In 2009 I called the UK citizenship test a 'bad pub quiz.' In 2026, reform is finally on the table with my evidence cited throughout the House of Lords report on citizenship & integration. The full story in one policy briefing: thombrooks.info/Briefing.pdf thombrooks.info/resources/

The first review of Luke Ulas's recent book is here

We had an in-depth look at the misinformation targeting City of Sanctuary last summer. How it spread from the mainstream to the online far right, and how the charity was inundated with horrific threats. This is part of a worrying and growing trend. www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...

Pleased to share that my review of Luke Ulaş's 'Being Cosmopolitan: A Political Approach' is now out in Contemporary Political Theory. Ulaş's project is super interesting and forced me to grapple with some big questions about self-determination. link.springer.com/epdf/10.1057...

Our department is hiring a two-year fixed-term Lecturer in Public Policy and Ethics. Please spread the word, and happy to answer any questions about our department and political philosophy in London. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSC917/a...

🚨Job Posting🚨 I've received funding for a project on "Rethinking the Anti-Corruption Toolkit" and am hiring a 2-year postdoc (political theory or related) to help. Ideally starting this fall, but can be flexible. For best consideration apply by the end of next week! apply.interfolio.com/188955

My MSc-by-research student is graduating today and gifted me this 'garlic bird' plushie from Wuhan. It has sent me down the most wonderful internet rabbit hole.

Philosophy job at Sheffield (fixed term); please share! #PhilJobs #philsky jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Lecturer...

Looks like Durham's philosophy exam chair has resigned (from their exam role) in protest at the Uni's handling of AI essays www.palatinate.org.uk/philosophy-e...

“I love fixing things for people but I need to humble them at the same time.” - Reviewer 2

c.org/JGxvMV2MPq Please sign this petition to save Philosophy and our wonderful colleagues under threat at the University of Dundee.

👇 Sign to save philosophy at Dundee.

Academic provision broadly the same, but no maths, languages or philosophy degrees - the word "broadly" doing some incredibly heavy lifting here

Migration numbers to the UK are falling, yet at the same time attitudes towards immigration are hardening. That’s because immigration concerns are a symbol for other anxieties, argues @nandosigona.bsky.social. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

"Parts of the world are essentially ambiguous in the way that calls for judgment. These parts of the world are least amenable to science... and they are largely where our humanity lies." criticalchunks.substack.com/p/the-kids-a...

🗓️ All are welcome to attend our upcoming workshop, Migration and Asylum in Scotland: A Philosophical Perspective, 11.30am-5.30pm in the Sir Duncan Rice Library. If you plan to join for any part of the event, please inform [email protected] for catering purposes.

Oh hell yeah @amnesty.org comes out swinging: "Amnesty International finds that standalone generative AI systems... are fundamentally incompatible with IHRL. As such, Amnesty International is calling for a prohibition of such systems." www.amnesty.org/en/documents...

Very good, if extremely depressing, piece by Stefan Collini to explain what has been and is being done to this country’s universities. If interested to find out, I recommend reading it.

“The system has been kept afloat only by the higher fees paid by international students. #Brexit and successive governments’ hostile immigration policies did for that—and anyway the reputation of British #HigherEducation… is now in a well-deserved decline” #Academia newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...

Up to 111 academic jobs to be cut, despite the current forecast of a £4 million surplus for this financial year. The same restructuring process will create new Executive Dean roles on 6-figure salaries. Just yesterday SMT announced the hiring of a new Vice Principal. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Looking forward to presenting in this workshop at the University of Reading next month! To register, contact the organiser: Rufaida Al Hashmi ([email protected]) philevents.org/event/show/1...

