Current Position and Responsibilities

Professor of Political and Legal Theory

Principal Investigator Cluster of Excellence Contestations of the Liberal Script (DFG; since 2024)

Principal Investigator Theorizing Freedom from Below (NWO-VIDI; since 2022)

Principal Investigator (NWO ASPASIA; since 2022 (application round 2021))

Vita

Since 2024	Professor of Political and Legal Theory Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft)
2022-2024	Associate Professor of Social and Political Philosophy (tenured) Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands (Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies)
2020-2023	Director PPE College Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands
2018-2022	Assistant Professor of Social and Political Philosophy (tenured since 09/2019) Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands (Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies)
2013-2018	Assistant Professor Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany (Leibniz Research Group Transnational Justice)
2016/2017	University of Johannesburg, South Africa: Visiting Researcher Department of Philosophy
2014	Dr. Phil. (Summa cum laude) Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany
2012	Lecturer Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany (Department of Political Science)
2011	Princeton University, USA: Visiting Researcher Centre for Human Values
2009-2013	Doctoral Fellow Research Group ‘Normative Aspects of Development Cooperation’ Cluster of Excellence Normative Orders, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany
2008	Diplom Political Sciences; Philosophy; International Law Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Current courses in winter term 2024/2025

15182 Advanced Seminar
Slavery and Freedom in Political Theory
Schedule: Tuesday, 12-14h (Class starts on: 2024-10-15)
Location: Ihnestr.22, Seminarroom UG 1

Freedom is often cast as the opposite of slavery. But what exactly does that mean? And what role does (the experience of) actual slavery play in conceptualizing freedom? The seminar will start from the contrast between freedom and slavery in contemporary theories of freedom, both liberal and republican. We will then shift focus to the notion of slavery and discuss how to understand slavery and freedom against the background of actual chattel slavery. And we will explore how the notion of slavery has been used to capture other forms of unfreedom, from ‘wage slavery’ and the subordination of women to contemporary forms of ‘debt slavery’ or ‘penal slavery’. What do such analogies with slavery reveal – and what do they conceal – about freedom and unfreedom? Particular attention will be paid to reading texts from authors subjected to unfreedom, including formerly enslaved persons, to stimulate reflection on what political theories of freedom can learn from actual experiences of unfreedom. In addition to conveying knowledge about theories of freedom and slavery, the seminar will train skills in conceptual analysis and philosophical argumentation and invite critical reflection on the experiential basis of political theory. Please note: The reading material is in English, and the seminar will be conducted in English. It thus also presents an opportunity to train discussing theoretical material in English. Term papers may be written in either English or German.

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15549 Colloquium
Colloquium Political and Legal Theory
Schedule: Monday, 18-20h (Class starts on: 2024-10-14)
Location: Ihnestr.22, Seminarroom UG 4

The research colloquium Political and Legal Theory is a weekly discussion of work in progress in political and legal theory. It is run in English; participants are expected to read the paper to be presented in advance. In the winter term 2024/25, the colloquium will collaborate with the Colloquium Practical Philosophy run by Stefan Gosepath. Readings are distributed through an email list. If you would like to participate, please send an email to: PLT[at]polsoz.fu-berlin.de

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Courses taught in previous positions

Utrecht University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies:

• Introduction to Political Philosophy

BA Lectures, PPE College, Universiteit Utrecht

• Introduction to Political Philosophy

BA Seminar, PPE College, Universiteit Utrecht

• Ethics and Public Policy

BA Seminar, PPE College, Universiteit Utrecht

• Foundations of Democracy

Interdisciplinary course, PPE College, Universiteit Utrecht (co-taught with René Koekoek, History Department)

• Early Frankfurt School Critical Theory (Module: German Philosophy 20th Century)

MA course, Research MA Philosophy, Universiteit Utrecht

• Critical Theory and Contemporary Critiques of Capitalism

Research Tutorial, Research MA Philosophy, Universiteit Utrecht (co-taught with Joel Anderson and Clint Verdonshot)

• Abstract Violence and Structural Domination

Research Tutorial, Research MA Philosophy, Universiteit Utrecht (co-taught with Katherina Kinzel)

Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Politikwissenschaft:

• Critical Theory II – 2nd and Later Generations

MA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

• Critical Theory I – the First Generation

MA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

• The Rule of Law

MA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (co-taught with Mahmoud Bassiouni)

