Global social challenges
There are multiple interlocking crises currently gripping the planet. Significant threats and dangers lie ahead of us, but so do opportunities, as new ways of being, thinking, and doing emerge.
This stream of Transforming Society is a space for exploring the complexities of the global social challenges across disciplines and fields. It seeks to build and share the knowledge needed to shape a fairer world, across and for the global south and north, hoping to foster dialogue between academics, practitioners, policy makers and the wider public.
In this episode, George Miller talks to Professor Paul Spicker about some of the historical roots, moral foundations, and practical workings of different welfare systems.…Read more
Janos Mark Szakolczai, author of 'Onlife Criminology' shows how the Onlife blurs digital and physical boundaries, creating a hyperconnected world where surveillance, control, and resistance define everyday life and its hidden harms.…Read more
Daniel Briggs, author of 'Sheltering Strangers', reflects that the word "refugee" brings to mind a decade of witnessing the profound, often lifelong trauma faced by displaced children—and the sobering realisation that while empathy is essential, it alone cannot heal their suffering.…Read more
In this episode, Richard Kemp talks with Howard Reed and Elliott Johnson about the reality of basic income.…Read more
Maaike Matelski, author of 'Contested Civil Society in Myanmar', discusses how Myanmar’s military has politicised earthquake aid—blocking relief and repressing activists—while local responders act alone amid fading global support.…Read more
What does a humanist feel when they gaze up at the stars? In this episode, George Miller speaks to philosopher Richard Norman about wonder, meaning and morality in a world without God.…Read more
Timothy Kuhn, author of 'What Do Corporations Want?', argues that to truly understand corporations, we must see their purpose as multiple and evolving—shaped by everyday practices and shared authority, not just profit.…Read more
Frédéric Ramel, author of 'Benevolence in International Relations', explores how benevolence matters in a fractured world by fostering empathy, mutual recognition, and solidarity across divides—offering a humane alternative to interest-driven power politics.…Read more
Within the next 30 years the European workforce will be down by a quarter, upsetting the systems we have had in place for decades. In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Giles Merritt about this impending ageing crisis.…Read more
Diana Pietrzak and Vincent Dupont examine how, despite "sustainability" initiatives and ethical labels, the cocoa industry perpetuates deep inequalities, with farmers stuck in poverty while multinational corporations profit, and argue that true change requires dismantling the structures that sustain this imbalance.…Read more