News and Blog

Biography as we know it

Dr Marta Eichsteller reflects on the challenges of biographical narratives in ethnographic research on civil society. Doing biographical narrative research as part of an ethnographic project is becoming established research practice. The method’s place in social research is to give context and meaning to what can be observed in the field and establish historical background…

Brexit and Wales – The Key Questions

Over eighty people packed the Morlan Centre in Aberystwyth on Wednesday 25th January for the launch of the WISERD Centre for Welsh Politics and Society, with a lively discussion on ‘Brexit and Wales – the Key Questions’.   Following a week in which the Prime Minister Theresa May had set out her plans for negotiations…

WISERD Presentation at Westminster – Accountability: Re-thinking Feminist Policy Actors and Interventions

On Tuesday 17 January Professor Paul Chaney presented findings from the WISERD Civil Society Programme research project ‘Territoriality and Third Sector Engagement in Policy-Making’ at the House of Commons. The presentation at the ESRC ‘Feminizing Politics: Voice, Access and Accountability’ seminar highlighted the role of civil society as political space for accountability with a focus…

New WISERD Research on Civil Society and Equality in Seven Middle Eastern States

A new study by Professor Paul Chaney provides new insight into why Middle Eastern states continue to languish at the bottom of world rankings on gender equality. The core finding relates to the policy process, and poor communication and dialogue between governments and the communities they serve. In short, despite their UN obligations to engage…

Wales Housing Research Conference 2016

90 delegates attended this year’s Wales Housing Research Conference, co-hosted by Shelter Cymru, Welsh Government and the WISERD Wales Housing Research Network. The event took place at Cardiff University’s Bute building and Glamorgan building. Delegates were invited to attend a variety of sessions, with themes including housing policy and devolution, health and wellbeing, the Welsh…

Devolution – no strings attached?

The Sheffield City Region (SCR) faces considerable problems in terms of economic and social inequality. As the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) emphasises, there has been a marked decline in living standards in the UK, which is projected to continue. The Sheffield City Region has the highest concentration of those in work and paid below…