Christian F. Rostbøll

Christian F. Rostbøll

Professor

Member of:

Primary fields of research

My research focuses on the following themes within political theory: the justification of democracy, conceptions of freedom, autonomy, respect, freedom of expression, liberalism, republicanism, Kant, neo-Kantianism, Habermas

Current research

My recently published book, Democratic Respect: Populism, Resentment, and the Struggle for Recognition (Cambridge University Press, 2023) is about how democracy should- and should not - recognize the people. The debate over the meaning and value of populism is essentially a debate over this question. Populism promises to provide the people the recognition that they deserve. We should not understand populist resentment as blindly emotional but as a struggle for recognition based on moral experiences that can be explained by people’s beliefs. By adopting a participant attitude and associating populist resentment with alleged violations of democratic principles, we can discuss what citizens and governments owe one another in terms of recognition and respect. Not all struggles for recognition contribute to the deepening of democracy, and we must distinguish between different kinds of recognition in order to understand why populism is often a threat to what I call democratic respect. How democracy should recognize the people relates to debates over the meaning and value of democratic procedures, rights, majority rule, compromise, and public deliberation. The book disputes the widespread assumption that populism is essentially democratic and only against liberal constraints on majority rule. The shortcoming of populism is not that its understanding of democracy lacks substantive constraints, but that it fails to appreciate the procedural value of democracy.

Teaching

Recent Courses:

  • Populism and the Struggle for Recognition
  • Political Theory and the History of Political Thought
  • Kant's Practical Philosophy
  • Civil Disobedience
  • The Politics of Recognition

Office hours: Tuesdays 13.30-14.30

 

 

Selected publications

  1. Published

    Democratic Respect: Populism, Resentment, and the Struggle for Recognition

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 2023, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 280 p.

    Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

  2. Accepted/In press

    Polarization and the Democratic System: Kinds, Reasons, and Sites

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 20 Feb 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Perspectives on Politics.

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  3. Published

    Populism, democracy, and the publicity requirement

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 2023, In: Constellations: an international journal of critical and democratic theory. 30, 3, p. 276-289

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  4. Published

    Second-Order Political Thinking: Compromise versus Populism

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 12 Jul 2021, In: Political Studies. 69, 3, p. 559-576 18 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  5. Published

    Democracy as Good in Itself: Three Kinds of Non-Instrumental Justification

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 2020, Constitutionalism Justified: Rainer Forst in Discourse. Herlin-Karnell, E. & Klatt, M. (eds.). New York: Oxford University Press, p. 235-263 29 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Kant, Freedom as Independence, and Democracy

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 10 Jun 2016, In: The Journal of Politics. 78, 3, p. 792-805 14 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  7. Published

    Deliberative Freedom: Deliberative Democracy as Critical Theory

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 2008, Albany, NY, USA: State University of New York Press. 312 p.

    Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

  8. Published

    The Non-Instrumental Value of Democracy: The Freedom Argument

    Rostbøll, Christian F., Jun 2015, In: Constellations: an international journal of critical and democratic theory. 22, 2, p. 267-278 12 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  9. Published

    Immanuel Kant

    Rostbøll, Christian F., May 2015, Djøf Forlag. 122 p. (Statskundskabens klassikere).

    Research output: Book/ReportBook

  10. Published

    Jürgen Habermas

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 2011, 1 ed. Kbh.: Djøf Forlag. 131 p. (Statskundskabens klassikere).

    Research output: Book/ReportBook

  11. Published

    Autonomy, Respect, and Arrogance in the Danish Cartoon Controversy

    Rostbøll, Christian F., 2009, In: Political Theory. 37, 5, p. 623-648 26 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Selected activities

  1. COMPROMISE: Democratic Ideals and Real Politics

    Rostbøll, Christian F. (Participant)

    1 Jan 201431 Dec 2017

    Activity: Other activity typesOther (prizes, external teaching and other activities) - Prizes, scholarships, distinctions

Selected prizes

  1. Årets underviser 2022

    Rostbøll, Christian F. (Recipient), 14 Jun 2023

    Prize: Prizes, scholarships, distinctions

  2. Videnskabernes Selskabs sølvmedalje

    Rostbøll, Christian F. (Recipient), 2010

    Prize: Prizes, scholarships, distinctions

ID: 545431