Social and Public Policy

Jane Millar and Peter Whiteford look at how benefits systems can create unjust debts. This article is based on their recent paper in The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, winner of the 2019 Best Paper Prize of the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS).…Read more

In 'The Shame Game: Overturning the Toxic Poverty Narrative', out later this month, Mary O’Hara shows why the ‘shame game’ being played out against poorer people in the US and the UK is so destructive and effective. Danny Dorling explains why this new book is so important - and how you can change things - in his foreword.…Read more

Kristen Mills, Jennifer Lawlor, Jennifer Neal, Zachary Neal, and Kathryn McAlindon explore how educators and policy makers conceptualise research in order to illuminate points of alignment and misalignment as well as future directions for bridging policy and practice. Their article 'What is research? Educators’ conceptions and alignment with United States federal policies', published in Evidence & Policy, has been awarded the 2019 Carol Weiss Prize.…Read more

Based on Social Innovation by Geoff Mulgan, this briefing summarises some of the key policy tools which national governments have used or considered, and which together provide a menu of options for any future national governments that want to develop a more comprehensive strategy for social innovation.…Read more

Jon Dean, contributor to Voluntary Sector Review and author of The Good Glow, reveals that young people's charity giving is still mostly determined by friends and family rather than by social media and digital campaigns.…Read more

Following the announcement of £165 million extra funding for the Troubled Families Programme, Stephen Crossley, author of 'Troublemakers’, reminds us that we have yet to see any significant impact on most of the ‘complex inter-connected problems’ it has allegedly been tackling.…Read more

Lawrence Grossberg looks at the role of conversation in cultural studies. Lawrence is an American scholar widely known for his research in the philosophy of communication and culture, and a contributor to John Clarke's book 'Critical Dialogues: Thinking Together in Turbulent Times'.…Read more

Based on the Policy & Politics article 'When design meets power: Design thinking, public sector innovation and the politics of policymaking', Jenny M Lewis shows how policymakers need to learn how to incorporate the insights and practices from design thinking into policy.…Read more

Geoff Mulgan, a pioneer in the field of social innovation, shows how we only see a fraction of the potential social imagination around us.…Read more

Jessica Gay, Senior Community and Events Fundraiser at Julian House, a homeless charity based in Bath, shows how the charity offers direct support through projects and services which not only address the symptoms of homelessness but also the underlying reasons why men and women are forced onto the streets. Julian House is Bristol University Press's chosen charity for 2020.…Read more