The GLOBUS research project: reconsidering European contributions to global justice

23 August 2021

The envisaged research agenda directed attention to underlying political and structural challenges to global justice that are prior to the distributive problem, as well as to the fact that what is ‘just’ is contested by both theorists and policy makers.

GLOBUS’s research agenda focused on how the EU promotes justice within the specific fields of climate change, trade, development, asylum/migration, and security while also speaking to the horizontal issues of gender and human rights. Three conceptions of justice are identified, as ‘non-dominance’ as ‘impartiality’ and as ‘mutual recognition’.

The project was led by the Centre for European Studies (ARENA) at the University of Oslo and includes four other universities: Bologna (Italy); Tubingen (Germany); University College Dublin (Ireland) and Wits University (SA). Other partners include the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); O.P. Jindal Global University (India) and Renmin University of China.

WSG’s Professor Pundy Pillay led the research initiative (formally titled Work Package 4 [WP4] on ‘Trade, Development and Global Justice. Professor David Everatt and Associate Professor William Gumede were also involved in WP4. The late Associate Professor Ivor Sarakinsky and Professor Anthoni van Nieuwkerk contributed to the security and climate change work packages, respectively.

WP4 focused on two broad themes, namely, EU trade policy (moving from Preferential trade Agreements to Economic Partnership Agreements); and EU Development Policy (aid effectiveness; partnerships; respect for human rights and democratic principles).

Key questions in this area of research include the following:

  • Which conception of justice (non-domination/impartiality/mutual recognition) underpins EU trade and development policies?
  • How does the EU contribute to global justice in the area of trade and development through this conception?
  • How does the EU approach compare with other trade actors and providers?

WSG hosted a workshop in April 2017 on ‘Trade, Aid and Justice in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Regions’.