People

Stuart White

PhD Princeton

Associate Professor of Politics, DPIR
Tutorial Fellow in Politics, Jesus College
AFFILIATION
Political Theory Network
College
Jesus College

Research

Normative political theory, public policy and the history of political thought. I am particularly interested in egalitarianism and its application in policy, and in traditions of political and institutional thinking that are simultaneously anti-capitalist and opposed to authoritarian forms of socialism.

My research interests include:

Normative Political Economy, Democratic Theory, Constitutional Theory and Studies (UK and Comparative), Political Theory and/of Institutions, Varieties of Republicanism, Political Theory and/of Subcultures, Anarchism.

Media

Universal basic income; inheritance tax and universal capital grants; democratic renewal and constitutional reform.

Teaching

Undergraduate teaching: Prelims: Theorizing Democracy, Theory of Politics, History of Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau, History of Political Thought: Bentham to Weber, Marx and Marxism.

Graduate teaching: Normative Political Economy.

Publications

A. Books

Radical Republicanism: Recovering the Tradition’s Popular Heritage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Co-edited with Bruno Leipold and Karma Nabulsi. 2020.

Building a Citizen Society: The Emerging Politics of Republican Democracy. London: Lawrence and Wishart. Co-edited with Daniel Leighton. 2008.

Equality. Cambridge: Polity. 2006.(Polish edition. Sic. 2008. Korean edition. Kachi Publishing. 2016.)

The Citizen's Stake: Exploring the Future of Universal Asset Policies. Bristol: Policy Press. Co-edited with Will Paxton and with Dominic Maxwell. 2006.

The Ethics of Stakeholding. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Co-edited with Keith Dowding and Jurgen De Wispelaere. 2003.

The Civic Minimum: On the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2003.

New Labour: The Progressive Future? Basingstoke: Palgrave. Edited volume. 2001.

Options for Britain: A Strategic Policy Review. Aldershot: Dartmouth Press. Co-edited with David Halpern, Stewart Wood, and Gavin Cameron. 1996.

B. E-books

Democratic Wealth: Building a Citizens Economy, hosted at openDemocracy and Politics in Spires/OxPol. Co-edited with Niki Seth-Smith. 2014.

C. Pamphlets

Labour, Pluralism and Creative Constitutionalism. London: Compass. 2022.

A People’s Inquiry? Deliberative Democracy and the Pandemic. London: Compass. 2020.

How to Defend Inheritance Tax. London: Fabian Society. With Rajiv Prabhakar and Karen Rowlingson. 2008. Winner of the 2008 Jenny Jeger Prize for the best publication of the Fabian Society over the preceding year.

D. Articles

Constitutions Against Oligarchy, in Rutger Claassen, Michael Bennett, and Huub Brouwer, eds. Wealth and Power: Philosophical Perspectives, London: Routledge, 274-294. With Elliot Bulmer. 2022.

The Referendum and the UK’s Constitution: From Parliamentary to Popular Sovereignty?, Parliamentary Affairs 75 (2), 263-280. 2022.

What’s Wrong with Inequality?, Institute for Fiscal Studies, IFS Deaton Review of Inequality, online 23 September 2021, With Debra Satz.

Brexit and the Future of the UK’s Constitution, International Political Science Review, Special Issue: The Brexit Effect, . Online April 1. 2021.

‘We Are Fireworks’: Anarcho-Punk, Positive Punk, and Democratic Individuality, Punk and Post-Punk 10 (2). 2021. 

Citizens’ Assemblies and Republican Democracy, in Bruno Leipold, Karma Nabulsi and Stuart White, eds. Radical Republicanism: Recovering the Tradition’s Popular Heritage, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 81-99. 2020.

Introduction: Radical Republicanism and Popular Sovereignty, in Bruno Leipold, Karma Nabulsi and Stuart White, eds. Radical Republicanism: Recovering the Tradition’s Popular Heritage, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1-19. 2020. With Bruno Leipold and Karma Nabulsi.

