Abstract
[noun] academic, intellectual, political theorist, philosopher, radical, anti-establishmentarian, friend, runner E.g. ‘Patrick Hayden has charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent’
I first met Hayden in 2007, when I joined the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews. Though his humility would prevent him from saying so, he is a formidable intellectual. He has the most amazing ability to take the most complex of ideas and concepts and make these accessible. He has always been a kind, supportive and an approachable colleague. He is someone whose opinion I greatly respect. Over the years, I learnt a lot from Hayden and his scholarship, especially his meticulousness, his eye for detail, his almost clinical precision with the use of language, and the sheer breadth of his knowledge. Even his emails are so well written, they could be submitted as outputs in the REF process!
I have been fortunate to get an insight into his approach on a number of occasions. We agreed to read Judith Butler’s Notes Toward a Performative Theory Assembly together. I am pretty sure Hayden got the short end of the stick in this arrangement. I am not ashamed to say that his contributions to the discussions were far more insightful and novel than mine! He effortlessly digested the text and related it to both his and my research in exciting ways. For me, it was fascinating to watch how he approached the task and his methodical analysis of the text.
Hayden is generous with his ideas and knowledge too. On another occasion, he kindly agreed to read a draft of paper that I was writing on performative citizenship and young people. His feedback was constructive, insightful, detailed and supportive. He introduced me to the work of Karen Zivi (2012, Making Rights Claims), which added a new and important dimension to the paper in terms of understanding how young people made rights claims during the Scottish independence vote.
Recently, I read Hayden’s (2018) paper, ‘The Human Right to Health and the Challenge of Poverty’, which is both topical and starkly illuminating now, at time of the COVID-19 global pandemic. His analysis provides an exploration of how structural disadvantages in the forms of poverty and inequality have deleterious effects on health, identity and self-respect. He is prophetic in his conclusion: ‘Health inequalities arise from the ways that inequalities in power, resources, and status, both within and between countries, condition the ability of different individuals and groups to access adequate health care and essential medicines, and to live at least reasonably healthy and therefore properly human lives’. This not only highlights Hayden’s commitment to social justice, but it goes to the heart of his research and his values as a person.
It is a regret of mine that we never found the opportunity to work together on a book or some other project. I have not given up on this idea. Luckily, due to advancements in telecommunications and TEAMS, SKYPE and ZOOM, I intend to track him down in New Zealand.
Finally, like me, Hayden is a runner. We have spent quite a bit of time discussing running, running shoes, running attire, running plans, running watches, personal bests, running injuries and chafing. I will really miss this.
