event
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How the Light Gets In London
I’ll be discussing “Girl Power” with Susie Orbach and Sarah Hill at the 2024 How the Light Gets In festival in Kenwood House, London.
The New York Times proclaimed last year that girls rule the internet, thanks in part to the success of the Barbie movie and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. But, while stereotypical femininity made an unexpected comeback, it remains unknown what femininity is or what a more feminine world looks like. Feminists themselves disagree. Second-wave feminists reject traditional feminine aesthetics, while third-wave feminists often celebrate them. The Barbie movie had a feminist narrative, but it still led to a 136% rise in searches for clothing with traditional Barbie aesthetics.
Should we reject the re-introduction of traditional feminine stereotypes as undermining of the core goals of feminism? Should we focus on practical matters like the defence of equal pay and abortion rights? Or is the female/male binary at fault and do we need to give up categorising people or behaviours as feminine in the first place?Tickets are available here.
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INTACT at Hay Festival
I’ll be discussing INTACT at the Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye on 5th June 2022. You can buy tickets here.
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INTACT at Oxford Literary Festival
I’ll be discussing INTACT at the Oxford Literary Festival on 26th March 2022. You can buy tickets here.
Philosopher Clare Chambers argues that it is time for men, women and children to reclaim their bodies and that an unmodified body is a key principle of social and political equality.
Chambers ranges across a variety of areas from bodybuilding to makeup, male circumcision, breast implants, motherhood and childbirth. She argues that social pressure to modify your body sends a message that you are not good enough, and it reinforces inequalities of sex, gender, race, disability, age, and class.
Chambers is professor of political philosophy and a fellow of Jesus College in Cambridge. She is regarded as one of the most original philosophers in the UK today and is a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. She is author of Against Marriage and specialises in feminism, bioethics, contemporary liberalism, and theories of social justice. -
INTACT at Cambridge Literary Festival
I’ll be discussing INTACT with Rachel Cunliffe of The New Statesman at the Cambridge Literary Festival on 23 April 2022. You can buy tickets here and watch the event online here.
In the hit BBC TV series ‘Fleabag’, a feminist asks a room-full of young women whether they would trade five years of their life for the so-called ‘perfect body’. In this rousing talk, best-selling author and political philosopher Clare Chambers makes a passionate case for why loving the body we were born with is a radical act. Arguing that our choices – even the most personal ones – are not made in a cultural vacuum, Clare illuminates how ingrained sexist norms, ageism and social media distort our perceptions of our selves.
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Against Marriage and more at Hay Festival Segovia
I’ll be speaking about Against Marriage and other social conventions at the Hay Festival Segovia in Spain, the twin of the Hay-on-Wye literary festival run in conjunction with the British Council.
Clare Chambers, Reader in Political Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, is the author of Against Marriage: An Egalitarian Defence of the Marriage-free State; Sex, Culture and Justice: The Limits of Choice; Teach Yourself Political Philosophy: A Complete Introduction; and numerous articles on feminist and liberal political philosophy. She is currently carrying out research for her latest project, entitled Intact: The Unmodified Body. During her visit to Segovia she will speak with Ludovic Assémat, Director of Arts at the British Council, about the social conventions by which we live, within the framework of the British Council’s It’s Time to Talk programme. Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish
Read more and book tickets here.
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Beyond Marriage: Philosophy, Politics, Law
I am the convenor of this international and interdisciplinary conference held in Cambridge in May 2019.
There have been significant changes to the institution of marriage in recent years, with many countries introducing same-sex marriage, civil partnerships, and other forms of non-traditional union. For some, marriage is a central institution that must be protected, for others it is inevitably unjust and should be abolished.
This conference will bring together academics and practitioners from philosophy, politics, and law to debate what lies beyond marriage. The programme includes:
Dr Rebecca Steinfeld, claimant in Steinfeld and Keidan v. Secretary of State, “The Equal Civil Partnerships Campaign”
Tim Loughton MP, “Equal Civil Partnerships in the House of Commons”
Andrew Harrop, General Secretary, Fabian Society, “Marriage and the Left”
Jo Miles, Law, University of Cambridge, “Against Civil Partnership”
Prof Robert Wintemute, Law, King’s College London, “Equal Choices for All Couples: From Same-Sex Civil Partnership to Equal Marriage to Steinfeld & Keidan”.
Prof Lori Watson, Philosophy, San Diego University, “Polygamy and Equality”
Dr Samia Bano, Law, SOAS, “Muslim Marriage in the UK”
Dr Clare Chambers, Philosophy, University of Cambridge, “The Marriage-Free State”
Prof Elizabeth Brake, Philosophy, Arizona State University, “Minimal Marriage”
Chairs:
Dr Jude Browne, Centre for Gender Studies, University of Cambridge
Prof Ralph Wedgwood, Philosophy, University of Southern California
Dr Findlay Stark, Law, University of Cambridge
Dr Tom Dougherty, Philosophy, University of CambridgeYou can read more about the conference here.
