Policy Press
Sign up to our newsletter

Sign up for 25% off all books

What is it for
This book examines how changes to social rules reshape how states explain their military actions, and changes to technology and society transform contemporary warfare. Analysing the role that war serves in global politics, it outlines the ways in which war affects the contemporary world, from international relations to our day-to-day lives.
Philanthropy, the use of private assets for public good, has been much criticized in recent years. Rhodri Davies, drawing on his deep knowledge of the past and present landscape of philanthropy, examines pressing questions that philanthropy must tackle if it is to be equal to the challenges of the 21st century.
Cybersecurity is one of the key practical and political challenges of our time. This book explains the complexities of global information systems, the challenges of providing security to users, societies, states and the international system, and the multitude of competing players and ambitions in this arena.
How should we treat animals? The field of animal rights raises pressing questions about how humans treat the other animals as livestock farming exerts an increasing toll on the planet, and we learn more about their capacity to think and experience pain. This book shows what the world might look like if animals had greater rights.
Hindpal Singh Bhui argues that we need to look at who is sent to prison and why to disentangle reality from ideology and myth. Including the voices of prisoners, prison staff and victims, he asks whether prison is an institution for managing marginalized people, or if there is a better way to achieve the socially useful goals of prisons.
While attention is on Olympic triumphs and tribulations, there is much that goes on behind the scenes that is deeply troubling. Boykoff tells us that radical steps are required if the Games are to be fixed and only then will they be truly ‘athletes first’.
Gildea suggests that the more people who really understand what good history entails, the more likely history is to triumph over myth. He sees positive signs in public history, citizen historians and community projects, debunking claims that ‘you cannot rewrite history’, arguing that good history that’s attuned to its times must be rewritten.
Catherine Oliver shows why the veganism movement has become a powerful social, political and environmental force. She discusses the health and environmental benefits of veganism, explores the practical and social impacts of the shift to eating plants, and explains why veganism is not just a diet, but a way of life.
Museums today are a cultural battleground. Jon Sleigh maintains that museums must be for all people and inclusion must be at the heart of everything they do. He uses museum objects from different museums to explore trust-building, representation, digital access, conflicting narratives, removal from display and restitution.
Should the line be maintained between nature and cultural, the biological and the informational, the human and the planetary? Kriti Kapila argues that anthropology provides an essential set of tools for analysing our social reality and makes a case for its unique insights into our human connection, relatedness and exchange.
‹ ›

What is it for

The status quo is broken. Humanity today faces multiple interconnected challenges, some of which could prove existential. If we believe the world could be different, if we want it to be better, examining the purpose of what we do – and what is done in our name – is more pressing than ever.

The What Is It For? series examines the purpose of the most important aspects of our contemporary world, from religion and free speech to animal rights and the Olympics. It illuminates what these things are by looking closely at what they do.

The series offers fresh thinking on current debates that gets beyond the over-heated polemics and easy polarizations. Across the series, leading experts explore new ways forward, enabling readers to engage with the possibility of real change.

The first books in the series, on war, cybersecurity and philanthropy published in March 2023, with animal rights publishing in October 2023 and titles on religion, prisons and many more set to be published soon.

Each book explains not only the history behind the topic and how it functions, but also the purpose it serves in our society­ – and, crucially, how it could work better.

Meet the Editor

George Miller

I’ve worked in publishing for over thirty years since starting as a rep in a battered Nissan Cherry in northern Greece. At Oxford University Press I set up the Very Short Introductions series in the early 1990s, convinced that short, affordable books can, and should, be intelligent and thought-provoking.

The What's It For? series seeks, like the Press as a whole, to be an agent for positive change. It will ask tough questions about purpose and fitness for purpose: what has to change for the future to be better? I’m greatly looking forward to exploring these questions with authors who are specialists in their fields and – equally important – passionate about communicating to a wide readership.

If you are interested in getting in touch, please contact me at
george.miller@bristol.ac.uk.

ON WRITING ABOUT WAR IN AN ERA OF CONFLICT

In this episode, George Miller speaks to Jack McDonald, author of What is War for?, about why he chose to focus on war’s twenty-first century character rather than its ancient origins, and writing the book as the events of the Russo-Ukrainian war unfolded in real time. Listen to the podcast.

WHAT IS PHILANTHROPY AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

George Miller speaks to Rhodri Davies, author of What is Philanthropy for?, about why he thinks this is a good time to ask questions about the purpose of philanthropy, and its relationship to democracy, inequality and the market. Listen to the podcast.

WHAT IS CYBERSECURITY ANYWAY?

Tim Stevens, author of What Is Cybersecurity For?, considers the infinite need for cybersecurity and explains why it’s simply not working. Read the article.

Didn't find what your were after?

Search Again