IPSA RC31 Political Philosophy Methodology Workshop
29-30 October 2026, Waseda University, Japan
This conference report was written by Kaito Namai (Doctoral Student, Waseda University).
The International Political Science Association (IPSA) Research Committee on Political Philosophy (RC31) convened a two-day workshop at Waseda University on 29-30 October 2026. Participants from around the world gathered in Tokyo, one of Asia’s most vibrant cities, at an institution with a distinguished tradition in the study of politics and a lively international campus.
Given the diversity of traditions, methods and sources of knowledge in political philosophy, as well as the continual emergence of new political issues, the field must reconsider how it generates knowledge and explore new ways to address the most pressing challenges of our political world. Questions about the purpose, scope and boundaries of the discipline have accordingly become increasingly prominent. Focusing on the methodology, the workshop brought together researchers from East Asia, South Asia, Europe and North America to discuss these questions.
The programme featured presentations by early-career researchers, each followed by a discussion with commentators and the audience, across six panels: Political Theory, Law and Public Policy; Resistance and Method; Ethos and Political Theory; Justice and Equality; Iris Marion Young and Structural Injustice; and Comparison and Political Theory. More than 20 participants from a wide range of intellectual traditions and methodological approaches engaged in a thought-provoking exchange about the discipline.
The highlight of the event was a pair of keynote public lectures delivered by the co-chairs of RC31: Humeira Iqtidar, Professor of Politics at King’s College London, and Jonathan Floyd, Professor of Political Theory at the University of Bristol.
Following the opening remarks by Yuko Kasuya, IPSA President and Professor of Political Science at Waseda University, Professor Iqtidar spoke about ‘Discipline, Method, Argument: Rethinking the Place of Methodologies’. She challenged the assumption that disciplines are defined by their methods. Tracing the separation of political science and political theory in Euro-American and Asian academia, she argued that tying disciplines to particular methods narrows the questions scholars ask. Highlighting political theory’s belated engagement with colonialism and racism, she made the case for underused approaches such as ethnography.
On the second day, in ‘Do Political Philosophers Really Have Methods?’, Professor Floyd took aim at the figure of the ‘Pure Thinker’, the philosopher who claims to work without any method at all. He showed that all political philosophers rely on methods, which can be understood by the tasks they perform and the broader questions those tasks serve. Since most political philosophers now combine several methods, each with its own risks, he concluded that reflecting on methodology not only fosters self-understanding and collaboration but also guards against overreliance on any single approach.
The workshop was hosted by Kei Hiruta, Associate Professor of Political Theory at Waseda University and a member of the ISPA RC31 executive committee, and organised by IPSA RC31 in collaboration with the Comparative Political Theory Project and the Political Philosophy Research Group of the Waseda Institute of Political Economy (WINPEC). It was funded by the Sakuradakai Foundation, WINPEC and Waseda University (AY2026 Grant for International Academic Events).
PROGRAMME
29 October – Day 1
9:30 - 11:00 – Panel 1: Political Theory, Law, and Public Policy
Ayaka Doyle (Waseda University): 'A Problem of Methodology in Japanese Constitutional Theory: The Fine Line Between the Political and the Legal'
Dai Oba (Waseda University): 'Bridging Public Opinion, Normative Reasoning and Policies: Reconstructive Approach to Ethics and Public Policy'
Chair: Kei Hiruta (Waseda University)
Respondent: Jonathan Floyd (University of Bristol)
11:15 - 12:45 – Panel 2: Resistance and Method
Linus Recht (Auburn University): 'Toward an Anthropological Matrix for Comparative Political Philosophy'
Nilofar Anjum Siddiqui (Jawaharlal Nehru University): 'Theorising Resistance from Below: Memory, Embodiment, and Political Subjectivity among Muslim Women in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India'
Chair: Ken Oshitani (Waseda University)
Respondent: Nobutaka Otobe (Osaka University)
14:00 - 15:30 – Panel 3: Ethos and Political Theory
Clara Brigitta Riegler (Waseda University): 'The Paradox of the Egalitarian Ethos'
Rintaro Hamano (Keio University): 'The Possibility of Political Theory from the Perspective of Ethos: Bernard Williams as an Exemplary Case'
Chair: Kazutaka Inamura (Waseda University)
Respondent: Laure Gillot-Assayag (Waseda University)
16:00 - 17:45 Keynote Address
Opening remarks by IPSA President Yuko Kasuya (Waseda University)
Humeira Iqtidar (King's College London): 'Discipline, Method, Argument: Rethinking the Place of Methodologies'
30 October – Day 2
9:30 - 11:00 – Panel 4: Justice and Equality
Daisuke Kurata (Waseda University): 'The Vulnerable as Claimants: A Rawlsian Alternative to Kittay's Nested Obligations'
Junpei Okuda (Waseda University): 'How Does Distributive Justice Get Normatively Off the Ground? A Relational Egalitarian Account'
Chair: Jonathan Floyd (University of Bristol)
Respondent: Masakazu Matsumoto (Nihon University)
11:15 - 12:45 – Panel 5: Iris Marion Young and Structural Injustice
Kaito Namai (Waseda University): 'Bringing Structure Back In: Toward a Rigorous Conception of Structural Injustice'
Masashi Oba (Osaka University): 'Reconsideration of Iris Marion Young's Early Thoughts: Clarification of Her Theoretical Stance'
Chair: Masashi Yazawa (Waseda University)
Respondent: Chikako Endo (Osaka University)
14:00 - 15:30 – Panel 6: Comparison and Political Theory
Rounak Kumar Pathak (Sri Aurobindo College, University of Delhi): 'Who Sets the Terms of Comparison? Conceptual Asymmetry and the Methodology of Comparative Political Thought'
Kei Hiruta (Waseda University): 'Whither (Comparative) Political Theory?'
Chair: Dai Oba (Waseda)
Respondent: Humeira Iqtidar (King's College London)
16:00 - 17:30 Keynote Address
Jonathan Floyd (University of Bristol): Do Political Philosophers Really Have Methods?'
