Alice Baderin

My research interests are in contemporary political theory. My current work focuses on three main topics.

First, I am interested in problems of justice and risk: what is it like to live with insecurity, and how does foregrounding this question shape our thinking about social justice?

I have an ongoing research project on 'Anticipatory Injustice', which is exploring the steps that vulnerable people take to defend themselves in the face of insecurity. I argue that the unequal distribution of the burdens of anticipating risk represents a significant, and underrecognised, form of injustice in contemporary societies.

Second, I work on issues of equality and inequality. I am particularly interested in the contemporary debate between 'distributive' and 'relational' egalitarians, and I am currently involved in a collaborative project that is investigating the empirical connections between these two dimensions of inequality.

Finally, I have a longstanding interest in questions of method in political theory, which is informed by my previous experience working in opinion research.For example, what kind of role should evidence about public attitudes play in normative political theory? How should we understand and evaluate recent calls for more 'realistic' approaches to the discipline?

Some of my current research integrates philosophical argument with in-depth analysis of quantitative evidence, with the aim of generating payoffs for both normative theory and empirical enquiry. I recently organised a workshop at the University of Reading on the theme of 'Data-Sensitive Political Theory', and I am now working on a proposal for an edited book on the same topic.