What are we to make of the changing role and authority of the state? Over the last 40 years I have used political philosophy and international legal theory to seek some answers, or at least some light, on such topics as
- the legitimate scope of state sovereignty and authority
- global distributive justice
- human rights and regional human rights courts
- regional unions such as the European Union
- federalism
- the changing roles of citizens, non-state actors, multinationals, investors, and consumers
I am Professor of Political Philosophy at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, where my contributions include
2013-24 Co-Director of PluriCourts, a Centre of Excellence for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order.
2011-16 Principal Investigator, European Research Council Advanced Grant MultiRights, on the Legitimacy of Multi-Level Human rights Judiciary.
Director of Research at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo; 2001-4 as the first University ‘Professor for Research Leadership’; Academic Director of the Nordic Research School in Human Rights.