CAMP x CLSR Talk – ‘Institutional power and the sexual sphere’

The University of Leeds’ Centre for Aesthetic, Moral and Political Philosophy (CAMP) and Centre for Love, Sex and Relationships (CLSR) are excited to welcome Elsa Kugelberg (Oxford) on the 13th May.

Talk: Institutional power and the sexual sphere

Abstract: ‘When institutions exercise power over individuals, liberals argue this power must be justified to them. In important domains of social life, liberals have taken this to entail the claims to noninterference, to equal standing, and to choice improvement. However, even though sexuality and intimate relationships are shaped by, and bound up with, formal and informal institutions, liberals have treated the sexual sphere as separated from public life. In this domain, therefore, liberals have endorsed only one structural claim — to noninterference. To show that this asymmetry is unwarranted, I present four arguments from within liberal egalitarianism for going beyond mere noninterference: from self-respect, from fair equality of opportunity, from conditions for entry, and from adequacy. From these arguments, I derive a framework on which justice in the sexual sphere includes claims to opportunities to develop sexual standing and to pursue sexual life plans, in addition to noninterference.’

The talk will take place 3-5pm in Botany House, Room 1.03.