Policy Press

General non-fiction

We publish serious non-fiction social commentary and debate for a wide audience. These high quality books are written by academics, professionals and other experts in an accessible way bringing key issues of social, political and cultural significance to a wide readership. These books have an impact: advancing knowledge, raising awareness and encouraging social change.

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Showing 1-12 of 124 items.

Women, Peace and Welfare

A Suppressed History of Social Reform, 1880-1920

Between 1880 and 1920 many women researched the conditions of social and economic life in Western countries, driven by a vision of a society based on welfare and altruism. Ann Oakley uses the women’s stories to bring together the histories of social reform, social science, welfare and pacifism.

Policy Press

Woke Capitalism

How Corporate Morality is Sabotaging Democracy

This book delves into the corporate takeover of public morality, or ‘woke capitalism’. Discussing the political causes that it has adopted, and the social causes that it has not, it argues that this extension of capitalism has negative implications for democracy’s future.

Bristol Uni Press

Why We Can't Afford the Rich

Why we can’t afford the rich exposes the unjust and dysfunctional mechanisms that allow the top 1% to siphon off wealth produced by others. With an updated Afterword, Andrew Sayer shows how the rich worldwide have increased their ability to hide their wealth, create indebtedness and expand their political influence.

Policy Press

Why We Can't Afford the Rich

Why we can’t afford the rich exposes the unjust and dysfunctional mechanisms that allow the top 1% to siphon off wealth produced by others. With an updated Afterword, Andrew Sayer shows how the rich worldwide have increased their ability to hide their wealth, create indebtedness and expand their political influence.

Policy Press

White Privilege

The Myth of a Post-Racial Society

Why and how do those from black and minority ethnic communities continue to be marginalised? Bhopal explores how neoliberal policy-making has increased discrimination faced by those from non-white backgrounds. This important book examines the impact of race on wider issues of inequality and difference in society.

Policy Press

When This Is Over

Reflections on an Unequal Pandemic

Academics, activists and artists remember and reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic in an inclusive commemorative overview which honours the experience of a global disaster lived up close and suggests the steps needed to ensure we do better next time.

Policy Press

What’s Wrong with Work?

What’s wrong with work shows that how workers are treated has wide implications beyond the lives of workers themselves.

Recognising gender, race, class and global differences, the book considers the ways formal work is often dependent on informal work and concludes by considering what might make work better.

Policy Press

What Kind of Democracy Is This?

Politics in a Changing World

Has there ever been a period in modern history when democratic politics seemed more unpredictable or unruly? Matthew Flinders ranges expertly across architecture, art, fell running and fairy tales in an attempt to understand the emerging democratic landscape. This refreshing and stimulating book seeks to provoke and inform in equal measure.

Policy Press

What Is War For?

This book examines how changes to social rules reshape how states explain their military actions, and changes to technology and society transform contemporary warfare. Analysing the role that war serves in global politics, it outlines the ways in which war affects the contemporary world, from international relations to our day-to-day lives.

Bristol Uni Press

What Is Veganism For?

Catherine Oliver shows why the veganism movement has become a powerful social, political and environmental force. She discusses the health and environmental benefits of veganism, explores the practical and social impacts of the shift to eating plants, and explains why veganism is not just a diet, but a way of life.

Bristol Uni Press

What Is Philanthropy For?

Philanthropy, the use of private assets for public good, has been much criticized in recent years. Rhodri Davies, drawing on his deep knowledge of the past and present landscape of philanthropy, examines pressing questions that philanthropy must tackle if it is to be equal to the challenges of the 21st century.

Bristol Uni Press

What Is History For?

Gildea suggests that the more people who really understand what good history entails, the more likely history is to triumph over myth. He sees positive signs in public history, citizen historians and community projects, debunking claims that ‘you cannot rewrite history’, arguing that good history that’s attuned to its times must be rewritten.

Bristol Uni Press