Lida Maxwell

Lida Maxwell is a Professor of Political Science and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Boston University. She holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and a B.A. from Wellesley College. Her research focuses on political theory, feminist theory, queer theory, contemporary democratic theory, environmental political theory, and law and politics. She has authored Public Trials: Burke, Zola, Arendt, and the Politics of Lost Causes (Oxford UP, 2015), co-edited Second Nature: Rethinking Nature Through Politics (Fordham UP, 2014), and co-authored The Right to Have Rights (Verso, 2018). Current projects include a book on Chelsea Manning’s truth-telling and environmental-queer political theory.

Her work critically engages with themes of truth-telling, environmental justice, queer activism, and legal-political systems. Recent articles explore topics like Foucault’s parrhesia, water-based geopolitics, and whistleblower masculinity. She maintains an office in PLS 206 and can be reached at lmaxwell@bu.edu.

Professor Maxwell’s research bridges normative theory and contemporary political struggles, emphasizing marginalized voices and intersectional analyses. Her scholarship challenges conventional frameworks in political theory through feminist, queer, and ecological lenses.