DUSTIN ELLS HOWES

My research explores the relationship between violence and politics. My first book Toward a Credible Pacifism: Violence and the Possibilities of Politics (SUNY Press) lays the groundwork for a distinctly political brand of pacifism. The central claim of the work is that violence is no more reliable than other methods of conducting politics.

The project reflects my wide-ranging interest in political theory, engaging with thinkers such as Hobbes, Sartre, Levinas, Socrates, Primo Levi, Hannah Arendt and Gandhi. In a related article, in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, I examine the political significance of the Holocaust and the relationship between thoughtfulness and suffering. In the lead article in Ruminations on Violence, edited by Derek Pardue (Waveland Press, 2008) I explore the contested meaning of violence.

My interest in violence grows out of my research in international relations, which led to a publication in International Studies Quarterly on the life and death of states.

My next project will explore the relationship between democracy and violence, with particular attention to the idea that we can fight for freedom.

I have taught numerous core and specialty courses in political theory and I received the Tanner Award for Teaching Excellence at the University of North Carolina in 2002.

I was appointed Assistant Professor of Political Science at LSU in 2008. I have also held appointments at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and SUNY-Oswego. I received degrees from the University of Michigan (A.B. 1995), the University of Chicago (A.M. 1996) and the University of North Carolina (Ph. D. 2005).