Policy Press

Poverty, inequality and social justice

The issues involved in poverty, inequality and social justice are many and varied, from basic access to education and healthcare, to the financial crisis and resulting austerity, and now COVID-19. Addressing Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 5: Gender Equality, Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities and Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, our list both presents research on these topics and tackles emerging problems. A key series in the area is the SSSP Agendas for Social Justice.

This area has always been at the heart of our publishing with the view to making the research in this area as visible and accessible as possible in order to maximise its potential impact. 

Bristol University Press and Policy Press are signed up to the UN SDG Publishers Compact. In Poverty, inequality and social justice, we aim to address the following goals:

SDG Publishers compact logoSDG 1: No povertySDG 5: Gender equalitySDG 10: Reduced inequalitiesSDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Showing 133-144 of 694 items.

The Flexibility Paradox

Why Flexible Working Leads to (Self-)Exploitation

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible working has become the norm for many workers. This volume examines flexible working using data from 30 European countries and drawing on studies conducted in Australia, the US and India

Policy Press

Hunger, Whiteness and Religion in Neoliberal Britain

An Inequality of Power

Exploring why food aid exists and the deeper causes of food poverty, this book addresses neglected dimensions of traditional debates. It challenges neoliberal governmentality and shows how food charity maintains inequalities of class, race, religion and gender.

Policy Press

Understanding Global Social Policy

The third edition of this leading textbook offers a contemporary, lively and accessible overview of international actors and social policy formation, identifying key issues, debates and priorities for action in social policy across the Global South and North.

Policy Press

Towards a New Civic Bureaucracy

Lessons from Sustainable Development for the Crisis of Governance

Matthew Quinn plots a landmark reimagination of governance and public administration, underpinned by sustainable development and civic republicanism.

Policy Press

Care, Crisis and Activism

The Politics of Everyday Life

What kinds of care are being offered or withdrawn by the welfare state? What does this mean for the caring practices and interventions of local activists? Shedding new light on austerity and neoliberal welfare reform in the UK, this vital book considers local action and activism within contexts of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Policy Press

Long-Term Recovery from Substance Use

European Perspectives

This cross-Europe analysis explores crucial aspects of long term recovery from substance use. Leading experts set out the evolving needs of people who have sought to change their use of substances and the factors in their progress. The book concludes with clear recommendations for improving future research, policy and practice.

Policy Press

Involving Service Users in Social Work Education, Research and Policy

A Comparative European Analysis

Based on the results of a European Social Fund project, this book critically appraises the benefits and challenges of involving service users in social work research, practice and education.

Policy Press

Local Civil Society

Place, Time and Boundaries

Drawing on place-based field investigations and new empirical analysis, this original book investigates civil society at local level.

Policy Press

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

Reimagining Academic Activism

Learning from Feminist Anti-Violence Activists

Based on deep ethnographic research, this book explores new practices and ideas about activism in the fight against social inequality. The book is both about feminist activists and is an act of feminist activism, with the author’s experiences as a volunteer ethnographer in New Zealand sitting at its heart.

Bristol Uni 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 Alumni Way

Building Lifelong Value from Your University Investment

Reimagining the alumni-university relationship, Maria Gallo explores graduates’ alumni status as a gateway to immense professional and personal networks and opportunities.

Policy Press


Related journals

Journal of poverty and social justice cover

Journal of Poverty and Social Justice

Welfare regimes in the global South: does the capability approach provide an alternative perspective?
Sophie Plagerson and Leila Patel

Basic income and a public job offer: complementary policies to reduce poverty and unemployment
Felix FitzRoy and Jim Jin

Monitoring progress towards sustainable development: multidimensional child poverty in the European Union
Yekaterina Chzhen, Zlata Bruckauf and Emilia Toczydlowska

Much ado about poverty: the role of a UN Special Rapporteur
Philip Alston, Bassam Khawaja and Rebecca Riddell

Including services in multidimensional poverty measurement for SDGs: modifications to the consensual approach
Alba Lanau, Joanna Mack and Shailen Nandy

For better or for worse: does the UK means-tested social security system encourage partnership dissolution?
Rita Griffiths

CCTs and conditionalities: an exploratory analysis of not meeting conditional cash transfer conditionalities in Chile's Families Programme
Tal Reininger, Cristobal Villalobos and Ignacio Wyman

Welfare regimes in the global South: does the capability approach provide an alternative perspective?
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Basic income and a public job offer: complementary policies to reduce poverty and unemployment
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Monitoring progress towards sustainable development: multidimensional child poverty in the European Union
Yekaterina Chzhen, Zlata Bruckauf and Emilia Toczydlowska

Is there evidence of households making a heat or eat trade off in the UK?
Carolyn Snell, Hannah Lambie-Mumford and Harriet Thomson

Leaving no one behind? Reaching the informal sector, poor people and marginalised groups with Social Health Protection
Claude Meyer, David Evans et al.

Gender, ethnicity and activism: 'the miracle is when we don't give up...'
Anna  Daróczi, Angela Kocze et al.

‘We are constantly overdrawn, despite not spending money on anything other than bills and food’: a mixed-methods, participatory study of food and food insecurity in the context of income inequality [Open Access]
Katie Pybus, Madeleine Power, and Kate E. Pickett

A consequence of a tragedy: nowcasting poverty rate in Syria
Samer Hamati

Retheorising the relationship between electricity scarcity and social injustice: evidence from Zimbabwe
Ellen Fungisai Chipango

Exploring child poverty and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa: a multidimensional perspective
Kehinde Oluwaseun Omotoso and Steven F. Koch

‘To tell you the truth, no job is legit’: an exploration of justice for Hanoi’s marginalised urban migrants
Jonathan De Luca