellen. Beim fünften Kapitel handelt es sich um eine Erweiterung dieser präskriptiven Analyse durch eine Überprüfung des moralischen Zusammenhangs zwischen Kausalität und Verantwortlichkeit auf verschiedenen Ebenen im Rahmen dieses Ressourcenfluchs. Das sechste Kapitel untersucht mögliche Argumente gegen meinen Versuch, Kosmopolitanismus und Etatismus zusammen zu denken. Es überprüft meine Hypothese, rekapituliert die Hauptthemen in der Dissertation und fasst den möglichen Gewinn dieser Horizontsverschmelzung von Kosmopolitanismus
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