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Prof Avia Pasternak
Honorary Professor
Dept of Political Science
Faculty of S&HS
- Joined UCL
- 1st Jan 2023
Research summary
My research investigates how citizens should respond to state injustices. Under that general theme I have written on various topics. A central question I am interested in concerns the collective responsibility of citizens for their state’s unjust policies. My recent book on this topic, Responsible Citizens Irresponsible States: Should Citizens Pay for Their State's Wrongdoings? is now in print with Oxford University Press
I have published several articles on this topic in various journals, including The Journal of Political Philosophy, Politics Philosophy Economics and The Journal for Applied Philosophy.
A second research project concerns the appropriate response of citizens to state injustices. Here I am particularly interested in the question of whether oppressed citizens may resort to violent protest against their state, and how should unjust states respond to citizens who resort to such violence. My work on this topic has been published in Philosophy and Public Affairs and I am currently writing a book, titled "No Justice No Peace: In Defence of Violent Protests".
I have also written on the question of wrongful benefits and whether citizens who benefit from their state’s wrongdoings have special obligations to their victims. My work on this question appeared in Law and Philosophy and in The Journal of Moral Philosophy and I edited a special issue in the Journal of Applied Philosophy on the duties that fall on beneficiaries from wrongdoing.
Teaching summary
POLS0032: Democracy Authority and Resistance
Education
- University College London
- Other Postgraduate qualification (including professional), ATQ03 - Recognised by the HEA as a Fellow | 2015
- University of Oxford
- Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 2007
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Other higher degree, Master of Arts | 2003
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Other higher degree, Bachelor of Arts Master of Science | 2000
Biography
I am an Associate Professor in Political Theory at UCL. I joined the Department of Political Science in 2014. Before that I was a member of the Department of Government at the University of Essex. Before joining Essex I held a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, and a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at UCL.
I earned my D.Phil. in Politics from Oxford University, where I studied at Nuffield College. My BA and MA degrees are from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In 2018-19 I was awarded the British Academy Senior Fellowship to work on my book on collective responsibility. In 2019-20 I am a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Princeton University’ Center for Human Values.