Burke Hendrix

Burke Hendrix is a Professor and Associate Department Head in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oregon, College of Arts and Sciences. His scholarly work bridges normative political theory, indigenous politics, and global justice, with a deep engagement in historical and contemporary questions of sovereignty, territoriality, and historical injustice.

• University: University of Oregon
• School: College of Arts and Sciences
• Department: Department of Political Science
• Position: Professor, Associate Department Head

His research interests include normative political theory, indigenous politics, global justice, history of political thought, political authority, state territoriality, historical injustice, and the ethics of political action. He has a special focus on non-ideal theory as applied to indigenous rights and has taught courses on the Enlightenment, liberalism, conservatism, just war theory, and comparative political thought, including classical Chinese and Indian traditions such as Han Fei and Kautilya.

The recent publications and ongoing research reflect a sustained engagement with indigenous sovereignty, land rights, and the moral implications of colonialism. His work often explores how political theory can address persistent injustices and the agency of colonized peoples. Themes of memory, compensation, and political recognition recur across his scholarship, particularly in relation to Aboriginal and Native American communities in North America.

Burke Hendrix has organized significant academic conferences on American Indian and First Nations sovereignty and on the agency of colonized individuals globally, demonstrating leadership in interdisciplinary and decolonial scholarship.

Burke Hendrix is the author of two major books: Ownership, Authority, and Self-Determination: Moral Principles and Indigenous Rights Claims (2008) and Strategies of Justice: Aboriginal Peoples, Persistent Injustice, and the Ethics of Political Action (2019), as well as co-editor of Colonial Exchanges: Political Theory and the Agency of the Colonized (2017). He is currently completing a book on non-ideal theory and indigenous politics.

He advises graduate and undergraduate students in political theory and related fields, though specific student names are not listed. His research has been supported through university resources and academic collaborations, including conference organization and publication in leading journals such as Perspectives on Politics, Political Theory, and Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review.

He leads and participates in research initiatives such as the Alternatives of Sovereignty and Colonialism and Agency projects, which serve as platforms for interdisciplinary dialogue on indigenous and postcolonial political thought.