Richard Bourke (academic)

• History
• philosophy
• political science

Richard Bourke FBA
Bourke lecturing in 2016
Born	1965 (age 60–61) London
Citizenship	Irish
Academic background
Education	St. Kilian's German School
Alma mater	University College, Dublin (BA) St Catherine's College, Oxford King's College, Cambridge (PhD) Birkbeck College, London (BA)
Institutions	King's College, Cambridge Queen Mary, University of London
Notable works	Romantic Discourse and Political Modernity Peace in Ireland: The War of Ideas Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke Hegel's World Revolutions
Website	www.hist.cam.ac.uk/people/prof-richard-bourke

Richard Bourke FBA (born 1965) is a UK-based Irish academic specialising in the history of political ideas. His work spans ancient and modern thought, ^[1] and is associated with the application of the historical method to political theory. ^{[2] [3]} He is Professor of the History of Political Thought at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. ^[4] He was formerly Professor of the History of Political Thought and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought at Queen Mary, University of London. ^[5] In July 2018 Bourke was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). ^[6]

Life and career

Bourke grew up in Dublin, where he attended St. Kilian's German School. In 1986 he earned a BA in English and Philosophy at University College, Dublin. ^[7] He then spent a year at St Catherine's College, Oxford, before taking up a research studentship at King's College, Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD in 1990. ^[8] Bourke subsequently earned a second BA in Classics at Birkbeck College, University of London. ^[9]

After a three-year lectureship in Dublin, Bourke moved to Queen Mary, University of London where, in 2012, he became Professor in the History of Political Thought and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought. In 2018 he was elected to the Chair in the History of Political Thought at the University of Cambridge. ^[10] In 2022 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts by University College Dublin. ^[11] Bourke has held various visiting fellowships in the United States, ^[12] and was a Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin in 2014–15. ^[7]

Bourke has published widely on the history of political thought, including on ancient political ideas and Enlightenment intellectual history. He has also published in Irish history, particularly on the political conflict in Northern Ireland. ^{[13] [14]} His work has engaged with a range of issues in historiography and political theory, including Romanticism, the Enlightenment, the Ancien Régime, political judgement, sovereignty, nationalism and democracy. ^[15] He is currently working on the philosophy of history and writing a history of democracy. ^[5] Bourke's Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke was named a book of the year by several sources in 2015, including The Observer, ^[16] The Spectator, ^[17] and The Irish Times. ^[18] According to the Royal Historical Society, the work "revolutionised" the way Burke has been viewed. ^[19] Bourke has lectured around the world, and written for a variety of journals and newspapers including The Financial Times, The Times Literary Supplement, ^[20] and The Nation. ^[21]

Prizes

• 2017 Honourable Mention in the Association of American Publishers annual PROSE Awards for The Princeton History of Modern Ireland. ^[22]
• 2016 Choice Outstanding Academic Title for The Princeton History of Modern Ireland. ^[23]
• 2015 Joint Winner of the István Hont Memorial Prize in Intellectual History. ^[24]
• 2016 Book of the Year for The Princeton History of Modern Ireland in The Irish Times and RTÉ/Irish Booksellers. ^[25]
• 2016 Honourable Mention in the Association of American Publishers annual PROSE Awards for Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke. ^[26]
• 2015 Book of the Year for Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke in The Observer, The Irish Times, The Spectator, The Claremont Review of Books, RTÉ, The Indian Express, The National Review. ^[27]
• 2005 Sir Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize for Peace in Ireland: The War of Ideas (Final Short-List). ^[28]
• 2000 Institute of Historical Research/Weidenfeld & Nicolson History Prize for Manuscript of Peace in Ireland: The War of Ideas (Final Short-list).^{[ citation needed ]}

Works

Books

• Bourke, Richard (2023). Hegel?s World Revolutions. Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/jj.2809009. ISBN   978-0-691-25312-1. ^[29]
• Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke (Princeton University Press, 2015). ^[30]

• Peace in Ireland: The War of Ideas (Random House, 2003; 2nd edition with new Preface, 2012). ^[31]

• Romantic Discourse and Political Modernity (Simon & Schuster, Harvester: 1993). ^[32]
• (ed. with Quentin Skinner), History in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Cambridge University Press, 2023). ^[33]
• (ed. with Niamh Gallagher), The Political Thought of the Irish Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2022). ^[34]
• (ed. with Ian McBride), The Princeton History of Modern Ireland (Princeton University Press, 2016). ^[35]
• (ed. with Quentin Skinner), Popular Sovereignty in Historical Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2016). ^[36]
• (ed. with Raymond Geuss), Political Judgement: Essays for John Dunn (Cambridge University Press, 2009). ^[37]

Film

• (with Dina Gusejnova), Rosenöl und Deutscher Geist: The Fortunes of German Intellectual History. [38]

