Political Theory Workshop

The OSU Political Theory Workshop is a forum for scholars from Ohio State and other universities to present and discuss their research in progress. The workshop meets on roughly a biweekly basis during the semester, usually at 12:00-1:20 pm on Mondays.

The Political Theory Workshop is pluralist in its approach and interdisciplinary in its orientation. We are open to a wide range of contributions, including historical, analytic, interpretive, and critical theory, as well as theoretically engaged empirical research. We welcome interested faculty and graduate students from all fields and all departments.

All meetings for Autumn 2023 will take place in the Spencer Room (Derby 2130). Papers are available electronically one week ahead of each meeting.

Questions? Please contact PT coordinator Ben McKean (mckean.41@osu.edu)


POLITICAL THEORY WORKSHOP SCHEDULE — Autumn 2023

September 11, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Pim Trommelen (Political Science, Ohio State), "The People Feel Powerless: Oligarchic Fatigue as an Explanation for the Lack of Class Conflict."
Discussant: Bear Brown (Political Science, Ohio State) 

October 16, 12-1:20 PM EST:
Lavender McKittrick-Sweitzer (Philosophy, Butler University), "Moderate Structural Exploitation and the Exploitation of Care."

October 30, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Andrew Fiala (Philosophy, Fresno State University), "War Abolition and the Whole War Critique."

November 13, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Martin Armstrong (Political Science, Ohio State), "Alienation in Military Labor."

December 4, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Bear Brown (Political Science, Ohio State), "Theories of Anti-Elitism in the US."


Past Workshops

Spring 2023

January 27, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Alison McQueen (Political Science, Stanford University), "Machiavelli on Popular Rule."
Discussant: Dominic Pfister (Political Science, Ohio State) 

February 27, 12-1:20 PM EST:
Sahar Heydari Fard (Philosophy, Ohio State)
Discussant: Euchan Jang (Political Science, Ohio State)

April 3, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Dominic Pfister (Political Science, Ohio State) and Adrian Calmettes (Political Science, Ohio State), "Rescuing Neoliberalism: the World Economic Forum in Global Governance."
Discussant: Jared Rabinowitz (Political Science, Ohio State)

April 17, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Dana Howard (Bioethics and Philosophy, Ohio State) 

Autumn 2022

September 26, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Charisse Burden-Stelly (African American Studies, Wayne State University), “We Charge Genocide as Mutual Comradeship Praxis” 
Event sponsored by the Racial Capitalism Initiative 
Discussant: Cameron Macaskill (Political Science, Ohio State)

October 10, 12-1:20 PM EST:
Benjamin McKean (Political Science, Ohio State), “How to Blow Up Climate Despair” 
Discussant: Joel Wainwright (Geography, Ohio State)

October 24, 12-1:20 PM EST: 
Eric MacGilvray (Political Science, Ohio State), "The Serpent and the Whale: Leviathan in Billy Budd"
Discussant: Angus Fletcher (English, Ohio State)

November 21, 12-1:20 pm EST: 
Désirée Weber (Political Science, College of Wooster), “The Shape of Political Judgment: Past, Present and Future in Black Liberationist Rhetoric” 
Discussant: Martin Armstrong (Political Science, Ohio State)

Spring 2022

February 7, 2022, 12-1:20 PM EST:
Amy Shuster (Philosophy, Ohio State), "'The Finest Rule of Life We Have:' On Ambiguity in the US Declaration"
Discussant: Bear Brown (Political Science, Ohio State)

March 7, 2022, 12-1:20 PM EST (CANCELED, WILL BE RESCHEDULED)
Eric Wisniewski (Political Science, Ohio State), "The Digital Revolution and the New Boundary Problem in Democratic Deliberation"

March 28, 2022, 12-1:20 PM EST:
Martin Armstrong (Political Science, Ohio State), "You Paid Me To: The Labor and Affective Politics of Military Violence"
Discussant: Jared Rabinowitz (Political Science, Ohio State)

April 11, 2022, 12-1:20 PM EST:
Dominic Pfister (Political Science, Ohio State), "Rethinking Hobbesian Security: Violence, Disease, and the Foundations of International Relations"  
Discussant: Donghye Kim (Political Science, Ohio State)

Fall 2021

October 11, 2021,  2-3:20 pm EST: 
Donghye Kim (Political Science, Ohio State), “Care in Mill’s Liberal Utilitarianism” 
Discussant: Piers Turner (Philosophy, Ohio State)
Online

October 25, 2021 2-3:20 pm EST: 
Grant Sharratt (Political Science, Ohio State), “Intergenerational Freedom and Republican (Re-) Foundings” 
Discussant: Euchan Jang (Political Science, Ohio State)
In-person (masks required): Derby Hall 2174 (Reading Room) 
(A Zoom link will be available for those who are unable to attend in person.)  

