الدكتور نيكولاس براندو

Research areas: Philosophy of childhood, theories of children’s rights, civil and political rights, right to work, right to vote.

Education: Nico has a PhD in Political Philosophy (Summa Cum Laude) from KU Leuven (Belgium) with a thesis on the philosophy of childhood and children’s rights entitled, Not Just for Kids. Childhood, Equality, and the Limits of Freedom. Before that, he studied Spanish Philology (Bachelor’s), Humanities (BA), Contemporary Political Studies (Specialisation), and Political Philosophy (MA) at the University of Barcelona, the Pompeu Fabra University, and the City University of Hong Kong. 

Research Experience: After a one-year postdoctoral position at the Institute of Philosophy (KU Leuven), Nico was awarded funding from the British Academy with a Newton International Fellowship grant to carry out a project entitled “Childhood at the Margins: A Normative Analysis of the Convention on the Rights of the Child” at the Centre for Children’s Rights, Queen’s University Belfast. He then finished the project jointly with the University of Liverpool, and got a position there as a Derby Fellow on childhood and children’s rights.

Nico’s research merges philosophical methods of analysis with sociological theories to assess the validity of legal frameworks. He likes to explore thorny ethical questions about the legal treatment of children such as, “is anything wrong with child labour?”, or “why should toddlers be allowed to vote?” Through his work, Nico begs us to question some of our most deeply held assumptions about how we understand what ‘childhood’ is, what justice and equality demand for our treatment of children, and what they are owed in terms of rights.

He is currently Deputy-Director of the European Children’s Rights Unit (ECRU) at U. Liverpool, and is finalising his first monograph, Childhood in Liberal Theory. Equality, Difference, and Children’s Rights, under contract with Oxford University Press. He has published widely on the capabilities approach, theories of childhood and children’s rights, education theory, and global justice.

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Selected Works:

Brando, N. (2023). ‘Is Child Disenfranchisement Justified?’ Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 26(5): 635-657.

Brando, N. (2020). ‘Children’s Abilities, Freedom, and the Process of Capability-Formation.’ Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. 21(3): 249-262. 

Brando, N. and Schweiger, G. (eds.) (2019). Philosophy and Child Poverty. Dordrecht: Springer. 

Brando, N. (2019). ‘Universalism, Embeddedness and Domination: An Analysis of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.’ Journal of Global Ethics 15(3): 270-286. DOI: 10.1080/17449626.2019.1695221

Hart, C.S. and Brando, N. (2018). ‘A capability approach to children's well‐being, agency and participatory rights in education.’ European Journal of Education 53 (3): 292-309. DOI: 10.1111/ejed.12284

Brando, N. (2017). ‘Between Equality and Freedom of Choice: Educational Opportunities for the Least Advantaged.’ International Journal of Educational Development 53: 71-79. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.12.007

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