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PhD course: The legitimacy of economic sanctions in international law and international relationsUniversity of OsloOn 19 – 22 May 2025, IntNatLaw at the University of Oslo is hosting an intensive interdisciplinary PhD course on the legitimacy of economic sanctions in international law and international relations. Economic sanctions are by no means a new phenomenon in international relations, but their use and significance have increased notably in recent decades. Particularly in the wake of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, sanctions have received considerable international attention. International calls for sanctions against Israel in light of the war in Gaza have further accentuated many controversies and dilemmas surrounding such sanctions. These ongoing, tragic, events offer a timely opportunity to explore one of the many challenges with economic sanctions: When are economic sanctions legitimate, and what does it matter if they are? Modern economic sanctions are multifaceted. They are generally understood as a set of restrictions, financial and otherwise, that one government or organization imposes on a state, individual, business, or other entity to punish it or coerce it into different conduct. Thus, sanctions can be directed at multiple targets, they can be imposed unilaterally by a state, multilaterally by several states acting in concert, or through an international organization; they can address a range of different assets or activities; and they can be established for several different purposes. All of these factors, and others, affect the legitimacy of economic sanctions. This course will explore the legitimacy of economic sanctions from the perspectives of different academic disciplines. We will try to identify relevant criteria for such legitimacy, inquire how perceptions of legitimacy affect relevant actors and how sanctions in turn affect the legitimacy of their sources and targets, and discuss the relationship between the legitimacy and the consequences of sanctions. As a framework for discussing sanctions, the course will provide an overview of the main concepts and theories of legitimacy in international law, international relations, and moral and political philosophy, and of how they relate to each other. It will also address some of the theoretical and methodological challenges involved in assessing the legitimacy of economic sanctions. Some of the issues that will be addressed include:
As legitimacy is discussed across a number of different disciplines, this course adopts a multidisciplinary approach, focusing primarily on law, philosophy, and political science. These different disciplines might operate with different concepts of legitimacy and hence study different, though related and sometimes overlapping issues. Thus, philosophy mainly addresses normative legitimacy, which often relates to substantive notions of justice; political science focuses on sociological legitimacy, what factors affect publics’ and elites’ perceptions of international institutions, and the consequences of these perceptions, and legal scholarship focuses on the structure of, as well as the law governing and produced by, institutions, including whether they comport with notions of the rule of law. Furthermore, within each discipline, there will be competing concepts (and conceptions) of legitimacy. The course will be based on active participation and dialogue between the teachers and the course participants. Tentative course program Note that the above program is only tentative and that changes may occur. On a general level, the course will run for four full days (from Monday 19 May 30 in the morning until Thursday 22 May in the afternoon) with four daily sessions. Approximately the first half of the course will address general theories of legitimacy, while the second half will address the specific issues relating to economic sanctions. The course is coordinated by Kjetil Mujezinović Larsen (professor of law) and Jakob Elster (professor in political philosophy) from the University of Oslo. The lecturers include:
Practical information Attendance at the course is tuition-free, but students will need to cover their own travel and accommodation. Basic lunches and refreshments will be provided for. We will also organize one social evening for the students and teachers to get to know each other in an informal context. Application deadline 1 March 2025. The course will be attended by PhD students in law, philosophy, political science, and other related disciplines. A maximum of 20 students will be accepted to the course. In the application form, the applicants need to submit a CV and a short letter of motivation. This letter should include the applicant’s motivation for taking the course, the topic of the applicant’s thesis, how far advanced the applicant is in the work on the thesis, as well as the name of the applicant’s supervisor(s). To apply, please submit this application form. The process and important dates 1 March 2025: Application deadline 8 March 2025: Applicants receive notice of the outcome; accepted applicants receive a list of course literature (core readings) 1 May 2025: Submission deadline for paper to be presented in group session (details will be provided) 19 – 22 May 2025: The course is held in Oslo (attendance in person only, no digital option) 1 August 2025: Deadline for the first draft of the obligatory course essay 1 October 2025: Deadline for the second and final draft Obligatory activities and credits Students are expected to actively participate in discussion during the course and to have read the assigned literature in advance. Students are also expected to give a presentation during the course on a topic related to their PhD project. To complete the course, students must submit a final essay of between 7,000–9,000 words that is anchored in the course literature. The participants will first submit a first draft to receive comments, and then submit a revised final version. If the aforementioned requirements are fulfilled, we recommend that the course gives 5 ECTS credits. However, this must be approved by each candidate’s PhD programme. Learning outcomes The students will acquire:
Hotels and useful links The course will be hosted in the building Domus Juridica, which is part of the University of Oslo’s campus in the centre of Oslo. The address is Kristian Augusts gate 17. There are many hotels within a walking distance, such as for instance Smart hotel Oslo (low cost option), Scandic St. Olavs plass and Thon hotel Europa. On a general note, Oslo is a compact city where you can get far within a half hour walk. Contact information If you have any questions about the course, please contact Irina Sigurdson at irina.sigurdson@jus.uio.no. About IntNatLaw Since 2021, the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo has pursued a research initiative on the interface between international and national law. The initiative explores how international law is currently being implemented and how implementation can be improved in national legislation, administration, and case law. As part of this initiative, the Faculty’s Research Group on International Law has received funding from the Research Council of Norway to develop an academic network addressing the Impact of International Law on National Law (IntNatLaw). IntNatLaw’s project period is 2023–2027. IntNatLaw’s activities are coordinated by professor of law Kjetil Mujezinović Larsen. This PhD course is the third in a series started by PluriCourts – Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order. PluriCourts was a Centre of Excellence at the Department of Public and International Law, The Faculty of Law, the University of Oslo, which operated from 2013 to 2023. The previous courses were organized in 2022 and 2023. |
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