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James Wakefield BA MA PhD FHEA

Dr James Wakefield

BA MA PhD FHEA

Teacher

School of Law and Politics

Overview

I teach modules on Political Thought (and its history), Ethics, Government and Political Science in the Department of Politics and International Relations.

My research focuses on European and American political theory, ethics, philosophy of education, and intellectual history.

I'm always happy to talk to students about philosophy, politics, intellectual history and essay-writing.

Publication

2023

2022

2021

2020

2018

2015

2014

2013

Articles

Audio

Book sections

Books

Thesis

Research

Much of my work to date has centred on the history of political thought and ethics. In particular, I have written extensively about the Sicilian philosopher Giovanni Gentile (1875–1944) and others in his circle, including Guido De Ruggiero (1888–1948) and Ugo Spirito (1896–1979). This project has yielded articles, translations, reviews, a monograph (2015), and two edited volumes (2015 and 2021).

My other research interests include:

  • the relationship between normative political theory and the emotions;
  • philosophy of education and its relation to political theory;
  • political realism and the work of Judith N. Shklar;
  • conceptions of (especially Scottish) national identity and independence;
  • the early nineteenth-century radical William Hazlitt and his circle;
  • theories of totalitarianism and dictatorship in fiction and reality; and
  • non-agency or ‘practical disorientation’ in the philosophy of action.

Teaching

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Modules taught in the 2023–24 academic year

  • PL9249 Revolutionising the Political Order: British Social Theory in the Eighteenth Century [coordinator]
  • PLT457 Ethics of Public Policy [coordinator]
  • PL9340 Politics in Practice [coordinator]
  • CL6336 Law and Governance in Practice [coordinator]
  • PLT432 Themes and Debates in Contemporary Comparative Politics
  • PL9196 Introduction to Political Thought
  • PL9199 Introduction to Government
  • PL9194 Introduction to Political Science

Modules taught in previous years

  • PL9343 Crisis and Commitment in 20th Century Political Thought
  • PL9247 Revolutionising the Political Order: Social Theory from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the July Revolution of 1830
  • PL9291 Justice and Politics
  • PL9198 Introduction to European Integration
  • PL9235 The History of Realist Thought in International Relations
  • PL9293 Political Thought from Marx to Nietzsche
  • MLT319 Research Methods: Approaches to Texts
  • EUT012 Twentieth-Century Political Thinkers

I have also taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Philosophy and Politics at Swansea University.

Biography

Since 2016, I have been a Teacher in the Department of Politics and International Relations. Between 2013 and 2016 I was an Honorary Research Fellow of Cardiff University and between 2017 and 2019 I also taught in the Department of Political and Cultural Studies at Swansea University.

I hold a PhD from Cardiff University (awarded 2014). This was supervised by Prof. Bruce Haddock and Dr Peri Roberts in what was then the School of European Languages, Translation and Politics.

Before coming to Cardiff in 2010, I completed an MA in Political Theory at the University of Sheffield (awarded 2011) and a BA in Political Science at the University of Birmingham (2009).

Academic positions

  • 2016–present: Teacher, Cardiff University
  • 2017–2019: Module Tutor/Tutor, Swansea University
  • 2013–2016: Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff University
  • 2011–2013: Associate Lecturer, Cardiff University

Contact Details

Email WakefieldJR@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29225 12344
Campuses Law Building, Room 1.32, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Political theory and political philosophy
  • Ethical theory
  • Applied ethics
  • History of philosophy

External profiles