E-mail: alsbaptista@gmail.com

Dr. António Baptista received his PhD Summa Cum Laude in Political Theory from the University of Lisbon in 2013 with the thesis “Isocracy: Foundations, Principles and Consequences of the Democratic Ideal”. Previously, he had obtained a Master’s degree in Comparative Politics/Political Science from the Institute of Social Sciences of University of Lisbon (ICS-UL) and a Law Degree (B.A.) from Lisbon’s Nova Law School (FDUNL). From February 2014 to February 2016, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of São Paulo (USP) on the topic of theories of representation and the notion of political legitimacy, during which time he was the recipient of a post-doctoral fellowship (funded by the Brazilian higher research entity, CAPES). He has published several articles on representation, property-owning democracy and law in different journals and received the “Special Award Análise Social – FLAD” for his article “Democracia e Representação Democrática” (best article by a young researcher in 2011). As of February 2019 he is a junior researcher at the University of Minho and a full member of the CEPS.

While his long-standing and main research interests have been, among others, Democratic Theory, Political Equality, Distributive Justice and Luck Egalitarianism, his research will now focus on two main areas. The first one is that of reflecting, within a non-ideal, more holistic paradigm, on the role of Human Rights in an evolving world order. As the unipolarism of the post-cold war seems to give way to the emergence of new powers that challenge western hegemony, and new global problems (mass migration, climate change, international terrorist networks, growing military and geopolitical tension) confront us, it is fundamental to re-assess the philosophical conundrums and proposed solutions to issues of human rights, (legitimate) interventionism and the reforming of international institutions. It is important that this reflection does not abstract too much from the real world complexities of existing international relations. On the other hand, a sound and “non-ideal” theory of international justice ought to take a more holistic approach, connecting these new global problems to other issues intrinsically related with them (globalization, neoliberal policies, unbridled military, political and economic interventionism) and with the real international order. The second area to which he seeks to  dedicate his research is the re-emerging debate on workplace democracy.