Christian Barry

Australian National University; Ethics & International Affairs Editorial Board; Global Ethics Fellow Alumnus

Christian Barry is professor of philosophy in the School of Philosophy at the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS), Australian National University, and co-editor of the Journal of Political Philosophy.

His research focuses on ethical theory, philosophy of action, and international justice. His recent work includes a book with Sanjay Reddy, International Trade and Labour Standards: A Proposal for Linkage (Columbia University Press, 2008), and articles in Philosophy & Public Affairs, Journal of Political Philosophy, Journal of Moral Philosophy, Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Review of International Studies, International Affairs, and Carnegie Council's journal, Ethics & International Affairs.

His latest book, Responding to Global Poverty: Harm, Responsibility and Agency, (co-authored with Gerhard Øverland) was published by Cambridge University Press in 2016. He currently holds an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant for the project The Ethical Responsiblities of Consumers.

Prior to joining the ANU, Barry was a program officer at Carnegie Council (Justice & the World Economy), and editor of Ethics & International Affairs, a consultant to the Human Development Report Office at the United Nations Development Programme, and a lecturer in politics and international relations at University College Dublin.

He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University, where he was a fellow at the Center for Law and Philosophy.

Featured Work

AUG 22, 2009 Podcast

Michael Selgelid on Infectious Diseases

Can we infringe individual rights to promote public health? Should, say, people be allowed to decide for themselves when they are too infectious to get ...

Hit and run. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chozno01/2049157702/">Claudio</a> (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en">CC</a>).

APR 24, 2009 Article

Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016): Commentary: The G-20's Global Hit-and-Run

The economic crisis has been compared to familiar catastrophes such as the sinking Titanic and a tsunami. But the car crash analogy works much better ...

APR 3, 2009 Podcast

Public Ethics Radio: David Singh Grewal on Network Power

To explain how power can be at work in apparently voluntary processes, Grewal introduces the concept of "network power." He argues that this dynamic drives ...

CREDIT: <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/worldbank/2760559520/">Masaru Goto / World Bank</a> (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en">CC</a>).

MAR 4, 2009 Article

Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016): Commentary: Shallow Cuts

British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline was lauded in recent headlines for the announcement that it would voluntarily act to improve access to medicines in developing countries. ...

JAN 28, 2009 Podcast

Public Ethics Radio: Jeff McMahan on Proportionality

Israeli officials insist that their attacks on Gaza were judiciously planned so as to minimize harm to civilians. What role do civilian casualties play in ...

JAN 9, 2009 Podcast

Public Ethics Radio: Discretionary Time

What does it mean to live well? Robert Goodin and Lina Eriksson discover that income figures don’t tell the whole story. Missing from this ...

ECWA Evangel Hospital, Jos, Nigeria <br> Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blyth/149263969/in/set-72057594133438253/" target="_blank">Mike Blyth</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en" target="_blank">(CC)</a>

DEC 16, 2008 Podcast

Health as a Human Right: Rights, Roles, and Responsibilities

The international community has begun to consider the "highest attainable standard of health" as a fundamental component of the human rights agenda, alongside related issues ...

Network Power: The Social Dynamics of Globalization

DEC 12, 2008 Podcast

Network Power: The Social Dynamics of Globalization

How can we understand the dynamics of globalization? Author David Singh Grewal explains that the idea of network power supplies a coherent set of terms ...

DEC 3, 2008 Podcast

Public Ethics Radio: Larry Temkin on Extending Human Lifespans

What would a world in which everyone lived beyond 100 be like? Would it really be worth it for us?

OCT 28, 2008 Podcast

Public Ethics Radio: Larry May on Habeas Corpus

Are habeas corpus petitions, as Barack Obama put it, "the foundation of Anglo-American law"? Or are they just nuisance lawsuits, as John McCain claims?