Global Justice and Africa in the Contemporary World Report

Summary

The past month was helpful for understanding the concept of global justice and particular aspects connected to it. The main issue concerned climate changes. I have also studied in detail the position of Africa in the contemporary world. It included the way how China shapes the political economy in Africa, the impact of climate change, and the future of Africa’s youth. Besides, I realised the essence and nature of resources disputes by the example of the “Nile” conflict. All the work done allows expanding my view of world justice issues.

Global Justice

The problem of climate change is of global significance. In my case, the concept of justice is considered from the side of an individual or collective responsibility. In particular, how and who should be responsible for providing a solution. For example, Caney (2005) uses the principle of “polluter pays” as an example and suggests three ways to solve the problem. His work deals with such issues as intergenerational responsibility and individualist and collectivist methodology. Caney (2005, p. 774) argues for an individualist approach but mentions that more in-depth analysis should be carried out. I agree with the author that the entire group should not be responsible for the violations of only one of its members, especially if he or she belongs to the past generation and no more alive. The topic of responsibility also continues in Vanderheiden’s (2001) essay, as he discusses mitigation and global climate policy. It is noteworthy that Vanderheiden (2001, p. 82) creates a formula “of using collective liability in assigning state liability and then making internal individual liability assessments to allocate this national liability among each nation’s resident population.” In my opinion, this way of solving the problem has more advantages than the one that provides a distinct division into individuals and collectives.

Africa in the Contemporary World

During week 10, I have studied various aspects of politics and economics on the African continent. The issues I have considered concern relations with China, climate change, and the lives of young people. As for relations with China, the overall picture shows that they are mutually beneficial, since for China it is a large sales market, and for Africa – a way to achieve self-reliance (Agbebi and Virtanen, 2017). The issue of youth on the continent is also remarkable. According to Mabala (2011), there is a tendency in Africa to demonize young people who want to live in urban areas and increase their income. In addition, the government’s support for the young population is deficient. I fully agree with the author that it is necessary to cultivate an ambitious and creative beginning in young people to ensure further stable development. I have also analyzed the “Nile” conflict, which involves three countries at once – Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. The water dispute is further complicated by the fact that in the next few years, people in Africa will suffer from a lack of clean water due to climate change problems and population growth.

Conclusion

This month has had a significant impact on me, expanding my worldview regarding global justice. Studying the place of Africa in the contemporary world has helped me to look at existing problems in a new way. Henceforth, I plan to continue to study the issue of global justice more precisely, as the problems underlying it will be still relevant in the future. Besides, the methodology used in the global justice problem can be beneficial in my further scientific work.

Reference List

Agbebi, M. and Virtanen, P. (2017) ‘Dependency theory – a conceptual lens to understand China’s presence in Africa?’, Forum for Development Studies, 44(3), pp. 429-451. Routledge.

Caney, S. (2005) ‘Cosmopolitan justice, responsibility, and global climate change’, Leiden Journal of International Law, 18(4), pp. 47-775.

Mabala, R. (2011) ‘Youth and “the hood”-livelihoods and neighbourhoods’, Environment and Urbanization, 23(1), pp. 157-181.

Vanderheiden, S. (2011) ‘Globalizing responsibility for climate change’, Ethics & International Affairs, 25(1), pp. 65-84.