Social science

Gemma Edney on the arguments for the academic study of a genre too often dismissed for being à l’Américaine

Universities to scale back liberal arts and social science courses

A study of anti-masturbation campaigns reveals many unexpected allegiances, says Heike Bauer

Caron E. Gentry praises a work that reveals the contributions of female Muslims

Tara Shears on the career thrills and frustrations of a female scientist who made history at Berkeley

This survey shows how textbook materials often reveal more about the ‘home’ culture than they do about the one being taught. Sylvia Jaworska writes

Discipline may fund women fairly because of a better awareness of the ‘ingrained, institutionalized male culture of universities’

Digital learning may be the future, but the present is more uncertain, says  Sandra Leaton Gray

Howard Segal admires the travelogue of a self-confessed ‘professional disaster tourist’ covering a variety of global wastelands

Early experience of class has a large effect on the working lives of graduates, discovers Huw Morris

Acknowledging aid workers’ motives does not diminish their extraordinary efforts, says Monika Krause

This perceptive ethnography takes Randy Malamud behind the scenes at the penguin pool to ask if the institutions are scientific and educational enterprises or just commercialised animal spectacles

The causes of and solutions to disparity in income are eclectic, says Victoria Bateman

Kate Hardy pauses in her labours to reconsider our attitudes to the paid employment treadmill

Martin Cohen on how the failings of liberal democracies have affected every aspect of our lives

A study of the internet’s bullies and manipulators avoids the hard questions, says Tara Brabazon

Alun Evans highlights need to ‘be careful not to discriminate against the young’ in facing up to the challenges of diversity 

Emma Rees on the social networking origins of a 21st-century political movement

Robotics will affect our societies and economies more than we expect, discovers John Gilbey

Robert Lee Maril on the lives of migrant Latin American day workers in an atypical Californian city

Sarah Waters on a fascinating yet deeply curious book that has triggered a public outcry in France

Linnie Blake extols a study on films using the technology to tell their stories

A biography of the late Chinese leader details his long, complex career yet the statesman defies easy labels, says Kerry Brown

Bankers swap cufflinks for cassocks in an era of reinvention not defined by pay, finds Leslie Gofton

A study of private property reminds us to reflect on the things we don’t control, finds Jane O’Grady

Director of knowledge exchange hub says that the arts and humanities can play a key role in bringing creative companies and academics together

This study of an era of violent abuses of power ignores half of humanity, finds Jacqueline Broad

Mary Evans on proposals for achieving equal representation of women and men in university hierarchies

Course looking at ‘key security issue for East Asia’ part of major University of Central Lancashire investment in Korean studies

New plans focus on putting Hungarian higher education on solid international foundations

Trinity College Dublin and the University of Limerick become the first organisations outside the UK to gain an Athena SWAN charter mark for gender equality

Epigram editor Zaki Dogliani explores whether students would accept different prices for different courses

Report attributes decline to UK government trebling tuition fees 

Dame Carol Ann Duffy among the 65 names announced

Leeds Beckett researchers aim to maximise the impact of their knowledge

Just 13 per cent of open call applications to social science funder were successful in 2014-15

Report calls for desired graduate skill set in the field to be ‘clearly set out’

Disagreement among social scientists means that policies to tackle climate change remain contentious, write Mark Freeman and Ben Groom

Study reveals 'international experience' also popular among  leaders around the world.

A remarkable investigation into the global traffic in cheap shelf-fillers uncovers both meanness and meaning in the market, says Louise Crewe

Paul Bernal clicks with a maverick thinker who shows how business and governments are building a global surveillance network and how we can fight back

Tom Palaima on an examination of the conflicts that have been raging since the 1960s

The British statesman had a surprising interest in the affairs of Muslims, says Charles Townshend

Superheroes enliven a study of the history of red tape and how it shapes our lives, says Fred Inglis

Liz Young discovers how failures in governance exacerbated the severity of historical famines

A tax rate of 67.5% is part of an economist’s plan to stem excessive inequality, finds Danny Dorling

Kathryn Ecclestone on a study examining the underside of the new fixation on inner feelings

The tales of a society on the margins and a researcher’s struggle to integrate into that society make for a readable account about real people, says Joy Hendry

This valuable work sheds light on the building of an ‘international sisterhood’ to further the struggle for women’s rights, says June Purvis

E. Stina Lyon on a complex account of the trajectory of adult life in the modern world

Rising inequality can be addressed without taking to the barricades, Victoria Bateman suggests

Dick Hobbs on a study of a career criminal that demystifies gangs and a society that has tried to marginalise them

David Palfreyman on the effect that the forces of marketisation have had power dynamics within academia

Managers remain in thrall to bad ideas about how to run companies, learns Helga Drummond

A lupine alliance may have helped Homo sapiens to beat the competition, says Simon Underdown

Danny Dorling on an unusual study that reveals much about what is wrong with political culture

A study of American couples who married out of their socio-economic culture intrigues Mary Evans

A wide-ranging examination of garment recycling should whet the appetite of readers for more research on the subject, says Ruth Pearson

Thomas Docherty on a study of the academy today and working conditions

Jonathan Mirsky on the undistinguished qualities of a president who wants China to ‘learn from Chairman Mao’