There is a witty and critical piece by Alan Bennett on his fear and love of books and libraries in the London Review of Books. Go to http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n15/alan-bennett/baffled-at-a-bookcase  The final paragraph is especially good. Armley Library, Leeds

I refuse to be disillusioned by David Mellor, Bristol University, posted in the Sociology and the Cuts blog 12 April 2011 Sociology and me: the battle with the little red pill by Mike Ward, Cardiff University,  in the SocofEd Sociology of Education blog 21 June 2011 This has inspired me to write a brief account of my journey into and through sociology....

The editors of the Social Europe Journal and Zygmunt Bauman have very kindly allowed us to repost his article published earlier today – The London Riots – On Consumerism coming Home to Roost. Readers are very welcome to comment here but you may prefer to read the comments on the original article and contribute there – or both perhaps! The London Riots...

Should we be so surprised that the death of young black man at the hands of police in London ultimately led to the violent disorder in London, to be followed by similar scenes in other parts of the capital and other cities? We have been here before for instance in 1981 and 1985. Part of the context is also similar with the increased use of stop and...

Ed Miliband and various others have responded to the recent riots and looting by saying we should listen to the voices of the people. This remarkable video has been much linked to on Facebook and Twitter over the last few days. Thanks to Fiona Williams for suggesting we post this video here. If you are not aware of the phenomenon that is 25 year old...

An interview with Zygmunt Bauman on the UK riots has been published in Social Europe – Interview – Zygmunt Bauman on the UK Riots (full article) 15 August 2011. Thus far reaction of the British government to the mutiny of the humiliated is bound to deepen the self-same humiliation that caused their rebellion – while leaving untouched the sources of...