The quarterly newsletter of the ECPR Standing Group on Methods of Normative Political Theory
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On behalf of the Standing Group on Methods of Normative Political Theory, we are happy to announce that the quarterly newsletter of the Methods of Normative Political Theory will appear at the beginning of March, June, September, and December. The newsletters will remain accessible on the standing group’s website. We are happy to receive your updates regarding new publications, calls for proposals, events, Summer / Winter PhD Courses and job advertisements pertaining to methods of political theory by email to normativepolsmethods@gmail.com.
Welcome to the Newsletter
– Jonathan Floyd
These days I’m all for experiments. This group – an experiment. This newsletter – an experiment. Trying to organise our first Joint Sessions workshop – an experiment. And not just any old experiments, but exciting ones, important ones, successful ones.
And where does that all come from, I wonder? Perhaps from an old love born in the early days of my time at secondary school, where I happily learnt to write up chemistry experiments under the headings ‘hypothesis, methods, results, conclusions’, with the second of those terms, clearly, the stand-out favourite. Or perhaps from my more recent work on ‘normative behaviourism’, according to which we should start running tests on principles in practice, as future political experiments, in order to properly judge the real worth of those ideas we love to idealise. But then no, of course, it can’t be either of those things can it, because this experimentalism, and its success, doesn’t come from me, but from all of you: From all the papers and panels you’ve been part of for so many years now; from early slogging by Keith and later striving by Sune and Nahshon in bringing us all together, from the constant hard work from our steering committee, including not just Keith and Sune, but also Eva and Lisa; and from the wonderful enterprise shown in just the last few months by Esma and Jonathan in organising our first Joint Sessions Workshop, by Marina in constructing our bold new website, and by Ed, Ilkin, and Esma again (!), in putting this very newsletter together.
So, new endeavours all the time – new experiments! – and so far a very happy track record indeed of success. And yet, would you believe it, all of that is still somehow just the tip of the iceberg. To see the real scale of your endeavour; to see the real volume of all the great methodological work going on right now, at the hands of all you wonderfully methodological people, well, just see below.
Editorial Team
Ilkin Huseynli is a doctoral candidate in political philosophy at the Universities of Milan and Pavia. His thesis focuses on political and social freedom, and investigates if the concept of “interpersonal freedom” is normatively relevant. Ilkin responds positively and aims at articulating why this is so, as well as in what ways this relevance can be understood. In particular, he argues that claiming interpersonal freedom is normatively relevant requires distinguishing constraints that are natural or self-imposed from those that are imposed by other agents. As a visiting doctoral student, Ilkin has also been supervised by Michael Garnett for a semester at the University of London, Birkbeck. Currently he is a visiting researcher at the Cambridge Forum for Legal and Political Philosophy of Cambridge University, where he presented his work on the value of freedom at the Political Philosophy Workshop.
Esma Baycan-Herzog is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Geneva, and the Swiss consortium of research NCCR—On the Move. During the 2021-22 Academic year, she visited the Centre for the Experimental-Philosophical Study of Discrimination, Aarhus University, and the Pluralism, Democracy and Justice Research Group, Arctic University of Norway. Her research interests include ethics and politics of migration; political theory methodology; multiculturalism; ethics of digital societies; (sub-state) nationalism; legitimacy of international institutions and experimental political theory. Her current and future editorial experience includes special issues in journals such as Ethnicities and Ethics and Global Politics. Her extant and future publications found their home at venues in journals such as Ethnicities, Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, Ethical Perspectives, as well as contributions to edited volumes published by Brill, Nomos and ECPR Press.
Edmund Handby is a sessional lecturer at the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University. His research examines methodological questions in the history of political thought, empirically informed political theory, and politics, philosophy, and economics. His work has appeared in The Journal of Politics and The Journal of the Philosophy of History. He is also guest-editing a special issue on Jonathan Floyd’s ‘Is Political Philosophy Impossible’, forthcoming in Political Studies Review.
Past Academic Events
ECPR Winter School
6-11 February 2023, “How to do Political Philosophy: Methods and Methodology”
The course is one of the core activities of the Standing Group. This year, 8 early career scholars from 8 different countries followed the course taught by Jonathan Floyd.
