Social Theory

This student-friendly textbook uses theoretical perspectives to bring to life social theories relating to health and illness. including binge drinking, obesity, the prominence of therapy and the search for happiness.

This book is the first to theorise and define the social harm concept beyond criminology and seeks to address these omissions and in doing so provide a platform for future debates, in this series and beyond.

Outsourcing of domestic work in the UK has been steadily rising since the 1970s, but little research has considered White British women. This book argues that outsourced domestic cleaning can either be done as mental and manual skilled work or as manual and ‘natural’ emotional/affective labour, depending on the work conditions.

In this book, well-respected author Paul Spicker lends a complementary voice to his Reclaiming individualism, reviewing collectivism as a dimension of political discourse. Taking a dispassionate and methodical approach, the author explores what collectivism means in social policy and what value it offers to the field.

In this book, Daniela Aidley and Kriss Fearon provide a practical introduction to making it easier for everyone to take part in research. It will be invaluable to researchers from a variety of backgrounds looking to increase participation in their research, whether postgraduate students, experienced academic researchers, or practitioners.

This is the first book to extend the narrative lens to explore the contribution of narrative to social work values and ethics, social policy and our understanding of the self in social, cultural and political context.

This edited collection offers an original investigation of into the changing landscape of emotion in dark and uncertain times.

Challenging the assumption that emotional experiences are purely personal, the authors showcase how they relate to cultural, economic and political conditions.

Revisiting philosophical developments, historical figures and events, including Adam Smith, colonialism and modernity, this interdisciplinary book presents a ‘loving critique’ of society. It shows how learning to love better is key to releasing ourselves from the alienating grip of the market.

How to Create Societies for Human Wellbeing presents a compelling new perspective on psychological wellbeing informed by evidence on human stress responses. It shows how our mental health is shaped by the social and cultural conditions in which we all live and offers new ways to respond through political and social change.

This book explores Critical Race Theory, tracing its origins, problems and potential, and critiquing liberal and conservative perspectives. Centring marginalized voices, it emphasizes their role as change agents rejected by both sides. A unique resource for understanding and dismantling systemic racism.

This book examines the concept of the pluriverse alongside global ethics and the ethics of care in order to contemplate new ethical horizons for engaging across difference. Offering a challenge to the current state of the field, this book argues for a rethinking of global ethics as it has been conceived thus far.

Supported by the editors’ popular podcast Narrative Now, this interdisciplinary volume explores the capacities and limitations of narrative research. It maps out new directions for the field while honouring its legacy.