Transforming research
Research practices are fast evolving. The rise of interdisciplinarity, the popularity of co-produced research, the ever-increasing importance of impact and the decolonial turn present challenges to traditional approaches to research and provide innovative and pioneering new methods and theories with which to address the challenges of the 21st century.
Helen Keane, David Moore and Mats Ekendahl argue that Andy Burnham’s celebration of pubs and moderate drinking highlights a tension between alcohol’s genuine social benefits and the increasingly dominant public-health focus on its harms, which can overlook class and gender inequalities and the value of community and pleasure.…Read more
The policy briefing argues that unpaid carers and their organisations must be central to social care reform. Drawing on the history of the carers’ movement, it shows how carers’ organisations have raised awareness, influenced policy and developed practical solutions in the UK and internationally.…Read more
This policy briefing explores how community empowerment programmes give residents greater control over local decision-making in response to growing social division and declining trust in democracy.…Read more
On the eve of the deadline for EU Member States to incorporate the Right to Repair Directive into national law, Declan Murray, author of The Repair Mindset, asks whether legislation is necessary for repairing electrical and electronic devices to flourish. …Read more
Drawing on research for 'Cracking the Class Code', Lee Elliot Major and Anne-Marie Sim argue that success in elite workplaces is shaped not only by talent and hard work but also by hidden class-based cultural norms that influence who is seen as credible, authentic and deserving of advancement.…Read more
Scott Thomas and Jonathan Glazzard, authors of 'The Queer World of Prison', argue that despite government claims of modest reductions, prison education across England and Wales faces deep cuts—up to 65% in some prisons—threatening rehabilitation, prison safety and efforts to reduce reoffending.…Read more
In this podcast, Richard Kemp speaks with Bahar Baser and Élise Féron about how the 'Journal of Disappearance Studies' serves as a space to break these boundaries and give this important field a unified platform.…Read more
Gurminder K. Bhambra, editor of 'The Modern World After Colonialism', draws on Chinua Achebe’s insight to argue that dominant social-science narratives overlook colonial histories, and that re-centering empire is essential to rethinking modernity.…Read more
Sine Zambach, author of 'AI in Higher Education', argues that good practice lies in the reflective fusion of human creativity with tools like AI, blurring the line between user and instrument in ways that echo Donna Haraway’s ideas on human–technology hybridity.…Read more
Elizabeth Rasekoala’s award-winning book 'Race and Sociocultural Inclusion in Science Communication', calls for a global decolonisation of science communication, challenging systemic inequities and fostering inclusive, transformative practices that bridge Global North–South divides.…Read more