Salih Emre Gercek

Assistant Professor

Political Science

Salih Emre Gercek received his PhD from Northwestern University. His research and teaching interests are in the history of political thought and democratic theory, with a particular attention to themes of equality, participation, and political economy. His other line of research engages with efforts to rethink democracy and collectivity in continental political thought. His work has
appeared in European Journal of Political Theory, The Review of Politics, and Modern Intellectual History.

He is currently working on a book project that explores how the modern idea of democracy emerged and evolved in nineteenth century European thought against the background of the“social question” – i.e. the debates over the problems of poverty, class domination, and social conflict. More specifically, through an investigation of the thought of Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Louis Blanc, and Jeanne Deroin, this project recovers how democratic egalitarianism and participation were seen as ways of repairing social bonds, improving the conditions of the working classes, and promoting the common good.