In the news

In 1973, Horst Rittel and Melvyn Webber published a paper in Policy Sciences contrasting the ‘tame’ problems of science (resolvable through the calm application of scientific rationality) with the ‘wicked’ problems of the social world. One of the ten reasons why social problems are often wicked – difficult to decode and resistant to any solution Read More

The UK, in the post-war decades, saw a remarkable degree of upward social mobility, with large numbers of people getting higher-status jobs than their parents had at the same age. The decline of social mobility since then has prompted some to say that it has ‘ground to a halt’, which isn’t at all true:  there Read More

“My name is Greta Thunberg I am 16 years old. I come from Sweden. And I speak on behalf of future generations, I know many of you don’t want to listen to us – you say we are just children. But we’re only repeating the message of the united climate science. Many of you appear Read More

Occasionally a story is reported in the news that provokes a public response, stimulating discussion, particularly on social media, and prompting other similar follow up news stories. One such story emerged recently when it was reported in The Guardian that a housing developer in South London (Henley Homes) had developed segregated play areas at its Read More

Did you know that, contrary to public belief, in the UK a life sentence does last for life? And that capital punishment in the UK was abolished for murder in 1965 but the Death Penalty was a legally defined punishment as late as 1998? 50 Facts Everyone Should Know About Crime and Punishment in Britain, Read More

Young people say that more youth centres would make them safer. Looking back on research for Grassroots Youth Work: Policy, Passion and Resistance in Practice, Tania de St Croix and Louise Doherty argue for a renewed policy commitment to youth work as a youth-centred educational practice – one where the focus is on young people Read More

Listen to Victor Seidler talking politics, identity, gender and sociology as ways of understanding why the Brexit vote happened and where we may be able to go from here. …Read more

Whether you’re a leaver or a remainer it is difficult to deny Brexit has had dire consequences for race relations in the UK. Roma are no exception. Families identified as Roma have had a treacherous path to UK citizenship, often despite (or even because of) EU accession rules. Regardless of legal migration status, many Roma Read More

By Sam Wren-Lewis, author of The Happiness Problem: Rethinking Individual Success and Societal Progress. You may not know it, but today is the International Day of Happiness. This celebration takes place on the 20th March every year, to coincide with the Spring Equinox, and is a modern day tradition that’s been going since 2013, after Read More

This International Women’s Day, Zoe Young, author of Women’s Work: How Mothers Manage Flexible Working in Careers and Family Life, highlights the lengths women go to in managing the complexities of flexible working. This year marks a hundred years since the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 lifted the bar on women entering the professions. It Read More