Policy Press

Technology, data and society

Reflecting on UN Sustainable Development Goal 9: Industries, Innovation and Infrastructure, Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities and Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, our list looks at the potential for innovation and creative solutions to global social problems, whilst critically engaging with the risks, such as worsened social inequality and damage to human rights.

Subjects covered include the development of sustainable technology to help combat climate change, the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse data more efficiently, the way social media creates a space for people to organise international social activism and the need to balance our digital lives and retain data sovereignty, especially for the most vulnerable in society.

Bristol University Press and Policy Press are signed up to the UN SDG Publishers Compact. In Technology, data and innovation, we aim to address the following goals:

SDG Publishers compact logoSDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructureSDG 10: Reduced inequalitiesSDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Showing 61-72 of 86 items.

The Age of Low Tech

Towards a Technologically Sustainable Civilization

A best-seller in France, this English language edition introduces readers to an alternative perspective on our technological future. Bihouix skilfully goes against the grain to argue that ‘high’ technology will not solve global problems and envisages a different approach to manage our resources and build a more resilient and sustainable society.

Bristol Uni Press

The Digital Health Self

Wellness, Tracking and Social Media

Putting the spotlight on neoliberalism as a pervasive tool that dictates wellness as a moral obligation, this book critically analyses how users navigate relationships between self-tracking technologies, social media and health management.

Bristol Uni Press

Labour Conflicts in the Digital Age

A Comparative Perspective

This book offers a complete view of the new labour conflicts in the platform economy. Through case studies in advanced economies in Europe and the US and with an original approach that combines social movement studies and industrial relations, it provides a radical interpretation on the changing nature of worker movements in the digital age.

Bristol Uni Press

Hashtag Activism and Women’s Rights

Are Social Media Campaigns Really Making Laws Better for Women and Girls?

This book sheds light on the global legal impact of international social media campaigns on women’s rights.

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

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 — from search engines to social media. Looking beyond tech skills and media panics, it's an essential read for social scientists, policy makers, and anyone seeking to understand the complexities of parenting in a datafied society.

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

Beyond Privacy

People, Practices, Politics

This timely volume tackles the challenges of privacy in the digital sphere, addressing fundamental societal and structural issues from three perspectives: people, practices and politics. Experts from diverse fields provide a valuable contribution to key debates about privacy and data protection, surveillance capitalism and big tech companies.

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

Guerrilla Democracy

Mobile Power and Revolution in the 21st Century

Combining cutting edge theories with empirical research, this timely book offers an in-depth analysis of current platform-based radical movements to show how digital technologies revolutionise political and economic organising. This is an invaluable contribution to the emerging literature on the relationship between technology and society.

Bristol Uni Press

Internet Cures

The Social Lives of Digital Miracles

This book explores the intersection of miracle cures and technology with a unique methodology. Unravelling the intricate connections between social, technological, biomedical and non-biomedical spheres, it makes a significant contribution to debates on technology and health.

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

Marketing Science Fictions

An Ethnography of Marketing Analytics, Consumer Insight and Data Science

This book pulls back the curtain on contemporary data-driven marketing, revealing the intricate ways marketers create value from online data. It offers valuable lessons for academics and students of marketing, technology and data science.

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

Transport Truths

Planning Methods and Ethics for Global Futures

Ideal for researchers and practitioners looking for fresh approaches to transport problems, this book combines cutting-edge qualitative and qualitative knowledge to inform transport futures. It uses engaging case studies based in The Gambia and the US to show how and why a transdisciplinary approach can result in better planning decisions.

Bristol Uni Press
  • ForthcomingHardbackGBP 80.00 Pre-order
  • Currently not availableEPUBGBP 26.99

The Political Economy of Digital Monopolies

Contradictions and Alternatives to Data Commodification

As outrage over the socially damaging practices of technology companies intensifies, this book asks what it actually means to hold a 'monopoly' in the tech world and offers an in-depth analysis of how these corporate giants are produced, financialized, and regulated.

Bristol Uni Press

Robots and Immigrants

Who Is Stealing Jobs?

This book scrutinises the narratives created around stealing jobs, opening new debates on the role of automation and migration policies. The authors reveal how the advances in AI and demands for constant flow of immigrant workers eradicate political and working rights, propagating fears over job theft and ownership.

Bristol Uni Press