November 8, 2021, 9 am-4:45 pm EST: special event 
Book Manuscript Workshop: Inés Valdez’sDemocracy and Empire: Labor, Migration, and the Reproduction of Western Capitalism 
Co-sponsored by the Center for Practical Ethics and Philosophy (Ludwig Maximilian University) and the Department of Political Science (Ohio State University), with participation by Duncan Bell (University of Cambridge), Ajay Chaudhary (Brooklyn Institute for Social Research), Michael Dawson (University of Chicago), Jane Gordon (University of Connecticut), and Shatema Threadcraft (Vanderbilt University) 
Online: advance registration required 

November 22, 2021, 2-3:20 PM EST: 
Inés Valdez (Political Science, Ohio State), “Which Politics of Immigration? A Critical Theory Appraisal of the Political Behavior Literature” 
Discussant: Dominic Pfister (Political Science, Ohio State)
Online 


Spring 2021

January 25, 2021:
Alison McCarthy (UCLA Health Ethics Center) and Dana Howard (Philosophy, Ohio State)
“Supported Decision-Making: Non-Domination Rather Than Mental Prosthesis”
Discussant: Dominic Pfister (Political Science, Ohio State)

February 8, 2021:
Winston Thompson (Educational Studies, Ohio State) and John Tillson (Education Studies, Liverpool Hope University)
“Punishment, Pupils, and School Rules”

February 22, 2021:
Tom Chen (Political Science, Ohio State)
“Indeterminacy and Intentions”

March 22, 2021: 
Amber Knight (Political Science and Public Administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
“Care by and for Mothers of Children with Disabilities” 

March 29, 2021 (co-sponsored by the Ohio State Office of Diversity and Inclusion):
Michael Dawson (Political Science, University of Chicago)
"Conflicting Claims: Race, Capitalism & the Current Crisis. Conundrums for Those Who Envisage a Socialist Future."

April 5, 2021:
Donghye Kim (Political Science, Ohio State)
“Situating Care in Contemporary and Historical Liberalism”


Autumn 2020

September 21, 2020:
Emma Saunders-Hastings (Political Science, Ohio State)
"Send Back the Bloodstained Money: Frederick Douglass on Tainted Gifts"
Discussant: Inés Valdez (Political Science, Ohio State)

October 5, 2020: 
Michael Neblo (Political Science, Ohio State) and Jeremy Wallace (Government, Cornell)
"The Covid Crisis, Legitimation Crisis, and the Future of Technocracy"
Discussant: Dominic Pfister (Political Science, Ohio State)

October 19, 2020: 
Grant Sharratt (Political Science, Ohio State)
"Vulgar Republicanism"
Discussant: TBA
[scheduling note: this week, the workshop will take place from 11:30 am-1 pm instead of 12:30-2pm]

October 20. 2020 @ 4:00PM (Special event!):
Benjamin L. McKean (Political Science, Ohio State), author of Disorienting Neoliberalism: Global Justice and the Outer Limit of Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2020), in conversation with Elisabeth Ellis (Philosophy and Politics, University of Otago) 

November 2, 2020:
Eric MacGilvray (Political Science, Ohio State)
"Markets and the Birth of Freedom"
Discussant: Jon Kingzette (Political Science, Ohio State)

November 16, 2020:
Lavender McKittrick-Sweitzer (Philosophy, Ohio State)
"Identifying Responsibility for Structural Care Exploitation"
Discussant: Emily Ann Israelson (Political Science, Ohio State)


Spring 2020

All spring 2020 workshops will be held from 12:30-2:00 PM in the Spencer Room (2130 Derby Hall) unless otherwise noted.

February 3, 2020:
Inés Valdez (Political Science, Ohio State), Mat Coleman (Geography, Ohio State), and Amna Akbar (Law, Ohio State)
“The ‘Empirical Ends’ of Police Violence: Law, Practice, and a Grounded, Embodied State of Exception”
Discussant: Heather Pool (Political Science, Denison University)

February 17, 2020: 
Joan Tronto (Professor Emerita, Department of Political Science, University of Minnesota)
“Neopopulism as a Discourse of Protectionist Care: A Democratic Caring Perspective” 
Discussant: Donghye Kim (Political Science, Ohio State)

March 2, 2020:
Hye Yun Kang (Post Doctoral Fellow, Mershon Center, Ohio State)
“Performance as a Method: Understanding ‘Unintended Consequences’ in Military Actions”
Discussant: Martin Armstrong (Political Science, Ohio State)

March 16, 2020: 
Amber Knight (Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
"Prenatal Genetic Screening, Epistemic Justice, and Reproductive Autonomy" (work co-authored with Dr. Joshua Miller, UNCC)
Discussant: Dana Howard (Bioethics and Philosophy, Ohio State)

March 30, 2020:
Jon Kingzette (Political Science, Ohio State)
“Which Norms? Distinguishing Democratic Norms in Theory and Practice”
Discussant: Emma Saunders-Hastings (Political Science, Ohio State)


Autumn 2019

All autumn 2019 workshops will be held from 12:30-2:00 PM in the Spencer Room (2130 Derby Hall) unless otherwise noted.

September 9, 2019:
“The Conditions of Care Exploitation”
Lavender McKittrick-Sweitzer (Philosophy, Ohio State)
Discussant: Donghye Kim (Political Science, Ohio State)

September 23, 2019:
“Populism and Global Justice: A Sibling Rivalry?”
Benjamin McKean (Political Science, Ohio State)
Discussant: Shannon Winnubst (Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Ohio State)

October 7, 2019:
“How Should Political Theory Get Real?”
Michael Goodhart (Political Science, University of Pittsburgh)
Discussant: Dave Whitsett (Political Science, Ohio State)
                
October 21, 2019:
“Ugly Freedoms: Practices of Liberty in American Politics”
Elisabeth Anker (American Studies & Political Science, The George Washington University)
Discussant: Tom Chen (Political Science, Ohio State)

November 4, 2019:   
“Liberalism with Care”
Donghye Kim (Political Science, Ohio State)
Discussant: Grant Sharratt (Political Science, Ohio State)

November 18, 2019: 
“Hermeneutical Injustice and Contract”
Lyn Tjon Soei Len (Law, Ohio State)
Discussant: Lavender McKittrick-Sweitzer (Philosophy, Ohio State)

December 2, 2019:       
“The People as Praxis: Toward a Theory of Republican Populism”
Grant Sharratt (Political Science, Ohio State)
Discussant: Benjamin McKean (Political Science, Ohio State)


Spring 2019

All spring 2019 workshops will be held from 12:30-2:00 PM in the Spencer Room (2130 Derby Hall) unless otherwise noted.

January 14, 2019:
"Free Actions and Free Persons"
Eric MacGilvray (Political Science, Ohio State)
Discussant:  Matthew Landauer (Political Science, University of Chicago)
Location: 0150 Derby Hall

January 28, 2019:
“Fake News According to Trump”
Dave Whitsett (Political Science, Ohio State)
Discussant:  Jeff Trimble (Communications & Political Science, Ohio State)

February 4, 2019:
“Dictatorship, Coerced Accomplices, and the Helplessness of Morality”
Shmulik Nili (Political Science, Northwestern University)
Discussant: Linnea Turco (Political Science, Ohio State)
* sponsored by the Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability (IDEA)

February 18, 2019:
“Megacorporations as Model Neoliberal Persons”
Brandon Zaffini (Political Science, Ohio State)
Discussant:  Emma Saunders-Hastings (Political Science, Ohio State)

March 4, 2019:
“Civil Disobedience, Not Conscientious Objection, in Medicine”
Dana Howard (Bioethics & Philosophy, Ohio State)
Discussant:  Aly Massof (Philosophy, Ohio State)

March 25, 2019:
“The Egalitarian Case Against Welfare Paternalism”
Emma Saunders-Hastings (Political Science, Ohio State)
Discussant:  Avery White (Political Science, Ohio State)

April 8, 2019:
“On Varieties of Educational Justice”
Winston Thompson (Education & Human Ecology, Ohio State)
Discussant:  Grant Sharratt, (Political Science, Ohio State)

