Poverty, Inequality and Social Justice

The issues involved in poverty, inequality and social justice are many and varied, from basic access to education and healthcare, to the financial crisis and resulting austerity, and now COVID-19. Addressing Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 5: Gender Equality, Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities and Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, our list both presents research on these topics and tackles emerging problems. A key series in the area is the SSSP Agendas for Social Justice.

This focus has always been at the heart of our publishing with the view to making the research in this area as visible and accessible as possible in order to maximise its potential impact.

Bristol University Press and Policy Press are signed up to the UN SDG Publishers Compact. In Poverty, inequality and social justice, we aim to address the following goals: 

Poverty, Inequality and Social Justice

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From Thatcherism to Austerity
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In this enlightening study, Ian Cummins traces changing attitudes to penal and welfare systems.

From Margaret Thatcher’s first cabinet, to austerity politics via New Labour, the book reveals the ideological shifts that have led successive governments to reinforce their penal powers. It shows how ‘tough on crime’ messages have spread to other areas of social policy, fostering the neoliberal political economy, encouraging hostile approaches to the social state and creating stigma for those living in poverty.

This is an important addition to the debate around the complex and interconnected issues of welfare and punishment.

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Policy, politics and practice in the UK

Modern slavery, in the form of labour exploitation, domestic servitude, sexual trafficking, child labour and cannabis farming, is still growing in the UK and industrialised countries, despite the introduction of laws to try to stem it.

This hugely topical book, by a team of high-profile activists and expert writers, is the first to critically assess the legislation, using evidence from across the field, and to offer strategies for improvement in policy and practice. It argues that, contrary to its claims to be ‘world-leading’, the Modern Slavery Act is inconsistent, inadequate and punitive; and that the UK government, through its labour market and immigration policies, is actually creating the conditions for slavery to be promoted.

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Assessing the impact of reform
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Originally introduced as a form of social welfare with near-universal eligibility, legal aid in the UK is now framed as a benefit external to the legal system and understood in primarily economic terms. This book is the first to evaluate the recent reforms of UK legal aid from a social policy perspective and assess their impact on family law courts and advocacy.

Written by experts in the field, it focuses on the rise in people representing their own legal case and argues that the reforms effectively ‘delawyerise’ disputes, producing a more inquisitorial justice system and impacting the litigants, court system, staff and process.

Arguing for a more holistic concept of the reforms, the book will be of relevance to students, academics, policy-makers, judges, campaigners and social workers, not just in England and Wales, but in other jurisdictions instituting cuts to their legal aid budgets, such as Australia, Scotland, France, and the Netherlands.

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Reflections on challenging times for advice agencies
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Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence.

In a world dominated by austerity politics and policies, Advising in austerity provides a lively and thought-provoking account of the conditions, consequences and challenges of advice work in the UK, presenting a rare and rich view of the world of advice giving. Based on original research it examines how advisors negotiate the private troubles of those who come to Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) and construct ways forward. Exploring how advisors are trained, the strong contributor team reflect on the challenges facing Citizens Advice Bureaux in the future, where austerity will ensure that the need for advice services increase, while funding for such services declines.

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Making a difference

This topical book engages with a wide range of issues related to social work practice with people who have sexually offended. It addresses the emotional impacts of ‘facing the sex offender’, the importance of values and ethics in practice, and reviews popular and academic understandings of sex offenders and sex crimes. Its accessible style and use of practice based learning exercises will help readers to reflect on theory, practice and developing emotional resilience.

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Events of 2015
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Human Rights Watch

The human rights records of more than 90 countries and territories is put into perspective in Human Rights Watch’s signature yearly report. This volume highlights the armed conflict in Syria, international drug reform, drones and electronic mass surveillance, and also features photo essays of child marriage in South Sudan, the cost of the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, and religious fighting in Central African Republic.

Reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken in 2015 by Human Rights Watch staff, in close partnership with domestic human rights activists, the annual World Report 2016 is an invaluable resource for journalists, researchers, students, diplomats, and citizens, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight to protect human rights in every corner of the globe.

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Events of 2014
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Human Rights Watch

CUSTOMERS IN NORTH AMERICA: COPIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM WWW.SEVENSTORIES.COM

The 25th annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than ninety countries and territories worldwide, reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken in 2014 by Human Rights Watch staff in close partnership with domestic rights activists. The World Report 2015 focuses in particular on the roles--positive or negative--played in each country by key domestic and international figures. Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth’s introduction addresses the tumultuous events of the past year, and describes inattention to human rights as an aggravating factor in the rise of brutal non-state actors such as ISIS and Boko Haram. Other essays focus on the strangulation of civil society by both repressive and so-called democratic countries; the need to keep surveillance on the human rights agenda; the alarming rise of explosive weapons in populated areas; and human rights abuses linked to mega-sporting events.

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New perspectives on the ‘not-so-big society’

Drawing on a wide array of policy domains and events, this book provides an innovative account of social control and behaviourism within welfare systems and social policies, and the implications for disadvantaged groups.

This accessible collection reviews the controls, assumptions and persuasions applied to individuals and households and explores broader themes, including how ‘new behaviourism’ was consolidated during the New Labour and Cameron periods.

Social policy and social control offers timely engagements with key issues for researchers and policy makers, and is relevant for students in social policy, sociology, socio-legal studies, social work and social care, disability studies, human geography, politics and public policy, and gender, family and life course studies.

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Events of 2013
Author:
Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2014 is the global rights watchdog’s flagship 24th annual review of global trends and news in human rights. An invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, it features not only incisive country surveys but also hard-hitting essays highlighting key human rights issues and striking photo essays by award-winning photographers. Customers outside of the UK and Europe: copies are available from Sevenstories.com

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Events of 2012
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Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch's twenty-third annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. An invaluable and respected resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, the book includes essays that tackle major human rights themes, and country chapters addressing key human rights abuses and the roles –positive or negative – that significant domestic and international figures played during the year. It reflects extensive investigative work by Human Rights Watch staff, often in close partnership with domestic activists.

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