Keynote Speakers

Michael Haus has been professor for modern political theory at Heidelberg University since 2012. Before, he was professor at Kassel University. His research interests are contemporary political theory (theories of justice, democracy and power; communitarianism), interpretative policy analysis (discourse analysis and analysis of policy institutions), critical media analysis (film analysis, Antigypsyism in public media)  and urban politics (political theory of the city, urban political practices).

Prof. Kaswan works at the intersection of political theory and social change, working to expand our understandings of politics and of democracy and to find ways to make democracy meaningful for people in their daily lives. His research has mostly been oriented toward the cooperative movement and worker ownership, bridging abstract ideas about democracy, happiness, and politics with political economics and ideas about the structure of social institutions—particularly the place where we spend so much of our waking hours, the workplace. His work crosses boundaries, drawing from political theory, sociology, philosophy, economics, public policy, feminism, history, business and management studies, organizational theory, and race and ethnic studies. He received his PhD in political theory from UCLA in 2010 and has taught at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (and it’s legacy institution, UT Brownsville) since 2011.