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Faculty Fellow

Ben Laurence

Instruction Professor in Human Rights and the Social Sciences Division University of Chicago

Biography

Photo by Erielle Bakkum

Ben Laurence is Instruction Professor in Human Rights and the Social Sciences Division at the University of Chicago. His work in political philosophy focuses on big picture questions about the relationship of theory to
practice and on the political philosophy of labor unions. He is the author of Agents of Change: Political Philosophy in Practice (Harvard University Press 2021), as well articles in The Journal of Political Philosophy, Philosophy
and Phenomenological Research
, and Philosopher’s Imprint, among other journals. He is currently working on a book project on the political philosophy of labor unions.

Featured Project

Detail of a tapestry depicting workers on a picket line.

Which Side Are You On? The Labor Movement Between Theory and Practice

2026 – 2027

Projects

What Force on Earth: Theorizing the Labor Movement

Tapestry featuring labor organizers

What Force on Earth: Theorizing the Labor Movement

Is the labor movement a subject for political theory? This grant brings together scholars from across many disciplines, along with organizers and labor leaders, to explore what political visions, institutional structures, and organizing strategies might seize the opportunities of the present...
Are labor unions a subject for political theory? What would it be to provide such a theory? Many of the conceptual staples of the labor movement — solidarity, common interest, economic leverage — are relatively concrete, functioning largely as practical and instrumental ideas. At the same time, the ...