Susan Bickford
Biographic Data
| ID | 1105665 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Susan Bickford |
| GIVEN NAMES | Susan |
| FAMILY NAME | Bickford |
| SIGNATURE | BICKFORD S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7391-9235 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 108 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Thinking democracy in a digital age
The Dissonance of Democracy
Although the role of shared speech in political action has received much theoretical attention, too little thought has focused on the practice of listening in political interaction, according to Susan Bickford. Even in a formally democratic polity, political action occurs in a context of conflict and inequality; thus, the shared speech of citizenship differs significantly from the conversations of friendly associates. Bickford suggests that democ…
Constructing Freedom
In recent years, there has been renewed public discussion regarding the relationship between women’s equality and their traditional responsibility for carework. In this essay, we analyze the structures of choice and constraint that continue to produce the gender division of family labor and thus women's unequal participation in the public sphere. We conceptualize this as a problem of democratic freedom, one that requires building institutional pa…
Emotion Talk and Political Judgment
Recent critics have argued that the concept of deliberation guiding much democratic theory is an overly rationalized one that undervalues the role of emotion in political communication. In this essay, I probe the puzzles of political judgment that come into view once we consider emotion a morally appropriate element of democratic communication. I argue that Aristotle's understanding of reason, emotion, and rhetoric directs our attention to "emoti…
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought provides a guide to understanding the central texts and problems in ancient Greek political thought, from Homer through the Stoics and Epicureans. Composed of essays specially commissioned for this volume and written by leading scholars of classics, political science, and philosophy, the Companion brings these texts to life by analysing what they have to tell us about the problems of poli…
Philosophy, Style, and Submission Guidelines for Perspectives on Politics
Perspectives on Politics is a general journal of political science that seeks to provide political insight on important problems, as it emerges from rigorous, broad-based research and integrative thought. The editors anticipate authors and readers primarily comprising political scientists, but also including journalists, policy analysts, public officials and their staff, and other social scientists. The articles aim to clarify for such an audienc…
Constructing Inequality
Our urban problem is how to revive the reality of the outside as a dimension of human experience. Richard Sennett
Reconfiguring Pluralism
This essay brings together two contemporary literatures: theories of pluralism that focus our attention on inequality between groups and theories of that emphasize its multiple and constructed character. I use these debates to construct a lens through which to analyze the institutional representation of disadvantaged groups. Group is orchestrated and produced in part through political institutional processes; thus attempts at democratic reform ha…
Anti-Anti-Identity Politics
In this essay, I argue that recent leftist aitiasms of “identity politics” do not address problems of inequality and interaction that are central in thinking about contemporary democratic politics. I turn instead to a set of feminist thinkers who share these critics’ vision of politics, but who critically mobilize identity in a way that provides a conception of democratic citizenship for our inegalitarian and diverse polity.
Anti-Anti-Identity Politics
In this essay, I argue that recent leftist aitiasms of “identity politics” do not address problems of inequality and interaction that are central in thinking about contemporary democratic politics. I turn instead to a set of feminist thinkers who share these critics’ vision of politics, but who critically mobilize identity in a way that provides a conception of democratic citizenship for our inegalitarian and diverse polity
Books in Review
Beyond Friendship
Aristotle is generally understood as a theorist of unitary rather than adversary democracy. Although it cannot be denied that Aristotle stresses the role of community and friendship in politics, I argue that his understanding of deliberation takes its very meaning from the presence of (multiple) conflicts. Aristotle thus provides us with a communicative conception of political practice that does not require the bonds of civic friendship, nor shar…
Why We Listen to Lunatics
In this essay, I argue that Richard Rorty's version of pragmatism focuses too much on community, and gives insufficient attention to the workings of power and the necessary relation between theory and practice. I then turn briefly to the work of Michel Foucault for a better understanding of power relations. Finally, I argue for the value of learning from a group of writers who connect theory and practice in a way that attends to both community an…
Constructing Inequality
Our urban problem is how to revive the reality of the outside as a dimension of human experience. Richard Sennett
Emotion Talk and Political Judgment
Recent critics have argued that the concept of deliberation guiding much democratic theory is an overly rationalized one that undervalues the role of emotion in political communication. In this essay, I probe the puzzles of political judgment that come into view once we consider emotion a morally appropriate element of democratic communication. I argue that Aristotle's understanding of reason, emotion, and rhetoric directs our attention to "emoti…
Reconfiguring Pluralism
This essay brings together two contemporary literatures: theories of pluralism that focus our attention on inequality between groups and theories of that emphasize its multiple and constructed character. I use these debates to construct a lens through which to analyze the institutional representation of disadvantaged groups. Group is orchestrated and produced in part through political institutional processes; thus attempts at democratic reform ha…
Beyond Friendship
