Meena Krishnamurthy

Meena Krishnamurthy is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and in the program in philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Michigan. She works in political philosophy on a variety of issues such as the value of democracy and the nature of our duties toward the global poor. The underlying theme that runs through her work is a concern with equality (political, economic, and social). She is currently writing a series of related papers on Martin Luther King Jr.'s political philosophy.

Current Work:

A central problem for Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement, more generally, and the Birmingham Campaign, more specifically, was the political inaction of the white moderates. King had assumed that he would have the support of the white moderates, especially the clergymen among them. He was wrong. The white moderates not only did not personally join the movement but also counseled those already in the movement not to demonstrate. Why were the white moderates unmoved, despite knowing that racial segregation was morally wrong? How can and ought the white moderates be moved to engage in political action? Dr. Krishnamurthy's central aim in this research project is to answer both of these questions. She argues that King believed that moral ignorance was the problem. The white moderates simply refused to know how urgent the situation was. Drawing on King;s work, her view is that the political emotions – particularly sympathy and shame – along with nonviolent pressure can and ought to be used to help the white moderates acquire this knowledge, which, in turn, can be used to move the white moderates to engage in political action.

Research Area Keyword(s):

Political philosophy, democratic theory, philosophy of race, colonialism, global justice