Wedberg Lectures \;2026
\nby \;Sally Haslanger (MIT): \;Systemic Injustice and Social Transformation
\nLecture 1. \;Explanations of Systemic Disadvantage: Discrimination and Social Formation. \;
\nMonday 18 May 2026\, 14:00 \;- \;16:00\, Stockholm University\, Frescati Campus\, Aula Magna\, Room: Bergsmannen
\nHow should we understand &ldquo\;structural&rdquo\; or &ldquo\;systematic&rdquo\; injustice\, such as structural racism or class exploitation? And why is this injustice so durable? One problem is that it isn&rsquo\;t clear how to understand what social structures are\, and how agents are situated in them. \; \;Of course\, some forms of oppression arise from discrimination in the formation and maintenance of institutions and associations. However\, in this talk\, I will offer a different picture\, relying on the idea that societies are complex dynamic systems affected by \;multiple \;dynamics\, \;focusing \;specifically on material and semiotic dynamics. My broad aim is to provide evidence that although discrimination is part of the story of structural injustice\, taking that to be the whole story leaves us without the resources we need to analyze what&rsquo\;s going wrong in structurally unjust societies and how to change them.
\nLecture 2. \;Understanding Structural Intersectionality at Micro\, Meso\, and Macro Levels of Social Analysis.
\nTuesday 19 May 2026\, 14:00 \;- \;16:00\, Stockholm University\, Frescati Campus\, Aula Magna\, Room: Bergsmannen
\nAttempts to explain and remedy oppression have been plagued by the phenomenon of intersectionality. Intersectionality comes in a variety of forms. In this talk I will focus on \;structural intersectionality \;and will argue that it is best understood by locating it at the meso level of social analysis\, i.e.\, on material subsystems such as health care systems\, transportation systems\, political systems\, education systems\, and importantly\, the system dynamics that maintain them. \;This is a level that gives us resources to understand both intersectional identities at the micro level and macro patterns across time and place. \;Moreover\, it is a level that invites and rewards intervention to achieve social justice.
\nLecture 3. \;Carework: A Systems Approach
\nWednesday 20 May 2026\, 10:00 \;- \;12:00\, Stockholm University\, Frescati Campus\, Aula Magna\, Room: Bergsmannen
\nIf societies are complex dynamic systems\, how can local interventions scale to promote social transformation? \;I will focus\, in this lecture\, on women&rsquo\;s role in unwaged caregiving in the private sphere\, traditionally in families. This is a domain where gender oppression is rampant and the gender norms \;that govern in the family spread far and wide across society. \; Moreover\, this gendered division of labor produces a relatively stable equilibrium that is difficult to change. I will argue that attention to the dynamics of social reproduction points to some strategies that give women more power. \;I&rsquo\;m rather skeptical \;about policy changes\, at least until we have done more to change social norms. So I'll sketch very briefly a model for social change through chapter-based social movements that takes offers an approach that is not aimed\, first and foremost\, at policy\, but in the right circumstances can be scaled.
\nAll interested are welcome!
ORGANIZER;CN=H. Orri Stefansson;CN=Krister Bykvist: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260515T170538Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20260528T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20260529T170000 SUMMARY:Nature and Normativity in Fourteenth- to Seventeenth-century Thought UID:20260518T193324Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/Berlin LOCATION:Svante Arrhenius Väg 33\, Stockholm\, Sweden\, 114 18 DESCRIPTION:Nature and Normativity in Fourteenth- to \;Seventeenth-century Thought
\nA central Aristotelian idea is that moral and political norms are grounded in human nature. Human beings are understood as continuous with the rest of nature. Just as an acorn develops into an oak in accordance with its nature\, so too do human beings develop in accordance with their nature\, namely\, to live virtuous lives within political communities.
\nThis conference investigates how the link between nature and normativity was understood in Late Scholastic and Renaissance thought. To what extent was the Aristotelian framework preserved\, and in what ways was it rethought and challenged?
\nThe event forms part of the research project Nature and Norms (funded by the Swedish Research Council)\, which examines how shifting conceptions of nature in natural philosophy reshaped views of moral and political norms. A central thesis is that new conceptions of nature in mechanistic terms eroded the foundations of traditional natural norms. This raises the broader historical question: did these developments prepare the way for contractualist theories of society\, such as those advanced by Hobbes and Locke?
