​Call for Abstracts
The First Amsterdam Graduate Conference in Political Theory

23–24 May 2019, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Keynote speakers: Simon Caney (Warwick), Lisa Herzog (TU München)

The conference offers graduate students and postdocs the opportunity to present their research in a vibrant intellectual environment and receive feedback from dedicated discussants. Each session will give those presenting a chance to engage with faculty and students from the University of Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit as well as the keynote speakers.

The theme for this inaugural event is: Bringing Theory to Practice. This includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  1. The ways in which normative political theory can or should be in dialogue with the empirical study of society, i.e. how normative-institutional prescriptions should be informed by empirical evidence; how empirical studies should be responsive to normative considerations.
  2. The new challenges to democratic participation and political decision-making in a 'post-truth' world characterised by citizens' alleged distrust of traditional institutions (e.g. mass media, scientific expertise, parliaments) and the affordances of digital and social media.
  3. Doing normative political theory in non-ideal conditions: theorising the changing world order (e.g. Trumpian foreign policy, the rise of nationalist movements, climate change, mass migration, as well as resistance, e.g. by fourth wave feminist movements).

Papers that address any of these topics are welcome, as are papers that address the conference theme more broadly. This conference is aimed at researchers working on any subfield and/or tradition of Political Theory/Political Philosophy. We also welcome papers from interdisciplinary researchers (e.g. Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science) whose work is at the intersection of normative and empirical studies of society.

Abstract submission deadline: 31.12.2018.
Applicants will be notified of acceptance by 31.01.2019.

Format: Please format abstracts for blind review, excluding any personal and institutional information. Furthermore, we require a short cover letter that includes your institutional affiliation, contact information, and a brief bio outlining your research interests.

Length: Abstracts must not exceed 500 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography.

How to submit: Please email your abstracts to [email protected]
Paper submissions: Successful applicants will be required to submit the full papers before 10.05.2019. Papers must not exceed 6,000 words.

Funding: There is no participation fee. Lunches and refreshments will be provided, regrettably we are unable to provide any funding for travel or accommodation.

Contact: Please contact [email protected] for further information.

​Organizers: Ugur Aytac, Gerrit Schaafsma, Lea Klarenbeek, Alex Thinius.
​
The Amsterdam Graduate Conference in Political Theory is a joint enterprise of PhD students from the University of Amsterdam (Departments of Philosophy and Political Science) and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (John Stuart Mill College), as well as the Amsterdam Center for Political Thought.

Schedule
Bringing Theory to Practice
Keynote speakers: Simon Caney (Warwick), Lisa Herzog (TUM School of Governance)

​May 23–24, 2019
University of Amsterdam
Roeterseilandcampus / REC Building 
Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
1018 WV Amsterdam
 
Registration is required. In order to register, please send an email to [email protected].

Day 1

 Room RECB3.09
08:45–09:15
Welcome
09:15–09:30 
Opening

09:30–10:45
Keynote 1: Democracy and the Systemic Vulnerability of Future Generations
Simon Caney (University of Warwick)

10:45-11:00 Coffee break
 
11:00–12:30
Session 1: Justice and Experience
Chair: Alex Thinius | Discussant: Afsoun Afsahi
What Do Experiences of Injustice Tell Us About Justice?
Ane Engelstad, University of Sussex
Towards Indigenous Peoples Political Theory: An account of Adivasi land struggle and the limits of constitutionality in postcolonial India
Rahul Ranjan, University of London

12:30–13:30 Lunch break

13:30–15:00
Session 2:  Global Contemporary Issues and Political Theory
Chair: Lea Klarenbeek | Discussant: Christoph Baumgartner
Relational Equality and Immigration
Daniel Sharp, New York University
Reconceptualising and measuring climate responsibility – from theory to practice
Simon Herr, University of St. Gallen
  
15:00–15:30  Coffee break   

15:30–17:00
Session 3: Human Rights and Dignity
Chair: Akshath Jitendranath | Discussant: Liesbeth Schoonheim
Human Rights and Robots' Wrongs: Outlines of a Theory of Justice of Autonomised Harming
Linda Eggert, University of Oxford
Dignity in Protest
Mirjam van der Heide, University of the Witwatersrand 

17:00
Drinks at CREA
19:00
Conference dinner

Day 2

 Room RECA2.07
09:30–11:00
Session 4: Economic Theory, Normativity, and Policy Making
Chair: Gerrit Schaafsma | Discussant: Thomas Nys
Fairness in International Trade: Unequal Gains from Trade and the Difference Principle
Sine Bağatur, Leiden University
'Well Ordered' Nudges
Caglar Dede, Erasmus Rotterdam University
 
11:00–11:15 Coffee break
 
11:15–12:45
Session 5: Context-sensitivity and the Role of the Theorist
Chair: Ugur Aytac | Discussant: Paul Raekstad
Progressive Social Criticism and Context-Sensitivity: On How to Bring the Empirical-Normative Divide in the Chinese Context
Dongxian Jiang, Princeton University
Are Normative Theorists Required to Take Sides?
Maurits Helmich, Erasmus University Rotterdam

12:45–13:45 Lunch break

13:45–15:15
Session 6: Free Standing Papers
Chair: Marina Uzunova | Discussant: Enzo Rossi
'Particracy' vs. Party Democracy: The Theory and Practice of Italian Antipartyism
David Ragazzoni, Columbia University
Motivation as Constraint
Naima Chahboun, Stockholm University 

15:15–15:45  Coffee break   
 
15:45–17:00
Keynote 2:  Republican Functionalism
Lisa Herzog, TUM School of Governance
           
17:00
Wrap up, drinks at CREA

Speakers

Simon Caney

Prof. Caney works on issues in contemporary political philosophy. He has worked on a wide range of topics including global poverty, equality, climate change, our obligations to future generations, the social discount rate, liberal neutrality, political perfectionism, multiculturalism, national self-determination, secession, sovereignty, human rights, resistance, humanitarian intervention, war, non-ideal political theory, realism in international relations, and democratic theory. He is currently writing two books - one is On Cosmopolitanism, and the other (co-authored with Derek Bell) is Global Justice and Climate Change 

Lisa Herzog

Prof. Lisa Herzog works at the intersection of political philosophy and economics. She focuses on the history of political and economic ideas, normative questions around markets (especially financial markets) and ethics in organizations. 
​
Herzog studied philosophy, economics, political science and modern history at the universities of Munich (LMU) and Oxford. Between 2008 and 2011 she wrote her doctoral thesis entitled “Inventing the Market. Smith, Hegel, and Political Theory” as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. Since then she has worked at the universities of Munich (TUM), St. Gallen, Leuven, Frankfurt and Stanford. In summer 2016 she took up the position of professor of political philosophy and theory at TUM’s Bavarian School of Public Policy.

Funding

The organizers are grateful for generous funding by

  • The Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research
  • The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis
  • Dr. Robin Celikates, NWO VIDI Grant 'Transformations of Civil Disobedience'
  • Dr. Enzo Rossi, NWO VIDI Grant 'Legitimacy Beyond Consent'