
Associate Professor Geoffrey Levey
BA Qld, MSocSci Hebrew University of Jerusalem, AM PhD Brown
I research issues in contemporary political theory at the intersection of liberal democracy, multiculturalism, citizenship, ethnicity, religion, and nationalism. I am especially interested in the terms on which cultural minorities are justly incorporated into liberal democracies and conceptions of national identity and how they relate to liberal democracy. A major focus of my work is the Australian experiment and experience with multiculturalism and how it should be understood and assessed. I have published over 100 scholarly journal articles and book chapters, and am editor or co-editor of six books, most recently the Research Handbook on Multiculturalism for Edward Elgar Publishing (2025). From 2012-2016, I was an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, working on multiculturalism and Australian 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 received my BA from the University of Queensland, 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 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.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- 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
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
- Scholar of Excellence, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration program, Toronto Metropolitan University, invitation for Spring 2022 (declined)
- 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
- An Australian Dilemma: Multicultural Liberal Democracy and Australian National Identity - book project
- A Defence of Liberal Nationalism - book project
- The Established Culture project - a multifaceted inquiry
- 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 Research Supervision
- Jialiang Cai, ‘The Nationalist Rhetoric of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan and Their Impact on Their Emigrants in Australia’
- Khoirun Nisa, 'The Role of the Indonesian Government and Civil Society in Accommodating Diversity: Participatory Religious Multiculturalism and interculturalism Approaches'
- 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)
-
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 Prof. Melanie White)
My Teaching
Current:
- ARTS2820 Justice
- ARTS3821 The Politics of Identity in the 21st Century
- ARTS38222 The Art of Political Science
Selected Previous:
- 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