Katrina Max Forrester (born 1986) is a British political theorist and historian, and the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Her research interests are in the history of liberalism and the left in the postwar US and Britain; Marxism, feminism, and psychoanalysis; climate politics; and theories of work and capitalism. Her ''In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy'' won a number of academic awards. She has written on a variety of topics for the ''London Review of Books'', ''The New Yorker'', ''Dissent'', ''N+1'', ''Harper's'' and ''The Guardian'', amongst others.

Early life and education

Forrester was born in 1986 to parents

Lisa Appignanesi Lisa Appignanesi (born Elżbieta Borensztejn; 4 January 1946) is a British-Canadian writer, novelist, and campaigner for free expression. Until 2021, she was the Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, and is a former President of English PEN ...

and John P. Forrester. Her mother is an author and her father was a professor in the department of history and philosophy of science at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. While completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge, she also held a research fellowship at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

Career

Upon completing her fellowship, Forrester accepted a permanent lectureship at

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

until 2017 when she joined the faculty at

. During the 2017–18 academic year, she co-edited ''Nature, Action and the Future: Political Thought and the Environment'' with Sophie Smith. Forrester held a Kluge Fellowship at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

from 2019 to 2020 and was selected to deliver the Quentin Skinner Lecture at Cambridge in 2023. Forrester's book ''In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy'' received the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

Merle Curti Award The Merle Curti Award is awarded annually by the Organization of American Historians for the best book in American social and/or American intellectual history. It is named in honor of Merle Curti Merle Eugene Curti (September 15, 1897 – March ...

for Best Book in Intellectual History by the Organization of American Historians the Society for US Intellectual History's Book Award, the International Conference for the Study of Political Thought's David and Elaine Spitz Prize, the Montreal Political Theory Manuscript Workshop Award, and was shortlisted for the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

's Gladstone Prize 2020. and the European Consortium for Political Research's Political Theory Prize. She later co-edited a special section of ''Dissent'' with Moira Weigel.

Personal life

Forrester married Jamie Robert Martin in 2019. In the 2000s, she was an activist with the direct action group

Plane Stupid Plane Stupid is a UK-focused group of environmental protesters who state their aim as wanting to see an end to airport expansion for what it sees as "unnecessary and unsustainable" flights. It is a loose association of autonomous regional gro ...

and with the Camp for Climate Action, later writing about her experiences with police and corporate spying on climate activists for the

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forrester, Katrina Living people 1986 births 21st-century English women writers English political scientists British women historians 21st-century English historians Harvard University faculty Alumni of the University of Cambridge Women political scientists