William E. Scheuerman

William E. Scheuerman
James H. Rudy Professor
Political Science and International Studies
Indiana University

Main Intellectual Interests
Modern political thought, twentieth-century European political and social thought, legal theory and the rule of law, democratic theory, international political and legal theory.

Education

• Ph.D. in Political Science, Harvard University, 1993                       
• Doctoral Dissertation: Reason, Radicalism, and the Rule of Law: The Frankfurt School and the Crisis of Modern Law (Committee Members: Judith N. Shklar, Seyla Benhabib [co-chairs]; Michael Sandel, Bonnie Honig)
• University of Frankfurt, 1990-91
• B.A. in Philosophy, Yale University, 1987
• University of Munich, 1985-86 (Wayne State University Junior Year Abroad)

Previous Positions

• Professor of Political Science and Affiliated Professor of Law, University of Minnesota, 2003-5.
• Associate Professor, University of Minnesota, 2000-3
• Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, 1998-2000
• Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh, 1993-1998

Awards, Fellowships, Grants, Honors

• Distinguished Fellow, Max Weber Center for Cultural and Social Studies (Erfurt), 2024
• OVPIA, Indiana University, Faculty Exchange with Hamburg University, Summer 2023
• Distinguished Lecturer, Mecila Centre (Sao Paulo), 2022
• Top Law and Political Scientists, 2022 (www.research.com)
• Fulbright Research Professorship (Frankfurt), Fall 2016
• Humboldt Renewed Research Fellowship, August 2016
• OVPIA, Indiana University, Faculty Exchange with Hamburg University, Summer 2013
• Framing the Global Fellow, Indiana University, Center for Global Change, Summer 2011
• Resident Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies, Indiana University, 2009-10
• New Frontiers in the Arts & Humanities Grant, Indiana University, 2008
• College Arts & Humanities Institute Grant, Indiana University, 2008
• Thank a Teacher Award, University of Minnesota, 2003
• Rockefeller Fellow, Center for Human Values, Princeton, 2002-3
• Ford Foundation Summer Grant for Curriculum Development, University of Minnesota, 2001
• Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2000 (for Carl Schmitt: The End of Law)
• Phi Sigma Tau Guest Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Georgia, 1998
• German Marshall Fund Research Fellowship, 1998
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, 1997-98
• Friedrich Ebert Research Fellowship (declined), 1997
• Spitz Prize for the Best Book in Liberal Democratic Theory, Conference for the Study of Political Thought, 1996
• Foundations of Political Theory First Book Award, APSA, 1995
• Hewlett International Travel Grant, Summer 1996 and Summer 1993
• Mellon Fellowship, 1991-92
• German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD) Scholarship, 1990-91
• Krupp Fellowship, Center for German & European Studies, Harvard, 1990-91
• Graduated summa cum laude, Yale, 1987
• Thomas Annis Award for Excellence in German and English, Yale, 1987
• Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, 1986
• Riggs Award for Excellence in the Humanities, Yale, 1984
• German Department Book Award for Excellence, Yale, 1984

Teaching

Introduction to Political Theory, Modern Political Ideologies, Modern Political Theory, Political Thought of the Enlightenment, Nineteenth-Century Political Thought, Twentieth-Century Political Thought, Contemporary Political Thought, Democratic Theory, Democracy in a Global Age, International Political Theory, Rule of Law (undergraduate); Democratic Theory, Globalization and the Fate of Democracy, Introduction to the Study of Politics, Modern Political Thought, Political Thought of the Enlightenment, Rule of Law, Twentieth-Century Political Thought, as well as numerous specialized seminars (focusing on Critical Theory, Frankfurt School, Habermas, Marx, Schmitt, Social Contract Theory, Weber, others) (graduate).

Beyond Civil Disobedience? Politically Motivated Property Damage

Two observations constitute starting points for my research project. First, many recent cases of politically motivated lawbreaking include instances of property damage and/or destruction (e.g., political “vandalism,” “looting,” sabotage, etc.). Second, despite their importance, political theorists and social philosophers either sideline such instances or group them under overly broad conceptual rubrics (e.g., “resistance,” “uncivil disobedience”). Unfortunately, these overly inclusive categories fail both to capture key empirical distinctions and help identify the resulting normative-political challenges. Such scholars pay insufficient attention to differences between and among politically based property damage’s forms: defacing a colonialist statue is a very different matter from destroying a small business during a riot and potentially posing an existential threat to its owners.

I develop a more nuanced, analytically precise and empirically useful account of politically motivated property damage’s various forms. By drawing on existing social scientific and historical literature, I sketch a series of ideal types in order to possess sturdier conceptual foundations for making sense of the many messy empirical cases we encounter in political life. Only with such a typology in hand can we fruitfully tackle the tough challenges posed by political property damage. I then address key political-theoretical and social-philosophical questions, most importantly: when and why should specific political acts resulting in property damage be viewed as having, in principle, some potentially “acceptable” normative and political status? To do so, I explore some closely related questions. When, if ever, does it make sense to describe political property damage as “violent”? What might our answer to that question entail for those, like this scholar, committed in principle to political nonviolence? How might different views of property --and its ongoing transformation-- help us make sense not only of political property damage’s types, but also how to evaluate, as a normative-political matter, their possible merits and demerits?

William E. Scheuerman: Faculty: About: Department of Political Science: Indiana University Bloomington

A list of publications can be downloaded here.