Fellow

Francesca Cesarano

Postdoctoral Fellow at Goethe University

In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst

Funded by Claus Wisser Fellowship Fund

Francesca Cesarano works at the intersection of applied ethics, feminist philosophy, and political philosophy. Her research focuses on questions of moral and political responsibility in contexts of structural injustice, with a particular emphasis on gender-based oppression.

Research project: A Multi-functionalist Account of Blame to Address Structural Injustice

Her current project investigates the practical implications of blaming individuals for their contributions to structural injustice, examining the expressive and epistemic functions of blame as well as the asymmetrical social positions of those involved in “the blame game”. She aims to develop a taxonomy that identifies the conditions under which blame can serve as a constructive moral response to structural injustice, and when it may be better avoided.

  • Publikationen

    Cesarano, F., (forthcoming) Ideal vs. Non-Ideal: Why normative theory often fails to target oppression and how it might do better. Ethical Theory & Moral Practice. Cavaliere, G., Cesarano, F. (2025) Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Women’s Choices: Autonomy, Harm and Gender Socialization. Hypatia. https://doi.org/10.1017/hyp.2024.103 Cesarano, F. (2023) Beyond Choice: A Non-Ideal Feminist Approach to Body Modification. Res Publica 29, 647–663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-022-09571-2

News from the research center

Event
17.06.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Agency Under Oppression: Feminist Perspectives

Conference

International Conference on agency, heternonmy and the current opression of feminist perspectives. Among others with Manon Garcia, Serene Khader, Regina Schidel and Francesca Cesarano.

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Event
02.06.2026 | Frankfurt

Forensic Truth Regimes

Movie, Panel Discussion

The event explores how documentary film and aesthetic investigations can reopen unresolved questions of justice and accountability by revisiting the 1992 killing of two Romanian Roma men at the German-Polish border and examining the counter-forensic potential of visual media to critique legal violence and truth regimes. It is part of the series “Visual Truth Regimes,” organized by Laliv Melamed (Goethe University Frankfurt, TFM), Felix Trautmann (HBK Braunschweig / Institute for Social Research), and Franziska Wildt (Institute for Social Research).

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Event
22.06.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Rechtsextremismus und Polizei - Erscheinungsformen, Umgangsweisen, Perspektiven

Panel Discussion

Die Diskussion knüpft an den Sammelband „Rechtsextremismus als Herausforderung für Polizei und Gesellschaft“ an, der aktuelle Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Praxis und Zivilgesellschaft zusammenführt.

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News
18.05.2026

Videopodcast-Reihe „Our Planet, Our Health“ gestartet

Mit „Our Planet, Our Health“ startet eine neue Videopodcast-Reihe zu Fragen globaler Gesundheitsgerechtigkeit. Die Reihe, gehostet von Dr. Romina Rekers, ist eine Initiative des Global Health Justice Postdoctoral Programme (GHJ), gefördert von der Höppschen Stiftung.

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Publication
12.05.2026 | Online article

Disinhibited Informalization: Talk Radio, Bro Podcasts and the Aesthetics of Populism

This essay by Johannes Völz is a revised and updated translation of “Enthemmte Informalisierung: Talk Radio, Bro-Podcasts und die Ästhetik des Populismus,” WestEnd: Neue Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung 22.2 (2025): 3–24. It is published here as part of the b2o Review’s “Stop the Right” dossier.

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Event
25./26.06.2026 | Frankfurt

Shifting Regimes, Changing Orders

Conference

Conference as part of WDC2026 in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Designtheorie und -forschung (DGTF), Kunstgewerbemuseum/Design Campus SKD and Design and Democracy

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Publication
22.04.2026 | Chapter

Körpergeschlecht und Selbstbestimmung

Britz, Gabriele (2026): "Körpergeschlecht und Selbstbestimmung". In. Mangold, Anna Katharina; Völzmann, Berit (Hrsg.): Gerechtigkeit als Thema der Rechtswissenschaft, Nomos, S. 41-48.

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Publication
22.04.2026 | Chapter

Festrede zu Ehren von Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ute Sacksofsky, M.P.A. (Harvard), 4. April 2025

Schmidt, Rebecca Caroline; Forst, Rainer; Günther, Klaus (2026): "Festrede zu Ehren von Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ute Sacksofsky, M.P.A. (Harvard), 4. April 2025". In: Mangold, Anna Katharina; Völzmann, Berit (Hrsg.): Gerechtigkeit als Thema der Rechtswissenschaft, Nomos, S. 13-18.

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