Cities, Law and Global Governance (LAWS90154)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2024
About this subject
Overview
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In recent decades, cities have become a critical site through which contemporary international aspirations are pursued. Increasingly, cities are asserting themselves as international actors while also coming to be regulated by global lawmaking processes. This subject offers an in-depth inquiry into international law and global governance, viewed through the lens of the city. Relevant both to scholars and practitioners, the course critically assesses the international legal framework in which cities in the global north and south are coming to be enmeshed, with a focus on the city-scale governance of climate change, urban security, human rights and the financial sector.
The subject will combine interactive lectures with group presentations, invited speakers and the use of documentaries and new media. Readings will be drawn from law and a wide range of other disciplines, including international relations, history, geography, development, sociology, anthropology, architecture, planning and philosophy. The more theoretical texts will be complemented by primary sources allowing students to develop a close reading on one of the most topical developments in contemporary global governance and international law.
Principal topics include:
- Cities, International Law and Global Governance Today
- Cities and the Evolution of the International Legal Order: From State Sovereignty to a Transformation of the International Legal Order from Below
- Cities and Liveability: Human Rights and the Emergence of the Right to the City
- Cities and Climate Change: Between the Paris Agreement and the Local Realization of the Sustainable Development Goals
- Cities and Security: Law, Governance and the Architecture in Quest of Safe Spaces
- Cities and Finance: Governing the Financial Sector through and for Cities
Intended learning outcomes
Upon completion of the subject, students are expected to demonstrate:
- A specialised knowledge of contemporary mechanisms of global governance and how they impact on cities and are shaped by cities
- A sophisticated understanding of how cities have begun to assert themselves as internationally relevant actors and how this assertion has been received in international law and domestic legal orders
- An advanced and critical understanding of what global cooperation between cities can contribute to the solution of today's global problems, such as in the climate change context
- An integrated and advanced understanding of how international organisations, such as the IMF and the World Bank, are shaping the conditions for the international endeavours of cities and how this affects the relationship between states and cities across the world
- A critical and analytical understanding of the financial, demographic, social and political challenges faced by cities and local residents as a result of the reallocation of developmental responsibilities to the local level by national governments and international institutions
- A critical awareness of the acuteness of these developments in global south municipalities
- A specialised ability to critically assess competing conceptions of the global and the local
- A specialised and sophisticated awareness of how the emergence of cities as international actors changes the conditions for the conduct of foreign policy by nation states.
Last updated: 8 November 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
General knowledge of public international law or other subjects relevant to the class, including international relations, development studies and urban planning.
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 8 November 2024
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Class participation | Throughout the teaching period | 5% |
Group presentation | 5% | |
Individual component of work relating to group presentation (eg including a post-class written exercise to summarise the class debate of no more than 1,000 words)
| 30 September | 15% |
Research paper on a topic approved by the subject coordinators.
| 2 December | 75% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 8 November 2024
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2024
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a first come, first served basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 8 November 2024
Further information
- Texts
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-admissions@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 8 November 2024