• Neo-Republicanism

MA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

• Contemporary African Political Philosophy

MA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

• Kant’s Doctrine of Right

BA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

• The Idea of Democracy

BA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

• Feminist Political Theory

BA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

• Normative Aspects of Foreign Aid

MA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (co-taught with Julian Culp)

• Contemporary Theories of Justice

BA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (co-taught with Julian Culp)

• Republican Theories of Freedom

BA-Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

University of Johannesburg, Department of Philosoph:

• Ubuntu and the German Experience with Refugees in 2015/2016

Guest Lecture

TU Darmstadt, Institut für Politikwissenschaft:

• Theories of Justice

BA-Seminar, TU  Darmstadt

• Freedom and Equality

BA-Seminar, TU Darmstadt (co-taught with Prof. Peter Niesen)

• Republican Theories of Freedom

BA-Seminar, TU Darmstadt

Research interests:

• Republicanism and Critical Theory

Critical and Radical Republicanism; Neo-republicanism; Kant; Critical Theory from Horkheimer to Mbembe

• Political Theory and Social Philosophy

Structural power and domination; structural and epistemic injustice; unfreedom and slavery; resistance against domination

• Democratic and Constitutional Theory

Dialectics of democracy and the rule of law; Mixed Constitution and the separation of powers; Constituent Power;   

• International Political Theory

Democracy and rule of law in transnational perspective; Development Ethics; Democracy Promotion; external constitution-making  

• Global Political Theory

Theorizing from Below; African Philosophy; Methods of Global Political Theory

• Moral Philosophy

Relationality; relation between Moral and Political Philosophy; Discourse theory  

Current research projects:

• Theorizing Freedom From Below

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Dorothea Gädeke
Research Team: Dr. Elise Huchet, Carmen Puchinger
Funding: NWO grant VIDI, Dutch Research Council
Term:Sep 01, 2022 — Mar 31, 2029

Most theories of freedom focus on the state of being free. But can we fully understand what freedom means without the experience of unfreedom? This project will investigate how the way in which we think about freedom changes when rethinking freedom from the perspective of people who struggled to become free.

Click here to learn more about the project.

Monographs

Gädeke, Dorothea (2017). Politik der Beherrschung. Eine kritische Theorie externer Demokratieförderung. Berlin: Suhrkamp.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2009). Migration und Gerechtigkeit. Über die Pflichten liberaler Staaten gegenüber ökonomischen Migranten: VDM.

 

Journal Articles

Gädeke, Dorothea (2022). How Political is Republicanism? Walking the Fine Line between Moralism and Realism. Contribution to symposium on Richard Bellamy’s A Republican Europe of State. In: CRISPP 25/4, 604-615.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2021). Who Should Fight Domination? Individual Responsibility and Structural Injustice. In: Politics, Philosophy & Economics 20/2, 180-201.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2020). Does a Mugger Dominate? Episodic Power and the Structural Dimension of Domination. In: The Journal of Political Philosophy 28/2, 199-221.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2020). Is and Ought. How the Ontological Circumscribes the Normative. In: The Journal of Ethics 24/4, 509-525.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2020). Whose (Global) Thinking? Contribution to symposium on Katrin Flikschuh’s What is Orientation in Global Thinking? In: Philosophy and Public Issues 9/3, 21-38.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2020). Juridicocratic Shortcuts on the Long Road to Participatory Democracy? Contribution to symposium on Cristina Lafont’s Democracy Without Shortcuts. In: Krisis 40/1, 9-106.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2018). How to Think the World? Achille Mbembe on Race, Democracy and the African Role in Global Thought. In: Constellations 25, 497-506.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2018). The Robust Demands of the Right. In: Moral Philosophy and Politics 5/1, 29-47.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2016). The Domination of States. Towards an Inclusive Republican Law of Peoples. In: Global Justice: Theory Practice Rhetoric 9/1, 1-27.

 

Articles in Volumes

Gädeke, Dorothea (forthcoming). Wageless Work and the Structural Dimension of Labour Domination. In: Gonzalez-Ricoy, Iñigo/Martí, José Luis (eds.): Workplace Republicanism. Legal, Economic and Philosophical Perspectives. London: Routledge.

