Vafa Ghazavi

The content of my thoughts is now an object in the world!!! Thank you, thank you to everyone who supported the research or supported the writing or supported me & the research & the writing - I am so grateful and happy and can’t wait to celebrate with you all when it’s released on 4th September 😍😍🐥!

Yesterday we celebrated @jowolff.bsky.social remarkable career. Hard to put into words, so here’s a glimpse of the standing ovation that closed the day. Love, admiration, philosophy at its best. Days like this remind me why we do what we do.

It was a very special day, on which we celebrated the career of @jowolff.bsky.social. Lots of interesting presentations and discussions, moving memories, and speeches filled with affection and admiration.

First session on engaged philosophy!
@ingridrobeyns.bsky.social @vafaghazavi.bsky.social

Spotted in Oxford today! Disappointed I won’t be able to go to this event but am very excited about Lea Ypi’s new book 💫 @leaypi.bsky.social perhaps we can organise a Sydney launch down the track?!

My friend was assassinated. In a world of shrinking political ideals, she was a beacon Melissa Hortman, a great American reformer, accepted my invitation to come to Australia. Now, that will never happen.

I wrote something about my friend Melissa Hortman, civility without illusions, and the meaning of public service for The Sydney Morning Herald.

www.smh.com.au/world/north-...

Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World New, practical approaches to confronting today’s most daunting global issues

@drodrik.bsky.social’s new book can’t come out soon enough.

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

My friend was assassinated. In a world of shrinking political ideals, she was a beacon Melissa Hortman, a great American reformer, accepted my invitation to come to Australia. Now, that will never happen.

I wrote something about my friend Melissa Hortman, civility without illusions, and the meaning of public service for The Sydney Morning Herald.

www.smh.com.au/world/north-...

What Is Freedom For? Books & the Arts / June 9, 2025 Free From What? Quentin Skinner and the contested 
history of liberty What Is Freedom For? Quentin Skinner and the contested 
history of liberty. Samuel Moyn Share Co...

I reviewed Quentin Skinner’s new one www.thenation.com/article/arch...

Thank you to @theobserveruk.bsky.social for featuring #TheWorkWeNeed this weekend

The Wealth of Freedom: Radical Republican Political Economy Abstract. What is an economy for? The republican tradition in political thought offers a compelling way of exploring this question. The economy is for the

What would an anti-oligarchic, republican economy look like? UBI? Wealth tax? Workplace democracy? Strong trade unions? Investment democracy? I explore a radical republican economics in my new book, 'The Wealth of Freedom', which is now out online. academic.oup.com/book/60075

“Progressive patriotism” — is it an idea who time has come? - ABC listen Fresh from a commanding victory at the federal election, Anthony Albanese began to bundle his campaign policy offerings together in a new package — not just to give these political commitments a kind ...

Enjoyed discussing the idea and potential of ‘progressive patriotism’ with Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens on this episode of The Minefield.

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Alasdair MacIntyre obituary Provocative philosopher who argued that current morality has been cut off from its roots ‘largely thanks to the Enlightenment’

The world has lost one of its great thinkers. Thankfully, his powerful ideas and writings remain with us.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

RIP Alasdair Macintyre

Photo Credit: Sean O'Connor (CC-BY)

The APA is saddened to note the passing of Professor Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre (1929–2025). MacIntyre was 1984–1985 Eastern Division president. He was Rev. John A. O'Brien Senior Research Professor Emeritus at Notre Dame.

www.apaonline.org/news/701948/...

Photo: Sean O'Connor (CC-BY)

If you’re interested in inequality and the future of democracy, @drodrik.bsky.social on @ppfideas.bsky.social with David Runciman is essential listening.

Wow!

Social housing in the Balearic Islands, Spain.

Built using local stone, bricks and timber

I was especially inspired by Joe’s focus on ethics and ethical leadership. Many people probably don’t know that, as dean, Joe was also instrumental in ensuring Harvard Kennedy School had world-class philosophers on the faculty. A testament to his vision and wide-ranging intelligence.

Very sad to hear of the passing of my former teacher, Joseph Nye. Joe was one of the giants of foreign policy and IR, and public policy education more broadly. More than that though he was incredibly gracious and kind. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Yay! Proud @ballioloxford.bsky.social alum today with this news 👏🏼

Delighted to be speaking alongside @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social at this event in honour of the great @jowolff.bsky.social — former supervisor, mentor, inspiration, friend.

Opinion | With Trump’s Tariffs, the Fate of Developing Countries Now Rests in Their Own Hands (Gift Article) For the billions of people who still live in poverty, the path to prosperity may look very different than it has since World War II.

My piece in the NYTimes on tariffs' effects on poor nations. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/o...

It’s out! The whole dossier is about the fate of liberalism (tm). muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

What a time to be preparing for my lecture tomorrow on technocracy, democracy and public policy.

4 years, 5 countries, 6 languages, 8 archives,thousands of pages later, bound proofs of INDIGNITY have landed on my (or, rather, Beatrice Webb’s) desk at LSE! Publishing @penguinbooksuk.bsky.social in the UK in Sept +🇦🇱🇺🇸🇨🇦🇩🇪🇪🇸🇸🇪🇳🇴🇩🇰🇳🇱🇮🇹🇸🇮🇧🇷 + more. So excited (and terrified) to share with you all ❤️🧿!

Three religious traditions overlap this year, providing a rare opportunity for collective reflection | Kat Eghdamian For the first time in decades, three major religious traditions – Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’í Faith – will observe their sacred fasting periods at the same time * Making sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to…

Three religious traditions overlap this year, providing a rare opportunity for collective reflection | Kat Eghdamian

From Statecraft To Soulcraft | NOEMA How the world’s illiberal powers like Russia and China rule through their visions of the good life.

“The major illiberal regimes worldwide today are ready & willing to use the soft & hard powers of the state to realize their visions of the good life. They are in the business of crafting souls, or soulcraft.”

— @lefebvrealex.bsky.social

From Statecraft To Soulcraft | NOEMA How the world’s illiberal powers like Russia and China rule through their visions of the good life.

An insightful take from my undergrad advisor @lefebvrealex.bsky.social! A must read for those that are concerned with liberalism's failures and possibilities, and curious about the values and ideals that inspire alternative visions of the good life. www.noemamag.com/from-statecr...

Since today is the last day I can say it: my book came out this year! It tries to capture what's wrong with democracy and how we might fix it. (academic.oup.com/book/55806)

Asked by @casssunstein.bsky.social to contribute to a forthcoming “Social Research” dossier on liberalism under siege, I propose comparisons of different crises of liberalism (by way of reviewing the great Stephen Holmes’s career)-open to revision; thoughts welcome. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....