April 22, 2019:
"From Resistance to Dissent and Back:  De-Constitutionalizing Civil Disobedience"
Candice Delmas (Philosophy & Political Science, Northeastern University)
Discussant:  Don Hubin, (Philosophy, Ohio State)


Spring 2017

" Ourselves in Time: Intergenerational Humility, Deliberation and Democracy"

January 27, 2017:
Michael MacKenzie (Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh)
Time: 12 to 1:30pm
Location: Derby Hall 2130 (Spencer Room)
Discussant: Dave Whitsett (Political Science, OSU)

February 20, 2017:
“Towards an Ecological Critique of the Political”  
Reed Kurtz (Political Science, OSU)
Time: 2pm
Discussant: Corey Katz (Center for Ethics & Human Values, OSU)

March 6, 2017:
Manuscript Workshop: "Disposed to Justice" by Benjamin McKean (Political Science, OSU) †
Discussants: Joshua Cohen (Distinguished Senior Fellow, UC Berkeley), Sharon Krause (Professor and Chair of Political Science, Brown), and Stephen K. White (James Hart Professor of Politics, University of Virginia)

April 24, 2017:
“Sovereignty, Legitimate Authority, and White Domination: South Carolina and the Confederate Battle Flag”
Heather Pool (Political Science, Denison University)
Time: 2pm

May 26, 2017:
Manuscript Workshop: "Kant, Du Bois, and Cosmopolitanism in a New Color" by Inés Valdez (Political Science, OSU)
Discussants: Lawrie Balfour (University of Virginia), Juliet Hooker (University of Texas at Austin), and Adom Getachew (University of Chicago)


Autumn 2016

Thursday and Friday, September 22-23, 2016:
Fall COMPAS Conference
"When Do Inequalities Matter?"
Location: Thompson Library, 11th Floor
 
Monday, September 26, 2016 2pm †:
Political Theory Workshop: "Actually Existing Liberalism" 
Andrew Sabl (Visiting Professor of Ethics, Politics, and Economics, Yale University)
Location: Derby Hall 2130 (Spencer Room)
 
Monday, October 10,  201611:30 am:
Political Theory Workshop: "The Paris Climate Decision: A Major Step in Protecting Human Rights"
Corey Katz (Sustainability Ethics Post-Doctoral Researcher, OSU) 
Location: Derby Hall 2174 (Reading Room)
 
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, October 20 to 22, 2016:
14th Annual Meeting of the Association for Political Theory
Location: Ohio Union
 
Monday, October 24, 2016*:
"Political Theory and the Election: Populism, Rhetoric, and Resentment"
A panel discussion featuring Elizabeth Markovits (Associate Professor of Politics, Mount Holyoke); Inés Valdez (Political Science, OSU); and Benjamin McKean (Political Science, OSU) moderated by Eric MacGilvray (Associate Professor of Political Science, OSU)
 
† Co-sponsored by the Humanities Institute
*Co-sponsored by the Department of Comparative Studies and the Democracy Studies Program

Spring 2016

Monday, January 25, 2016, 2pm:
“Rousseau's Mistake: The Myth of Direct Democracy”
Hélène Landemore (Political Science, Yale University)
Discussant: Avery White (Political Science, OSU)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)
 

Monday, February 1, 2016, noon †:
"Blood Oil: Tyranny, Resources, and the Rules That Run the World"
Leif Wenar (Chair of Philosophy & Law, King’s College London)
Location: Mershon Center for International Security Studies
Video of Leif Wenar's talk is available at go.osu.edu/wenarl  

Friday, February 12, 2016, 3:30pm:
"The Democratic Ethics of Communicating Climate Change: Insights from Aristotle" ‡
Melissa Lane (Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)

Monday, March 7, 2016, 12#:
"Repairing the Carceral Polity"
Lawrie Balfour (Politics, University of Virginia)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)

Monday, April 11, 2016, 2pm:
"Rethinking Safe Spaces: Mill's 'Frightful Brutality of the Poorest Class' and the Shaming of the Domestic Abusers"
Bogdan Popa (Politics, Oberlin College)
Discussant: Piers Turner (Philosophy, OSU)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)
 
