Critical Studies Research Group - University of Brighton

08/05/2026

Applications are now open for the new MA in Politics and Philosophy at the University of Brighton.

The programme brings together political theory, philosophy, and critical approaches to contemporary issues including populism, authoritarianism, race, colonialism, gender, ecological crisis, and political resistance.

The course is linked to the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE) and is designed for students interested in critical and interdisciplinary approaches to politics and society.

More information here:

Politics and Philosophy MA: develop the tools and confidence to engage with today's political challenges and contribute to the debates shaping tomorrow.

18/04/2024

University of Brighton, Humanities Society public lecture: ‘Higher Education in Crisis’ with Professor Emeritus John Holmwood.

When? Thursday 2nd of May, 6pm – 7.30pm.
Where? Room 101, Cockcroft Building, Lewes Rd, BN2 4JG

About the talk:
The current crisis in higher education in England is a wholly predictable (and predicted) consequence of recent reforms encapsulated in the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, reforms that were designed to 'create a new regulatory framework for higher education, increase competition and student choice, ensure students receive value for money, and strengthen the research sector'. Vice Chancellors naively believed it would take the 'politics' out of HE funding, but it has left the sector at the mercy of politics. Yet, just before the reforms were first proposed in 2010, an EU report comparing 28 Western higher education systems for efficiency and effectiveness had found the UK to be top for teaching, top for research, and top for value for money. The current government has created chaos at the heart of the system.

Professor Holmwood's talk won't be streamed live, but it will be recorded.

About the speaker:
John Holmwood is Professor Emeritus in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham and Senior Researcher in the Centre for Science Technology and Society Studies of the Institute for Philosophy at the Czech Academy of Science. He is co-founder (in 2013) and joint managing editor of Discover Society, a free online monthly magazine of social research, criticism and policy analysis. He was co-founder of the Campaign for the Public University (2010-2017). He was President of the British Sociological Association, 2012/2014. In academic year 2014/15 he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

17/05/2023

Humanities Under Threat at UoB: tinyurl.com/UoBHumsSOS
The University of Brighton has announced plans to make some 110 academic staff and 30 professional service staff redundant. Over 400 academic staff have been declared at risk of redundancy. The School of Humanities and Social Science has been hit particularly hard. Every member of the Humanities Subject Area has been placed in the pool of potential redundancies.

Visit the website to learn more and add your name to the open letter! tinyurl.com/UoBHumsSOS

HUMANITIES UNDER THREAT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

03/04/2023

CAPPE Symposium 'On Relationalities: Politics, Narrative, Sociality,' April 4th and 5thK. Keynote address by Leticia Sabsay, LSE.

06/03/2023

University of Brighton
Humanities Society and Socialist Students Society
A public talk with MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle.
Thursday 9th of March, 6.30-8pm
154-155, Edward Street
Room 105
https://goo.gl/maps/nzCr8FarmfMSzfeZ6

04/04/2022

*Anti-Precarity Research*

I'm involved in a research project with PrecAnthro and EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists) mapping anti-precarity and anti-casualisation in academia so that we can share strategies. The project has a European focus, but we're interested in capturing projects from all over the world, so I am looking for international connections as well as local ones.

If you are involved in an anti-precarity group of any kind, please take the time to fill in our questionnaire and tell us about your work: https://forms.gle/2rpH7ZdRpYKhxBea9

More information about the project is available here: http://www.magneticideals.org/home/research/precarity/

Mapping Anti-Precarity Projects in Education in Europe and Beyond Education Workers Rally in Brighton, UK, During UCU Strike Our anti-precarity questionnaire is now live, please complete and share …

22/02/2022

University of Brighton, Humanities Society, Public Lecture, 24th February, 6.30 – 8.00pm
Live: Edward Street Lecture Theatre, Room 105 (map - https://goo.gl/maps/nzCr8FarmfMSzfeZ6)
Online: Zoom -- https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81174182206
ID: 837 0932 7036

All welcome. No need to register.

ABSTRACT

UK universities are in the midst of another period of strike disruption. Every year since 2018 there has been serious national industrial action in higher education over issues ranging from pensions to precarity. Even the pandemic year of campus closures of 2020-21 was marked by a series of local disputes.

The higher education sector stands out in this respect. So far, staff anger at declining pay and overwork hasn’t turned to industrial action in either the NHS or in schools.

Why is it happening in our universities?

In this talk, Mark Abel will analyse the ways in which the marketisation of the sector introduced by Tony Blair and accelerated by subsequent Tory governments has fundamentally transformed the way that universities are run and the nature of higher education. He will trace the ways in which these changes have affected staff and students, bringing both groups into confrontation with the managements of universities. From the perspective of the main trade union in higher education, UCU, Mark will argue that these are battles worth fighting.

Mark Abel is Chair of the University and College Union at the University of Brighton and a member of the UCU’s national executive committee. He is also a senior lecturer in history and politics in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The University of Brighton Faculty of Arts provides education in art, design and humanities, arts courses, arts research, and community projects.