Written by Olga Fuseini, University of Sheffield and Dr Lois Orton, University of Sheffield April 8 was declared International Roma Day at the first World Romani Congress, organised by the Comité International Rom (CIR) in London in 1971. The 1971 congress was the first Roma attempt at international cooperation, establishing the Roma flag and anthem.… Continue reading On International Roma Day we ask: who are Roma and why do they have a special day?
Written by Victoria Knowles, University of Sheffield Originally used by NFL-player Colin Kaepernick in 2016, the ‘take a knee’ gesture was born in protest of the police brutality faced by African-Americans and gained further prominence during the resurgent Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. The England men’s national team first used the gesture in September… Continue reading ‘Taking a knee’ in English football: the silent roar of the three lions
Written by Dr Laura Connelly, University of Sheffield and Dr Remi Joseph-Salisbury, University of Manchester Anti-Racist Scholar-Activism Cover Image Anti-Racist Scholar-Activism – published by Manchester University Press in late 2021 – was initially borne out of our frustrations as PhD students with an academia that we saw as being disconnected from the urgent issues of… Continue reading Anti-Racist Scholar-Activism: Pockets of possibility?
This post was written by Duncan Exley in December 2019 Justine Greening is indisputably a social mobility success story. But when she – the daughter of a Rotherham steelworker who went on to become Education Secretary – first mentioned “social mobility” to her parents, her mum asked whether she was talking about “scooters for people… Continue reading The End of Aspiration? Social Mobility and Our Children’s Fading Prospects
Written by Danica Darley, PhD student in the Department of Sociological Studies As a fledgling criminologist and social researcher, I spend too much time thinking about the type of research I want to do. Thanks to people like Professor Dick Hobbs, I’ve been able to see how I could use my own experiences to shape… Continue reading A criminologist’s reflections on Ethics and Integrity in Autoethnographic Research
By Maria Teresa Ferazzoli and Julie Walsh In the early days of the pandemic, many countries closed their borders to stop the spread of COVID-19. International travel has continued to be restricted, but with changing caveats, including ‘essential’ travel only, restrictions on travellers from particular countries, and the introduction of vaccination ‘passports’. Most recently, borders… Continue reading Migrant families, Covid-19 travel restrictions, and everyday bordering
By Sally Hines According to the UK’s media, academia is currently plagued by ‘silencing’, ‘no-platforming’, and ‘cancel culture’ amidst the Nation’s ‘gender wars’. Over the last year, barely a week has gone by without a broadsheet newspaper article, radio discussion programme, or TV report suggesting that UK Higher Education (HE) has reached crisis point in… Continue reading Beyond Gender Wars and Institutional Panics: Recognising Gender Diversity in UK Higher Education
By Maria Teresa Ferazzoli Campaigns like Let's talk have worked to reduce the stigma around mental health issues and helped to raise awareness about the importance of asking for help. However, there is still limited attention given to the experiences of people affected by severe and chronic mental illness. Present western mental health care systems… Continue reading Is it still relevant to talk about deinstitutionalisation on World Mental Health Day?
By Lauren O'Hagan In contemporary society, the idealisation of thinness and the denigration of fatness have become dominant cultural ideals and are now the reference model to which men and women aspire when caring for their bodies. This “cult of thinness” is intensified by social media, which promotes a homogenised body standard that is unattainable… Continue reading Sargol: The ‘Get Fat Quick’ Scam
Sociological Studies Research 