THE CONVERSATION: Why Norman Geras’s essay ‘Our Morals’ should be essential reading for politics students – not a subversive threat

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Politics students at the University of Reading were reportedly told to “take care” when reading an essay by the late political theorist, Norman Geras. The Observer newspaper reported the students were warned about the essay – which was on their reading list – in order not to fall foul of Prevent, the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy.

I worked closely with Geras, who was a professor at the University of Manchester for most of his career. The essay in question – “Our Morals: The Ethics of Revolution” – has a carefully circumscribed justification for political violence in the most extreme circumstances.