This is a bit late, but important. One of the most important political philosophers of the last two decades, University of Chicago professor Iris Marion Young, died August 1 after a fight with cancer. Young was best known for her work on justice, race, and difference. Her 1990 book Justice and the Politics of Difference was (and still is) a landmark. This work critically re-evaluated the liberal theory of justice (most forcefully argued by John Rawls in his 1971 A Theory of Justice), arguing that social differences should be affirmed not suppressed.

Importantly, Young combined her academic work with political work on the ground, fighting for women’s rights, workers rights, and debt relief for Africa.

And importantly — a lesson to all academics — she was a generous person. As one colleague said, “It never ceased to amaze me how someone of such immense scholarly stature and distinction could be so unfailingly generous with her students and so completely egalitarian with her colleagues”.

A big loss.