Cindy Leung

Profile

Biography

Cindy Leung

I joined the York Law School as an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow in September 2026. Prior to this, I completed my PhD at the York Law School and Centre for Applied Human Rights. 

My research explores the localisation and mobilisation of socio-economic rights in cities and how local practices shape our understanding of international human rights law. I am particularly interested in the right to food as a governance practice and discursive framework in urban settings. I adopt an interdisciplinary approach to my research, drawing insights from and connecting scholarship on international human rights law, sociology of human rights, and urban governance to advance understanding on the urbanisation of socio-economic rights. I have experience in undertaking qualitative research, doctrinal analysis, policy analysis, and research evidence synthesis. 

Previously, I worked as a Research Fellow at The University of Nottingham, supporting a project that evaluates forced labour risks within the UK food system and conceptualises decent work in the agri-food sector in climate change contexts. In 2025-2026, I worked as the lead researcher and main author of the York Human Rights City Network Indicator Report. I used to support policy research projects on benefits reforms and community-led housing at The York Policy Engine.

I am a Fellow at The York Policy Academy. I am also a co-convenor of the Food, Development and Society PGR-ECR Network and an Advisory Board Member of the UK Network of Human Rights Cities. 

Research

Overview

My ESRC-funded doctoral research explored how local actors interpreted and engaged with the right to food in cities to address food insecurity through an interdisciplinary and socio-legal approach. More broadly, I am interested in the localisation of socio-economic rights, sociology of human rights, urban politics of human rights, and multi-level governance of human rights. 

During my ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, I will host a series of participatory workshops with policymakers, local food partnerships, civil society organisations, and people with lived experience of food insecurity to explore how the right to food can be mainstreamed in local policymaking and community food provision. I will also write a monograph to discuss how socio-economic rights can be implemented in cities in the absence of relevant national legal and policy frameworks, using the right to food as a case study. 

Publications

Selected publications

Leung, C. (2026). Mobilising the right to food as a discourse in cities: A critical reflection. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 18(2), p.1-11. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huag014

Leung, C. (2026). Local authorities’ policy responses to food insecurity in a crisis support context in the UK: A human rights analysis. Local Government Studies, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2026.2638255

Leung, C. (2026). Conceptualizing human rights obligations and responsibilities in cities: An emerging research agenda. Journal of Human Rights, 25(2), pp. 182-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2026.2624488

Teaching

Other teaching

During my PhD, I taught the Future of Food module (York Interdisciplinary Modules) and Contemporary Issues in Social and Public Policy module (School for Business and Society) as a Graduate Teaching Assistant.