Ideas of Justice in Conflict

Abstract

In their conduct of foreign policies and efforts of global governance states are frequently motivated by different normative concerns which they perceive as stakes or entitlements. Such concerns, which include notions of justice along with other ideas such as sovereignty, regime change or balance of power, further conflicts between states and can ultimately lead to war. For example, in political practice parochial justice claims can become a source of conflict when states or other communities do not share the same notions. The panel seeks to examine clashes of ideas that furthered outbreaks of violent conflict or at least led to serious disputes between the parties. The panel seeks to gain insights into the social construction of conflict processes and how certain ideas – like sovereignty or justice – structure and guide states’ positions. It aims at tracing the development of such ideas across time and at studying how political theory and IR theories have influenced or modified this development. In political theory, certain ideas of justice have long been contested, e.g. between cosmopolitan and communitarian approaches. As an IR theory, the English School mirrors this conflict in its positional differences between solidarism and pluralism. The panel reflects upon different theoretical debates on ideas of justice and how they relate to conflicts between states. With a view on political practice, the panel identifies parochial justice beliefs such as forcible regime change which is still promoted by some as legitimate policy option despite historical evidence that such normatively driven policies often lead to war. The panel therefore looks at the consequences for international order and stability when states pursue policies of normative concerns in following ideas of justice.

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