Publications

This article examines student accounts of credentials, talent and academic success, against a backdrop of the enduring liberal ideal of an education-based meritocracy. The article also examines Bourdieu’s account of academic qualifications as the dominant source of institutionalised cultural capital, and concludes that it does not adequately account for comparative differences in the social structure…

Using critical discourse analysis, this twelve-country study addresses a key lacuna by examining civil society perspectives on the implementation of the Participative Democratic Model (PDM) of gender mainstreaming in post-conflict states. The findings reveal specific data, transitional justice, and governance challenges in war-affected states as policy actors press for heightened attention to issues such as…

The UK has experienced high levels of in-migration from all parts of the world over several decades. This Research Note presents new estimates of trade union membership among migrants in the UK. Levels of membership among migrants are lower than those employees who were born in the UK, although levels rise as time spent in…

This article presents critical discourse analysis of state and civil society organisations’ efforts to implement the gender mainstreaming goals set out in the United Nations’ Beijing Declaration. It is argued that the latter represents a generational opportunity to apply a Feminist Political Economic Framework to development in Africa. However, the research findings show how current…

There have been three main accounts of East Asian export-oriented economic growth in the 1980s: getting prices right, the developmental state (DS), and Confucian capitalism. None is satisfactory and, together, they reproduce the market—state—civil society triplet, which originates in European Enlightenment thinking, and one-sidedly highlight the roots of the miracle in one or other of…

“It is a very large question, with philosophical, anthropological, historical and political implications. In consequence and especially given the circumstances and time available, what I have to say will be in three parts. First, I will consider some theoretical concepts, drawn from the disciplines mentioned above. Secondly, I will consider three case studies by way…

Declining levels of trade union membership is often cited as evidence that trade unions have become less relevant within the modern UK economy. In 2012, particular attention was given to this issue as levels of union membership among TUC affiliated unions fell to beneath 6 million members for the first time.

This paper considers the ethical aspects of co-producing visual representations of communities experiencing economic deprivation. It focuses on one of five case studies that are part of a UK-wide research project that is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The research broadly aims to explore how arts-based approaches can enable communities to express…

Ipsos MORI and WISERD were commissioned by the Welsh Government in April 2013 to conduct a process and impact evaluation of the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG). The PDG was launched in 2012 and provides additional funding to schools based on the number of pupils on their roll eligible for Free School Meals (eFSM) or who…

Migration is a key feature of population change in Europe, shaping the continent’s economy, labour markets and demography. In 2013 there were 20 million non-EU nationals living in the European Union, representing around 4% of the total population, up from 3.4% in 2005 (OECD /EU 2015, p. 300). The EU’s core principle of free movement,…