Staff profile

Dr Miriam Bankovsky

Lecturer

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

School of Social Sciences

SS 314, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

BA with honours in philosophy (ANU 2002), DEA/ Masters II (Paris-X 2006), PhD (Paris-X 2009) and (UNSW 2009).

Area of study

European Studies
International Relations
Politics

Brief Profile

I lecture in political theory for the Politics and International Relations program at La Trobe University. My research broadly aims to contribute to the development of theories of socio-economic justice, working to combine the best of both analytic and continental approaches to justice.

My book, Perfecting justice in Rawls, Habermas and Honneth: A deconstructive perspective (Continuum 2012), explores the promise and shortcomings of ‘constructive’ approaches to justice, drawing attention to concrete experiences of injustice that Rawls, Habermas and Honneth tend to overlook and presenting the commitment to justice as a civic activity that requires ongoing cultivation. Extending this plural approach to justice into the arena of mainstream economics, my current research explores the importance of cooperative attitudes of generosity and solidarity for economic behaviour.

Research interests

Political Theory and Political Philosophy

- Approaches to justice in continental and analytic philosophy

- Contemporary French philosophy

- Critical theory

- Political theory and Australian politics

Social theory

- Contemporary French social theory

- Cooperative well-being

- MAUSS – Mouvement anti-utilitariste dans les sciences sociales

- Theories of recognition

Teaching Units

  • POL2/3PID - Political Ideas and Ideologies.
  • POL2/3HMP - History of Modern Political Thought.
  • POL2/3LAC – Liberalism and its critics, co-taught with Dr Nicholas Barry
  • ECO3EAE – Economics and Ethics, co-taught with Professor John King

Recent Publications

Books

Book chapters

  • Bankovsky, M. and Alice Le Goff (2012), “Deepening critical theory: French Contributions to Theories of Recognition.” In Recognition Theory and Contemporary Moral and Political Philosophy: Reopening the Dialogue. Manchester UP, pp. 3-22.
  • Bankovsky, M. (2012), “Justice-to-come in the work of Axel Honneth and Nancy Fraser.” In Recognition Theory and Contemporary Moral and Political Philosophy: Reopening the Dialogue. Manchester UP, pp. 208-225.
  • Bankovsky, M. and Axel Honneth (2012), “The Relevance of Contemporary French philosophy for a Theory of Recognition: An Interview.” In Recognition Theory and Contemporary Moral and Political Philosophy: Reopening the Dialogue. Manchester UP, pp. 23-38.
  • Bankovsky, M. (2012), “La justice deconstructive comme reconnaissance transformatrice ou souci d’autrui: Questions à l’intention de Fraser et de Honneth”, translated into French by Aude Plontz, in Penser la reconnaissance, entre théorie critique et philosophie française contemporaine. CNRS Editions Alpha, forthcoming.
  • Bankovsky, M. and Alice Le Goff (2012), “Théorie de la reconnaissance, théorie sociale et philosophie françaises contemporaines”, in Penser la reconnaissance, entre théorie critique et philosophie française contemporaine. CNRS Editions Alpha, forthcoming.
  • Bankovsky, M. 2010, “Lyotard sur l’incommensurabilité de l’éthique lévinassienne et l’impératif catégorique kantien.” In Lyotard à Nanterre, edited by Claire Pagès. Paris: Klincksieck, “Continents philosophiques”, 63-77.
  • Bankovsky, M. 2006, “Judaizing Ethical Politics: Levinas, Difficult Freedom and the Messianic City.” In Re-ethnicizing the Minds? Cultural Revival in Contemporary Thought, edited by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein and Jürgen Hengelbrock.  Rodopi, 357-378.

Refereed articles

  • Bankovsky, M. “Social Justice: Defending Rawls’ Theory of Justice against Honneth’s Objections”, Philosophy & Social Criticism 36(1): 95-118.
  • Bankovsky, M. 2009, “La Justice sociale: défendre Rawls contre les objections de Honneth”, Le Temps philosophique 13 (La reconnaissance: perspectives critiques), 275-300.
  • Bankovsky, M. 2005, “Derrida brings Levinas to Kant: The Welcome, Ethics and Cosmopolitical Law.” Philosophy Today 49(2), 156-170.
  • Bankovsky, M. 2004, “A Thread of Knots: Jacques Derrida’s Homage to Emmanuel Levinas’s Ethics.” Invisible Culture 8, 1-19.

Book reviews

  • Bankovsky, M. 2010, “Identity Politics in Deconstruction,” Critical Horizons 11(1): 149-155.
  • Bankovsky, M. 2006, “For What Tomorrow… A Dialogue. Jacques Derrida and Elisabeth Roudinesco,” Philosophy in Review 26 (1): 18-21.
  • Bankovsky, M. 2004, “Le pluralisme des valeurs: entre particulier et universel,” Philosophy in Review 24(6)): 412-415.

Recent translations

  • Isabelle Aubert “Habermas and Derrida on recognising the other”, translated by M. Bankovsky, pp. 175-190.
  • Catherine Malabou, “Impossible recognition: Lacan, Butler, Zizek”, translated by Jon Roffe and Miriam Bankovsky, pp. 41-53.

A selection of conference presentations / seminars

  • “Deliberation, Partnership and Policy”. Inaugural National Indigenous Policy and Dialogue Conference, University of New South Wales, 19 November 2010.
  • “Rawls and Honneth: Right or the good life?” La Trobe Philosophy Research Seminar, 20 October 2010.
  • “A Deliberative Approach to Indigenous Policy” La Trobe School of Social Sciences Seminar, 13 October 2010.
  • “Deliberative democracy and Indigenous policy: Evaluating the Intervention” (Poster). The Indigenous Research Showcase at the University of New South Wales, 9-11 November 2009.
  • W ith Sarah Maddison, “Indigenous well-being: defending deliberation over coercion.” Well-being Research Showcase at the University of New South Wales, 19-20 August 2009.
  • “Justice and Freedom: Rawls and Honneth.” Invited speaker for the Philosophy Research Seminar at the University of Wollongong, 26 May 2009.
  • “Jean-François Lyotard on the relation between the prescriptive and denotative registers in Levinas and Kant”. Colloque Lyotard, University of Paris X-Nanterre, 04-06 June 2008.
  • “Nancy Fraser on the relevance of deconstruction for a theory of justice: transformative recognition and participatory parity”. Colloque International – Théories de la reconnaissance et philosophie française. Vers la reconstitution d’un dialogue, University of Paris X-Nanterre, 06-07 May 2008.
  • “The problem of the priority of right over good: John Rawls’s theory of justice and Michael Sandel’s civic republicanism”. Imperatives: Postgraduate Conference in Political Philosophy, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 08 December 2006.
  • “Re-orienting Kant’s thinking: Levinas on law”. The Centennial Conference on Levinas and Law (Faculty of Law), McGill University, Montreal, 17-18 September 2006.

Research projects

My current research extends my interest in continental and analytic approaches to justice into the arena of mainstream economics, challenging the standard conception of well-being as the satisfaction of preferences that underpins the economic model of rational choice. What is ignored by this individualistic account is the possibility that individual well-being should be cooperatively pursued, framed by concerns with social justice. Drawing on non-utilitarian approaches to social life in both the analytic and continental traditions, I develop an alternative account of well-being that is co-dependent on the well-being of others, drawing attention to the importance of cooperation, generosity and solidarity in economic behaviour.