Upcoming Academic Events
ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops
25-28 April 2023, Toulouse
“The Future of Methods in Political Theory” Jonathan Leader Maynard and Esma Baycan-Herzog
PhD Course
‘Discrimination – The Concept of Discrimination, Wrongness-Accounts, and Experimental Method’
Aarhus University, 2-4 August 2023
Information and Registration: https://ps.au.dk/en/cepdisc/events/translate-to-english-phd-courses
ECPR General Conference
4-8 September 2023
Charles University, Prague CZ
Call for Papers until Febr 28: https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/SectionDetails/1290
Job opportunities
3 ERC Fellowships in Politics
School of Politics and International Relations, UCD Dublin
Application Deadline: 6 March 2023
Contact: Dr Joseph Lacey – joseph.lacey1@ucd.ie
https://my.corehr.com/pls/ucdrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.display_form
Assistant Professor in Political Science (Political Theory)
University of Amsterdam
Application Deadline: 28 March 2023
Contact: Professor Eric Schliesser – e.schliesser@uva.nl
https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/Assistant-Professor-in-Political-Science-With-a-Specialization-in-Political-Theory/765863702/
Recent Publications
Boucher, François, Sophie Guérard de Latour, and Esma Baycan-Herzog. “Rethinking Liberal Multiculturalism: Foundations, Practices and Methodologies.” Ethnicities, January 16, 2023, 14687968231151456. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968231151455.
Dowding, Keith. “How to Use Imaginary Cases in Normative Theory.” Metaphilosophy 53, no. 4 (2022): 512–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12564.
Erman, Eva and Niklas Möller. “Does Normative Behaviourism offer an Alternative Methodology in Political Theory?” Political Studies Review, February 2, 2023, 14789299231151803. https://doi-org/10.1177/14789299231151803
Floyd, Jonathan. “Post-Modern Slavery and Post-Human Souls: New History for Old Political Theory.” Political Theory 51, no. 1 (February 1, 2023): 86–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/00905917221128889.
Handby, Edmund. “Assessing the Use of Intuitions in Contemporary Political Theory.” The Journal of Politics 84, no. 3 (July 2022): 1595–1606. https://doi.org/10.1086/719270.
Miller, David. “Why Normative Behaviourism Fails.” Political Studies Review, January 2, 2023, 14789299221146056. https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299221146056.
Modood, Tariq. “Empirical and Normative Without a Universal Human Nature.” Political Studies Review, February 7, 2023, 14789299231154175. https://doi-org./10.1177/14789299231154175
Modood, Tariq. “Bristol School of Multiculturalism as Normative Sociology.” Civic Sociology 3, no. 1 (December 16, 2022): 57379. https://doi.org/10.1525/cs.2022.57379.
Modood, Tariq, and Elisabeth Becker. “Normative Sociology in the Bristol School of Multiculturalism: An Interview with Tariq Modood.” Civic Sociology 3, no. 1 (December 20, 2022): 57498. https://doi.org/10.1525/cs.2022.57498.
Moen, Lars. “Three Roles of Ideal Theory.” Ethics, Politics & Society 5, no. 2 (December 8, 2022): 96–108. https://doi.org/10.21814/eps.5.2.208.
Moen, Lars. “Ideal Theory and Its Fairness Role.” The Journal of Value Inquiry, October 6, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10790-022-09905-6.
Moen, Lars. “How Do You Like Your Justice, Bent or Unbent?” Moral Philosophy and Politics, 2022. https://doi-org/10.1007/s10790-022-09905-6
Perez, Nahshon. “Data Based Radicalism? Data Usage and the Problem of Critical Distance in Contextual and Empirical Political Theory.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 8 September 2022, 13698230.2022.2121519. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2022.2121519
Perez, Nahshon. “How Much Data for the Political Theorist? On the Argumentative Normative Behaviourism.” Political Studies Review, January 12, 2023, 14789299221143684. https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299221143684.
Perez, Nahshon. “The Case for Methodological Naturalisation: Between Political Theory and Political Science.” The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, July 27, 2022, 13691481221113218. https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481221113218. Prendergast, E. R. “In Defense of Wishful Thinking.” Moral Philosophy and Politics, April 15, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/mopp-2021-0041
