Julian Culp
The American University of Paris (AUP), Philosophy, Faculty Member
- Julian Culp is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the American University of Paris. He received his PhD and Habilit... moreJulian Culp is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the American University of Paris. He received his PhD and Habilitation in Philosophy from the University of Frankfurt. His book publications are Global Justice and Development (Palgrave, 2014) and Democratic Education in a Globalized World (Routledge, 2019).edit
Remarkably few contemporary political philosophers and philosophers of education have examined the relevance of conceptions of global justice for educational public policy. The book argues that this neglect is problematic because problems... more
Remarkably few contemporary political philosophers and philosophers of education have examined the relevance of conceptions of global justice for educational public policy. The book argues that this neglect is problematic because problems of global justice, such as extreme economic poverty, cannot be adequately solved without paying careful attention to matters of educational public policy, especially as they pertain to schooling. In addition, the book explains how to overcome this neglect by articulating and defending democratic conceptions of global educational justice and global citizenship education.
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What, if any, are the demands of global distributive justice? How, if at all, does global distributive justice affect our understanding of social development and the moral justifiability of international development policies? Global... more
What, if any, are the demands of global distributive justice? How, if at all, does global distributive justice affect our understanding of social development and the moral justifiability of international development policies?
Global Justice and Development answers the first question by arguing that the demands of global distributive justice ought to be determined in a reasonably democratic manner. Accordingly, the primary demand of global distributive justice is to establish the political and socioeconomic conditions necessary for reasonably democratic arrangements. In response to the second question, this book makes the case that such a procedural view of global distributive justice challenges all substantive normative conceptions of social development that focus on particular outcomes rather than on proper political procedures. It also justifies why this procedural view of global distributive justice morally justifies certain democracy-enhancing international development policies as requirements of justice rather than as humanitarian duties of assistance.
Global Justice and Development answers the first question by arguing that the demands of global distributive justice ought to be determined in a reasonably democratic manner. Accordingly, the primary demand of global distributive justice is to establish the political and socioeconomic conditions necessary for reasonably democratic arrangements. In response to the second question, this book makes the case that such a procedural view of global distributive justice challenges all substantive normative conceptions of social development that focus on particular outcomes rather than on proper political procedures. It also justifies why this procedural view of global distributive justice morally justifies certain democracy-enhancing international development policies as requirements of justice rather than as humanitarian duties of assistance.
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The central aim of Peter Hägel's Billionaires in World Politics is to challenge the assumption that private individuals lack agency and power in world politics-an assumption that is widely shared in the field of International Relations... more
The central aim of Peter Hägel's Billionaires in World Politics is to challenge the assumption that private individuals lack agency and power in world politics-an assumption that is widely shared in the field of International Relations (IR). Hägel's methodological strategy to achieve this aim is twofold. First, he concentrates on minutest biographical aspects of billionaires to lay bare the idiosyncrasy of their choices, and to falsify, thus, structuralist assumptions of how individual agency is undermined by factors such as class, roles, or fields. Second, Hägel engages in counter-factual reasoning to support the claim that these individual decisions end up having a real impact on public affairs abroad. This impact is difficult to overestimate given that, as Hägel reveals, billionaires have affected a whole array of political issues, including Brexit, climate change policy, democratic development in Eastern Europe, global health policy, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and the war in Iraq. This article starts off by elaborating on the central scholarly contribution of BWP. Following that, this article explains why the insights that BWP provides suggest that we do not live in a neofeudal order, despite the immense global economic inequality which billionaires' wealth manifests.
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It has often been noted that liberal democracies are facing a serious political crisis. A common reaction to this situation is to call for more comprehensive or more effective liberal democratic education. This volume discusses some of... more
It has often been noted that liberal democracies are facing a serious political crisis. A common reaction to this situation is to call for more comprehensive or more effective liberal democratic education. This volume discusses some of the most important challenges to and critiques of the paradigm of liberal democratic education. In doing so, it offers novel insights into how liberal democratic education can be amended, extended or qualified to address the special challenges of the current political moment.
