Fabrizio Sciacca
Professore ordinario di [GSPS-01/A]
Fabrizio Sciacca
Professor of Political Philosophy
Departmental Research Lead
Department of Political and Social Sciences
University of Catania
Centre for Law, Democracy and Society
School of Law
Queen Mary University of London
Email: fsciacca@unict.it
ORCID ID 0000-0001-5003-3941
RESEARCH PROFILE
I am a political philosopher with a legal background.
My early academic formation benefited from extended periods abroad under the guidance of Robert Alexy, Alessandro Baratta, and Otfried Höffe.
My research in normative political theory examines the forms and limits of political authority and the relations between justice, rights, normativity, and power.
My work develops along four connected strands:
(1) democratic theory and legitimacy, with attention to how contemporary modes of governance are justified, contested, and embedded in legal and institutional practice;
(2) Kantian and Hegelian approaches to political normativity and to the normative architecture of constitutional and legal orders, across constitutional theory, legal theory, and metaethics;
(3) political symbolism and the relations between philosophy and literature, with particular reference to Franz Kafka as a lens on authority, power, and the lived experience of legal normativity;
(4) a critical account of rights as a moral and political grammar shaped by inherited narratives that condition what can count as ‘universal’ in modern political discourse.
KEYWORDS/AREAS
Normative Political Theory; Justice and Rights; Democratic Theory; Political Authority and Power; Constitutional Theory; Legal Theory; Normativity of Law and Institutions; Metaethics; Technology and Governance.
ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP
2025–present Departmental Research Lead, University of Catania
2012–2023 Director of the PhD Programme in Political Science, University of Catania
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2024–present Affiliate Member, Centre for Law, Democracy and Society, Queen Mary University of London
2004–present Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Catania
EDUCATION
PhD in Legal Philosophy (with highest honours), Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa
BA in Law (with highest honours), University of Catania
VISITING APPOINTMENTS
2025 – Visiting Professor, Facultat de Dret, Universitat de València
2024 – Visiting Professor, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London
2000 – Visiting Scholar, Institut für Rechtsphilosophie und Öffentliches Recht, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
1996–1997 – Visiting Scholar, Philosophisches Seminar, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen
1994–1995 – Visiting Scholar, Institut für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie, Universität des Saarlandes
SELECTED RESEARCH PROJECTS AND GRANTS
2024–2026 Principal Investigator of the University-funded Research Group “Technopower and the Metamorphosis of Democracy” (TECMED).
2023–2027 Co-Principal Investigator of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network "Climate Urgency" (C-URGE)
2025-2028 Member of the research group “Justice in the 21st Century”, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Research and Innovation staff exchanges project.
2018–2024: Member of the reaserch group "Kant in South America", a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Research and Innovation staff exchanges project.
2013–2017: Principal Investigator of the TEMPUS European Programme "Strengthening Higher Education for Social Policy Making and Social Services Delivery" (SHESPSS).
2009–2012 Key Staff Member, AHRC-funded Research Network "Institutionalising Values: Beyond Human Rights?" (University of Stirling)
2008–2010 Lead Researcher, PRIN Project "Paradigms of Constitutionalism in Modern and Contemporary European Thought”
2005-2009 Academic Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Action “Human Rights and European Identity,” funded by the European Commission.
PUBLICATIONS
Author of approximately one hundred scholarly publications, including monographs, peer-reviewed journal articles, edited volumes, and critical editions.
Full publication list available on request.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Member, SIFP; IVR; GAP; SIFA; ESAP; Kant-Gesellschaft
LANGUAGES
Italian (native)
English and German (fluent)
French and Nordic languages (working proficiency)
Professor of Political Philosophy
Departmental Research Lead
Department of Political and Social Sciences
University of Catania
Centre for Law, Democracy and Society
School of Law
Queen Mary University of London
Email: fsciacca@unict.it
ORCID ID 0000-0001-5003-3941
RESEARCH PROFILE
I am a political philosopher with a legal background.
My early academic formation benefited from extended periods abroad under the guidance of Robert Alexy, Alessandro Baratta, and Otfried Höffe.
My research in normative political theory examines the forms and limits of political authority and the relations between justice, rights, normativity, and power.
My work develops along four connected strands:
(1) democratic theory and legitimacy, with attention to how contemporary modes of governance are justified, contested, and embedded in legal and institutional practice;
(2) Kantian and Hegelian approaches to political normativity and to the normative architecture of constitutional and legal orders, across constitutional theory, legal theory, and metaethics;
(3) political symbolism and the relations between philosophy and literature, with particular reference to Franz Kafka as a lens on authority, power, and the lived experience of legal normativity;
(4) a critical account of rights as a moral and political grammar shaped by inherited narratives that condition what can count as ‘universal’ in modern political discourse.
KEYWORDS/AREAS
Normative Political Theory; Justice and Rights; Democratic Theory; Political Authority and Power; Constitutional Theory; Legal Theory; Normativity of Law and Institutions; Metaethics; Technology and Governance.
ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP
2025–present Departmental Research Lead, University of Catania
2012–2023 Director of the PhD Programme in Political Science, University of Catania
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2024–present Affiliate Member, Centre for Law, Democracy and Society, Queen Mary University of London
2004–present Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Catania
EDUCATION
PhD in Legal Philosophy (with highest honours), Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa
BA in Law (with highest honours), University of Catania
VISITING APPOINTMENTS
2025 – Visiting Professor, Facultat de Dret, Universitat de València
2024 – Visiting Professor, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London
2000 – Visiting Scholar, Institut für Rechtsphilosophie und Öffentliches Recht, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
1996–1997 – Visiting Scholar, Philosophisches Seminar, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen
1994–1995 – Visiting Scholar, Institut für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie, Universität des Saarlandes
SELECTED RESEARCH PROJECTS AND GRANTS
2024–2026 Principal Investigator of the University-funded Research Group “Technopower and the Metamorphosis of Democracy” (TECMED).
2023–2027 Co-Principal Investigator of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network "Climate Urgency" (C-URGE)
2025-2028 Member of the research group “Justice in the 21st Century”, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Research and Innovation staff exchanges project.
2018–2024: Member of the reaserch group "Kant in South America", a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Research and Innovation staff exchanges project.
2013–2017: Principal Investigator of the TEMPUS European Programme "Strengthening Higher Education for Social Policy Making and Social Services Delivery" (SHESPSS).
2009–2012 Key Staff Member, AHRC-funded Research Network "Institutionalising Values: Beyond Human Rights?" (University of Stirling)
2008–2010 Lead Researcher, PRIN Project "Paradigms of Constitutionalism in Modern and Contemporary European Thought”
2005-2009 Academic Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Action “Human Rights and European Identity,” funded by the European Commission.
PUBLICATIONS
Author of approximately one hundred scholarly publications, including monographs, peer-reviewed journal articles, edited volumes, and critical editions.
Full publication list available on request.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Member, SIFP; IVR; GAP; SIFA; ESAP; Kant-Gesellschaft
LANGUAGES
Italian (native)
English and German (fluent)
French and Nordic languages (working proficiency)
VISUALIZZA LE PUBBLICAZIONI
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