Policy Press

Society, Culture and Arts

Culture – the beliefs, behaviours and objects common to the members of a particular group – is a fundamental part of the infrastructure on which our societies depend, and a wellspring from which we can reflect and reinvent, when faced with the urgent need to find ways to better co-exist on our planet.

Our publishing promotes Goal 3: Good health and well-being, through recognising the role culture plays in our lives, in our most disadvantaged communities, in old age and in the making of government policy. By listening to different societies, and different cultures within those societies, we can often find new perspectives and different approaches to tackling the problems that cut across all cultures.

Bristol University Press and Policy Press are signed up to the UN SDG Publishers Compact. In Society and culture, we aim to address the following goal:

SDG Publishers compact logoSDG 3: Good health and well-being

Showing 37-48 of 69 items.

Our stories, our lives

Inspiring Muslim women's voices

Edited by Wahida Shaffi

This book presents the stories of 20 women from Bradford between the ages of 14 and 80. It offers an intricate mosaic of the experiences, views and hopes of these women and in so doing emphasises the power of people's lives to aid deeper debate and understanding and gives voice to an important and often marginalised group.

Policy Press

Parents Talking Algorithms

Navigating Datafication and Family Life in Digital Societies

This book explores the intersection of parenthood and the digital age, where algorithms shape daily decisions.

Bristol Uni Press
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  • ForthcomingHardbackGBP 80.00 Pre-order
  • Currently not availableEPUBGBP 27.99

The Politics and Ethics of Transhumanism

Techno-Human Evolution and Advanced Capitalism

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence

This book interrogates the promises of transhumanism, arguing that it is deeply entwined with capitalist ideology. It casts doubt on a utopian techno-capitalist narrative of unending progress and shows how an alternative ethical framework might foster a more inclusive future.

Bristol Uni Press
  • ForthcomingPaperbackGBP 27.99 Pre-order
  • Currently not availableEPUB
  • Currently not availablePDF

Politics of the Gift

Towards a Convivial Society

Drawing on French sociologist Marcel Mauss' influential theory of 'the gift', this book shows that trust is the only glue that holds societies together, and people are giving beings and they who can cooperate for the benefit of all when the logic of maximizing utility personal gain in capitalism is broken.

Bristol Uni Press

The Public and Their Platforms

Public Sociology in an Era of Social Media

Cutting across multiple disciplines, this book maps out a new role for the public sociologist in the post-COVID world. It envisions a new kind of public sociology that brings together “the digital” and "the physical” to create public spaces where critical scholarship and active civic engagement can meet in a mutually reinforcing way.

Bristol Uni Press

Queering Science Communication

Representations, Theory, and Practice

Written by leading experts, this collection examines representations of queerness in popular science and media, asks what it means for the field to ‘queer’ science communication theories and research agendas and offers practical examples and case studies for fostering radical inclusivity and equity in the science communication field.

Bristol Uni Press

Race, Taste, Class and Cars

Cars transmit and modify our identities behind the wheel. As a symbol of independence and freedom, the car projects status, class, taste and, significantly, embeds racialisation. Using fascinating research from drivers, Alam unpicks the ways in which our identity is enhanced and driven.

Policy Press

Raising the Nation

How to Build a Better Future for Our Children (and Everyone Else)

Setting out big public policy ideas, enhanced by contributions from academic and campaigning experts, as well as those with lived experience, Raising the Nation shows why we must prioritise child-centred policies to ensure the future strength of our communities, environment and economy.

Policy Press

Raising the Nation

How to Build a Better Future for Our Children (and Everyone Else)

Setting out big public policy ideas, enhanced by contributions from academic and campaigning experts, as well as those with lived experience, Raising the Nation shows why we must prioritise child-centred policies to ensure the future strength of our communities, environment and economy.

Policy Press

Reimagining Black Art and Criminology

A New Criminological Imagination

Martin Glynn explores the relevance black artistic contributions have for understanding crime and justice. Through art forms including black crime fiction, black theatre and black music, this book brings attention to marginalized perspectives within mainstream criminology.

Bristol Uni Press

Remaking Money for a Sustainable Future

Money Commons

Engaging imaginatively with the future of money, this book examines the real-life efforts of grassroots movements and activists from across the world who are reclaiming power by designing, organising and implementing complementary currencies. It will be of interest to all who are interested in constructing a more sustainable and just world.

Bristol Uni Press

Researching Happiness

Qualitative, Biographical and Critical Perspectives

Edited by Mark Cieslik

This original collection draws on the latest empirical research to explore the practical challenges facing happiness researchers today. By uniquely combining the critical approach of sociology with techniques from other disciplines, the contributors illuminate new qualitative and biographical approaches of the study of happiness and well-being.

Bristol Uni Press