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Demokratieerziehung und die Herausforderungen des Liberalismus Einführung in den Thementeil "Die Rede von der Krise der Demokratie ist im Grunde so alt wie diese selbst" (Merkel & Kneip, 2020, S. 281). Im Umgang mit dieser Tradition der... more
Demokratieerziehung und die Herausforderungen des Liberalismus Einführung in den Thementeil "Die Rede von der Krise der Demokratie ist im Grunde so alt wie diese selbst" (Merkel & Kneip, 2020, S. 281). Im Umgang mit dieser Tradition der Krisen-und Verfallsdiagnosen ist jedoch Vorsicht geboten, weil in der Regel notorisch umstritten bleibt, ausgehend von welchen Maßstäben und mit Bezug auf welche Sachverhalte jeweils konkret von einer Krise die Rede sein kann, worin diese konkret gründet, wie dies erklärt und wie die Krise ggf. bewältigt werden kann. Inflationäre Nutzungen des Krisenbegriffs, so eine Kritik, gehen nicht nur mit analytischen und normativen Unschärfen und Abnutzungseffekten einher, sie führen auch zu unbeabsichtigten Nebeneffekten, die das Problem, das sie vorgeben zu beschreiben, in selbstverstärkender und-bestätigender Weise selbst performativ mit hervorbringen. Dies gilt etwa dann, wenn im Rahmen von Krisendiagnosen Konflikte innerhalb von liberalen Demokratien verwandelt werden in Konflikte über liberale Demokratie, in denen es immer schon ums Ganze gehen muss und politische Gegner als illiberal und/ oder undemokratisch markiert und so aus dem demokratischen Diskurs ausgeschlossen werden können (Manow, 2020).
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This introduction expounds educational problems that arise from transnational migration. It argues that it is high time to critically analyze normative issues of and in education under conditions of globalization, because dominant... more
This introduction expounds educational problems that arise from transnational migration. It argues that it is high time to critically analyze normative issues of and in education under conditions of globalization, because dominant approaches in normative philosophy of education tend to suffer from both a nationalist bias and a sedentary bias. The contributions to this special issue address normative problems pertaining to migration-related education from a variety of ethical and philosophical perspectives, including analytic applied ethics, continental philosophy, care ethics, Hegelian philosophy, the capability approach and theories of distributive justice. They discuss education of both citizens and migrants in the receiving society as well as in the country of origin, focusing on ethical issues pertaining to access to education as well as to the content of educational programs.
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This introduction expounds educational problems that arise from transnational migration. It argues that it is high time to critically analyze normative issues of and in education under conditions of globalization, because dominant... more
This introduction expounds educational problems that arise from transnational migration. It argues that it is high time to critically analyze normative issues of and in education under conditions of globalization, because dominant approaches in normative philosophy of education tend to suffer from both a nationalist bias and a sedentary bias. The contributions to this special issue address normative problems pertaining to migration-related education from a variety of ethical and philosophical perspectives, including analytic applied ethics, continental philosophy, care ethics, Hegelian philosophy, the capability approach and theories of distributive justice. They discuss education of both citizens and migrants in the receiving society as well as in the country of origin, focusing on ethical issues pertaining to access to education as well as to the content of educational programs.
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This contribution discusses four challenges to political autonomy education in contemporary public spheres from the perspective of a discourse theory of education. These challenges arise from political, cultural, economic, and... more
This contribution discusses four challenges to political autonomy education in contemporary public spheres from the perspective of a discourse theory of education. These challenges arise from political, cultural, economic, and technological developments that presently affect the formation public spheres. These developments are, respectively, the hollowing out of the efficacy and legitimacy of national political deliberation, the so-called singularization of culture, the monopolistic tendencies of the platform economy, and the technologically induced discursive fragmentation. This contribution suggests educational responses to the challenges that are posed by these developments. These responses include, inter alia, transnational democratic conscientization, the humanistic exploration of commonality across cultural difference, role games facilitating socioeconomic education, and the cultivation of digital habits that diversify political experience online.
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In Reaktion auf die autoritär-populistische Politik Donald Trumps argumentieren viele politische Philosoph*innen sowie Bildungs- und Erziehungsphilosoph*innen, dass national orientierte Formen schulischer Demokratieerziehung eine zentrale... more
In Reaktion auf die autoritär-populistische Politik Donald Trumps argumentieren viele politische Philosoph*innen sowie Bildungs- und Erziehungsphilosoph*innen, dass national orientierte Formen schulischer Demokratieerziehung eine zentrale Rolle bei der Bewältigung der gegenwärtigen Krise der repräsentativen Demokratie in den USA zukommt. Dieser Beitrag argumentiert dagegen, dass eine national orientierte schulische Demokratieerziehung nicht hinreichend die auf den inter-, supra- und transnationalen Ebenen angesiedelten Ursachen der Krise der repräsentativen Demokratie berücksichtigt. Diese Ursachen betreffen insbesondere technokratische und elitäre Formen der politischen Meinungs- und Willensbildung. Vielversprechender, so die These dieses Aufsatzes, ist eine Kombination aus national und transnational orientierter Demokratieerziehung. Letztere würde einen Beitrag zur Demokratisierung der inter-, supra- und transnationalen politischen Verhältnisse leisten und somit auch die jenseits des Nationalstaats liegenden Ursachen der Krise der repräsentativen Demokratie adressieren.
