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Research projects in the School of Social & Political Sciences

We bring together research interests across the School of Social & Political Sciences to address the key social and political challenges of our time. Here you will find current and ongoing research projects from within the school.

Our completed research projects can be found here

Evidencing the ESOL crisis: Towards a vision for ESOL in Scotland

This project aims to help deliver a clear, well‑resourced, long‑term ESOL strategy for Scotland by engaging stakeholders, identifying regional pressures, and sharing actionable recommendations with policymakers and practitioners.

From Housing Beneficiaries to Urban Citizens? Governing state-supported housing for urban inclusion in the majority worl

Through comparative work across cities in India, China and South Africa, we will offer insights into how residents can be empowered within state-sponsored housing projects.

From evidence to action: Understanding the impact of funding modalities on development policymaking

This project reveals how to make development financing more effective. The findings will show how—and if—evidence actually influences policy decisions. While these results directly benefit those seeking a better-funded multilateral system, they also offer broader lessons for public policy and the social sciences.

'Art and Policy in the Global Contemporary: Examining the Role of the Arts in the Production of Public Policy' (POLART)

POLART examines the relationship between art and policy through a double focus: an investigation of how the arts shape, steer and reform public policy, and how, conversely, policy issues alter the contemporary artistic cannon and forms of engagement.

UKRI Network Plus ‘Shifting Global Polarities: Russia, China, and Eurasia in Transition'

The project aims to advance innovative new partnerships within academic and policy circles linked to a range of urgent thematic areas including social upheaval, geopolitics and security, environmental crisis, human rights, Russia-China relations, and post-conflict reconstruction

Energy History

Explore the story of energy in the UK in our exhibition, online course and podcast, through the stories of workers and communities impacted by coal, oil, nuclear power and renewables.

Photo of a woman holding a placard saying 'We demand democracy'

Democracy Under Threat: How Education can Save it (DEMED)

The project aims to find solutions to the causes of democratic backsliding, and to build new educational programmes using social media to create more resilient democratic societies.

Sign post saying work, career, health, family

Women in Multiple Low-Paid Employment

This research project aims to understand the nature and extent of women’s multiple low-paid employment (MLPE) in the UK by combining secondary analysis of national survey data with qualitative research to examine the lived experiences of women in Glasgow

Un flag with blurred images of EU flags in the background

Resourcing International Organisations: How Earmarked Funding Affects Aid Effectiveness

This four-year research programme will explore earmarked contributions and their impact on international development organisations.

Colombia River Stories

This project explores who and what actors and drivers of conflict in Chocó are, how they have developed with respect to alluvial gold mining, and the extent to which ‘river stories’ that integrate the perspectives of communities and the river itself, may inform more inclusive strategies for building sustainable peace.

Exploring and Mitigating Electoral Violence

A three-year comparative research project to develop tools to understand where, when and why electoral violence occurs, and to assess strategies for preventing it.

From Russia with War

This interdisciplinary research project combines the research team members’ joint experience of conducting high-risk ethnographic fieldwork amongst former and active members of armed groups in order to provide an in-depth explanation as to why individuals mobilise to become foreign fighters in the context of the former Soviet Union.

Place-Based Research Programme

Place is an important focus for current and future government research and development strategy. Place is also a research topic at the heart of many arts and humanities disciplines, from archaeology and architecture to history and literature.

Alternative economic development approaches – RSE workshop series

Workshops in four UK cities where alternative approaches are actively being implemented, plus a follow-on online event, will establish a research-policy network and shared learning platform to: explore the potential for transformative change; support stakeholder implementation; and lay the foundations for future research work.

Watching the watchers: strengthening public oversight of intelligence driven surveillance

This four year research project seeks to strengthen public oversight of digital surveillance for intelligence purposes, with a specific focus on southern Africa.

Creating Prosperous City Centres Post-Pandemic Through Repurposing Retail Space

This collaboration aims to share knowledge and experience of practice and research on the planning and regeneration of retail spaces in city centres in the UK and South Korea to identify current and future challenges and develop solutions

Repeat Violence Victimisation

The study seeks to improve understanding about repeat violence victimisation (RVV) in Scotland, by exploring the views and experiences of victims/survivors and their supporters.

Exploring the relationship between gambling consumption and harms among regular gamblers in Britain

This project uses data from a survey of people who gamble regularly to evaluate the application of the Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines to adults in Britain.

The Comintern's Textbook of Breaking Through. Romania as a Study Case

This project examines the role played by the Comintern, an organization entirely under Soviet control, in creating the premises for the Communist takeover in Central and Eastern Europe after the World War II

Physical Culture, Race and Masculinity in Britain's Colonial Army, 1858-1939

Through a study of military sport involving Scottish, Indian and Black Caribbean soldiers in India and the West Indies, Dr Naha rethinks the 'empire project' by interrogating the development of scientific racism, Social Darwinism, masculinity, class, and modern sport through the British Army

Genealogies of divorce: law and family in the Scottish diaspora, 1830 – 1939

This project looks at the connections between divorce laws across English-speaking jurisdictions and the experiences of Scottish people who were involved with divorce, using digital and archival research to track them across countries

Seeing Waste Like a City: Towards Just Circular Economies in Glasgow and Mexico

This project investigates the growing problem of waste in cities

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School of Social & Political Sciences