Eva Piirimae

Eva Piirimäe is Associate Professor of Political Theory at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu. Professor Piirimäe received her Ph.D. from Cambridge in 2006. She has recently co-edited (with Alexander Schmidt) a History of European Ideas special issue “Sociability in Enlightenment Thought,” and has published a number of articles in journals such as History of European Ideas, History of Political Thought, and Eighteenth-Century Studies. Piirimäe’s research interests include early modern and contemporary theories of patriotism, nationalism, cosmopolitanism and international peace, Enlightenment philosophical histories and contemporary debates on national self-determination and on the concept of Responsibility to Protect.

At Yale, Professor Piirimäe is at work on a book project titled “Patriotism, Nationalism and the Progress of Humanity: Herder in the Context of European Enlightenment.”  This book seeks to break new ground in the study of the intellectual origins of nationalism by reconstructing Herder’s contribution to eighteenth-century debates on political legitimacy, modern patriotism, and international order.  Integrating perspectives from political theory, intellectual history, and nationalism studies, Professor Piirimäe argues that Herder paved the way for the ideas of national self-determination and nineteenth-century cosmopolitanism.

Research: “Patriotism, Nationalism and the Progress of Humanity: Herder in the Context of European Enlightenment.”