Freedom, Exit, and Basic Income, in Anja Eleveld, Thomas Kampen and Josien Arts, eds. Welfare to Work in Contemporary European Welfare States: Legal, Sociological and Philosophical Perspectives on Justice and Domination, Bristol: Policy Press, 307-330. 2020.

Rousseau and the Meaning of Popular Sovereignty, in Debra Satz and Annabelle Lever, eds. Ideas That Matter: Democracy, Justice, Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 68-87. 2019.

Justice in Exemptions: Integrity beyond Obligation?, Secular Studies 1 (1), 128-141. Contribution to a symposium on Cécile Laborde’s Liberalism’s Religion. 2019.

James Meade, Public Ownership, and the Idea of a Citizens’ Trust, International Journal of Public Policy 15 (1/2), 21-37. 2019. With Martin O’Neill.

Horizontalism, Public Assembly, and Republican Politics, in Yiftah Elazar and Genèvieve Rousselière, eds. Republicanism and the Future of Democracy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 247-263. 2019.

Towards Popular Sovereignty: Comments on Bruce Ackerman’s ‘A Dis-United Kingdom: Constitutional Reform After Brexit’.’The Political Quarterly. 2018. With Anthony Barnett.

The Democratic Ethics of a Minimum Income, in Annabelle Lever and Andrei Poama, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Ethics and Public Policy, London: Routledge. 2018.

Trade Unions and Political Equality, in Hugh Collins, Gillian Lester and Virginia Mantouvalou, eds. Philosophical Foundations of Labour Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 252-268. 2018. With Martin O’Neill.

A Marquandian Moment? The Civic Republican Political Theory of David Marquand, in Hans Schattle and Jeremy Nuttall, eds. Making Social Democrats: Values, Citizens, Realities: Essays for David Marquand, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 139-159. 2018.

Moral Objections to Inheritance Tax, in Martin O’Neill and Shepley Orr, eds. Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 167-184. 2018.

Should a Minimum Income be Unconditional?, in Stefano Civitarese Matteucci and Simon Halliday, eds. Social Rights in Europe in an Age of Austerity, Abingdon: Routledge, 181-196. 2017.

Parliaments, Constitutional Conventions, and Popular Sovereignty, British Journal of Politics and International Relations. DOI: 10.1177/1369148117700657 Online March 30. 2017.

Liberal Philosophies of Ownership, in Jonathan Michie, Joseph R. Blasi and Carlo Borzaga, eds., Oxford Handbook of Mutual and Co-Owned Business, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 27-38. 2017.

Republicanism and Property-Owning Democracy: How Are They Connected?, The Tocqueville Review/La Revue Tocqueville 37 (2), 103-124. 2016.

The Left after Social Democracy: Towards State-Society Partnerships, in Alternatives to State-Socialism in Britain: Other Worlds of Labour in the Twentieth Century, Peter Ackers and Alastair J. Reid, eds. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave, 303-327. 2016.

An Evaluative Framework for Mutual and Employee-Owned Businesses, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship,
With Daniel Tischer, Ruth Yeoman, Alex Nicholls and Jonathan Michie. 2016.

Basic Capital in the Egalitarian Toolkit?, Journal of Applied Philosophy 32 (4), 417-431. 2015.

What Kind of Democracy Should We Want?, in Democracy in Britain: Essays in Honour of James Cornford, Guy Lodge and Glenn Gottfried, eds. London: Institute for Public Policy Research, 17-29. 2014.

Democratic Equality as a Work-in-Progress, in A Companion to Rawls, Jon Mandle and David A. Reidy, eds. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 185-199. 2013.

Religious Exemptions: An Egalitarian Demand?, Law and Ethics of Human Rights 6 (1): 97-118. 2012.

Basic Capital: A Policy Whose Time Has Comeand Gone?, The Good Society 21 (1): 61-73. 2012.

Property-Owning Democracy and Republican Citizenship in Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond, Martin ONeill and Thad Williamson, eds. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 129-146. 2012.

Liberal Neutrality and Trade Unions, Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal 33 (3), 417-426. 2012.

