Against the background of the broader history of the idea of human rights, this lecture investigates when and why the contemporary field of global justice in philosophy and political theory was invented. Returning to the engagement of American liberals with the decolonization process in the 1970s, in the aftermath of the Vietnam war and even as more powerful tendencies were about to bring the welfarist ideal of the postwar era low, this lecture presents contemporary cosmopolitanism as a response to a forgotten revolt of the global south against the prevailing economic order of our age.
The International Relations Cyril Foster Lecture entitled, The Political Origins of Global Justice, was delivered by Professor Samuel Moyn (James Bryce Professor of European Legal History, Columbia University) on 28th November 2013.
Introductions were given by the Chair of the Cyril Foster Committee, Louise Fawcett, and the Vice-Chancellor, Andrew Hamilton.