Richard Bourke (born 1965) is a UK-based Irish academic specialising in the history of political ideas. His work spans ancient and modern thought, and is associated with the application of the historical method to political theory. He is Professor of the History of Political Thought at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. He was formerly Professor of the History of Political Thought and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought at Queen Mary, University of London. In July 2018 Bourke was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA).
Bourke grew up in Dublin, where he attended St. Kilian's German School. In 1986 he earned a BA in English and Philosophy at University College, Dublin. He then spent a year at St Catherine's College, Oxford, before taking up a research studentship at King's College, Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD in 1990. Bourke subsequently earned a second BA in Classics at Birkbeck College, University of London.
After a three-year lectureship in Dublin, Bourke moved to Queen Mary, University of London where, in 2012, he became Professor in the History of Political Thought and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought. In 2018 he was elected to the Chair in the History of Political Thought at the University of Cambridge. In 2022 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts by University College Dublin. Bourke has held various visiting fellowships in the United States, and was a Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin in 2014âÂÂ15.
Bourke has published widely on the history of political thought, including on ancient political ideas and Enlightenment intellectual history. He has also published in Irish history, particularly on the political conflict in Northern Ireland. His work has engaged with a range of issues in historiography and political theory, including Romanticism, the Enlightenment, the Ancien Régime, political judgement, sovereignty, nationalism and democracy. He is currently working on the philosophy of history and writing a history of democracy. Bourke's Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke was named a book of the year by several sources in 2015, including The Observer, The Spectator, and The Irish Times. According to the Royal Historical Society, the work "revolutionised" the way Burke has been viewed. Bourke has lectured around the world, and written for a variety of journals and newspapers including The Financial Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Nation.