Social and Public Policy

Sue Konzelmann shows why the next government, which will be faced with the consequences of a decade’s worth of cuts, should not focus on 'where’s the money coming from?' but ask the question 'where’s our society and economy going?'.…Read more

In his new book, Social Innovation: How Societies Find the Power to Change – out today – Geoff Mulgan shows how social innovation offers a comprehensive view of what can be done to solve the global social challenges we face. This extract highlights the importance of public perceptions of government and how they should be working Read More

Following the tragedy in Essex last month, where 39 people were found in a lorry container, Alice Bloch, Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester, examines the complex issue of migration. Migration is not a new phenomena and nor are the immigration polices that try and restrict migration or those that make the lives Read More

In Social Innovation: How Societies Find Power to Change, out later this month, Geoff Mulgan explains how the phenomena provides answers to the most pressing global, social, economic and sustainability problems. In this extract from the book he describes why society needs both disruptors and cleaners to make social innovation happen. This idea plays out Read More

Paul Stubbs is a UK-born sociologist and currently a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of Economics, Zagreb, Croatia. Here he looks at the work of Stuart Hall, and how John Clarke, author of Critical Dialogues: Thinking Together in Turbulent Times, built on this to guide us through spatio-temporal shifts in the UK and beyond, Read More

Previously published on the Policy & Politics blog. What do policy makers do? The question is important, because making policy engages a great number of people one way or another, and what they do they might do well or badly. Our standard answers are rather hazy, not least because policy making entails such great numbers Read More

Research having an impact on policy, and the wider world, can be extremely hard to quantify, but on occasion we find an example that illustrates the great potential we have to make a difference. …Read more

Extra-curricular activities are crucial for nurturing children’s ‘softer’ skills outside the classroom. However, our recent Social Mobility Commission report highlights a dearth of opportunities for young people in some communities, meaning many will spend the next six weeks with little to do. Extra-curricular activities have made it onto the government’s agenda in recent months. Activities Read More

It is that time of year again when we are out at conferences, meeting our authors, editors, readers and making new connections. At these events, we’re often asked about becoming Bristol University Press and where Policy Press now fits. When we launched Policy Press (PP) in 1996, our very first conference was the Social Policy Read More

I knew I was transgender from about the age of four, even though the word did not exist then. I knew I was a girl, even though I had a boy’s body. You couldn’t talk about how you felt, tell others you were really a girl, when everything about you said the opposite.…Read more