Gädeke, Dorothea (forthcoming). Towards an Internationalized Constituent Power? Or: Foreign Domination in Domestic Constitutionmaking. In: Niesen, Peter/Patberg, Markus/Rubinelli, Lucia (eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Constituent Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2024). Domination. In: Frank Lovett/Mortimer Sellers (eds.): The Oxford Handbook on Republicanism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2020). From Neo-Republicanism to Critical Republicanism. In: Leipold, Bruno/Nabulsi, Karma/White, Stuart (eds.): Radical Republicanism. Recovering the Tradition‘s Popular Heritage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 21-39.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2019). Relational Normative Thought in Ubuntu and Neo-Republicanism. In: Hull, George (ed.): Debating African Philosophy: Identity, Decolonial Ethics and Comparative Philosophy. London: Routledge, 269-288.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2017). Zur Problematik kollektiver Beherrschung in Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit. In: Jacob, Daniel/Ladwig, Bernd/Schmelzle, Cord (eds.): Normative Fragen von Governance in Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 179-204.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2016). Macht, Beherrschung und Demokratie. Vom Neo-Republikanismus zum kantischen Republikanismus. In: Thiel, Thorsten/Volk, Christian (eds.): Die Aktualität republikanischer Theorie. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 289-315.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2014). Externe Demokratieförderung und kollektive Selbstbestimmung. Zu normativen Grundlagen und –grenzen einer umstrittenen Praxis. In: Kadelbach, Stefan (ed.): Effektiv oder gerecht? Die normativen Grundlagen der Entwicklungspolitik. Frankfurt/M: Campus, 214-252.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2012). Externe Demokratisierung als Aufgabe Globaler Gerechtigkeit. In: Niesen, Peter (ed.): Transnationale Gerechtigkeit und Demokratie. Frankfurt/M: Campus, 131-158.

Gädeke, Dorothea/de la Rosa, Sybille (2009). Steuerung durch Argumente. In: Göhler, Gerhard/Höppner, Ulrike/de la Rosa, Sybille (eds.): Weiche Steuerung. Studien zur Steuerung durch diskursive Praktiken, Argumente und Symbole. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 74-137.

Gädeke, Dorothea et al. (2008). Mythos Europa - die Illusion einer besseren Zukunft. Vier Schauplätze der Lebensrealität papierloser Migranten in Süditalien. In: Studienkolleg zu Berlin (ed.): Projekt Junges Europa 4. Hannover: Wehrhahn, 55-74.

 

Reviews

Gädeke, Dorothea (2014). Review: Just Freedom. By Philip Pettit. In: Constellations 21/4, 623-625.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2014). Gerechtigkeit, Rationalität und das gute Leben. Rezension zu: Jaeggi, Rahel: Kritik von Lebensformen. In: Zeitschrift für philosophische Literatur 2/3, 20-27.

 

Other Publications

Gädeke, Dorothea (2024). An Interview with Dorothea Gädeke. By Davide Pala. In: Justice Everywhere Blog (Beyond the Ivory Tower Series), 22.01.2024.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2023). What can we learn from Hannah Arendt about today’s autocrats? In: Studium Generale Universiteit Utrecht Podcast series ‘Cover to Cover’.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2022). Podcast Adapt at Work. An interview with Dorothea Gädeke by Esther van Dijk. In: Podcast Series, NRO research project Adapt at Work, 29.09.2022.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2022). Het Ezelsoor: Dorothea Gädeke on Hannah Arendt. In: Studium Generale Universiteit Utrecht Podcast series ‘Het Ezelsoor’.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2017). Lässt sich Demokratie exportieren? Dorothea Gädeke im Gespräch mit Dieter Kassel. In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur (Radio-Interview), 12.12.2017.

Gädeke, Dorothea (2016). Globalizing Political Theory and the Role of the Particular. In: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research; Special Series on “Doing Global International Relations“, 28.11.2016.

Gädeke, Dorothea/Biebricher, Thomas/Voglemann, Frieder (2010). Wer nicht dafür ist, kann dagegen sein. In: Theorieblog, 17.09.2013.

Gädeke, Dorothea/Skupien, Stefan (2010). Designing Institutions for Africa? Konferenzbericht zur 16. Jahreskonferenz der ISAPS “Culture and Justice in the Contemporary World”. In: Theorieblog, 03.05.2010.