Associate Professor in Political Theory,
School of Government and International Affairs,
University of Durham, UK
My research centres on questions of social injustice and political action. I have previously published on workers’ rights, global injustice, extreme poverty, aggregative harm and the duties of individuals in a ‘tragedy of the commons’ scenario.
I am interested on participatory and engaged methods in political philosophy and my next research project will explore questions of legitimacy for activists.
I am currently writing on a monograph exploring the obligations individuals have with regards to global poverty arguing for just solidarity over effective altruism. I first argue that one typical and morally significant feature of poverty is dependency on the good will of others. I use this feature to explain why charitable solutions to povertyare inadequate for fully addressing the problem unless they result in stable structural change that alters the power relatins so as to end dependency. I use Iris Young’s concept of structural injustice to develop an account that treats poverty as an essentially aggregative harm requiring institutional change. I draws on Stephanie Collins’ concept of a collectivization duty to describe the obligations individuals, who contribute to the reproduction of poverty, have to act responsively with a view to preventing the continuance of it. I propose that taking such action is a mandatory precaution individuals are required to take in order to lessen their chances of contributing to the reproduction of significant Injustice going forward.
My next research project will identify and addresses the moral dilemmas faced by political activists in seeking to address significant injustice. To do so I will conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups with activists to establish the dilemmas they face in their work and the way they understand their reasons to take part in politics.
Publications
(forthcoming) ‘Essentially Aggregative Harm, Restraint and Collectivization’ Political Theory available on early view July 25th 2023 – https://doi.org/10.1177/00905917231185187.
Introducing Political Philosophy: A Policy-Driven Approach (2021) with Andrew Walton (Newcastle), Tom Parr (Warwick) and Will Abel (Bank of England) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kahn, Elizabeth (2020). Beyond Claim-Rights: Social Structure, Collectivization, and Human Rights. Journal of Social Philosophy 52(2): 162-184.
Kahn, Elizabeth (2019). Injustice and collectivization in world politics. Global Justice: Theory Practice Rhetoric 11(2): 29-50.
Kahn, Elizabeth (2018). A structural approach to the human right to just and favourable working conditions. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 22(7): 863-883.
Kahn, Elizabeth (2016). Poverty, Injustice and Obligations to take Political Action. In Ethical Issues in Poverty Alleviation. Gaisbauer, Helmut P., Schweiger, Gottfried & Sedmak, Clemens Cham: Springer. 209-224.
Kahn, Elizabeth (2014). The Tragedy of the Commons as an Essentially Aggregative Harm. Journal of Applied Philosophy 31 (3): 223-236.
Kahn, Elizabeth (2012). Global Economic Justice: A Structural Approach. Public Reason 4(1-2): 48-67.
In Progress
Global Poverty as Structural Injustice : A Political Approach to the Duties of Individuals (London: Routledge).
Teaching
At Durham I teach the modules: Social and Political Philosophy (Transnational Injustice and the Ethics of Activism), and Research Project.
In previously years I have taught: Global Political Theory, Introduction to Political Theory, Foundations of Western Political Thought, Ethical Aspects of Global Governance, Theories of Global Justice and Ideas and Ideologies.
Administrative Responsibilities
I am currently director of Durham’s Centre for Political Thought. In previous years I have served as the School of Government and International Affairs’ Equality Diversity and Inclusion Chair and Athena Swan Lead. I have previously been school representative for the Politics, Philosophy and Economics and Combined Honours Degrees and Director of the Global Politics Masters Programme.
Career
In 2014 I joined Durham’s School of Government and International Affairs as a lecturer (an open ended research and teaching position). In 2021 I was promoted to Associate Professor.
I am director of Durham’s Centre for Political Thought and a fellow of the Global Policy Institute. I am a member of the Society for Applied Philosophy and the Economics and Ethics Network.
Before taking up my post at Durham I was a postdoctoral fellow at Goethe University Frankfurt part of the Justitia Amplificata centre for advanced studies led by Professors Rainer Forst and Stefan Gosepath.
My PhD is from the University of York and was supervised by Professors Matt Matravers and Martin O’Neill.
I did my first two degrees in the philosophy department at the University of Glasgow, where I worked with Professor Dudley Knowles on my MLitt dissertation.
Contact: elizabeth.kahn@durham.ac.uk
Dr Elizabeth (Beth) Kahn 