What Is It For?

There is general agreement about the need to criminalise the production, sale and possession of certain drugs, yet the costly international apparatus around this is failing. But why do we criminalise some substances and not others? Is the purpose misguided, or the methods, or both? Julia Buxton looks at how our current drug control regime came about from the first US-driven international meeting on drug control in 1909 that became a war with the inbuilt moral self-righteousness of the colonial era. She also charts the evolution of the contemporary drugs market, looking at where drugs are now produced and consumed, and by whom, giving voice to those who get caught up in this world as consumers and low-level producers and sellers. Ultimately she asks, if the current strategy is patently failing, how could it be done better?

Peacekeepers, effective deterrent or potential cause of ultimate disaster? Understanding what nuclear weapons are for has never been more essential. Patricia Shamai traces the history of nuclear weapons from their first use in 1945 when they brought the Second World War to an end, through the Cold War when they gave rise to peace movements and disarmament efforts to the ominous nuclear landscape today. Shamai shows how nuclear weapons have, to date, been a deterrent by raising the stakes of war and thereby reducing the chances of certain kinds of conflict. But, she warns, this is not a permanent situation – its continuation depends on the world’s reaction to this threat and ongoing vigilance.

Truth is for striving at, for the sake of good collective action. With new media technologies, it seems that falsehoods can spread faster and further than ever. And with new norms of public discourse, while being caught in a lie would once end a politician’s career, today it is shrugged off, which has profound implications for democracy. Does the truth no longer matter? This optimist’s guide to truth argues that the problem of truth is an ancient one. It contends that truth is the best device we have for coordinating collective decisions and actions, and that, while the truth itself is perpetually elusive, the concept of truth as a target ideal to strive for is supremely useful. If we do not strive for truth, our decisions will be risky at best, often foolish and sometimes disastrous. This long-standing problem will not be solved with modern technology or regulations, but with measures we must all apply: mindfulness, humility, cooperation and optimism.

Most states in the world make some provision for the welfare of their citizens. Every state engages with health care provision, almost all provide education services, and, after an explosion of interest in recent years, a substantial majority now have national schemes in place for cash assistance. Welfare states matter for people’s lives – but there is little agreement about what one is. What are these states trying to do, and why? The book discusses the institutions and methods that characterise welfare states around the world. It focuses on the aims, purposes and justifications for social welfare services in order to explain what the welfare state is for.

Religious belief is declining in many parts of the world, yet people still seek purpose in their lives and guidance on how to navigate life’s challenges. Humanism is a broad tradition of thought and action which encourages thinking for yourself about what to believe and accommodating diversity. What is the purpose of humanism in an increasingly secular world? Written by a pre-eminent authority in this field, this book shows how humanism’s purpose is to help people to meet their need to understand the world around them. Given the growing demand for humanist funerals, weddings and baby naming ceremonies, it will help both existing adherents and the “humanism-curious” to contextualise its potential role in making sense of their lives.

What is at stake when journalism is threatened? Does society still need journalists? Journalism faces multiple threats today all over the world: economic decline, online disinformation, the rise of AI, authoritarian curbs on freedom of the press, and violence against journalists. In such a climate, it’s more urgent than ever to ask what journalism is for. Drawing on his experience as a journalist and media commentator, and on interviews with journalists from the US to Myanmar, Jon Allsop examines key concepts that constitute journalism’s role: good judgement, concern for truth and critical scrutiny of one or more communities. Along the way, he also considers the relationship between journalism and activism; whether journalists should aspire to change the world and whether they can be seen as champions of democracy.

Does the British monarchy still have a place in today’s society? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s ‘exit’ cast light on institutional racism, multiple allegations around Prince Andrew highlighted troubling attitudes to gender and power, while the abolition of monarchy in Barbados accentuated its relationship to colonialism. But what is the monarchy actually for? Does it benefit the UK, or cause more harm than good? The death of Queen Elizabeth II and the dawn of the Carolean age makes these questions more pertinent than ever. Breaking longstanding myths around the monarchy, Clancy demystifies and evaluates the monarchy, showing why republicanism is nothing to be scared of.

Terrorism will always be frontpage news – counterterrorism is often discussed as an afterthought, yet it is vitally important to understand what is done in the name of our safety. Since 9/11, there has been a huge ramping up of the state’s special powers in the name of security, such as indefinite detention, the assassination of suspected terrorists, the use of extraordinary rendition, torture, and changes to due process. However, these powers are often shadowy, they are rarely rolled back, and they can be counterproductive. This book focuses on understanding the costs of counterterrorism and asking how they can be reduced; global in scope, it looks not just at Western liberal democracies, but at numerous examples from across the world.