\nKeynotes:
\nAnnabel Brett FBA
\nProfessor of Political Thought and History
\nUniversity of Cambridge
\nCary J. Nederman
\nProfessor of Political Science
\nTexas A&\;M University
\nPreliminary Schedule:
\nLocation: Gula Villan (Stockholm University Campus) \;
\nDay 1 (May 28th)
\n10:00&ndash\;10:15
Welcome and Introduction
10:15&ndash\;11:00
Christian Rode (Universitä\;t Bonn)
Inequality Already in Paradise? Anthropological Equality and Political Participation
Chair: Alexander Stö\;pfgeshoff (Nord University)
\n11:00&ndash\;11:15
Coffee break
11:15&ndash\;12:00
Erik Å\;kerlund (Newman Institute)
Mair&rsquo\;s Political Philosophy
Chair: Tomas Ekenberg (Newman Institute)
\n12:00&ndash\;12:45
Victor Salas (Sacred Heart Major Seminary)
Untangling the Threads of Nature: Luis de Molina on Political Community and Its Potestates
Chair: Sylvain Roudaut (CNRS &ndash\; SPHERE)
\n12:45&ndash\;13:45
Lunch
13:45&ndash\;14:30
Rudolf Schü\;ß\;ler (University of Bayreuth)
The Road to Vá\;zquez &ndash\; Roots of His Conceptions of Natural Law and Sin
Chair: Miira Tuominen (Stockholm University)
\n14:30&ndash\;14:45
Coffee break
14:45&ndash\;16:15
Cary Nederman (Texas A&\;M) &ndash\; Keynote
Nature\, Equality and Consent &ndash\; Egalitarianism and Liberty in Late Medieval Thought
Chair: Henrik Lagerlund (Stockholm University)
Day 2 (May 29th)
\n10:00&ndash\;10:45
Florian Koenig (Goethe University Frankfurt)
On the Use of the Term &ldquo\;Status&rdquo\; in the School of Salamanca
Chair: Erik Å\;kerlund (Newman Institute)
\n10:45&ndash\;11:00
Coffee break
11:00&ndash\;11:45
Stefan Schweighö\;fer (Goethe University Frankfurt)
From Esse Morale to Ens Morale: Suá\;rez and the Discontinuity between Nature and Norms
Chair: Alexander Stö\;pfgeshoff (Nord University)
\n11:45&ndash\;12:30
Lavinia Peluso (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)
Thomas Hobbes&rsquo\;s Analysis of Human Equality. The Price for Peace and the Polemic with Aristotle
Chair: Sylvain Roudaut (CNRS &ndash\; SPHERE)
\n12:30&ndash\;13:30
Lunch
13:30&ndash\;14:15
\nThierry Hoquet (Université\; Paris Nanterre)
Jean Boucaux&rsquo\;s Cause cé\;lè\;bre (1738) and the Question of Natural Slaves
Alexander Stö\;pfgeshoff (Nord University)
\n14:15&ndash\;15:00
Michael-Francis Polios (Duquesne University)
Freedom and Servitude: The Construction of Political Norms in Early-Modern Europe
Henrik Lagerlund (Stockholm University)
\n15:00&ndash\;15:15
Coffee break
15:15&ndash\;16:45
Annabel Brett (University of Cambridge) &ndash\; Keynote
TBA
Chair: Erik Å\;kerlund (Newman Institute)
\n16:45-17.00 Concluding Remarks
ORGANIZER: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260515T170539Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20260612T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20260614T170000 SUMMARY:Swedish Congress of Philosophy (Filosofidagarna) 2026 UID:20260518T193325Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/Berlin LOCATION:Campus Albano\, Stockholm\, Sweden DESCRIPTION:The Swedish Congress of Philosophy (&rdquo\;Filosofidagarna&rdquo\;) is a biennial philosophy conference that circulates between universities in Sweden. The 2026 conference is organised by the Department of Philosophy at Stockholm University\, between June 12 and June 14.
\nKeynote Speakers
\nSections and Invited Speakers
\nSubmission and registration information\, along with further details will be available on the conference website in due course. \;
ORGANIZER;CN=James Nguyen;CN="Gunnar Björnsson";CN=Katharina Berndt;CN=Miira Tuominen: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR