Dr James Gledhill

Postdoctoral Fellow 

Research topic

»Political Autonomy in Practice«

Project outline

The aim of my research project is to introduce a burgeoning literature that develops Hegelian insights into the normativity of social practices into debates in political philosophy regarding the practice-dependence of principles of justice. This project is building towards a monograph on Political Autonomy in Practice: Constructing and Reconstructing Social Practices in which I will develop this theoretical framework and then apply it to two crucial and interconnected areas of political debate: the future of the institutions of the welfare state and the development, through practices of reflexive constitution-making, of just institutions beyond the nation state. (James Gledhill)

Once more a postdoc-fellow of "Justitia Amplificata" looking for international access and finding it: from August on, the british political philosopher James Gledhill will be the new member of the University of Hongkong’s Department of Politics and Public Administration.

In his work, Gledhill thinks about the relationship between political theory and changing social practices. His dissertation, entitled »Political Theory and Social Practices: G.A. Cohen, Rawls, Habermas and the Problem of Self-grounding«, was his first step towards theoretical work in this field. During his time at the Institute of Advanced Studies and as a member of the DFG-Research Group »Justitia Amplificata«, he continued his work launching his second project: »Political Autonomy in Practice: Constructing and Reconstructing Social Practices«, on which he will continue working as an Assistant Professor at the HKU. His teaching responsibilities will include courses on Capitalism, Social Justice and Democracy and its Critics.