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Our Research

The centre includes a broad range of researchers whose interests span a wide range of topics in contemporary political philosophy and the history of political thought.  Areas of expertise are listed below alongside members of the centre particularly interested in working on and/or supervising doctoral research on these topics.

 

Research Areas

Social Justice

Research interests within this theme include equality, distributive justice, structural injustice, epistemic justice, marginalisation, power, violence, domination, disability justice, feminism, race theory, justice at work, capability theory, meritocracy, and democratic theory.

 

British Political Thought

Research interests within this theme include British Idealism and New Liberalism, 17th century thought, nationalism and patriotism, regional political identities, popular and intellectual liberalism.

 

International Justice

Research interests within this theme include global justice, just war theory, human rights theory, transnational economic justice, targeted killing, international society, global structural injustice, international republicanism.

 

Political Ideologies

Research interests within this theme include Marxism, Anarchism, Conservativism, and Liberalism.

 

Radical Political Thought

Research interests within this theme include Marxism, Anarchism, Socialism, critical race theory, feminism and anti-capitalist thought.

 

Theory, Practice and Methodological Innovation

Research interests within this theme include: non-ideal theory, engaged philosophy, appeals to testimony, radical pedagogy, and the relationship between theory and practice.

 

Violence and Resistance

Research interests within this theme include: the ethics of violence, war, rebellion, and civil resistance.

 

Liberty, Wellbeing and Paternalism

Research interests within this theme include: conceptions of liberty, autonomy, paternalism, utility, positive and negative freedom.

 

Doctoral Opportunities

The centre welcomes applications for doctoral study in political theory.  We are especially interested in recruiting students who wish to focus on our research themes or the particular interest of our members. For doctoral research funding options include Northern Bridge AHRC funding (see http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk for further details) and the Northern Ireland and North-East Doctoral Training Partnership (NINEDTP) (for further details see https://www.ninedtp.ac.uk/eligibility/ ) Please get in touch with the centre director if you are interested in discussing a potential project with centre members and looking for advice on how to develop your research proposal on  elizabeth.kahn@durham.ac.uk .

 

Postdoctoral Opportunities

The department welcomes doctoral graduates looking to host their post-doctoral research in the department. We are particularly interested in research that compliments existing staff members research interests and fits with the centres themes.  Funding options include the Leverhulme Trust early career fellowship: https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/early-career-fellowships and British Academy Postdoctoral fellowship https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/postdoctoral-fellowships/  Please get in touch with the centre director to discuss how to develop your application and what support the centre can offer your project.

 

Recent Publications

Notable recent publications by centre members include:

Begon, J., 2023. Disability Through the Lens of Justice. Oxford University Press.

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/disability-through-the-lens-of-justice-9780198875611?cc=us&lang=en&

 

Abel, W., Kahn, E., Parr, T. and Walton, A., 2021. Introducing political philosophy: a policy-driven approach. Oxford University Press.

https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/introducing-political-philosophy-9780198783275?cc=gb&lang=en&

 

Dimova-Cookson, Maria. Rethinking positive and negative liberty. Routledge, 2019.

https://www.routledge.com/Rethinking-Positive-and-Negative-Liberty/Dimova-Cookson/p/book/9780367777180