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Category: Society and politics

An OU/BBC Radio series examines how the UK’s major issues could be rethought

An OU/BBC Radio series examines how the UK’s major issues could be rethought

A new Open University/BBC radio series called Rethink examines the emerging issues in society, economics, technology and politics in relation to the UK’s standing in the world. Simon Usherwood, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the OU, is a consultant to the programme makers who show how we might approach those issues differently. The […]

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Times journalists deemed ‘legitimate military targets’ – how Russia muzzles criticism at home and abroad

Times journalists deemed ‘legitimate military targets’ – how Russia muzzles criticism at home and abroad

The Open University’s Senior lecturer in Politics and International Studies Precious Chatterje-Doody, who specialises in Russian information and disinformation, gives her take on the latest words of Russia’s former president and current deputy head of its security council, Dmitry Medvedev. It was Medvedev who declared recently that the editors of the Times newspaper in the […]

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Young woman wearing shorts and a summer top, standing in front of a waterfall.

‘With the OU, it’s possible to say yes to everything’

Megan, 26, from California, decided to take a different route into higher education to her peers, which enabled her to travel the world and work as a teacher, all whilst studying. Having just graduated from her BA (Honours) in International Studies, Megan is ready to embrace a new career in social justice. “At 18, I […]

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Women at work (Photo: Social Cut, Unsplash)

Early pregnancy endings are an overlooked workplace issue – here’s how that could change

Jo Brewis, Professor of People and Organisations, The Open University; Ilaria Boncori, University of Essex, and Julie Davies, UCL In the UK, early pregnancy endings are defined as pregnancies that end before 24 weeks’ gestation. These include miscarriages, abortions (sometimes called terminations), ectopic pregnancies where an embryo implants outside of the womb, and molar pregnancies […]

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Dr Keely Duddin and Dr Kendall Wright

The OU celebrates 10 years of policing research

Topical issues for police forces up and down the country lie at the heart of The Open University’s Centre of Policing Research and Learning (CPRL), which has just marked its 10th anniversary. Researching innovations in face recognition and improvements to help interviewing of child witnesses – through novel gaming techniques – are just two of […]

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Art for a better world

Art for a better world

A collaboration between The Open University, Kings College London and a Philippine cartoon collective called Pitik Bulag recently resulted in an art exhibition in London’s Vauxhall showing the power of art and how it might influence society and politics. It was staged at The Foundry Social Justice and Human Rights Centre in Oval way and […]

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The UK government wants to shake up pensions – but it can’t guarantee that ‘megafunds’ will want to invest in Britain

The UK government wants to shake up pensions – but it can’t guarantee that ‘megafunds’ will want to invest in Britain

The UK chancellor Rachel Reeves talks a lot about achieving better growth. And the latest figure – economic expansion in the last quarter of just 0.1% – suggests plenty of room for improvement, says Jonquil Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Personal Finance at The Open University. The evening before that gloomy figure was announced, Reeves revealed […]

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How the gender pay gap evolves into a gender pension gap

How the gender pay gap evolves into a gender pension gap

Dr Rajiv Prabhakar is a Senior Lecturer in Personal Finance at The Open University and here he talks about not just the gender pay gap but the gender pensions gap too. Following his research on the subject, undertaken in the House of Commons Library, he noticed how the two were directly related. European Equal Pay […]

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A more varied diet would help the world’s economy as well as its health

A more varied diet would help the world’s economy as well as its health

More than 75% of the food consumed in the world today comes from just 12 plant and five animal species, says Professor of Environment and Development at The Open University Shonil Bhagwat, and Emmanuel Junior Zuza from the Royal Agricultural University. The over-dependence on this small selection, which includes rice, maize and wheat, damages the […]

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Reeves’ predicted fiscal caution is actually the start of a more radical strategy

Reeves’ predicted fiscal caution is actually the start of a more radical strategy

Alan Shipman is an Open University Senior Lecturer in Economics, with a macroeconomic accounting focus. Here he points out how challenging it will be for the Chancellor to produce a Budget that will please two different camps in her own party… but it’s all part of a bigger plan. Rachel Reeves is seeking to re-embed […]

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