From lived urban experiences to cross-contextual theory: a selection dilemma

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (forthcoming)
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Abstract

Political theorists are often interested in the problems that arise in more than one context; for example, problems that arise on a global level or among different cultural contexts. However, when political theorists engage with such problems, they face a methodological challenge. They need to decide how to evaluate differences both across and within the contexts in which the studied problem arises and determine how to create theories that are sensitive to the pluralism of real-life experiences. This article investigates the methodological challenge of selection, and offers a method for accommodating difference across and within different contexts. To demonstrate both the significance of this challenge and the suitability of the proposed solution, this article focuses on a set of empirically inspired arguments concerned with the normative questions of urban life. Even though their authors declare an explicit focus on the pluralism of lived experiences when constructing a theory, the selected arguments reflect a surprisingly narrow scope of urban experiences. This article investigates this tension.

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References found in this work

Ideal vs. Non-ideal Theory: A Conceptual Map.Laura Valentini - 2012 - Philosophy Compass 7 (9):654–664.
The Methodology of Political Theory.Christian List & Laura Valentini - 2016 - In Herman Cappelen, Tamar Gendler & John Hawthorne, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Introduction.Anne Phillips, John S. Dryzek & Bonnie Honig - 2006 - In John S. Dryzek, Bonnie Honig & Anne Phillips, The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory. Oxford University Press.

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