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This article concentrates on contemporary conceptions of educational justice in primary and secondary education, although philosophers have recently also carried out important work on issues of educational justice in contexts of higher... more
This article concentrates on contemporary conceptions of educational justice in primary and secondary education, although philosophers have recently also carried out important work on issues of educational justice in contexts of higher education. Section 2 explains the conceptions of fair and luck-egalitarian equal educational opportunity, Section 3 the conception of educational priority for the least-advantaged students, and Section 4 the conception of democratically adequate education. Finally, Section 5 presents a philosophical conception of global justice in school education, before Section 6 concludes.
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In Democratic Education in a Globalized World (Routledge, 2019) I defend a discourse theory of global justice as the appropriate normative ground for conceiving educational justice and citizenship education under conditions of economic... more
In Democratic Education in a Globalized World (Routledge, 2019)
I defend a discourse theory of global justice as the appropriate
normative ground for conceiving educational justice and citizenship
education under conditions of economic and political globalization.
In addition, I articulate democratic conceptions of global
educational justice and citizenship education that recognize
a moral-political right to democratically adequate education and
call for the creation of transnational democratic consciousness.
Based on these conceptions I spell out school practices such as
historically informed, cross-cultural learning within socially diverse
settings that would contribute to realizing these conceptions. In this
article I reply to liberal perfectionist, communitarian-conservative
and empiricist-historical critiques of Democratic Education in
a Globalized World from Michael Festl, Martin Beckstein and
Michael Geiss, respectively. I emphasize the feasibility of injusticereducing
educational practices, I explain how a discourse theory of
justice accommodates considerations of both the good and the
right, and I justify why the grim record of past educational experience
does not render pointless the pursuit of progressive aims
through education.
I defend a discourse theory of global justice as the appropriate
normative ground for conceiving educational justice and citizenship
education under conditions of economic and political globalization.
In addition, I articulate democratic conceptions of global
educational justice and citizenship education that recognize
a moral-political right to democratically adequate education and
call for the creation of transnational democratic consciousness.
Based on these conceptions I spell out school practices such as
historically informed, cross-cultural learning within socially diverse
settings that would contribute to realizing these conceptions. In this
article I reply to liberal perfectionist, communitarian-conservative
and empiricist-historical critiques of Democratic Education in
a Globalized World from Michael Festl, Martin Beckstein and
Michael Geiss, respectively. I emphasize the feasibility of injusticereducing
educational practices, I explain how a discourse theory of
justice accommodates considerations of both the good and the
right, and I justify why the grim record of past educational experience
does not render pointless the pursuit of progressive aims
through education.
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This article explores the contribution of Jürgen Habermas's discourse theory of morality, politics and law to theorizing educational justice. Firstly, it analyzes Christopher Martin's discourse-ethical argument that the development of... more
This article explores the contribution of Jürgen Habermas's discourse theory of morality, politics and law to theorizing educational justice. Firstly, it analyzes Christopher Martin's discourse-ethical argument that the development of citizens' discursive agency is required on epistemic grounds. The article criticizes this argument and claims that the moral importance of developing discursive agency should be justified instead on the basis of moral grounds. Secondly, the article examines Harvey Siegel's critique of Habermas's moral epistemology and suggests that Siegel neglects that the epistemic justification of moral claims proceeds differently from the epistemic justification of assertoric claims. Finally, the article presents a discourse-theoretic conception of educational justice that defends the importance of discursively justifying norms of educational justice through properly arranged structures of justification.
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The article shows the interlacement of political philosophy and philosophy of education by justifying educational justice as central normative ground for analyzing educational policies as well as by defending a democratic conception of... more
The article shows the interlacement of political philosophy and philosophy of education by justifying educational justice as central normative ground for analyzing educational policies as well as by defending a democratic conception of educational justice. In order to ground the importance of the concept of educational justice, the article explains the shortcomings of the alternative-functionalist and liberal perfectionist-normative grounds of educational policy. Then, the article develops a democratic conception of educational justice by first of all criticizing the liberal conception of equal educational opportunity on the ground that it implicitly accepts as valid the socially existing understanding of educational success. Based on this critique the article defends a democratic conception of educational justice that demands the institutionalization of educational practices that prepare students to define themselves as democratic citizens what educational success should mean.
