General Election 2015: This election is all about insecurity

. . . is the title of my new column out today in The Journal newspaper. The link to my piece can be found HERE.

Why I am NOT voting for the Tories

Essential viewing:

Funding scheme should be revived to reduce impact of migration on public services

. . . is my latest press release from Durham University's Law School and can be found HERE.

Labour should lead on reforming citizenship rules - LabourList

. . . is my new post for the leading Labour Party blog, Labour List READ HERE.

Inaugural Lecture - Brooks on "Why Hegel Matters"

My Inaugural Lecture as Professor of Law and Government at Durham University - delivered at Durham Castle - can be seen here:

The Life in the UK citizenship test is "unfit for purpose"

. . . was the conclusion of my comprehensive report published in 2013 (and available here) and which makes the news today in The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph as we learn the UK citizenship test handbook one of the most borrowed library books for the past year.

Tory-led government playing musical chairs with constitutional reform

My latest piece for Progress Online HERE.

New column on 2015 General Election in the UK

My new monthly column for The Journal newspaper is out today - link: http://www.thejournal.co.uk/opinion/thom-brooks-waiting-credible-message-8544384

The subject-matter is the 2015 General Election in the UK. I expect most, if not all, columns will focus on Westminster politics and North East issues. An honour to join a fantastic team and great paper.

Visiting Yale Center for Law and Philosophy in 2015-16

I'll be on research leave for the 2015-16 academic year and organizing my schedule, including a visit to the United States to see family and friends while working on several research projects. I'm delighted to say that part of my time will be spent as a Visiting Fellow at the Yale Center for Law and Philosophy at Yale Law School with dates to be confirmed shortly. Yale is a beautiful university where I have several good friends and it's always special to be back in my native New Haven. Looking forward to much catching up and great discussions.

Birmingham (UK) on Fox News

Fox News terrorism expert Steven Emerson said on live television that Birmingham in the UK is a 'totally Muslim city' where non-Muslims do not go. Emerson soon apologised for these remarks, but not before criticism of his outrageously false remarks became rightly lampooned on social media as #FoxNewsFacts.

It is shocking that any major "news" channel would have "experts" making such outrageously false pronouncements without challenge from the news anchor. One of many problems is that such comments will be accepted as fact by viewers as they should expect "experts" to have some knowledge about the subjects they discuss. A second problem is that not all persons who saw the original broadcast will learn about his swift and unequivocal apology.

But it is shocking that someone can be on live television and make such utterly false comments with such repeated certainty - as Emerson does - so contrary to truth. It is hoped that such errors will not happen again like this in future... 

Brooks (ed.), Juvenile Offending (2014) - reviewed

. . . in The Prison Journal in a wonderful piece that can be found HERE. I'm especially pleased to see it is so positive as well.

The Brooks Blog best of 2014

January 2014

Getting clear about Punishment: a response to Michael Davis

February 2014

Why Political Theory Matters

April 2014

On Punitive Restoration

May 2014 

Cornwall and the 'Life in the UK' Citizenship Test

June 2014

If Holyrood gets more powers, English views on regional assemblies may change

July 2014

Labour to support devolved hubs

Political theory & public policy

August 2014

The Brooks Blog reaches 500,000 page views

September 2014

One Nation Labour can deliver the Britain we deserve

October 2014

In Defence of Punishment and the Unified Theory of Punishment

November 2014

Testing Citizens: Why the UK Citizenship Requires Urgent Reforms

December 2014

Immigration system is full of holes but can Labout fix it?

Happy New Year!

A happy new year to all!  2014 was an incredibly busy year during which I published several books (in no particular order):

Alcohol and Public Policy (Routledge, 2014)
Ethical Citizenship: British Idealism and the Politics of Recognition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014)
Retribution (Ashgate, 2014)
Deterrence (Ashgate, 2014)
Shame Punishment (Ashgate, 2014)
Sentencing (Ashgate, 2014)
Juvenile Offending (Ashgate, 2014)
Law and Legal Theory (Brill, 2014)
New Waves in Global Justice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014)

I've also completed a few more books that will be published in 2015:

Current Controversies in Political Philosophy (Routledge, 2015)
Rawls's Political Liberalism (co-edited with Martha C. Nussbaum) (Columbia University Press, 2015)

Expect further announcements in due course....!

UPDATE: Nor was that all I did in 2014. I also published 9 articles and essays in journals such as Ethics, Modern Law Review, Global Policy, Harvard Review of Philosophy, Think, Northern Ireland Law Quarterly, Journal of Global Ethics, Public Affairs Quarterly and Symposion. I published another chapters in 7 books such as Popular Punishment (OUP), New Waves in Global Justice (Palgrave), Law and Legal Theory (Brill), G. W. F. Hegel (Routledge), The Relevance of Political Science (Palgrave), Ethical Citizenship (Palgrave) and Alcohol and Public Policy (Routledge). I published another 16 essays in The Conversation (5), Demos Quarterly (1), Political Insight (1), Progress Online (3), Bright Blue (1) and The Journal (5).

