Former Fellow

Lonneke Peperkamp

Assistant Professor Philosophy of Law at Radboud University Nijmegen, and IRC Postdoctoral Fellow at University College Dublin

Research project title:
Claiming Subsistence Rights

Research abstract:
Although human rights are enshrined in international law, around 600 million people live in extreme poverty. Many consider the existence of extreme poverty in the face of abundant affluence morally problematic. The field of global distributive justice is concerned with the distribution of burdens and benefits among the global population. The main question is: What should ‘we’ (the affluent) do to address this injustice? Despite large agreement on the claim that we must, indeed, help the global poor, many people do not do that. What demands attention, therefore, is not the question of what ‘we’ should do to alleviate global poverty, but the flipside of that question: What can ‘they’ (the poor) do to secure their rights to subsistence? Potential means vary from peaceful resistance; political pressure; civil disobedience; taking resources from rightful owners; migration; to, most radically, violent resistance or war for subsistence. Such radical means are the focus of this project. The central question is: Can it be justified to claim subsistence rights by using violent means? In answering that question, this research project integrates philosophy (global justice and just war theory), human rights doctrine, and political theory.

Events:
Presentation Political Theory Colloquium June 16, 2020

  • Biografische Angaben

    Lonneke Peperkamp is Assistant Professor in Philosophy of Law at Radboud University Nijmegen, and research fellow at University College Dublin and Goethe University Frankfurt. She currently works on a two-year research project 'Claiming Subsistence Rights'. Her research interests are war and political violence, peace building, space ethics, global justice, poverty, and human rights. She is a member of the Board of Directors of EuroISME (the International Society for Military Ethics in Europe).
  • Publikationen

    L. Peperkamp and R. Tinnevelt (2020), ‘On the Possibility of Justified Subsistence Wars’, book chapter in: A. Chadwick and S. Egan (eds.), Poverty and Human Rights, Edward Elgar Publishing (in press). L. Peperkamp (2020), ‘A Just and Lasting Peace after War’, book chapter in: C. Stahn et. al. (ed.), Jus Post Bellum and the Justice of Peace, Oxford: Oxford University Press. L. Peperkamp (2016), ‘The Blurry Boundaries between War and Peace: Do we need to extend just war theory?’, Archives for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy 102/3, 315- 332. L. Peperkamp (2016), ‘On the Duty to Reconstruct after War: Who is responsible for jus post bellum?’, Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence 29/2, 403- 430. L. Peperkamp (2014), ‘Jus Post Bellum: A case of minimalism versus maximalism?’, Ethical Perspectives 21/3, 255- 288.

News from the research center

News
04.12.2025

The crisis of democratic theory from a sociological perspective

Sociologist Jenny Brichzin's lecture "Crisis of Democratic Theory? A sociological intervention" opened our lecture series "At the crossroads? On the future of democratic theory". The sociologist criticized the fact that social coexistence has so far been insufficiently addressed in democratic theory. A follow-up report

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Publication
21.11.2025 | Anthology

Handbook of Leadership. Applied Business Psychology for Managers

Felfe, Jörg; Dick, Rolf van (eds.) (2025): Handbook of Leadership. Applied Business Psychology for Managers. Springer.

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News
20.11.2025

Voluntary or compulsory? Military service, peace and democratic responsibility

Review of the 58th "Römerberggespräche". The topic of compulsory military service and the question of what a democratic state is allowed to demand of its citizens were at the center of the 58th "Römerberggespräche" "Conditionally ready for action? Military service and the duty to serve the state", which took place on November 15 in cooperation with the Research Centre Normative Orders in the Chagallsaal at Schauspiel Frankfurt.

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News
13.11.2025

Goethe Lecture Offenbach on ableist discrimination

Regina Schidel hat im Rahmen der Goethe Lectures Offenbach eine Kritik ableistischer Diskriminierung präsentiert. In ihrem Vortrag „Ich kann, also bin ich?“ diskutierte sie praktische Ausprägungen und philosophische Herkünfte von Ableismus.

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Event
10.02.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Satanic Politics. Democracy after Liberalism

Lecture, Lecture Series

Lecture by Michael Rosen (Harvard University) as part of the lecture series "At the Crossroads? On the crisis of democracy" in the winter semester 2025/2026

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Event
04.02.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Demokratien verteidigen. Zur Aktualität des Gewaltbegriffs bei Camus und Derrida

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Christine Abbt (Universität St. Gallen) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Am Scheidepunkt? Zur Krise der Demokratie" im Wintersemester 2025/2026

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Event
29.01.2026 | Frankfurt

Civil Geopolitics and the Dilemmas of the Democratic State

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von David Owen (Universtiy of Southampton) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Am Scheidepunkt? Zur Krise der Demokratie" im Wintersemester 2025/2026

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Event
14.01.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Vom Retten der Welt zum Vorbereiten auf den Kollaps: Neuorientierungen in katastrophischen Zeiten

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Christine Hentschel (Universität Hamburg) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Am Scheidepunkt? Zur Krise der Demokratie" im Wintersemester 2025/2026

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Event
10.12.2025 | Frankfurt am Main

How Democracy Relies on the Future

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Jonathan White (LSE) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Am Scheidepunkt? Zur Krise der Demokratie" im Wintersemester 2025/2026

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