News and Blog

WISERD welcomes Professor from Russian Academy of Science

WISERD colleagues were delighted to welcome Professor Grigori Kliucharev from the Institute of Sociology at the Russian Academy of Science last month, as part of the WISERD Civil Society seminar series. Professor Kliucharev’s presentation, ‘Social and political participation in building democracy in Russia: The role of literacy programmes and educational reforms’, is based on research data…

WISERD gives briefing on IDEAL study in the National Assembly for Wales

On Tuesday 2nd May, WISERD Director, Professor Ian Rees Jones gave an assembly briefing on the IDEAL study, which explores factors that influence the possibility of living well with dementia. The project, which started in 2014, seeks to identify changes that could result in improved well-being and quality of life for both individuals with dementia, and…

WISERD colleagues elected as Learned Society of Wales Fellows

Two WISERD colleagues, Professor Sally Power and Professor Mike Woods, are among the newly elected fellows of The Learned Society of Wales. The Learned Society of Wales was established in 2010 in the absence of a national society of learning in Wales. Its aims are to contribute to advancing and promoting excellence in all scholarly…

“They should’ve let us vote”

– College student, Heads of the Valleys. The dominant view among young people with regard to Brexit, is one of anger or frustration at not being allowed to vote. As part of a broader WISERD project exploring education, language and identity, a research team at Aberystwyth University has been travelling around the country to interview under-18s…

Poverty and Food Banks in Wales

Poverty and the rise of food banks in Wales were the focus of research shared at WISERD’s latest Civil Society seminar, held at Cardiff last night. PhD student, David Beck and Dr Hefin Gwilym from Bangor University’s School of Social Sciences presented findings from their research exploring the experience of food poverty in Wales. Representatives…

Without European intervention, equality for disabled people in Britain would be a distant dream

The representation of disabled people in government has never been more important. In 2014, 19% of British residents said that they were disabled. The country also has an ageing population and 42% of state pension age adults – 5m people altogether – are living with disabilities. Before the EU referendum, fears abound that the laws in place to help and protect…

Nation, Class and Resentment

Sociologist and lecturer, Dr Robin Mann, based at Bangor University’s School of Social Sciences, discusses the differences in the way that national identity is expressed in Wales, Scotland and England, and how national identity affects attitudes towards current issues such as Brexit and immigration in a unique comparative study, which has recently been published. In…

Young people and Brexit: will Brexit spark young people’s interest in devolved Welsh politics?

Brexit in Scotland and Wales A majority 64% of young people voted in the UK referendum on EU membership last June, but 70% of them were disappointed. Media coverage brought this disappointment home with wide coverage of the generational divide, depicting a young generation forced to live with the consequences of a decision made by…

Baroness Eluned Morgan AM delivers keynote speech on Brexit

Baroness Eluned Morgan AM delivered a keynote speech on Brexit at Aberystwyth University last night. Joined by members of the public, the Labour Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales discussed one of the defining political issues of our time, surveyed the political landscape after last year’s referendum vote, and asked whether anything positive can…