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Against Marriage at Bigg Books
I’ll be talking on Against Marriage in the Bigg Books speaker series in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne on 20 November 2018. You can find more details here.Clare Chambers is Reader in Political Philosophy at University of Cambridge. She is a political philosopher specializing in feminist philosophy, contemporary liberalism, theories of social justice, and social construction. She will argue for the abolition of state-recognised marriage on the grounds that it violates both equality and liberty, even when expanded to include same-sex couples. Instead she will defend the idea of a the marriage-free state: an egalitarian state in which religious or secular marriages are permitted but have no legal status.
Clare Chambers’s award-winning book Against Marriage: An Egalitarian Defense of the Marriage-Free State was published last year by Oxford University Press (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/against-marriage-9780198744009)
Venue: Lit and Phil, 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
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Against Marriage at Festival of Ideas
I talked about Against Marriage at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas on Monday 15th October 2018, in the Frankopan Hall of Jesus College, Cambridge.Many states have recently expanded their definition of marriage to allow marriage between same-sex couples: a welcome move towards equality, but does this go far enough? Philosopher Clare Chambers argues for a more extreme position: that the state should not recognise marriage at all. State recognition of marriage, she will argue, is a violation of both equality and liberty – no matter how marriage is redefined.
Tickets were sold out and so the talk was live-streamed. You can watch it on youtube here:
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Neutrality at University of Edinburgh
I presented my paper “Reasonable disagreement and the neutralist dilemma: Abortion and circumcision in Matthew Kramer’s Liberalism with Excellence” at the University of Edinburgh in March 2018. You can read their account of the session on the Just World Institute blog here.
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The Politics of Marriage at LSE Forum
Marriage is an odd mix of sex, religion, and politics. Our speakers ask what marriage is and whether there is there any distinctive moral value in it. Should the state promote it? Is it possible to have an ‘equal’ marriage, or is marriage fundamentally an oppressive institution? Should marriage be rejected in favour of civil partnerships, or something else, or perhaps nothing else?You can watch a video of the event and listen to the podcast here.
Speakers
Clare Chambers
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of CambridgeSir Paul Coleridge
Former high court judge and Chairman, The Marriage FoundationPeter Tatchell
Activist and Director of the Peter Tatchell FoundationChair
Fellow, The Forum
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, King’s College London -
Seminar in Contemporary Political Thought
Seminar in Contemporary Political ThoughtConvened by Dr Clare Chambers (Philosophy) and Dr Duncan Bell (POLIS)
University of CambridgeMichaelmas Term 2017
All sessions are held on Fridays at 1 – 2.30pm in the Bawden Room of Jesus College. This is in West Court, which can be accessed either via the main entrance of Jesus College or directly from Jesus Lane.
Refreshments will be served at the close of formal proceedings. There are no precirculated papers and all are welcome.
6 Oct: Tom Shakespeare, University of East Anglia: “The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: making use of the stilts?”
20 Oct: Avia Pasternak and Jeff Howard, UCL: “Criminal Acccountability, Restorative Justice, and the Moral Standing of States”
3 Nov: Katrin Flikschuh, LSE: “Philosophical Racism”
17 Nov: Bernardo Zacka, University of Cambridge: “When the Rules Run Out: Informal Taxonomies at the Front Lines of Public Service”Lent Term 2018
All seminars will be held in Upper Hall, Jesus College. Please note that this is a different room from that used by the Seminar in MT. Upper Hall is in the old part of Jesus College, enter via the Porters’ Lodge.
The seminars are held on Fridays at 1 – 2.30pm, followed by refreshments. There are no pre-circulated papers and all are welcome.
**Please note also that the third Seminar this term deviates from the fortnightly pattern, to accommodate a speaker coming from overseas.**
19th January: Cecile Laborde, University of Oxford. “Liberal Egalitarianism and the Critique of Religion”
2nd February: Heather Widdows, University of Birmingham. Title TBC.
9th February (NOTE DATE): Sam Moyn, Yale University. “The Doctor’s Plot: How Philosophizing Human Rights Began”
2nd March: Herjeet Marway, University of Birmingham. “Procreative Justice and Genetic Selection for Non-Disease Traits: The Case of Fair Skin”
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Blackwells Festival of Philosophy
I’ll be launching and speaking about Against Marriage at Blackwell’s bookshop, Oxford on 16th November 2017, as part of the Oxford University Press Festival of Philosophy. Register for the event here. -
Royal Society of Medicine
I spoke on “The ethics of cosmetic surgery” at the Royal Society of Medicine event “Changing the image of cosmetic surgery: patients before profit” in October 2017. Find details here.
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Alumni Festival
I am speaking on “Should the State Recognise Marriage?” at the University of Cambridge Alumni Festival on 22nd September 2017. Details are here.
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Joint Session 2017
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Association for Social and Political Philosophy
I was a keynote speaker for the Annual Conference of the ASPP at the University of Sheffield in June 2017, talking about my book Against Marriage. You can find details of the conference here. -
Freedom and Autonomy Conference
I am giving the keynote lecture at the conference on Freedom and Autonomy at Birkbeck College, University of London in June 2017. My lecture is titled “Marriage and Freedom.” -
Seminar in Contemporary Political Thought
Lent Term 2017All seminars this term will be held in JESUS COLLEGE, in the Prioress’s Room. Please note that this is NOT the same college as last term. Moreover, long-standing seminar members should not that this is NOT the usual room in Jesus College. The seminar will be signposted.As usual the seminars take place at alternate Fridays at 1pm – 2.30pm, with refreshments served at the close of formal proceedings. There is no pre-circulated paper and all are welcome.
