Research Pillar(s): Political Philosophy and Theory
About: LSE is a leading centre for the study of political theory and philosophy, constituting one of the UK's largest concentrations of researchers in this area and related fields. The Political Theory Group in the Department of Government maintains close relations with political theorists and philosophers in other parts of the School, for example in the Departments of Law, Philosophy, and International Relations.
The Group is characterised by a vibrant research culture, centred around an active doctoral programme and a highly regarded external speaker series. Members of the group also deliver research-led teaching on the Department’s programmes of study at undergraduate, postgraduate and research-level.
One of the Group's key assets is the breadth and diversity of interests and expertise, including:
- Contemporary moral philosophy and political theory
- History of political thought
- Comparative political theory
- Philosophy of social science
- Rational and social choice theory
Members: Prof Paul Apostolidis, Prof Leigh Jenco, Prof Paul Kelly, Prof Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, Dr Bruno Leipold, Prof Anne Phillips (emeritus), Prof Kai Spiekermann, Prof Lea Ypi, Dr Sarah Goff, Dr Andreas Sorger, and Dr Daniel Häuser.
Political Philosophy Seminar Series: The Political Theory Group invites domestic and international guest speakers to present and discuss papers. The seminar is attended by staff members, and PhD students from the Department of Government. Visitors are welcome to attend.
All seminars take place Thursday 4pm to 6pm in CBG.1.10 in the Autumn Term, CKK.2.14 in the Winter Term, and PAR.2.03 in the Spring Term, unless otherwise stated.
Speakers will have the option to pre-circulate their papers; if you would like to receive a copy of the paper, subscribe to the mailing list. To subscribe, see the instructions below.
Seminar Convener(s): Prof Kai Spiekermann
The Political Theory Group also run a Doctoral Research workshop for the Department’s MRes/PhD students: Political Theory Doctoral Workshop
Autumn Term
Week 1 — Thu 1 October 2026
Nicola Mulkeen (Newcastle)
"Exploiting the Young: Towards a Unified Model of Age-Based Exploitation"
Week 4 — Thu 22 October 2026
Jan Kandiyali (Durham) — Book Launch Workshop, "Flourishing Together: Karl Marx's Vision of the Good Society"
Co-organised with Alternatives to Capitalism
Commentators: Bruno Leipold, Anne Phillips, and Kate Vredenburgh
Week 5 — Thu 29 October 2026
Matilda Carter (Leeds)
"Authenticity, Alienation, and Relational Equality"
Week 7 — WED 11 November 2026 (note: Wednesday, not Thursday)
Duncan Kelly (Cambridge)
Joint seminar with the Legal and Political Theory Forum, title tbc
Week 10 — Thu 3 December 2026
Humeira Iqtidar (KCL)
"Justice Beyond Rights: Haqq and Critical Theory"
Winter Term
Week 1 — Thu 14 January 2027
Ed Hall (Sheffield), title tba
Week 2 — Thu 21 January 2027
Carmen De Schryver (Trinity College, Hartford), title tba
Week 5 — Thu 11 February 2027
Andrew Schaap (Exeter), title tba
Week 8 — Thu 4 March 2027
Shai Agmon (UCL), title tba
Week 10 — Thu 18 March 2027
Jeffrey Howard (UCL), title tba
Spring Term
Thu 13 May 2027
Arturo Chang (Toronto), title tba
Mailing List
To receive the latest information on our seminar and selected other political theory events please subscribe to our mailing list.
Email listserv@listserv.lse.ac.uk with this text in the body of your message (not the subject line):
SUBSCRIBE GOV-POTY-ANNOUNCE-L [your full name]
for instance: SUBSCRIBE GOV-POTY-ANNOUNCE-L Edgar Example
And to unsubscribe:
Email listserv@listserv.lse.ac.uk from the email address you want to unsubscribe with this text in the body of your message (not the subject line):
SIGNOFF GOV-POTY-ANNOUNCE-L
Autumn Term
Thursday 2 October
Speaker: Tom Parr (University of Warwick)
Thursday 16 October
Speaker: Daniel James (University of Exeter)
Thursday 30 October
Speaker: Jeff Spinner-Halev (University of North Carolina)
Thursday 13 November
Speaker: Agnes Tam (Visiting Fellow, Goethe University Frankfurt (2025-26) and University of Calgary)
Thursday 4 December
Speaker: Alex Guerrero (Rutgers University-New Brunswick)
Thursday 11 December
Speaker: Pablo Gilabert (Concordia University )
Winter Term
Thursday 22 January
Speaker: Christine Straehle (Universität Hamburg and University of Ottawa)
Thursday 12 February
Speaker: Daniel Häuser (LSE)
Thursday 19 February
Speaker: Manon Garcia (FU Berlin)
Thursday 5 March
Speaker: Elena Ruiz (Michigan State University)
Spring Term
Friday 29 May
Speaker: Sean Ingham (UC San Diego)
Autumn Term
Thursday 3 October
Speaker: Elisabeth Widmer (Oslo)
Thursday 10 October
Speaker: John Keane (Sydney)
Thursday 31 October
Speaker: Demetra Kasimis (Cambridge)
Winter Term
Thursday 23 January
Speaker: Maxime Lepoutre (Reading)
Thursday 6 February
Speaker: Jennifer Morton (UPenn)
Thursday 20 February
Speaker: Wendy Salkin (Stanford)
Thursday 13 March
Speaker: Sarah Bufkin (Birmingham)
Thursday 27 March
Speaker: Daniel Weinstock (McGill)
Autumn Term
Thursday 28 September
Speaker: Alejandra Macilla (Oslo)
Thursday 12 October
Speaker: Lewis Ross (LSE)
Thursday 26 October
Speaker: Lucas Stanczyk (Harvard)
Thursday 16 November
Speaker: Ndidi Nwaneri (Loyola)
Thursday 23 November
Speaker: Rahel Jaeggi (HU Berlin)
Winter Term
Thursday 18 January
Speaker: Hagar Kotef (SOAS)
Thursday 15 February
Speaker: Kal Kalewold (Leeds)
Thursday 14 March
Speaker: Samuel Freeman (U Penn)
Thursday 28 March
Speaker: Jakob Huber (FU Berlin)
Summer Term
Thursday 16 May
Speaker: Samuel Bagg (University South Carolina) PAR.LG.03