Janosch Prinz
Biographic Data
| ID | 4375834 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Janosch Prinz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Janosch |
| FAMILY NAME | Prinz |
| SIGNATURE | PRINZ J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Maastricht University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5195-3694 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 120 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 19 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The Climate Tribunate. Using conflict-focused democratic innovation to address the climate crisis
Legitimacy and the practice of judgment
The past two decades have seen a resurgence of debates about how to understand legitimacy in political theory.One of the reasons for this resurgence has been the recent realist turn, with its call to pay more attention to questions of (authorized) power rather than to principles of justice (Sleat, 2015).Such a realist perspective has led theorists to shed new light on many facets of legitimacy, for example the relationship between legitimation an…
Can narratives about sovereign debt be generally ideologically suspicious? An exercise in broadening the scope of ideology critique
Our interest here is in the fourth of these theories. It strikes us as particularly interesting because it differs significantly from what are perhaps the most familiar notions of ideology. While the most familiar notions of ideology are arguably those which focus on the process of how a belief is generated, Prinz and Rossi (2017, p. 341) “focus not on the process of belief acquisition, but on the formation of the meaning of the relevant concept.…
A genealogy of politics
In Western democracies, people harbor feelings of disgust or hatred for politics. Populists and technocrats even seemingly question the value of politics. Populists cry that they are not politicians and that politics is necessarily corrupt. From the opposite side, technocrats view politics as a pointless constraint on enacting the obviously right policies. Are Western democracies facing a rejection of politics? And is politics worth defending? Th…
Genealogy and political philosophy
The value of genealogies for political philosophy
Genealogies are an increasingly important part of contemporary political philosophy. However, even recent genealogies differ a great deal in terms of their ends and methods. Strikingly, this has received virtually no discussion in the literature. This article begins to fill that gap. It does so by comparing and contrasting the genealogies of Bernard Williams, Quentin Skinner, and Raymond Geuss, exploring their different goals, methods, and value …
The Tribunate as a Realist Democratic Innovation
We argue that a reinvention of the plebeian tribunate should play a key role in addressing the challenges stemming from increasing concentrations of, and inequalities in, social, political, economic, and cultural power in liberal democracies. Addressing these challenges, which negatively affect parliamentary representation, requires a form of institutional innovation that gives voice to non-elites who are ruled but do not rule. We propose revisio…
From politics to democracy? Bernard Williams’ basic legitimation demand in a radical realist lens
Political realists argue that political norms can more effectively guide judgment than can ideal norms derived from ethical principles. Three axioms shape the realist conceptualization of political norms: (a) Politics arises with the displacement of violent coercion by order and, so, authority. (b) Such authority needs a decision rule or rules. Historically, in Western states ("now and around here," as put by Bernard Williams (2005, 8)), two such…
Introduction to the Special Issue on Realist and Pragmatist Approaches to Democratic Legitimacy
Financial Power and Democratic Legitimacy
To what extent are questions of sovereign debt a matter for political rather than scientific or moral adjudication? We answer that question by defending three claims. We argue that (i) moral and technocratic takes on sovereign debt tend to be ideological in a pejorative sense of the term, and that therefore (ii) sovereign debt should be politicised all the way down. We then show that this sort of politicisation need not boil down to the crude Rea…
Realism and real politics. The gap between promise and practice in Bernard Williams’ realism
This paper seeks to show that Bernard Williams’ approach to legitimacy falls short of its aspirations in ways that cast doubt on its fitness for guiding the practice of future realist political theory. More precisely, the paper focuses on the shortcomings of Williams’ realism in establishing a connection to (the practices of) politics, and on how to redeem those shortcomings in a way that would render them suitable for guiding future realist poli…
State Legitimacy and Religious Accommodation
In this paper, we put forward a realist account of the problem of accommodation of conflicting claims over sacred places. Our argument takes its cue from the empirical finding that modern, Western-style states necessarily mould religion into shapes that are compatible with state rule. At least in the context of modern states, there is no pre-political morality of religious freedom that states ought to follow when adjudicating claims over sacred s…
