A view of singleton campus including singleton park and the beach, with the sea stretching out to the horizon.

Dr Patrick Cockburn

Senior Lecturer in Political Economy and Philosophy, Politics, Philosophy and International Relations

p.j.l.cockburn@swansea.ac.uk

Office - 006
Ground Floor
James Callaghan
Singleton Campus

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5246-696X

About

I am Senior Lecturer in Political Economy and Philosophy, having joined the department in 2019 after 11 years at Aarhus University, Denmark. My research focuses on problems of economic justice, and builds bridges between political philosophy and the social sciences of economic life. My recent work examines economic dependence in our public and private relationships, with a particular focus on the politics of the family. My recent publications include The Politics of Dependence (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) and Contested Property Claims (Routledge, 2018). I currently teach primarily on the BA programmes in Politics, in Philosophy, and in PPE, and welcome inquiries about supervision in topics concerning social and economic justice.

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

Economic justice

Inequality

Normative political economy

Philosophy and sociology of the family

Publications

Research Highlights

Cockburn, P. & Preminger, J. (2023). Migration and Demos in the Democratic Firm: An Extension of the State-Firm Analogy. Political Theory, 51(3), 557-580.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00905917231154422, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61585
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00905917231154422
Cockburn, P. (2021). Varieties of economic dependence. European Journal of Political Theory, 22(2), 195-216.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14748851211001549, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56717
https://doi.org/10.1177/14748851211001549
Cockburn, P. (2018). The Politics of Dependence - Economic Parasites and Vulnerable Lives (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78908-8, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52087
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78908-8
Cockburn, P. & Thorup, M. (2018). Proprietors and parasites. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 44(2), 179-199.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453717723189, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52091
Bruun, M., Cockburn, P., Risager, B., & Thorup, M. (Eds.). (2018). Contested Property Claims: What Disagreement Tells us About Ownership. Routledge.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52089
Cockburn, P., Bruun, M., Risager, B., & Thorup, M. (2018). Introduction: Disagreement as a Window onto Property. Contested Property Claims: What Disagreement Tells us About Ownership (pp. 1-20). Routledge
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52090
Cockburn, P. (2017). Book Review: Just Property: Vol II: Enlightenment, Revolution and History
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929917712912, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52096
Cockburn, P. (2016). Claims of Need in Property Law and Politics. Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, 63(146), 56-74.
https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2016.6314604, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52092
https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/theoria/63/146/th6314604.xml
Cockburn, P. (2016). A common sense of property?. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 17(1), 78-93.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2015.1005111, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52093
Cockburn, P. (2014). Street Papers, Work and Begging: ‘Experimenting’ at the Margins of Economic Legitimacy. Journal of Cultural Economy, 7(2), 145-160.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2013.837630, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52094

All Research

Journal Articles

Cockburn, P. & Preminger, J. (2023). Migration and Demos in the Democratic Firm: An Extension of the State-Firm Analogy. Political Theory, 51(3), 557-580.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00905917231154422, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61585
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00905917231154422
Cockburn, P. (2021). Varieties of economic dependence. European Journal of Political Theory, 22(2), 195-216.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14748851211001549, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56717
https://doi.org/10.1177/14748851211001549
Cockburn, P. & Thorup, M. (2018). Proprietors and parasites. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 44(2), 179-199.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453717723189, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52091
Cockburn, P. (2016). A common sense of property?. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 17(1), 78-93.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2015.1005111, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52093
Cockburn, P. (2016). Claims of Need in Property Law and Politics. Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, 63(146), 56-74.
https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2016.6314604, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52092
https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/theoria/63/146/th6314604.xml
Cockburn, P. (2014). Street Papers, Work and Begging: ‘Experimenting’ at the Margins of Economic Legitimacy. Journal of Cultural Economy, 7(2), 145-160.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2013.837630, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52094
Cockburn, P. (2013). The political chaff from the economic grain? Rhetorical accounts of the embeddedness of begging. Economy and Society, 42(2), 281-303.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2012.718623, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52095
Cockburn, P. (2011). Att argumentera om ekonomisk legitimitet. Ikaros, 8(4), 9-11.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52099

Authored Books

Cockburn, P. (2018). The Politics of Dependence - Economic Parasites and Vulnerable Lives (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78908-8, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52087
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78908-8

Book Chapters

Cockburn, P., Bruun, M., Risager, B., & Thorup, M. (2018). Introduction: Disagreement as a Window onto Property. Contested Property Claims: What Disagreement Tells us About Ownership (pp. 1-20). Routledge
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52090
Cockburn, P. (2012). Rhetorics of Work: The Value of Work in Different Contexts of Argument. The Value of Work: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 3-17). Interdisciplinary Pres
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52101
Cockburn, P. (2010). The World of Work and its Anomalies. Decent Work and Unemployment (pp. 15-26). LIT Verlag
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52102

Edited Books

Bruun, M., Cockburn, P., Risager, B., & Thorup, M. (Eds.). (2018). Contested Property Claims: What Disagreement Tells us About Ownership. Routledge.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52089

