Katy Wells
Associate Professor
katy.wells@warwick.ac.uk
Room: E2.19
For Term 1 A&F hours please see my Advice and Feedback Booking Form.
Profile
I am Associate Professor in Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Studies.
My research interests lie within normative political theory. I work on questions of housing justice, friendship and family, and the ethics of personal relationships.
Teaching
For 2026-27 I am module director for:
- PO2E2: Topics in Political Theory (Term 2)
Publications
Wells, Katy "State Neutrality and Housing Tenure: What Can States Promote?". Journal of Applied Philosophy (2026).
Wells, Katy "Empowerment and obsolescence: rejecting the self-transcending power claim". Analysis (2025).
McTernan, Emily & Wells, Katy. "Against Parental Devotion: On Power, Friendships, and Flourishing". Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (2025).
Wells, Katy. "Homelessness and Freedom". Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (2022).
Wells, Katy. "Crucial Options: Dagan on Self-Determination and Structural Pluralism". King's Law Journal (2022).
Jenkins, David, Katy Wells & Kimberley Brownlee. "Adequate Housing in a Pandemic". In Political Philosophy in a Pandemic, ed. Fay Niker and Aveek Bhattacharya (Bloomsbury, 2021).
Wells, Katy. 鈥淪tate-led Gentrification and Self-respect鈥�. Political Studies (2021).
Wells, Katy. 鈥淩enting Personal Goods鈥�. Social Theory and Practice (2019).
Wells, Katy. 鈥淭he Right to Housing鈥�. Political Studies (2018).
Wells, Katy. 鈥淭he Right to Personal Property鈥�. Politics, Philosophy & Economics (2016).
Wells, Katy. 鈥淗igh Liberalism and Weak Economic Freedoms鈥�. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (2016).
Selected Recent Presentations
2025 鈥淕hosting and Decency鈥�, Cambridge Contemporary Political Thought Seminar, University of Cambridge
2024 鈥�State Neutrality, Tenure, and Choice of Housing鈥�, PPE Journal Symposium on Justice and Housing, PPE Society Conference, New Orleans
2024 鈥�State Neutrality, Tenure, and Choice of Housing鈥�, MANCEPT seminar series, Department of Politics, University of Manchester
2024 鈥�State Neutrality and Housing鈥�, Housing and Social Justice Conference, University of Montreal
2023 鈥淗ome Ownership and the State鈥�, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies Seminar Series, University of Bristol
2023 鈥淩enting and Failure鈥�, Justice in Space Conference, Erasmus University Rotterdam