Research Activities

Future Events

Realism in Political Thought

*CALL FOR PAPERS*

On Wednesday 16th November 2011, the postgraduates of the Political Philosophy Group at the University of York and the White Rose Association for Political Philosophy will host a one-day student-led conference on realism in political philosophy and the history of political thought. The aim of the conference is to address both the ‘realist’ turn in recent political philosophy and to offer graduate students an opportunity to present papers, receive helpful feedback in a friendly atmosphere, and exchange ideas with peers and working academics in the discipline of political theory. The conference will be student-led with support from working political theorists.

Graduate students interested in presenting papers should send their contributions (maximum 3000/3500 words in English) accompanied by an abstract (maximum 300 words in English) and a short CV, by no later than 30th September 2011.

Papers may focus on any aspect of political realism broadly understood; for example, realist theories of political legitimacy, non-ideal theory, and political action. Presentations should last no longer than 30 minutes, with another 30 minutes for discussion. Please note 30th September 2011 is also the deadline for registration for any person wishing to attend the conference without presenting a paper.

Conference registration will cost £15. Paper givers will be offered subsidised accommodation, travel, and dinner on Wednesday 16th November. Accommodation details will be arranged on an individual basis. Anyone who wishes to attend the conference without presenting a paper can write to check availability. Details regarding a provisional conference programme will follow.

To submit a paper and/or register, please send an email to Mr James Hodgson (jdh511@york.ac.uk) with ‘Registration’ in the subject line. In the body of the text, please ensure you include: the name you wish to go on the list of attendees; your institutional affiliation; and any dietary requirements.

Please address all correspondence (including paper submission and additional inquiries) to Mr James Hodgson (jdh511@york.ac.uk).

Past Events

The Future of Political Theory (University of Sheffield, 5^th – 7^th July 2010)

Against a political background of uncertainty and insecurity arising from the emergence of international terror, global economic crisis and mounting environmental concern, new questions are being asked about the role of political theory in engaging with the challenges of the twenty-first century. Many scholars have come to feel that prevailing theoretical approaches do not really speak to the immediate practical problems of contemporary politics. This conference is dedicated to examining the future of political theory in this context. It will open and pursue new avenues of political thought on a series of fronts including practical questions addressing the ways in which (liberal) political philosophy can or cannot be pressed into practical service, the ability and desirability of theorists to contribute to policy debates, and the sorts of practical problems they should be addressing, as well as broader theoretical and methodological issues relating to the so-called realist critique of liberalism, and to debates surrounding the relationship between morality and politics.

The conference will also be the launch event for the White Rose Association of Political Philosophy (WRAPP) which was established in 2009. WRAPP is a research forum for political philosophers from the three White Rose Universities, though the conference is open to external delegates (postgraduates and faculty). The keynote paper will be given by Professor John Dunn (Cambridge) and other speakers will include Professor Elizabeth Frazer (Oxford), Professor Matthew Festenstein (York), Professor John Horton (Keele), Professor Susan Mendus (York), Professor Glen Newey (Keele), Dr. John Schwarzmantel (Leeds), and Professor Andrew Vincent (Sheffield).

Liberal Realism Workshop (MMU Workshops in Political Theory 2-4 September 2009)

Recent years have witnessed the growing prominence of a 'realist' challenge to liberal political thought. It is argued that academic liberalism (associated primarily with the figure of John Rawls) presupposes a set of background social conditions - economic affluence, social stability and consensus on liberal values - that are quite at odds with the realities of politics in the 21st Century. It is widely felt that there is something naïve in the liberal insistence on the primacy of liberty and fairness in conditions of insecurity and pronounced moral conflict. The workshop explored the resources of liberalism to answer the realist challenge. In particular, we addressed the possibility of a distinctively liberal form of realism. It is commonly supposed that liberal realism must be a contradiction in terms, that true realism necessitates an anti-liberal Machiavellian, or Hobbesian perspective. But that view neglects a very important strand of liberal thought, associated with the likes of Judith Shklar, Stuart Hampshire, Bernard Williams and John Gray, that has endeavoured to reinterpret liberalism as a meaningful and appealing response to the political realities of fear, insecurity and conflict. The prospect of a liberal realism is deeply appealing, but a central question persists: can liberal realism genuinely provide an affirmative alternative to the anti-liberal, realist critique on the one hand and the idealistic liberal target of that critique on the other? In short, is there a stable and meaningful space for the liberal realist to occupy?

List of contributors and paper titles:

Esther Abin, Keele (e.abin@ilpj.keele.ac.uk)

‘Realism, Rationality and Fortune’

Alex Bavister-Gould, York (ajbg102@york.ac.uk)

‘Bernard Williams: The Ideal of Realism in Politics?’

Derek Edyvane, Leeds (d.j.edyvane@leeds.ac.uk)

‘Negative Liberalism and the Politics of Hope’

Edward Hall, Oxford (edward.hall@keble.ox.ac.uk)

‘Bernard Williams’s Realist Conception of Legitimacy’

Tim Heysse, Leuven (tim.heysse@hiw.kuleuven.be)

‘The Relation between Normativity and Reality in Deliberative Democracy’

Joe Hoover, LSE (j.hoover@lse.ac.uk)