CFP: Race and Public Policy

Public Affairs Quarterly will publish a special issue devoted to the topic "Race and Public Policy."

Possible topics include, but are not limited to: affirmative action, racial profiling, the Black Lives Matter movement, hate speech, hate crimes, reparations for slavery and other historical injustices, implicit bias, race and health, race and medicine, race and technology, race and the criminal justice system, race and the environment, race and education, race and sports, race and ethnicity, race and immigration, race and identity, and race and inequality.

Submissions on any philosophical topic concerning race and public policy will be considered.   Submissions should be in Microsoft Word format and should be double-spaced and prepared for blind review. The journal prefers manuscripts of 6,000-9,000 words in length but articles outside these limits may still be considered.  Articles intended for consideration for inclusion in this issue should be submitted by December 31, 2018 via the journal’s online submission process at http://ojs.press.illinois.edu/index.php/paq/. The deadline is far out (December 2018), so that people who are not currently working on a relevant topic still have time to produce a submission.

Questions about potential submissions should be directed to the Editor, David Boonin, at david.boonin@colorado.edu.

Join me - and come work at Durham University's Law School!

Durham Law School is one of the UK's best law schools at England's third oldest university. We're at all-time highs in every category from 3rd g.p.a. in REF, 40th in QS World Rankings, 93% satisfaction in the National Student Survey and more.

Our graduates are in Parliament, in Government, two sit on the UK Supreme Court (the best outside Oxbridge) and leaders in UK firms and chambers. We're hiring NINE advertised positions linked below across wide areas of law. We even have a snazzy video.

Associate Professor in Public Law and Human Rights (Grade 9)
Durham Law School
Durham University

Associate Professor in Commercial and Corporate Law (Grade 9)
Durham Law School
Durham University

Assistant Professor in Legal Theory (Grade 8)
Durham Law School
Durham University

Assistant Professor in Chinese Law
Durham Law School
Durham University

Assistant Professor in Criminal Law
Durham Law School
Durham University

Assistant Professor in Commercial and Corporate Law
Durham Law School
Durham University

Assistant Professor in Public Law and Human Rights
Durham Law School
Durham University

Thom Brooks statement on government's latest Brexit plans

* Over a year since Britain's shock vote for Brexit and the very latest thinking from government is we should effectively keep inside the EU's Customs Union for tariff free trade with the EU, but without being a EU member or following its rules. If this wishful thinking is the best Theresa May can do, her leadership is neither strong, stable or smart.
* While David Davis argues that the EU should agree these terms to avoid unnecessary and avoidable tariffs and restrictions at borders, he is quick to forget that it was the UK that unnecessarily and avoidably decided to leave.
* If Britain really does want to leave the EU club, then it should accept costs will rise as a non-member and restrictions will become more burdensome. If this seems unnecessary and a step backward, then all the more reason to fundamentally rethink why leave the EU when there is much more the Brexiteers want to keep than lose.

Durham graduate Lady Justice Black to join UK Supreme Court

Lady Justice Black has been appointed to the UK Supreme Court from October. She becomes only the second woman to serve on the UK’s top bench.

 

A Durham Law School graduate, Black was a student at Durham’s Trevelyan College and regularly returns to her alma mater to meet with students interested in pursuing legal careers. She is the second Durham Law graduate on the Supreme Court joining fellow alumni Lord Hughes, who was a student at Van Mildert College, Durham.

 

Professor Thom Brooks, the Dean of Durham Law School, said: “We’re delighted to see Lady Justice Black’s well deserved appointment – and we are proud to see a second graduate of our Law School join the UK Supreme Court in our 50^th anniversary year. She has served as a distinguished and highly regarded judge. It is an outstanding accomplishment to become the Supreme Court’s second woman on the top bench and we’re proud of what she has achieved.”

PRESS RELEASE: Migration Watch report wrong to count foreign students as migrants, expert says

 

For immediate release – Friday, 21 July 2017

-With picture-

*TV and radio broadcast facilities available*

The government has come under increasing pressure to remove foreign students from its net migration target. The International Passenger Survey used by the Home Office found a net migration average of 75,000 non-EU students annually over the last five years. The issue concerns sectors like higher education that fear if these students remain included in the government’s net migration target, then they could be cut because of its commitment to reducing net migration by more than half to under 100,000.

In a new report, Migration Watch urges the government to stand firm claiming that too many students were being granted settlement after their studies. Instead of temporary visitors receiving an education and then returning to home countries, over 20,000 each year have been permitted to stay after their studies raising the concern that a student visa can be a ticket to long-term residency.

