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Society

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future

Animals and humans Anthropology Archaeology Automation and robotics Cities Demography and migration Economic history Economics Education Environmental history Fairness and equality Future of technology Gender Global history History History of technology Human rights and justice Information and communication Making Nations and empires Politics and government Poverty and development Progress and modernity Public health Race and ethnicity Religion The ancient world The environment The future War and peace Work

An elderly person lying in a hospital bed in a bright room with a walker and a window nearby.

essay

Death

Freedom over death

Death is a certainty. But choosing how and when we depart is a modest opportunity for freedom – and dignity

Michael Cholbi

Cropped illustration of a person in a pink robe with orange patterns walking beside a horse, surrounded by grass and flowers.

essay

Gender

Taliban bride

Women in Afghanistan are prisoners in their own homes. This is the story of Marjan, married at 12 to a Taliban fighter

Zala & Asad Nariman

A person in a hi-vis vest sitting outdoors at a table with a drink, looking into the distance.

essay

Technology and the self

The unseen

Our crisis of work and technology is one in which too many people feel that nobody sees them as a fellow human being

Allison J Pugh

A young person with curly hair and glasses, wearing a backpack, indoors in what appears to be a school setting, with a green door and soft lighting, other children in background.

essay

Neurodiversity

Our diverse togetherness

While initiatives for inclusive education mean well, schools fail to provide neurodivergent students what they need to flourish

Chelsea Wallis

Mosaic of a man in a red coat and wide brimmed hat holding a scythe with three workers in the background on a patterned brick wall.

essay

Human rights and justice

Levelling the world

Gerrard Winstanley led a small band of radicals whose vision of justice encompassed the globe and continues to inspire

Rowan Wilson

People collecting water from a makeshift station in a camp, surrounded by orange netting and tents in the background.

essay

Ethics

Moral refuge

You can believe in border control yet protect those fleeing to safety. So what is our ethical obligation to refugees?

Bradley Hillier-Smith

Abstract image of a woman’s face with vivid swirls of blue, green, red and yellow on a black background.

video

Human rights and justice

Surreal, dazzling visuals form an Iranian expat’s tribute to defiance back home

10 minutes

Photo of a woman in a white dress and purple headscarf leaning against a wall, covering her face near green foliage.

essay

Human rights and justice

Struggling to wake

After a murderous kidnapping in Nigeria, I launched a campaign to put a stop to the abductions. Why did no one listen?

Ayisha Osori

Photo of a large crowd celebrating outdoors with a person waving a South African flag energetically in the foreground.

essay

Political philosophy

A right to exist?

Since states are founded on violence and expulsion, their existence is always bound up in thorny questions about justice

Andrew F March

A woman walking on a dimly lit street pavement at night with a parked scooter and two men walking in the background, one appearing to follow her; the woman looks downcast, the man appears to be smiling.

essay

Human rights and justice

Did you think you were safe?

When I moved to India for work, I found that rape was a feature of the country, as deeply embedded as caste

Evelyn Fok

Six children with troubled faces sitting and lying on colourful blankets inside a dimly lit room with an earthen wall.

essay

Poverty and development

Poverty is not permanent

By understanding the pernicious myths surrounding poverty, we can make progress towards a lofty goal: dignity for all

Anirudh Krishna & Dirk Philipsen

Colourful painting depicting a range of people eating, drinking and engaging in other activities, with floral patterns.

essay

Art

Threads of resistance

Knitting and embroidery are laden with stereotypes of domestic femininity – and the subversive potential for protest

Gemma McKenzie

Vintage black-and-white photo of a colonial-era courtroom with seated officials and standing West African defendants in traditional attire.

essay

Human rights and justice

What’s in the rule of law?

The British Empire used a great democratic ideal to manufacture racial difference and rationalise colonial domination

Kanika Sharma

Black and white photo of a large group of boys and a few adults standing on bare ground, all dressed in 1960s attire.

essay

Education

A valiant experiment

The progressive and remarkably innovative Woodmead School briefly flourished amid the viciousness of apartheid South Africa

David Dyzenhaus

Black-and-white photo of a man in a suit holding a mug, sitting next to a chimpanzee in an enclosure.

essay

Human evolution

The eugenicist of UNESCO

Why did Julian S Huxley, first director of the UN agency, think eugenics held the key to a more evolved, harmonious world?

Stefan Bernhardt-Radu

Illustration of a child holding a shell to their ear with a bird singing on a branch amidst abstract greenery and flowers.

essay

Bioethics

The cochlear question

As the hearing parent of a deaf baby, I’m confronted with an agonising decision: should I give her an implant to help her hear?

Abi Stephenson

Black-and-white photo of a man speaking into microphones held by the press outside a building, with a woman smiling at him in the background.

video

Political philosophy

The radical activist couple who fought for social change in the courtroom

21 minutes

A woman with glasses and a colourful African headscarf is holding a child. They are outdoors in a rocky, hilly landscape. The path ahead appears scattered with small white stones.

video

Human rights and justice

When a burial for slave trade victims is unearthed, a small island faces a reckoning

29 minutes

Photo of a soldier in camouflage standing on a busy market street surrounded by people and colourful fabrics.

essay

Nations and empires

Colonies of former colonies

India’s ongoing subjugation of Kashmir holds portentous lessons about the nature of contemporary colonialism

Hafsa Kanjwal

Photo of a desert scene with tall cacti and a person standing, set against a sunlit rocky hill.

video

Human rights and justice

Can providing humanitarian aid be illegal? A troubling case from the US-Mexico border

17 minutes

Photo of a white temple with modern design features, a golden statue on top and a bright double rainbow in the cloudy sky.

essay

Human rights and justice

Utah is so gay!

The Mormon state is seen as deeply homophobic. Yet, from polygamy to pride, Mormons themselves are a distinctly queer lot

Kristi Rhead

Photo of a street sign reading ‘Gipsy Lane’, mounted on a brick wall with green foliage behind, and a car in the background.

video

History

There are fragments of Romani Gypsy history all over the UK – if one knows where to look

3 minutes

A colourful mural depicting a Mexican American family, a Mexican American woman being tackled by a white policeman, and a stadium resembling a U F O descending from the sky.

video

Art

The sprawling mural that depicts an unflinching people’s history of Los Angeles

7 minutes

A woman in a purple jumper, named María Victoria Maldonado, picking berries in a lush green forest.

video

Human rights and justice

An unarmed Indigenous group aims to protect their native lands in this stirring portrait

15 minutes