I was the guest for the June episode of the new podcast from Goethe University, Talk Social Science To Me. The main theme was to discuss new ways of involving citizens in democracy, but the conversation led us to many topics, ranging from the effects of the pandemic on democratic governance to the role of democracies in the climate crisis. The podcast is now available on Spotify, Youtube and other podcast providers.
After a decade of progress on teenage pregnancy, youth crime and other indicators of adolescent social exclusion, the trend is beginning to reverse.
Who could have guessed, even one year ago, that America’s postal service would be central to the US Presidential Election? That political party conventions would become online events? Or that protests could be suppressed in the name of biosecurity and protesters could be fined for not wearing face masks? The COVID-19 pandemic has had myriad unpredictable impacts on democratic institutions around the world…
Rikki Dean argues that the current proposals to develop measures that downplay income and material deprivation in favour of family breakdown and addiction are based on an incoherent conception of poverty that conflates child poverty with child well-being. To argue that family breakdown and addiction are part of the definition of poverty is indicative of prejudice towards the poor. Moreover, the simple truth is that there is little correlation between family structures and poverty.