Biography

Benjamin Mueser holds a Ph.D. in political theory and international relations from Columbia University. His research focuses on the origin and development of the modern state, in particular, sovereignty, territoriality, and the intersection of territory and nationalism. His doctoral work focused on the intellectual resources of state formation during the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries. He also writes on the normative conditions for the legitimate possession of land, and has presented research on approaches to the ethics of land from Kantian and liberal perspectives.

During his time as a Max Weber Fellow, Ben intends to spend his first year expanding on his current project, titled The Territorial Revolution in Political Thought, and develop it into a book manuscript. In his second year he will focus on his next project, which is about the theory of political myth and its particular relationship to land.

Expertise for Teaching and Mentoring of Ph.D. Researchers
Ben has experience teaching undergraduate courses in political theory, the history of western political thought, and introduction to international relations.