RSS 1.0Social and Political Science
There is a strong culture of research activity in the Department of Social and Political Science which informs academic teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Staff are engaged in research of both national and international significance and are also involved in publication, peer review, professional practice, postgraduate training and Knowledge Transfer activities. A number of PhD students supervised by Social Studies and Counselling staff also contribute to the vibrant research culture of the department and are usually offered both teaching and publication opportunities. There is an active research culture in the department with regular research seminars at which staff and postgraduate research students present their most recent work. Research and scholarship has developed and flourished around a number of key areas in the department: Criminology; Sociology, Health and Social Policy; International Development; Political Communications; Counselling and Trauma.
This collection is licenced under a Creative Commons licence. The collection may be reproduced for non-commerical use and without modification, providing that copyright is acknowledged.
Recent Submissions
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Are we witnessing a revolution of the Italian citizenship regime? Postscript to the special issueWhile we were completing this special issue, in spring 2025, three possible changes to the Italian citizenship law developed that could lead to a deep transformation in the way Italian citizenship has been historically ruled and produce multiple effects on the citizenship/mobility nexus. We therefore felt the need to acknowledge them through adding this collective post-script, even if it is too early to provide a comprehensive in-depth analysis.
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Reimagining the World Wildlife Gallery, Kendal Museum: A Community Engagement and Reinterpretation ProjectFounded in 1796, Kendal Museum is a small public museum in the northwest of England. The museum’s collections reflect both the social history of the area and the connections between the district and the wider world. Particularly significant, in this respect, is the museum’s “World Wildlife Gallery,” a permanent display of hundreds of taxidermy animal and pinned insect specimens, arranged thematically by continent in “naturalised” dioramas. In 2023/2024 Kendal museum began a project to “reimagine” the World Wildlife Gallery, through engagement with regular museum visitors and the local community more broadly. Project and Community Officer, Ila Colley; local artist and community contributor Lavinia Haslam; academic and researcher Joe Rigby, and friend of the museum and contributor to a recent reinterpretation of the museum’s geological collection, Peter Lincoln, reflect on their experiences of the “Reimagining the World Wildlife Gallery” (RWWG) project.
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Perceived Changes in Sexual Interest and Distress About Discrepant Sexual Interest During the First Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Country Assessment in Cohabiting Partnered IndividualsDue to COVID-19 pandemic, different restrictive measures in terms of physical distancing and lockdowns have been introduced in most European countries, affecting all facets of social life. Currently, little is known about how partnered individuals perceive changes in their sexual life during this complex emergency. This study explored retrospectively assessed changes in sexual interest for one’s partner and levels of distress related to perceived sexual interest discrepancy during the first phase of the pandemic in a large-scale online sample of partnered individuals (n = 4813; Mage = 38.5 years, SD = 10.74) recruited between May and July 2020 in seven European Union countries and Turkey. We also examined the possible role of approach/avoidance motives for sex in reported changes in sexual interest and associated distress. Most participants (53%) reported no change in their sexual interest during the pandemic, followed by those who reported an increase (28.5%). The pattern was similar across the eight countries. Distress about discrepant sexual interest, which was only weakly related to changes in sexual interest, was significantly associated with relationship quality and emotional closeness with a partner, coping with and worrying about the pandemic, and specific motivation for sex. In contrast to avoidant and relationship-focused approach motivation, ego-focused approach motivation was related to stable sexual interest during the pandemic. The current study contributes to the understanding of the link between sexual interest and complex emergencies. Considering that the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the reported experiences and perceptions are prone to change.
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Assessing the role of the oil market in rising food prices: Strategic implications for food security in Gulf Cooperation Council countriesThis study examines the relationship between oil prices and food prices, with a focus on key agricultural commodities in the United States, including corn, soybeans, wheat flour, meat, and milk. Using a regime-switching cointegration approach, the research investigates both the long-term and short- term dynamics of oil’s impact on food prices. The findings indicate that oil prices exert an asymmetric influence on the food market. While oil prices play a relatively limited role in determining certain production costs, particularly for meat, compared to other economic factors, they nonetheless hold strong predictive power for food price forecasts. Notably, any short-term disequilibria in prices prompt a rapid adjustment back to equilibrium, contributing to market stability. The study suggests that Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which rely heavily on food imports, can leverage their energy resources to alleviate the inflationary pressures in food markets resulting from global demand increases. A key long-term strategy involves investing in energy-intensive agricultural technologies, such as desalination for water supply and controlled-environment agriculture (e.g., greenhouses), underscoring the need for strategic foresight and comprehensive planning in agricultural investments.
