Policy Press

Class and classism

As part of an intersectional approach, the role of class in perpetuating social inequality is a vital area of study and self-reflection.

Recognised the importance of listening to different voices, the books here address key issues, including social inequality in academia and the unequal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bristol University Press and Policy Press are signed up to the UN SDG Publishers Compact. In this cross-cutting theme, we aim to address the following goal:

SDG Publishers compact logoSDG 10

You may also be interested in our Global Social Challenges on equality, diversity and inclusion and poverty, inequality and social justice.

Showing 73-84 of 249 items.

The Richer, The Poorer

How Britain Enriched the Few and Failed the Poor. A 200-Year History

This landmark book charts the rollercoaster history of both rich and poor, and the mechanisms that link them. Stewart Lansley examines the ideological rifts that have driven society back to the divisions of the past and asks why rich and poor citizens are still judged by very different standards.

Policy Press

Retreat or Resolution?

Tackling the Crisis of Mass Higher Education

Peter Scott examines the development of mass higher education and calls for robust action to secure fair access at all levels and changes in the governance and management at both system and institutional levels to ensure more democratic accountability.

Policy Press

The Changing Politics and Policy of Austerity

Experts from around the world review the complex and rapidly changing politics and policies of austerity in this comprehensive collection of essays. The book details the many different means and expressions of austerity since the financial crisis of 2008, as well as backlashes and emerging political alternatives.

Policy Press

The Next Welfare State?

UK Welfare after COVID-19

In this book, Chris Pierson argues that we will need to think quite differently about the British welfare state after COVID-19. He looks back to the welfare state’s origins and development as well as forwards, unearthing some surprising solutions in unexpected places.

Policy Press

The Rise of Food Charity in Europe

As the demand for food banks and other emergency food charities continues to rise across the continent, this is the first systematic Europe-wide study of the roots and consequences of this urgent phenomenon.

Policy Press

The Education Debate

This extensively updated fourth edition by the key author in the field will maintain its place as the most important text on education policy and makes essential reading for all students and anyone interested in education policy more generally.

Policy Press

Global Domestic Workers

Intersectional Inequalities and Struggles for Rights

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Drawing from the EU-funded DomEQUAL research project across 9 countries in Europe, South America and Asia, this comparative study explores the conditions of domestic workers around the world and the campaigns they are conducting to improve their labour rights.

Bristol Uni Press

The Pandemic Within

Policy Making for a Better World

This book offers a blend of moral imagination and social-political analysis to overcome the defects COVID-19 has exposed in our political-economic order. It shows how hegemony and complexity prevent societies from envisioning better practices and institutions and presents feasible solutions.

Policy Press

Pandemic Legalities

Legal Responses to COVID-19 – Justice and Social Responsibility

Edited by Dave Cowan and Ann Mumford

This important text maps out ways in which the disadvantaged have been affected by legal responses to COVID-19. Contributors tackle issues including virtual trials, adult social care, racism, tax and spending, education and more. Offering an account of the damage, this book demonstrates positive and productive future responses.

Bristol Uni Press

The Growing Challenge of Youth Unemployment in Europe and America

A Cross-Cultural Perspective

This book provides a culturally nuanced analysis of key issues relating to youth unemployment. Examining the causes and consequences of youth unemployment, it assesses ways forward to promote economic self-sufficiency.

Bristol Uni Press

Ability, Inequality and Post-Pandemic Schools

Rethinking Contemporary Myths of Meritocracy

Alice Bradbury discusses how the meritocracy myth reinforces educational inequalities and analyses how the recent educational developments of datafication and neuroscience might challenge how we classify and label children as we rebuild a post-pandemic schooling system.

Policy Press