20th Jan: Dana Mills, University of Oxford. “The Dancer of the Future from a Socialist Point of View: Eleanor Marx, Isadora Duncan, and Choreographing Socialist Feminism”
3rd Feb: Herjeet Marway, University of Birmingham. “Should we genetically select for the beauty feature of fair skin? Procreative Beneficence versus Procreative Justice.”
17th Feb: Chris Armstrong, University of Southampton. “Institutions, Growth, and Global Justice”
3rd March: David Runciman, University of Cambridge. “States, Corporations, Robots” -
Seminar in Contemporary Political Thought
Seminar in Contemporary Political ThoughtMichaelmas Term 2016
Convenors: Dr John Filling (Philosophy) and Dr Paul Sagar (POLIS).
Seminars will be held in the Audit Room, King’s College
7th October: Dr Timothy Fowler, University of Bristol
Political Liberalism, Science, and Faith: The Case of Intelligent Design
21st October: Dr Robert Jubb, University of Reading
Civil Disobedience and the Disaggregation of Political Authority
4th November: TBC
18th November: Dr Rebecca Reilly-Cooper, Warwick University
The Doctrine of Gender Identity – A Critical Examination
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Symposium on Kimberley Brownlee’s Social Rights
I’ll be speaking at a symposium on Kimberley Brownlee’s work on social rights at the University of Warwick in September 2016.
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Genital Autonomy Conference
I had a profoundly moving and informative time listening and speaking at the Genital Autonomy 14th Annual Symposium on Changing Global Perceptions: Child Protection & Bodily Autonomy. The Symposium was at Keele University on 14-16 September 2016. You can find details of the Symposium here. My talk was titled “Cultural v. Cosmetic v. Clinical Surgery: Challenging the Distinction.”There is a general consensus in liberal theory, practice, and law that female genital mutilation (FGM) is a violation of rights and justice that should be banned. However, there is no such consensus about male circumcision or cosmetic surgery, including labiaplasty. These practices are legal in most liberal states and there is no general critique of them in mainstream liberal theory. This talk will consider the philosophical reasons in favour of distinguishing FGM from male circumcision and labiaplasty, and find them wanting. Both cosmetic and clinical surgeries are fundamentally cultural. I argue that male circumcision and cosmetic surgery should be regulated in the same way as FGM – which means, among other things, much stricter regulations on when such surgeries can be performed on children.
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Seminar in Contemporary Political Thought LT 2016
All sessions are held in the Coleridge Room of Jesus College, Cambridge at 1-2.30pm.15th January
Ruth Kinna, Loughborough University
Anarchist Feminism/Anarchism and Feminism: Waves, Exclusions and Intersections29th January
Catherine Lu, McGill University
Reparations and Historic Injustice12th February
Alan Finlayson, University of East Anglia
Parody and Political Speech26th February
Mihaela Mihai, University of Edinburgh
The Art of Solidarity -
Global Justice: Agency, Power and Policy
I was delighted to be the keynote speaker at this conference in May 2016, organised by the Centre for Global Ethics at the University of Birmingham. More details of the conference here. -
Alan Milne Memorial Address
I gave the Alan Milne Memorial Address at Durham University in October 2016. You can find details of that series here. -
Seminar in Contemporary Political Thought (MT 2015)
The seminars will take place on Fridays between 1.00-2.30pm in the Coleridge Room, Jesus College. All are welcome.Convenors: Dr Clare Chambers (Philosophy) and Dr Duncan Bell (POLIS)
9th October
Adam Swift, Warwick University,
Family Values23rd October
Jonathan Wolff, University College London
Forms of Differential Social Inclusion6th November
Marc Stears, University of Oxford & Former Chief Speechwriter for Ed Miliband
It’s Not Just the Politics That are Missing:Realist Political Theory and the Everyday20th November
Lea Ypi, London School of Economics
Revolutionary Partisanship -
Beyond the nuclear family
I had a fascinating time presenting at a conference on “Beyond the Nuclear Family” at Umea University in September 2015. More details here. -
Not the Fun Kind – Conference on Andrea Dworkin
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Becoming Oneself – The Problem of Gendered Complicity
I responded to a paper by Nancy Bauer at this conference in Birkbeck in June 2015, organised by Prof Susan James. Details here. -
Religion and Political Theory conference
I chaired a session of the Religion and Political Theory Conference at UCL in June 2015, organised by Prof Cecile Laborde. Details are here. -
Gender in the History of Early Modern Political Thought
I was delighted to be a representative of contemporary political philosophy, talking about Feminism in Philosophy, in this year’s Balzan-Skinner conference in the History of Political Thought. Find details here. The conference is on 22 May 2015.
