Social and political theory

We explore theoretical approaches to social movements and the empirical manifestations of protest groups and movements in a variety of socio-political and spatial contexts.

Recent years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the visibility of social movements across the world from Occupy and Arab Spring to anti-austerity measures. Increasingly, social movements are regarded as legitimate actors, which operate outside conventional political channels. Social movements are thus a vital component of functioning democratic societies providing the opportunity to challenge dominant practices and effect positive social change. We investigate how social movements allow groups to participate in public life and the impact of mobilisation processes on identity, recognition, justice and equality.

We see the current increase in protest movements across the world as distinct from previous protest movements such as the new social movements from the 1960s. We advocate a stronger conceptual language in order to capture diverse social movements around the world and push our understanding of protest movements in terms of representation, participation, and identity as well as symbolism, emotions and aesthetics.

We pursue an inter-disciplinary approach to social movement research drawing on insights from political science, sociology, policy and psychology. We believe our research should have the potential to impact policy-making and community activism, which we see as complementary to intellectual research excellence.

We consider social policy and evaluate the contribution that social movements make to human development in a Latin American context. Specifically, we focus on civil society, solidarity networks and their roles in addressing issues of poverty and social exclusion.

Dr Kepa Artaraz leads on this research area. He has studied the 1960s New Left in terms of its ideological association with the revolution in Cuba and carried out research into social movements in Brazil. More recently, he has explored Bolivian indigenous social movements and their achievements in terms of political recognition, participation, and their ability to gain legitimacy for indigenous forms of knowledge. In 2008/9, Kepa lived in Bolivia for a year and worked with the Bolivian Platform on Climate Change, a coalition of civil society organisations that includes indigenous social movements and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

His book Bolivia: Refounding the Nation, explores the political and policy challenges being currently faced by Bolivia and develops themes on social exclusion, recognition, indigenous understandings of wellbeing, political participation and solidarity networks, contributing both critical commentary and analysis to the debate.

Dr James Ormrod’s research concerns social movements and the relationships human beings have with their environment and the universe in general. His own research has looked at activists campaigning to promote the human exploration, development and settlement of outer space. His ethnographic research has drawn extensively on psychoanalytic theory. In collaboration with Professor Peter Dickens, he has developed a broader account of the relationship that human beings have with the universe, both historically and in contemporary society. This draws on and extends themes from environmental sociology and the sociology of science, and also retains a focus on the self and on social movements.

The Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) at the University of Brighton is concerned with the ways in which a university can support its locality through the development of mutually beneficial partnerships. We work with academics, students and support staff in projects designed to share the human and material resources of a university with those in our locality, prioritising work that addresses disadvantage, discrimination and social justice.

We also provide support to other universities wishing to develop similar structures within their own localities in different parts of the world.

Dr Juliet Millican leads on this research. She has recently completed a book, ‘Learning to Make a Difference, Student Community Engagement and the Higher Education Curriculum’, to be published by National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) in September 2015. Her current research looks at the role of universities in conflict and post-conflict societies and she is working with universities in Pakistan, Kashmir, Northern Ireland, Palestine and Rwanda. It is partly funded via a National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) award secured in 2013.

We consider the relationship between human thought and social context, the broad fundamental questions about the extent and limits of social influences on individual’s lives and the impact of prevailing ideas on societies.

Dr Mark Erickson focuses on work, organisations and employment. His recent book (Globalisation and Work (2014) Polity: Cambridge) with Steve Williams, Harriet Bradley and Ranji Devadason, draws on sociological insights and stems from extensive, up-to-date research studies of work and employment. The book explores key topics, including: consumption, work and identity in a globalising world; work and employment in multinationals; international labour standards; trade unions, labour movements and labour conflict under globalisation; gender and inequality; migrant labour; transnational mobility; and the organisation of work in global factories.

In addition, Erickson has carried out studies in knowledge production environments. Recently, this interest has taken the form of a long-term ethnography of a molecular biology laboratory featured as a case study in his forthcoming book, Science, Culture and Society (2015) 2^nd edition. Polity: Cambridge.

Our study of critical realism and ethics draws upon Bhaskarian Critical Realism and John Macmurray’s writings on freedom, morality and the ‘form of the personal’ as we consider a philosophy for health promotion. This investigation not only has implications for critical thinking and theory but also cross-cuts social policy, sociology, politics and psychology and has relevance to our research into care, health and wellbeing.

Paul Fox-Strangways is conducting research into this area with his PhD thesis aimed at defending a foundation for health promotion that respects the freedom of the human agent; and therefore seeks to avoid the imposition of arbitrary, external values and to include the individual’s subjectivity and experience of freedom at the point of action. He is exploring a theory of health, wellbeing, and health promotion, which is informed by a moral philosophy centred on the principle of freedom and a philosophy for critical science.