Newcastle University

Roles and Responsibilities

Research Director and REF Unit of Assessment Co-ordinator for Politics.

Qualifications

PhD, Newcastle University, 'The metaethical and ethical basis of political theory: a dual standpoint approach', 1999.

BA, Balliol College, Oxford University, Philosophy, Politics and Economics (first class), 1990.

Previous Positions 

I was Leverhulme Special Research Fellow at Newcastle University from 2001-3.  In 2003, I was appointed to a Lectureship in Political Thought at Newcastle University.  In 2006, I was promoted to Senior Lecturer.  In 2012, I became Reader in Environmental Political Theory. I have previously been Head of Politics (2005-8), School Postgraduate Director (2008-10) and Politics Postgraduate Research and Taught Programmes Director (2008-10).  I have also been a member of University Senate (2008-11).

Honours and Awards

I was awarded the Political Studies Association Sir Ernest Barker Prize for the Best Dissertation in Political Theory in the UK, 1999.

Research Interests

The ethics and politics of climate change, including theories of global climate justice, the ethics of climate policies, institutional design and climate politics, the local politics of climate change, environmental citizenship and climate change.

Political philosophy and the environment, including political liberalism and the environment, environmental justice, environmental citizenship, democracy and the environment, ecological space and global justice.

Other Expertise

Contemporary political philosophy, including political liberalism, distributive justice, global justice, the metaethical and ethical basis of political theory.

Environmental politics, including the politics of public participation in environmental decision-making and the local politics of wind energy.

The philosophy of Thomas Nagel.

Current Work

A co-authored monograph 'Global Justice and Climate Change' to be published by Oxford University Press (2013) (with Professor Simon Caney, Oxford University).

The project website is at http://www.globaljustice.eu

A short 'thinkpiece' on 'Procedural Justice and Local Climate Policy in the UK' funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation programme on 'A Socially Just Transition to a Low Carbon Economy and Society'.

The project website is at http://www.climatefairness.com

Postgraduate Supervision

Lindsay Palmer - The socio-political and technical dynamics of mine water remediation. (ESRC/NERC funded studentship - completed 2008.)

Karen Scott - Promoting well being: community participation, quality of life indicators and sustainability. (ESRC CASE studentship with Blyth Valley Borough Council - completed 2009).

Martyn Griffin - Defending internal deliberation. (ESRC studentship - completed 2010).

Chi-Lun Huang - Environmental justice in Taiwan: the case of nuclear waste and public participation.

Joanne Swaffield - Discourses of climate change: climate champions, corporations and behaviour change (School funded studentship). 

Gillian Nelson - China and Climate Justice

I am happy to supervise students in contemporary political philosophy and environmental politics.

Funding

Procedural Justice and Local Climate Policy in the UK - Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2011, c.£8k. 

Global Justice and Climate Change - AHRC Research Leave. 2007-8. c.£30k

Global Justice and the Environment - AHRC (with Professor Simon Caney, Oxford). 2004-7. c.£259k

Deliberating the Environment - ESRC Science in Society Programme (with Jan Deckers, Tim Gray, Mary Brennan and Nicola Thompson, Newcastle). 2003-4. c.£45k

Citizenship and the Environment - ESRC Seminar Series (with Professor Andrew Dobson, Keele). 2003-5. c.£15k

Political Liberalism and the Environment - Leverhulme Special Research Fellowship. 2001-3. c.£28k

Projects

• Global Justice and Climate Change
  Project Leader(s): Dr Derek Bell
• Global Justice and the Environment
  Project Leader(s): Dr Derek Bell
• IBEFish
  Project Leader(s): Professor Tim Gray
• Procedural Justice
  Project Leader(s): Dr Derek Bell
• Promoting Well-Being? An Investigation of the Potential Role of Quality of Life Indicators in Blyth Valley Local Strategic Partners
  Project Leader(s): Dr Derek Bell

Teaching

I will teach an MA module POL8046 Global Justice and Climate Change in semester 1 of 2012-13. 

• Bell D, Gray T, Haggett C, Swaffield J. Re-visiting the 'social gap': public opinion and relations of power in the local politics of wind energy. Environmental Politics 2013, 22(1), 115-135.
• Swaffield J, Bell D. Can 'climate champions' save the planet? A critical reflection on neoliberal social change. Environmental Politics 2012, 21(2), 248-267.
• Bell D. Climate Duties, Human Rights and Historical Emissions. In: Harris, P, ed. China's Responsibility for Climate Change: Ethics, Fairness and Environmental Policy. Bristol: Policy Press, 2011, pp.25-45.
• Bell D. Does Anthropogenic Climate Change Violate Human Rights?. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 2011, 14(2), 99-124.
• Bell D. Global Climate Justice, Historical Emissions and Excusable Ignorance. The Monist 2011, 94(3), 391-411.
• Bell D. Justice and the Politics of Climate Change. In: Lever-Tracy, C, ed. Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society. London: Routledge, 2010, pp.423-41.
• Palmer L, Gray T, Bell D. Lessons for community-based management approaches to mine water pollution problems: a comparative study of four cases in northeast England. Local Environment 2010, 15(4), 341-356.
• Bell D. Carbon Justice? The Case Against a Universal Right to Equal Carbon Emissions. In: Wilkes, S, ed. Seeking Environmental Justice. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2008, pp.239-260.
• Thompson N, Bell DR. Articulating political knowledge in deliberation. Contemporary Politics 2006, 12(3-4), 287-300.
• Bell DR, Dobson A. Environmental Citizenship: Getting from Here to There. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: MIT Press, 2006.
• Bell DR. Environmental learning, metaphors and natural capital. Environmental Education Research 2005, 11(1), 53-69.
• Bell DR. Liberal environmental citizenship. In: General Sessions of the European Consortium of Political Research. 2005, Uppsala, Sweden: Environmental Politics: Routledge.
• Gray TS, Haggett C, Bell DR. Offshore wind farms and commercial fisheries in the UK: A study in stakeholder consultation. Ethics, Place and Environment 2005, 8(2), 127-140.
• Bell DR, Gray TS, Haggett C. The 'social gap' in wind farm siting decisions: Explanations and policy responses. Environmental Politics 2005, 14(4), 460-477.
• Bell DR. Creating green citizens? Political liberalism and environmental education. Journal of Philosophy of Education 2004, 38(1), 37-53.
• Bell DR. Environmental justice and Rawls' difference principle. Environmental Ethics 2004, 26(3), 287-306.
• Bell DR. Environmental Refugees: What Rights? Which Duties?. Res Publica 2004, 10(2), 135-152.
• Bell DR. Sustainability through Democratization? The Aarhus Convention and the Future of Environmental Decision-Making in Europe. In: Barry J, Baxter B; Dunphy R, ed. Europe, Globalisation and Sustainable Development. London: Routledge, 2004, pp.94-112.
• Bell DR. de Geus, M., 'The end of over-consumption: Towards a lifestyle of moderation and self-restraint', Utrecht: International Books, 2003 [Book review]. Environmental Politics 2003, 12(4), 145-146.
• Bell DR. Economic growth versus the environment: The politics of wealth, health and air pollution. Environmental Politics 2003, 12(3), 166-167.
• Bell DR. Rawls and research on cognitively impaired patients: A reply to Maio. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 2003, 24(5), 381-393.
• Bell DR. How can political liberals be environmentalists?. Political Studies 2002, 50(4), 703-724.
• Bell DR, Gray TS. The Ambiguous Role of the Environment Agency in England and Wales. Environmental Politics 2002, 11(3), 76-98.