The Transnational Flow of the Democratic ‘No’

September 20, 2013

The Department of Political Science and the Munk School of Global Affairs presents Friday International Relations Seminar and Tea! (FIRST!)

On Friday, September 27th 2013, the department will be hosting the start of the FIRST! meeting series. Political Science Professor Melissa Williams will be leading the first lecture which will be focusing on the topic of “The Transnational Flow of the Democratic ‘No'”

Melissa Williams teaches political theory at the University of Toronto, where she is Professor of Political Science and served as Founding Director of the Centre for Ethics from 2005-2010. Her work is focused in contemporary democratic theory with a focus on questions of pluralism, justice and equality. She is author of Voice, Trust, and Memory: Marginalized Groups and the Failings of Liberal Representation (Princeton), as well as articles on numerous topics ranging from the history of Western political thought, deliberative democracy, toleration, affirmative action, multiculturalism, and the rights of Indigenous peoples. She was recently Editor of NOMOS, the Yearbook of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy; recent volumes she has edited include Humanitarian Intervention, Moral Universalism and Pluralism, and Transitional Justice. Her current research focuses on theories of global justice and global democracy, and of the role of intercultural political theory in a globalizing world. The latter has led to research collaborations focused on Indigenous political thought, and she is leading an international research project on East Asian political thought.