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.
Heather Whiteside, Stephen McBride and Bryan Evans, authors of 'Varieties of Austerity', consider the austerity measures adopted in response to the global financial crisis and the knock-on effect these have had on the COVID-19 situation.…Read more
Ruth Lupton and Debra Hayes, authors of 'Great Mistakes in Education Policy', outline the five wrong turns that have hardwired inequitable outcomes into education policy. They identify crucial policy alternatives that would make education better and fairer.…Read more
Natalie Armitage, Anita Duda and Yvonne Field launch The Ubele Initiative’s Booska Paper, an exposure of structural racism in the third sector and the impact of COVID-19 on funding attitudes in the UK.…Read more
Mel Steer, Simin Davoudi, Mark Shucksmith and Liz Todd, editors of 'Hope Under Neoliberal Austerity', outline the lessons we can learn from recent examples of collaboration between university academics and civic organisations. …Read more
Sarah Bird, Managing Editor, introduces the new Global Social Challenges Journal, a new, interdisciplinary, non-profit, open access journal, with a mission to question, explore and navigate our way through the social aspects of the challenges that face us.…Read more
Robin Finlay and Peter Hopkins outline their research with women asylum-seekers and refugees in Glasgow and Newcastle, showing how COVID-19 has exacerbated their existing difficulties.…Read more
Conversation around charities has become increasingly negative over recent decades. Stephen Cook and Tania Mason, authors of 'What Have Charities Ever Done for Us?', rebalance the debate by showing the breadth and depth of the contribution charities make.…Read more
Michelle Jayman, co-editor of 'Supporting New Digital Natives', calls for pupils’ mental health and wellbeing to be at the forefront of education recovery strategies.…Read more
Tim Wakeman profiles some recent victories by Acorn Oxford, a syndicalist organisation fighting for tenants’ rights in one of the most expensive places to live in the UK, and argues that the Acorn model could be used on more or less any issue to bring change.…Read more
Kate Hunt and Amanda Friesen outline the ways both sides of Ireland’s abortion policy debate framed masculinity, in order to encourage men to vote, questioning whether this threatens to undermine broader emancipatory goals.…Read more