Sociology

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

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

Mary Holmes and Åsa Wettergren talk about how the Emotions and Society journal came about and the importance of the sociology of emotions to our understanding of society.…Read more

Sam Wren-Lewis asks whether people are really looking for the 'real change' that Labour are promising, arguing that taking a longer-term perspective has the potential to unite the left and right.…Read more

Sam Wren-Lewis looks at the General Election from the point of view of political psychology, revealing how the problems of democracy and happiness have more in common than you think.…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

Today is the International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women which marks the start of 16 days of activism to end violence against women. With international events raising awareness about the impact of sexual violence, it’s a good time to think through how the dominance of ‘trauma’ might actually hide the full extent 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

In this episode of the Transforming Society podcast we speak to Sam Wren-Lewis, author of The Happiness Problem: Expecting Better in an Uncertain World. In his book, Sam argues that the way we’re thinking about happiness in modern societies is wrong. We’re not seeing the bigger picture because we’re so focused on control and distracted Read More