Professor Thom Brooks, Dean of Durham Law School and a former international student, said the report’s conclusions lack support: ‘Students granted a right to stay in Britain after their education are no longer students. Like me, they will have to receive a new non-student right to settle such as a work visa. A student’s status is fixed and temporary – they should be exempt from government cuts on migration’.

Brooks argues that any concerns about settlement are a separate issue. ‘Those individuals staying are former students. Migration Watch might be for reducing the number of people who come to live in Britain, but their focus should be on those pathways to permanent residency – not students who contribute to our economy and society that must acquire a different non-student status to stay. In other words, their concern isn’t with students, but non-students and their conclusions are not supported by the evidence they provide’.

ENDS

 

MEDIA INFORMATION

 

NB – Please note that Professor Brooks is a member of the Labour Party.

 

Interviews 

Professor Thom Brooks, Dean of Durham Law School & Professor of Law and Government, Durham University, is available for comment on Friday, 21 July 2017 on:  thom.brooks@durham.ac.uk

Alternatively please contact Durham University Marketing and Communications Office on +44 (0)191 334 6075; media.relations@durham.ac.uk

*TV and radio broadcast facilities available*

Durham University’s academic experts are available for interview via down-the-line broadcast quality TV facilities from our Durham City campus, via broadcast provider Globelynx.

To request and check the availability of interviewees please contact the Durham University Communications Office on +44 (0)191 334 6075 or email media.relations@durham.ac.uk.

You can book the Globelynx fixed camera and circuit direct by logging into www.globelynx.com. The IFB number is +44 (0)191 384 2019.

If you have not booked a Globelynx feed before please call +44 (0)20 7963 7060 for assistance.

A broadcast quality ISDN radio line is also available at Durham University and bookings can be arranged via the Media Relations Team on the contact details above. The ISDN number is +44 (0)191 386 2749.

A landline number is available in our Media Suite which houses the television and radio facilities - +44 (0)191 334 6472.

Photographs

A high resolution headshot of Professor Thom Brooks is available on request from Durham University Marketing and Communications Office on +44 (0)191 334 6075; media.relations@durham.ac.uk.

Further reading

Migration Watch UK, ‘How many students have been granted settlement in recent years?’, https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefing-paper/417

Professor Thom Brooks, Durham University Law School website https://www.dur.ac.uk/law/staff/?id=11140

About Durham University

-          A world top 100 university with a global reputation and performance in research and education

-          A member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities

-          Research at Durham shapes local, national and international agendas, and directly informs the teaching of our students

END OF MEDIA RELEASE

US academics - get a Fulbright grant & become a visiting scholar at Durham University

US academics - get a Fulbright grant & become a visiting scholar at Durham Law School - info:https://awards.cies.org/content/fulbright-durham-university-all-disciplines

American graduate students - study Law for a year at Durham Law School

American graduate students - study Law for a year at Durham Law School -- apply http://www.fulbright.org.uk/going-to-the-uk/postgraduate-student-awards Enquiries to thom.brooks@dur.ac.uk

May should put Brexit talks on hold and bring Labour on board for advice

My latest for LabourList HERE!

Government should launch hate crime register, expert says

For immediate release – Monday, 19 June 2017
*TV and radio broadcast facilities available*

The recent terrorist incident at Finsbury Park Mosque should lead government to launch a new hate crime register, according to a leading expert at Durham University.

Professor Thom Brooks, Dean of Durham Law School, says: ‘The rise in extremist violence must be met with a new approach. The government can start by taking a tougher line on hate crime by launching a new register similar what is used for sex offenders to ban offenders from working with children or other vulnerable people’.

The Crown Prosecution Service states that hate crimes are criminal offences motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s real or perceived disability, ethnicity, gender identity, nationality, race, religion or sexual orientation. Any one can report what she or he perceives to be a hate crime to the police, but there is a higher bar to pass for successful prosecution of an offence as a hate crime conviction.

Professor Brooks argues that anyone convicted of a hate crime should be placed on a hate crime register for ‘at least a considerable time, providing opportunities for reform and rehabilitation’. He says: ‘Hate crimes are different from other kinds of harms. They target what someone is and not who they are making these crimes even more dangerous’.

Brooks does not believe a hate crime register will end such attacks, but says it should be part of a wider strategy. ‘We must begin by acknowledging a difference between being convicted for a crime and for a hate crime. A register will help send a signal of the seriousness government has in preventing hate crimes and the greater consequences in limiting employment opportunities. Doing nothing is not an option’.

ENDS

MEDIA INFORMATION

NB – Please note that Professor Brooks is a member of the Labour Party.

Interviews 

Professor Thom Brooks, Dean of Durham Law School & Professor of Law and Government, Durham University, is available for comment on Monday & Tuesday, 19 & 20 June 2017 on:  email

*TV and radio broadcast facilities available*

Durham University’s academic experts are available for interview via down-the-line broadcast quality TV facilities from our Durham City campus, via broadcast provider Globelynx.

You can book the Globelynx fixed camera and circuit direct by logging into www.globelynx.com. The IFB number is +44 (0)191 384 2019.

If you have not booked a Globelynx feed before please call +44 (0)20 7963 7060 for assistance.

A broadcast quality ISDN radio line is also available at Durham University and bookings can be arranged via the Media Relations Team on the contact details above. The ISDN number is +44 (0)191 386 2749.

A landline number is available in our Media Suite which houses the television and radio facilities - +44 (0)191 334 6472.

Photographs

A high resolution headshot of Professor Thom Brooks is available on request from Durham University Marketing and Communications Office on +44 (0)191 334 6075

Further reading

Crown Prosecution Service, ‘Leaflet on Hate Crime Support’, https://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/hate_crime_leaflet_support.pdf  

Home Affairs Committee, ‘Evidence submitted by Professor Thom Brooks on tackling hate crime’, http://data.parliament.uk/WrittenEvidence/CommitteeEvidence.svc/EvidenceDocument/Home%20Affairs/Hate%20crime%20and%20its%20violent%20consequences/written/35217.html

Professor Thom Brooks, Durham University Law School website https://www.dur.ac.uk/law/staff/?id=11140

About Durham University

-          A world top 100 university with a global reputation and performance in research and education

-          A member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities

-          Research at Durham shapes local, national and international agendas, and directly informs the teaching of our students

END OF MEDIA RELEASE

 

Brexit talks start today - and the UK is not in a good position

Some talking points for tv/radio producers (I'm available - get in touch):

·         Britain’s Brexit talks could not begin from a worse position.

·         The Government asked voters for a big sign of support to enhance its hand in negotiations – which flopped as a slim majority was wiped out and still an open question about how long the current minority government can limp along.

·         As of Friday, the Government failed to provide even an outline sketch of its position paper for the EU ahead of negotiations – which is standard protocol. This strongly suggests two things: first, the Government is still uncertain about its aims and objectives for Brexit on the eve of talks and, second, the Government is failing to do much at all to win trust and confidence from the EU.

·         If Theresa May’s Government continues to be so vacuous, uncertain and perhaps insincere about the direction and seriousness of these talks, a positive outcome is almost impossible to foresee – and such consequences are avoidable, but the clock is ticking.

·         After a campaign of promising “strong and stable leadership” during the election, we’re seeing nothing of the kind now with Brexit talks. A real gap between the government’s rhetoric and reality.

http://thombrooks.info

My advice for the Prime Minister post-election. Not that she'll listen to it...

May must reassemble the Brexit team in a grand, all-party coalition, writes @thom_brooks http://bit.ly/2szIKb8 -- in today's The Times

Turns out I did have a letter published once in The Times

I've dedicated many pages to the letters sent to, but never published in, The Times. It turns out one slipped through. In 2011 -

Sir, However compelling arguments may be in favour of an elected House of Lords, now is not the time. The public has little interest in such constitutional matters, as was evident in the recent AV referendum. Moreover, it is perhaps the actions of MPs, not peers, that have dented public confidence. Reform should centre on the House of Commons first: calls for reform of “the other place” is a convenient distraction from the central problem and no cure.
Dr Thom Brooks
Reader in Political and Legal Philosophy, Newcastle University

PRESS RELEASE: Theresa May doesn’t need Brexit to cut net migration

Theresa May doesn’t need Brexit to cut net migration

For immediate release, Friday, June 2, 2017

-With picture-

*TV and radio broadcast facilities available*

The Conservative manifesto retains a pledge made in 2010 to reduce net migration to ‘the tens of thousands’. This commitment has been controversial as net migration has never been higher than under the Tory-led governments led by David Cameron and Theresa May.

In March, May told Parliament that Brexit was an opportunity to make progress in cutting migration ‘so that our immigration system serves the national interest’. A key stumbling block has been the free movement of EU nationals into the UK.

Leading immigration expert Professor Thom Brooks, Head of Durham Law School, claims that the Prime Minister does not need to wait for Brexit to cut net migration to under 100,000 if she really wanted to meet this target.

Brooks says: ‘Theresa May has several options she can use now. Her government can start by reducing visas for non-EU workers and students who make up a large bulk of annual net migration. While there is evidence this could cause real damage to the economy, she can reduce net migration now without waiting two or more years for Brexit talks to conclude if sincere about meeting this campaign promise’.

