Research

My work addresses a critical lacuna: the absence of anarchist theoretical viewpoints in mainstream political philosophy. Though anarchists are well-represented in disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, and history, and although anarchists outside of academia are always thinking, writing, and discussing, within the field of philosophy, anarchists are conspicuously under-represented, and their works remain widely unread.

 

When they are allowed in, anarchist concepts easily find a place in political philosophy. Yet anarchist themes also can be read alongside less straightforwardly political notions, such as those of Hegelianism, phenomenology, existentialism, pragmatism, and post-structuralism. The investigation of these fruitful crossroads, unfortunately, is given little attention in the academy.

 

My doctoral work centers on the philosophical investigation of hierarchy. I am mostly interested in “hierarchy” as it applies to human societies. Various political, economic, and social systems are sometimes labeled as “hierarchies” or as “hierarchical.” I investigate what these systems and structures have in common, whether they are just or unjust, and why.

 

I think that anarchism is a societal ideology, one that is best understood as a general skepticism of all hierarchies in society, but an outright opposition only to the broadest and deepest hierarchical “macro-systems.” In my writings, I argue that “hierarchy” is the core concept of anarchist theory, because it helps to relate all of the other important anarchist concepts to each other. 

 

At base, my work suggests that it is by thinking about hierarchies, and about what is wrong (or sometimes right!) with them, that all of us—anarchists and non-anarchists—can begin to construct new institutions, structures, and systems that best promote the values we hold most dear: liberty, equality, and compassion.