The transformation of higher education provision by neoliberal values has been well documented. However, recent criticisms and even attacks upon higher education indicate a new politics extending beyond neoliberalism. This article draws on the sociology of conventions to unpick the distinctions at work in these new criticisms of universities. By…

This paper details the oscillation between the aesthetic and political response to the refugee crisis as seen through the eyes of the UK's emergency response committee COBRA (Cabinet Office Briefing Room A) and its alternative COBRA RES. Firstly, it examines the interjection of the official COBRA Committee within the image-economy of crisis,…

This article discusses Anders Lustgarten's play, "Lampedusa." The play is ostensibly about refugees and the Mediterranean crossing, as well as addressing EU migration, debt, and austerity. The article develops the idea of the debtor in neo-liberal economics suggesting that the refugee is required to become a debtor on settlement. While…

The UK Government's PREVENT strategy to counter radicalisation and extremism has been the subject of criticism. Concerns arise over clarity of purpose, clarity of terminology used and potential human rights impacts. Where the policy engages with schools, one human right potentially engaged is the right of parents to transfer their religious…

This article is a response to Muslim students reporting that they had been silenced by fear of the PREVENT Counter-Terrorism Strategy. By adopting a Critical Realist stance, real generative mechanisms of this actual phenomenon are investigated and theorised. Recognition of changing definitions of both 'radicalisation' and 'extremism' in different…

Background: The realisation of the strategic importance of high quality coaching to the achievement of national sport policy objectives is resulting in extensive movements to professionalise the coaching industry. Interest in coach education is therefore growing among academics and policy-makers alike. A recent review of literature in this field,…

The discourse of disengagement has achieved ascendancy just as young people's employment prospects have declined--in many countries to crisis levels. Conceptualising and interpreting young people's non-participation in dominant modes of education, training and employment has been a preoccupation of academics, policymakers and journalists. This…

This article explores policy development for under-fives and its implementation in nursery schools in the first two decades of the twentieth century and draws parallels with current policy initiatives such as Sure Start and the "Troubled Families" programme. It interrogates how discourse on British racial health shaped policy and…

The policy of re-adoption for UK-citizen parents of intercountry adopted children is designed to protect children and safeguard their best interests, but in fact may breach a variety of rights and international Conventions, and when applied to specific cases can lead to more harm than good. In this review, I want to argue that the policy of…

This article provides a detailed reconstruction of the processes leading to the formation of the widely influential Birmingham "Agreed Syllabus of Religious Instruction" (1975). This is contextualised within one of the most significant periods in the history of race relations in the United Kingdom. The authors discuss how this syllabus,…

This paper explores some of the unresolved tensions in higher education systems and the contradiction between widening participation and the consolidation of social position. It shows how concepts of capital derived from Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam provide a powerful basis for critique, but risk a deficit view of students from less privileged…

The UK higher education community is well served for news and policy discourse by the weekly "Times Higher Education" ("THE"). "THE" also provides a window into the conduct of this community. Concern about the contribution of research to the wider society beyond academe has risen along with its scale and cost. Views…

In the past 150 years, educational systems have expanded and become integrally linked with economic, political, and social status in modern nation-states. As the stakes for education have risen, so has the call for more and improved use of scientific evidence as a basis for educational policymaking. Evidence from averaged scores on international…

This article provides a critical evaluation of recent developments in government policy for disabled people in Britain. A brief outline of the re-definition of disability as social oppression by disabled activists and their organizations is provided. This is followed by a brief outline of its impact on recent government policy which aims to…

Partnership is a concept that is increasingly being used in the UK political arena. This article seeks to contribute to the existing understanding of the theory and practice of educational partnerships. It argues that although partnerships are usually defined as necessary, pragmatic and benevolent ways of organizing social welfare, in practice…