Christian F. Rostbøll

CV

Education  

2024             Dr.scient.pol. University of Copenhagen

2004             Ph.D., Department of Political Science, Columbia University
2000             M.Phil., Department of Political Science, Columbia University
1998             Cand.scient.pol., Institut for Statskundskab, Københavns Universitet
1996             M.Msc. in Political Theory, London School of Economics and Political Science
1995             BA., Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen

Appointments

2019 -                 Professor

2014-2019           Professor with special responsibilities

2010 -2014    Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, U of Copenhagen
2007-2010     Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, U of Copenhagen
2006-            Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Political Science, U of Arizona
2005             Faculty Associate, Department of Political Science, Arizona State University
2005             Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Columbia Univ.
2003-2004     Visiting Instructor, Department of Government, Wesleyan Univ.
2001-2003     Preceptor of Contemporary Civilization, Columbia Univ.

Primary fields of research

My research focuses on the following themes within political theory: the justification of democracy, conceptions of freedom, autonomy, respect, freedom of expression, liberalism, republicanism, Kant, neo-Kantianism, Habermas

Current research

My recently published book, Democratic Respect: Populism, Resentment, and the Struggle for Recognition (Cambridge University Press, 2023) is about how democracy should- and should not - recognize the people. The debate over the meaning and value of populism is essentially a debate over this question. Populism promises to provide the people the recognition that they deserve. We should not understand populist resentment as blindly emotional but as a struggle for recognition based on moral experiences that can be explained by people’s beliefs. By adopting a participant attitude and associating populist resentment with alleged violations of democratic principles, we can discuss what citizens and governments owe one another in terms of recognition and respect. Not all struggles for recognition contribute to the deepening of democracy, and we must distinguish between different kinds of recognition in order to understand why populism is often a threat to what I call democratic respect. How democracy should recognize the people relates to debates over the meaning and value of democratic procedures, rights, majority rule, compromise, and public deliberation. The book disputes the widespread assumption that populism is essentially democratic and only against liberal constraints on majority rule. The shortcoming of populism is not that its understanding of democracy lacks substantive constraints, but that it fails to appreciate the procedural value of democracy.

Knowledge of languages

Engelsk: flydende
Tysk: flydende
Læser desuden akademiske tekster på fransk, norsk, spansk og svensk

Teaching

Recent Courses:

• Populism and the Struggle for Recognition
• Political Theory and the History of Political Thought
• Kant's Practical Philosophy
• Civil Disobedience
• The Politics of Recognition

Office hours: Tuesdays 13.30-14.30