Political Theory

Issues in the History of European Political Thought (16th-19th Century). Over the last forty years or so, new approaches to the history of political thought have significantly changed our understanding of how ideas from the past might be studied and how we might assess their relevance to our contemporary political concerns. During the methodological argument in the 1960's, a particular method of research emerged that argued for the importance of meaning and context in the study of the history of political ideas. Among the notable adherents of that approach, that grew in popularity ever since and wields almost hegemony in the field today, were John Dunn, J. G. A. Pocock and Quentin Skinner (commonly regarded as founders of the ""Cambridge School""). Accumulated historical evidence in contemporary research surrounding the composition of great texts from antiquity to the modern era, so they suggested, has made it practically impossible to claim that these texts can be understood simply by reading them, regardless of what their authors may have meant at the time and place they did so. Well known pioneering monographs in the field include, among many more, Skinner's 'Foundations of Modern Political Thought' (1978) and Pocock's 'Machiavellian Moment' (1975). Research opportunities in the field are endless and therefore will have to be limited in the context of this section. The primary aim of the proposed section is to attract young scholars whose interest lie in the history of political thought from the early modern to modern periods of European political experience (roughly 1500-1900). A second aim of the section, which is not less important, is to facilitate contact and communication between young scholars engaged in the study the history of political thought – a field which did not receive enough attention in prior ECPR conferences. Since the field is considered interdisciplinary, the section will also hope to attract proposals for panels and papers from graduates in political science departments as well as philosophy, history, literary studies, classics and other related fields. Suggested panels may include: • Renaissance Humanist Political Thought • Freedom in the Modern Europe • Sovereignty and the Reason of State • Natural Law and Social Contract in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Europe • The Political Thought of the French Revolution • Gender and Political Thought in the 18th and 19th Century • Democracy and Representative Government in British Political Thought