Sebastian Milbank

Sebastian Milbank

Senior Researcher (Social Contract)

I am a writer and researcher with a lifelong interest in the questions of citizenship, virtue and human flourishing. I hold a PhD in Philosophy of Religion from the University of Cambridge, where I focused on the concept of citizenship in the ancient pagan and Christian worlds – an issue that underlies my work today: how do people perceive and experience the laws and processes that govern the public realm? And are we creating a cohesive society of fellow citizens, or, increasingly, one of divided, atomised individuals?

At the CSJ, I focus on the social contract, interrogating the deeper issues of fairness and social justice in the structures of the welfare state and economy in Britain. I am also a journalist and writer, having previously been Executive Editor of The Critic Magazine, and prior to that, an intern at The Tablet.

Something you might not know about me

I love cinema to the tune of two different cinema memberships, a film-based obsession that began with my childhood encounter with an extraordinary video rental place in America called “Sneak Reviews”. My parents took me there in order to induct me into classic English experiences such as the Monty Python films and The Avengers.