Democracy, power and governance

Hannah Bradby, Martin Harling, Marta Kolankiewicz argue that universities must actively defend academic freedom and human rights, especially in response to the destruction of Palestinian education, because silence risks complicity and undermines their democratic role.…Read more

Tina Renier argues that while Jamaica’s Special Economic Zones drive investment and job creation, they also perpetuate labour exploitation and erase workers’ lived experiences, revealing deep inequalities rooted in colonial and neoliberal systems of development.…Read more

Frank T. Manheim, author of 'American Environmental History and Policy', argues that Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement reflects a long-building political polarisation over environmental policy in the US, rooted in conflicts in the 1970s, and that future climate progress depends on overcoming this divide.…Read more

Oz Hassan, author of 'Why the European Union Failed in Afghanistan', argues that despite rapid military success using advanced technology, the 2026 Iran strikes demonstrate that destroying targets does not translate into political victory, instead strengthening adversaries, undermining alliances, and exposing the limits of US global power.…Read more

Tom Bewick, author of 'Skills Policy in Britain and the Future of Work', argues that Britain’s long-running skills crisis reflects a recurring pattern of under investment, social inequality, and an over relianc on market-led, voluntary training systems that have repeatedly failed to keep pace with economic change.…Read more

George Miller discusses the What Is It For? book series, inspired by Gauguin’s existential questions, arguing that in an age of global “polycrisis,” critically examining the purpose of institutions can help us imagine better alternatives, even if it cannot solve problems outright.…Read more

Emmy Eklundh, author of 'Europe’s Populist Condition', suggests that mainstream European parties are increasingly adopting populist-right policies, showing the divide between “mainstream” and “populist” politics is largely illusory.…Read more

Tara Lai Quinlan, author of 'Police Diversity', discusses how ICE’s aggressive raids in Minneapolis reflect a harmful “warrior” policing culture that damages community trust.…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

Dominic Hinde, author of 'Journalism in the Anthropocene', argues that coverage of leaders like François Hollande reveals how journalism fragments climate change into isolated stories instead of treating it as the context shaping all reporting.…Read more