Dear All,
The ECPR Standing Group on Kantian Political Thought Kantian Political Thought (ecpr.eu) plans to submit an application for a workshop on 'Institutions of Peace. Perspectives from Kantian Political Theory' to be convened by Bertjan Wolthuis (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Jakob Rendl (University of Vienna) to take place at the Joint Sessions of Workshops organised by the European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR) at Charles University, Prague, from 20 to 23 May 2025: Joint Sessions of Workshops, Charles University, 20 – 23 May 2025 (ecpr.eu).
The workshop is a closed forum accommodating 15–20 Papers over four days. Each participant presents their paper which is then thoroughly reviewed and discussed by the group, including time for discussant-led questions (each Paper Presenter is expected to take turns to serve as a Discussant). The Joint Sessions Workshop thus offers a unique opportunity to receive thorough feedback and engage in intense discussions on Kantian Political Theory.
At this stage, we would like to gauge potential interest in the workshop, so if this is a topic you would like to present a paper on as part of the workshop, please get in touch with the workshop convenors until Wednesday, 11 September 2024: a.j.wolthuis@vu.nl; jakob.rendl@univie.ac.at.
Kind regards,
Jakob Rendl
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Call for Expressions of Interest – Workshop Proposal Endorsed by the Kantian Standing Group at ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops 2025
Institutions of Peace. Perspectives from Kantian Political Theory
Introduction
The news reminds us every day that, unfortunately, peace remains a topic as relevant as ever. Recently, questions about what can justify war, what is justified in war, and how to establish peace, have again attracted the attention of political theorists. Their works rely crucially on the political theory of Immanuel Kant. Whereas there is considerable consensus in the literature about Kant’s position on war, there is still sharp disagreement about Kant’s related views about the establishment of peace. The aim of this workshop is to research this disagreement and to further clarify Kant’s position on the institutions of peace.
Why the Discipline Needs this Workshop
The question of peace and its institutions is currently a topical issue. However, important aspects of this topic still await clarification. How, precisely, to define peace? And how is peace best established (Hathaway and Shapiro 2017)? Is peace always preferable to conflict (Margalit 2013; Forst 2011)?
The recent literature on war and peace (Huber 2022; Ripstein 2021a, Niesen 2021) relies critically on Kant’s notion of the state, and his understanding of both international and cosmopolitan law. Unclear, however, is what the establishment of peace requires, as part of a Kantian approach. Is a full-blown ‘world federation’ necessary, as some (Kleingeld 2004) argue? Others (Ripstein 2009, p. 227-228) think Kant’s theory lacks ‘the resources to argue for either an executive or a legislative international body.’
This workshop addresses these and related issues with which the discipline is currently grappling. What has become clear to Kantian scholars, is that to shed light on these questions, it is neccesary to understand how national law, international law and cosmopolitan law should work together as one system of public law. However, scholars disagree about the status of the rather restricted rights and duties of international and cosmopolitan law that Kant mentions (Huber 2022). Are these rights and duties already ‘public’ and ‘peremptory’ (Ripstein 2021b) or perhaps still ‘natural’ and ‘provisional’, in need of further institutional development (Niesen 2021)?
We invite scholars in all career stages and also from backgrounds traditionally marginalized to send working papers on these issues. The aim is to publish accepted papers.
The Workshop Will Address Questions such as:
What constitutes peace?
Is peace best advanced by transferring more powers from the nation state to the institutions of international and cosmopolitan unions, such as the United Nations and the European Union, or is peace perhaps undermined by the further strengthening of international and transnational authorities?
What would Kant’s position be on today’s institutions of international and cosmopolitan law?
Is the framework of international and cosmopolitan law as outlined by Kant sufficient or should we further develop institutions of international and cosmopolitan law based on the basis that Kant has provided?
This Workshop seeks Papers on:
Kant’s theory of peace and Kantian theories of peace
Political theory of institutions of international and cosmopolitan law
Kant on international law
Kant on cosmopolitan law
The architecture of Kant’s theory of public law
Kantian approaches to the relation between peace and justice
All welcome!