• Relax… World War Three is NOT Imminent – at least not yet

    What with COVID, the death of the Duke of Edinburgh and a football furore, you could be forgiven for not noticing the recent build-up of 80,000 Russian troops on the Russian-Ukraine border. Unsurprisingly, this has raised alarm within the international community, as an armed conflict between these two nations would have serious and inevitable implications.…

  • What COVID-19 has taught us about human communication

    We all know what Zoom calls are like. They’re just not the same. Pundits talk about ‘zoom fatigue’ – this weariness that results from this unnatural form of communication. ‘But what’s so unnatural about it?’ supporters say. You can hear the words (usually), you can see facial expression (when not frozen), indeed you can stare…

  • Can you hear me now?

    Perhaps second only to “you’re on mute”, the phrase “can you hear me now?” has become key to COVID-19 pandemic communications. Whether this phrase follows unmuting or is used as the go-to check-in question following the all too many incidents of unstable WIFI connections, the reality is that we all want to be heard. When…

  • You Still Need Society! Authoritarianism and COVID-19

    The COVID-19 pandemic has provided us with insights into different political regimes’ responses to what is now a prolonged, unpredictable, and difficult to manage crisis. Parts of Eastern Europe had initially been considered as the models for how to respond to the pandemic. Nearly a year on, with cases surging and the state struggling to…

  • A Year of Covid TV

    In a year when we spent more time at home than ever before, television provided a crucial window on the world. Ofcom estimated in August 2020 that during lockdown people were spending an average of 40% of their waking hours in front of a screen. TV watching was up by approximately a third. While this…

  • Covid-19 and Sport: Some Positive Outcomes for Athletes and Athlete Welfare

    As outdoor sports facilities open and organised sports clubs begin to welcome back members, it’s uplifting to note that there have been numerous positive developments in safeguarding children and young people in this sector recently. These include: In its latest 10-year plan, Sport England, the body responsible for grassroots sport, have named safeguarding as one…

  • Third sector organisations: An oasis for asylum seekers and refugees in the wake of Covid-19?

    Negative discourses around migration have created a hostile environment for asylum seekers and refugees. Having often had horrific and unimaginable experiences in their home country – and endured dangerous passage to claim asylum, refugees need places to feel accepted, recognised, to heal, reconcile in their host communities and to share their experiences of daily life…

  • Silver Linings: Autism, Covid and Digital Engagement during the Pandemic

    While the pandemic has been detrimental for many, COVID-19 has also presented us with opportunities. One such opportunity has been to re-examine the impact that increased digital engagement has had on increasing participation in the autistic community. Autistic people are advantaged by being able to engage digitally with friends, colleagues, classmates and educators. Among other…

  • After a Year, is it Time to Log Off?

    In this morning’s tutorial with a postgraduate our conversation meandered here and there, touching on writing, juggling deadlines and inter-weaving theoretical ideas with the blessed Harvard referencing. It reminded me of the best things about being a university tutor – I was actually helping! Except, I was sitting in my house with my laptop perched…

  • Then and Now: Crime, Speeding Cars, and How to Stop Them

    Motor cars have been used for crime since their earliest pre-First World War development. However, with the rapid rise in car ownership it was the interwar period that saw public and political concern rise significantly. Fears about criminal use of motor cars became focused on the idea of the ‘motor bandit’, an emotive and flexible…

  • A Year ‘at a distance’: Is there hope ‘when this is all over’?

    A year ago we started to experience changes to even the most menial of tasks, including the weekly shop. Stripes of yellow and black tape appeared on supermarket floors guiding us around (sometimes unfathomable) one way systems, and indicating where we should stand in a ‘socially distanced’ queue. Plastic screens that used to adorn checkouts…

  • Winners and Losers: A Year of Tourism During Covid-19

    So now we know.  Figures published by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation show that the impact of COVID-19 on tourism has been devastating. International arrivals to the UK fell by 74% in 2020; levels not seen since the early 1990s. 1 billion international arrivals have been ‘lost’, along with export revenues of $1.3 trillion.…

  • Rebuilding after COVID-19: Is Now the Time for a Universal Basic Income?

    Has the time finally come for a universal basic income (UBI)?  Many believe so, especially in light of the economic fall-out from the covid-19 pandemic. Experiments of basic income are running in many advanced welfare states. What for centuries has been an outpost of radical, even obscure, philosophical and economic debates could soon become a…

  • Who needs a wall? US-Mexico Immigration during a Pandemic

    `Never say never’ … the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico has fallen. Well, not literary, but since the inauguration of Joe Biden, they have stopped building it. Yet this is largely symbolic, as due to pandemic, the U.S.-Mexico border continues to be closed. In fact, since March 2020 the US-Mexico border has been…

  • A Year of Youth Work in Lockdown: What have we been doing if not innovating?

    A year ago I was planning a workshop hosted by Youth Focus NW. Speakers were coming from across the country and there were lots of discussions over whether the event should be cancelled or go ahead. Taking the lead from the Cheltenham Festival, we went ahead with our chairs spaced a metre apart. That was…

  • COVID-19, (im)mobility and Health Inequalities

    COVID-19 has had a huge impact on human mobility and migration. Governments across the world took extraordinary measures to curtail international travel and movement of peoples whilst simultaneously calling all their citizens to return home. Domestic systems of disease management followed including enforced quarantine and closed borders. The pandemic was initially thought as an equalizer;…

  • The Continued Impact of Coronavirus on LGBTQ+ People

    Research and contemporary reports on the impact of COVID-19 indicate how those from marginalised and disadvantaged backgrounds have been most impacted by the virus. This has been particularly the case for disabled people and ethnic minorities. February 2021 was LGBT History Month, a time to focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who shaped…

  • A Year On in Lockdown Ministry

    A year of ministry in lockdown brings with it a conflicting mixture of befuddlement, anger and hope. The anger comes from standing alongside many families in their bereavement with so few people allowed in our buildings; thirty in Church, and ten or twenty at Crematoria. No hymn singing allowed even in a brief respite near…

  • Digital Inclusion and a ‘Good Society’ in the wake of COVID-19

    12 months ago I reimagined a good society in the wake of Covid-19. The vision was one of mutual aid, community strength and public policy, led by strong, independent and diverse voices. One year on, this vision has in some sense been enacted; yet the pandemic has revealed more obstacles on the road to a…

  • Pandemic or Infodemic? 2020, the Year of ‘Fake News’?

    The information paradox dictates that as news sources multiply and information becomes overabundant, the more likely it is for exaggerated, implausible and untruthful stories to gain traction. The pandemic aside, it is the ‘infodemic’ we should now be fighting? Over the last 12 months, conspiracy theories have not only become a main mode of communication…