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.
Clare Bambra, Julia Lynch and Katherine E Smith dispel the myth that COVID-19 is an equality of opportunity disease. They outline how it kills unequally, is experienced unequally and impoverishes unequally... and that this inequality could have been avoided. …Read more
Sven Biscop, author of 'Grand Strategy in 10 Words: A Guide to Great Power Politics in the 21st Century' discusses the difference between competition and rivalry in international politics, and where the EU and US should set the red line in China and Russia’s pursuit for power.…Read more
Tim Dixon and Mark Tewdwr-Jones explain how crucial it is for cities to reimagine how people will want to live, work and play in urban environments in 2040 and beyond.…Read more
In this episode, Jess Miles speaks with Natasha Lindstaedt, author of 'Democratic Decay and Authoritarian Resurgence', about what has caused this breakdown of democracy, the impact COVID-19 is likely to have on a global scale and ways we can try and curb the threats to remaining democratic systems.…Read more
Launching their new book ‘Sex and Diversity in Later Life’, Paul Simpson, Paul Reynolds and Trish Hafford-Letchfield reject the dominant notions of ageing that portray it as an experience of loss, and the denial that those over 50 are valid sexual beings. …Read more
Acclaimed activist and scholar Gill Hague talks with Jess Miles about the inspiring and powerful story of the women’s liberation movement and the domestic violence movement in particular, as told in her book, 'History and Memories of the Domestic Violence Movement: We’ve Come Further Than You Think'.…Read more
In this impact case study we show how Kalwant Bhopal, author of White Privilege: The Myth of a Post-Racial Society has become a key contributor to the international debate on racism. …Read more
Leland Harper, contributor to the new issue of Global Discourse on the politics of fear, charts the marked differences in the effects of COVID-19 on Black and White America and explains why it’s essential to use race-based data in developing policy responses to the pandemic. …Read more
How can we create a thriving life for us all that doesn’t come at the price of ecological destruction? Drawing on science and ancient Greek philosophy, Orsolya Lelkes details how we can cultivate our skills for enjoying life without harming ourselves or others, and live autonomous, creative and connected lives.…Read more
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