Over the past decade, political theorists, intellectual historians, and political philosophers have become increasingly interested in comparing “traditions” of political thought and in tracing the “circulation, exchange, and co-production” of ideas across the globe. These objectives appear to be, however, in some tension. If we view traditions as embodying distinctive approaches to political questions, it becomes harder to see how they can contribute to global conversations. Conversely, if we see traditions as partaking in and contributing to the same global conversation, then it becomes harder to discern what is distinctive about them or why careful comparison is necessary. This interdisciplinary workshop hopes to identify fruitful ways of addressing this conundrum.

Speakers

Loubna El Amine, Kings College London
Paulina Ochoa Espejo, University of Virginia
Stuart Gray, Washington and Lee University
Dongxian Jiang, Fordham University
Tao Jiang, Rutgers University
Sungmoon Kim, City University of Hong Kong
Hansong Li, American University
Mathias Risse, Harvard University
Andrew Sartori, New York University
Shoufu Yin, University of British Columbia

Workshop organizer:
Rahul Sagar, Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching

Cosponsors:
Department of Politics