Aristotle is generally understood as a theorist of unitary rather than adversary democracy. Although it cannot be denied that Aristotle stresses the role of community and friendship in politics, I argue that his understanding of deliberation takes its very meaning from the presence of (multiple) conflicts. Aristotle thus provides us with a communicative conception of political practice that does not require the bonds of civic friendship, nor shar…
Constructing Freedom
In recent years, there has been renewed public discussion regarding the relationship between women’s equality and their traditional responsibility for carework. In this essay, we analyze the structures of choice and constraint that continue to produce the gender division of family labor and thus women's unequal participation in the public sphere. We conceptualize this as a problem of democratic freedom, one that requires building institutional pa…
Why We Listen to Lunatics
In this essay, I argue that Richard Rorty's version of pragmatism focuses too much on community, and gives insufficient attention to the workings of power and the necessary relation between theory and practice. I then turn briefly to the work of Michel Foucault for a better understanding of power relations. Finally, I argue for the value of learning from a group of writers who connect theory and practice in a way that attends to both community an…
Why We Listen to Lunatics
In this essay, I argue that Richard Rorty's version of pragmatism focuses too much on community, and gives insufficient attention to the workings of power and the necessary relation between theory and practice. I then turn briefly to the work of Michel Foucault for a better understanding of power relations. Finally, I argue for the value of learning from a group of writers who connect theory and practice in a way that attends to both community an…
Books in Review
Beyond Friendship
Aristotle is generally understood as a theorist of unitary rather than adversary democracy. Although it cannot be denied that Aristotle stresses the role of community and friendship in politics, I argue that his understanding of deliberation takes its very meaning from the presence of (multiple) conflicts. Aristotle thus provides us with a communicative conception of political practice that does not require the bonds of civic friendship, nor shar…
Anti-Anti-Identity Politics
In this essay, I argue that recent leftist aitiasms of “identity politics” do not address problems of inequality and interaction that are central in thinking about contemporary democratic politics. I turn instead to a set of feminist thinkers who share these critics’ vision of politics, but who critically mobilize identity in a way that provides a conception of democratic citizenship for our inegalitarian and diverse polity.
Anti-Anti-Identity Politics
In this essay, I argue that recent leftist aitiasms of “identity politics” do not address problems of inequality and interaction that are central in thinking about contemporary democratic politics. I turn instead to a set of feminist thinkers who share these critics’ vision of politics, but who critically mobilize identity in a way that provides a conception of democratic citizenship for our inegalitarian and diverse polity
Reconfiguring Pluralism
This essay brings together two contemporary literatures: theories of pluralism that focus our attention on inequality between groups and theories of that emphasize its multiple and constructed character. I use these debates to construct a lens through which to analyze the institutional representation of disadvantaged groups. Group is orchestrated and produced in part through political institutional processes; thus attempts at democratic reform ha…
Constructing Inequality
Our urban problem is how to revive the reality of the outside as a dimension of human experience. Richard Sennett
Philosophy, Style, and Submission Guidelines for Perspectives on Politics
Perspectives on Politics is a general journal of political science that seeks to provide political insight on important problems, as it emerges from rigorous, broad-based research and integrative thought. The editors anticipate authors and readers primarily comprising political scientists, but also including journalists, policy analysts, public officials and their staff, and other social scientists. The articles aim to clarify for such an audienc…
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought provides a guide to understanding the central texts and problems in ancient Greek political thought, from Homer through the Stoics and Epicureans. Composed of essays specially commissioned for this volume and written by leading scholars of classics, political science, and philosophy, the Companion brings these texts to life by analysing what they have to tell us about the problems of poli…
Emotion Talk and Political Judgment
Recent critics have argued that the concept of deliberation guiding much democratic theory is an overly rationalized one that undervalues the role of emotion in political communication. In this essay, I probe the puzzles of political judgment that come into view once we consider emotion a morally appropriate element of democratic communication. I argue that Aristotle's understanding of reason, emotion, and rhetoric directs our attention to "emoti…
Constructing Freedom
In recent years, there has been renewed public discussion regarding the relationship between women’s equality and their traditional responsibility for carework. In this essay, we analyze the structures of choice and constraint that continue to produce the gender division of family labor and thus women's unequal participation in the public sphere. We conceptualize this as a problem of democratic freedom, one that requires building institutional pa…
The Dissonance of Democracy
Although the role of shared speech in political action has received much theoretical attention, too little thought has focused on the practice of listening in political interaction, according to Susan Bickford. Even in a formally democratic polity, political action occurs in a context of conflict and inequality; thus, the shared speech of citizenship differs significantly from the conversations of friendly associates. Bickford suggests that democ…
Thinking democracy in a digital age
Sociology (13 works) · Political science (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Politics (11 works) · Democracy (9 works) · Epistemology (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (5 works)