A bold and unique introduction to UK Politics. This is the first textbook which breaks free from the conventional approaches that revolve around the Westminster bubble, instead drawing upon the diverse challenges facing citizens and decision-makers today. Leading experts are brought together in this carefully edited collection that spans traditional and critical approaches. An Introduction to UK Politics highlights central concerns facing British politics today, from ongoing colonial legacies to Britain's inequality and the impact of decades of austerity. Spotlighted throughout are timely examples and latest research, drawing on topics spanning policy responses to climate change and the role of social class in educational outcomes; to the latest calls for increased devolution and shifting public opinion on UK Foreign Policy.
This textbook is packed with features, including:
? Case Studies to encourage critical thinking by presenting different perspectives on key events.
? Theory Boxes which explore concepts in action.
? Spotlight on Research showcases seminal and controversial publications to spark debate.
? Annotated Reading Lists guide students to further readings.
Unique to this text is a central focus on the role identities and inequalities play in contemporary British Politics. It offers students the tools to conduct analysis into the shifting dynamics in this major new action-focused, problem-based, and engaging introduction. And centrally, the book offers a compelling call to action - that is how we all have the capacity to shape British politics every day.
An Introduction to UK Politics is essential reading for any undergraduate student studying UK or British Politics.
Joanie Willett - Associate Professor in Politics, University of Exeter, UK
Arianna Giovannini - Professor of Political Sociology, University of Urbino, Italy
Rezensionen / Stimmen
This timely and most original book is a very welcome addition to students of British politics in a turbulent time. Going beyond the standard overviews of constitutional and institutional affairs, the contributors weave together core aspects of Britain's political system with surrounding social contexts, using relatable cases from everyday life to demonstrate to students the significance of rapidly evolving actors and systems in Britain's political culture, national consciousness, and a changing society. -- Dr Russell Foster This is a very rare kind of book. It provides an introduction to British politics while at the same time challenging a number of dominant assumptions and exploring the emergence of new pressures. At its core is an emphasis on pluralism and power. The interwoven nature of modern British governance - in relation to ideas, processes and institutions - is laid bare in an account of a changing polity which is as sophisticated as it is subtle, and as engaging as it is accessible. -- Matthew Flinders A comprehensive and fascinating look at key topics in British politics today. Weaving together theory, empirical analysis and expert contributions, this is both clearly written and thought-provoking. A must read for all British politics students. -- Laura Richards-Gray This book offers a stimulating and accessible introduction to the ideas, identities, and institutions that shape our politics today. It will be an invaluable resource to students seeking to navigate the complex and rapidly changing politics of the United Kingdom. -- Richard Hayton This book goes beyond the study of political institutions, portraying a 'diverse array of voices' and how these perspectives shape the UK's political system. This inclusive approach to the study of politics helps us understand the UK as a multinational state (how it got here and where it might be going) and it provides a hard-hitting account of the challenges facing citizens and decision-makers today. This is a different kind of textbook which comes highly recommended. -- Lynn Bennie An Introduction to UK Politics provides a solid introduction to the institutions of UK governance, whilst also being rooted in 'everyday' political lives. Up to date, and with attention to theoretical concepts, it will be of real benefit to students who want to know how UK politics really works. -- Daniel Gover This book brings a fresh and original perspective to the changing panorama of British politics. Unlike the more traditional institution-focused textbooks, this new Introduction engages with the fragmentary and sometimes contradictory elements of British politics in a sharp and stimulating fashion. -- Cillian McGrattan This is a fascinating and highly original introduction to the study of contemporary British politics. By focusing on the concept of pluralism, the authors succeed in drawing together both traditional and novel perspectives on what British politics is all about. Students who read this book will learn not only to understand contemporary political institutions, actors and issues, but to situate them in a broader story of what it means to do politics in a multinational, multicultural, multidimensional modern state. -- James Strong This innovative and intellectually stimulating textbook provides a highly relevant approach to the study of British politics. It enhances our understanding of the UK's political system by reference to important contemporary themes, such as pluralism, historical legacy, identity and inequality. -- Geoff Horn
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Maße
Höhe: 252 mm
Breite: 194 mm
Dicke: 25 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-5296-0290-6 (9781529602906)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
My research focusses on the entangled relationship between people, how they organise into communities, and the landscape that they are situated in (geography, geology, and ecology). I use the New Materialisms to explore the politics and economics of entanglement, and the implications of a more-than-human politics on social and environmental justice. In practical terms, I often find myself exploring rural economic development, and local government.
