Samantha Ashenden
Senior Lecturer in Sociology
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7631 6781
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7631 6787
e-mail: s.ashenden@bbk.ac.uk
Profile
Samantha Ashenden is Senior Lecturer in Sociology. She has a BA (Hons) Applied Social Science from Kingston University, an M.Phil in Social and Political Theory from the University of Cambridge, and a Ph.D in Sociology from the University of London. She has published on problems of power, authority and legitimacy within constitutional states, the role of expertise in contemporary governance, and on feminist theory and child sexual abuse. She has taught on the London Consortium Ph.D Programme, and at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, as well as at Queen Mary University of London, the University of North London, and Kingston University. Sam is currently Chair of the BA Politics, Philosophy and History. She is the Managing Editor of the journal Economy and Society and is reviews editor for the journal Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.
Research Interests
Social and political theory, feminist theory, governance and theories of the state, legal theory and the sociology of law
Recent Publications
‘The Problem of Power in Luhmann’s systems theory’, Luhmann on Law and Politics: Critical Appraisals and Applications, edited by M. King and C. Thornhill, Hart, Oxford, 2006, pp 127-144.
'Structuralism and post-structuralism’, Modern Social Theory, ed. A. Harrington, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005, pp 196-214.
Governing Child Sexual Abuse: negotiating the boundaries of public and private, law and science, Routledge, London, 2004
‘Policing Perversion: the contemporary governance of paedophilia’, Special Issue of Cultural Values: Journal for Cultural Research on ‘Culture and Governance’, edited by M.Dillon and J. Valentine, Routledge, London, January-April 2002, Volume 6, Issues 1 & 2, pp. 197-222.
Foucault contra Habermas: recasting the dialogue between genealogy and critical theory, Sage, London, 1999 (co-edited with David Owen, University of Southampton)
‘Habermas on discursive consensus: rethinking the welfare state in the face of cultural pluralism’, Welfare and Culture in Europe: Towards a New Paradigm in Social Policy, eds P. Chamberlayne, A. Cooper, R. Freeman & M. Rustin, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, 1999, pp. 216-239.
‘Pluralism within the limits of reason alone? Habermas and the discursive negotiation of consensus’, Special Issue of Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy on ‘Pluralism and Liberal Neutrality’, edited by R. Bellamy and M. Hollis, Frank Cass Publishers, London, Autumn 1998, Volume 1, Number 3, pp. 117-136.
‘Feminism, postmodernism and the sociology of gender’, Sociology after Postmodernism, ed. D. Owen, Sage, London, 1997, pp. 40-64.
‘Reflexive governance and child sexual abuse: liberal welfare rationality and the Cleveland Inquiry’, Economy and Society, Routledge, London, February 1996, Volume 25, Number 1, pp. 64-88.
My current research is focused around two themes, one centred on guilt, violence and legitimacy; the other centred on law, reproductive technologies, and the governance of families. Papers include:
- 'Proceduralism and political foundations: problems in Habermas's account of constitutional legitimacy'
- 'On violence in Habermas's philosophy of language'
- 'Romantic Guilt and Collective Individualism', joint paper with James Brown (Birkbeck College and Middlesex University)
- 'Surrogacy, law and parenthood'
- Political Sociology (p/g)
- Gender and Politics (p/g)
- Social and Political Theory (u/g)
- Formation of Modern Societies (u/g)
- Kant's Ethics and a Modern Economy of Evil (London Consortium PhD Programme)