Spring Symposium 2026

Our Spring Symposium on 27th April 2026 is an opportunity to learn from both other Early Career and PhD scholars and to gain feedback from more senior academics working in and around global political theory. We are proud to be sponsored by the Society for Applied Philosophy, who aim to foster the application of philosophy to real-world problems ranging from the climate crisis to animal rights to housing justice.

We are also delighted that our keynote will be given by Professor Jeffrey Howard, who works on policy-engaged political philosophy around topics like social media regulation, counter-extremism, and AI ethics.

There will also be a sponsored drinks reception at UCL, a panel of senior academics discussing methodology in global political theory, and a free dinner for speakers and discussants.

We have four core themes this year:

  1. The methodology of situated theory (chaired by Dr Alice Baderin, University of Reading)

  2. Digital technology, AI, and global power (chaired by Dr Alex Grzankowski, KCL)

  3. The climate crisis (chaired by Dr Ross Mittiga, SOAS)

  4. Work and its future (chaired by Dr Tom Parr, University of Warwick)

Details on these themes and the event are below, please consider submitting here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OubS-Z0G6UDbFbZiW0FV0_iXAWoL267tJkSbyRJwprQ

Event Details

Scope

We define theory broadly, but as a non-exhaustive list, we mean approaches grounded in moral or political philosophy, critical theory, postcolonial theory, feminist theory, etc. We welcome talks that have an applied or policy focus, but they must have a core theoretical argument. Talks that are primarily quantitative political science or “formal” game theory are out of scope.

Do I need to write a paper?

No - we welcome work-in-progress work, you only need to give a 20 minute presentation and answer audience questions (including from the senior discussant).

Location

This Symposium will be taking place at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus in Central London, more details on rooms and a map will follow when these are finalised.

Financial Support

We can provide up to £50 of travel funds and £85 for accommodation (for non-London speakers). When you apply, please let us know if you will be needing financial support to attend.

Themes

The methodology of situated theory

Across applied political philosophy and political theory, there has been increasing engagement with historical and ethnographic methods to situate philosophical inquiry in context and broaden the global scope of the discipline.

This has been done, in particular, to resist turning political philosophy into a purely moral exercise, and rather to take a realist stance, foregrounding the distribution, exercise, and origins of social and political power.

Submissions for this panel would be asked to focus on how these kinds of inquiries can be incorporated into philosophical work and on the resulting epistemological, ethical, and political tensions.

Digital technology, AI, and global power

Peter Thiel, the CEO of the AI company Palantir, recently stated that certain minority opinions he and other tech elites hold were unlikely to gain electoral purchase, and so ‘technology is this incredible alternative to politics’.

Responding to this, the panel will seek submissions that bring the tools of political philosophy and the philosophy of technology to bear on contemporary questions of how digital technology reshapes the global distribution of power, especially as they relate to AI, the state, and the role of tech companies.

The Climate Crisis

Despite decades of activism and philosophical work on green political thought, the latest COP in  Belém was disappointing, particularly given the repeated failures to meet climate finance pledges.

The panel aims to interrogate the possibilities and pitfalls of forming a green social imaginary that confronts stasis, climate nihilism, and the urgent need for global reconstruction efforts.

In particular, we invite submissions that explore the tension that dystopian narratives of climate change can both justify insufficient action in status-quo politics and, conversely, fuel political mobilisation on the left and right. 

Work and its Future

Work has long been treated as a key site of moral obligation, social integration, and political discipline. However, philosophers are increasingly attuned to the gendered, parochial, and racialised logics underpinning those assumptions. Moreover, contemporary transformations like automation, platform work, precarious employment, and the decline of organised labour have further destabilised the normative foundations of work.

This panel thus invites submissions that critically examine our contemporary relationship with work, and/or its possible futures. Contributors are invited to explore how applied political philosophy can engage with concrete labour regimes while rethinking freedom, obligation, and social reproduction beyond the wage relation.