I am writing a cumulative dissertation composed of three journal articles. Each article interrogates a core concept in liberal political theory, examining contemporary engagement with these concepts and the assumptions that underwrite them. Papers 1 and 2 analyze how assumptions about truth and democracy shape crisis discourses and with what consequences for sense-making and decision-making. Paper 3 narrows the focus to John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice, assessing its economic assumptions through the same critical lens. The project aims both to reaffirm the value of liberal political theory and to press the field to revisit its deepest - often unexamined - assumptions. Having lived and worked in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany across law, public policy, community development, and peacebuilding, I bring an interdisciplinary perspective to how political theory can help us make sense of the concepts and values that shape democratic societies. I believe that the more we understand our assumptions and what shapes them, the better equipped we will be to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex, divided world.

Research Areas: Normative Political Theory, Democratic Theory, Political Epistemology (truth, knowledge, disagreement, uncertainty), Political Economy