Spatial-Moral Ordering in the War on Terror
We investigate how processes of spatialisation through military interventions in the War on Terror challenge the theory and practices of humanitarian aid. To elucidate these challenges, we introduce the concept of spatial-moral ordering. We argue that discourses and practices of ordering people and space in the War on Terror and in certain forms of humanitarian aid entail bio/geo-political modes of governing. Their goals mirror each other negativ…
Realism in Political Theory, Ethnographic Sensibility, and the Moral Agency of Bureaucrats
This article argues that ethnographic methods, or an ethnographic sensibility more broadly speaking, can go some way to addressing a thorny issue of realism in political theory. Realists are committed to taking context seriously and to offering critique, but how can they do both? Based on a reconstruction of the main lines of inquiry and arguments of Bernardo Zacka's When the State Meets the Street, the article shows that an ethnographic sensibil…
Principles, practices and disciplinary power struggles in political theory
The Practical Turn in Political Theory sounds like the monograph political theorists have been waiting for – a monograph that identifies ‘practices’ as a uniting theme that runs through several recently influential debates on non-ideal theory, practice dependence, realism and pragmatist theories of legitimacy and democracy, and then discusses the promise and limits of this uniting theme for the future of political theory. However, The Practical T…
Political realism as ideology critique
This paper outlines an account of political realism as a form of ideology critique. We defend the normative edge of this critical-theoretic project against the common charge that there is a problematic trade-off between a theory’s groundedness in facts about the political status quo and its ability to envisage radical departures from the status quo. To overcome that problem, we combine insights from theories of legitimacy by Bernard Williams and …
Conditioned Sovereignty
We argue that the spatialization of violence in the counterterrorism operations of the War on Terror provides insight for understanding how these operations are legitimized and how they pose a challenge to an international order centered on state sovereignty. Against the background of a discussion of the key markers of statehood and recent normative challenges to state sovereignty, we interpret how discourses about “ungoverned spaces” influence t…
Raymond Geuss’ radicalization of realism in political theory
Raymond Geuss has been viewed as one of the figureheads of the recent debates about realism in political theory. This interpretation, however, depends on a truncated understanding of his work of the past 30 years. I will offer the first sustained engagement with this work (in English and German) which allows understanding his realism as a project for reorienting political theory, particularly the relationship between political theory and politics…
Spatial contestation? – The theological foundations of Carl Schmitt’s spatial thought
Political realism as ideology critique
This paper outlines an account of political realism as a form of ideology critique. We defend the normative edge of this critical-theoretic project against the common charge that there is a problematic trade-off between a theory’s groundedness in facts about the political status quo and its ability to envisage radical departures from the status quo. To overcome that problem, we combine insights from theories of legitimacy by Bernard Williams and …
Realism in Political Theory, Ethnographic Sensibility, and the Moral Agency of Bureaucrats
This article argues that ethnographic methods, or an ethnographic sensibility more broadly speaking, can go some way to addressing a thorny issue of realism in political theory. Realists are committed to taking context seriously and to offering critique, but how can they do both? Based on a reconstruction of the main lines of inquiry and arguments of Bernardo Zacka's When the State Meets the Street, the article shows that an ethnographic sensibil…
Raymond Geuss’ radicalization of realism in political theory
Raymond Geuss has been viewed as one of the figureheads of the recent debates about realism in political theory. This interpretation, however, depends on a truncated understanding of his work of the past 30 years. I will offer the first sustained engagement with this work (in English and German) which allows understanding his realism as a project for reorienting political theory, particularly the relationship between political theory and politics…
The Tribunate as a Realist Democratic Innovation
We argue that a reinvention of the plebeian tribunate should play a key role in addressing the challenges stemming from increasing concentrations of, and inequalities in, social, political, economic, and cultural power in liberal democracies. Addressing these challenges, which negatively affect parliamentary representation, requires a form of institutional innovation that gives voice to non-elites who are ruled but do not rule. We propose revisio…
