The question that animates my research is how to understand the nature of and relationships between political agents and institutions. "Political agency" refers to actors both at the individual and collective level; I try to understand them and their engagements with other actors and institutions. I approach this broad question through applied Kantianism. I treat Immanuel Kant as a social theorist interested in working out the relationship between reasons, ideas, and arguments, on the one hand, and sociologically situated interests and practices, on the other. I use his insights to explore a broad range of "hard cases," that is, cases that challenge ordinary intuitions about political agency.

My second book, The Playing Fields of Eton, has just been published by the University of Michigan Press. My first book, Arguments and Fists: Political Action and Justification in Liberal Theory, is still, amazingly, available, also digitally for the Kindle!

Selected Articles and Chapters

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1. “Finding Theoretical Concepts in the Real World: The Case of the Precariat,” in New Waves in Political Philosophy, Boudewijn de Bruin and Christopher Zurn, eds. (Palgrave).
   

2. “The Ring of Truth: Johnny Cash and Populism” (with Robert W. Mickey), Johnny Cash and Philosophy (Open Court)
   

3. "Dueling for Equality: Masculine Honor and the Modern Politics of Dignity," Political Theory 34:6 (December 2006), pp. 715-740.
   

4. “Bentley, Truman, and the Study of Groups" Annual Review of Political Science 9 (2006), pp. 1-18.
   

5. “Kant's Children," Social Theory & Practice 32:3 (July 2006).
   

6. "Equal Opportunity to Meaningful Competitions: Disability Rights and Justice in Sports," Disability Studies Quarterly (June 2005).
   

7. "Food, Functioning and Justice: From Famines to Eating Disorders" Journal of Political Philosophy 9:2 (2001), pp. 150-167.