Dr. Chris Meckstroth

Biography

Chris Meckstroth's research focuses on the intersection of history, theory, democracy, and democratic politics, particularly during the nineteenth century in France and Germany. He has a keen interest in German philosophy from the period of Kant to Marx. His current work sheds light on the recent success of populist political parties within a longer, cross-national historical narrative concerning the evolution of modern democracy since the eighteenth-century revolutions in France and the Americas. This project builds on his collaboration with Samuel Moyn, co-editing a forthcoming volume titled 'Cambridge History of Democracy,' which encompasses the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Meckstroth critically examines how core political concepts—such as 'the people,' 'the nation,' and 'democracy'—are continually constructed and reconstructed through political struggle. He investigates the various ways political thinkers and actors have linked theoretical claims of justice with historical narratives amid the rise of new social, moral, and political forces, particularly during the Enlightenment and among early critics of the developments in liberalism, socialism, and nationalism throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His book, 'Struggle for Democracy: Paradoxes of Progress and Politics of Change' (Oxford University Press, 2015; paperback 2018), addresses the complexities of historical change in German thought, especially concerning Kant and Hegel and their responses to the unfolding French Revolution. He emphasizes the dynamic nature of popular sovereignty and self-rule, arguing against the search for timeless constitutional ideals and instead advocating for an understanding of democracy as a struggle among citizens.

Research Interests

Courses