Collection: Bristol University Press and Policy Press comprehensive eBook and Journals collection

 

If you are an institution that prides itself on having a comprehensive bank of the latest social science research, then access our entire eBook and journals list. It is a wonderful opportunity to provide a truly unique collection of award-winning research from one of the UK's leading social science publishers.  

You can have instant access to over 1,500 eBooks and 7,000 journal articles from our incredible range of 20 journals including 50 years of Policy & Politics. This collection gives you full DRM-free access to a vast range of the research we have been publishing since 1996 and is a truly premium collection with access to the full Policy & Politics archive (1972–present). 

Journals included in this collection include: Consumption and Society; Critical and Radical Social Work; Emotions and Society; European Journal of Politics and Gender; European Social Work ResearchEvidence & Policy; Families, Relationships and Societies; Global Discourse; Global Political Economy; International Journal of Care and Caring; Journal of Gender-Based Violence; Journal of Poverty & Social Justice (2002–present); Journal of Psychosocial Studies; Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice (2018–present); Justice, Power and Resistance; Longitudinal and Life Course Studies; Policy & Politics (2000–present); Voluntary Sector Review; Work in the Global Economy.

Within our eBook collection, you will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long- and short-form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive of over 1,500 titles. Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical and accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced. 

This collection also means you will never miss a journal article, eBook or Open Access publication because your content will be refreshed as part of an ongoing renewal process. We will update the collection on an annual basis which includes over 220 new books and 450 new journal articles a year. 

Bristol University Press and Policy Press Complete eBooks and Journals Collection

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This book presents a comprehensive exploration of Critical Race Theory, offering a clear understanding of its origins, the way it has been problematized and its potential for societal change.

By examining the historical influence of imperialism and capitalism, the author critiques both liberal and conservative perspectives. Centring the voices of marginalized groups, the book highlights their position as agents of change who have been consistently rejected, ignored or attacked by both the right and the left.

Providing a unique perspective on Critical Race Theory, this book is a valuable resource for readers seeking to navigate the complexities of systemic racism and how to dismantle these systems.

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How to Recover from the Enlightenment and Survive the Current Crisis

Love is fundamental to the flourishing of society and nature. However, the competition of the market economy has resulted in a fractured and traumatised modern world.

Revisiting philosophical developments and countercultures since the Enlightenment, this book offers a ‘loving critique’. It shows how learning to love better is the key to releasing ourselves from the alienating grip of the market.

The utopian template presented draws on archaeology, the witch trials, hippies, Hinduism, Buddhism, quantum mechanics, and psychedelics to describe how we can build a more loving society that can survive and flourish through the ecological, ethical, economic, and existential crises that we all now face.

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Venturing Beyond the Bifurcation of Nature

In a present marked by planetary crisis, a radical rethinking of aesthetics is necessary. This inspirational collection proposes a new way of thinking about aesthetics as fundamental to cultivating more liveable futures.

Drawing on the philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and Félix Guattari, the book develops aesthetics as central to all more-than-human forms of experience, including knowledge practices. Each contribution invites readers on an adventure to explore how this broader view of aesthetics can reshape areas including biomedicine, geological forensics, nuclear waste, race, as well as arts and education.

This is an agenda-setting contribution to understanding the significance of aesthetics in science and technology studies, as well social and cultural research more broadly.

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Modern Slavery in Society

Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This book offers a theory of trafficking and modern slavery with implications for policy. Despite economic development, modern slavery persists all around the world. The issue is not only one of crime but the regulation of the economy, better welfare and social protections.

Going beyond polarised debates on the sex trade, an original empirical analysis shows the importance of profit-taking. Although individual experience matters, the root causes lie in intersecting regimes of inequality of gender regimes, capitalism, and the legacies of colonialism. This book shows the importance of coercion and the societal complexities that perpetuate modern slavery.

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Demonstrating the relevance of theory to political and policy debates and practice, this lively and accessible second edition helps students to grasp the real-life implications of social policy theory.

It considers contemporary shifts in welfare ideologies in the context of global austerity and the UK Coalition and Conservative governments (2010 onwards). With a new chapter focusing on critical debates about disability, sexuality and the environment, this textbook also includes fresh reflections on migration, social security conditionality, resilience, social justice and human rights.

Key features include:

• real-life examples from UK and international politics and policy to explain and illuminate the significance of social policy theory;

• key questions for student reflection and engagement;

• and bulleted chapter summaries and annotated further readings at the end of every chapter.

This new edition is a dynamic, engaging and valuable introduction to the key theoretical perspectives and concepts deployed in social policy.

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Approaching, Contextualizing, and Embodying Sense-Making Practices in Alternative Cultures

The concept of ‘subculture’ is an invaluable tool to frame the study of non-normative and marginal cultures for social and cultural scholars.

This international collection uncovers the significance of meaning-making in the processes of defining, studying and analyzing subcultural phenomena.

Examining various dimensions of interpretivism, the book focuses on overarching concerns related to interpretation as well as day-to-day considerations that affect researchers’ and members’ interpretations of subcultural phenomena. It reveals how and why people use specific conceptual frames or methods and how those shape their interpretations of everyday realities.

This is an unprecedented contribution to the field, explaining the interpretive processes through which people make sense of subcultural phenomena.

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Marx argued that capitalist society acts against the core capacities, skills and talents of human beings, and that it also limits their realisation or channels them into activities related to profit rather than need.

Bringing Marx’s theory of alienation forward to the present day, this book uniquely links it to health and well-being. Using case studies and vignettes of workers across different industries, it reveals their lived experiences, offering crucial insights into the insidious ways in which capitalism continues to damage human well-being.

This is a resounding call for how society can change for the better.

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Critical Perspectives on the Promise of Stories

At a time of contested realities and a renewed focus on the power of personal stories, narrative research is as relevant as ever. But while it has been praised for ‘giving voice’ to individuals and highlighting how they make sense of the social world, critics are starting to question which voices are being heard, or allowed to speak, and which experiences are made to count.

Supported by the editors’ popular podcast Narrative Now, this interdisciplinary volume addresses timely concerns about representation, power, voice, and the ethics of storytelling.

Contributors explore the capacities and limitations of narrative research, and map out new directions for the field while honouring its legacy.

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From Dystopia Back to Utopia

From fake news to infringement of privacy in digital spheres, the changing landscapes of media and public communication have completely transformed contemporary democracies in recent decades.

Disruptions of media functioning can be seen as evidence for a transition from democracy to post-democracy, but how plausible is this scenario? Using empirical evidence, the author asks how imminent the threat of the end of democracy is, and how it can be restored.

Exploring the creative and destructive ways individuals and groups make use of new digital and social media in democratic societies across the world, the book presents a much-needed critical theory of the public sphere as we enter the new digital age.

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A Conversation between Memories and Futures

In this book leading sociologists explore how in our digital age of connectivity, temporal acceleration and real-time simultaneity impact personal experience, relations between generations and institutional processes.

The authors analyse the entanglement between past and future and explain how our ability to conceive the future is based not only upon the memory of the past, but also on forecasts about environmental crisis. Bringing memory and future studies into a unique dialogue, they highlight the crucial role of the past elaboration processes in freeing the future from the weight of trauma and renewing the ability to hope.

Offering a sophisticated and innovative social theory in a burgeoning field, this is a much-needed intervention to the current ‘temporal crisis’ of social life and sociological debates.

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