Books published by Bristol University Press

This book presents a crisis of religion and belief literacy to which education at every level is challenged to respond. It provides a clear pathway for engaging well with religion and belief diversity in public and shared settings.

Brings together interdisciplinary and international case studies to provide a distinctive analysis of how politics in the UK and the lives of British citizens have evolved in the first decades of the twenty-first century, focusing on the interconnectedness of austerity politics, the Brexit vote and the rise of populist politics.

This book brings together a selection of Richard Titmuss's important writings on a range of key social policy issues, together with commentary from experts in the field. The companion volume is, Private complaints and public health: Richard Titmuss on the National Health Service edited by Ann Oakley and Jonathan Barker (The Policy Press, 2004).

Ren examines the making of art spaces in Beijing and Berlin to engage with comparative urbanism as a framework for doing research. Across vastly different contexts where universal theories of modernity or development seem increasingly misplaced, the concept of aspiration provides an alternative lens to understand the nature of urban change.

Bringing together international case studies, this book offers theoretical and empirical insights into the interaction between social work and social policy.

Marshall examines the ideological structuring of current planning models and the interplay of political interests. He analyses attempts at planning reform by recent governments to show how we can generate more effective political engagements for common gain.

Key thinkers with a range of perspectives provide a sociological analysis of debt focused upon its social, political, economic, and cultural meanings. Contributors consider the lived experience of debt and financialisation taking place globally with accounts that span sociological, cultural, and economic forms of analysis.

Exploring the significance of Norbert Elias's reflections on civilization for international relations, this book explains the working principles of an Eliasian approach to civilization and demonstrates how the interdependencies between state-formation, colonialism and an emergent international society shaped the European 'civilizing process.'

A best-seller in France, this English language edition introduces readers to an alternative perspective on our technological future. Bihouix skilfully goes against the grain to argue that 'high' technology will not solve global problems and envisages a different approach to manage our resources and build a more resilient and sustainable society.

This revolutionary work rethinks globalization as a power system feeding from, and in competition with, the state system. In illuminating how the concentration of property rights within corporations led to the rejection of democracy and to the rise in inequality, Robe offers a clear pathway to a fairer and more sustainable power system.

As the biodiversity crisis deepens, Anna Wienhues sets out radical environmental thinking and action to respond to the threat of mass species extinction.

This book explores how young people's participation can be inclusively and sustainably embedded into health services. Using rich case studies of participation in practice, Brady presents a new evidence-based framework to support policymakers and practitioners to embed young people's participation more effectively in healthcare practice.

This book addresses important questions about tackling today's epidemic of loneliness among young people, exploring experiences of loneliness in early life and considering how social conditions of austerity, precarity, inequality and competitive pressures to succeed can dramatically influence these feelings.

Almost every aspect of society will change after the pandemic, but if we learn lessons then life can be better. Featuring expert authors from across academia and civil society, this book offers ideas that might put us on alternative paths for positive social change.

Exploring unique survey and interview data on the personality characteristics of British politicians, this book provides a timely psychological analysis of those individuals who pursue political careers and how they represent their constituents once elected. Focusing specifically on the Basic Human Values of more than 150 MPs as well as hundreds of local councillors, Weinberg offers original insights into three compelling questions: Who enters politics and how are they different to the general public? Do politicians' personality characteristics matter for their legislative behaviour? Do voters really get the 'wrong' politicians? Taking a fresh psychological approach to issues that are predominant in political science, this book casts new light on the human side of representative democracy.

As marketisation and privatisation reshape the criminal justice system, this illuminating overview sets out their causes, scale and impacts. With case studies and economic, sociological and criminological perspectives, leading academics consider the evolving roles of public, private and voluntary sectors and possible future reforms.

Presenting new research, this book provides refreshing guidance on how social workers can ensure that children and parents participate more effectively in decision making processes when childcare social workers are involved and improve outcomes for all.

Renowned criminologist Mike Hough considers how the police service might build trust, legitimacy and compliance with the law in this important book. He challenges conventional thinking on crime, contrasts 'hard' and 'soft' policing styles and offers a fresh approach that secures compliance with the law through ethical policing.

This collection brings together a collection of experts from across social work who explore key developments in the field over the last fifty years. They examine evolution in thinking and approaches to practice, key legislative developments, the impacts of major inquiries and look at future directions for progress in the field.

This book provides new insights into popular understandings of urbanism that emanate from European and North American cities. Myers uses a wide range of case studies from lesser studied cities across the Global South and Global North to present evidence for the need to reconstruct our understanding of 'good' urban environments.

Based on unprecedented empirical research, this book assesses how institutional legacy and external intervention have shaped the structural conditions of corruption in the Afghan police force and state. Filling a major gap in the literature, this is an invaluable contribution to the literature and to anti-corruption policy in developing states.

This timely book is the most comprehensive account yet of recent commissioning practice in the English NHS and its impact on health services and the healthcare system.

Mayo demonstrates how, through popular education and participatory action research, communities can develop their own understandings of their problems. Using case studies that illustrate popular education approaches in practice, she offers pedagogies of hope and shows how communities can engineer impactful and democratic forms of social change.

This book provides practical guidance for professionals and pre-qualifying students on how to gather and generate evidence of the impact of projects in the community. It includes case studies from a range of community settings and is full of easy to implement ideas, tools and examples of methods to demonstrate the impact of work in the community.

Written by two distinguished housing economists, this ambitious book tackles one of the most important socio-economic issues facing households today. Drawing from theoretical and empirical frameworks, the authors challenge conventional wisdoms in housing economics and policy and offer innovative recommendations to improve housing affordability.

Using a bio-communities of practice framework, this thought-provoking empirical analysis explores the emotional and material dimensions of the growing phenomenon of milk sharing in the Global North and its implications for contemporary understandings of infant feeding in the US, providing new insights into a much-debated topic.