Vivienne Matthies-Boon appointed Professor by Special Appointment in Humanism, Europe and Global Justice
Vivienne Matthies-Boon has been appointed professor by special appointment in Humanism, Europe and Global Justice at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies of Radboud University, with effect from 1 February 2021. The special chair is made possible by Stichting Socrates.
In her Socrates Professorship Matthies-Boon will particularly focus on humanist questions of the meaning of life in the context of the existential (real lived) impact of injustice – and integrate these into debates on Global Justice and Europe. Her work has a special focus on the deep existential impacts of authoritarian repression – such as torture, (mass) killings, rape as well as structural poverty. “I explore how such violence breaks people’s ‘being in the world’, and how this requires political philosophers not only to (re)integrate critical humanist philosophy and humanist psychology into analyses of political practice, but also in conceptions of political justice and democracy.”
About Vivienne Matthies-Boon
Vivienne Matthies-Boon (Dordrecht, 1978) studied Communication, Cultural Studies and Media (Bachelor, 2003) at Trinity and All Saints College, University of Leeds and Social and Political Thought (Master, 2005, with Distinction) at University of Warwick. She obtained her PhD at University of Liverpool in 2010 with the thesis ‘On a Europe without Controversial Learning Curves: Using Habermas against Habermas’ – funded by the Duncan Norman Trust.
She was an Assistant Professor in International Relations at the University of Groningen (tenured, 2010-2013) and a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Surrey (tenured, 2007 - 2010). Currently she is an Assistant Professor in the International Relations of the Middle East (tenured, 2013-current) – where she conducts interdisciplinary research and undertake teaching on the intersection of health, body-politics and authoritarian repression and activism. She is also the co-founder of the Critical Middle East Studies network, whose purpose it is to integrate social and political philosophical analysis with the study of the Middle East. She was furthermore the initiator and driving force behind the successful “Free Rami Sidky” campaign, which brought about the release of her ex-student who was arbitrarily detained, imprisoned and tortured in Egypt for 1 year.
Want to learn more? Please contact:
- Vivienne Matthies-Boon, vivienne.matthies-boon@ru.nl
- Radboud University Media Relations Office, media@ru.nl, +31 (0)24 361 6000
- Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies