Profile

I am currently Teaching Fellow in Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS). Prior to that, I was an Associate Tutor at PAIS and a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant at the School of Public Policy at University College London (UCL), teaching on the MA courses in Human Rights and in Legal and Political Theory. I completed my PhD at UCL.

My research focuses on the relationship between states and cultures, particularly the limits of state support and recognition of culture. My PhD thesis, entitled “Just Marital Establishment”, interrogated the case for marital disestablishment, and argued that states could support marriage in a manner consistent with liberal requirements for a secular, non-discriminatory and neutral state. My current research is focused on movements for seed and food sovereignty, and how these relate to and differ from more familiar claims to sovereignty over land and resources. In particular, I am interested in how the cultural content of such political demands and indigenous forms of knowledge interact with both climate science and normative liberal commitments.

Research Interests

• Feminism and its interaction with liberalism and culture
• The recognition of LGBTQI+ identities by the state
• The applications and limits of practice-dependence as a normative method
• The normative implications of food sovereignty movements

Teaching

In the academic year 2024/25 I am teaching:

PO201 Political Theory from Hobbes: Seeking Freedom and Equality

Recent Publications

• Brown, J. (2022). What Becomes of the Right to Marry? Disestablishment and the Value of Marriage. In Being Social: The Philosophy of Social Human Rights, Kimberley Brownlee, David Jenkins, and Adam Neal (eds.), Oxford University Press.