Globalization & the Law

Quick Info
(2008.03)  Course
Instructor(s)
Professor H. Saberi
Winter
3 credit(s)  3 hour(s);
Presentation
Seminar style; class discussion; student presentation. The seminar will run over 9 weeks in three-hour classes.
Upper Year Research & Writing Requirement
Yes
Praxicum
No

This course critically examines the phenomenon of globalization in its connection with law from various angles.  The main objective of investigation is to ask: if globalization is really a relatively new phenomenon and what it means to relocate it in historical perspective; if it is uniformly visible and equally significant in different spheres of social life; what is the connection, if any, between the globalization of ideas and material objects in the social world; whether globalization has necessarily been reaffirmed by increase of digital connections; what is the role of technology, emerging or old, in shaping our understanding of global versus local; whether law merely reflects and adapts to the inevitability of globalization or it has an active role in the formation of the concept; if and in what ways the surge of populism which at times is accompanied by nationalism might be a threat to globalization, and more.  In this pursuit, we will take aid from other disciplines just as from in-depth readings, discussions, potential guest speakers, and collective, in-class exercises.