The Longest Con by Anthony LloydThe universe doesn't require a priesthood to explain it. It requires only observation.For 13.8 billion years, the universe has operated on a single, elegant mechanical law: substrate in motion, forming a vortex, locking energy into a stable structure. From the spinning of a galaxy to the formation of a planet, a cell, or a human being, the formula remains identical: Substrate x Vortex x Energy = Structure. It is a free, ambient, and objective...

The Simple Universe argues a single, practical proposition: the universe is governed by one mechanical rule that applies to any substrate. Anthony Lloyd restores the idea of a physical medium not as a single historical aether but as a generalisable substrate—whatever its microphysics may be—and shows how the same compact law maps cleanly onto gravity, electromagnetism, relativity, and quantum phenomena. This is not a call to revive old metaphors; it is a programmatic re‑grounding: the equa...

As the percentage of people working in the service economy continues to rise, there is a need to examine workplace harm within low-paid, insecure, flexible and short-term forms of ‘affective labour’. This is the first book to discuss harm through an ultra-realist lens and examines the connection between individuals, their working conditions and management culture.Using data from a long-term ethnographic study of the service economy, it investigates the reorganisation of labour mark...

As a product of its time, the call centre utilises new developments in telecommunications and information technology to offer cost-efficient delivery systems for customer care. Efficiency, productivity and flexibility are all embodiments of neoliberal market capitalism and are all personified in the call centre operation, as well as the structure of the labour market in general. Thus the individual and the workplace are embedded in a variety of global processes. In order to frame the conte...

Bronze Medal Winner in the Picture Books, Early Reader category of the 2015 Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year AwardsOnce upon a time there was a Princess. She had everything a little girl could ever want, and she was happy. That is, until the fog came...The Princess and the Fog is picture book to help sufferers of depression aged 5-7 cope with their difficult feelings. It uses vibrant illustrations, a sense of humour and metaphor to create a relatable, en...

Making Sense of Ultra-Realism offers readers a unique insight into one of the most significant theoretical advances in 21st century criminology. Drawing upon popular films and television series, including Game of Thrones, Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Fight Club and more, each chapter tackles a particular aspect of ultra-realism. By connecting visual texts to theoretical ideas, the authors help to contextualise and clarify core elements of the ultra-realist school o...

Based upon global data and following on from Lockdown: Social Harm in the COVID-19 Era, this book discusses the rise of surveillance capitalism and new forms of control and exclusion throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It particularly addresses the use of vaccine passports, mandates and the new forms of capital extraction and political control that emerged throughout the pandemic. The book also explicates how the ‘vaccine hesitant’ became marginalized in both mainstream discourse an...

From the Alcatraz East Crime Museum and Jack the Ripper guided tours to the Phnom Penh killing fields, ‘dark tourism’ is now a multi-million-pound global industry. Even in the most pleasant tourist destinations, underlying harms are constantly perpetuated, affecting both consumers and those who work or live around such tourist hotspots. Highlighting 50 travel destinations across six continents, expert criminologists, psychologists and historians explore the past and contemporary issues whi...

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there lived an elf. The elf was a shoemaker, and her shoes were admired around the kingdom. The elf was confident at her job, until one day the Princess ordered a pair of shoes for the Royal Ball. Putting pressure on herself and comparing her work to her friends' on 'Elfstagram', the elf is worried that her shoes will not be perfect.The Elf, The Princess and the Impossible Shoe explores childhood perfectionism and the anxiety that it can cau...

In challenging social science’s established orthodoxies, this first in a series of books is a call for its disciplines to embrace new theoretical paradigms and research methods to better understand the reality of life in a post-COVID world.By offering a detailed insight into the harmful effects of neoliberalism before the pandemic, as well as the intervallic period the world is currently living through, the authors show how it is more important than ever for social science to evolv...

This book asks whether the decision to lock down the world was justified in proportion to the potential harms and risks generated by the Covid-19 virus. Drawing on global, empirical data, it explores and exposes the social harms induced by lockdowns, many of which are 'hidden', including joblessness, mental health problems and an intensification of societal inequalities and divisions. It offers data-driven case studies on harms such as domestic violence, child abuse, the distress of being ...

This comprehensive Gandhi reader provides an essential new reference for scholars and students of his life and thought. It is the only text available that presents Gandhi's own writings, including excerpts from three of his books-An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Satyagraha in South Africa, Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule)-a major pamphlet, Constructive Programme: Its Meaning and Place, and many journal articles and letters...