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Changes in Intimacy and Sexuality During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis of Data from a Survey on Partnered Individuals in Eight European CountriesThis qualitative study explores experiences of intimacy and sexuality during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic of 3357 participants from Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, and Turkey. Data were collected through open-ended questions within a survey on sexuality during the pandemic. Based on a reflexive thematic analysis three themes occurred. The first theme No change was described by 41% when summarizing their sex life during the pandemic. The second theme Positive change was experienced by 25%, and the third theme Negative change by 21%. An overarching theme then emerged as: “Still the same trajectories, but the pandemic could be a catalyst for improved or worsened sex- life.” For those intimate partnered individuals who already had problems with intimacy and sexuality before the COVID-19 pandemic it seemed to remain the same or deteriorated throughout the pandemic. For those with positive experiences of intimacy and sexuality before the COVID-19 pandemic it remained the same or improved throughout the pandemic. These findings are relevant for researchers and clinicians in developing preventive and supportive interventions in the context of crisis and social isolation.
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Disenfranchised griefThis is an teaching exercise to help students to understand the concept of “disenfranchised grief” originally coined by Doka in 1989. Learners will explore how grief which is incurred through loss can be unacknowledged and not recognised leading to disenfranchisement of self and others (Corr, 1999; Cesur-Soysal & Ari, 2022). The exercise hopes to promote person-centred values along with empathic and non-judgmental listening skills as well as develop learner’s self -awareness, helping them to see grief from their own and other people’s perspectives. Drawing on further work from Doka (1999 & 2017) social and cultural contexts of loss will be explored. We will then explore how we might enfranchise people’s grief by validating and acknowledging their experiences.
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Eligibility of athletes with a difference in sex development in elite sport: Opinions of national, elite and world class athletesThere have been limited studies allowing key stakeholders the opportunity to voice their opinions on DSD athlete participation in elite sport. The purpose of this study was to survey athletes eligible to compete in the female category regarding DSD athletes' inclusion. This study surveyed national, elite and world class athletes (n = 147) competing in the female category regarding their opinions on the eligibility of DSD athletes in elite sport. The study compared current and retired Olympic sport athletes, elite versus world class athletes and current Olympic sport versus current Olympic‐recognised sport athletes. Most athletes believed that it was an unethical requirement to medicate in order to comply with eligibility regulations (67.2%). Overall, athletes did not support a separate category for DSD athletes, an opinion most strongly held for precision sports (69.5%) and a majority believed their participation in the female category was fair (54.4%, precision sports). This opinion was more commonly held by Olympic‐recognised sport than current Olympic sport athletes, particularly for sports heavily reliant on physical capacity (61.1% vs. 20%). More current Olympic sport athletes believed that the eligibility of DSD athletes for the female category was unfair, compared to Olympic‐recognised sport athletes. Athletes agreed that sports federations could be doing more to make sport more inclusive for DSD athletes (82.2%), with only 8.2% believing such athletes were treated fairly. After reviewing these novel results, the athletes' voice (in combination with scientific evidence) should be utilised to create appropriate policies that align with the collective values of athletes.
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Promoting the development of China's open economicsSince China joined the World Trade Organization, China's foreign trade has developed rapidly, driving the rapid growth of the national economy, significantly improving people's income levels, with per capita income exceeding US$10,000, and eliminating absolute poverty. Two main factors have promoted the realization of the above goals. One is reform, the continuous improvement of the socialist market economic system with Chinese characteristics. The second is openness, especially joining the World Trade Organization, which has provided a broad and relatively free international market for the hardworking and courageous Chinese people. The mutual promotion of the two has consolidated the socialist market economic system with Chinese characteristics and strengthened the determination to continuously deepen reform and opening up. In the future, for quite some time, adhering to reform and opening up and improving the level of China's institutional opening up will be the inevitable choice for the sustainable development of China's economy.
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The long-term impact of climate change on growth: Evidence from Chinese provincesWe used more than sixty years of macroeconomic data at the province level in China in conjunction with the split/half-panel jackknife FE econometric approach to examine the impacts of climate change on China's economic growth from 1953 to 2015. Although the temperature rises less significantly than the global average and the US, we find that the temperature of 0.01° C above and below its historical norms reduces the growth of the GRP per capita by 0.2665 and 0.417 percentage points on average per year, which is much higher than the global average and the US. Surprisingly, the service sector is the most sensitive to temperature deviations compared to the agriculture and manufacturing industries. The adverse effects of temperature below the historical norms in China were adapted by reducing salary growth, increasing the number of employees and government expenditures, and improving trade openness to become less effective in more recent years. However, there is no significant evidence of adaptation application effectiveness across the provinces to the increasing temperature above its historical norms. Using four climate change estimation projects and predictions on temperatures rising, the accumulated temperature deviations above the historical average could cause 10.87 to 18.24 (28.99 to 54.74) annual GDP per capita growth percentage points under the Representative Concentration Pathways 1.9 (8.5). In other words, assuming the provincial yearly GDP per capita growth equals five percentage points on average, the total economic losses without applying any carbon neutrality policies will cause 6.82% to 12.88% of the economic losses by 2100, which is approximately 2.67-2.82 times higher than applying policies.