Spatial contestation? – The theological foundations of Carl Schmitt’s spatial thought
Conditioned Sovereignty
We argue that the spatialization of violence in the counterterrorism operations of the War on Terror provides insight for understanding how these operations are legitimized and how they pose a challenge to an international order centered on state sovereignty. Against the background of a discussion of the key markers of statehood and recent normative challenges to state sovereignty, we interpret how discourses about “ungoverned spaces” influence t…
Spatial-Moral Ordering in the War on Terror
We investigate how processes of spatialisation through military interventions in the War on Terror challenge the theory and practices of humanitarian aid. To elucidate these challenges, we introduce the concept of spatial-moral ordering. We argue that discourses and practices of ordering people and space in the War on Terror and in certain forms of humanitarian aid entail bio/geo-political modes of governing. Their goals mirror each other negativ…
Realism and real politics. The gap between promise and practice in Bernard Williams’ realism
This paper seeks to show that Bernard Williams’ approach to legitimacy falls short of its aspirations in ways that cast doubt on its fitness for guiding the practice of future realist political theory. More precisely, the paper focuses on the shortcomings of Williams’ realism in establishing a connection to (the practices of) politics, and on how to redeem those shortcomings in a way that would render them suitable for guiding future realist poli…
Principles, practices and disciplinary power struggles in political theory
The Practical Turn in Political Theory sounds like the monograph political theorists have been waiting for – a monograph that identifies ‘practices’ as a uniting theme that runs through several recently influential debates on non-ideal theory, practice dependence, realism and pragmatist theories of legitimacy and democracy, and then discusses the promise and limits of this uniting theme for the future of political theory. However, The Practical T…
Spatial contestation? – The theological foundations of Carl Schmitt’s spatial thought
Conditioned Sovereignty
We argue that the spatialization of violence in the counterterrorism operations of the War on Terror provides insight for understanding how these operations are legitimized and how they pose a challenge to an international order centered on state sovereignty. Against the background of a discussion of the key markers of statehood and recent normative challenges to state sovereignty, we interpret how discourses about “ungoverned spaces” influence t…
Raymond Geuss’ radicalization of realism in political theory
Raymond Geuss has been viewed as one of the figureheads of the recent debates about realism in political theory. This interpretation, however, depends on a truncated understanding of his work of the past 30 years. I will offer the first sustained engagement with this work (in English and German) which allows understanding his realism as a project for reorienting political theory, particularly the relationship between political theory and politics…
Political realism as ideology critique
This paper outlines an account of political realism as a form of ideology critique. We defend the normative edge of this critical-theoretic project against the common charge that there is a problematic trade-off between a theory’s groundedness in facts about the political status quo and its ability to envisage radical departures from the status quo. To overcome that problem, we combine insights from theories of legitimacy by Bernard Williams and …
Spatial-Moral Ordering in the War on Terror
We investigate how processes of spatialisation through military interventions in the War on Terror challenge the theory and practices of humanitarian aid. To elucidate these challenges, we introduce the concept of spatial-moral ordering. We argue that discourses and practices of ordering people and space in the War on Terror and in certain forms of humanitarian aid entail bio/geo-political modes of governing. Their goals mirror each other negativ…
Realism in Political Theory, Ethnographic Sensibility, and the Moral Agency of Bureaucrats
This article argues that ethnographic methods, or an ethnographic sensibility more broadly speaking, can go some way to addressing a thorny issue of realism in political theory. Realists are committed to taking context seriously and to offering critique, but how can they do both? Based on a reconstruction of the main lines of inquiry and arguments of Bernardo Zacka's When the State Meets the Street, the article shows that an ethnographic sensibil…
Principles, practices and disciplinary power struggles in political theory
The Practical Turn in Political Theory sounds like the monograph political theorists have been waiting for – a monograph that identifies ‘practices’ as a uniting theme that runs through several recently influential debates on non-ideal theory, practice dependence, realism and pragmatist theories of legitimacy and democracy, and then discusses the promise and limits of this uniting theme for the future of political theory. However, The Practical T…
