I’m sometimes asked by students in my political theory classes, “Professor, you’ve taught us about all sorts of different political theories, but what are your political beliefs?” To which my response is—invariably, and I hope tantalizingly—“How much time do you have?”
For the answer is complicated. I have been reading, thinking and teaching political theory for many decades now, a journey that has taken me down many rabbit holes of political thought. Over that time, I have positioned myself at various points on the political-theoretical landscape, having variously described myself as a Marxist, a nationalist, a Catholic, a progressive conservative, a social democrat, a … well, you get the point.
It wasn’t a linear path, but rather a series of travels along a variety of intellectual pathways punctuated by extended stops at certain theoretical waystations. So, given all that, how would I describe my current political-theoretical commitments—my basic political convictions?
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