So about 41 publications in total - so very much a year of writing and checking proofs...!

Durham ranked joint 1st for Law in UK

. . . in new research rankings published by The Guardian here.

Durham Law School - 100% of societal impact scored 3* or 4*

 

Details here. 

Durham University's Law School ranked 3rd nationally in REF2014

The results are out. Durham University's Law School is ranked 3rd nationally in the UK's Research Excellence Framework 2014 exercise. This is a major review of research quality assessing 'outputs' (publications), research environment and impact. Durham ranks behind only KCL and LSE. 

Needless to say, I'm thrilled to see my department perform so well and my congratulations to colleagues at other departments that also enjoyed good news this morning. The news isn't good for everyone - inevitable in any ranking where some will come top and others bottom. In particular, departments where research outputs are 50% or more at 1* and 2* will need to reassess their strategies for 2020. No doubt special attention will also be given to close scrutiny of impact case study narratives at competitor institutions - although having read Durham Law School's impact case studies, I'm unsurprised to see them score so strongly.

These results matter for several reasons. The next exercise is not until 2020 so these rankings will be used to allocate QR funding to universities and inform league tables. But most importantly, these results are a confirmation of the research excellence found throughout the British university sector. The full results for all subjects can be found here.

Immigration system is full of holes but can Labour fix it?

. . . is my latest piece for The Conversation which can be found HERE.

Durham ranked one of the top 10 best cities in the UK

Details here - and unsurprising to anyone who's been here.

The biggest worry in the North East is the cuts that are coming next

. . . is my latest column for Newcastle's The Journal and can be read online here.

Ed Miliband and me

Great to speak with Ed Miliband at the Labour North Gala Dinner!

New book out - Ethical Citizenship: British Idealism and the Politics of Recognition

. . . . can be found here.

Mr Cameron, don't make promises that you cannot keep

... is my piece in today's The Journal.

Testing Citizens: Why the UK Citizenship Test Requires Urgent Reforms

. . . is my new piece for Bright Blue and FOUND HERE.

Next talk: the Ethics, Politics, and Health Symposium, part of the President of Ireland’s Ethics Initiative

. . . and taking place at the University of Limerick. Details here for looks like a great event!

Ancient Republics: A Workshop (Part I)

In collaboration with the Centre for the Study of the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East (CAMNE), the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University is hosting a workshop on Ancient Republics (14-15 November 2014), with the project of investigating the 'Republic' in its many manifestations in the ancient world, and its significance for later theories of Republican thought.  This project represents a collaboration between the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University, the Department of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Department of Philosophy at the University of California-San Diego.

 

The first part of the workshop will take place in Durham and will investigate pre-Roman types of 'Republics', with emphasis on ancient Greece and the Near East from the Classical to the late Hellenistic periods.  The second part is scheduled to take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on 9-10 April 2015, and it will focus on the 'Republic' and Republicanism in the Roman Republic and Empire.   We hope that further workshops on this fascinating and understudied topic will be planned in the future.

 

Ancient Republics: A Workshop (Part I)

Friday, 14 November - Saturday, 15 November 2014

 

All sessions take place at the Ritson Room (CL007)

Department of Classics and Ancient History

Durham University

38 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3EU

 

Friday 14 November

 

Coffee/Tea/Biscuits (from 3pm, Classics and Ancient History Department Library)

Brief Introduction by Phillip Horky (4pm)

 

Session 1 (4pm-8pm, including break)

Chair: P.J. Rhodes (Durham University)

• S. Roy (Haverford College): 'Republicanism in the Ancient Near East' (4pm-5:15pm)
• C. Atack (St Hugh's College, Oxford): 'The tension between monarchy and republic in Xenophon's Cyropaedia' (5:15pm-6:30pm)

Short Break: (6:30pm-6:45pm)

• R. Brock (University of Leeds): 'koinônia politôn politeias’: membership and participation in the polis'(6:45pm-8pm)

 

Saturday 15 November 

 

Session 2 (9:30am-12pm)

Chair: Malcolm Schofield (St. John's College, Cambridge)

• P. S. Horky (Durham University) and M. R. Johnson (University of California-San Diego): 'A Pythagorean Republic? On Law and Justice attributed to Archytas of Tarentum' (9:30am-10:45am)
• C. Rowe (Durham University): 'Platonic Republics' (10:45am-12pm)

Lunch 12pm-1:30pm

 

Session 3 (1:30pm-4pm)

Chair: A. Russell (Durham University)

• B. Gray (University of Edinburgh): 'Hellenistic poleis' civic ideals, humanism and republicanism' (1:30pm-2:45pm)
• V. Arena (University College London): 'Republicanism, Rousseau, and the Roman Republic?' (2:45pm-4pm)

The workshop is free and open to the public.  For further information, including how to register, please email the Durham organizer Phillip Horky (Phillip.Horky@Durham.ac.uk).  

 

Sincerely,

Phillip Horky (Durham University)

Monte Ransome Johnson (University of California-San Diego)

Grant Nelsestuen (University of Wisconsin-Madison)