Jean L. Cohen

Who is Jean L. Cohen?

Jean Louise Cohen is Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. She specializes in contemporary political and legal theory with particular research interests in democratic theory, critical theory, Civil society, gender and the law. She received her PhD in 1979 from the New School for Social Research. She served as Assistant Professor of Social Science at Bennington College from 1980-1983 and as Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley before coming to Columbia. Cohen is also Associate Editor of the journals Constellations and Dissent. Her current project concerns rethinking state and popular sovereignty in the epoch of globalization. Jean L. Cohen serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Council's journal, Ethics & International Affairs. Civil Society and Political Theory, co-authored with Andrew Arato, is viewed by many as a seminal text on contemporary civil society.

Research Interests: Sovereignty, International Law, Global justice, Governance, Contemporary Political Theory, Continental Political Theory, Germany, France, American Legal Theory, Feminist Theory, Civil Society, Privacy, Gender and Sexuality, Social Movements, Rights.