Anne Norton


Anne Norton is an American professor of political science and comparative literature. She is currently chair of the department of political science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Early life

As a child, Norton lived and traveled throughout the world with her family because her father was an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Academic career

Norton received her B.A. in 1977 and her Ph.D in 1982, both from The University of Chicago. She has held academic positions at University of Notre Dame, Princeton University, and The University of Texas at Austin.

Writings and views

Norton's central intellectual interest has been the meaning and consequences of political identity. She has explored this theme in two books on American politics and one on the concept of political identity itself, drawing on work in the areas of anthropology and semiotics. She has also written a wide-ranging critique of the current practice of the social sciences, particularly political science. In 95 Theses, Norton challenges the unreflective ways in which political scientists understand causation and time while ignoring issues of meaning and significance. Her challenges to mainstream political science have earned her a leadership role in the Internet-based movement to reform political science that has named itself "Perestroika".
While a student at the University of Chicago, Norton became acquainted with many of the followers of the philosopher Leo Strauss. In the 1990s, the rise of neoconservatism into public consciousness prompted her to write a semi-anecdotal book about the Straussians, titled Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire. While some have praised the book as a thoughtful account of the intellectual origins of George W. Bush's foreign policy, it has also received harsh criticism for its author being uninformed about her subject and for spreading mere gossip. Emphasizing the flaws in Norton’s attempts to define Straussianism and identify Straussians, Peter Minowitz argues that her book is “disgracefully unscholarly.”
She is a founding co-editor of the journal Theory and Event.