Lea Cecilie Brinkgaard

Lea Cecilie Brinkgaard serves as a PhD fellow and External Lecturer at the SAXO Institute within the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Her research critically examines the historical evolution of juvenile crime management in Denmark from 1970 to the present, analyzing shifting balances between welfare-oriented and punitive approaches within the Nordic welfare state framework. She maintains active scholarly engagement through publications and conference participation while contributing to public discourse on criminal justice.

Her academic credentials include:

• Cand.mag. in History (2018)
• BA in History (2015)

Brinkgaard's research centers on the complex interplay between social policy and penal systems, with particular focus on how neoliberal ideologies have transformed Danish approaches to youth crime. Her work interrogates foundational concepts like Nordic Exceptionalism while documenting concrete policy shifts where welfare mechanisms increasingly incorporate punitive elements. Through historical analysis of legislation, institutional practices, and societal attitudes, she reveals how juvenile justice systems reflect broader political-economic transformations in Scandinavian welfare states.

Analysis of her 2017-2025 publications shows consistent thematic development toward examining the convergence of social and penal policy domains. Early works established historical foundations of Danish juvenile justice, while recent scholarship (2023-2025) explicitly frames contemporary developments as 'penal nationalism' and welfare-to-punishment transitions. Geographic scope has expanded from Denmark to include Greenland and Nordic comparative perspectives, with methodology blending historical archival research with critical policy analysis.

As a PhD candidate supervised by Associate Professor Søren Rud (University of Copenhagen) and Professor Peter Scharff Smith (University of Oslo), she participates in academic knowledge exchange through conference presentations including 'Crime, Punishment, and Social Marginalization in Small Societies' (2019) and 'Nordic Criminal Justice in a Global World' (2019). Her media contribution 'Straf og socialpolitik vokser sammen under neoliberalismen' (2018) demonstrates public engagement with her research themes.