On doing political theory with an ethnographic sensibility

We are honoured to welcome Dr Bernardo Zacka (Department of Political Science, MIT) as the keynote speaker for the 2nd King's College London Political Theory Graduate Conference. The title and abstract of his lecture are the following:

Ordinary things contain the deepest mysteries: On doing political theory with an ethnographic sensibility.

What happens when a normative question refuses to be answered with the traditional tools of political theory? This talk reflects on method through the lens of a book that explores a dimension of material culture that political science ordinarily looks past: the carpets, furniture, lighting, and layouts of administrative offices. It recounts how a question that initially seemed to fall squarely within the remit of political theory—what can we reasonably hope from architecture at the interface between state and society?—broadened, little by little, into a historical and interpretive undertaking. It presents the adoption of an "ethnographic sensibility" not as a choice made in advance, but as the result of following a line of questioning to its conclusion. More broadly, the talk exemplifies how thick description and comparison can be woven into normative inquiry, so that our sense of what we should demand of an interface between state and society emerges from sustained attention to how such interfaces actually function and are experienced.

• Renowned for his contributions to political theory, ethnographic methods, and the study of public administration, Dr Zacka has shaped contemporary debates on how citizens experience the state and on the moral lives of those who act in its name.
• Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with his ideas and explore their implications for political thought.
• Please arrive 20 minutes before the session for your registration and go through security at the entrance of the building.
• If you wish to attend the full conference, please register here.

The lecture is taking place at King's College London Strand Campus. [Room TBC.]

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Host or Publisher Department of Political Economy, School of Politics & Economics, King's College London