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Judith Shklar Symposium

When:
Venue: Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street

No booking required

Judith Shklar Symposium
Birkbeck, University of London in Collaboration with University College Dublin

Harvard-based Judith N. Shklar (1926-92) was a formative political thinker whose work defies traditional labels and whose legacy has been subtle but substantial. Her work emerged, as one observer has pointed out, between the 'end of ideology' discussions of the 1950s and the 'end of history' discussions of the early 1990s. Shklar contributed significantly to European and American legal and political thought by arguing for a new, more skeptical and stripped-down version of liberalism that intends to bring political theory and real-life experiences closer together. Through both her teaching and her publications some of them modern classics, such as the books Ordinary Vices and Faces of Injustice or the essay 'Liberalism of Fear' she influenced entire generations of students and scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. This symposium gathers together a number of internationally recognized scholars from different disciplines to discuss various aspects of her work.

For more details and to reserve a place, please contact Samantha Ashenden

PROGRAMME

10.15-10.30 Welcome

10.30-12.30 (Session I)
Bernard Yack
(Brandeis University, Political Theory): Shklar's Montaigne - and Ours
Tracy Strong (Southampton, Political Theory and Philosophy): Shklar's literary imagination

12.30-13.30 Lunch Break

13.30-15.30 (Session II)
Kamila Stullerova
(Aberystwyth University, International Politics): Judith Shklar's International Political Theory
Philip Spencer (Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Kingston University and Politics, Birkbeck College University of London): 'Putting Cruelty First' The Summum Malum, Genocide and Crimes against Humanity

15.30-16.00 Coffee break

16.00-18.00 (Session IV)
Samantha Ashenden
(Birkbeck College, University of London, Politics): Shklar and Political Obligation
Andreas Hess (University College Dublin, Sociology): Civil disobedience, conscientious objection, internal exile: Shklar on moral reasoning and dissent in the U.S.

This event is supported by the Birkeck Institute for the Humanities, which promotes interdisciplinary research and new ideas and forms of understanding in the humanities.

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