Over the last year, more than 93,000 skilled visas were granted with 1 in 10 to an American. Since 2011, some visas for skilled workers earning salaries of £20,800 or more have been restricted to an annual quota of 20,700 – a cap that has not been breached once. There are nearly 200,000 foreign students in the UK with about half from China, the United States and India. Big cuts in these areas could bring net migration under 100,000.

Professor Brooks argues that the government should begin taking greater responsibility for its immigration record instead of blaming past governments or the EU. He says: ‘The failure of the Tories to meet their net migration is a choice they made because the power to meet it is in their hands. It’s time the government came clean and explained why it chose to continue welcoming migrants as skilled workers and students rather than enact their very public manifesto pledge’.

A dual national of the US and UK, Professor Brooks further claims more can also be done about enforcing existing regulations on EU free movement. ‘Like any freedom – on free speech or assembly – there are restrictions. Our EU neighbours like France and Germany do much better than us in enforcing existing rules. If the government wants curbs on EU movement, it can act now to reduce numbers – its failure to do so again more a lack of political will than political impotence’.

ENDS

 

Contact me HERE

Net migration "success" is a hollow victory

. . . is the title of my The Times column out today:  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/net-migration-success-is-a-hollow-victory-6mrl6lj2d

How to talk about immigration and refugees

How to talk about immigration and refugees - I'm live next month in Newcastle for Refugee Week. Check it out -- https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-talk-about-immigration-and-refugees-tickets-34797909484

Thom Brooks on NYBERG with Ann Nyberg for WTNH/ABC New haven

Great fun being interviewed by Connecticut legend Ann Nyberg with full clip here.

Three reasons why June might still turn out to be the end of May

Me for LabourList.

Get a Fulbright Graduate or Scholar Award to come to Durham University - and work with us!

Applications are now open for the 2018/19 academic year. The student awards support US students wishing to pursue a one year Master’s degree at Durham (or the first year of a postgraduate research degree). The Scholar awards support US citizens to spend 3-12 months at Durham for the purposes of either teaching or research. Applications are made online through Fulbright directly, and further information can be accessed here:

http://www.fulbright.org.uk/fulbright-awards/exchanges-to-the-uk

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH ME IF INTERESTED IN COMING TO DURHAM! Opportunities to work or study in Law, Philosophy and Government.

Discussing net migration on BBC Wales

Me on why we don't need another broken Tory promise on net migration (from 5.00) on @BBCWales http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08p1mlz

Hegel's Political Philosophy: On the Normative Significance of Method and System

My new book - co-edited with Sebastian Stein - is published next month with Oxford University Press. More details are here.

Unique focus on Hegel's method and system applied to political philosophy

Brings together leading Hegel scholars from across the world to consider this topic in one book for the first time

Includes original essays by Terry Pinkard, Robert Pippin and Allen Wood

Hegel famously argues that his speculative method is a foundation for claims about socio-political reality within a wider philosophical system. This systematic approach is thought a superior alternative to all other ways of philosophical thinking. Hegel's method and system have normative significance for understanding everything from ethics to the state. Hegel's approach has attracted much debate among scholars about key philosophical questions - and controversy about his proposed answers to them. Is his method and system open to the charge of dogmatism? Are his claims about the rationality of monarchy, unequal gender relations, an unelected second parliamentary chamber and a corporation-based economy beyond revision?

This ground-breaking collection of new essays by leading interpreters of Hegel's philosophy is dedicated to the questions that surround Hegel's philosophical method and its relationship to the conclusions of his political philosophy. It contributes to the on-going debate about the importance of a systematic context for political philosophy, the relationship between theoretical and practical philosophy, and engages with contemporary discussions about the shape of a rational social order.

Introduction, Thom Brooks and Sebastian Stein
1: What Might it Mean to have a Systematic Idealist, but Anti-Platonist, Practical philosophy?, Paul Redding
2: Systematicity and Normative Justification: The Method of Hegel's Philosophical Science of Right, Kevin Thompson
3: In What Sense is Hegel's Philosophy of Right 'Based' on His Science of Logic? Remarks on the Logic of Justice, Robert B. Pippin
4: Method and System in Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Allen W. Wood
5: The Relevance of the Logical Method for Hegel's Practical Philosophy, Angelica Nuzzo
6: The State as a System of Three Syllogisms: Hegel's Notion of the State and Its Logical Foundations, Klaus Vieweg
7: Hegel's Shepherd's Way Out of the Thicket, Terry Pinkard
8: To Know and Not Know Right: Hegel on Empirical Cognition and Philosophical Knowledge of Right, Sebastian Stein
9: Individuals: the Revisionary Logic of Hegel's Politics, Katerina Deligiorgi
10: Hegel on Crime and Punishment, Thom Brooks
11: The Logic of Right, Richard Dien Winfield
12: Hegel, Autonomy and Community, Liz Disley
13: Hegel's Natural Law Constructivism: Progress in Principle and in Practice, Kenneth R. Westphal

I’m known as the Brexit expert who said it would never actually happen – after Article 50, my opinion hasn’t changed

My new column for The Independent can be read HERE.

