Benjamin L Mckean
Biographic Data
| ID | 1211920 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Benjamin L Mckean |
| GIVEN NAMES | Benjamin L |
| FAMILY NAME | Mckean |
| SIGNATURE | MCKEAN B L |
| AFFILIATIONS | The Ohio State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1943-360X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 51 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Labor, nature, and the reproduction of capitalism
Regaining control over precarity
Response to Steven Klein’s Review of Disorienting Neoliberalism
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Our Deluded Demos
Disorienting Neoliberalism
Many people believe the global economy is unjust, but they don't know what to do about it. What responsibilities do American consumers have to workers in China making their iPhones? Should they still buy clothes made in Bangladesh's sweatshops? Offering an overview of how neoliberalism orients us to the world, Benjamin L. McKean shows the practical shortcomings of neoliberal approaches to the world and develops an alternative way of thinking and …
Kant, coercion, and the legitimation of inequality
Immanuel Kant’s political philosophy has enjoyed renewed attention as an egalitarian alternative to contemporary inequality since it seems to uncompromisingly reassert the primacy of the state over the economy, enabling it to defend the modern welfare state against encroaching neoliberal markets. However, I argue that, when understood as a free-standing approach to politics, Kant’s doctrine of right shares essential features with the prevailing t…
Ideal Theory after Auschwitz? The Practical Uses and Ideological Abuses of Political Theory as Reconciliation
Contemporary debates about ideal and nonideal theory rest on an underlying consensus that the primary practical task of political theory is directing action. This overlooks other urgent practical work that theory can do, including showing how injustice can be made bearable and how resisting it can be meaningful. I illustrate this important possibility by revisiting the purpose for which John Rawls originally developed the concept of ideal theory:…
Toward an Inclusive Populism? On the Role of Race and Difference in Laclau’s Politics
Does the recent success of Podemos and Syriza herald a new era of inclusive, egalitarian left populism? Because leaders of both parties are former students of Ernesto Laclau and cite his account of populism as guiding their political practice, this essay considers whether his theory supports hope for a new kind of populism. For Laclau, the essence of populism is an “empty signifier” that provides a means by which anyone can identify with the peop…
What Makes a Utopia Inconvenient? On the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Realist Orientation to Politics
Contemporary politics is often said to lack utopias. For prevailing understandings of the practical force of political theory, this looks like cause for celebration. As blueprints to apply to political practice, utopias invariably seem too strong or too weak. Through an immanent critique of political realism, I argue that utopian thought, and political theory generally, is better conceived as supplying an orientation to politics. Realists includi…
Toward an Inclusive Populism? On the Role of Race and Difference in Laclau’s Politics
Does the recent success of Podemos and Syriza herald a new era of inclusive, egalitarian left populism? Because leaders of both parties are former students of Ernesto Laclau and cite his account of populism as guiding their political practice, this essay considers whether his theory supports hope for a new kind of populism. For Laclau, the essence of populism is an “empty signifier” that provides a means by which anyone can identify with the peop…
What Makes a Utopia Inconvenient? On the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Realist Orientation to Politics
Contemporary politics is often said to lack utopias. For prevailing understandings of the practical force of political theory, this looks like cause for celebration. As blueprints to apply to political practice, utopias invariably seem too strong or too weak. Through an immanent critique of political realism, I argue that utopian thought, and political theory generally, is better conceived as supplying an orientation to politics. Realists includi…
Ideal Theory after Auschwitz? The Practical Uses and Ideological Abuses of Political Theory as Reconciliation
Contemporary debates about ideal and nonideal theory rest on an underlying consensus that the primary practical task of political theory is directing action. This overlooks other urgent practical work that theory can do, including showing how injustice can be made bearable and how resisting it can be meaningful. I illustrate this important possibility by revisiting the purpose for which John Rawls originally developed the concept of ideal theory:…
Our Deluded Demos
Toward an Inclusive Populism? On the Role of Race and Difference in Laclau’s Politics
Does the recent success of Podemos and Syriza herald a new era of inclusive, egalitarian left populism? Because leaders of both parties are former students of Ernesto Laclau and cite his account of populism as guiding their political practice, this essay considers whether his theory supports hope for a new kind of populism. For Laclau, the essence of populism is an “empty signifier” that provides a means by which anyone can identify with the peop…
What Makes a Utopia Inconvenient? On the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Realist Orientation to Politics
Contemporary politics is often said to lack utopias. For prevailing understandings of the practical force of political theory, this looks like cause for celebration. As blueprints to apply to political practice, utopias invariably seem too strong or too weak. Through an immanent critique of political realism, I argue that utopian thought, and political theory generally, is better conceived as supplying an orientation to politics. Realists includi…
Ideal Theory after Auschwitz? The Practical Uses and Ideological Abuses of Political Theory as Reconciliation
Contemporary debates about ideal and nonideal theory rest on an underlying consensus that the primary practical task of political theory is directing action. This overlooks other urgent practical work that theory can do, including showing how injustice can be made bearable and how resisting it can be meaningful. I illustrate this important possibility by revisiting the purpose for which John Rawls originally developed the concept of ideal theory:…
Kant, coercion, and the legitimation of inequality
Immanuel Kant’s political philosophy has enjoyed renewed attention as an egalitarian alternative to contemporary inequality since it seems to uncompromisingly reassert the primacy of the state over the economy, enabling it to defend the modern welfare state against encroaching neoliberal markets. However, I argue that, when understood as a free-standing approach to politics, Kant’s doctrine of right shares essential features with the prevailing t…
Disorienting Neoliberalism
Many people believe the global economy is unjust, but they don't know what to do about it. What responsibilities do American consumers have to workers in China making their iPhones? Should they still buy clothes made in Bangladesh's sweatshops? Offering an overview of how neoliberalism orients us to the world, Benjamin L. McKean shows the practical shortcomings of neoliberal approaches to the world and develops an alternative way of thinking and …
Response to Steven Klein’s Review of Disorienting Neoliberalism
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Our Deluded Demos
Regaining control over precarity
Labor, nature, and the reproduction of capitalism
Political science (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Politics (6 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (5 works) · Economic Justice (4 works)