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Category: Society and politics

Signs Brexit

How will history view the UK’s Brexit process?

As negotiations continue over Brexit and politicians hold various votes on leaving and delaying one might well wonder how historians will look back at this unprecedented time in UK/EU relations. Last week Theresa May’s deal was rejected for a second time and then MPs voted to rule out leaving the EU without a deal and […]

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£1million to research care of child migrants

£1million to research care of child migrants

A researcher who travelled to ‘the Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais to see how unaccompanied child migrants lived has secured £1million of funding from the Economic and Social Research Council to study the care of lone child refugees. The new research project, which is co-led by The Open University and University College London, will investigate […]

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Why Glasgow’s ‘Bolshevist Uprising’ in 1919 wasn’t quite the red threat to UK many believed

Why Glasgow’s ‘Bolshevist Uprising’ in 1919 wasn’t quite the red threat to UK many believed

January 31 is the centenary of Bloody Friday 1919, in which thousands of protesting workers were attacked in Glasgow’s main civic square by police, causing multiple injuries. Coming barely a year after the Russian Revolution and with insurgency in the air across much of Europe, then Scottish Secretary Robert Munro claimed that Glasgow was in […]

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Eurozone is recovery resistant but it could also be recession-proof

Eurozone is recovery resistant but it could also be recession-proof

For years, the eurozone has grown more slowly than the US and its growth has been unbalanced. Germany has enjoyed strong external trade and GDP growth while Italy and France stagnate, and some smaller members submerge. This has led many to condemn the eurozone’s design as fundamentally flawed and predict that it could lose peripheral […]

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Brexit

Why it’s time to rip up the political playbook and imagine a truly new global order

Dr Peter Bloom, Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies and Head of the Department of People and Organisation at The Open University discusses how Brexit and US government headaches are revealing a transforming world … The new year has not ushered in a fresh political start. The problems and divisions of 2018 have carried over to 2019. […]

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Fast-food chains use cute animal toys to market meat to children – new vegan ranges pose a dilemma

Fast-food chains use cute animal toys to market meat to children – new vegan ranges pose a dilemma

Being vegan appears to be all the rage in Britain. The news that McDonald’s has launched a new plant-based “Happy Meal” for children based on a vegan “wrap” would seem to bear this idea out. McDonald’s new offering is the latest in a wave of vegetarian or vegan product launches, including Gregg’s vegan sausage rolls, […]

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Can we trust the government with Brexit?

Can we trust the government with Brexit?

Dr Volker Patent, Lecturer in Psychology at The Open University, who researches organisational trust believes that the UK government is asking for blind faith, rather than trust in its Brexit plan. As Parliament returns after the Christmas break for what looks to be an eventful year in the lead up to Britain’s exit from Europe […]

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Woman holding sign saying No Human Being is Illegal

What makes someone an ‘illegal immigrant’?

Tendayi Bloom, Lecturer in Politics and International Studies, The Open University, explores what makes someone an ‘illegal immigrant’? After months of negotiations and some controversy, a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was agreed by 164 countries in early December. In the final text of this agreement and in the process that led up […]

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Printing money

Curious Kids: why don’t poorer countries just print more money?

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages, where The Conversation asks experts to answer questions from kids. All questions are welcome: find out how to enter at the bottom of this article.  In this piece, Economist Alan Shipman explains why poorer countries don’t just print more money. Why don’t poorer countries just […]

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Can culture help resolve conflict?

Can culture help resolve conflict?

A new research report by The Open University with the Hertie School of Governance (Berlin) says that under certain conditions, cultural activities contribute to reducing conflict and strengthening civil society. Examining international cultural projects in Egypt and Ukraine, Professor Marie Gillespie and her research team had full access to the workings of the British Council […]

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