Chiara Cordelli is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Her work focuses on the application of
Kant
Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...
ian theory to the issues of
philanthropy
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
,
privatization
Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
, and
state legitimacy. Her first book, ''The Privatized State'' (2020), won the inaugural European Consortium for Political Research Political Theory Prize for best first English-language book of Political Theory.
Ideas
Following Kant, Cordelli makes the argument that privatizing state services effectively marks a return to the "
state of nature
In ethics, political philosophy, social contract theory, religion, and international law, the term state of nature describes the hypothetical way of life that existed before humans organised themselves into societies or civilisations. Philosoph ...
" wherein private interests are represented rather than the "
omnilateral will." She argues that this "pre-civil" state of privatization lacks popular representation and loses its democratic legitimacy as a result.
Reception
In his two-book review of ''The Privatized State'' and
Hélène Landemore's ''Open Democracy'', law professor Christopher Kutz praised Cordelli's book for its "profound critique" of the "
neoliberal
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
trend" of privatization, but suggested that Cordelli may place too much faith in public bureaucrats.
Likewise, philosophy professor
Lisa Herzog admired the books's "brilliant discussion" of dignity and legitimacy, but had reservations about how the model was silent on what Herzog sees as "overdetermined" wrongs of privatization, as well as questions about how strongly the boundaries of Cordelli's argument hold up to scrutiny.
[Herzog, Lisa. ''Is the privatization of state functions always, and only intrinsically, wrong? On Chiara Cordelli's The Privatized State.'' European Journal of Political Theory. August 12, 2021. Accessed from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/14748851211038725. Retrieved February 20, 2022.]
References
Living people
Italian political philosophers
Kantian philosophers
Year of birth missing (living people)
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