Staff Profile

Ruth is a Senior Lecturer at Newcastle Law School. She is the Degree Programme Director for the Global Legal Studies LLB.

She joined Newcastle in September 2017 and prior to that she worked at Durham Law School.

She was the founding co-lead of Newcastle's Constitutionalism and Governance ConGov research group and is the thematic lead for "Global Democracy and Legitimacy" for the Global Policy Institute (Durham).

Ruth's research is situated within global constitutional scholarship, with a particular interest in constituent power and democracy. She is currently working on a number of related projects on feminist approaches to global constitutionalism: (1) feminist perspectives on sovereignty; (2) feminist perspectives on constituent power in global constitutionalism; (3) utilising utopias, science-fiction and feminist manifestos as methodology (with Professor Aoife O'Donoghue); (4) feminist approaches to populism (with Professor Ana Micaela Alterio); (5) a project concerning Madame de Staël's constitutional theory (with Dr Adam Rowe); (6) an exploration and critique of Gertrude Bell's role in constitution-making (with Dr Bronwen Jones). 

Alongside Professor Aoife O'Donoghue and Dr Cher Weixia Chen, Ruth is the editor of the Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Global Governance (forthcoming in Autumn 2025). She is co-lead on the AHRC Utopia and Failure Network with Professor Mathias Thaler and Professor Davina Cooper. She is also a member of the UK team for the Open Research Area funded study on Unwritten Constitutional Norms and Principles.

Qualifications

• PhD (Durham University)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Durham University)
• LLM (University College London)
• GDL (University of Birmingham)
• BA in English and History (University of York)

Roles and Responsibilities

• DPD for Global Legal Studies LLB
• PGR Deputy DPD and NINE DTP/Northern Bridge Lead (2021-2024)
• Co-coordinator of the Constitutionalism and Governance Group at Newcastle Law School (2021-2024)
• North East Law Review, Academic Lead (2019-2023)
• Director of Impact (2018-2021)
• Client Interviewing Coordinator (2019-2020)
• Client Interviewing and Client Negotiation Coordinator (2018-2019)

Memberships

• Associate Member of the International Association of Electoral Law
• Fellow of the Global Policy Institute and thematic lead for "Global Democracy and Legitimacy" (Durham University)
• Society of Legal Scholars
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Honourable Society of the Inner Temple

Throughout her research in global constitutionalism, feminist constitutionalism and international law, Ruth uses feminist methodologies and constitutional and political theory to challenge the disciplinary assumptions on democracy and constituent power. Ruth's most recent work utilises law and humanities methodologies, including work on speculative fiction, utopias and feminist manifestos as well as theatre productions to understand (re)constructions of constitutional moments and provide novel re-imaginings of constituent power.

Research Topics

• Global Constitutionalism
• International Law
• Democratic Theory
• Constitutional Theory
• International Organisations
• Feminist Theory
• Utopia

Research Projects

AHRC Network, Failure and Utopia

Alongside Professor Mathias Thaler (Edinburgh) and Davina Cooper (KCL), Ruth is organising three workshops as part of this AHRC funded network. This network will explore critical perspectives on utopia and failure alongside others that re-evaluate failure - conceptually, methodologically, and practically. Information about the project is available on the website: https://failingbetter.sps.ed.ac.uk/

Open Research Area 7, Unwritten Constitutional Norms and Principles: A Comparative Study

Led by the Principal Investigator, Professor Se-shauna Wheatle, Ruth is a member of the UK Team on this comparative study investigating unwritten constitutional norms.

Research Funding

• 2021 - British Academy Virtual Sandpits: 'Understanding international law's role in mis- and disinformation' (with Dr Nora Jansen)
• 2021 - British Academy Virtual Sandpits: 'Bridging the Local and the Global: Women's Collectives and Spaces of Action/Reflection' (with Dr Jane Rooney and Dr Aliya Khalid, and Dr Kate Spencer-Bennett and Alana Farrell)
• 2020 - Society of Legal Scholars (SLS): 'Finding Magna Carta in Shakespeare's King John'
• 2015-2017 - Durham University Institute of Advanced Study: 'Scaling Global Governance' and 'Scale, Constitutionalism and Tyranny' (with Prof. Aoife O'Donoghue, Dr Maria Anna Corvaglia and Dr Alan Greene)
• 2015 - Durham Global Security Institute: 'Global and Comparative Law' (with Dr Se-shauna Wheatle)

PhD Supervision

I welcome PhD applications within the fields of Global Constitutionalism, Public International Law and Constitutional Theory. 

