Mathias Thaler

My trajectory as a political philosopher has been characterized by a commitment to three core ideas: academic interdisciplinarity, the imperative of scientific collaboration and international research mobility. My doctoral thesis, funded by Austrian Academy of Sciences, critically engages with issues of global justice from both a theoretical and practical perspective, combining normative analysis with case studies. A manuscript based on the thesis was published as a single-authored book with the German publishing house Campus in 2008. A number of articles developed as part of my postdoctoral agenda took my graduate work to new directions: I looked into public debates about humanitarian intervention and world citizenship with the tools of history, law, and international relations. These papers were later published in peer-reviewed journals (Philosophy & Social Criticism, European Journal of Political Theory).

In 2008 I took up a position at the Centro de Estudos Sociais (CES), Universidade de Coimbra – a highly interdisciplinary research institute, where academic collaboration is the rule rather than the exception. In Coimbra, I became the founder and coordinator of the Observatory for the Politics of Religious and Cultural Difference in Southern Europe (POLICREDOS). My research and publications branched out into the role of religion in the public sphere. Together with a team of theologians, sociologists of religion, political scientists, and anthropologists, I have been analyzing theories and practices of religious accommodation in diverse societies. This research benefitted from the Canada-Europe Award, by the International Council for Canadian Studies (Canada) as well as from the Theodor Körner Preis, by the Theodor Körner Fonds (Austria). A second focus of my work at CES deals with questions of political reconciliation, apology and forgiveness. I am currently preparing a co-edited volume that approaches state apologies from the standpoints of theology, political science, philosophy and law. An article summarizing my contribution to this literature is forthcoming in the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.

In terms of teaching and supervising, I have gathered valuable experience, both in undergraduate and in graduate programs. In Coimbra, I am currently the coordinator of a PhD core course in political theory as well as a regular lecturer in the international MA stream “Roads to Democracy”. Furthermore, I have been lecturing intensive courses at two Austrian universities. In Vienna and Klagenfurt, I teach introductory classes to political theory, focusing on such topics as toleration, cosmopolitanism and public reason. I have so far supervised several BA theses at the University of Vienna. In Coimbra, a number of undergraduate students as well as one postdoctoral researcher are presently working under my direct supervision on a project in comparative political sociology.

International mobility is another noteworthy aspect of my career. So far, my educational and employment path has led me to five different academic settings: I spent my undergraduate studies in Vienna and Paris (University of Vienna and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales); my graduate work was done in Vienna and at the University of California at Berkeley. My postdoctoral employment involved lengthy periods at the University of Toronto and the Université de Montréal. Most recently, in 2012, I have spent one term at the University of Oxford.

Contact Information

Homepage:	http://sites.google.com/site/mathiasthaler/
Address:	Centro de Estudos Sociais Universidade de Coimbra Colégio de S. Jerónimo Apartado 3087 3001–401 Coimbra Portugal