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What makes a political theory political? A comment on Waldron

Abstract:
This article considers Jeremy Waldron’s recent contribution to a growing conversation about how to make political theory and philosophy more responsive to real politics—Political Political Theory—in light of his broader body of work, especially Law and Disagreement. I argue that rather than providing a genuine alternative to the idealization and abstraction characteristic of what Waldron labels the “justice industry,” he uses the concept of what counts as properly “political” to grant nearly absolute priority to a certain class of concerns over others. This strategy places him in the company of a long line of liberal theorists, but it does not necessarily make his theory more political than its rivals. His alternative simply focuses its idealization and abstraction on the ideal of legitimacy rather than justice.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1177/1478929917704815

Authors


More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
SSD
Department:
Politics & Int Relations
Oxford college:
Nuffield College
Role:
Author


Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Journal:
Political Studies Review More from this journal
Volume:
16
Issue:
3
Pages:
184-191
Publication date:
2017-08-08
Acceptance date:
2017-01-06
DOI:
EISSN:
1478-9302
ISSN:
1478-9299


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1088770
Local pid:
pubs:1088770
Deposit date:
2020-02-24

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