I’m Benjamin Studebaker.
I am an American with a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge. I’m a political theorist. I teach and publish in both contemporary political theory and the history of political thought. I’m also interested in political economy, ethics, and international relations. My published academic work tends to focus on legitimacy. I got my BA in Politics from the University of Warwick in 2013 and my MA from the University of Chicago in 2014.
I started this blog in August 2012 as an outlet for my thoughts, hoping to build an audience for the future. That future is in the process of arriving. I’ve been doing this since I was 20 years old, and my views have changed over time – please do not assume I agree with everything I’ve written or said since 2012. At every stage, I have tried to help my readers think about how best to help poor and working people. But this is really difficult. Many strategies and tactics that look helpful turn out to be mistakes. So, you’ll see me change positions now and then, even as my motivation remains largely the same.
In addition to the posts you’ll find here, my work appears other places. I use the blog to alert followers whenever I publish new written work, here or elsewhere. You can follow by email, through Twitter, or through Facebook. The email option is at the bottom of the page. Here’s a list of my off-site publications with links where available.
Books
- Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies, Edinburgh University Press, Coming in November 2024
- The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way is Shut, Palgrave, 2023
Articles
- Legitimacy Crises in Embedded Democracies, Contemporary Political Theory, 2023
- Plato as a Theorist of Legitimacy, International Journal of the Platonic Tradition, 2023
- What Can the Health Humanities Contribute to Our Societal Understanding of and Response to the Deaths of Despair Crisis?, Journal of Medical Humanities, w/Daniel George, Peter Stirling, Megan Wright, & Cindy Cain, 2023
- Beyond Bonapartism: Breaking Statephobic Thought Taboos, Platypus Review, 2024
- The Heart of Isonomia, Isonomia, 2023
- On Whether Various Economic Schemes Can Improve Citizens’ Political Capabilities, Isonomia, 2023
- Federations and Foreign Policy: The Quest for Koinon, Isonomia, 2023
- The Republican Model and the Crisis of National Liberalism, Cosmos + Taxis, 2022
PhD Thesis
- Legitimacy, Inequality, and Conceptions of Democratic Crisis, University of Cambridge, 2020
Pamphlets
- Four Essays on the Revolutionary Subject, Sublation Press, 2023
Other Academic Work
- Research Assistant for How Democracy Ends by David Runciman, 2018
Op-Eds
- The Left Cannot Make Use of the Gaza War, Sublation, 2024
- While we Scream and Shout, Egypt Sorts it Out, Sublation, 2023
- The Catholic Prophet of Inequality, Compact, 2023
- Revolution without the Risks: Enjoying the Adventures of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sublation, 2023
- Citizen-Eject, Sublation, 2023
- The American University System is a Rotting Carcass, Sublation, 2022
- Proportional Representation is a Terrible Idea that the Left Should Not Embrace, Current Affairs, 2022
- Thinking More Clearly About the Idea of Rights, Current Affairs, 2022
- How to Be Excellent, Pysche, 2021
- Coronavirus is Coming for Education, The Bellows, 2020
- The Ungoverned Globe, Aeon, 2020
- The Real Stakes of Trump’s Trade War with China, New Republic, 2019
- Why a Public Option Isn’t Enough, Current Affairs, 2019, w/Nathan Robinson
- How the Left Should Think About Trade, Current Affairs, 2019
- How Zizek Should Have Replied to Peterson, Current Affairs, 2019
- National Self-Determination is Overrated, Current Affairs, 2017
- The Siren Song of Austerity and the Erosion of the Centre, In the Long Run, 2017
- What Really Happened on Super Tuesday, Huffington Post, 2016
- Bernie Sanders is More Electable Than People Think, Huffington Post, 2016
- Why Bernie vs Hillary Matters More Than People Think, Huffington Post, 2016
- Sanders vs Clinton Economic Inequality, E-IR, 2016
Podcasts
- The Lack, 2021-Present
- Political Theory 101, 2019-Present
For professional inquiries or help with accessing articles that aren’t readily available, please e-mail me at: bmstudebaker@gmail.com
Please don’t bombard me with requests to run ads or link to outside content. Please do send me nice messages about posts you’ve enjoyed or offers to write for cool publications, give cool presentations, and go on interesting podcasts. I like to read, write, and talk about politics – I am not interested in promoting other people’s content on my blog and I will not pay you to promote my content.
I will often do in-person public speaking engagements if you cover travel expenses.
I am interested in working as a full-time academic political theorist.
I will consider other job offers that involve meaningful political work that contributes to the welfare of poor and working people.
Teaching Prizes
- University-Wide Student-Led Teaching Awards, Best Undergraduate Supervisor, 2020 (Nominated)
- Queens’ College Prize for Outstanding Contribution to College Education, 2018 (Won)
- Politics Department Supervisor Award, 2017 (Nominated)
Cambridge Teaching Details
Teaching Associate, Gonville and Caius College, 2019-2020
PhD Supervisor, 2016-2020, for Queens’, Gonville and Caius, Newnham, Girton, Selwyn, Homerton, et plus
Classes:
- The Modern State and Its Alternatives (POL 1)
- International Conflict, Order, and Justice (POL 2)
- The History of Political Thought to c. 1700 (POL 7)
- The History of Political Thought, c. 1700 to c. 1890 (POL 8/POL 10)
- Political Philosophy and the History of Political Thought from c. 1890 (POL 11)
- Undergraduate Dissertation (POL)
- Political Philosophy (PHIL 10)
- Evidence and Argument (History and Politics)
- Interviewed Prospective Students for Newnham