News and Blog

John Morgan, Honorary Professor and Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at WISERD, based at Cardiff University has written a book review essay which has been published in the journal, Eurasian Geography and Economics. Professor Morgan says: “There is now an extensive literature on the related concepts of soft power and modernity” and this essay reviews some notable…

Rhun ap Iorwerth was appointed as Plaid Cymru’s new leader mid-June 2023. He replaced Adam Price, who stood down in response to a damaging report which found evidence of a culture of sexual harassment, bullying and misogyny in the party. An immediate priority for ap Iorwerth is to implement the report’s 82 recommendations. These include introducing new policies…

I recently presented new WISERD research on human rights during the pandemic at the International Political Studies Association Congress in Buenos Aires. My research findings aligned with the conference theme of ‘Politics in the Age of Transboundary Crises’ and examine how political elites in East Africa used the crisis as a pretext for rights suppression….

Professor Michael Woods, Professor Alan Renwick and Dr Anwen Elias. The Centre for Welsh Politics and Society at Aberystwyth University hosted its Annual Lecture on the prospects for democratic reform in the United Kingdom. Leading academic Professor Alan Renwick, Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit at University College London, delivered the lecture entitled “Do the…

The 75th anniversary on the 22nd June this year of the arrival in Britain of the S.S. Empire Windrush has prompted me to re-read Colin MacInnes’ The London Trilogy, comprising City of Spades (1957), Absolute Beginners (1959) and Mr Love and Justice (1960). MacInnes, who died in 1976, was an English writer and journalist, who…

The prospects for political reform in Britain will be discussed at Aberystwyth University this month, when Professor Alan Renwick delivers the annual Welsh Politics and Society Lecture. The lecture, ‘Do the UK Public want Democratic Reform?’, will be held on Thursday 25th May at 6pm in the International Politics Main Hall, Penglais Campus. Entry is…

Principal Research Fellow, Dr Igor Calzada has been awarded a Learned Society of Wales grant to take forward his transdisciplinary social sciences research on Wales and Basque Country cooperation with an online workshop on 5 May. Wales and the Basque Country share some interesting commonalities in their development, allowing for opportunities to discuss devolution and…

Our previous studies examining variation in access to sporting facilities in relation to socio-economic patterns in Wales have been predicated on an assumption of private travel as the means of transport. We are now including travel distances and times for alternative modes of transport as part of our accessibility calculations. These are derived from an…

Exhibition held at the Bandstand, Aberystwyth 13 –15 April 2023 This exhibition was the first related to our ongoing project that uses photography to understand how people think about independence in Wales, Scotland and Catalonia. For these nations, becoming independent would mean leaving the state which they are currently a part of (the UK and…

On Wednesday 12 April, Dr Dan Evans will be launching his new book: ‘A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie’ at Waterstones, Cardiff. Dan will be in the store discussing his book, which will be available to purchase on the day. Tickets for the book launch are available on the Waterstones website….