Can Institutions Have Responsibilities? Collective Moral Agency and International Relations

'Something must be done' is a cry that is often heard in international relations. Situations are deemed intolerable, and calls to relieve suffering and hold the guilty accountable are frequently made. But who, or what, is the 'someone' who must act or can be called to account? Individual human beings are generally understood to be the bearers of moral burdens, duties and responsibilities. But individuals, acting only as individuals, can do little to alleviate famine, to protect the environment, or to rescue those threatened with massacre. Collective actors, on the other hand, including states, multinational corporations and the United Nations, arguably possess capacities to address injustice, respond to crises, and, indeed, cause harm in ways that individuals on their own cannot. Can such institutions be considered moral agents? If so, according to what criteria do they qualify as such, and under what conditions can duties be assigned to them, or blame attributed? The essays presented in Can Institutions Have Responsibilities? respond to these challenging questions from a variety of perspectives and tackle 'hard cases' such as the Kosovo Campaign and the genocide in Rwanda. Book jacket.

Toni Erskine is Lecturer in International Politics, University of Wales, Aberystwyth.