Social and Public Policy

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

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