Jenny Brown

Profile

My research focuses on justice in interpersonal relationships, particularly intimate, caring and familial relationships. 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 extends this work probing a bit deeper into what the is owed to us by the state, relationally speaking. One question I am interested in is whether any recognition of significant relationships at all by the state can avoid falling foul of liberal critiques. Another is whether the historical significance and social-embeddedness of a practice like marriage should bear any weight in the justification of a scheme of relational justice.

I am interested in feminist work on gender justice more broadly, and the role of the family in reproducing unequal gender norms. In particular, I have been writing about early infant care, and the problem breastfeeding poses for establishing more egalitarian norms of co-parenting. You can a piece on this prepared for the Warwick Research Spotlight on Society and Culture here.

Finally, I have been reflecting on movements for seed and food sovereignty, and how these relate to and differ from more familiar claims to sovereignty over land and resources. I am interested in thinking about food justice through the lens of relational justice, centring the relationships between producers and consumers.

Research Interests

• Justice in familial, intimate, and caring relationships
• Feminism and its interaction with liberalism and culture
• The recognition of LGBTQI+ identities by the state
• The normative implications of food sovereignty movements

Teaching

In the academic year 2025/26 I am teaching:

PO2E2 Topics in Political Theory

PO2E3 Foundations of Political Theory

PO301 Issues in Political Theory

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.