My research and teaching addresses issues in political theory and the history of modern political thought. My area of specialism is critical theory with a particular emphasis on the thought of Antonio Gramsci and Georg Lukács.
I joined Manchester Metropolitan in 2014. Previously, I lectured in European and International Studies at King’s College London, where I completed my PhD in 2013. At MMU, I have introduced the annual Special Archive Projects initiative for students at the People’s History Museum.
I am co-editor of Revisiting Gramsci’s Notebooks (Brill, 2020), a rich collection of innovative scholarship on Antonio Gramsci - (also in paperback: Haymarket, Dec 2020). My publications include ‘Lebowitz, Lukács and Postone: Subjectivity in Capital’ in the journal Science & Society. I have contributed to the collection Subjectivity and the Political: Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge) as well as to The Meanings of Violence: From Critical Theory to Biopolitics (Routledge).
I have also published in the International Gramsci Journal, and Gramsciana: Rivista internazionale di studi su Antonio Gramsci. I have a chapter on ‘Antonio Gramsci’s Dialectic: Past and Present’ in the collection, Materialistische Dialektik bei Marx und über Marx hinaus (Freie Universität Berlin).
I have participated in discussions on radio and am a contributor to the Conversation. I have contributed essays and book reviews to Thesis Eleven, the Hegel Bulletin, Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books, and the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies.
Since 2019, I have been co-lead for the History of Ideas research group within the History Research Centre (UCRKE) at MMU. I am co-convenor of the Critical Theory in Hard Times network, and co-organiser of the Decolonising Critical Thought workshop (May 2021).
I am an active member of the International Gramsci Society, and I co-organized the Past & Present international Gramsci conference at King’s College London in June 2015. I also participated in the Ghilarza Summer Schools 2014 and 2016, advanced philological courses with international Gramsci scholars.
Current:
Previous:
Areas of supervision for research degrees include:
- History of Political Thought
- Social and Political Theory
- Critical and Marxist Theory and Philosophy
- Italian Political Philosophy
F. Antonini, A. Bernstein, L. Fusaro, R. Jackson (2020). Revisiting Gramsci’s notebooks.
F. Antonini, A. Bernstein, L. Fusaro, R. Jackson (2020). Revisiting Gramsci’s <i>Notebooks</i>. RP. Jackson, F. Antonini, A. Bernstein, L. Fusaro. Leiden: BRILL.
RP. Jackson (2022). ‘Disfigurations’ of Democracy? Pareto, Mosca and the Challenge of ‘Elite Theory’. Topoi. 41(1), pp.45-55.
RP. Jackson (2020). Book review: Jan Kandiyali (ed.). Reassessing Marx's Social and Political Philosophy. Freedom, Recognition and Human Flourishing. New York and London: Routledge, 2018. ISBN 987-1-138-22620-3 (hbk). Pp. 278. £120.00. Hegel Bulletin. 41(3), pp.483-486.
RP. Jackson (2020). One step back, two steps forward: Neo-Kantianism and Lukács’s transformative praxis. Thesis Eleven. 157(1), pp.133-141.
RP. Jackson (2017). Lebowitz, Lukács and Postone: Subjectivity in Capital. Science and Society. 81(2), pp.248-278.
RP. Jackson (2017). Lebowitz, Lukács and Postone: Subjectivity in 'Capital'. Science and Society: a journal of marxist thought and analysis. 81(2), pp.248-278.
'Decolonising Critical Thought’ Workshop
Manchester May 2021
Organiser of international workshop with 50 researchers from 34 Higher Education Institutions, co-funded by: History, Politics and Philosophy (MMU), History Research Centre (MMU), and Critical Theory in Hard Times network.
‘Critical Theory in Hard Times’ Cluster Event
International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester Feb 2019
Co-convenor of interdisciplinary network addressing the question: ‘What does it mean to be critical today?’, funded by: MMU Faculty of Arts & Humanities RKE.
‘Past and Present’ International Gramsci Conference
King’s College London June 2015
Co-organiser of international conference: 45 early career researchers from 16 countries with 10 established scholars, funded by: Departments of European Studies and Geography (King’s College London), also supported by International Gramsci Society, Ghilarza Summer School, UAM Mexico
Reviewer for:
Oxford University Press,
Polity Press,
Routledge,
Palgrave Macmillan (Political Philosophy and Public Purpose, and Marx, Engels and Marxisms book series),
Constellations: International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory,
Metodo: International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy,
Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography,
Science & Society,
Historical Materialism,
International Gramsci Journal,
Academia Letters,
Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi
Member - Politics Research Group in Research Centre for Applied Social Sciences (UCRKE) 2021-
Co-lead - History of Ideas research group in History Research Centre (UCRKE) 2019-21
Political Studies Association (PSA) - Member
Association for Political Theory (APT) - Member
International Gramsci Society (IGS) - Member
AdvanceHE (formerly Higher Education Academy) - Fellow (FHEA)