Social Anarchism, Lifestyle Anarchism, and the Anarchism of Colin Ward, Anarchist Studies 19 (2), 92-104. 2011. Reprinted in Colin Ward: Life, Times and Thought, Carl Levy, ed. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 116-133. 2013.

The Republican Critique of Capitalism, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 14 (5), 561-579. 2011. Reprinted in Democratic Citizenship and Its Futures, Chris Armstrong and Andrew Mason, eds. London: Routledge, 9-27. 2012.

New Labour and the Politics of Ownership, in Reassessing New Labour: Market, State and Society under Blair and Brown, Patrick Diamond and Michael Kenny, eds. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 140-151. 2011.

Basic Income vs. Basic Capital: Can We Resolve the Disagreement?, Policy and Politics 39 (1), 67-81. 2011.

The Left and Reciprocity, Soundings 46, 18-30. 2010.

Left Liberalism: Principles and Prospect, Renewal 18 (3/4), 28-35. 2010.

Ethics, in The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Francis G. Castles, Stephan Leibfried, Jane Lewis, Herbert Obinger, and Christopher Pierson, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 19-31. 2010.

A Modest Proposal? Basic Capital vs. Higher Education Subsidies, British Journal of Politics and International Relations 12 (1), pp.37-55. 2010.

Revolutionary Liberalism? The Philosophy and Politics of Ownership in the Post-War Liberal Party, British Politics 4 (2), pp.164-187. 2009.

On the limits and possibilities of social democracy: the economics of Andrew Glyn, Renewal 16 (3/4), pp.134-147. 2008. A revised version of this paper, Must efficiency and equality conflict? The economics of Andrew Glyn, is published in Oxford Review of Economic Policy 25 (1), pp.155-163. 2009.

Political Theory, Social Science and Real Politics, in David Leopold and Marc Stears, eds., Political Theory: Methods and Approaches (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008), pp.49-69. With Adam Swift.

What (if Anything) is Wrong with Inheritance Tax?, The Political Quarterly 79 (2), 162-171. 2008.

Is Republicanism the Lefts Big Idea?, Renewal 15 (1). 2007.

Liberalisms Progressive Past: Post-War Liberalism and the Property Question, in Beyond Liberty: Is the Future of Liberalism Progressive?, Julia Margo, ed., London: ippr, 2007.

Making Anarchism Respectable? The Social Philosophy of Colin Ward, Journal of Political Ideologies 12 (1), 12-31. 2007. (Italian translation: LAnarchismo Pragmatico di Colin Ward, supplement to the bollettino Archivo G. Pinelli 30, Milan: Eleuthera Editrice, December 2007.)

Reconsidering the Exploitation Objection to Basic Income, Basic Income Studies 1 (2). 2006.

Universal Capital Grants: The Issue of Responsible Use, in The Citizens Stake: Exploring the Future of Universal Asset Policies, Will Paxton and Stuart White with Dominic Maxwell, eds., Bristol: Policy Press. 2006. With Will Paxton.

Inheritance Tax: What do the People Think? Evidence from Deliberative Workshops, in The Citizens Stake: Exploring the Future of Universal Asset Policies, Will Paxton and Stuart White with Dominic Maxwell, eds., Bristol: Policy Press. 2006. With Miranda Lewis.

Is Conditionality Illiberal?, in Welfare Reform and Political Theory, Lawrence Mead and Christopher Beem, eds., New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 2005.

Welfare Philosophy and the Third Way, in Welfare State Change: Towards a Third Way?, Jane Lewis and Rebecca Surender, eds., Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.

A Social Democratic Approach to Welfare Conditionality: Finding a Framework for Evaluation, in Sanctions and Sweeteners: Rights and Responsibilities in the Benefits System, Kate Stanley and Liane Asta Lohde (with Stuart White), London: Institute for Public Policy Research. 2004.

Whats Wrong with Workfare?, Journal of Applied Philosophy 21, 271-284. 2004.