Monday, April 18, 2016, 12†*:
"The Politics of Yoga: The Neoliberal Yogi and the Question of Yogic 'Authenticity'."
Farah Godrej (Political Science, UC Riverside)
Discussant: Ted Sammons (Comparative Studies, OSU)
Location: Mershon Center for International Security Studies
 
† Part of the Migration and Global Justice Workshop Series, sponsored by the Mershon Center of International Security Studies
‡ Co-sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Human Values COMPAS Program
# Co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Criminal Justice Research Center, and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity
* Co-sponsored by the Asian American Studies program

Autumn 2015

Thursday, September 10th, 2015, 12pm † *:
“Racial Equality”
Charles W. Mills (Philosophy, Northwestern University)
Location: Mershon Center for International Security Studies (Please register for the event at http://go.osu.edu/millsc)
 
Monday, October 19th, 2015, 2pm ‡:
"Democratic Justice and Environmental Policy"
Elisabeth Ellis (Political Science, University of Otago)
Discussant: Loren Goldman (Political Science, Ohio University)
Location: Thompson Library, Room 165 

Monday, November 2nd, 2pm :
"Overconsumption as an Adaptive Preference" 
Avery White (Political Science, OSU)
Discussant: Brian McLean (Philosophy, OSU)
Location: Derby 47

Monday, November 16th, 2pm † #:
"Regimenting Migrants: Post-colonial Nationalism and the South Asian Diaspora"
Ishan Ashutosh (Geography, Indiana University)
Discussant: Martin Joseph Ponce (English, OSU)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)

† Part of the Migration and Global Justice Workshop Series, sponsored by the Mershon Center of International Security Studies
* Co-sponsored by the departments of African American and African Studies, Comparative Studies, and Philosophy
‡ Co-sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Human Values COMPAS Program
# Co-sponsored by the Geography Department


Spring 2015

Monday, January 26, 3:30pm †:
"The Right to Exclude Immigrants and its Limits"
David Watkins (University of Dayton Political Science)
Discussant: Theresa Delgadillo (OSU Comparative Studies)
Location: Mershon Center for International Security Studies
 
Monday, March 9, 3:30pm:
“Thrasymachus's Blush: Emotion, Deliberation, and the Politics of Motivated Reasoning”
Michael Neblo (Associate Professor of Political Science, OSU)
Discussant: Heather Pool (Denison University Political Science)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)
 
Monday, March 30, 3:30pm- CANCELLED, will be rescheduled for Fall 2016:
New Book Workshop: Burdens of Political Responsibility: Narrative and The Cultivation of Responsiveness by Jade Schiff (Politics, Oberlin)
Note: Copies of Prof. Schiff's book will be made available in advance of the workshop to registered participants.
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)

Monday, April 6, 3:30pm:
"Totality and Empirical Social Psychology: A Critique of Research into Democratic Legitimation."
Kailash Srinivasan (OSU Political Science)
Disscusant: Nicholas Kiersey (Ohio University Political Science)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)
 
Monday, April 20, 3:30pm †:
Paper Title "" The Legitimacy of Border Coercion: Freedom of Association, Territorial Dominion, and Self-Defense"
Arash Abizadeh (McGill University Political Science)
Discussant: Amna Akar (OSU Law School)
Location: Mershon Center for International Security Studies
 
† Part of the Migration and Global Justice Workshop Series, sponsored by the Mershon Center of International Security Studies


FALL 2014

Monday, September 29:
"Retrieving the Lost Worlds of the Past: The Case for an Ontological Turn"
Greg Anderson (OSU)
Discussant: Joel Wainwright (OSU)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)
 
Friday, October 10:
“Justice, Social and Political” @ 3:30 PM
Philip Pettit, (Princeton University)
(There will be no pre-circulated paper for this talk)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)
 
Monday, October 27:
"Aestheticizing Action: Latino Republicans and the Art of Diversity” @ 3:30 PM
Cristina Beltrán (New York University)†*
Location: Mershon Center for International Security Studies
 
Thursday, November 6:
“DuBois’ Afro-Futurism and Vasconcelos’ Indología” @ 4.30pm
Juliet Hooker (University of Texas at Austin)*
Location: Multicultural Center (Ohio Union)
 
Monday, November 17
Vidar Thorsteinsson (OSU)
Discussant: Marcus Green (Otterbein University)
Location: Derby 2130 (Spencer Room)
 
† Part of the Workshop on Immigration and Global Justice, sponsored by the Mershon Center of International Security Studies.
* Co-sponsored by the Latino and Latin American Space for Enrichment and Research (LASER).

