Our faculty
Dr. Christof Royer
Assistant Professor in International Relations
Christof joined Forward College in 2022 as an Assistant Professor in Politics and International Relations. Previously, he has worked and taught at Central European University, the University of Hong Kong, and the University of St Andrews. Christof currently also serve as the Teaching and Learning Coordinator for the Paris campus.
His research is situated at the intersection of Political Theory and International Relations and uses insights from both disciplines to analyse contemporary social and political phenomena. Much of his work is, therefore, devoted to the question of how theory can help to address practical problems and how, in turn, practice transforms theoretical ideas and concepts.
Thematically, his work focuses on issues like culture wars, immigration, polarisation, and free speech—all crucial for grasping the dynamics of modern democracies.
Christof is also interested in the moral, social, and political implications of Artificial Intelligence and other modern technologies. Finally, he has a growing interest in the philosophy of education, which he hopes to explore further in future publications.
Christof is currently developing a monograph titled “Open Society as Ethos and Ideology: Valuing Diversity without Illusions“; This project examines how open society as both a guiding ethos and a political ideology, helps us to address some of the most pressing issues of our time. He is also editing a volume on culture wars from a global perspective.
Through his research, he aims to contribute to both scholarly discussions and public debates on how to promote and defend democratic values in a complex world.
Research Interests
- Disciplines: International Relations; Political Theory; Political Science; Philosophy;
- Specific Interests: democratic challenges in theory and practice; the political values of plurality, inclusion, and justice; freedom of speech; social justice; technology, surveillance, and Artificial Intelligence; human rights; political violence;
Current teaching
- International Political Theory (IR 2083)
- Democracy and Democratisation (PS 3086)
Select Publications
- Books
Royer, C. (2020), Evil as a Crime against Humanity: Confronting Mass Atrocities in a Plural World (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, International Political Theory series), https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030538163.
Royer, C. and Liviu M. (eds.), Open Society Unresolved: The Contemporary Relevance of a Contested Idea. Central European University Press. Available open access: Open Society Unresolved | CEUPress
- Journal Articles
Royer C. (2024), Žižek at the Buchmesse: Evil, Cancel Culture, and the Difficulty of Diversity. Theory, Culture & Society. Accepted.
Royer, C (2024), Outsourcing Humanity? ChatGPT, Critical Thinking, and the Crisis in Higher Education. Studies in the Philosophy of Education(2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-024-09946-3
Royer, C. (2023), False Friends? On the Relationship between Political Realism and Agonistic Democracy. Zeitschrift für Politische Theorie. https://doi.org/10.3224/zpth.v13i1-2.02
Royer, C. (2022), Strange Multiplicity as a Moral-Political Value: Potential and Costs of Normativity in World Politics. Journal of International Political Theory. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F17550882221080563
Royer, C. (2021), Ideological Struggle as Agonistic Conflict: (Anti-)Hypocrisy, Free Speech and Critical Social Justice. Jus Cogens: A Critical Journal of Philosophy of Law and Politics, 3, pp. 257-78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42439-021-00046-1
