Levente (Lev) Szentkirályi† is a doctoral student of Political Science at the University of Colorado. His principal fields of study are normative political theory and international relations (with substantive interests in environmental politics and policy as well). Lev’s research and writing have largely focused on social contract theory and Lockean liberalism, environmental justice and environmental human rights, and rights of self-defense. His dissertation project, for instance, attempts to defend a human right to a livable environment by appealing to principles of Lockean political thought.
Nevertheless, Lev’s research interests are diverse. He is also concerned, e.g., with better understanding the determinants of revolutionary conflict and third-party military intervention, the merits and limits of resorting to violence in self-defense, and the mechanisms for implementing successful and enduring public policies with regard to the management of common pool natural resources.
Levente will be presenting part of a substantive chapter of his dissertation next spring at the 2013 Western Political Science Association conference — a paper that juxtaposes natural and conventional rights theory, and begins to build a robust defense of framing protections against environmental harms in terms of natural rights. He will also be delivering a presentation at the Peace Science Society/International Studies Association joint conference in Budapest, Hungary this summer — regarding his manuscript on the influence of rebel group size (as a proxy for legitimacy) on the likelihood of external military intervention.
† pronounced: sěnt-kē-rŏ-yē :: “sent-key-rah-yee”
