Promoting Justice Across Borders

Abstract

In a world filled with injustices and opportunities for reform-many of which permeate political boundaries-we're perennially faced with the question of how to use our abundant chances to effect political change in foreign societies. Here, I attempt to destabilize conventional ideas about the ethics of foreign political influence by broadening the existing discussion beyond its typical focus on state-led interventions employing force or coercion. I develop a more complete, nuanced ethics of foreign political influence by examining the wide variety of means (ranging from persuasion, to boycotts, to sanctions, to military force) that an equally wide variety of political actors (including individuals, activist networks, NGOs, corporations, and states) can (and do) use to exert influence in foreign societies. This dissertation focuses on what I call reform intervention-any attempt by any political actor to promote justice in a foreign society. I first construct a typology of reform intervention that highlights how different types vary along several morally significant dimensions. I examine how the different types of reform intervention implicate three political-moral values: toleration, legitimacy, and collective self-determination. Though these values are frequently invoked to ground objections to intervention, I argue that different kinds of intervention implicate them very differently, and that certain kinds of intervention are, therefore, immune from the standard objections. I develop principles to tell us when different types of reform intervention are permissible or obligatory. These principles can guide our thinking about future attempts at reform intervention and provide a critical standard against which to evaluate actual interventions publicly justified in the name of justice promotion. Finally, I offer guidelines for implementing these principles in our non-ideal world. In articulating morally responsible ways to promote justice across borders, I hope to challenge the image of the domestic sphere as the primary site of politics, ultimately vindicating the idea that achieving justice is and should be humanity's collective project.