Dr. Lisa Herzog
Professor of Philosophy and Dean
University of Groningen
Brief summary of research over last 5 years / academic profile
Lisa Herzog is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Herzog is one of the leading figures in the interdisciplinary field of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) and a leading expert on philosophical approaches to real-life institutions that she explored with regard to the realization of values such as democracy and solidarity. In the last five years, she has contributed in particular to discussions about the ethical and political character of organizations (which connects to sociology) and about political epistemology, concerning the uptake of expertise in democratic societies in the face of polarization and various social cleavages. One of her most important methodological contributions is the integration of qualitative social enquiry and normative theorising, on which she wrote an influential paper1 together with Bernardo Zacka. This innovative approach brings the voices of citizens directly into philosophical research. It was also the basis for her successful 2022 VICI application; in this project she plans to use ethnographic approaches in combination with philosophy to explore the effects of new forms of work organization on the social fabric. Herzog frequently participates in public debates in various formats, to bring societal and philosophical discussions closer to each other.
International visibility, activities, prizes, scholarships etc.
Herzog’s work has received numerous awards, and she is an established leader of transdisciplinary international projects, including in the context of the Global Young Academy where she was elected member 2017-2022. A prominent example is the SCISO project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation about the role of science in society, providing tools for science communication. Herzog was a driving force in the international “Democratize Work” network, which, among other things, organised the first Global Forum on Democratizing Work with >3000 participants from 80 countries. She serves on the editorial board of several journals (e.g., Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy and Review of Social Economy). Herzog is frequently invited to provide policy advice by the German National Academy of Sciences. In 2022, she was elected member of the Young Academy of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). She has an extensive track record in mentoring young scholars, including in an international context: she has been a mentor in the Global Young Academy program for scholars at risk; for young scholars of the Association for Political Theory, and for female scholars at the University of Groningen.
5 key output/publications
1. Herzog, L. 2021. Markets. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2021 Edition), E.N. Zalta (Ed.)
2. Herzog, L. 2018. Durkheim on social justice: the argument from “organic solidarity”. Am Polit Sci Rev (2018), 112(1), 112-124.
3. Herzog, L. 2018. Reclaiming the System. Moral Responsibility, Divided Labour, and the Role of Organizations in Society. Oxford: Oxford UP (German translation at WBG, 2022).
4. Herzog, L. & Zacka, B. 2019. Fieldwork in Political Theory. Five Arguments for an Ethnographic Sensibility. Br J Polit Sci, 49(2), 763-784.
5. Herzog, L. 2013. Inventing the Market. Smith, Hegel, and Political Theory. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013 (Paperback edition 2016) (German translation at WBG, 2019).
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