Dr. David Guerrero, Fellow at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) from April to September 2025, has recently received two internationally renowned awards. He was recognized for his dissertation “Reframing Expressive Freedom: Free Speech Libertarianism, Republicanism, and the Political Economy of Communication”, which analyzes the historical development of libertarian free speech frameworks and discusses neo-republican approaches as well as the engagement with structural and economic challenges to free speech. He completed his dissertation in 2024 at the University of Barcelona and the University of Groningen.
Sir Ernest Barker Prize and Leo Strauss Award
In April, David Guerrero was awarded the Sir Ernest Barker Prize in Political Theory at the 75th Annual Conference of the Political Studies Association (PSA) – one of six dissertation awards granted by the PSA. The jury praised the dissertation as “A closely argued critique of the libertarian tradition’s framework for free speech, this thesis develops an original and compelling neo-republican alternative, the merits of which are convincingly demonstrated with reference to the contemporary media environment.”
In August, he received the Leo Strauss Award from the American Political Science Association (APSA) for the best doctoral dissertation in political philosophy. The jury highlighted Guerrero’s thorough analysis of historical and contemporary debates, the theoretical depth of his work, and its convincing embedding within institutional and political contexts. To the jury commentary
Fellowship Project at CAIS: From PhD to Book Publication
At CAIS, David Guerrero is working on the project “From Toleration to Net Neutrality: Private Threats to Expressive Freedom”, which closely builds on his dissertation. A key outcome of his fellowship will be chapters of a book, tentatively titled “Vestige of Laissez-Faire: The Free Speech Tradition and the Political Economy of Communication”. The book demonstrates, both historically and theoretically, how concepts of free speech have been closely intertwined with anti-regulatory programs since the 20th century – and what relevance this has for contemporary debates about media markets and digital public spheres.
Further Information
- David’s Dissertation: https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/reframing-expressive-freedom-free-speech-libertarianism-republica
- Leo Strauss Award (APSA): https://politicalsciencenow.com/category/awards/
- Sir Ernest Barker Prize (PSA): https://www.psa.ac.uk/psa-prizes
- David Guerrero’s project page at CAIS: https://www.cais-research.de/en/fellows/david-guerrero/