Dr Elizabeth Kahn

Research topic

»Idealisation, Imagination and Community as the Primary Agent of Justice«

Project outline

Many theories of social justice tacitly assume that obligations of justice fall upon a sovereign state government with a monopoly of legitimate violence and sufficient power to freely regulate their society and enact the demands of justice (O'Neill, 2001).  In this postdoctoral research project I aim to develop an alternative to this dominant assumption.  I will investigate the hypothesis that a community made up of all those who contribute to social structures should be the primary agent of justice, whilst national governments are simply one possible means through which they may be able to bring about justice. In a globalized world where national social structures are in part shaped by external forces this community cannot be limited to one nation or the population of one state. (Elizabeth Kahn)

Main areas of research

formal logic, moral and political theory, history of political thought, global justice and practical ethics

Selected publications

1. »Global Justice: A Structural Approach«, in: Public Reason, vol. 4, no. 1-2 (2012), pp. 48-67.
2. »Review of Gary Browning, Global Theory: from Kant to Hardt and Negri«, in:  Studies in Marxism, vol. 13 (2012), pp. 223-226.