James Tully’s scholarship has profoundly transformed the study of political thought by reconstructing the practice of political theory as a democratising and diversifying dialogue between scholars and citizens. Across his writings on topics ranging from the historical origins of property, constitutionalism in diverse societies, imperialism and globalisation, and global citizenship in an era of climate crisis, Tully has developed a participatory mode of political theorising and political change called public philosophy. This practice-oriented approach to political thought and its active role in the struggles of citizens has posed fundamental challenges to modern political thought and launched new lines of inquiry in the study of constitutionalism, democracy and citizenship, settler colonialism, comparative political theory, nonviolence, and ecological sustainability. James Tully: To Think and Act Differently collects classic, contemporary, and previously unpublished writings from across Tully’s four decades of scholarship to shed new light on these dialogues of reciprocal elucidation with citizens, scholars, and the history of political thought, and the ways Tully has enlarged our understanding of democracy, diversity, and the task of political theory.
Introduction
An Approach to Public Philosophy: James Tully in Contexts
Alexander Livingston
Part I: The Practice of Public Philosophy
1. Political Theory as a Critical Activity: The Emergence of Public Philosophy in a New Key (2017)
2. Public Philosophy and Civic Freedom: A Guide to the Two Volumes (2008)
3. Deparochialising Political Theory and Beyond: A Dialogue Approach to Comparative Political Thought (2016)
Part II: Modes of Citizenship and Practices of Freedom
4. The Agonistic Freedom of Citizens (1999)
5. The Historical Formation of Common Constitutionalism: The Rediscovery of Cultural Diversity, Part 1 (1995)
6. Two Meanings of Global Citizenship: Modern and Diverse (2008)
7. Rethinking Human Rights and Enlightenment: A View from the Twenty-First Century (2012)
Part III: Sustaining Civic Freedom
8. Progress and Scepticism 1789-1989 (1989)
9. Introducing Global Integral Constitutionalism (2016)
Co-Authors: Jeffery L. Dunoff, Anthony F. Lang Jr., Mattias Kumm, And Antje Wiener
10. Life Sustains Life 2: The Ways of Reengagement with the Living Earth (2020)
11. A View of Transformative Reconciliation: Strange Multiplicity and the Spirit of Haida Gwaii at Twenty (2015)
12. Integral Nonviolence. Two Lawyers on Nonviolence: Mohandas K. Gandhi and Richard B. Gregg (2018)
13. Sustainable Democratic Constitutionalism and Climate Crisis (2020)
14. An Interview with James Tully
Biography
Alexander Livingston is Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University. His research addresses social movements, civil disobedience, democratic theory, and the history of twentieth-century political thought. He is the author of Damn Great Empires! William James and the Politics of Pragmatism (2016).
"This collection offers a superbly curated selection of, and guide to, the work of James Tully. Alexander Livingston expertly charts the evolving trajectory of one of the most creative political theorists of the 21st century from the exploration of imperialism in support of indigenous struggles to engagement with global climate change, democratic sustainability, and the ethics of non-violence. This is a landmark volume for understanding the past, present and future of Tully’s public philosophy and the transformation of political theory it accomplishes."
David Owen, University of Southampton, UK.
"This volume brings together both classical and unpublished contributions by James Tully that exemplify how political theory can respond in deeply dialogical and transformative ways to the challenges and struggles of our time. It offers an excellent overview of the eminently practical and genuinely political public philosophy Tully has developed over the last decades and documents the path-breaking force of his continuous efforts to straddle the gaps between theory and practice as well as between diverse traditions of acting and thinking politically. The result is a less parochial, more expansive and profoundly democratic vision of the world we both inescapably share and need to learn to inhabit together."
Robin Celikates, Free University Berlin, Germany
"This important book introduces the reader to the influential scholarship of James Tully by combining previously published with entirely new material. Beyond mere collection, however, Livingston’s thorough introduction and concluding interview provide a fascinating engagement with some of Tully’s most important innovations in the field. Together, Livingston and Tully "travel" with Tully’s theory, from his evolving dialogical approach, to his thinking on colonialism, to his transformative account of political philosophy as political practice." To Think and Act Differently is thus a powerful reflection on the essential themes of Tully's career and a tribute to the hopeful multiplicity of his vision.
Jeanne Morefield, University of Oxford, UK
"James Tully’s "public philosophy" aspires to empower transformative change through dialogues in which each of us—as citizens of local, global, and Earth communities—has a say and a hand in governance. James Tully: To Think and Act Differently skilfully renders a much-needed service in its thoughtful exploration and framing of the development of Tully’s public philosophy from animating ideas and experiences, to mature articulation, to ongoing reconsideration, expansion and application. Along the journey, this carefully edited volume effectively makes the case that you have a vital role in transforming injustices today. Anyone concerned to be part of the change needed by a world governed by elites and by autocrats, a world at once drowning and on fire, should read this book."
Aaron Mills, McGill University, Canada