State Legitimacy and Religious Accommodation
In this paper, we put forward a realist account of the problem of accommodation of conflicting claims over sacred places. Our argument takes its cue from the empirical finding that modern, Western-style states necessarily mould religion into shapes that are compatible with state rule. At least in the context of modern states, there is no pre-political morality of religious freedom that states ought to follow when adjudicating claims over sacred s…
Introduction to the Special Issue on Realist and Pragmatist Approaches to Democratic Legitimacy
Financial Power and Democratic Legitimacy
To what extent are questions of sovereign debt a matter for political rather than scientific or moral adjudication? We answer that question by defending three claims. We argue that (i) moral and technocratic takes on sovereign debt tend to be ideological in a pejorative sense of the term, and that therefore (ii) sovereign debt should be politicised all the way down. We then show that this sort of politicisation need not boil down to the crude Rea…
Realism and real politics. The gap between promise and practice in Bernard Williams’ realism
This paper seeks to show that Bernard Williams’ approach to legitimacy falls short of its aspirations in ways that cast doubt on its fitness for guiding the practice of future realist political theory. More precisely, the paper focuses on the shortcomings of Williams’ realism in establishing a connection to (the practices of) politics, and on how to redeem those shortcomings in a way that would render them suitable for guiding future realist poli…
A genealogy of politics
In Western democracies, people harbor feelings of disgust or hatred for politics. Populists and technocrats even seemingly question the value of politics. Populists cry that they are not politicians and that politics is necessarily corrupt. From the opposite side, technocrats view politics as a pointless constraint on enacting the obviously right policies. Are Western democracies facing a rejection of politics? And is politics worth defending? Th…
Genealogy and political philosophy
The value of genealogies for political philosophy
Genealogies are an increasingly important part of contemporary political philosophy. However, even recent genealogies differ a great deal in terms of their ends and methods. Strikingly, this has received virtually no discussion in the literature. This article begins to fill that gap. It does so by comparing and contrasting the genealogies of Bernard Williams, Quentin Skinner, and Raymond Geuss, exploring their different goals, methods, and value …
The Tribunate as a Realist Democratic Innovation
We argue that a reinvention of the plebeian tribunate should play a key role in addressing the challenges stemming from increasing concentrations of, and inequalities in, social, political, economic, and cultural power in liberal democracies. Addressing these challenges, which negatively affect parliamentary representation, requires a form of institutional innovation that gives voice to non-elites who are ruled but do not rule. We propose revisio…
From politics to democracy? Bernard Williams’ basic legitimation demand in a radical realist lens
Political realists argue that political norms can more effectively guide judgment than can ideal norms derived from ethical principles. Three axioms shape the realist conceptualization of political norms: (a) Politics arises with the displacement of violent coercion by order and, so, authority. (b) Such authority needs a decision rule or rules. Historically, in Western states ("now and around here," as put by Bernard Williams (2005, 8)), two such…
Can narratives about sovereign debt be generally ideologically suspicious? An exercise in broadening the scope of ideology critique
Our interest here is in the fourth of these theories. It strikes us as particularly interesting because it differs significantly from what are perhaps the most familiar notions of ideology. While the most familiar notions of ideology are arguably those which focus on the process of how a belief is generated, Prinz and Rossi (2017, p. 341) “focus not on the process of belief acquisition, but on the formation of the meaning of the relevant concept.…
The Climate Tribunate. Using conflict-focused democratic innovation to address the climate crisis
Legitimacy and the practice of judgment
The past two decades have seen a resurgence of debates about how to understand legitimacy in political theory.One of the reasons for this resurgence has been the recent realist turn, with its call to pay more attention to questions of (authorized) power rather than to principles of justice (Sleat, 2015).Such a realist perspective has led theorists to shed new light on many facets of legitimacy, for example the relationship between legitimation an…
Politics (17 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Law (16 works) · Political science (16 works) · Epistemology (14 works) · Philosophy (14 works) · Law (9 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (9 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Foucault, Power, and Ethics (7 works)