Other Research Outputs

Cockburn, P. (2017). Book Review: Just Property: Vol II: Enlightenment, Revolution and History
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929917712912, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52096
Cockburn, P. (2014). The Road to Market Society: Book Review of: What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431013520385, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52097
Cockburn, P. (2014). Økonomiske Parasitter
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52103
Cockburn, P. (2013). Kolde Systemer og Varme Praksisser: Kritik af en Kunstig Modstilling
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52098
Cockburn, P. (2011). What are the Rules of Ties?
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52100

Supervision

The dynamics of territorial and national identity in Wales and Cornwall. (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Jonathan Bradbury
Environmental activism within Türkiye: An analysis of state and civil society power relations; a necropolitical approach. (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Gideon Calder

Other supervisor: Dr Caner Sayan

Taught Modules

HUP105 Critical Reasoning

This module introduces students to the core elements of critical reasoning: how to identify, construct and analyse arguments; what makes an argument valid and sound; common errors in reasoning; and the basics of propositional logic. In studying these topics, students will cultivate core critical reasoning skills and apply these in analysing real-world textual examples.
HUP132 Reading Great Works of Philosophy

¿This module consists in a detailed examination of three influential philosophical texts. The module offers students the opportunity to engage in a thorough, carefully-paced reading of the works of important philosophers, developing an appreciation of both their core ideas and the context in which they were writing. This allows students to learn about influential philosophers and to cultivate their ability to read primary texts, understand philosophical ideas and analyse arguments. The texts studied can change each year. Recent texts include Lucius Annaeus Seneca¿s Epistles (Letters), Jean-Paul Sartre¿s Existentialism is a Humanism, and Mary Midgley¿s The Ethical Primate.¿
HUP133 Political Philosophy

This module introduces students to political philosophy. It focuses on contemporary debates relating to key political concepts, including democracy, justice, equality, freedom, feminism, race, global inequality, the environment and punishment. The primary aim of the module is to provide students with a clear understanding of the theoretical issues underpinning these debates. However, it will do this by examining concrete political challenges and controversies. Thus, students will develop an appreciation of different political perspectives and theories, and will be able to apply them to help resolve practical political problems
HUP250 The Philosophical Foundations of Politics

This module examines key methodological and conceptual debates at the intersection of philosophy and political studies. Students will critically engage with the core assumptions embedded in different approaches to the study of politics, including claims about human nature, the beliefs and values of political actors, political agency, the proper role of political theorists and politicians, whether states can be morally `neutral¿, and how democracy should function. The module will demonstrate how methodological and conceptual choices shape our views of political action, justice, and power.
PHQ300 Study Group: PPE (Year 3)

2 hour weekly Study Group for PPE students (Year 3)
PO-245 The History of Political Thought

This module examines the history of political thought in the West, as it has developed through key political thinkers. In so doing, it traces the development of core political concepts and values, such as democracy, freedom and rights. The course thus has two main aims. First, to provide students with an understanding of pivotal political thinkers and their works. Second, to equip students with an appreciation of how the history of political thought has shaped the current political landscape. The module is designed to enrich the topics covered in the first-year module Political Philosophy by placing them within a historical context.
PO-246 The History of Political Thought (10cr version)

This module examines the history of political thought in the West, as it has developed through key political thinkers. In so doing, it traces the development of core political concepts and values, such as democracy, freedom and rights. The course thus has two main aims. First, to provide students with an understanding of pivotal political thinkers and their works. Second, to equip students with an appreciation of how the history of political thought has shaped the current political landscape. The module is designed to enrich the topics covered in the first-year module Political Philosophy by placing them within a historical context.
PO-3325 Capitalism and Justice

This module unpacks the fundamental political dilemmas that underpin capitalist economies today. These include questions like: should states control the production of money? Do markets deliver social justice? Is the ownership of property a form of power over others? And is economic inequality the inevitable price for prosperity? The module draws on work in political philosophy, economic sociology, and political economy, in order to examine, and debate the political problems at the centre of our economic practices and institutions. While drawing on a range of empirical studies, the focus of the module is on developing the conceptual and theoretical competences needed for informed normative (ethical and political) analysis of contemporary capitalist practices and institutions. The aim is to give students the resources to develop strong arguments for their own political conclusions on these topics.

Dr Patrick Cockburn

Email address

Research Links

About

Career Highlights

Research Highlights

All Research

The dynamics of territorial and national identity in Wales and Cornwall. (current)

Environmental activism within Türkiye: An analysis of state and civil society power relations; a necropolitical approach. (current)

HUP105 Critical Reasoning

HUP132 Reading Great Works of Philosophy

HUP133 Political Philosophy

HUP250 The Philosophical Foundations of Politics

PHQ300 Study Group: PPE (Year 3)

PO-245 The History of Political Thought

PO-246 The History of Political Thought (10cr version)

PO-3325 Capitalism and Justice