Social and Political Sciences, School of
Established in 2001, the School brings together core social scientific disciplines to promote the critical understanding of social and political processes and the development of effective policy and practice through a wide range of teaching and research programmes. The School was formed from the departments (now subject groups) of Politics, Social Anthropology, Social Policy and Sociology; the Graduate School of Social and Political Studies; the Centres of African, Canadian and South Asian Studies; the Science Studies Unit, the Research Centre in Social Sciences and the Institute of Governance. It has recently been joined by Social Work, and now forms part of the College of Humanities and Social Science.
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Recent Submissions
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Selective citation and the shaping of scientific knowledge: citation network analysis and the diet-heart debate
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)Scientific knowledge is based, in part, on empirical evidence. Scientists contribute to a particular evidence-base by publishing the results of their experiments and observations, but in writing their papers they also use ... -
To be or not to be a European Energy Union: drivers of European energy policy from a historical institutionalist perspective
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)Energy is of vital importance to the economy of the European Union (EU), safeguarding stability and prosperity for its Member States and citizens. Cooperation in energy policy was enshrined as a cornerstone in the EU's ... -
Clements Kadalie, trade unionism, migration and race in Southern Africa, 1918-1930
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)Between 1919 and 1931, Clements Kadalie (c.1895-1951) rose to world-wide fame as general secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union of Africa (ICU). This thesis reexamines the biography of Kadalie, an immigrant ... -
Scottish space sector and innovation: a PERIpatetic study of an emerging innovation system and the roles of innovation intermediaries
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)This thesis seeks a more effective understanding of Open Innovation (OI) and the available strategies for its development within (geographically–bound) sectoral systems of innovation (GSSIs). Theoretically, it draws upon ... -
Marginalisation, torture, and gender-based violence: representations of conflict-related sexual violence against men in international law and human rights advocacy
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)This thesis examines how the issue of sexual violence against men during armed conflict is discursively constituted through both international law and the human rights advocacy activities of international non-governmental ... -
Citizenship, young people and political engagement: how young people make sense of their role as citizens in Scotland and the Netherlands
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)Citizenship has become a catchphrase in debates about young people’s political engagement. In many of these debates, citizenship is defined as a practice, often based on things that adults do. It remains unclear how young ... -
Reconsidering disadvantage in the United States: an application of social exclusion to 'big' American data
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)Poverty and disadvantage in the United States are commonly defined in terms of low income. Via this measure, in 2015, over 40 million people were deemed as poor. This definition and subsequent measurement neglect the ... -
Faces of shame, masks of development: recognition and oil palm among the Baining of Papua New Guinea
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)This thesis explores the role of “shame” in the Vir Kairak Baining people’s understanding of the relationships that underpin positive social change. Previous studies of shame in the context of colonial and postcolonial ... -
Only true philosophers? Charismatic performances of unofficial philosophy in socialist Czechoslovakia
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)In this thesis, I explore the phenomenon of unofficial philosophy seminars in socialist Czechoslovakia, focusing on the period from 1968 to 1989. After the democratizing movement known as the Prague Spring was terminated ... -
Order from chaos: agonism and salvation among Khmer Evangelical Christians in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-31)This thesis is about Christian salvation in the Khmer world. It ethnographically investigates the everyday religious experiences of poor-to-middle class Khmer evangelical Christians who have predominantly migrated from ... -
Instrumentalism, power maximisation, or legitimation? Understanding the European Commission’s response to the Global Financial Crisis, 2008-10
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-31)In October 2008, as Europe and the world stood in the midst of unpreceded turmoil on global financial markets, the European Commission launched a process that resulted in a proposal to create a European System of Financial ... -
Health needs and services for refugee women and children in Uganda’s settlements: articulating a role for social work
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-12-19)Approximately 70.8 million individuals are displaced worldwide and of these 25.9 million are refugees (UNHCR, 2019). According to UNHCR (2018), 85% of the world’s refugees are hosted by low-income nations such as Uganda. ... -
Parental socio-economic background and children’s school-level GCSE attainment
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-22)The principal aim of this thesis is to better understand the contemporary relationship between parental socio-economic background and children’s General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) attainment. Previous ... -
Study of teacher beliefs and pedagogical practices relating to gifted and talented education in selected primary schools in England and Scotland
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-13)Educational provision for gifted and talented pupils in primary schools is under-researched and so far an empirical study investigating pedagogical practices for gifted and talented pupils in both England and Scotland ... -
How do planets find their way? Laws of nature and the transformations of knowledge in the Scientific Revolution
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-13)Laws of nature are perceived as playing a central role in modern science. This thesis investigates the introduction of laws of nature into natural philosophy in the seventeenth century, from which modern science arguably ... -
Children’s understandings and experiences of peer friendships in a rural Chinese boarding school
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-28)Research is limited on friendships in childhood, particularly that of Chinese rural children. To fill this gap, this research explores Chinese children’s understandings and practices of peer friendships in the context ... -
Telegraphists’ cramp: the emergence and disappearance of an occupational disease between 1875 and 1930
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-25)This thesis is a historical, qualitative case study of the emergence and disappearance of telegraphists’ cramp in the British Post Office between 1875, when it was first reported, and 1930, by which point it was in ... -
‘Still there’: mediating personhood, temporality, and care in London Alzheimer’s Society support groups
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-25)This thesis is an investigation of the lives of people living with dementia and their families to explore how and why the ‘social death’ of the disease is mitigated through everyday practices of care. Findings are based ... -
Citizenship and displacement: naturalisation of Burundian refugees in Tanzania (2010-2017)
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-25)Between 2010-2017, 150,000 of Burundian refugees, whose families fled to Tanzania in the 1970s, received citizenship in Tanzania. This thesis explores how the experience of naturalisation shaped Burundian refugees’ views ... -
Unpicking social work practice skills: an interactional analysis of engagement and identity in a groupwork programme addressing sexual offending
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-25)The importance of the working relationship between people who have offended (clients) and criminal justice social workers (practitioners) as a vehicle for promoting rehabilitation is increasingly recognised. To build and ...
