Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Dr Andrew Walton

Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy

Background

Dr Andrew Walton is a Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy at Newcastle University.

Google scholar: Click here.

Media

  • Twitter: @Dr_AWalton
  • Blog: justice-everywhere.org

Affiliations

  • Associate Member, Centre for Ethics, Law, and Public Affairs, University of Warwick
  • Research Fellow, Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (Genève)

Previous positions

  • Visiting Associate Professor, University of Warwick
  • Research Fellow, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona
  • Visiting Scholar, Lund University
  • Assistant Professor in Political Theory, University of St. Gallen
  • Teaching Fellow, University College London

Qualifications

  • BA History & Politics, University of Warwick
  • MA Globalisation & Development, University of Warwick
  • PhD Political Theory, University of Warwick
Research

Research Interests

  • Moral analysis in public policy
  • Housing supply and regulation
  • Residential and community integration
  • Cultural representation and public spaces
  • Trade justice and economic ethics
  • Liberal-egalitarian and socialist thought


Current Work


The current focus of my research is the use of methods and ideas drawn from moral and political philosophy to inform debate on a range of contemporary policy issues, particularly around housing and communities. I have two ongoing projects in this area and a monograph that introduces the general approach:


Inequalities and Urban Spaces - In this research, I explore questions of justice that arise in cities and greater urban areas. At the project's centre is an account of inequality that emphasises (1) improving the prospects of the least-advantaged and (2) enhancing the role of under-represented groups in the evolving cultural environment. This framework permeates thinking in three areas of policy and practice. The first is housing, where it has implications for the types and geographical spread of accommodation, how to ensure adequate and affordable shelter for all, and what kinds of building regulation are suitable for high-density environments. The second is neighbourhoods and communities, where it has implications for advancing residential integration through processes that avoid burdening the disadvantaged with transitional costs or stifling their cultural context. The third is public spaces, where it provides a basis for affirmative action in roles connected to urban design and local politics. Recent and ongoing outputs in this area:


Government Provision in Cash or Kind - In this research, I explore questions about when and why the state should provide in-kind goods to its citizens. At the base of this project is a concern with which (collection) of moral principles best inform the type of provision governments ought to offer citizens. One practical focus connects to my project on Inequalities and Urban Spaces, where I explore different justifications and their respective implications for social and affordable housing as well as building regulations. In the longer-term, the project will expand focus to questions of cash or in-kind provision in labour market regulation, childcare support, and overseas aid. Ongoing outputs in this area:

  • 'Resources in Cash or Kind? Considering the Case of Housing' (work in progress)


Moral Analysis in Public Policy - The approach to these research projects rests on a framework for using the tools of moral and political philosophy in assessing public policy that I developed with co-authors Will Abel, Elizabeth Kahn, and Tom Parr:


Recent work


Justice and trade - In this research, I explore how we should conceptualise the idea of 'trade justice'. I argue that we that we should reason about 'trade justice' in a holistic sense, understanding and applying moral principles to the domain of trade as part of an 'institutional package', both in the regulation of international trade and individual ethics. Recent publications include:


Postgraduate supervision


I would be interested in supervising postgraduate research in any of the areas listed under my research interests and more generally across the terrain of domestic or global political philosophy 

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching 

POL2090: Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion: Social Issues in Contemporary Political Philosophy

Publications