Professor Clare Chambers

Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Cambridge

  • Professor Clare Chambers
  • biography
  • books
    • Freedom & Equality
    • Intact
    • Against Marriage
    • Sex, Culture, and Justice
    • Teach Yourself Political Philosophy
    • Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Sex and Sexuality
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    • social construction
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  • Professor Clare Chambers
  • biography
  • books
    • Freedom & Equality
    • Intact
    • Against Marriage
    • Sex, Culture, and Justice
    • Teach Yourself Political Philosophy
    • Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Sex and Sexuality
  • publications
    • full list of publications
    • liberalism
    • feminism
    • social construction
    • beauty
    • the body
    • multiculturalism and religion
    • marriage
  • media
    • listen
    • watch
    • read
    • talks
  • policy & impact
  • current projects
  • students
  • posts by topic
    • all posts on culture and religion
    • all posts on liberalism
    • all posts on the body and beauty
    • all posts on feminism
    • all posts on marriage
  • latest posts
all posts on feminism, all posts on liberalism, all posts on marriage, Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Sex and Sexuality

Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Sex and Sexuality

Edited with Brian D. Earp and Lori Watson, and published by Routledge in 2022. You can buy the book here and read it in Routledge Handbooks online here. This Handbook…

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June 10, 2022
all posts on culture and religion, all posts on feminism, all posts on liberalism, all posts on marriage, all posts on social construction, Freedom & Equality

Freedom & Equality: Essays on Liberalism and Feminism

Should the state recognise gender? Can a liberal state discourage traditional family structures? Is women’s sport compatible with equality of opportunity? Should feminists defend women’s freedom to choose cosmetic surgery?…

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January 31, 2024
all posts on the body and beauty, beauty, Intact, new project, the body

Intact: A Defence of the Unmodified Body

In an age of social media and selfies, of pixel-perfect pictures and surgically-enhanced celebrities, the pressure to change our bodies can often seem overwhelming. We are told we should conceal…

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August 25, 2021
Against Marriage, all posts on feminism, all posts on liberalism, all posts on marriage, feminism, liberalism, multiculturalism and religion, publications on marriage

Against Marriage: An Egalitarian Defence of the Marriage-Free State

(Oxford University Press, 2017) Against Marriage is an exciting, provocative work making the egalitarian case against the state recognition of marriage. In it, Clare Chambers shows how feminist and liberal…

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March 14, 2017
all posts on culture and religion, all posts on feminism, all posts on liberalism, all posts on social construction, all posts on the body and beauty, beauty, feminism, liberalism, multiculturalism and religion, Sex, Culture, and Justice, social construction, the body

Sex, Culture, and Justice: The Limits of Choice

(Penn State University Press, 2008) Autonomy is fundamental to liberalism. But autonomous individuals often choose to do things that harm themselves or undermine their equality. In particular, women often choose…

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August 20, 2013

Professor Clare Chambers

I am Professor of Political Philosophy and Fellow of Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. I’m a political philosopher specialising in feminist theory, contemporary liberal theory, theories of social justice, theories of social construction, and bioethics.

My latest book aimed at a general audience is Intact: A Defence of the Unmodified Body. It discusses the overwhelming pressure to change our bodies, introduces the idea of shametenance, and argues for the radical political significance of allowing the body to be good enough just as it is. Intact was published in hardback by Allen Lane and as a Penguin orange spine paperback. It’s available from bookshops including Blackwells and Waterstones, and is currently being translated into Korean and Chinese.

My latest academic book, Freedom & Equality: Essays on Liberalism and Feminism, has just been published by Oxford University Press. It covers a range of topical questions, including the justification for women’s sport, whether the state should recognise gender, and feminist perspectives on the gendered division of labour.

I’m also the author of:
Against Marriage: An Egalitarian Defence of the Marriage-Free State (Oxford University Press, 2017)
Sex, Culture, and Justice: The Limits of Choice (Penn State University Press, 2008)
Teach Yourself Political Philosophy: A Complete Introduction with Phil Parvin (Hodder, 2012)
The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Sex and Sexuality edited with Brian D. Earp and Lori Watson (Routledge, 2022)

I’ve written numerous articles and chapters on political philosophy, and I make regular media appearances.

My agent is Sophie Scard at United Agents.

I’m not the novelist who’s written wonderful books like Small Pleasures.

Recent posts

  • Intact on IAI TV
    April 28, 2025
  • Interview on Bruchim podcast
    April 28, 2025
  • New Humanist interview
    September 2, 2024
  • How the Light Gets In London
    September 2, 2024
  • “Making Inequality Visible Without Making it Worse”
    January 31, 2024
  • all posts on feminism
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