References

1. "Gerald Stourzh Lectures on the History of Human Rights and Democracy » 2017 Richard Bourke". gerald-stourzh-vorlesungen.univie.ac.at.
2. Womersley, David (July/August 2015). "Reflections On Bourke's Burke". Standpoint.
3. Bourke, Richard. "The Cambridge School" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 October 2017.
4. "Professor Richard Bourke, FBA — Faculty of History".
5. "Professor Richard Bourke - School of History". www.history.qmul.ac.uk.
6. "Record number of academics elected to British Academy | British Academy". British Academy. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
7. "Richard Bourke, Ph.D." www.wiko-berlin.de.
8. "Richard Bourke". www.penguin.co.uk.
9. "Prof Richard Bourke | Faculty of History University of Cambridge".
10. "Richard Bourke to be next Professor of the History of Political Thought — Faculty of History".
11. "News and Events - UCD School of Philosophy".
12. "Richard Bourke Archives - Huizinga Instituut". Huizinga Instituut.
13. "Renewal - James Stafford - Alvin Jackson: The Two Unions; Richard Bourke: Peace in Ireland". www.renewal.org.uk.
14. Ferguson, Iain (3 October 2005). "'Peace in Ireland: the war of ideas,' Richard Bourke". openDemocracy.
15. "Academic staff | MA in the History of Political Thought and Intellectual History".
16. "Best books of 2015 – part two". the Guardian. 29 November 2015.
17. "Books of the Year: the best and most overrated of 2015 - The Spectator". 14 November 2015.
18. "The year in books: what have the writers been reading in 2015?". The Irish Times .
19. "Early-Modern Intellectual Biographies Workshop". Royal Historical Society. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
20. "Publications: Prof Richard Bourke". www.researchpublications.qmul.ac.uk.
21. "Richard Bourke". 19 April 2016.
22. "2017 Award Winners - PROSE Awards". Association of American Publishers. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017.
23. The Princeton History of Modern Ireland. Princeton University Press. 12 January 2016. ISBN   9780691154060. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017.
24. "István Hont Book Prize". Institute of Intellectual History. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017.
25. Ó Tuathaigh, Gearóid. "The Princeton History of Modern Ireland edited by Richard Bourke & Ian McBride". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
26. "2016 Award Winners - PROSE Awards". Association of American Publishers. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017.
27. Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke. Princeton University Press. 2 May 2017. ISBN   9780691175652. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017.
28. "Winners and shortlists | Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize".
29. "Hegel Is Still an Important Thinker for the Left". jacobin.com. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
30. For reviews, see:
    • Carroll, Ross (Winter 2017). "Review of Richard Bourke's Empire and Revolution: the Political Life of Edmund Burke". History of Political Thought. 38 (4): pp. 779–85.
    • Deane, Seamus (October 2015). "Civilising Influence". Literary Review.
    • Kidd, Colin (4 February 2016). "Misappropriation". London Review of Books.
    • Mulford, Carla J. (Summer 2017). "Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke by Richard Bourke (review)". Eighteenth-Century Studies. 50 (4): 447–450. doi:10.1353/ecs.2017.0036. S2CID   157849425.
    • Price, Richard N. (December 2016). "Richard Bourke. Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke". The American Historical Review. 121 (5): 1740–1741. doi:10.1093/ahr/121.5.1740.
31. For reviews, see:
    • Arthur, Paul (October 2004). The Political Quarterly. 75 (4): 429–448.
    • Aughey, Arthur (February 2004). "The Democratic Troubles". Prospect Magazine.
    • Howe, Stephen (11 September 2003). "Complex Thoughts in Troubled Times". The Independent.
    • Jeffery, Keith (11 February 2005). "Imperial Measures". Times Literary Supplement.
32. Review by Nigel Leask (19 November 1993). "Beyond Frankenstein". Times Literary Supplement.
33. Bourke, Richard; Skinner, Quentin, eds. (2022). History in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009231053. ISBN   9781009231053.
34. "The Primacy of Politics".
35. For reviews, see:
    • Aughey, Arthur (12 May 2016). "The Princeton History of Modern Ireland". Irish Political Studies. 32 (2): 358-360.
    • Foster, Roy (13 July 2016). "Book of the Irish". Times Literary Supplement.
    • Ó Tuathaigh, Gearóid (6 February 2016). "The Princeton History of Modern Ireland edited by Richard Bourke & Ian McBride". The Irish Times.
36. For reviews, see:
    • Slingo, Ben (5 May 2017). "How Popular Sovereignty Works". The Times Literary Supplement.
    • Wallach, John R (2017). "Sovereignty New and Old". Political Theory.
37. For reviews, see:
    • Digeser, Paige (2011). "Caught Unaware". Political Theory. 39 (4): 524–534. doi:10.1177/0090591711408249. S2CID   220723207.
    • Marshall, David L. (2010). "Political Judgement: Essays for John Dunn. Edited by Bourke Richard and Geuss Raymond. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 368p. $90.00. Paradoxes of Political Ethics: From Dirty Hands to the Invisible Hand. By Parrish John M.. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 296p. $90.00 Cloth, $39.99 Paper". Perspectives on Politics. 8 (4): 1207–1209. doi:10.1017/S1537592710002501.
    • Floyd, Jonathan (October 2010). "Should Political Theory Be More Realistic?". Res Publica. 16 (3): 337–47.
38. "Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin".

External links

• Richard Bourke's University of Cambridge Web Page
• King's College, Cambridge Web Page
• British Academy Web Page
• Interviews with Richard Bourke
• Film on German Intellectual History
• Articles for Unherd
• Unionism and Partition Lecture
• Cambridge Inaugural Lecture