海角社区

Biography

Joshua Ben David Nichols is Metis from Treaty 8 Territory in British Columbia. He teaches and publishes in legal theory, political philosophy and constitutional law. His research focuses on the role that imperial systems of internal colonization have played in the development of liberal democracies in the 20th century and the challenges these systems pose to constitutionalism, federalism and the rule of law going forward. His current research project examines the constitutional histories of the Dominions of Canada and South Africa from the post-WW1 move to independence to their ongoing projects of constitutional reconciliation.听聽

Professor Nichols is happy to supervise graduate students working on problems relating to constitutionalism in conditions of deep diversity. This includes questions broadly related to the history of British colonial imperialism and practices of constitutionalism as well as the comparative analysis of modern projects of constitutional reconciliation. He is particularly interested in supervising students working on issues relating to Canadian Aboriginal law, Federal Indian Law in the United States, and the constitutional implications of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.听

Employment

• Assistant Professor, 海角社区, Faculty of Law, 2021-
• Assistant Professor, University of Alberta, Faculty of Law, 2018-2021
• Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University, Public Administration, 2017-2018

Education

• PhD, University of Victoria, 2017
• JD, University of British Columbia, 2014
• PhD, University of Toronto (philosophy), 2009
• MA, University of Alberta (sociology), 2004
• BA (Hons.) University of Alberta (political science), 2003

Areas of interest

Constitutional law, legal theory, legal history, administrative law, history of the British Empire, multinational federalism,聽legal and political philosophy.

Selected publications

Monographs

• , (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020).
  Finalist for the 2021 Donald Smiley Prize by the Canadian Political Science Association.
• , (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2013).

Edited Collections

• ,聽James Tully, Keith Cherry, Fonna Forman, Jeanne Morefield, Joshua Nichols, Pablo Ouziel, David Owen and Oliver Schmidke, eds (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022).听DOI:聽
• , Joshua Nichols, Ryan Beaton, John Borrows and Robert Hamilton, eds (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021).
• , Joshua Nichols and Amy Swiffen, eds (New York: Routledge Press, 2017).
• , Joshua Nichols and Amy Swiffen, eds (New York: Routledge Press, 2013).

Journal Articles

• 鈥淯ndoing the Colonial Double-Bind: Interpretation and Justification in Aboriginal Law鈥� (2023) 27:2 Rev Const Stud. 41-75 (co-authored with Amy Swiffen)聽
• 鈥淩econciliation and the Straitjacket: A Comparative Analysis of the Secession Reference and Sparrow鈥� (2021) 52:2 Ottawa L R. (co-authored with Robert Hamilton)
• 鈥淚n Search of Honorable Crowns and Legitimate Constitutions: Mikisew Cree First Nation v Canada and the Colonial Constitution鈥� (2020) 70:3 UTLJ 341. (co-authored with Robert Hamilton)
• 鈥淭he Tin Ear of the Court: Ktunaxa Nation and the Foundation of the Duty to Consult鈥� (2019) 56:3 Alta L Rev 729. (co-authored with Robert Hamilton)
• 鈥淎 Narrowing Field of View: An Investigation into the Relationship between the Principles of Treaty Interpretation and the Conceptual Framework of Canadian Federalism鈥� (2019) 56:2 Osgoode Hall LJ 350.
• 鈥淔igures of History, Foundations of Law: Ac茅phale, Angelus Novus, and the Katechon鈥� (2017) 31:1 J Historical Sociology 98.
• 鈥淎 Reconciliation without Recollection? Chief Mountain and the Sources of Sovereignty鈥� (2015) 48:2 UBC L Rev 515.
• 鈥淐laims of Sovereignty-Burdens of Occupation: William and the Future of Reconciliation鈥� (2015) 48:1 UBC L Rev 221.