Clarissa Rile Hayward is a political theorist whose research and teaching focus on questions central to understanding and evaluating political life: "What is social power," for instance, "and how does it shape human freedom?" "What does democratic government entail, and what are its practical and institutional implications?" "How do social actors create and maintain identities?" Unlike theorists who attempt to answer such questions by relying exclusively on what Rawls called "ideal theory," Hayward approaches these problems by examining their concrete manifestations, writing theoretical work that is grounded in the analysis of institutions and practices. The result is an engaged form of political theory, addressed not only to other specialists in the field, but more generally to social and political theorists and social scientists who are concerned with questions of power, democracy, and identity.

Hayward is the author of two books, De-Facing Power, which was published by Cambridge University Press in 2000, and How Americans Make Race: Stories, Institutions, Spaces, which is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press in 2013. She is also co-editor, with Todd Swanstrom, of Justice and the American Metropolis, which was published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2011. In addition, she has published many articles in edited volumes and in journals, such as the American Political Science Review, Constellations, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Polity, and Political Theory. Her research has been supported by the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Selected Publications

"What Can Political Freedom Mean in a Multicultural Democracy?" Political Theory 39:4 (August 2011), 468-97

"Nobody to Shoot?" Power, Structure, and Agency: A Dialogue" (with Steven Lukes). Journal of Power 1:1 (April 2008), 5-20.

"Democracy's Identity Problem: Is Constitutional Patriotism the Answer?" Constellations, vol. 14, no. 2 (June 2007), pp. 182-96.

"Binding Problems, Boundary Problems: The Trouble with 'Democratic Citizenship,'" pp. 181-205 in Seyla Benhabib, Ian Shapiro, and Danilo Petranovich, eds, Identities, Affiliations, and Allegiances (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

"Doxa and Deliberation." Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. vol. 7, no. 1 (Spring 2004), pp 1-24. 

"The Difference States Make: Democracy, Identity, and the American City."  American Political Science Review, vol. 97, no. 4 (November 2003), pp. 501-14.

De-facing Power. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Courses

Introduction to Political Theory

Foundations of American Democracy (American political thought)

History of Political Thought II (social contract theory)

History of Political Thought III (19th century political thought)

Power, Justice, and the City

Theories of Democracy

Graduate Proseminar in Political Theory