Markets, Time and Citizenship. Renewal 12 (3): 50-63. 2004.

Is Conditionality Unfair?, in On Condition, Philip Collins and Ann Rossiter, eds., London: Social Market Foundation. 2004.

The Citizens Stake and Paternalism. Politics and Society 32 (2), March 2004. Special issue on Redesigning Distribution. Also in Redesigning Distribution: Basic Income and Stakeholder Grants as Proposals for a More Egalitarian Capitalism, Erik Olin Wright, ed. London: Verso. 2006.

Freedom, Reciprocity, and the Citizens Stake, in The Ethics of Stakeholding, Keith Dowding, Jurgen De Wispelaere and Stuart White, eds. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 2003.

Stakeholding - Towards a New Social Paradigm, in The Ethics of Stakeholding, Keith Dowding, Jurgen De Wispelaere and Stuart White, eds. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 2003. With Keith Dowding and Jurgen De Wispelaere.

Toleration of Religious Discrimination in Employment, in The Culture of Toleration in Diverse Societies: Reasonable Tolerance, Dario Castiglione and Catriona McKinnon, eds. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 179-195. 2003.

Fair Reciprocity and Basic Income, in Real Libertarianism Assessed: Political Theory After Van Parijs, Andrew Reeve and Andrew Williams eds. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 136-160. 2003.

Republicanism, Patriotism, and Global Justice, in Forms of Justice, Daniel A. Bell and Avner de Shalit, eds. Lanham: MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 251-268. 2002.

Must Liberty and Equality Conflict? Renewal 10 (1): 27-38. 2002. A revised version of this article is also published in Ethical Socialism for a Prosperous Country, A.H. Halsey, ed. London: Methuen. 2007.

New Liberalism Revisited, in Progressive Politics in the Global Age, Henry Tam, ed. Oxford: Polity Press, 36-53. With Marc Stears. 2001.
A revised version of this article is also published in Imprints: a journal of analytical socialism 5 (3), 221-236. 2002.

Asset-Based Egalitarianism: Forms, Strengths, and Limitations, in Assets and Progressive Welfare, Sue Regan, ed. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. 2001.

The Ambiguities of the Third Way; Conclusion: The Uncertain Future of Progressive Politics, in New Labour: The Progressive Future?, Stuart White, ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Conclusion with Susan Giaimo. 2001.

Welfare Contractualism: Is it Justifiable?, Filosofia e Questioni Pubbliche, Nuova Serie N 2, ottobre 2000, L.U.I.S.S. edizioni Roma. (In Italian.) 2000.

Juggling With Reciprocity: Towards a Better Balance, in The New Gender Agenda, Anna Coote, ed. London: Institute for Public Policy Research/Fabian Society/Fawcett Society, 99-108. With Diana Gardner. 2000.

Should Talent be Taxed?, in The Demands of Citizenship, Catriona McKinnon and Iain Hampsher-Monk, eds. London: Continuum, 70-90. 2000.

Social Rights and the Social Contract: Political Theory and the New Welfare Politics. British Journal of Political Science 30 (2): 507-532. 2000.

Rediscovering Republican Political Economy. Imprints: a journal of analytical socialism 4 (3), 212-235.

The Egalitarian Earnings Subsidy Scheme. British Journal of Political Science 29 (4): 601-622. 1999.

Social Liberalism, Stakeholder Socialism and Postindustrial Social Democracy. Renewal 7 (3): 29-38. 1999.

Rights and Responsibilities: A Social Democratic Perspective, in The New Social Democracy, Andrew Gamble and Tony Wright, eds. Oxford: Blackwells: 166-179. 1999.

Trade Unionism in a Liberal State, in Freedom of Association, Amy Gutmann, ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 330-354. 1998.

Interpreting the Third Way: Not One Road, But Many. Renewal 6 (1): 17-30. 1998.
Also published as Razlagnje tretje poti Ne ena, vec poti, Nova Socialdemokracija: Opredelitve in Kontroverze Tretje Poti, Igor Lusik, ed., Ljubljana, Slovenia, Zbirka Alternative. 2000.