Current PhD Supervisions

• Feminist Approaches to Digital Constitutionalism

Completed PhD Supervisions

• Dr Yuki Motoyoshi - The Legality of Military Operations against Non-State Actors, when the Territorial State is Unwilling or Unable to Suppress the Threat of Non-State Actors
• Dr Li Wang - An Analysis of Constitutional Environmental Design in China

Invited Papers and Seminars

• 'Feminist Constitutionalism in Global Constitutionalism' Keio University, Japan (June 2023)
• 'Feminist Constituent Power in International Law: The City Born Great/The City We Became and The World We Make' (with Aoife O'Donoghue) Birmingham University Law and Gender Research Group (May 2023
• Feminist Constitutionalism: feminist law-making workshop (6 May 2021)
• 'Utopias, Colonialism & International Law' (with Aoife O'Donoghue) Warwick Centre for Critical Legal Studies and Critical Legal Thinking Online Seminar Series (February 2021)
• ‘Utopias, Colonialism & International Law’ (with Aoife O’Donoghue) Birmingham Global Legal Studies Reading Group (10 December 2020)
• ‘Ourworld’: A feminist approach to global constitutionalism’ (with Aoife O’Donoghue) Global Constitutionalism webinar series (5 June 2020)
• ‘Constituent Power as a new approach for International Law and Democracy’ Workshop on Constituent Power (The University of Liverpool, 28th June 2019
• 'Weaving Communities: Reading Feminist Science Fiction for Global Constitutionalisation’ Who are “We the People”? Community beyond the state (Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University, 12 February 2019) (project with Aoife O’Donoghue)
• 'Constituent Power and Referenda: Tales from Global Constitutionalisation’ The Role of Referendums in the UK Constitutional order (Durham, 31 January 2019)
• ‘Attempts to democratise the UN: representation, participation, and NGOs’ UN and Global Order Programme (University of Reading, 26 April 2018)
• ‘International perspectives’ Treaties, Brexit and the Constitution (Jesus College, Oxford University, 23 March 2018)
• ‘Where is Magna Carta in Shakespeare’s King John’ Dark Side of Magna Carta (Newcastle Law School, July 2015)

Ruth is the Degree Programme Director for the Global Legal Studies LLB.

In 2023, Ruth was named 'Law Teacher of the Year' at the Northern Law Awards. In 2021, Ruth was awarded a Newcastle Teaching Excellence Award (TEA) for Outstanding Contribution to Personal Support.

Ruth has been a Guest Lecturer at the Durham Global Security Institute (DGSI) (2015-2019), the University of Verona (Online in March 2020; May 2024), São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil (Online in July 2023; October 2024), the German Studienstiftung Summer Academy in Flensburg (July-August 2023), Masaryk University (MUNI) in Czechia (November 2024), and Freie Universität Berlin (December 2024).

Undergraduate Teaching

• LAW1222: Introduction to Global Law (GLS LLB) (Module Leader 2025- )
• LAW3017: Public International Law (LLB) (Module Leader 2021- )
• LAW3034: Fundamentals of Human Rights Law (LLB) (Seminars 2023)

Previous teaching:

• LAW1110/LAW1210: Legal Institutions and Methods (LLB) (Module Leader 2018- 2022)
• LAW2163: Equity (LLB) (Seminars 2017-2019)
• LAW8091: Legal Research: Theory and Method (PGT Seminar 2022)
• LAW8559: Contemporary Problems of International Law and Dispute Settlement (LLM) (PGT seminar 2017-2018)

PhD Supervision

I welcome PhD applications within the fields of Global Constitutionalism, Public International Law and Constitutional Theory. 

Current PhD Supervisions

• Feminist approaches to Digital Constitutionalism

Completed PhD Supervisions

• Dr Yuki Motoyoshi - The Legality of Military Operations against Non-State Actors, when the Territorial State is Unwilling or Unable to Suppress the Threat of Non-State Actors
• Dr Li Wang - An Analysis of Constitutional Environmental Design in China

