Thom Brooks

Thomas "Thom" Brooks, FRHistS, FAcSS, FRSA, (born 14 October 1973) is an American-British political philosopher and legal scholar. He has been Professor of Law and Government at Durham University since 2014, and the Head of Durham Law School since 2016. He was previously a lecturer then Reader at Newcastle University. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews, the University of Oxford, and Yale University's Yale Law School. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Moral Philosophy.

Early life and education

Brooks was born on 14 October 1973 in New Haven, Connecticut. He was educated at Xavier High School, an all-boys private Catholic school in Middletown, Connecticut, United States.^[1] From 1992 to 1997, he studied at William Paterson University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1997, majoring in music and political science. He then studied political science at Arizona State University and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1999. He studied for an MA in philosophy at University College Dublin, graduating in 2000 with first class honours.^[2] From 2001, he undertook postgraduate research in philosophy at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Robert Stern and Leif Wenar.^[2][3] He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2004.^[2] His doctoral thesis was titled "Taking the System Seriously: Themes in Hegel's Philosophy of Right".^[3]

Academic career

Brooks started his academic career at Newcastle University. He was a lecturer in political thought from 2004 to 2007.^[1] From 2004 to 2005, he was also a visiting fellow at the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, University of St Andrews.^[2] In 2007, he was promoted to reader in political and legal philosophy.^[1] From 2010 to 2011, he was an academic visitor to the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford.^[2] His "Publishing Guide for Graduate Students" is a popular resource for new academics interested in getting published.^[4]

In 2012, Brooks joined the Durham Law School, Durham University, as a reader in law, and its Philosophy Department as an associate member.^[1][2] He was appointed Professor of Law and Government in 2014 - and the only such Chair in the UK.^[2] Between 2014 and 2016, he served as Director of the Centre for Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at Durham University.^[1] In 2015, he was a visiting fellow to Yale Law School, Yale University.^[2][5] Since 1 August 2016, he has been Head of the Durham Law School.^[2]

In 2013, Brook wrote a report analysing the United Kingdom's new citizenship test. His report was titled "The 'Life in the United Kingdom test': Is It Unfit for Purpose?". He was highly critical of the test, concluding that it was "unfit for purpose". He criticised the test's focus on "British culture and history at the expense of practical knowledge".^[6]

Brooks publishes widely on criminal justice and sentencing. His "unified theory of punishment" is noted as one of the top 100 Big Ideas for the Future in a report by RCUK.^[7] A prolific author, columnist and editor, Brooks has written three books, edited two reports and 23 collections, published over 120 articles and 80 columns.^[2]

His research on capital punishment is quoted and cited approvingly by the Connecticut Supreme Court lead decision in its "watershed" case of State v. Santiago (Santiago II), 318 Conn. 1, 105 (2015) abolishing capital punishment in Connecticut.^[8]

In 2015, the Electoral Commission quotes Brooks in support of its proposed changes to the EU Referendum. They proposed changing the ballot choices to "Remain" and "Leave" and this was later accepted by the UK Government.^[9]

Brooks appears frequently on media, including television, radio and newspapers often discussing migration policy and law. These media organisations include BBC One, BBC News, ITV News, Sky News, ABC News 24, Al Jazeera, CNN, France 24, BBC Radio 4, BBC 5 Live and most leading UK newspapers among others with columns in The Daily Telegraph, Daily Express and New Statesman.^[10][11][12] He has been interviewed by Andrew Marr.^[13]

Brooks is an Advisory Editor of the University of Bologna Law Review, a general student-edited law journal published by the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Bologna.^[14]

Personal life

Brooks has been a citizen of the United States since birth. In 2009, he gained indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom, having sat the Life in the United Kingdom test. He became a citizen of the United Kingdom in 2011, and therefore holds dual citizenship.^[15] His report is cited several times in Parliamentary debates.^[16]

Brooks is a member of the British Labour Party and the University and College Union trade union.^[17] He is a supporter of New Labour and Blairism,^[18] and supported Liz Kendall in the 2015 Labour leadership contest.^[19] He writes columns for The Daily Telegraph, LabourList and others often on immigration topics.^[20][21] Since 2015, he has been Communications Lead for Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson.^[1][2] Brooks is cited in Labour's policy commission report on 'stronger, safer communities' that underpinned the 2015 General Election manifesto.^[9]

Honours

In 2009, Brooks was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).^[1] In 2010, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS). In 2012, Brooks was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). In 2014, he was elected a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).^[1]

Selected works

• Brooks, Thom; Freyenhagen, Fabian, eds. (2005). The legacy of John Rawls. London: Continuum. ISBN 978-0826478436. 
• Brooks, Thom (2007). Hegel's political philosophy: a systematic reading of the Philosophy of right (1st ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748625741. 
• Brooks, Thom, ed. (2008). The global justice reader. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-1405169653. 
• Brooks, Thom, ed. (2010). New waves in ethics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230232754. 
• Brooks, Thom, ed. (2011). Ethics and moral philosophy. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-9004203426. 
• Brooks, Thom, ed. (2012). Hegel's Philosophy of right. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1405188135. 
• Brooks, Thom (2012). Punishment. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415431811. 
• Brooks, Thom (2013). Hegel's political philosophy: a systematic reading of the Philosophy of right (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748645107. 
• Brooks, Thom (2013). The ‘Life in the United Kingdom’ Citizenship Test: Is It Unfit for Purpose? (pdf) (Report). Durham: Durham University. Retrieved 11 February 2016. 
• Brooks, Thom, ed. (2014). Ethical Citizenship: British Idealism and the Politics of Recognition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1137329950. 
• Brooks, Thom, ed. (2014). Alcohol and public policy. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415730242. 
• Brooks, Thom; Nussbaum, Martha C., eds. (2015). Rawls's Political Liberalism. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231149709. 
• Brooks, Thom, ed. (2015). Current Controversies in Political Philosophy. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415517522. 
• Brooks, Thom (2016). Becoming British: UK Citizenship Examined. London: Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1849549769. 

References

External links

• His personal website
• His Durham University website
• Twitter profile
• Thom Brooks - Daily Telegraph
• The Brooks Blog