Research
My work as a political philosopher offers theoretical tools to address societal challenges democratically. To that end, my research combines the tools of democratic theory, philosophy of race, and applied ethics to examine three key issues: global warming, racial disparities, and AI regulation.
Dissertation
Climate Democracy: A Philosophical Framework
Summary
The magnitude, complexity of the policies required to address climate change, as well as the urgency to implement them, make it hard to imagine how such policies could be entirely democratic. In fact, some activists, social scientists, and political philosophers have questioned whether democracy can effectively address the climate emergency. Is there a form of “climate democracy” where the deployment of timely and adequate climate policies is fully compatible with substantial democratic principles?
Drawing on the tools of democratic theory and environmental ethics, my dissertation addresses this pressing question. I offer a philosophical framework that lays out the democratic principles that should guide and constrain climate policies while guaranteeing the efficiency and expediency required to address global warming. I approach the question from the perspectives of both governments and social movements and inquire what is democratically legitimate (that is, permissible or justifiable in a democracy) for each of these groups of agents to do in the face of the climate emergency. Such framework could help us to distinguish between cases where there is a tradeoff between climate action and democracy and cases where we can resolve the tension between the two. My project invites us to rethink what democracy means in the 21st century in the face of global challenges and to rethink the limits of climate action.
Further applications
I expect my framework for climate action to provide a blueprint for philosophical theories of social change. When they argue for certain policies or social arrangements, political philosophers tend to neglect the insights of social scientists on how to achieve those outcomes, while social scientists may not fully appreciate the ethical dilemmas embedded in political processes. Yet scientifically-informed normative theories of change would benefit the work of philosophers and social scientists alike. My dissertation experiments with how such a theory would look like. Drawing on political science and environmental social science, I formulate the guidelines to achieve climate goals democratically or, at least, identify the stages at which we are sacrificing democracy for the sake of climate policies. But tensions between democracy and competing political values is likely to arise in other struggles to address structural problems, like systemic racism, economic inequalities, or AI expansion. Hence the potential of my project to apply beyond the climate emergency.
Current paper projects
[Drafts available upon request]
Climate Ethics
Democratic Theory
Defending Democracy Through Climate Activism
Published in Environmental Ethics, fall 2026
DOI: 10.5840/enviroethics2026917123
Climate activists sometimes resort to harmful practices and are thereby portrayed as undemocratic. But insofar as climate change threatens democratic governance, could such practices be permissible in a democratic society because they defend democracy? This paper offers a framework to assess harmful practices that defend democracy and examines the permissibility of ecotage (sabotage of fossil fuel infrastructure to disincentivize investment in fossil fuels). A practice defends democracy whenever it impedes other practices or actions from undermining the institutions and structures needed for democratic governance. More specifically, ecotage defends democracy by fighting a threat to the background structures of democracy. However, ecotage remains conditionally permissible. It is a necessary and proportionate harm with some chance of succeeding at disincentivizing fossil fuel investment and averting a threat to democracy. To remain permissible, though, ecotage must prevent downstream effects that may undermine democratic systems.
Pre-print available here. Please refer to the published version for citations.
Climate Ethics
Democratic Theory
Representing Future Generations
Argues that democracy requires to guarantee the stability of democratic institutions for future generations, who may not even be alive yet.
Democratic Theory
Informal Norms in Modern Democracies
Examines whether Michael Bratman’s plan rationality model accounts for massive compliance with informal norms that contribute to the stability of modern democracies.
AI Ethics
Philosophy of Race
Racial Discrimination in Machine Learning Models
Offers a theory of algorithmic discrimination on the basis of race.
Presented at AI and Date Ethics Summer School at Northeastern University and Cornell’s Ethics and Politics in Computing Colloquium.
Currently: R&R
Racism as a Homeostatic System
Examines whether racism is best theorized as a “homeostatic system."
Presented at the 2022 UMSL Philosophy of Activism Conference and the 2022 Latinx Philosophy Conference.