Interview conducted by Nieka van Lieshout (University of Amsterdam / Oxford University)
Interview with Edward Brooks
Edward Brooks is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford, and Director of the Oxford Character Project and Programme for Global Leadership. His work brings together leadership studies, virtue ethics, and character development and education, focusing on how these areas intersect.
What does reading mean to you?
That is a really big question: reading means a whole lot of different things. One way I think about reading is as an opportunity to see ourselves and the world in new ways. Books are like doorways: they help us explore different aspects of the world, providing new perspectives on our experience, and our sense of self, and they help us understand other people. I read for enjoyment and I read for work as an academic. It can be hard to separate the two. It is fascinating to enter fictional worlds, explore new ideas, learn about other people’s lived experience and how they move through life. My wife is a school librarian with a passion for children’s literature, so books play a large role in our family life also.
Which book has made an impact on your life?
There are many! One book I read last year was Markings by Dag Hammarskjöld. He was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 1953 to 1961, and a Swedish economist. He took the role when he was quite young, in his late forties, and he made an extraordinary, lasting impact. Sadly, he died in a plane crash in 1961. The book is a memoir of his inner life: his reflections, his inner journey during that period. It is very powerful. We do not often have access to the inner life of leaders, and the reflections Hammarskjöld shares are incredibly inspiring. He devoted his life to public service, and the book shows the challenges he faced and the practices that grounded him. It is a beautiful book and a wonderful insight. It shows the struggles of leadership and how leadership relates to the self.
Would you recommend this book to students, and if not, would you recommend a different one?
Yes absolutely, you should read it! It is particularly relevant if you are interested in moral leadership and the inner dimensions of public office and decision making. What might senior leadership in an organisation like the United Nations actually mean at an existential level, what does it look like from the inside? This is a dimension we do not often have access to.
Has going to university changed how you read? Is reading for pleasure the same as reading for disciplinary purposes?
Reading for work often means taking a certain kind of notes and reading more quickly than I would choose to. Reading for pleasure can be slower, without the feeling that you have to capture everything in notes. But sometimes the two come together; disciplinary reading can be deeply enjoyable too. In academia, we need to recover the value of reading. I was reflecting with a colleague recently that if someone asks, ‘What did you do this morning?’, reading often does not feel like an acceptable answer. It can seem like a luxury, but it is essential.
What are your favourite reading moments, in a specific place or situation?
Early in the morning, I have a particular spot on the sofa. Before anyone is awake, I sit there with a cup of coffee and read.