Researcher

Associate Professor Geoffrey Brahm Levey

My Expertise

Citizenship, democracy, multiculturalism, ethnicity, religion, and national identity issues, Jewish political behaviour

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Political theory and political philosophy, Citizenship, Race, ethnicity and law

SEO tags

Biography

I received my BA from the University of Queensland, and earned a Masters in Social Science (magna cum laude) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Masters and PhD in Political Science from Brown University, USA. Prior to returning to Australia, I held the Anna Biegun Warburg Junior Research Fellowship in Human and Social Sciences, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford. My initial appointment at UNSW was to establish and direct a...view more

I received my BA from the University of Queensland, and earned a Masters in Social Science (magna cum laude) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Masters and PhD in Political Science from Brown University, USA. Prior to returning to Australia, I held the Anna Biegun Warburg Junior Research Fellowship in Human and Social Sciences, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford. My initial appointment at UNSW was to establish and direct a Program in Jewish Studies, which I did for almost a decade. From 2012-2016, I was an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, working on cultural diversity and national identity. I was the last Associate Dean Research for the UNSW Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences before it was amalgamated in the wake of COVID.

I research in contemporary political theory, with particular reference to liberal democracy, multiculturalism, ethnicity, religion, nationalism, and citizenship. I have authored over 100 publications in political theory, political sociology, and Jewish studies, appearing in such journals as Political Theory, The Monist, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, British Journal of Political Science, Political Studies, Citizenship Studies, Ethnic & Racial StudiesEthnicities, AJS Review, and Studies in Contemporary Jewry.  I am presently completing a book on cultural diversity and Australian national identity and editing the Research Handbook on Multiculturalism for Edward Elgar Publishing UK.

My visiting appointments include: British Academy Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, University of Bristol; visiting research fellowships at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, University of Melbourne, the Political Theory Program, Australian National University, the Centre for the Study of Social Justice, University of Oxford, the Institute of Advanced Study of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts, Brussels, Robert Schuman Distinguished Scholar, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, and Richard Hodder-Williams Visiting Fellowship, SPAIS, University of Bristol. I have advised the Australian Government’s Multicultural Advisory Council, the Race Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission, and the Museum of Australian Democracy, Canberra, among other bodies, and served as an expert consultant to the Global Centre for Pluralism, Ottawa, Canada. 

 

 


My Grants

  • Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, “An Australian Dilemma: Liberal Democracy, Cultural Diversity, and the Quest for National Identity,” 2012-2016
  • UNSW Goldstar Award, “The Hyphen in The Melting-Pot,” 2012
  • UNSW Faculty Research Grant,“The Hyphen in The Melting-Pot,” 2011
  • Harvard University Committee on Australian Studies conference grant (2009) for “Citizenship in a Globalized World: Perspectives from the Immigrant Democracies,” UNSW, Sydney, July 2010
  • Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship grant (2009) for “Citizenship in a Globalized World: Perspectives from the Immigrant Democracies,” UNSW, Sydney, July 2010
  • Australian Research Council—Academy of the Social Sciences Linkage Special Projects grant, “Integration and Multiculturalism – A Harmonious Combination”: member, national research team (M. Clyne, J. Jupp, RT Appleyard; GJ Hugo; CB Inglis; S-E Khoo; K Kirsher; G.B. Levey, and A. Markus), 2008-09
  • Australian Research Council ‘Discovery’ Grant, “Autonomy, Liberalism, and the Right to Culture”, Sole Chief Investigator, 2007-2009
  • UNSW Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences Major Conference grant (2003) for “Religion and Multicultural Citizenship” conference, UNSW, Sydney, July 2005
  • The Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, Workshop Grant (2003) for "Australian Multiculturalism and Political Theory: Balancing Rights and Responsibilities" workshop, UNSW, July 2004
  • Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs grant (2003) for "Australian Multiculturalism and Political Theory: Balancing Rights and Responsibilities" workshop, UNSW, July 2004

My Qualifications

BA Qld, MSocSci Hebrew University of Jerusalem, AM PhD Brown


My Awards

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS 

  • Richard Hodder-Williams Visiting Fellow, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol, March-April, 2017 
  • Distinguished Scholar, Global Governance Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, 2015
  • Australian Research Council Future Fellow, 2012-2016
  • Visiting Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, Brussels, Belgium, 2010
  • Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Social Justice, University of Oxford, UK, Trinity term, 2010
  • Australasian Association of Philosophy Media Prize, 2008, for 'A healthy dose of multiculturalism' (5,000 wds) published in the Australian Financial Review, 27 April 2007.
  • Visiting Fellow, Social and Political Theory Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, 2006
  • Visiting Fellow, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, University of Melbourne, 2006
  • British Academy Visiting Fellow, Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, University of Bristol, UK, 2002
  • Anna Biegun Warburg Junior Research Fellow in Human and Social Sciences, St. Anne’s College, Oxford, 1993–1995
  • Golda Meir Fellow, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1990/91
  • Dean’s Fellow, Brown University, 1989-90

