Family in Western Political Thought

Date: 21 April 2023

The family is simultaneously under attack and yet considered important by almost all political leaders today. The family is both politically pivotal and politically vulnerable. Why is this? How have political thinkers understood the relationship between politics and the household? What constructive role does the family play in the shaping of political life? Rather than focusing on the sociological, psychological, or economic evidence about the importance of the family, this lecture explores the ways that political thinkers across Western history have understood the relationship between the family and political society. In this way, it aims to provide fresh answers to the question of why the family matters for politics today.

Speakers:
- Dr. Simon P. Kennedy, Visiting Fellow at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland
- Professor Daniel J. Mahoney, Danube Institute Visiting Fellow, author of the winner of the Conservative Book of the Year for 2023
- John O’Sullivan, The President of President, Danube Institute