Joshua Freedman
Photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones
Welcome! I am a Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics at Oberlin College where I teach courses on global politics, international law, international security, and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. I recently earned a Ph.D. (June 2019) from the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University where I worked with Ian Hurd (chair), Karen Alter, and Elizabeth Shakman Hurd.
My research examines the politics of recognition, identity, and status in international conflict and diplomacy. Elements of this research have been published in the European Journal of International Relations. Public commentary stemming from this research has been featured in the Monkey Cage @ the Washington Post, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and Al Jazeera English.
Recognition campaigns have captured peace-negotiations, they have made reconciliation between adversaries more difficult and conflicts more entrenched, and they have been used to frame, defend, and oppose cooperation between states and international organizations. In my book project I explore the agency that so often lurks behind these struggles, motivating the question of why recognition, and its perceived absence, is so often made to matter.
