• ISSN Print: 2399-6668
• ISSN Digital: 2399-6676

The Open Reports Series are slim Open Access volumes that take on some of the biggest issues of the day in politics, social sciences, and business studies. Published swiftly (typically within eight weeks) to maximize impact these books tackle topical questions such as the importance of security to Scottish independence, and the reality of life for families in working poverty who are ‘just about managing’, this series offers rigorous analysis and cutting edge research to delve into the reality behind the slogans. With heavyweight contributors including the former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Nobel prize-winning author Amartya Sen, these books are vital interventions into contemporary debates.

• Economics, Politics and Sociology

Peace and Democratic Society

• Amartya Sen

Emphasizing the need to understand the relationship between violence, peace and democracy, Amartya Sen’s introductory essay explores ideas around ‘organised violence’ and violence against the individual. Highlighting the inadequacies of some of the widely accepted explanations for violence, Sen makes a plea for a global, multilateral debate on the causes of conflict, and an understanding of the multiple identities of the individuals involved. This challenging and insightful essay introduces the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding’s timely report “Civil Paths to Peace”, which stresses the need to understand the complexities around violent behaviour and its causes.

• Economics, Politics and Sociology
• Law

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the 21st Century: A Living Document in a Changing World

• Gordon Brown

The Global Citizenship Commission was convened, under the leadership of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the auspices of NYU’s Global Institute for Advanced Study, to re-examine the spirit and stirring words of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The result – this volume – offers a 21st-century commentary on the original document, furthering the work of human rights and illuminating the ideal of global citizenship. What does it mean for each of us to be members of a global community?

• Business and Management
• Economics, Politics and Sociology

The Infrastructure Finance Challenge

• Ingo Walter

Infrastructure and its effects on economic growth, social welfare, and sustainability receive a great deal of attention today. Infrastructure finance is among the most complex and challenging areas in the global financial architecture. Ingo Walter, Professor of Finance, Corporate Governance and Ethics Emeritus at the Stern School of Business, New York University, and his team of experts tackles the issue by focussing on key findings backed by serious theoretical and empirical research. The result is a set of viable guideposts for researchers, policy-makers, students and anybody interested in the complex challenges of contemporary economy.

• Economics, Politics and Sociology

Security in a Small Nation: Scotland, Democracy, Politics

• Andrew W. Neal

The 2014 Referendum on Scottish independence sparked debate on every dimension of modern statehood. Levels of public interest and engagement were unprecedented, as demonstrated by record-breaking voter turnout. Yet aside from Trident, the issue of security was relatively neglected in the campaigns, and there remains a lack of literature on the topic. In this volume Andrew Neal has collated a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives on security and constitutional change in Scotland and the UK, including writing from experts in foreign policy analysis, intelligence studies, parliamentary studies, and journalism.

• Economics, Politics and Sociology

Just Managing? What it Means for the Families of Austerity Britain

• Mark O'Brien
• Paul Kyprianou

At a time when the impact of austerity is more relevant than ever, Just Managing? cuts through the debates and sloganeering to give some of the real people behind the headlines and statistics a chance to tell their stories. It tracks the lives of thirty working families in Liverpool over one year, as they struggle to manage on incomes at or around the National Minimum Wage. Their accounts are placed within the economic and political context that has shaped their experiences and that of millions of other working families across the country.

• Economics, Politics and Sociology
• Health

Undocumented Migrants and Healthcare: Eight Stories from Switzerland

• Marianne Jossen

This urgent study uses a grounded theory approach to explore the ways in which undocumented migrants are included in or excluded from healthcare in a Swiss region. Marianne Jossen explores the ways migrants try to obtain healthcare on their own, with the help of NGOs or via insurance, and how they cope if they fail, whether by using risky strategies to access healthcare or leaving serious health issues untreated. Jossen shows that even for those who succeed, inclusion remains partial and fraught with risks.

• Education

Delivering on the Promise of Democracy: Visual Case Studies in Educational Equity and Transformation

• Sukhwant Jhaj

Delivering on the Promise of Democracy pulls back the curtain on seven high-performing universities to reveal which daily decisions, including listening to the community, embracing conflict, and implementing effective strategies through routine, guide administrators in achieving exceptional results. Through in-depth interviews that offer a close look at these seven universities, Jhaj traces a new trajectory for higher education: a call to question a university's effectiveness through its accessibility to the community it serves.

• Digital Humanities
• Reference Books

Engaging Researchers with Data Management: The Cookbook

• Connie Clare
• Maria Cruz
• Elli Papadopoulou
• James Savage
• Marta Teperek
• Yan Wang

Engaging Researchers with Data Management is an invaluable collection of 24 case studies, drawn from institutions across the globe, that demonstrate clearly and practically how to engage the research community with RDM. These case studies together illustrate the variety of innovative strategies research institutions have developed to engage with their researchers about managing research data. Each study is presented concisely and clearly, highlighting the essential ingredients that led to its success and challenges encountered along the way. By interviewing key staff about their experiences and the organisational context, the authors of this book have created an essential resource for organisations looking to increase engagement with their research communities.

• Economics, Politics and Sociology
• European Studies

A European Public Investment Outlook

• Floriana Cerniglia
• Francesco Saraceno

The essays in this outlook collectively foster a broad approach to and definition of public investment, that is today more relevant than ever. Offering up a timely and clear case for the elimination of bias against investment in European fiscal rules, this outlook is a welcome contribution to the European debate, aimed both at policy makers and general readers.

• Economics, Politics and Sociology
• European Studies

The Great Reset: 2021 European Public Investment Outlook

• Floriana Cerniglia
• Francesco Saraceno
• Andrew Watt

This timely and insightful collection of essays written by economists from a range of academic and policy institutes explores the subject of public investment through two avenues. The first examines public investment trends and needs in Europe, addressing the initiatives taken by European governments to tackle the COVID-19 recession and to rebuild their economies. The second identifies key domains where European public investment is needed to build a more sustainable Europe, from climate change to human capital formation.