• Articles

  • Rowe A, Houghton R. Authoring the Nation: Madame de Staël and the Literary Origins of the State. Pólemos 2025. In Press.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. Utopia as "No-Place": Utopias, Colonialism and International Law. Law Text Culture 2024, 27, 204-227.
  • Houghton R. Performing a constitution: a history of Magna Carta in Shakespeare’s King John. Law and Humanities 2024, 18(2), 190-219.
  • Houghton R, Murray CRG, O'Donoghue A. Kenstituent power: an exploration of feminist constitutional change in Barbie. Feminist Theory 2024, 25(4), 608-625.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. Manifestos as constituent power: Performing a feminist revolution. Global Constitutionalism 2023, 12(3), 412-437.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. Introduction to special issue: Feminist manifestos and global constitutionalism. Global Constitutionalism 2023, 12(3), 403-411.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. “Ourworld”: a feminist approach to Global Constitutionalism. Global Constitutionalism 2019, 9(1), 38-75.
  • Houghton R. Looking at the World Bank’s safeguard reform through the lens of deliberative democracy. Leiden Journal of International Law 2018, 32(3), 465-482.
  • Freedman R, Houghton R. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Politicisation of the Human Rights Council. Human Rights Law Review 2017, 17(4), 753-769.
  • McGlynn C, Rackley E, Houghton R. Beyond 'Revenge Porn': The Continuum of Image-Based Sexual Abuse. Feminist Legal Studies 2017, 25(1), 25-46.

• Book Chapters

  • Houghton R. Feminist Perspectives on Sovereignty. In: Diamantidis M; Rosenfeld M, ed. Research Handbook on the Law and Politics of Sovereignty. Edward Elgar, 2025. In Press.
  • Houghton R, Godden-Rasul N, O'Donoghue A, Vincenzotti S. Abolition Feminism and Utopian Justice: Speculative Visionary Fiction and the End of Gendered Violence. In: Godden-Rasul N; Kula L, ed. Research Handbook on Gender Violence and Law. Edward Elgar, 2025. In Press.
  • Houghton R. The Individual in Feminist Approaches to International Law. In: Thomas Sparks and Anne Peters, ed. The Individual in International Law: The History and Theory of International Law. Oxford University Press, 2024.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. Feminist Approaches to Constituent Power. In: Peter Niesen; Markus Patberg; Lucia Rubinelli, ed. Oxford Handbook of Constituent Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024. In Press.
  • Houghton R. Feminist approaches to global constitutionalism. In: Lang AF: Wiener A, ed. Handbook on Global Constitutionalism. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2023, pp.185–206.
  • Freedman R, Houghton R. Dissecting the Institution: A Response to Jan Klabbers. In: Fassbender B; Traisbach K, ed. The Limits of Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
  • O'Donoughe A, Houghton R. Can Global Constitutionalisation be Feminist?. In: Rimmer SH; Ogg K, ed. Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019.
  • Houghton R. Hybrid processes for hybrid outcomes: NGO participation at the United Nations Human Rights Council. In: Lemay-Herbert N; Freedman R, ed. Hybridity: Law, Culture and Development. London and New York: Routledge, 2017, pp.74-88.
  • Houghton R. Comment on McGimpsey v Ireland. In: O'Donoghue, A, Enright, M, McCandless, J, ed. Northern / Irish Feminist Judgments Judges' Troubles and the Gendered Politics of Identity. Hart Publishing, 2017.
  • Turner C, Houghton R. Constitution Making and Post Conflict Reconstruction. In: Saul, M; Sweeney, J, ed. International Law and Post Conflict Reconstruction Policy. Routledge, 2015.

• Digital or Visual Media

  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A, Leggatt M, Knight L. Episode 10: Ruth Houghton and Aoife O'Donoghue, Law, Utopianism, and Feminist Utopias. Stockholm: Spotify, 2025.
  • Oni O, Houghton R. Decolonial Methods Gender, History and Law through Black Literature. Warwick: School of Law, University of Warwick, 2025.
  • O'Donoghue A, Houghton R, Morrissey J. Podcast Episode: Law, Poetry & Feminism. San Bruno, California: YouTube, 2024. Podcast.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A, Jones J, Enright M, O'Rourke C. Podcast Episode: ‘Imagining feminist constitutional futures through the arts and utopian fiction’. Belfast: LawPod; Queen’s University Belfast, 2024. Podcast.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. Utopia, Colonialism and International Law [Podcast Episode]. Warwick: Critical Legal Thinking; The Warwick Centre for Critical Legal Studies, 2021.