Freedom of Association and the Right to Exclude. Journal of Political Philosophy 5 (4): 373-391. 1997.

Liberal Equality, Exploitation, and the Case for an Unconditional Basic Income. Political Studies 45 (2): 312-326. 1997.
Reprinted as Liberal jamlikhet, exploatering och villkorslos basinkomst, in Den Nya Sociala Fragen, Nanna Kildal, ed. Daidalos: Goteburg, Sweden, 221-242. 2000.

What do Egalitarians Want?, in Equality, Jane Franklin, ed. London: Institute for Public Policy Research, 59-82. 1997.

Needs, Labour, and Marxs Conception of Justice. Political Studies 44 (1): 88-101. 1996.

E. Other, including review essays

How Should a Progressive Parliament Advance Proportional Representation? The Political Quarterly 93 (2), 297-306. 2022.

A New Kind of Dreaming: Democratic English Patriotism, in Belonging, Place and the Nation, Jack Jeffrey ed., London: Compass, 40-44. 2021.

We Need a Wealth Floor, Not Just a Wealth Ceiling. Short response as part of Forum on Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, ‘Taxing the Superrich’, Boston Review. 2020

Democracy in Focus: The people and parliament. Red Pepper. 2020.

“Beginning the world”: Liberalism and citizens’ inheritance, in The Wolves in the Forest: Tackling Inequality in the 21st Century, Paul Hindley and Gordon Lishman eds., Social Liberal Forum, 32-40. 2019.

Alternative liberalism, in Four Go in Search of Big Ideas: Putting Progressive Ideas at the Heart of UK Politics, Helen Flynn ed. Social Liberal Forum, 26-43. 2018. (This paper reworks material from ‘Alternative liberal solutions to economic inequality’ as listed below.)

‘A Chartist moment?’ The Chartist: For democratic socialism 282, 22-23. 2016.

‘Inequality is Not Our Fate.’ Boston Review 40 (6): 62-65. 2015.

‘Building a constitutional convention: Citizens and the UK’s constitutional moment.’ Juncture 22 (1): 58-64. 2015.

‘Soluções liberais alternativas para a desigualdade econômica.’ Leviathan: Cadernos de Pesquisa Política 10, 179-192. 2015.
Translated, and with an introduction, by Lucas Petroni from ‘Alternative liberal solutions to economic inequality’, openDemocracy, 5 November 2014.

‘Labour meets the networks’, in Riding the New Wave: Feminism and the Labour Party, Anya Pearson and Rosie Rogers, eds. London: Fabian Society, 4-7. 2014.

That was the New Labour that wasnt, Fabian Review 125 (1), pp.14-17. 2013. With Martin ONeill. A revised and extended version of this essay is published as The New Labour That Wasnt: The lessons of what might have been, Democracy in Britain: Essays in Honour of James Cornford, Guy Lodge and Glenn Gottfried, eds. London: Institute for Public Policy Research, 31-40. 2014.

Anarchy in Action: una introduccin, introduction to Colin Ward, Anarqua en Accin, Madrid: Enclave de Libros. 2013.

Civic Republicanism in Zapateros Spain. Review of Jos Luis Mart and Philip Pettit, A Political Philosophy in Public Life: Civic Republicanism, Renewal 20 (1), 79-83. 2012.

Liberalism and trade unionism, International Union Rights 18 (4): 10-11. With Daniel Butt and Martin ONeill. 2012.

Response to Chantal Mouffe, in Religion and Rights, Wes Williams, ed., Manchester University Press: Manchester, 133-137. 2011.

How conservative should Labour be?, in The Labour Tradition and the Politics of Paradox, Maurice Glasman, Marc Stears, Jonathan Rutherford, and Stuart White, eds., Lawrence and Wishart: London, 125-132. 2011.

Associational welfare: too much pluralism?, in Revisiting Associative Democracy, Andrea Westall, ed., Lawrence and Wishart: London, 49-53. 2010.

