Moral Agency and the Politics of Responsibility

Cornelia Ulbert is Executive Director at the Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.Peter Finkenbusch is a Researcher at the Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.Elena Sondermann is a Researcher at the Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.Tobias Debiel is Professor of International Relations and Development Policy at the Institute of Political Science and Director of the Institute for Development and Peace as well as the Käte Hamburger Kolleg/Centre for Global Cooperation Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.

"This wide-ranging, pluri-disciplinary, and insightful collection analyses the complex, frequently contested relations between moral agency, the conditions for its development; the mechanisms for holding agents accountable and responsible; and changing economic and political practices. Its authors develop different theoretical perspectives and explore diverse cases and, together, make important contributions to international relations, political economy, and governance studies." – Bob Jessop, Lancaster University, UK"Through compelling empirical cases and sophisticated theoretical analyses, the contributors to this valuable volume demonstrate that responsibility is something that is necessarily and vigorously contested. By addressing the complex political, social, economic, and technological contexts within which the concepts of moral agency and responsibility are negotiated and renegotiated, they succeed in enhancing our understanding of both." – Toni Erskine, University of New South Wales, Australia"What is it to be ‘responsible’ in today’s global world? Who is (made) responsible, for what, to whom, how, when, and to what purpose? The probing debates in this volume greatly clarify these issues, in particular the high-stakes ethics and politics involved." – Jan Aart Scholte, University of Gothenburg, Sweden"This timely book investigates the politics and contestations surrounding the notion of "responsibility" which has become a rather prominent topic in world politics (e.g. in the "responsibility to protect"). The authors approach the subject from a variety of critical perspectives, thereby taking a decidedly agency-centered perspective. A must-read for both academics interested in and practitioners of global governance." – Thomas Risse, Free University Berlin, Germany"This excellent collection offers a compelling range of perspectives on the politics of responsibility – the conditions under which responsibility arises; who can exercise it; and the roles it plays in international relations. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the development of contemporary conceptions of moral agency and practices of responsibility." – Kirsten Ainley, LSE, UK"Responsibility is one of the most contested notions in international relations. Unsurprisingly, I disagree with some of this first-rate team of contributors. But their provocative and thoughtful reflections must be read and pondered." – Thomas G. Weiss, City University of New York, USA

• Introduction: Moral Agency and the Politics of Responsibility Part I: Challenging Traditional Notions of Moral Agency and Responsibility Democratic Moral Agency: Altering Unjust Conditions in Practices of Responsibility Promoting Responsible Moral Agency: Enhancing Institutional and Individual Capacities Technologically Blurred Accountability? Technology, Responsibility Gaps and the Robustness of our Everyday Conceptual Scheme Part II: Demanding and Contesting Responsibility in the International Community The Lack of ‘Responsibility’ in the Responsibility to Protect Responsibility Contestations: A Challenge to the Moral Authority of the UN Security Council Part III: Practising the Politics of Responsibility in Global Governance In Search of Equity: Practices of Differentiation and the Evolution of a Geography of Responsibility The Business of Responsibility: Supply Chain Practice and the Construction of the Moral Lead Firm Pluralisation of Authority in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding: The Re-Assignment of Responsibility in Polycentric Governance Arrangements Part IV: De-Constructing Responsibility in an Interconnected World Responsibilising through Failure and Denial: Governmentality as Double Failure Bringing Therapeutic Governance Back Home: US Responsibility and Drug-Related Organised Crime in the Americas Distributed Responsibility: Moral Agency in a Non-Linear World Conclusion: Practising the Politics of Responsibility