Citizenship tests - for Philosophy 24/7

Delighted to be interviewed for Philosophy 24/7 podcast series --   http://philosophy247.org/podcasts/citizenship/

How will Brexit affect my holiday in 2017?

Fun interview with travel website - full story here.

Durham Law School - a top 40 world-class centre for legal education and research

I'm enormously proud to be Head of Durham Law School as we progress from success to success - and now firmly established in top 40 in world rankings:

"Durham Law School is a world leader in legal education and research. Our academic staff shape the development of law through their ground-breaking research, influential work with policy makers and active public engagement both nationally and internationally. Durham Law School is in the QS World Rankings top 40 law schools and our research was ranked 3^rd best in the UK in the last national Research Excellence Framework in 2014. We have some of the best results for student satisfaction and employability – and our graduates include some of law’s leading figures, such as current members of the UK Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and in Government. Our top-ranked global law courses are very competitive with an excellent and diverse student population from across the world delivering a cutting-edge, research-led curriculum."

Speaking to tv audience of 50 million in China about Brexit

No 10 admits up to 1,000 EU laws copied into UK statute book will need to be corrected to work effectively

No 10 admits up to 1,000 EU laws copied into UK statute book will need to be corrected to work effectively http://news.sky.com/story/brexit-government-to-set-out-plans-to-end-dominance-of-eu-law-10817955 #Brexit

Hate crime offenders should sign a Hate Crime Offenders Register

Very pleased to see a policy that I've been arguing for since 2013 -- and more recently submitted written evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee in Parliament last year -- has made a big splash in the press today. This was followed by two television interviews and another two interviews on national radio.

Research Fellowship -- at St Mary's College of the University of Durham. Join today!

St Mary’s College Research Fellowship

• This annual scheme allows a Visiting Fellow to come to Durham University to be based at St Mary’s College for up to one term. The Fellowship provides the recipient with food and accommodation in College during the period of residence. By negotiation and depending on need, the fellowship may also provide a contribution towards travel costs to Durham from the Scholar’s home institution.



• The purpose of the fellowship is to allow researchers from outside the University to spend a period of time resident in the College to undertake work in conjunction with any academic department in Durham.

• Each Fellow will be expected to participate in College activities and make a research presentation at the College during their residence which will be open to the public and to colleagues from across the University.

• Applicants must be educated to postgraduate level.

• Applicants from overseas must be eligible to enter the UK as an Academic Visitor (see: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa/overview )

• The Fellowship is normally tenable for a maximum of one term (either Epiphany term 2018 or Easter term 2018), though shorter periods are possible. Visiting Fellows must visit for one consecutive period.

Application Procedure: Each applicant for a St Mary’s College Research Fellowship must submit a proposal of up to three pages (maximum) describing the purpose and proposed focus of the fellowship. Applications must be accompanied by a letter from the supporting academic department.

The proposal must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae, a proposed travel budget, and two letters of reference. All application materials must be submitted by the 24 April 2017 (first day of Easter term 2017).



Applications should be submitted to: carole.laverick@durham.ac.uk

Selection Criteria: Proposals received will be reviewed by a small panel of academic members of the College, chaired by the Principal.



Final decisions will be made and the successful applicant notified of their appointment by the end of Easter term (23 June 2017).

Durham Law School is hiring! THREE permanent posts

Durham Law School is seeking to recruit outstanding new staff

We are seeking to build on our reputation as one of the UK’s leading law schools by recruiting exceptional lecturers who research in three areas of existing strength. The posts are linked to three vibrant research centres: Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences), the Human Rights Centre and Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law.

Lecturer in Biolaw:

https://recruitment.durham.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=004032 

 

Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law:

https://recruitment.durham.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=004030 

Lecturer in Public and Human Rights Law:

https://recruitment.durham.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=004031 

Our courts are no enemies of the people – they are champions of our liberties

. . . is my latest piece for The Journal here - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/news-opinion/courts-no-enemies-people--12514235#ICID=sharebar_twitter

My thoughts on Brexit case

Here's my response to today's #Brexitruling on #Article50 by @UKSupremeCourt ↓