Social science

Isabelle Szmigin on the not-so secret formula underpinning a highly profitable global model

There’s a piggy in the middle of this gripping tale of depilation, finds Emma Rees

A German sociologist proposes that EU reform should be in the direction of revival, growth and social justice, explains Roger Morgan

Angelia Wilson on a prison system that has eroded democratic institutions and exacerbated social injustices

Vicky Duckworth on an authoritative and personal study of the people living on the St Ann’s estate in Nottingham

Andrew Blake on a study of politics and the arts in the New Labour era

Jonathan Mirsky on a revealing study about the roots of changes in sexual habits

Les Gofton admires an ethnographic study exploring how workers escape the daily grind

Helen Bynum admires a physician’s quest to distinguish alternative medicine from quackery

Research tools have been revolutionised by the internet but, asks John Gilbey, are they reliable?

Jonathan Mirsky on one family’s memories of life in a Shanghai alleyway, from Mao to the modern day

Fred Inglis on a collection of articles that touches on, but should have focused on, the corruption of universities by corporate forces

Sandra Leaton Gray on a chilling true story of the monetisation of the contents of academics’ heads

It’s not machines but rather man that makes us dread the clock’s tick, Stina Lyon discovers

Fred Inglis finds much to savour in a shrewd and affectionate study of a cherished satirical sitcom

E. Stina Lyon on the unrealistically high expectations placed on women

A thoughtful study on joblessness has little to say on the most pressing problems, finds Kitty Stewart

Eileen Pollard on a collection of interviews capturing important truths about the doctoral process

Paul Bernal finds much to admire in this compelling examination of the diverse events the group has been involved in

Chris Knight on a theory that an excess of morality is the cause of most violence and conflict today

Elizabeth Chell on a common-sense guide to managing innovation in businesses

Emma Rees on the difficulties of defining and exploring women’s sexual subjectivities in the 21st century

Philip Hoare on an alternative look at Britain - from hidden canal systems to ancient energy circuits

Clare Griffiths on a fresh perspective of social and public history through the author’s personal investigation of her own genealogy

Roger Morgan lauds a biography charting Labour statesman’s rise from a colliery to the Cabinet

Film-makers are challenging mainstream media depictions of state terror, finds Linnie Blake

Racial structure is cemented by theories on the fixed nature of the ‘other’, finds Yolanda T. Moses

Hester Vaizey on the political and religious divisions across a lesser known part of the Iron Curtain

Alex Danchev considers a history of a small but influential group of cultural ‘hijackers’

An examination of our bathroom habits is a little…constipated, finds Peter J. Smith

Giulia Miller writes on the weird backstory to a female superhero, from women’s suffrage to lie detectors

Philip Clarke asks whether ecological issues can be solved by studying aboriginal knowledge

Clare Brant on a form of writing that offers a unique insight into the private lives of women

Martin Cohen on a brief but powerful look at the history of avarice in society and what can be done to temper its more extreme elements

A petite primer with grand ambitions excels in its secondary themes, says Michelle Baddeley

Tim Hall on a travelogue, covering 12 locations, with an abundance of ecological and cultural insights

Vladimir Tismaneanu lauds a posthumous and provocative work that reflects on the past but also on the current European predicament

The history of vaccinations in the US has as much to do with politics as medicine, says Helen Bynum

A compelling argument for strong-arm tactics against those who perpetrate abuse on the net. By Helen Fenwick

The veteran right-wing academic sets out his belief system. By A. W. Purdue

One-way secrets in a gripping exchange between a Kenyan and an Africanist trouble Joanna Lewis

The Anglo-Jewish MP makes for a fascinating biographical subject, writes James Stevens Curl

Kristin M. Bakke on moving beyond standard intervention practice and involving local knowledge to end conflict

This text plugs a gaping hole and shows that successful economies need women who are free to succeed, writes Victoria Bateman

Helen Keegan on a compelling account of the potential harms from intended and unintended self-disclosure

Most people receive from the welfare state what they pay in taxes, argues Danny Dorling

Mapping queer spaces is revealing, but ghettos are also places of the mind, says Sally R. Munt

Tallis enters a crowded arena when he asks what the arts mean nowadays, says Fred Inglis

Irene Glendinning evaluates a rare study of the effectiveness of STEM widening-participation schemes

Rachel Hoffman on a reconceptualisation of conspiracy theory and its role in the modern world

Steve Redhead on a discussion of play as a means of interacting with the world around us

Dale Cooper on the methods of philanthropy in universities and how the UK has learned from the US tradition

Now in his ninth decade, sociologist Howard Becker has produced a classic, writes Les Gofton

Farzana Shaikh on a retread of a historian’s former work on Pakistan

E. Stina Lyon admires a hybrid of personal memoir and post-war English social history

Richard Williams on Hugh Hefner’s attention to the enhancement of pleasure through erotic design

Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman on an intricate history of the role of America on the global stage

Isabelle Szmigin on how ‘pleasure engineers’ have affected our physical and social well-being

Thomas Docherty on the fundamental tension between professional duties and civil engagement

Chris Knight on the history of humanity and the myths that shape our civilisations