Carol Gould

Carol Gould is Distinguished Professor in the Philosophy Department at Hunter College and in the Doctoral Programs in Philosophy and Political Science at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), where she also directs the Center for Global Ethics and Politics at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies. Previously, she held professorships at Temple University and George Mason University.

• Ph.D., Yale University
• B.A., University of Chicago

Gould's research spans social and political philosophy, feminist theory, global justice, and human rights. Her work integrates democratic theory with economic justice, emphasizing 'interactive democracy' that extends participatory decision-making beyond national borders. She develops frameworks for transnational solidarity, structural injustice analysis, and the social ontology of rights, frequently addressing gender inequality in global contexts. Her scholarship bridges theoretical rigor with practical applications in internet governance, labor rights, and pandemic ethics.

Her publications reveal consistent focus on democratizing globalization through human rights frameworks, with recent work analyzing structural injustice, digital democracy, and pandemic-era solidarity. The thematic evolution shows deepening engagement with transnational institutional design while maintaining core commitments to positive freedom and social cooperation.

• 2009 David Easton Award for Globalizing Democracy and Human Rights
• 2015 Joseph B. Gittler Award for Interactive Democracy: The Social Roots of Global Justice

Gould has secured major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Fulbright Program, and Woodrow Wilson Center. As Editor of the Journal of Social Philosophy and Executive Director of the Society for Philosophy and Public Affairs, she shapes scholarly discourse while advising international institutions on global ethics frameworks. Her leadership includes presidency of the American Political Science Association's Human Rights Section and the American Society for Value Inquiry.

She directs the Center for Global Ethics and Politics, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration on transnational justice issues through colloquia and publications. Her work with the Institute for Advanced Study and European University Institute extends this collaborative approach globally.