Dr James Morrison (University of Stirling) – The Workless: Stigma, Unpaid Labour, and the Myth of Economic Inactivity – Q&A

Professor Deborah Robinson (University of Strathclyde) – The History of Special Education in England: Divisions, Divergences, and Coalitions

Join us for this book launch with Paul Carter and Steven King at The National Archives.

This book focuses on one of the most contentious areas of English and Welsh poor law history: the exercise of petty tyranny by officials on the workhouse poor, drawing on many thousands of accounts of...

Professor Simon Szreter (University of Cambridge) – Welfare, Health and Economic History

Dr Jonathan Warren – Disability, Health, and Employment: Post-Industrial Realities and Historical Lessons for Welfare Policy

Little did Gro Harlem Brundtland know that her 1987 UN report, ‘Our Common Future’, would spawn a whole new industry: that of sustainability. Yet the roots of sustainable business, and its cousins,…

Buy New Labour, New Britain?: How the Blair Governments Reshaped the Country by O’Hara, Glen (ISBN: 9781526146328) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

In the concluding episode of this two-part series, Steven King  and Glen O’Hara discuss what lessons Keir Starmer might learn from the last time Labour was in government.

In the concluding episode of this two-part series, Steven King  and Glen O’Hara discuss what lessons Keir Starmer might learn from the last time Labour was in government.

Steven King and Glen O'Hara discuss what lessons Keir Starmer might learn from the last time Labour was in government.

Modern governments have tended to rely heavily on a ‘follow the science’ response to epidemiological threats. However, epidemics are moments of both scientific uncertainty and social crisis. This pose...

Steven King looks both ahead and to the past when considering Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall’s plans for welfare budget cuts. Why are such plans always doomed to fail?

In an age of near-permanent crisis, Policy Factory looks to the past to make sense of modern political issues.

Professor Gill Allwood presents “What’s gender got to do with it? National and local climate policy in Uganda”

Dr Kevin Jones presents "Why are we still waiting for a National Social Service? Lessons from the history of health and social care"

Steven King looks both ahead and to the past when considering Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall’s plans for welfare budget cuts. Why are such plans always doomed to fail?

On Monday 12 May, Keir Starmer announced his government's plans to reform the immigration system, tightening rules on who may reside in the UK. Although quickly denying any political incentive, the ti...

On Monday 12 May, Keir Starmer announced his government's plans to reform the immigration system, tightening rules on who may reside in the UK. Although quickly denying any political incentive, the ti...

Steven King looks both ahead and to the past when considering Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall’s plans for welfare budget cuts. Why are such plans always doomed to fail?

A number of Labour MPs say they will vote against the government's proposed welfare reforms.

In this episode recorded in September 2024 Steven King and Cat Gower discuss King's latest book, Fraudulent Lives: Imagining Welfare Cheats from the Poor Law to the Present (Montreal, 2024) and how hi...

Professor Steven King presents “Talking to ‘benefit cheats’: Oral histories from danger to redemption”

Today we launch Policy Factory, a collective of historians, sociologists and others who have come together for three reasons. First, a shared sense that the deep history of modern dilemmas generall…

The “Latin Yankee,” as he is known in Rome, worked 20 years in Peru’s poorest enclave and even became a naturalized citizen there.

Policy Factory is a network of historians and social scientists looking to bring a historical perspective to current policy dilemmas and future policy direction.