Assistant Professor of Ethics and Public Policy, Division of Social Sciences, Duke Kunshan University (China)
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Global Studies, Duke University
Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Ethics and Public Policy at Duke Kunshan University (China) and an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Global Studies at Duke University.
Research
Broadly, my research investigates the practices, institutions, cultures, and habits of mind that promote — or undercut — robust, meaningful forms of self-governance, whether in local communities, global decision-making structures, or anything in between.
Teaching
At Duke Kunshan University, I teach a variety of courses on political theory, public policy and ethics.
Deliberative Global Governance (Cambridge University Press, 2019)
Global institutions are afflicted by severe democratic deficits, while many of the major problems facing the world remain intractable. Against this backdrop, we develop a deliberative approach that puts effective, inclusive, and transformative communication at the heart of global governance. Multilateral negotiations, international organizations and regimes, governance networks, and scientific assessments can be rendered more deliberative and democratic. More thoroughgoing transformations could involve citizens' assemblies, nested forums, transnational mini-publics, crowdsourcing, and a global dissent channel. The deliberative role of global civil society is vital. We show how different institutional and civil society elements can be linked to good effect in a global deliberative system. The capacity of deliberative institutions to revise their own structures and processes means that deliberative global governance is not just a framework but also a reconstructive learning process. A deliberative approach can advance democratic legitimacy and yield progress on global problems such as climate change, violent conflict and poverty.
Cambridge’s Elements in Earth System Governance series, which recently published Deliberative Global Governance, is linked with the broader Earth System Governance Project, which is
“the largest social science research network in the area of governance and global environmental change.” Learn more about the project and its important work.