Christian F. Rostbøll

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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

 

 

 

Selected publications

1. Published

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

   Rostbøll, Christian F., 23 Mar 2023, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 280 p.

   Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review

2. Published

   POPULISM, DEMOCRACY, AND THE PUBLICITY REQUIREMENT

   Rostbøll, Christian F., 4 May 2022, In: Constellations: an international journal of critical and democratic theory. p. 1-14 14 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

3. 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 journal › Journal article › peer-review

4. 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 proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

5. 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 journal › Journal article › peer-review

6. 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/Report › Book › peer-review

7. 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 journal › Journal article › peer-review

8. Published

   Immanuel Kant

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

   Research output: Book/Report › Book

9. Published

   Jürgen Habermas

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

   Research output: Book/Report › Book

10. 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 journal › Journal article › peer-review

Selected activities

1. COMPROMISE: Democratic Ideals and Real Politics

   Rostbøll, Christian F. (Participant)

   1 Jan 2014 → 31 Dec 2017

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