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The article begins with critical analyses of two widely employed conceptions of citizenship education. Firstly, it criticizes an exclusively domestic conception of democratic citizenship education as inapt for preparing future citizens... more
The article begins with critical analyses of two widely employed conceptions of citizenship education. Firstly, it criticizes an exclusively domestic conception of democratic citizenship education as inapt for preparing future citizens for their lives in globalized political and economic environments. Secondly, it argues that the conception of citizenship education as global consciousness formation is functionalist, status quo biased and insufficiently democratic. Based on these assessments, the article goes on to articulate a conception of citizenship education as transnational democratic conscientization. This conception maintains that citizenship education must contribute to the formation of domestic as well as transnational democratic consciousness. For unless citizenship education contributes to building up such consciousness, the article maintains, not only inter-and transnational but also domestic decision-making processes will remain democratically deficient.
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Nussbaum’s moral cosmopolitanism informs her capability-based theory of justice, which she uses in order to develop a distinctive model of cosmopolitan democratic education. I characterize Nussbaum’s educational model as a ‘statist... more
Nussbaum’s moral cosmopolitanism informs her capability-based theory of justice, which she uses in order to develop a distinctive model of cosmopolitan democratic education. I characterize Nussbaum’s educational model as a ‘statist model,’ however, because it regards cosmopolitan democratic education as necessary for realizing democratic arrangements at the domestic level. The socio-cultural diversity of virtually every nation, Nussbaum argues, renders it mandatory to educate citizens in a cosmopolitan fashion. Citizens must develop empathy and sympathy towards all co-citizens of their domestic polities and cope effectively with socio-cultural diversity. I criticize Nussbaum’s statist model, because it neglects that due to the ways in which international institutions already constrain national decision-making, citizens will not fully enjoy the human freedom of co-determining the political choices that affect their lives unless international affairs are further democratized. Therefore I suggest extending Nussbaum’s statist model and outline an ‘internationalist model’ of cosmopolitan democratic education.
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This article first of all illustrates how Israeli history schoolbooks fail to represent or misrepresent the culture of Palestinian citizens of Israel, and then explains the ways in which such mis- or non-representation hinders the... more
This article first of all illustrates how Israeli history schoolbooks fail to represent or misrepresent the culture of Palestinian citizens of Israel, and then explains the ways in which such mis- or non-representation hinders the cultivation of vital democratic virtues like empathy. Following that, the article identifies three obstacles for rendering Israeli school education more democratic: Israel's identity as a ‘Jewish and democratic state’, the socio-political domination of Palestinian citizens of Israel outside the educational system, and the unwillingness to recognise the existence of moral dilemmas. The article concludes that overcoming these obstacles is crucial for improving democratic education in Israel.
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Is a democratic understanding of global distributive justice parochial or Western-centric? This chapter shows that within the East Asian context it is possible to rely on several democratic interpretations of Confucian political... more
Is a democratic understanding of global distributive justice parochial or Western-centric? This chapter shows that within the East Asian context it is possible to rely on several democratic interpretations of Confucian political philosophy in order to construe the argument that it is not. This argument says that because it is plausible to regard democratic arrangements as compatible, at least in principle, with Confucian political culture and thought, it is inadequate to regard a democratic understanding of global distributive justice as Western-centric. Before laying out this argument in greater detail, however, this chapter first of all articulates in greater detail the critique that a democratic understanding of global distributive justice is parochial or Western-centric and, in addition, specifies how this critique emerges from postcolonial theory.
