Global justice or other people's problems? Computer gaming and critical reflection in an international classroom

Abstract

Global social justice is often portrayed as a project of either developing appropriate dispositions or of amending the rules that govern global interaction. Despite policy pronouncements by many university vice chancellors on the significance of higher education in contributing to learning about global social justice, there is very little documentation of how university students engage with these aspirations. The paper describes and critically analyses doctoral students' responses to a computer game designed to develop insight into contemporary education and global social justice. Drawing on reflections from teaching the course and student assignments over three years, the paper considers some of the strengths and weaknesses of computer gaming as a learning resource for global justice issues in higher education. It highlights how the format of a game both sets specific boundaries to learning in higher education institutions and also limits the parameters regarding how the conditions of others are apprehended. The extent to which reflecting on computer gaming opens up space for more participatory debates concerning justice remains an open question.