The Research Project "Justice in Conflict"

1. Relevance and overall objectives

The aim of the “Justice in Conflict” project is to contribute to current debate on justice, religion, and tolerance from the perspective of normative political theory. These issues have been widely discussed in the literature in recent years, and substantial progress has been made. However, there is no established consensus on the methodology regarding the principles, theories, or conceptual tools required to analyze contemporary situations causing justice conflicts. Moreover, even if consensus is achieved on core principles (e.g., liberty, equality, opportunities), there could still be disagreement regarding the relative importance of the principles themselves, and how we should proceed to help ensure and protect the values that these principles entail.

The “Justice in Conflict” project will (i) critically assess some of the main theories and approaches in the field of contemporary normative political philosophy, focusing on justice in a global context, religion in the liberal state, and tolerance and recognition in the public sphere; (ii) develop a framework, theoretical foundation, and conceptual tools; and (iii) use this theoretical framework to address some of the most pressing conflicts within a national and a global context. In addition, the project will address gender issues relating to these dimensions. The project consists of the following three research areas:

1. Culture, deliberation, and tolerance
2. Global justice, human rights, and human capabilities
3. Gender, politics, and justice

These three research areas will be addressed in collaboration with researchers from national institutions (NTNU, UiB, UiO, ARENA, the Sami University College, the University of Agder), and international researchers from the University of Reading, Yale University, the University of Málaga, and Aarhus University. The project is hosted by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Tromsø and the Pluralism, Democracy, and Justice Research Group. Over a three years period the justice in Conflict project will arrange publication seminars, host workshops, and international conferences on all of the three research areas. These activities are expected to result in several publications in high ranking international journals . Another outcome is increased national collaboration amongst those working in the field of political philosophy and strengthening of international collaboration.