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The belt and road initiative and green productions: Evidence from Chinese overseas industrial parksIn this paper, we examine the positive effects of the establishment of Chinese Overseas Industrial Parks in Belt and Road member countries on green production. Using a rigorous difference-in-differences (DID) econometric approach, we measure Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP) growth in host countries before and after the establishment of the industrial parks, with GTFP calculated using the SBM-DDF-GML algorithm. Our estimations show that the establishment of industrial parks increases GTFP by approximately 20% on average across all member countries. Placebo tests and other robustness checks further support these results. We also find that the industrial parks yield greater benefits for host countries that had relatively low levels of Chinese FDI before 2007, as well as those with limited renewable energy technologies and poor infrastructure.
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External and residence-based Italian citizenship in the Brexit contextBrexit, which caused Britons to lose EU citizenship and EU citizens in the UK to lose EU legislation protection, represents a challenge for the citizenships of EU member states. In this context, I explore the experiences with respect to Italian citizenship of Italians in the UK, Britons in Italy, and Britons in the UK and elsewhere with claims to Italian citizenship. I show how Italian citizenship legislation, despite recent restrictions, still offers good protection to Italians abroad and relatives of Italian citizens. While naturalisation by residence in Italy is characterised by exclusionary requirements, I show how the British population in Italy also includes long-term residents who have not sought naturalisation despite meeting the requirements well before Brexit. Beyond the letter of the law, procedures of naturalisation and the functioning of the linked institutions – especially consulates – are key in the experience of citizenship. For some interviewees, it was less complex to meet the requirements in the letter of the law than to prove it through the procedures. More generally, the analysis shows the complexity of citizenship in its internal and external dimensions, in the stratification of the experiences for different profiles of citizens and applicants, and in the interaction between the letter of the law and its implementation.
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Violence against Muslims: Conquered, not fully colonized, in the Making of the Muslim “Other” in the Central African RepublicMuslims in the Central African Republic have experienced extreme violence for more than a decade. Through ethnographic fieldwork and archival research, this article shows how the foundations for contemporary violence were created through colonial and postcolonial state-making. The civilizing mission of republican colonialism set Muslims apart. Lifestyle and mobility were never fully colonized; escape depicted difference. Nationalist liberation mythologies render Muslim citizenship as foreign, precarious, and subject to ongoing contestation. Pentecostalism, a lateral liberation philosophy presented as patriotism, provides power to anti-Muslim discourse. Violence against Muslims is situated in an accumulated “pastness” of state-making and struggle in Central African historiography.
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Conclusion: Knowledge and skills partnershipsResearch in youth justice is vast and varied, meaning that those seeking to identify ‘good practice’ or ‘evidence’ must navigate multiple studies, large and small, from every jurisdiction and academic discipline. The scholarship has been produced using diverse methodologies and approaches, and although there is an increasing focus on policy impact and practitioner perspectives, its breadth and depth can make this vast literature difficult to access by those interested in an evidence-based approach.
