Britt Leake

I am a PhD candidate in political science at UC Berkeley. My research interests include multicultural democracy, contemporary Middle Eastern and South Asian politics, the impact of religious identity in the development of modern languages, Islamic political theory, and social contract theory. 

My dissertation project, which blends comparative political history and applied political philosophy, examines the origins, development, and failings of four multicultural democracies (India, Lebanon, Spain, and Canada) built on the principle of unity in diversity.

I hold a BA/MA in international studies and BAs in Arabic and French from the University of Oklahoma. Additionally, I am the recipient of a Fulbright-Nehru Student Research grant (India, 2020), a State Department Critical Language Scholarship award (Arabic - Amman, Jordan, 2019), and two Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships (Hindi, 2020-21; Urdu, 2021-22) at UC Berkeley.

Recent publications: 

"French ontological security and the Algerian War." (Forthcoming at the Review of International Studies)

(With Pradeep Chhibber) "The temporary and partial personalization of political parties in India: A comparison of Indira Gandhi's INC and Narendra Modi's BJP." Social Science Quarterly 105, no. 3 (2024): 461-73.

"The Positive Role of Islam in Indian History and Nehru’s The Discovery of India." In Nationalism and Populism: Expressions of Fear or Political Strategies?, edited by Carsten Schapkow and Frank Jacob (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022), 275-97.