TÄHTINEN, Lauri Matti Oskar

Max Weber Fellow 2011-2012  

Email Lauri.Tahtinen@EUI.eu 
Tel. [+39] 055 4685 628
Office VF 104

European University Institute
Max Weber Programme
Via delle Fontanelle 10
I-50014 San Domenico

Departmental affiliation: History and Civilization  
Mentor: Jorge Flores     

My research focuses on the intersection between imperial history and political thought with a specific interest in the intellectual history of Iberian expansion. I am pursuing doctoral studies at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge and plan to submit my thesis during the summer of 2011. My Ph.D. on the ideological origins of the Portuguese Atlantic empire seeks to fill a Portugal-sized gap in the historiography of the intellectual framework of early modern imperial expansion. In my thesis I examine topics ranging from empire at sea to theories of conversion and slavery. I also discuss the temporal and geographical convergences and divergences of imperial discourse in Portugal and Spain.

As a Max Weber Fellow, I intend to move from a national case of empire into broader histories of imperial thought. My post-doctoral project will be on the connection between the 'natural man' of the Americas, the man that European missionaries sought to sculpt, and the concept of a 'natural population', the malleable object of political economy. While at the European University Institute, I also expect to dedicate time to turning my doctoral thesis into a book manuscript.

Prior to my doctoral research in history at Cambridge, I earned a B.Sc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard University. Throughout my studies I have pursued my interest in the intersection between global affairs and the political and religious thought that informs them. My teaching experience in imperial history, global politics, political philosophy and the history of political thought reflects these interests.