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Den Liberalismus dafür anzugreifen, dass dieser wirklichkeitsfremd sei, ist ein wiederkehrender Topos in der westlichen Tradition moralischen und politischen Denkens. Marx’ Kritik etwa, dass die Rede subjektiver Rechte ideologisch sei,... more
Den Liberalismus dafür anzugreifen, dass dieser wirklichkeitsfremd sei, ist ein wiederkehrender Topos in der westlichen Tradition moralischen und politischen Denkens. Marx’ Kritik etwa, dass die Rede subjektiver Rechte ideologisch sei, weil die sozialen Voraussetzungen dieser da-bei aus dem Blick gerieten, wirft dem Liberalismus eine Verzerrung der Wirklichkeit vor. Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts greifen die Kommunitaristen den Liberalismus dafür an, dass dieser auf einer verkürzten Sozialontologie beruhe, welche Individuen als sozial entwurzelte und voll-kommen unabhängige Wesen auffasse. In dem 2016 erschienenen Sonderheft „Politische The-orie in der Krise“ der Zeitschrift Mittelweg 36 haben nun einige politische Theoretiker diesen Topos erneut aufgegriffen. Darin warfen sie dem politischen Liberalismus rawlsianischer Prä-gung vor, dass dieser aufgrund seiner Abstraktheit und Weltferne für drängende politische Fra-gen praktisch irrelevant sei. Dies zeige sich daran, so die Argumentation, dass sich die gegen-wärtigen Vertreter des politischen Liberalismus nicht zu den vielen Krisen in und um Europa äußerten. Da außerdem der politische Liberalismus die zeitgenössische politische Theorie domi-niere, sei dies der Grund dafür, weshalb die politikwissenschaftliche Disziplin als Ganze zu den aktuellen Krisen schweige.
In diesem Aufsatz verteidige ich den politischen Liberalismus gegen diese Kritik der praktischen Irrelevanz auf zwei verschiedene Weisen. Zunächst zeige ich, dass diese Kritik, wenn sie spezi-fisch auf Rawls’ politisch liberale Gerechtigkeitstheorie zielt, allzu vereinfachend ist, da sie nicht hinreichend das Verhältnis zwischen idealer und nicht-idealer Theorie berücksichtigt (2.). An-schließend stelle ich einen politisch liberalen Ansatz öffentlicher Erziehung und Bildung vor. Anhand dieses Beispiels veranschauliche ich, wie es der politische Liberalismus vermochte, zur Lösung der gegenwärtigen Bildungs- und Erziehungskrise beizutragen, die durch eine zuneh-mende Ökonomisierung öffentlicher Bildung und Erziehung entstanden ist (3.).
In diesem Aufsatz verteidige ich den politischen Liberalismus gegen diese Kritik der praktischen Irrelevanz auf zwei verschiedene Weisen. Zunächst zeige ich, dass diese Kritik, wenn sie spezi-fisch auf Rawls’ politisch liberale Gerechtigkeitstheorie zielt, allzu vereinfachend ist, da sie nicht hinreichend das Verhältnis zwischen idealer und nicht-idealer Theorie berücksichtigt (2.). An-schließend stelle ich einen politisch liberalen Ansatz öffentlicher Erziehung und Bildung vor. Anhand dieses Beispiels veranschauliche ich, wie es der politische Liberalismus vermochte, zur Lösung der gegenwärtigen Bildungs- und Erziehungskrise beizutragen, die durch eine zuneh-mende Ökonomisierung öffentlicher Bildung und Erziehung entstanden ist (3.).
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2021. “Supranationalität,” in Festl, Michael (ed.), Liberalismus Handbuch, Stuttgart: Metzler
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2021. “Martha Nussbaum,” in Festl, Michael (ed.), Liberalismus Handbuch, Stuttgart: Metzler
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Poverty is generally perceived as a moral problem that needs to be resolved. Philosophical discussions of poverty concern the conceptualization of poverty, its particular nature as a moral problem and the reasons for ascribing moral... more
Poverty is generally perceived as a moral problem that needs to be resolved. Philosophical discussions of poverty concern the conceptualization of poverty, its particular nature as a moral problem and the reasons for ascribing moral responsibility to alleviate poverty. Some philosophers are critical of exclusively income-based understandings of poverty and suggest instead that poverty consists of a lack of particular opportunities such as being able to be well nourished. Yet even if philosophers agree on how to conceive poverty, they may nevertheless disagree whether the moral problem that poverty constitutes is a distributive injustice or simply a humanitarian concern. In addition, philosophers also offer various justifications of the moral responsibility to alleviate poverty. While some highlight the mere capacity to alleviate poverty, others emphasize the contribution to or the benefit from poverty. These philosophical inquiries are closely related to, and need to be informed by, social-scientific research on poverty-especially research regarding the causes of poverty, the effects of poverty and the solutions to poverty.
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Moral Rights and their Grounds is an acute study that explores three fundamental questions about moral rights: What are moral rights?, Which moral rights exist? and What are the grounds of moral rights?