Contemporary Political Theory Research Group

The Contemporary Political Theory Research Group was founded in October 2009, as the development of political theory at postgraduate level and growth in academic staff numbers created the critical mass it required. The group organizes its activities collectively, and its work focuses on issues concerning contemporary pluralism, liberalism, democratic theory and radical politics. It brings together staff working in contemporary Continental philosophy, normative political theory, and American pragmatism, and its postgraduate members include students working on normative concepts of responsibility in the context of globalization, post-existentialist political theory, the event in Marxist philosophy, and the concept of meaningful work. The group also has ties to the College’s Philosophy Team and the interdepartmental Humanities and Arts Research Centre. The main PIR academics involved in the group are Dr Nathan Widder, Dr Jonathan Seglow, and Dr Michael Bacon.

The group runs a successful reading group from the College’s Bedford Square Building in central London, and has organized visits by two internationally renowned political philosophers, Professor Jane Bennett and Professor William E. Connolly, both from Johns Hopkins University. Recent conferences organized by the group include ‘The Margins of Citizenship’ (in collaboration with the Department of Politics, University of Leicester) and ‘Time, Politics and Becoming: A One-Day Conference on William E. Connolly’s A World of Becoming’ (in collaboration with the Department of Politics, Exeter University).