Making Anarchism Respectable (But Not Too Respectable), The Land 9, 6. 2010. Revised versions of this paper are also published as: Obituary: The incremental anarchist. Colin Ward, 1924-2010, Radical Philosophy 161, 67-68. 2010; and Colin Ward: making anarchism respectable, but not too respectable, in Remembering Colin Ward 1924-2010, Ken Worpole, ed., Nottingham: Five Leaves Press, 25-27. 2011.

Book Review: What Happened to the Convention on Modern Liberty?, review of The Convention on Modern Liberty: the British debate on fundamental rights and freedoms, Rosemary Bechler ed. London: Imprint Academic, 2010. http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/stuart-white/book-review-what-happened-to-convention-on-modern-liberty. 2010.

The future left: red, green and republican?, Red Pepper 170, February-March, pp.34-38. 2010. An edited version of this is published as ‘Republicanism and the contemporary Left.’ The Great Frock‘n’Robe Swindle. 2012. This publication is a newspaper produced by the artist Shaun Featherstone as a response to the 2012 Royal Golden Jubilee.

Thinking the future, New Statesman, September 7, 20-22. 2009.

Putting Ownership Back on the Table, Fabian Review 121 (2), 25-27. 2009.

An end to Labourism, in Peter Harrington and Beatrice Karol Burks, eds., What Next for Labour? Ideas for the Progressive Left (London, Demos), pp.74-78. 2009. This paper is also published in Oxford Left Review 1, February 2010.

After Neo-Liberalism: Republican Democracy in New Times, Public Policy Research 16 (1), 14-20. 2009.

The Republican Case for Basic Income: A Plea for Difficulty. Basic Income Studies 2 (2). 2007.

Too Few Tensions, but Not Enough Utopia? Comments on Equality: From Theory to Practice, Res Publica 13, 191-201. 2007.

Why do the Liberal Democrats Oppose the Child Trust Fund? Public Policy Research 14 (1). 2007.

A Progressive Politics of Responsibility: What Would it Look Like? Public Policy Research 12 (1). 2005.

Autonomy for All? On the Case for an Inclusive Assets Policy. New Economy 10 (4). 2003.

The Preference for Personal Enhancement - Perfectionism or Fairness? A Response to Jonathan Wolff. Comment on Jonathan Wolff, The Message of Redistribution, on the website of the Catalyst Forum: . 2003.

Dont Legislate for Religious Belief, The Observer, October 7, Comment Extra published on web-site. 2001.

Ethics and Equality. The Boston Review 25 (6): 38-44. 2000.

Three Questions, The Boston Review 23 (6): 22-23. Critical response to Bowles and Gintis, Is Equality Passe?, in same edition of this political and literary review. 1998.

Justice, Community, and the Inequality of Talents, RUSEL Working Paper 27, University of Exeter. 1997.

Rethinking the Strategy of Equality: An Assessment of the Report of the Commission on Social Justice. The Political Quarterly 66 (3): 205-210. 1995.

Pensioners and the Public Purse. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies. With Vanessa Fry and Stephen Smith. 1990.

Demographic Influences on Public Spending. Fiscal Studies 10 (2): 48-65. With Marc Pearson and Stephen Smith. 1989.

F. Short reviews

Review of John P. McCormick, Machiavellian Democracy, Political Theory, April 21 2016

Review of Brian Barry, Why Social Justice Matters, Journal of European Social Policy 16 (3): 306. (640 words approx.) 2006.

Review of Tony Fitzpatrick, After the New Social Democracy: Social Welfare for the Twenty-First Century, Social Policy and Administration. (1,200 words approx.) 2004.

Review of David Marquand, Decline of the Public, Renewal 12 (2): 89-90. (1,000 words approx.) 2004.

Review of Anthony Giddens, ed. The Global Third Way Debate, Democratization 9 (3): 187-188. (700 words approx.) 2002.

Review of John Gray, Two Faces of Liberalism, Boston Review 26 (6): 59. (300 words approx.) 2002.