My Research Activities

  • An Australian Dilemma: Liberal Democracy, Cultural Diversity and the Quest for National Identity - book project
  • Editor, The Elgar Handbook on Multiculturalism (Edward Elgar, UK, in progress)
  • A Defence of Liberal Nationalism - book project


My Research Supervision


Areas of supervision

I welcome research students working on topics across political theory and political sociology, including liberty, equality and justice; multiculturalism, ethnicity, religion, nationalism, and citizenship; and explanatory theories of political institutions and behaviour.

Current & Recent Postgraduate Research Supervision

  • Autocratisation in Bangladeshi politics  
  • Islamophobia and Australian legal protections
  • Diversity within the Jewish Community
  • Women's emancipation in Jewish Orthodoxy
  • Truth and Politics
  • Cosmopolitan Citizenship
  • Rationality in Public Policy
  • Minority Language Rights in Colombia
  • Toleration, Respect & Diversity
  • Autonomy and Sex Work
  • Jewish Left-Liberalism 

 

Selected Postgraduate Research Completions 

  • Stuart Weierter, PhD Politics, Public Policy, Truth and Politics
  • Brett Todd, PhD Politics, Linguistic Reparative Justice for Indigenous Peoples? The Case of Policies to Protect Indigenous Languages in Colombia 
  • Ramona Vijeyyarasa, PhD Politics & International Relations, The Global Traffic of Women and Girls for Sexual and Labour Exploitation: A Comparative Assessment of the Presumed Underlying Causes of Trafficking from Ghana, Ukraine and Vietnam
  • Kudzai Matereke, PhD Philosophy, Citizenship and Cultural Gobalization
  • Peter Balint, PhD Politics, Respect, Toleration and Diversity  
  • Louise Leibowitz, MA Politics, The Politics of Pressure: Jewish Liberalism in Aparthied South Africa

Currently supervising

  • Fahima Durrat, 'Contentious Politics and Political Change in Bangladesh'
  • Maryam Hashimi, ‘Islamophobia in New South Wales: Are Civil Anti-vilification Laws the Answer to the Problem?’ (Faculty of Law & Justice, with Prof. Luke McNamara)
  • Angelica Jacobs, 'The Representation of Diverse Jewish Constituencies within the Australian Jewish Community'
  • Dovber Seldowitz, ‘Emancipatory Inclinations of a Religious Elite: Toward a New Sociology of the Sermon Through the Hasidic Works of Joseph I. Schneerson and Menaḥem M. Schneerson’ (with A/Prof Melanie White)

 

 

 


My Engagement

  • Editorial Board, Ethnicities [SAGE], 2021
  • Consultant to the Global Centre for Pluralism, Ottawa, Canada, 2020-2022
  • Member, Democracy DNA Advisory Group, Museum of Australian Democracy, Canberra 2020-2021
  • International Advisory Board, Ethnicities [SAGE], 2012-2020
  • My research featured in Research Outreach: Connecting Science with Society, Issue 112 (2020), 46-49.
  • Academic Advisory Board, PLURISPACE: Public Spaces: Culture and Integration in Europe, A Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) Joint Research Programme project, 2019-2022
  • Contributor, Go8 Universities Submission to the Australian Senate (Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee) Inquiry into Nationhood, National Identity and Democracy, 2019

My Teaching

 Current:

  • ARTS2820 Justice
  • ARTS3821 The Politics of Identity in the 21st Century
  • ARTS38222 The Art of Political Science

 

Previously:

  • ARTS2845 Sex, Justice and Human Rights
  • ARTS4268 Methodologies in the Social Sciences: Paradoxes and Puzzles
  • ARTS3841 Politics: Theory and Practice
  • ARTS1844 Politics and Principles: An Introduction to Modern Political Theory
  • ARTS2846 Multiculturalism in Law and Politics
  • POLS4000 Australian National Identity
  • POLS2033 Jews in Modern Society
  • POLS2034 Jews, States, and Citizenship
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Location

137 Morven Brown

Contact

+61 (2) 9385 1376
+61 (2) 9385 1040