Menaka Philips, Ph.D.

mphilip1@tulane.edu

Tulane University

City: New Orleans, Louisiana

Country: United States

About Me:

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tulane University in New Orleans. I first joined Tulane as a Professor of Practice in 2013, with a joint appointment in Political Science and Gender and Sexuality Studies (GESS), and have also served as the Program Director for GESS. I received my PhD in Political Science in 2013 from Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, and have an MA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. ​My research and teaching interests include democratic theory, feminist and gender studies, American political thought, and postcolonial studies. 

Research Interests

Political Theory

Gender and Politics

Publications:

Journal Articles:

(2019) Feminist Preoccupations: Liberalism as 'Method' in the Gender/Culture Debate., Signs Journal of Women in Culture and Society

The intersection of gender and culture has long been a site of tension within feminist scholarship, but work around that tension is often conditioned by preoccupations with liberalism. I argue that preoccupations with liberalism keeps scholars of gender in the space of ideological opposition, and displaces opportunities for political collaboration.

(2018) The Beloved and Deplored Memory of Harriet Taylor Mill: Rethinking Gender and Intellectual Labor in the Canon, Hypatia A Journal of Feminist Philosophy

I argue that gendering practices within the field of political theory have made Harriet Taylor Mill one of the most recognized, and unjustly censured spouses of a canonical political figure (JS Mill).

(2016) Troubling Appropriations: JS Mill, Liberalism, and the Virtues of Uncertainty, European Journal of Political Theory

This article draws on Mill's Autobiography to recover what I call his 'appreciation for uncertainty'. As I argue, taking account of this appreciation reveals a more complex, and capacious view of his work than is allowed in contemporary studies of Mill as the 'exemplary liberal'.

Other:

(2016) "People blame Facebook for fake news and partisan bile. They're wrong" with Jennifer Forestal (Stockton), Washington Post

Drawing from theorists of democracy like Dewey and Mill, we suggest that the divisive and offensive rhetoric on social media are evidence of a breakdown in democratic practices of accountability between citizens, practices that are crucial to the health and longevity of democracy. We also highlight examples of social media users addressing that breakdown, and how this should be supported in traditional political spaces.