I am Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at Queen Mary University of London.
Philosophically, my work draws from pragmatist and pluralist traditions, especially developing a situationist ethics inspired by John Dewey, which sits alongside an agonistic and pluralist commitment to radical democracy.
At the centre of my research is a concern to interrogate the philosophical ideas through which we understand the world, and which guide our actions. In turn, I also try to attend to how philosophical reflection grounded in everyday political experience can assist in addressing pressing social problems, leading to my interest in developing ways of doing “global ethics” in a manner that is engaged with practical political action.
Over the past several years, I have focused on the contested idea of universal human rights, including how this idea developed, how it transformed world politics, and what further changes it may yet enable – specially looking at the human right to housing.
My current research examines questions of justice by looking at global cities as key sites of injustice, which reframes questions about global justice in profound ways. The key claim in this project is that global justice requires an engagement with the globalisation of the process of urbanisation and suggests that justice demands a political project of making cities more democratic and egalitarian.