Yara Al Salman receives two national awards for research on group ownership
Yara Al Salman, Associate Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy at Utrecht University, receives both the Keetje Hodshon Award and the Legatium Stolpianum for her PhD research ‘Sharing in Common: A Republican Defence of Group Ownership’.
Democratic group ownership
The concept group ownership can be found worldwide, from farmland to insurance funds. Yet, Al Salman observed, political philosophers have not written extensively about the subject. In her dissertation, she provides a theoretical framework to explore how democratic group ownership contributes to equitable power relations. She concludes that group ownership is often preferable to hierarchical corporate structures for a free and equal society.
Societal relevance
With her thesis, Al Salman managed to convince both juries. Besides Al Salman’s approach to the philosophical basis of group ownership, the Legatium Stolpianum jury also praised her thorough analysis, interdisciplinary approach, and positive vision of the future. “This dissertation truly outlines a better future for our societies,” jury member James McAllister says.
The jury of the Keetje Hodshon Award also recognises the societal relevance of Al Salman’s research, in which she shows that it can work to their advantage when people take responsibility together through group ownership. “With her dissertation, she makes an important contribution to the debate on how a society should be structured,” the jury report stated.
Yara Al Salman
Yara Al Salman has been an Associate Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy since 2022. Prior to this, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher in Political Philosophy. Her research focuses on the political philosophy of property, commons, democracy, freedom, and domination. She obtained her doctorate in 2022 for her dissertation, for which she also received the two aforementioned awards.
Keetje Hodshon Award and The Legatum Stolpianum
The Keetje Hodshon Award, awarded by The Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW), aims to honour original research in the humanities. It is an incentive award for researchers who have not received their PhD no longer than four years prior to the award year. The prize includes an award of 12,500 euros.
The Legatum Stolpianum was established at Leiden University in 1753 by Jan Stolp (1671-1753), making it the oldest surviving Dutch academic prize. It is awarded every five years to recognise a PhD dissertation defended at a Dutch university, prominently featuring ethical and philosophical components.