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Political Theory Reading Group
The Reading Group in Political Theory is a term-time weekly meeting of the staff and postgraduate students (both research and taught) working in political theory, also open to colleagues and students from other areas in politics, and from any other discipline. It often welcomes the participation of speakers from other Universities.
The Reading Group started as an experiment in conversation between colleagues in the political theory cluster with very different interests and approaches to the subject. Even when disagreeing profoundly and not fully understanding each other, we carry on enjoying these conversations.
Over the years, the Reading Group has become the focus of our research culture, an opportunity to exchange ideas and look at political and theoretical issues from many different perspectives. Thanks to the participation of colleagues and speakers from a variety of disciplines besides politics (philosophy, law, classics, economics, history, business, English, theology, geography, the arts), the Reading Group provides an invaluable opportunity for interdisciplinary explorations and dialogue.
The format of the Reading Group varies from week to week. The standard format is for one member of the group or an external speaker to briefly introduce a pre-circulated text, followed by a (more or less heated and controversial) discussion on any issue that seems relevant to the text itself. Often, however, we have internal or external speakers (academics and postgraduates) presenting their own papers. The format of this meetings following the same format: pre-circulated papers, a brief introduction, and an open and wide-ranging discussion. Occasionally, the Reading Group takes the form of a workshop with more than one speaker, or a symposium about a published book.
The Reading Group gives an opportunity to research students at Exeter to present their own work or to discuss texts in which they are interested. It helps them to discover new texts and a variety of ways of looking at familiar subjects. It is a way of socializing postgraduates into the discipline by exposing them to different texts and detailed discussions about them. Master students in political theory are required do a presentation at the Reading Group as part of their degree. This may be intimidating for some, but they all find it an interesting and formative experience. And even the senior staff finds it still a stimulating and refreshing experience.
Unless otherwise stated, sessions take place on Wednesdays, 12:40 to 14:00 in Amory B310. Most meetings will be hybrid. Zoom link will be circulated via the CPT mailing list.
Welcome Week: Monday 14th September
RENEW Biodiversity Workshop: “Perspectives on Environmental Memory: Philosophy, Literature, and Environmental Science”
- Stephen M. Gardiner (Philosophy, University of Washington & St Andrews)
- Kevin Gaston (Conservation Biology, Exeter)
- Stef Craps (Literary Studies, Ghent University)
- Catriona MacKinnon (Politics, Exeter)
12-3pm. In person (limited spaces) on Exeter 草榴社区地址 campus and online.
Email renew@exeter.ac.uk to register your interest.
Week 1: Wednesday 23rd September
*No Meeting*
Week 2: Wednesday 30th September
3:30 – 5:30 pm LT B/草榴社区地址 Court and on .
Book launch for Constitutionalising Anarchy by Ruth Kinna (Loughborough) and Alex Prichard (Exeter), Cambridge University Press, 2026. With comments from Cat Owen (Exeter), Bice Maiguashca (Exeter), Michael Flexer (Exeter), and Dario Castiglione (Exeter).
With Reception to follow. Co-Organised with CAIS. .
Week 3: Wednesday 7th October
Lewis Cooper (Politics, Exeter), “Listening as Political Becoming: Capacity, Self-Formation and Community Organising”
Week 4: Wednesday 14th October
Adam Toon (Politics, Exeter), “Cartesianism and Capitalism”
Week 5: Wednesday 21st October
George Boss (Queen Mary), Marx and the Politics of Need (Routledge 2026)
Week 6: Wednesday 28th October
No Meeting (reading week/half term)
Week 7: **Thursday** 5th November
2 – 4 pm, location TBD
Book Launch for Richard Rorty and the Idea of Political Hope by Robert Lamb, Cambridge University Press (2026). With comments from Kimberly Hutchings (Queen Mary), Matt Sleat (Sheffield), and Christopher Volparil (Lynn University).
Week 8: Wednesday 11th November
Sergio Cremaschi (Milan), Adam Smith’s Incomplete System (Routledge 2025)
Week 9: Wednesday 18th November
TBD
Week 10: Wednesday 25th November
TBD
Week 11: Wednesday 2nd December
CPT Meeting
Download programmes from previous years.