2011-2012 


Friday April 27th
Daniel Skinner, Capital University
"Paradoxes of American Liberalism: Rethinking Medical Malpractice Reform and 'A Patients Bill of Rights'"
10:30am-12:00pm in 2130 Derby Hall (The Spencer Room)


2010-2011

David McIvor, The Kettering Foundation / Duke University
"'A Splintering and Shattering Activity': Race, Reconciliation, and the Work of Mourning"
Friday May 6th, 1:30pm-3:00pm in 2174 Derby Hall (The Reading Room)

Piers Norris Turner, Department of Philosophy, The Ohio State University
"Authority, Progress, and the 'Assumption of Infallibility' in On Liberty"
Friday March 4th, 10:30am-12:00pm in 2130 Derby Hall (The Spencer Room)


2009-2010

Inés Valdez, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Beyond the Borders of the Public Sphere: Unearthing the Politics of Immigration
Friday, April 30, 1:30-3:00 in Derby 2130

Eric Grynaviski, The Ohio State University
"The Morality of the Bloodstained Spear: Declaring the Just War"
Friday February 5th, 1:00-2:30 in Derby 2130

Mark Warren, University of British Columbia
"Two Trust-Based Uses of Minipublics in Democratic Systems"
Friday, February 19th, 2:00-3:30 PM (Reception to follow)
Spencer Room (Derby 2130)

Alexander Wendt, The Ohio State University
"Preface to a Quantum Social Science"
Friday November 20th at noon in the Spencer Room (Derby 2130)

William Scheuerman, Indiana University
"What Cosmopolitans Can Learn From Classical Realists"
November 13th, 2009, Noon to 1:30PM, The Mershon Center for International Security Studies (1501 Neil Ave.)

Eric MacGilvray, The Ohio State University
"The Invention of Market Freedom"
November 6, 2009, Noon to 1:30 PM, Spencer Room (Derby 2130)


2008-2009

Joshua Cohen, Stanford University
"Philosophy, Social Science, Global Poverty"
5 May 2009, 3:30pm at Spencer Room (2130 Derby)

Archon Fung, Harvard University
“The Principle of Affected Interests and Inclusion in Democratic Governance”
6 February 2009, 12:00pm at Spencer Room (2130 Derby)


2007-2008

S. M. Amadae, OSU Political Science
“Wittgenstein on Counting in Political Economy”
23 May 2008, 2:00pm at Spencer Room

Rafi Youatt, OSU Political Science
"Rethinking Anthropocentric Politics"
9 May 2008, 12:00pm at Spencer Room

Eric MacGilvray, OSU Political Science
"The Rise and Fall of Republican Freedom"
25 April 2008, 12:00pm at Spencer Room

Simone Chambers, University of Toronto
"Rhetoric and the Public Sphere: Has deliberative democracy abandoned mass democracy?"

James Johnson, University of Rochester
"The Arithmetic of Compassion: Rethinking the Politics of Photography"

Dennis Thompson, Harvard University
"Who Should Govern?"


Highlights from recent years

2006-2007

Seyla Benhabib, Yale University, Political Science
"Twilight of Sovereignty or the Emergence of Cosmopolitan Norms: Rethinking Citizenship in Hard Times"

Mary Dietz, University of Minnesota, Political Science
"Between Polis and Empire: Aristotle's Politics"

Robert Gooding-Williams, University of Chicago, Political Science
"Between the Masses and the Folk: Du Bois as Political Philosopher"

Jeremy Waldron, New York University, Law
"Safety and Security"


2005-2006

Victoria Kahn, University of California, Berkelely, English and Comparative Literature
"Nationalism and Internationalism in Milton, Grotius, and Hobbes"

Bryan Garsten, Yale University, Political Science
"Saving Persuasion: A Defense of Rhetoric and Judgment"

David Luban, Georgetown University, Law and Philosophy
"The Commander-in-Chief Power and Civilian Control of the Military"

Mattias Iser, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Philosophy
"Paradoxes of (Un)just War Theory"


2004-2005

Iris Marion Young, University of Chicago, Political Science
"Responsibility and Global Labor Justice"

Donald Moon, Wesleyan University, Government
"Justice as Social Cooperation"

Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government
"The Case for Less Accountability"