Wrote a thing on why buying into the “generative AI is inevitable so we need to stuff it into all crevices of higher ed” narrative is not only bad pedagogy, but bad Political Science. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

'The key findings were said to be “surprisingly simple”: “a good student academic experience ultimately comes down to quality teaching, access to in person interaction with teachers and a strong sense of belonging”.' 2/3

'Policy analysts looked at 20 years’ worth of data collected for the annual Student Academic Experience Survey, currently run by the Higher Education Policy Institute and Advance HE, to establish key trends in a tumultuous period for higher education.' 1/3

Sign the petition to save humanities, including philosophy, at the University of Hertfordshire. (Also highly recommend reading Daniel Hutto's comment in the Daily Nous piece below, which wonderfully captures the dismal state of UK Higher Ed at the moment.) c.org/GXTLwHcLB2

Brilliant news to share! Just heard from OUP that our proposal has been accepted to co-edit an "Oxford Handbook of Animal Politics" featuring over 40 commissioned chapters surveying the field. Co-editors @drsvg.bsky.social, @stevecooke.org, @joshmilburn.bsky.social, Alasdair Cochrane & Angie Pepper

Absolutely jazzed for these Green wins.

Sad almost 4000 of my neighbours voted for the racists.

My review of @alanmanning4.bsky.social’s Why Immigration Policy is Hard, an extremely comprehensive book, covering reasons for migration, the effects of migration on high-income receiving countries, what we know about the effects of various policies, and much more.

A brief (longer-than-an-abstract, shorter-than-a-paper) summary of my Methodological Nationalism paper is now out in New Work in Philosophy! newworkinphilosophy.substack.com/p/methodolog...

In the Summer of 2022, the Rutte IV government deliberately broke the law, by imposing a housing requirement on family reunification for refugees. In a newly published essay, I explore how politicians justified taking this illegal measure. >> www.jstor.org/stable/jj.37...

I do not believe for a sec that mandatory retirement will lead to more stable jobs for jrs. But I agree that academic gerontocracy leads to more work for jrs, less push back on anti-higher-ed reforms b/c those with power have less skin in the game, & less knowledge being passed on to the next gen.

Under the weather today, so having to send solidarity from home - but the tl;dr is that senior management have refused to put a pause on compulsory redundancies for 6 months. So we're back on the pickets. For 8 more days 😓 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Final thought - if this is how they treat the best-performing REF unit of assessment at the university, nobody is safe.

I’m looking for an assistant/PhD student to work with me at the University of Vienna If you’re interested please apply online (no email) jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...

Very pleased to share that this piece is now officially published in Philosophy! Tl;dr: efforts to call for the outright rejection of methodological nationalism - i.e. nation-state-centric ways of seeing - are unlikely to succeed. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

If you know a public engagement with science'y academic looking for a postdoc next year (August 2026 start), @ucpews.bsky.social Center for Public Engagement with Science is hiring! #philsky #SciComm #STS #SocSky #HPS #SciEd jobs.uc.edu/job/Postdoct...

I wrote a brief review of Shuk Ying Chan's excellent book Postcolonial Global Justice. Check it out (gift link): www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JFJWZ...

Day 2 on the post-Spring Break pickets. Fingers crossed negotiations will be as in our favour as the weather has this week🤞

Back on the pickets today, fighting (we think) 100+ jobs at risk as part of an ongoing (ambiguous) restructuring process. news.stv.tv/north/aberde...

We're gearing up for 10 more strike days here at Aberdeen & I'm in need of some therapeutic reading. Please share your favourite papers on industrial action, strikes and/or solidarity.

JOB! I'm hiring a Senior Research Associate in Social and Political Philosophy as part of the ERC LEAD Project. Deadline is May 3rd, and candidates would ideally begin in September 2026 or asap after. Feel free to contact me with any questions - Share widely! www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

We welcome expressions of interest in the 2026 British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme. Our internal triage deadline is 8th June 2026. Interested candidates should reach out to their prospective mentor & [email protected] ahead of this deadline. Info ➡️ www.abdn.ac.uk/dhpa/fellows...

I’ve made a podcast!! State of Asylum is now available on Spotify, and will shortly be available on Apple Podcasts. Huge thanks to @scga.bsky.social for making the podcast possible!!! Listen in to learn about Sanctuary, Detention, Housing, and Right to Work, guided by experts by experience.

Reminder! CFA deadline this Friday.

Solid picket at the main gate for the first day of Aberdeen UCU branch's four days of strikes to save jobs and stop compulsory redundancies #SaveHE #StopTheCuts

Morning 1 on the picket lines with @ucuaberdeen.bsky.social over job cut dispute. Sad to be here again, but thankful for the excellent turnout and student support. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...