Prof Lawrence Hamilton
Faculty of Humanities
Department of Politics
Lecturer
Biographical
Lawrence Hamilton, who holds an MA, MPhil and PhD from Cambridge University, is a Professor of Politics at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). He is also a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge (following periods there as a Mellon Research Fellow and Visiting Fellow) and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculties of Politics and History, Cambridge. As of late 2009, he was elected Editor-in-Chief of Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory. At UJ he teaches and co-ordinates courses on the History of Political Thought and Political Philosophy/Theory. His research interests include contemporary political philosophy, in particular, political judgment, needs, rights, states, freedom, power and economic necessity; the political thought of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Smith, Hegel, Proudhon and Marx; the history of imperialism; and South African politics and political economy. He is currently working on two book manuscripts, Freedom is Power and Human Needs and Political Judgement. The South African National Research Foundation has awarded him their President’s Award (2007-2011) for his research achievements.
For more details, please see the following links:
www.nrf.ac.za/presidentsawards/ ;
www.nrf.ac.za/publications/news@nrf/pa_2007.pdf
Selected Recent Publications
Books
The Political Philosophy of Needs (Cambridge University Press 2003 [2007 – paperback])
Articles
‘Debt, Democracy and Representation in South Africa’, with Nicola Viegi, Representation 45. 2 (2009)
‘“(I’ve Never Met) a Nice South African”: virtuous citizenship and popular sovereignty’, Theoria 119 (2009)
‘Human Needs and Political Judgment’, in New Waves in Political Philosophy eds Zurn & de Bruin (Palgrave 2009)
‘Needs and Agency’, in Handbook of Economics and Ethics, eds Peil and Staveren (Edward Elgar Publishing 2008)
‘The Context and Argument of The Political Philosophy of Needs’ (Symposium on The Political Philosophy of Needs), The South African Journal of Philosophy 25. 3 (2006)
‘Needs, Rights and Political Judgment: Response to Critics’, The South African Journal of Philosophy 25. 3 (2006)
‘Human Needs, Land Reform and the South African Constitution’, Politikon, 33. 2 (2006)
‘The Political Philosophy of Needs and Weak States’, in Development Dilemmas, eds Ayogu & Ross (Routledge 2005)
‘“Civil Society”: Critique and Alternative’, in Global Civil Society and Its Limits, ed S. Halperin (Palgrave 2003)
‘A Theory of True Interests in the Work of Amartya Sen’, Government and Opposition 34. 4 (1999)
Research Awards
Presidents Award (2007-2011), by National Research Foundation, South Africa – to fund Masters and PhD students, Research Fellowships and create a Centre of Excellence in Political Thought, with focus on Africa
University of KwaZulu-Natal University Book Prize 2004 for The Political Philosophy of Needs
Mandela Cambridge Bursary (1997-2000), for PhD Research, Cambridge Commonwealth Trusts
Gladstone Memorial Prize (1996) for top undergraduate dissertation in the faculties of History, Economics, and Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge