Alexander Brown

Biography

Alexander Brown is Reader in Political and Legal Theory.

He received his PhD from the Department of Philosophy, University College London (UCL) (2005). He was a lecturer in political theory in the Department of Political Science at UCL (2005-9) before coming to UEA in September 2009. In 2018 he held a visiting post at the University of Queensland.

He Tweets (@iAlexanderBrown) and blogs for The Conversion, The Huffington Post UK, and Eastminster

He is the author of a major study on behalf of the Council of Europe looking at Models of Governance of Online Hate speech, published May 2020

He is also the author of five research monographs:

- The Politics of Hate Speech Laws (with Adriana Sinclair) (Routledge, 2019)

- A Theory of Legitimate Expectations for Public Administration (Oxford University Press, 2017)

- Hate Speech Law: A Philosophical Examination (Routledge, 2015) 

- Personal responsibility: Why it Matters (Continuum, 2009)

- Ronald Dworkin’s Theory of Equality: Domestic and Global Perspectives (Palgrave, 2009)

He has published peer-reviewed articles and chapters in several fields of political philosophy, jurisprudence, applied ethics, and history of political thought, including most recently:

- 'Cosmopolitan Democratic and Communicative Rights: The Danish Cartoons Controversy and the Right to Be Heard, Even Across Borders' Human Rights Review (2020)

- 'African American Enslavement, Speech Act Theory, and the Law’, Journal of African American Studies (2019)

- ‘Retheorizing Actionable Injuries in Civil Lawsuits Involving Targeted Hate Speech: Hate Speech as Degradation and Humiliation’, Alabama Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Law Review (2018)

 - ‘Averting Your Eyes in the Information Age: Hate Speech, the Internet, and the Captive Audience Doctrine’, Charleston Law Review (2017)

- ‘A Theory of Legitimate Expectations’, Journal of Political Philosophy (2017)

- ‘Bringing Responsibility to Justice’, Ethical Perspectives (2017)

- ‘What is Hate Speech? Part 1: The Myth of Hate’, Law and Philosophy (2017)

- ‘What is Hate Speech? Part 2: Family Resemblences’, Law and Philosophy (2017)

- ‘The “Who?” Question in the Hate Speech Debate: Part 1: Consistency, Practical, and Formal Approaches’, Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence (2016)

- ‘The “Who?” Question in the Hate Speech Debate: Part 2: Functional and Democratic Approaches’, Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence (2017)

Career

Visiting Scholar at the University of Queensland (2018)

Reader in Political and Legal Theory, in the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies, UEA (2017-)

Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Social and Political Theory, in the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies, UEA (2014-17)

Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Social and Political Theory, in the School of Political, Social and International Studies, UEA (2012-14)

Lecturer in Contemporary Social and Political Theory, in the School of Political, Social and International Studies, UEA (2009-2012)

Lecturer in Political Theory, in the Department of Political Science, UCL (2005-9)

Academic Background

PhD in Political Philosophy, UCL (2005)

MA in Philosophy, UCL (1997)

BSocSci in Political Science and Philosophy, University of Birmingham (1996)

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