Sean Fleming

Contact

• workRoom B60 Law & Social Sciences
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• Sean.Fleming@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Sean Fleming is a Nottingham Research Fellow in the School of Politics and International Relations. His work has two main strands.

The first is about the growing backlash against modern technology and the ideologies that motivate it. His book on the Unabomber and anti-technology radicalism will be published by Cornell University Press in 2026, and he has published related articles in the American Political Science Review and the Journal of Political Ideologies. Sean is currently working on articles about Jacques Ellul's political thought, sabotage, and the problem of hypocrisy in radical critiques of technology.

The second strand of Sean's work is about Thomas Hobbes's political thought and theories of personhood. His book, Leviathan on a Leash: A Theory of State Responsibility, was published by Princeton University Press in 2020, and he has published related articles in the European Journal of Political Theory, the European Journal of International Relations, International Theory, and the Journal of Political Philosophy. His forthcoming article in the American Political Science Review, "Ecological Personhood: A Bridging Approach" (with Mónica Brito Vieira) uses Hobbes to theorize ascriptions of personhood to natural entities, such as rivers, mountains, and forests.

Expertise Summary

• Political ideologies
• Green political theory
• Personhood and responsibility

Selected Publications

• SEAN FLEMING, 2022. The Unabomber and the Origins of Anti-Tech Radicalism Journal of Political Ideologies. 27(2), 207-225
• SEAN FLEMING, 2021. Leviathan on Trial: Should States Be Held Criminally Responsible? International Theory. 13(3), 427-450
• SEAN FLEMING, 2021. The Two Faces of Personhood: Hobbes, Corporate Agency and the Personality of the State European Journal of Political Theory. 20(1), 5-26
• SEAN FLEMING, 2020. A Political Theory of Treaty Repudiation The Journal of Political Philosophy. 28(1), 3-26

• View all publications

• SEAN FLEMING and MÓNICA BRITO VIEIRA, 2025. Ecological Personhood: A Bridging Approach American Political Science Review. (In Press.)
• SEAN FLEMING, 2024. Searching for Ecoterrorism: The Crucial Case of the Unabomber American Political Science Review. 118(4), 1986-99
• SEAN FLEMING, 2022. The Unabomber and the Origins of Anti-Tech Radicalism Journal of Political Ideologies. 27(2), 207-225
• SEAN FLEMING, 2021. Leviathan on Trial: Should States Be Held Criminally Responsible? International Theory. 13(3), 427-450
• SEAN FLEMING, 2021. The Two Faces of Personhood: Hobbes, Corporate Agency and the Personality of the State European Journal of Political Theory. 20(1), 5-26
• SEAN FLEMING, 2020. A Political Theory of Treaty Repudiation The Journal of Political Philosophy. 28(1), 3-26
• SEAN FLEMING, 2020. Leviathan on a Leash: A Theory of State Responsibility Princeton University Press.
• SEAN FLEMING, 2017. Moral Agents and Legal Persons: The Ethics and the Law of State Responsibility International Theory. 9(3), 466-489
• SEAN FLEMING, 2017. Artificial Persons and Attributed Actions: How to Interpret Action-Sentences about States European Journal of International Relations. 23(4), 930-950