Key details
Dr Matthew Jones
Lecturer
I joined the Department of History, Politics and Social Sciences in 2013 as a Visiting Lecturer in Politics and International Relations. In 2015 I was appointed as Lecturer in Political Science. Prior to this I taught at the University of Westminster, Birkbeck College at University London, and Canterbury Christ Church University.
In 2012 I received my doctorate from Canterbury Christ Church University. My doctorate, entitled Enlightenment Liberalism and the Challenge of Pluralism, focused on ways to mediate the clash between Enlightenment liberalism and pluralism within the modern liberal democratic polity. This research was funded by a three-year studentship. Prior to this I was awarded a BA with First Class Honours from the University of Tasmania, Australia.
PhD thesis: "Enlightenment Liberalism and the Challenge of Pluralism" -
Responsibilities within the university
Lecturer in Political Science
Course Leader
POLI1054 Comparative Politics
POLI1055 Introducing Politics POLI1054 Comparative Politics
POLI1055 Introducing Politics
Course Participation
POLI1028 International Organisations COGA1005 Dissertation SOCI1114 introduction to Social Sciences
Awards
(2017) Nominated for Student-Led Inspirational Teaching Award
(2006) Full-Time Research Studentship (3 years), Department of Applied Social Sciences, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK
Recognition
Editorial Board Membership
Membership of research networks/research associations
* (2010 onwards) The Political Studies Association (PSA), UK
* (2015 onwards) European Consortium for Political Research
Other
* Reviewer for Contemporary Political Theory and Social and Political Theory
Research / Scholarly interests
My main area of interest is political theory. My primary areas of research include:
- The Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment movements
- Isaiah Berlin and value pluralism
- The political applications of pragmatism
- Chantal Mouffe's theory and application of agonistic pluralism and democracy
- Theories and critiques of liberalism, particularly with regards to forms of pluralism
In addition to these areas, I am also interested in doing further research and teaching in Australian politics, Asian political thought, and environmental politics. I am also interested in collaborative work in any of these areas.
I have published on Chantal Mouffe's agonistic political project (Parallax 2014), as well as review for The Philosophical Forum (42:3). I am currently writing papers on George's Crowder's account of value pluralism, and Richard Rorty's post-modern liberalism analysed through the lens of Mouffe's distinction between 'politics' and 'the political'.
Recent publications
Journal articles
M. Jones, "Chantal Mouffe's Agonistic Project: Passions and Participation," Parallax 20, no. 2 (2014): 14-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13534645.2014.896546 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13534645.2014.896546
Author's Accepted Manuscript version available at
Working papers
M. Jones, "Crowder, Value Pluralism, and the Paradox of Freedom."
M. Jones, "Rorty and the Denial of the Political" Working draft:
Other
M. Jones, review of Thomas Brooks & Martha Nussbaum's Rawls's Political Liberalism, in International Dialogue: A Multidisciplinary Journal of World Affairs, vol 6 (2016):
M. Jones, "Fruitful Misnomers," a chapter review of "Locke and Natural Law," in Terence Irwin's The Development of Ethics: Volume 2 From Suarez to Rousseau, for The Philosophical Forum 42, issue 3 (Fall 2011), pp. 298-299
Media Outputs
"," The Mercury, June 13th, 2017
Interviewed by ABC Northern Tasmania, ABC Tasmania, and , to discuss the UK General Election results, June 2017
"," Kent on Sunday, November 13th, 2016
"," Kent on Sunday, July 24th, 2016
"," Kent on Sunday, December 7th, 2015
"," Kent on Sunday, April 19th, 2015
"," Kent on Sunday, March 17th, 2015
Presentations
National
Richard Rorty's Liberal Utopia: Politics by Administration, 2015 Summer Institute in American Philosophy – "The Reaches of Pragmatism", University College Dublin, 08-13/06/2015
A Rortyian Defence of Same-Sex Marriage, Annual Conference of the Political Thought Specialist Group (UK Political Science Association), King's College, University of London, 26/10/2013
Value Pluralism, Diversity, and the Role of the State
- Association of Legal and Social Philosophy conference, the University of Warwick, 04-06/07/2011 (revised version).
- Brave New World MANCEPT Postgraduate Conference, the University of Manchester, 27-28/06/2011.
Rorty and the Denial of Politics
- Warwick Postgraduate Conference in Political Theory, the University of Warwick, 02/07/2011.
- Law and Philosophy Graduate Conference: Rights and Cultural Diversity, University of Stirling, 28-29/05/2011.
Assessing the Agonistic Critique of Deliberative Democracy, Deliberative and Participatory Conference in the UK, Glasgow Caledonian University, 23-25/06/2010.
Modern Canada, Liberalism, and the 'Politics of Difference', Being, Becoming and Belonging: Multiculturalism, Diversity and Social Inclusion in Modern Canada, St Anne's College, University of Oxford, 29/03/2009.
The Instrumental Use of Autonomy in Political Liberalism and Value Pluralism, 11th Annual Graduate Conference in Political Theory, Department of Political and International Studies, University of Warwick, 14/02/2009.
The Graying of Kant: Re-interpreting Kant in the Light of John Gray and Cosmopolitanism, Law, Politics and International Relations: A Critical Research on International Political Theory (CRIPT) Graduate Workshop on International Political Thought and Critical Legal Thought, British International Studies Association (BISA) working group, Birkbeck College, University of London, 21/11/2008.
Conference Organisation
Convenor for a workshop on 'The Politics of Value Pluralism', at the 2011 MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory, held at the University of Manchester. This includes the presentation of a paper entitled Value Pluralism and the Right to Exit. 31-02/09/2011