Caleb Basnett
Biography
I am a political theorist whose work seeks to provoke reflections on social and political domination. My past research examined the entwinement of social and political domination with the classical roots of the humanist tradition. My current work focuses on critical theory, decolonization, and multiculturalism. Both my teaching and research draw comparatively on the history of political thought and contemporary political theory in order to stage conversations that cross historical and cultural boundaries.
Publications
Books:
2021. Adorno, Politics, and the Aesthetic Animal. Toronto, Buffalo & London: University of Toronto Press.
Articles & Book Chapters:
2023. “Adorno’s Cosmopolitan Solidarity.” New German Critique 148, 50.1: 31-58. https://doi.org/10.1215/0094033X-10140719
2021. “From ‘Fugitive Democracy’ to ‘Fugitive Justice’: Cultivating a Democratic Ethos.” Contemporary Political Theory 20.1: 119-140. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-020-00381-w
2018. “Animals and Human Constitution: Greek Lessons, Posthuman Possibilities.” In Posthuman Dialogues in International Relations. Erika Cudworth, Stephen Hobden, and Emilian Kavalski (eds.) 15-31. London & New York: Routledge.
2017. “Without Banisters: Adorno against Humanity.” Contemporary Political Theory 16.2: 207-227. https://doi:10.1057/cpt.2016.24
2017. “On the Legacy of One-Dimensional Man: Outline of a Creative Politics.” Radical Philosophy Review 20.1: 241-262. https://doi: 10.5840/radphilrev201742474
2016. “Other Political Animals: Aristotle and the Limits of Political Community.” The European Legacy 21.3: 290-309 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10848770.2016.1140398
Other publications:
2011. “Toward a Dialectical Anthropology: Rethinking the Concept of ‘Human Being’ with Herbert Marcuse.” Problématique: Journal of Political Studies/Revue d’Études Politiques, 13: 45-70.
Education
- PhD, York University
- MA, York University
- BA (Hons), University of Alberta
Teaching
- POLS 2001: Democratic Thought
Research
- Contemporary Political Theory (especially decolonization, democratic theory, cosmopolitanism, multiculturalism)
- Critical Theory
- History of Political Thought
- Indigenous Political Thought
- Buddhism and Asian Political Thought
- Art and Aesthetics