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Politics and International Studies

Gah-Kai Leung

PhD Candidate (he/him)

Advice & Feedback Hours: Please email me to arrange an appointment.

Gah-Kai.Leung@warwick.ac.uk

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My first name is pronounced ‘GAR-kay’. Trained as a political theorist, my research interests cut across philosophy, the environmental sciences and the social sciences. My main ESRC-funded doctoral research is on the ethical and political issues in earthquake/tsunami risk management. Specifically, I work on the risk of catastrophic tsunami-generating earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which spans the Pacific Northwest USA and Canada. I am supervised by Keith HyamsLink opens in a new window and Simon CaneyLink opens in a new window, with Rebecca BellLink opens in a new window and Douglas ToomeyLink opens in a new window as informal advisors.

At Warwick, I am affiliated with the Centre for Ethics, Law and Public Affairs (CELPALink opens in a new window) and the Interdisciplinary Ethics Research Group’s project on Ethics in Climate and DevelopmentLink opens in a new window. I’m also a member of the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDRLink opens in a new window), the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERILink opens in a new window) and the Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (SRPoiSELink opens in a new window).

Coming from a non-specialist and interdisciplinary academic background, I am keen to encourage more students to transfer into philosophy and political theory from other fields. Please contact me for further information.

Research Interests
  • Analytic social, political and legal philosophy
  • Science, technology, ethics and public policy
  • Natural hazards, disasters and emergencies (esp. earthquakes and tsunamis)
  • Risk, uncertainty and resilience
  • Gender and sexuality
  • Parenting, childhood and education
Academic Publications
Conference Presentations
Papers (selected):
  • 2023: ‘Time Taxes and Avoidable Structural Injustice’, Graduate Conference in Political Theory, University of Oxford, 24-25 April
  • 2022: ‘The Environmental Harms of Earthquakes: An Ethical Analysis of the Impact of Earthquakes on the Non-Human World’, 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Salt Lake City, 27 June - 1 July
  • 2021: ‘Reducing Flood Risks for Young People in the UK Housing Market’, Workshop on Housing in Crisis, MANCEPT Online Workshops in Political Theory, University of Manchester, 7-10 September
  • 2021: ‘The Ethical Argument for Gender-Neutral Public Conveniences’, Queerness Beyond Borders, University of Oxford, 9 July
  • 2021: ‘The Legitimate Use of Emergency Powers in Response to Pandemics’, Fifth International Conference on Public Policy, University of Barcelona, 7 July
  • 2021: ‘The Social and Environmental Harms of Earthquakes’, Sixth Annual Global Ethics Conference, University of Birmingham, 26-28 May
  • 2021: ‘Reducing Flood Risks for Young People in the UK Housing Market’, Conference on Flooding, Resilience and the Climate Crisis, University of Sheffield, 19 May
  • 2021: ‘The Legitimate Use of Emergency Powers in Response to Pandemics’, HKU Legal and Political Theory Postgraduate Conference, University of Hong Kong, 5-7 May
  • 2021: ‘Socially Transformative Experiences: The Case of the COVID-19 Pandemic’, Northern Network for Medical Humanities Research Congress, Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University, 21-23 April
  • 2020: ‘Ethical Issues in the Policy Response to Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards in Cascadia: A Critical Survey of the Field’, Public Issues and Public Reason: A Conference of Applied Ethics and Critical Social Sciences, Carleton University (Canada), 20-21 October
  • 2020: ‘The Legitimacy of Mandatory Emergency Preparedness Measures’, Workshop on The Ethics and Politics of Risk (Mis)Communication, MANCEPT Online Workshops in Political Theory, 9-11 September
  • 2020: ‘The Narrative Coherence Standard and Child Patients' Capacity to Consent’, Graduate Conference in Political & Legal Theory, University of Warwick, 15 February.

  • 2018: ‘Sexuality, Science and Religion in the Public Sphere: Perfectionism and the Problem of Justificatory Disagreement’, MANCEPT Brave New World Graduate Conference in Political Theory, University of Manchester, 11-12 June.

  • 2018: ‘An Argument for Gender-Neutral Public Toilets: Urinary Segregation as Morally Wrongful Discrimination’, Graduate Conference in Political & Legal Theory, University of Warwick, 17 February.
  • 2017: ‘Discrimination and the Political Morality of Gender-Neutral Public Toilets’, Sex, Gender & Sexuality: Postgraduate Perspectives, University of Leicester, 29 July.
Invited Commentaries:
  • 2022: on Ron Aboodi, ‘A Central Worry about Manipulation in Education’, American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting, Baltimore, 13 January.
  • 2020: on Riana Popat, ‘How Plausible is the Autism Objection to Hermeneutic Fictionalism?’ Joint Birmingham-Nottingham-Warwick Graduate Philosophy Conference, University of Nottingham, 11 December.
  • 2020: on Jana Wolkowski, ‘Contested Borders and Contested States: The Political and Human Rights Consequences Resulting from the Regulation of Migrant Flows between Africa and Europe’, Public Issues and Public Reason: A Conference of Applied Ethics and Critical Social Sciences, Carleton University (Canada), 20-21 October
  • 2020: on Kerry O'Neill, ‘Conditional Cash Transfers as Third-Party Exploitation’, Public Issues and Public Reason: A Conference of Applied Ethics and Critical Social Sciences, Carleton University (Canada), 20-21 October
Event Organisation
Public Engagement & Outreach

I have been involved in policy engagement with civil society bodies and the UK Government. For example, I co-wrote a submission to the UK Government’s April 2021 consultation on proposed reforms to the Flood Re insurance scheme (with David SchultzLink opens in a new window at the University of Manchester). I have also given evidence to the UK Parliament’s Risk Assessment and Risk Planning Committee on resilience to extreme risks and emergencies. I was on an international team of scientists who co-authored a short background paper on the seismic vulnerabilities of 'soft story' and non-ductile buildings, for the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERILink opens in a new window). My report on flood risk and housing was reprinted in a policy pamphletLink opens in a new window for the Young Fabians.

I do other kinds of outreach work, often in interdisciplinary contexts. Unusually for a political theorist, I was a judge for the 2021 Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition run by EERI. This involved dozens of engineering students representing universities from around the world. In August 2021, I delivered taster courses in Politics, Philosophy & Law for the Sutton Trust Summer SchoolLink opens in a new window, aimed at secondary school pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Teaching

I teach or have taught modules in politics, philosophy and the history of political thought.

I was a WinnerLink opens in a new window in the 2021 Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence for Postgraduate Researchers.

Non-Academic Writing
Service

I am a member of the Critical International and Political Studies (CRIPS) Graduate Working Group and the Secretary for the PAIS PhD Student-Staff Liaison Committee.

I was appointed to the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s Younger Members Committee and Student Leadership Council for 2021-22.

Qualifications
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Social Science Research (Warwick)
  • MA in Transnational Studies (UCL)
  • BA in PPE with Study Abroad (Warwick)
  • Certificat d'Études Politiques (Grenoble, France)