• Online Publications

  • Houghton R. What Would the Founding Fathers Say? Digital Ghosts and Constituent Power. TheDigitalConstitutionalist, 2025. Available at: https://digi-con.org/what-would-the-founding-fathers-say-digital-ghosts-and-constituent-power/.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. Reading Project 2025 as a Manifesto. Berlin: Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH, 2025. Available at: https://verfassungsblog.de/reading-project-2025-as-a-manifesto/.
  • O'Donoghue A, Houghton R. Project 2025 and Manifestos for Undemocracy. Coventry: CLT (Holding) Ltd, 2025. Available at: https://criticallegalthinking.com/2025/06/02/project-2025-and-manifestos-for-undemocracy/.
  • Houghton R. Performing the Constitution: 19th Century Productions of Shakespeare's King John. Bristol: University of Bristol, 2024. Available at: https://theatrecollection.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/08/28/performing-the-constitution-19th-century-productions-of-shakespeares-king-john-by-ruth-houghton-newcastle-law-school/.
  • Houghton R. Locating Unwritten Constitutional Norms in Global Constitutionalism. Verfassungsblog, 2024. Available at: https://verfassungsblog.de/locating-unwritten-constitutional-norms-in-global-constitutionalism/. In Preparation.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. Three Tales of Omelas - Utopia, Harm and International Law. Online: OpinioJuris, 2023. Available at: https://opiniojuris.org/2023/10/30/three-tales-of-omelas-utopia-harm-and-international-law/.
  • Houghton R, O'Donoghue A. Manifestos & Counter-Manifestos: An explainer for the 1776 Commission. Coventry: CLT (Holding) Ltd, 2021. Available at: https://criticallegalthinking.com/2021/01/21/manifestos-counter-manifestos-an-explainer-for-the-1776-commission/.
  • O'Donoghue A, Houghton R. A Manifesto for Feminist Global Constitutionalist Order. 2018. Available at: https://criticallegalthinking.com/2018/08/01/a-manifesto-for-feminist-global-constitutionalist-order/.
  • Houghton R. The Unspoken Legacies of Magna Carta. 2015. Available at: https://lacuna.org.uk/openlacuna/the-unspoken-legacies-of-magna-carta/.

• Reports

  • Houghton R, Hickey R, de Londras F, Strecker A, King A, Munro VE, Andrade LY, Bunworth R, Fanning A, Crompton L. Feminist Approaches to PhD Supervision. Doing Feminist Legal Work, 2024. Best Practice Guides 3.
  • Houghton R. Bridging the Local and Global: Archiving Women's Collectives in Spaces of Action/Reflection. Literature Review. Rochester, NY: SSRN, 2022.
  • Houghton R, Jansen N. Mis/Disinformation in the Covid-19 pandemic: What are the challenges for International Law?. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University, 2021. Newcastle Law School Research Briefing.

• Reviews

  • Houghton R. Book Review: Jill Richards, The Fury Archives: Female Citizenship, Human Rights, and the International Avant-Gardes (Columbia University Press 2020), pp. 334. Law and Literature 2025. In Press.
  • Houghton R. Book Review: Cathy Shrank and Phil Withington (eds), The Oxford Handbook on Thomas More’s Utopia (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2023) ISBN: 9780198881018, 816 p, £135.00. Polemos 2025, 19(1), 219-224.
  • Houghton R. Book Review: Ruth Rubio-Marin, Global Gender Constitutionalism and Women’s Citizenship: A Struggle for Transformative Inclusion. Cambridge University Press. International Journal of Constitutional Law 2024.
  • Houghton R. Book Review, 'Mathias Thaler, No Other Planet: Utopian Visions for a Climate-Changed World (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022). Global Policy 2023.
  • Houghton R. Inventions of Nemesis: Utopia, Indignation, and Justice. By Douglas Mao, (Princeton University Press 2020) in the Encounters with Books from Other Disciplines series. International Journal of Law in Context 2023, 19(Special Issue 1), 91-95.
  • Houghton R. Book Review: The Public Law of Gender: From the Local to the Global, by Kim Rubenstein (ed.) and Katharine G. Young (ed.), (Cambridge University Press, 2016), ISBN: 978-1-107-13857-5. European Human Rights Law Review 2019, (4), 453-455.
  • Houghton R. Justice among Nations: A History of International Law, by Stephen C. Neff [Book review]. Legal Studies 2015, 35(1), 189-190.
  • Houghton R. Book Review: Negotiating in Civil Conflict: Constitutional Construction and Imperfect Bargaining in Iraq by Haider Ala Hamoudi. LSE Review of Books 2014.
  • Houghton R. Book Review: Free Country: Selected Lectures and Talks by Sydney Kentridge QC. LSE Review of Books 2013.
  • Houghton R. Book Review: Democracy, Social Resources and Political Power in the European Union by Niilo Kauppi. LSE Review of Books 2013.
  • Houghton R. Book Review: After the Spring: Probation, Justice Reform and Democratization from the Baltics to Beirut by Johannes Wheeldon. LSE Review of Books 2013.