Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT)

Providing an active forum for education and research in political theory, MANCEPT is one of the largest and strongest groupings of its kind in the UK, with a long tradition of international excellence.

About

Its core membership includes teaching and research staff as well as postgraduate students. Members' research interests cover a wide range of topics in contemporary political theory, making use of the tools of analytical political theory to address theoretical issues and their real-world implications. Each year MANCEPT hosts two of the biggest events in the political theory calendar: 1) The Brave New World graduate political theory conference and 2) the MANCEPT workshops. The Centre also engages with numerous scholars with cognate interests from other parts of the University.

Highlights

People

Academic staff

Jonathan Benson

  • Research specialisms: Democratic theory, political economy, political epistemology, polarization. 

Richard Child

  • Research specialisms: Global justice, punishment, nationalism.

Steve de Wijze (convenor)

  • Research specialisms: Dirty hands, democratic theory, evil, theories of justice.

Stephen Hood

  • Research specialisms: Morality of markets, democratic theory, ideal and non-ideal theory.

James Pattison

  • Research specialisms: Just war theory; intervention and the responsibility to protect; post-liberal order and responding to global authoritarianism; prioritisation ethics.

Miriam Ronzoni

  • Research specialisms: Constructivism, transnational justice in non-ideal circumstances.

Clara Sandelind

  • Research specialisms: Political theories of immigration, asylum, nationalism and liberalism. 

Christian Schemmel

  • Research specialisms: Theories of equality, republicanism, welfare state, self-respect.

Liam Shields

  • Research specialisms: Distributive justice, equality of opportunity, education, parental rights.


Hillel Steiner (Emeritus Professor)

  • Research specialisms: rights, freedom, left-libertarianism, distributive justice.

PhD Students

Yonghao Huang

  • Research interests: Democratic theory, political liberalism, realism, democratic self-defence

Maurits Bekkers

  • Research interests: existentialism, political and social theory, authenticity, social capital theory, and moral grandstanding

Robert Herissone-Kelly

  • Research interests: epistemic injustice, feminism, social epistemology

Dennis Pirdzuns

  • Poverty and the Problem of Enough

Postgraduate Researchers

Graduated 2024

  • Riki Yamochi –  “Just War Theory and the Domestic Analogy."
  • David Rubin - “The Ethics of Alliances”. Now has a lecturer position in Thailand.
  • Molly Powell – Post-Doctoral Fellow at Aarhus University.

Graduated 2023

  • Matthew Perry – Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at The University of British Columbia.
  • Davide Pala – Post-Doctoral Researcher in Political Theory at The University of Eastern Piedmont.

Graduated 2022

  • Vittorio Gerosa – Lecturer in Political Theory at The University of Manchester.

Graduated 2020

  • Anh Le – Policy Manager for the WWF-Viet Nam.

Graduated 2019

  • Giacomo Floris - British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of York.
  • Joseph Roberts - Research Fellow in Law and Philosophy at the University of Birmingham.
  • Ruxandra Ivanescu – King’s College London.

Graduated 2018

  • Anna Wienhues - Assistant Professor in Environmental Philosophy at KU Leuven.
  • Jonathan Benson – Lecturer in Political Theory at The University of Manchester.
  • Jeannine Bringman – Junior Teaching Fellow, University College Maastricht.

Graduated 2017

  • Nicola Mulkeen – Lecturer in Political Philosophy at Newcastle University.
  • Sara Van Goozen - Associate Lecturer at The University of York.
  • Billy Christmas – Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy at King’s College London
  • Bolarinwa Adediran, Lecturer at Liverpool Hope.
  • Wen-Chin Lung, Postdoctoral position in Copenhagen.