Society & Politics

In his landmark 1942 report on social insurance Sir William Beveridge talked about the 'five giants on the road to reconstruction' (read more)

In his landmark 1942 report on social insurance Sir William Beveridge talked about the 'five giants on the road to reconstruction' - the giants of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness. Social Progress in Britain investigates how much progress Britain has made in tackling the challenges of material deprivation, ill-health, educational standards, lack of housing, and unemployment in the decades since Beveridge wrote. It also asks how progress in Britain compares with that of peer countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden and the USA. (hide)

The Sociology of Development Handbook gathers essays that reflect the range of debates in development sociology and in the interdisciplinary (read more)

The Sociology of Development Handbook gathers essays that reflect the range of debates in development sociology and in the interdisciplinary study and practice of development. The essays address the pressing intellectual challenges of today, including internal and international migration, transformation of political regimes, globalization, changes in household and family formations, gender dynamics, technological change, population and economic growth, environmental sustainability, peace and war, and the production and reproduction of social and economic inequality.
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Sodas are astonishing products. Little more than flavored sugar-water, these drinks cost practically nothing to produce or buy, yet (read more)

Sodas are astonishing products. Little more than flavored sugar-water, these drinks cost practically nothing to produce or buy, yet have turned their makers - principally Coca-Cola and PepsiCo - into multibillion dollar industries with global recognition, distribution, and political power. So how did something so cheap come to mean so much and to have such devastating health and food policy consequences? Soda Politics is a story of the American food system at work, written by the incomparable NYU scholar and public health champion Marion Nestle.

It is the first book to focus on the history, politics, nutrition, and health impact of soda, asking how we created this system, what its problems are, and what we can do to change things. Coke and Pepsi spend billions of dollars a year on advertising and lobbying to prevent any measures to limit soda, a product billed as "refreshing," "tasty," "crisp," and "the real thing" that also happens to be a major cause of health problems, from obesity to Type II diabetes. They target minorities, poor people, and children, and are involved in land and water grabs in underdeveloped countries, where they also have redoubled their efforts at building their market share. (hide)

09/07/2015 - As the prevailing winds of the global economy have changed, so Britain has been buffeted from boom to bust and back (read more)

09/07/2015 - As the prevailing winds of the global economy have changed, so Britain has been buffeted from boom to bust and back again. But how much is our country's economic landscape shaped by the huge forces of international capital - and the hope that 'something will turn up' - and how much by the individual men and women at the heart of our economic policy? David Smith forged his career as Britain's leading economic journalist during the country's traumatic transition from the 'workshop of the world' to the playground of international financiers. Something Will Turn Up is his account of the chancellors, prime ministers, Bank of England governors and senior officials Smith has encountered and interviewed over the last five decades, and their impact on the realities of modern British life since the war.

Smith leads us through the mire of government policy and long-term trends with wit and clarity to paint a vivid, personal picture of how we got to now - and where we might go from here. (hide)

Written at a critical juncture in the history of the Labour Party, Speak for Britain! is a thought-provoking and highly original (read more)

Written at a critical juncture in the history of the Labour Party, Speak for Britain! is a thought-provoking and highly original interpretation of the party's evolution, from its trade union origins to its status as a national governing party. It charts Labour's rise to power by re-examining the impact of the First World War, the general strike of 1926, Labour's breakthrough at the 1945 general election, the influence of post-war affluence and consumerism on the fortunes and character of the party, and its revival after the defeats of the Thatcher era. Controversially, Pugh argues that Labour never entirely succeeded in becoming 'the party of the working class'; many of its influential recruits - from Oswald Mosley to Hugh Gaitskell to Tony Blair - were from middle and upper-class Conservative backgrounds and rather than converting the working class to socialism, Labour adapted itself to local and regional political cultures. (hide)

The Strange Death of Europe is a highly personal account of a continent and culture caught in the act of suicide. Declining birth-rates, (read more)

The Strange Death of Europe is a highly personal account of a continent and culture caught in the act of suicide. Declining birth-rates, mass immigration and cultivated self-distrust and self-hatred have come together to make Europeans unable to argue for themselves and incapable of resisting their own comprehensive change as a society. This book is not only an analysis of demographic and political realities, but also an eyewitness account of a continent in self-destruct mode.

It includes reporting from across the entire continent, from the places where migrants land to the places they end up, from the people who appear to welcome them in to the places which cannot accept them. Told from this first-hand perspective, and backed with impressive research and evidence, the book addresses the disappointing failure of multiculturalism, Angela Merkel's U-turn on migration, the lack of repatriation and the Western fixation on guilt. Murray travels to Berlin, Paris, Scandinavia, Lampedusa and Greece to uncover the malaise at the very heart of the European culture, and to hear the stories of those who have arrived in Europe from far away. (hide)

Strategy in the Contemporary World brings together world leading experts to provide a comprehensive introduction to the role of military (read more)

Strategy in the Contemporary World brings together world leading experts to provide a comprehensive introduction to the role of military power in today's world. The definitive textbook on the subject, the fifth edition explores both the enduring and historical issues which have shaped the study of strategy and the contemporary issues that dominate today's headlines. The new edition has been substantially updated to reflect the changing structure of global politics and rapid technological developments, with the inclusion of four brand new chapters: History of the Practice of Strategy, Geopolitics and Grand Strategy, Strategy and Defence Planning, and Theory and Practice of Continental Warfare.

The team of leading contributors expose readers to a diversity of perspectives and voices, and in each chapter a debate box is employed to explore the opposing arguments around key controversies. The text is accompanied by an Online Resource Centre, which includes: For students: Reinforce understanding and go beyond the textbook by reading case studies of contemporary conflicts. Follow the web links to explore different theoretical debates, important treaties, and working papers. (hide)

Subcultures: The Basics is an accessible, engaging introduction to youth cultures in a global context. Blending theory and practice (read more)

Subcultures: The Basics is an accessible, engaging introduction to youth cultures in a global context. Blending theory and practice to examine a range of subcultural movements including hip hop in Japan, global graffiti writing crews, heavy metal in Europe and straight edge movements in the USA, this text answers the key questions posed by those new to the subject, including: What is a subculture? How do subcultures emerge, who participates and why? What is the relationship between deviance, resistance and the 'mainstream'? How does society react to different subcultural movements? How has global media and virtual networking influenced subcultures? Is there a life 'after' subculture? Tracing the history and development of subcultures to the present day, with further reading and case studies throughout, this text is essential reading for all those studying youth culture in the contexts of sociology, cultural studies, media studies, anthropology and criminology. (hide)

Bringing together the voices of women who fought for equal rights and representation - from aristocrats and actresses to mill workers (read more)

Bringing together the voices of women who fought for equal rights and representation - from aristocrats and actresses to mill workers and trade unionists - these speeches, pamphlets, letters and articles form an inspiring testament to the power of a movement. One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series.

This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists. (hide)

The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species (read more)

The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. Other animals have stronger muscles or sharper claws, but we have cleverer brains.

If machine brains one day come to surpass human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become very powerful. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on us humans than on the gorillas themselves, so the fate of our species then would come to depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence. But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move.
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