Professor Nicholas Barber Awarded Major Leverhulme Funding

Professor Nicholas Barber, Fellow of Trinity College and Professor of Constitutional Law and Theory at the University of Oxford, has been awarded £167,880 by the Leverhulme Trust to support a major new research project entitled Reason and Emotion in the Formation of Constitutional Identity.

The award, made under the prestigious Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship scheme, will fund a three-year programme of interdisciplinary research examining how states build and sustain constitutional identity, and the roles that both rational argument and emotional attachment play in shaping citizenship.

Professor Barber’s project addresses a question at the heart of modern constitutional democracies: should our relationship with the state be understood primarily as a rational, voluntary association (like membership of a team) or as something closer to a family, rooted in emotional bonds and shared identity? At a time of growing political polarisation, populism, and fragmentation of the public realm, the research seeks to understand how constitutional systems can foster meaningful connections between citizens and the state without undermining democratic values.

Drawing on constitutional law, political theory, social psychology, and sociology, the project will explore how states deploy narratives, symbols, rituals, and legal structures to create a sense of belonging, and where the moral limits of these strategies lie. Central to the research is the idea that law alone cannot repair the weakening bonds between citizens and democratic institutions, and that a deeper understanding of identity and emotion is essential to the future health of constitutional government.

The fellowship will allow Professor Barber to devote sustained time to the project, culminating in two major books. The first, The State and its People, to be published by Oxford University Press, will offer a comprehensive theoretical account of state membership and constitutional identity. The second, How to Save Your Constitution, aimed at a wider public, will translate these ideas into an accessible discussion of citizenship, democracy, and civic responsibility.

As part of the project, Professor Barber will also organise an international, interdisciplinary workshop in Oxford and undertake comparative research on constitutional identity beyond Europe, including a research visit to Asia.

The Leverhulme Trust is one of the UK’s leading funders of fundamental research, supporting projects that address big questions and cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. This award recognises the international significance of Professor Barber’s scholarship and reinforces Trinity College’s long-standing strength in constitutional and legal studies.