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Introduction: Knowledge/evidence production and utilizationThere are different types of knowledge relevant and applicable to the youth justice context that can be developed or acquired through engagement in academic study/scholarship and mastered through professional practice. Evidence-based practice, defined in different ways, is informed and guided by empirical research, theoretical insights, young people’s narratives and professional knowledge/expertise (Baker et al., 2011). The focus of this edited collection is on forms of knowledge exchange (transfer) between professionals and academics in the youth justice context. The phrase ‘Knowledge and Skills Partnerships’ is invoked, and covers a spectrum of meanings, employed as an umbrella term that encompasses the exchange and transfer of knowledge between stakeholders and translation of theory/evidence into practice. This emphasis on the construction and dissemination of knowledge in youth justice was the theme of an event on Wednesday 8 June 2022. Dr Jayne Price, Dr Sean Creaney and Gareth Jones chaired a one-day online conference 1 about ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships’ between youth justice practice and academia. The event was hosted by Cheshire Youth Justice Services, Edge Hill University and the University of Chester, and focused on knowledge/evidence production and utilisation in youth justice practice. The catalyst for the event was HM Inspectorate of Probation’s (2021:6) report on Cheshire Youth Justice Services: We were impressed with the [Youth Justice Service] YJS’s use of evidence and academic research to inform and develop practice and services. This is some of the strongest we have seen. The inspectorate alluded to the benefits of a well-established knowledge and skills partnership and how evidence is used to inform practice. It was heartening to see such value placed on research-informed and evidence-based practice, highlighted in the final inspection report that was then published online (HM Inspectorate of Probation, 2021). It is important to emphasise the opportunity which this conference and book presents of drawing together other expertise in this area. This includes creating a space to disseminate achievements (including proactive knowledge exchange strategies), engage academic/practice experts and heighten the importance of knowledge and skills partnerships by creating a space for professionals to reflect upon their own beliefs and values, including principles that underpin meaningful knowledge exchange activity. Understanding the environments within which practitioners operate is of paramount importance, (re)attaching value to ‘knowledge from practice, or practice wisdom’ (Gibson, Vaswani and Dyer, 2024), when seeking to nurture the development of evidence-based policy and practice within organisations.
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Conducting a co‐operative inquiry in the field of counselling: Critical reflections and learnings from a ‘first‐time’ inquirerINTRODUCTION: Co-operative inquiry, a form of participatory action research, has been utilised as a method within the counselling field for some time, and whilst reflections have been shared about the use of this outside of the field, little commentary has been offered from within it. This paper outlines critical reflections and learnings from conducting a co-operative inquiry as a ‘first time inquirer’ to provide insight for other ‘first timers’, and those conducting this method within the counselling field. METHOD: Nine co-researchers met on 11 occasions from March to October 2022, exploring various aspects in relation to the research topic. Thoughts and experiences were communicated in a variety of ways, through poetry, storytelling, and journaling. The researcher kept a reflexive journal throughout the co-operative inquiry process, noting the importance of this process to participatory research. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION: The reflections highlighted are based around key areas of the inquiry, such as how the group set off, the nature of meetings, and how the data analysis process was managed. Various points of discussion are highlighted such as the use of a working agreement, power dynamics, and the impact of the day job. In addition, this paper outlines a pragmatic approach to co-operative inquiry suitable for doctoral level research
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How can we make HE more accessible for those with criminal convictions?Students with criminal convictions are often left out of higher education widening participation efforts. This resource challenges the narrative and offers strategies to support them
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Ungendered flesh: Racial grammars in Western engagements with sexual violence in the DRCThis article centres Hortense Spillers’ vocabulary of ‘flesh’, ‘ungendering’ and ‘pornotroping’ in order to analyse the racial grammars and continuing coloniality that informs western engagements with sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Contextualising international interventions within a longer colonial history of gendered, sexualised and racialised violence, this article traces the modern industry that has developed around survivors of sexual violence, voyeuristic representations of violated bodies and strategies to elicit western audiences’ empathy through restaging scenes of violence as occurring to white bodies. It argues that such interventions risk reinforcing aspects of the colonial ungendering of black women through reproducing them as objects in global political economies and visual regimes of violence and through rendering their suffering as visible and intelligible only in relation to white liberal humanism. In doing so, it makes the case for further engagement with Spillers’ work in critical and feminist International Relations.
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Suicide risk isn't binaryCounsellors and psychotherapists who work in private practice have much to offer clients who present at risk of suicide. They are not defined by organisational policies and process they might have had little input into and can, therefore, shape their practice within broader ethical and legal parameters. Such work does not come without additional professional considerations however, and this article aims to outline key aspects for good practice in a private practice context with clients at risk.
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Measuring the Social Impact of Mental Health Interventions for Low-Income FamiliesCharitable sector services play an important role in providing mental health support to those who struggle to access professional help from the public or private sector. Platform for Life is a charity that offers free of charge counselling services to low-income families struggling with poor mental health. The demand for the charity’s service continues to grow but securing funding to meet this demand is challenging. Funders want tangible evidence to prove their money is making a substantial impact in the community. This research project aims to evidence the social impact of the services provided by Platform for Life.
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Navigating the Research Process as Newbies: Personal ReflectionsAs part of the Division’s Research Seminar Series, Dr Emma Price and Dr Wayne Campbell are presenting on their personal reflections for navigating the research process as early career researchers. The presentation will reflect on their personal anxieties for beginning their research career, the pressures to publish in academia and the emotional impact of navigating the processes and systems involved in research and publishing.
