The last decade has seen the world face significant disruption caused by a combination of climate change, conflict, rising authoritarianism, economic instability, and rapidly spreading infections in both human and non-human populations. What’s evident across all of these challenges is the persistence and worsening of inequalities between those who benefit and those who lose their lives or livelihoods in the face of these challenges and the responses to them. Working with researchers from the sciences and humanities, social scientists are at the centre of research that seeks to question: how we govern and develop robust and equitable approaches to address persistent inequalities; how we ensure the most marginalised communities have a say in government and leadership of organisations; the role of and risks to democracy from environmental, social, political, technological and cultural change; how we build more socially just and inclusive organisations and communities; how we revitalise and build new economies at local, global and international levels in equitable and sustainable ways; how we produce and communicate knowledge in ways that are resilient to growing dis/mis information; how we build more just and inclusive legal systems; and how we learn from the past to make sense of the present and potential futures.

ISC Theme Lead: Dr Wendy Asquith, University of Liverpool