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.

The launch of ’The Unequal Pandemic: Health Inequalities and COVID-19’ as Open Access follows six months of media, academic and policy maker interest in how COVID-19 is experienced unequally in society.…Read more

In this episode, Alison Shaw, Chief Executive of Bristol University Press, talks about 25 years of publishing with a purpose to mark the end of the Press' anniversary celebration year.…Read more

On the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Gary Craig outlines the extent of modern slavery, even in the ‘developed’ UK, and the steps we can take to eradicate it. …Read more

In this episode, we speak with Carl Rhodes, author of 'Woke Capitalism: How Corporate Morality is Sabotaging Democracy', about the dangerous consequences of businesses being ‘woke’.…Read more

Anna Rosińska, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, describes a virtual meeting of domestic workers in Chicago and Warsaw that led to the establishment of a new trade union. …Read more

Ursula Kilkelly and Pat Bergin note breaches of rights that still take place when children are detained, despite the special provisions in the UN CRC for children in conflict with the law, and the significant progress underway in Ireland. …Read more

Mark Davis and Bruce Davis discuss COP26, the IPCC report and their new book 'Crowdfunding and the Democratization of Finance', which is publishing today. …Read more

Tara Lamont explains why research dissemination to online communities and journalists is no less important than other forms of scholarly engagement, and why Open Access publishing provides the best of both worlds.…Read more

Julia Mortimer, Journals and Open Access Director at Bristol University Press, welcomes in Open Access Week 2021 and explains how Bristol University Press is leading the way towards a more equitable publishing landscape.…Read more

Richard Joy looks ahead to COP26 and sets out the desired outcomes against which we should benchmark its success. We need significant shifts in our global economic model and consumption-driven, oil-dependent society.…Read more