WEDNESDAY: UKZN–UNIZULU Philosophy Seminar Series, Wed 15 Oct, 14h00--15h30, 'Rick Turner and Public Political Philosophy', Christine Hobden

[M. Whitaker]

UKZN–UNIZULU

Philosophy Seminar Series 

15 September 2025, Wednesday @ 14h00-15h30

Click this Teams link to attend the talk

Rick Turner and Public Political Philosophy 

Christine Hobden

Wits School of Governance, University of Witwatersrand

Abstract:

This paper draws upon and develops anti-Apartheid scholar and activist Rick Turner’s methodological approach as a tool to illustrate two under-theorised areas within current debates on methods of political philosophy and public political philosophy. First, the role of public political philosophy in semi – and non-democratic societies, and second, the role of ‘utopian thinking’ in public political philosophy. The current ‘methodological turn’ in political theory is driven, at least in part, by a desire for the discipline to ‘be more practical’, with particular emphasis on a vision of the practical role of the philosopher within a democratic society. This paper argues, through the lens of the work and life of Rick Turner, that public political philosophy has value beyond this democratic framing.

Turner’s approach to political philosophy, which I term “engaged political philosophy” is both ideal and centrally oriented towards change; ‘engaged political philosophy’ offers a methodological approach for contexts where direct engagement with policy formulation and formal political agenda setting is out of reach. In the context of an oppressive society, Turner identified the Utopian Thinking as essential to the task of understanding and evaluating one’s society and so identifying what is changeable. On this view, public political philosophy seeks not to change society only through providing a map to the ideal or arguing for particular position, but through providing the philosophical vision and tools to enable the transformative act of believing that change is possible.

Bio:

Christine Hobden is a senior lecturer in Ethics and Public Governance at the Wits School of Governance. She holds a DPhil in Politics (Political Theory) from Nuffield College, University of Oxford. Before joining Wits School of Governance, Hobden lectured in Philosophy at the University of Fort Hare (2017 – 2021) and held a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellowship at the European University Institute (2015 – 2016). 

In 2023, she was awarded a Y1 Research Rating by the South African National Research Foundation. Hobden also recently held an Iso Lomso Fellowship for early career African Scholars at the Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study (2019 – 2022). She is an editor at Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory. Her research explores normative questions about democratic citizenship and international justice. Her book, Citizenship in a Globalised World, conceptualises a state-based citizenship that is fundamentally collective and globally-oriented. Her current research projects develop an account of political consumerism as a channel of civic responsibility and, drawing on the life and work of Rick Turner, an argument for becoming ‘engaged political philosophers’.

For any queries, please contact:

Monique Whitaker (Whita...@ukzn.ac.za), or
Jason van Niekerk (vanNi...@unizulu.ac.za)