Benjamin Laing McKean

 

Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts                                                       (773) 702-3700 (Office)

Gates-Blake Hall 309                                                                              (213) 804 3346 (Mobile)

5854 S. Ellis Ave                                                                                   (773) 834-0493 (Fax)

Chicago, IL 60637                                                                                  mckean  (at)  uchicago   edu

 

Employment

University of Chicago

Harper Fellow in the Society of Fellows & Collegiate Assistant Professor

in the Social Sciences, Collegiate Division, September 2010-present

 

Education

Princeton University

PhD, Department of Politics, August 2010

MA, Department of Politics, May 2006

            Examination Fields: Political Theory; International Relations; Modern Social Theory

 

Harvard University

BA, Summa Cum Laude, Social Studies, June 2002

 

Dissertation

Title: Political Dispositions and Global Justice: Understanding the Duties of Individuals in an Unjust World

Committee: Charles Beitz (Politics), Jan-Werner Müller (Politics), Stephen Macedo (Politics)

 

Abstract: My dissertation places the dispositions, habits, and perspectives of individuals at the heart of

political obligation rather than at its margins, where they are found in the prevalent views that understand such

obligation essentially as compliance with institutional rules. By demonstrating the surprising extent to which

John Rawls’s theory of justice relies on elements of Hegel at key junctures, I show how citizens must shape

their own moral sentiments in order for political society to function fairly. The dissertation then develops a

criterion of solidarity to help individuals understand their political obligations in a social world that forces

them to cooperate internationally with others whom shared institutions and practices fail to treat as free

and equal. In doing so, the project advances a methodology for better linking ideal and non-ideal theory.

 

Primary Teaching and Research Interests

 

  • Global Justice & Human Rights                                                              
  • Liberalism & its Critics
  • Critical Theory              
  • International Relations

 

Teaching Experience

 

University of Chicago, Undergraduate Courses

Social Sciences (SOSC) 15100: Classics of Social & Political Thought, Fall 2010-Spring 2011

 

Princeton University, Assistant-In-Instruction

·       POL 313: Global Justice, with Charles Beitz, Fall 2006

·       WWS 301/POL 308: Ethics & Public Policy, with Keith Shaw, Spring 2007

·       POL 240: International Relations, with Edward Rhodes, Fall 2007

 

Fellowships, Honors and Awards

 

2009-2010 Graduate Prize Fellowship, Princeton University Center for Human Values

2004-2009 Graduate Fellowship, Princeton University

2001 Phi Beta Kappa (inducted as a junior)

1999-2002 John Harvard Scholarship for academic achievement

 

Selected Conference Presentations

 

Paper Presentations

·         "Political Freedom and Resentment: Equality, Difference, and Civic Friendship in Aristotle," American Political Science Association Annual Meeting September 2-5, 2010 in Washington, DC

·         “Hegel and Du Bois on Identity, Institutions, and the Global Economy,” Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting, April 1-3, 2010 in San Francisco, CA; version also presented at New England Political Science Association Annual Meeting, April 22-24, 2010 in Newport, RI

  • "Close Encounters? Power and Recognition in Terrence Malick's The New World," American Political Science Association Annual Meeting September 3-6, 2009 in Toronto, Canada
  • "The Holocaust and the Politics of Reconciliation: Rawls and Adorno on Historical Trauma and the Methods of Theory," American Political Science Association Annual Meeting August 28-31, 2008 in Boston, MA; version also presented at Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting March 19-21, 2009 in Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • "Global Justice & the Perils of the Social Contract Tradition," Midwest Political Science Association National Conference April 3-6, 2008 in Chicago, IL; paper also presented at New England Political Science Association Annual Meeting April 25-6, 2008 in Providence, RI; and Global Studies Association National Conference June 6-8, 2008 in New York, NY
  • "The Difference that Sovereignty Makes: Hobbes, Tocqueville and Foucault on the Anxiety of Equality," Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, January 10-12, 2008, in New Orleans, LA

 

Other Conference Roles

·         Discussant, "Schmitt, Althusser, and the Limits of the Political," American Political Science Association Annual Meeting September 2-5, 2010 in Washington, DC

  • Discussant and Chair, “Achieving Justice” Session, Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting March 19-21, 2009 in Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • Discussant, “Dilemmas in Establishing Collective Responsibility” session, Oxford/Princeton Research Collaboration on Global Norms and Global Justice, October 30-31, 2008, in Oxford, England
  • Discussant, “Rationalism and Relativism” panel, Princeton Graduate Conference in Political Theory, April 11-12, 2008, in Princeton, NJ; also served as conference co-organizer
  • Discussant and Chair, “New Perspectives on International Politics” Session, Midwest Political Science Association National Conference, April 3-6, 2008 in Chicago, IL

 

Professional Activity

 

Professional Affiliations                                                              

American Political Science Association                                        

Midwest Political Science Association

New England Political Science Association

 

Manuscript Reviewer

American Journal of Political Science

 

University and Department Service

Graduate Student Representative, Politics Department Graduate Committee, 2004-2005

Graduate Student Representative, Resources Committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community, 2006-present

Co-Organizer and Outreach Coordinator, Graduate Conference in Political Theory at Princeton University, 2008 and 2009

 

Community and Public Service

Member, Governing Board, Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), 2008-2010

               The WRC is a non-profit monitoring group that investigates wages and working conditions in the factories that produce collegiate apparel around the world.

 

Other Languages

 

Spanish (proficient reading and speaking); German (proficient reading, competent speaking)