My Fulbright All Disciplines scholarship (ethnographic inspired) fieldwork explores what an entangled politics looks like, drawing on case studies in Appalachia, New Orleans, and California.
My research has been published in journals such as The Journal of Rural Studies, Sociologia Ruralis, Political Studies, Environment and Planning C: Population and Space, and British Politics. I recently published my book Affective Assemblages and Local Economies, (with Rowman and Littlefield) where drawing on ethnographic, embodied research in peripheral parts of the US and the UK, I imagine regions as complex adaptive regional assemblages to explore a more effective regional development.
I have been PI or Co-I on AHRC and ESRC research projects, have been awarded a Fulbright All Disciplines scholarship for 2022-23. I have contributed to a number of Parliamentary Inquiries, such as the House of Lords Select Committee on the Rural Economy "Time for a Strategy for the Local Economy", and the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee's "Fixing Fashion: Clothing, Consumption, and Sustainability" and "Green Jobs" reports. I am invited to present my research internationally in both policy and academic settings, including the European Union Committee of the Regions (with the European Association for Local Democracy), The European Parliament (with the European Free Alliance), the University of California Berkeley, the Virginia Tech Office for Economic Development, Feile Belfast, the National Association of Local Councils, and the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
I am co-director of the Institute of Cornish Studies, a former trustee of the Political Studies Association, co-convenor of the PSA Local Government and Politics specialist group, and help to coordinate EdgeNet, a Regional Studies Association network which explores questions of peripheral and rural development. I have been interviewed by local, national and international media (TV, print and radio), including the BBC, NPR, The Guardian, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Follow me on Twitter on @JoanieWillett
Arianna is an associate professor/reader in local politics and public policy and the deputy director of the Local Governance Research Centre (LGRC) at the Department of Politics, People and Place, De Montfort University. Between July 2019 and February 2020, and again between December 2021 and April 2022, she served as interim director of IPPR North.
Arianna's work focuses on the politics, governance and political economy of the north of England; 'levelling up' and regional inequalities; devolution, multi-level governance and constitutional change in the UK; and the changing landscape of local government, especially in the context of austerity, Brexit and Covid-19 recovery. She has written extensively on these topics, and her latest book 'Developing England's North. The Political Economy of the Northern Powerhouse' (with Craig Berry) was published by Palgrave in 2019.
Her work actively engages with the world of policy and practice. Most recently, she was on the executive of APSE's Local Government Commission 2030 - and independent inquiry into the future of local government in the UK. She has contributed to several IPPR North research projects, and in 2019 she co-authored the State of the North report 'Divided and Connected Regional inequalities in the North, the UK and the developed world' (with L. Raikes and B. Getzel).
Arianna also regularly comments in the media on devolution, local government, constitutional change and European politics.
An introduction to politics in the UK - Joanie Willett and Arianna Giovannini
Part 1: Foundations
1 Power, Pluralism, And Politics in the UK - Joanie Willett
2 The UK as a Multi-National State: contested histories, state-formation and constitutional settlement - Arianna Giovannini
3 The Global History of the UK: Colonialism and Decolonisation - Amina Easat-Daas and Simon Stevens
4 Class and gender as structural inequalities in the UK: The politics of production and social reproduction - Frederick Harry Pitts and Lorena Lombardozzi
Part 2: Institutions
5 Creating Political Change: From the (Informal) Politics of the Everyday to Formal Politics. - Joanie Willett
6 Devolution, Sub-national Governance and Inequalities - Arianna Giovannini
7 Do British Political Parties Reflect British Pluralism? - Judith Sijstermans
8 Elections, Referenda and Public Opinion - Rosie Campbell
9 Place, Pluralism and the Media: Who Tells Us About Political Affairs? - Steven Harkins
10 The Legislature - Thomas Caygill
11 The Executive - Patrick Diamond
Part 3: Big Questions
12 An Economy for all? - Kate Alexander-Shaw
13 UK environment and climate change politics - Clare Saunders
14 Britain in the world - Ben Whitham
