Kennan Ferguson

Kennan Ferguson (born September 28, 1968) is an American political theorist who writes on contemporary issues concerning pluralism and the quotidian. He is the Director of The Center for 21st Century Studies at The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee,[1] and co-editor of the academic political philosophy journal Theory and Event.[2]

Kennan Ferguson
Born (1968-09-28) September 28, 1968
Thousand Oaks, California
Alma materAmherst College University of Hawaii at Manoa
Era21st-century philosophy
RegionAmerican Philosophy
SchoolContinental philosophy
Main interests
Political theory, philosophy of the everyday, William James, pluralism

Research

The Politics of Everyday Life

The central focus of Ferguson’s work has been to democratize political philosophy by locating it in the practices of people. He identifies the political components of such diverse everyday aspects of life as judgment, aesthetics, and the family. He holds that political philosophy should emerge from the actual practices of people, rather than being a set of abstract systems which they should be forced to follow. In his investigations of the role of aesthetic judgment, pets, silence, and cookbooks in people’s lives, he shows how love, sensibility, and the ontic overlap with authority, force, and political identity.

Pluralism

Ferguson celebrates aspects of the political philosophy of pluralism, but not as it is commonly understood in political history. He refers to William James as the founder of political pluralism, but notes the “descent of pluralism” in the 20th Century from a prescriptive aspiration to a descriptive problem.[3]

Political Science

In 2017, Ferguson criticized the discipline of political science in the United States for its "institutionally naturalized" exclusion of Native American scholars, perspectives, texts, and issues.[4] In response, the Native legal theorist David E. Wilkins responded that he sees "nothing on the horizon to indicate that there will be any substantive alterations in the intellectual pursuits of most political scientists anytime soon."[5]

Criticism

The political theorist Jodi Dean has argued that Ferguson's approach to politics is "depoliticizing and accommodationist." For Dean, Ferguson's rejection of normative unity as a goal makes politics impossible, in that political actors can rarely unite against exploitation and oppression.[6]

Books

as author
  • The Politics of Judgment: Aesthetics, Identity, and Political Theory. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Publishers. 2007. ISBN 9780739120873. (Reissue of 1999 book.)
  • William James: Politics in the Pluriverse. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. 2007. ISBN 978-1461647188.[7][8]
  • All in the Family: On Community and Incommensurability. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. 2012. ISBN 9780822351900.[9]

as co-editor
  • The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, volumes 1 - 8. New York, New York: Wiley-Blackwell. 2014. ISBN 9781405191296. – with Michael Gibbons (Editor-in-Chief), Diana Coole, and Elizabeth Ellis
  • After Capitalism: Horizons of Finance, Culture, and Citizenship. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 2016. ISBN 9780813584263. – with Patrice Petro

References
  1. "21st Century Studies: Kennan Ferguson". University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  2. "Theory & Event". JHU Press. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  3. Boffetti, Jason (1 July 2008). "Pluralism's Forgotten Father - William James: Politics in the Pluriverse". The Review of Politics: Cambridge University Press. 70 (3): 492–495. doi:10.1017/S0034670508000624. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  4. Ferguson, Kennan (2016). "Why Does Political Science Hate American Indians?". Perspectives on Politics. 14 (4): 1029–1038. doi:10.1017/S1537592716002905. ISSN 1537-5927.
  5. Wilkins, David E. (2016). "Absence Does Not Make the Indigenous Political Heart Grow Fonder". Perspectives on Politics. 14 (4): 1048–1049. doi:10.1017/S1537592716002954. ISSN 1537-5927.
  6. Dean, Jodi (2014). "Critical Exchange All in the family: On community and incommensurability". Contemporary Political Theory. 13 (3): 307–316. doi:10.1057/cpt.2014.9. S2CID 144545263.
  7. "POLITICS IN THE PLURIVERSE. By Kennan Ferguson". Yumpu. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  8. Kaufman-Osborn, Timothy V. (1 April 2008). "Book in Review: William James: Politics in the Pluriverse, by Kennan Ferguson". Political Theory. 36 (2): 336–338. doi:10.1177/0090591707312461. S2CID 144202209.
  9. Brown, Karin (18 September 2012). "Review of All in the Family: On Community and Incommensurability". University of Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
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