Are zoos an anachronism in the 21st century when we can watch animals in their natural habitat, close-up from our couches without worrying about cruelty? Should they go the way of other bygone era ‘spectacles’ and ‘attractions’ that we now regard as barbaric? There are vocal campaigners and activists who believe so. Heather Browning and Walter Veit disagree, but they acknowledge there is a case to be answered. In What are Zoos for? they test the common justifications for zoos (entertainment, education, research, conservation) against the evidence and suggest what the best zoos of the future should look like to ensure that they are primarily for animals and not just for people.

The days when museums were dusty, stuffy institutions displaying their wealth and wisdom to a reverential public are over. Museums today are a cultural battleground. Who should decide what is put on display and how it is presented? Who gets to set the narrative? In this passionately argued book, Jon Sleigh maintains that museums must be for all people and inclusion must be at the heart of everything they do. But what does good inclusion look like in practice? Cleverly structured like a museum tour, Sleigh uses seven illustrative museum objects from seven very different museums to explore such wide-ranging issues as trust-building, representation, digital access, conflicting narratives, removal from display and restitution.

Across the world, an increasing number of people are turning to veganism, changing not just their diets, but completely removing animal products from their lives. For some, this is prompted by concerns over animal ethics; for others, it’s a response to the part played by animal agriculture in the climate crisis or an attempt to improve their own health. Catherine Oliver shows why the veganism movement has become a powerful social, political and environmental force, taking an honest look at how we live and eat. She discusses the health and environmental benefits of veganism, explores the practical and social impacts of the shift to eating plants, and explains why veganism is not just a diet, but a way of life.

What does a good prison look like? More than eleven million people are currently locked up in prisons across the world, but does that mean that prison actually works? The answer usually depends on what people believe and feel about crime, punishment and what happens inside prisons. The deep social and personal impact of prisons demands that we try to search for a better understanding of the evidence and ideas that have made prisons so ubiquitous. Hindpal Singh Bhui, with 25 years’ experience of visiting and working in prisons worldwide, argues that we need to look at who is sent there and why, to disentangle reality from ideology and myth. Introducing the competing histories of prisons and allowing the voices of prisoners, prison staff and victims to be heard, he asks whether there is a better way to achieve what society wants from its prisons.

‘Athletes first’ is a slogan the International Olympic Committee often touts, but the reality is very different, as pre-eminent Olympics expert Jules Boykoff shows in this book. While the world’s attention is riveted by the triumphs and tribulations on their screens, there is much that goes on behind the scenes that is deeply troubling: athletes are increasingly voicing concerns over physical, mental, and sexual abuse, and they are collectively expressing grievances around equity and human rights. Outside the stadiums, problems range from the democratic deficit and corruption surrounding the awarding of the Games, to displacement of people and gentrification of neighbourhoods to make way for Olympic venues, to the environmental damage that Olympic construction inflicts and then tries to greenwash away. Boykoff tells us that radical steps are required if the Games are to be fixed and only then will they be truly ‘athletes first’.

“History”, suggests Robert Gildea, “is a battlefield.” Questions of power, rights, identity and nationhood always have an ancient and modern historical dimension and countries still go to war over their interpretation of history. Yet accounts of history are just as prone to fabrication as fake news, so how can we tell good history from bad? How can history be critical, learning from the past and righting wrongs, rather than divisive, such as riding roughshod over the rights of others? In this passionately argued book, Gildea suggests that the more people who really understand what good history entails, the more likely history is to triumph over myth. He sees positive signs in public history, citizen historians and community projects, among other developments. And he debunks claims that ‘you cannot rewrite history’, arguing that good history that’s attuned to its times must be rewritten time and again.

How should we treat animals? The long-held belief that other animals exist solely for human use has undergone radical challenge in the past half century. How much further do we need to go to minimize, and even eliminate, animal suffering? The field of animal rights raises big questions about how humans treat the other animals with which we share the planet. These questions are becoming more pressing as livestock farming exerts an ever-greater toll on the planet and the animals themselves, and we learn more about their capacity to think and experience pain. This book shows why animals ought to have greater rights and what the world might look like if they did.

How does armed conflict shape global politics? And, critically, can it ever be regulated, a necessary first step to achieving a more peaceful world? This book examines the factors that define and shape war in the contemporary world, and how changes to technology and society are transforming warfare. Focusing on efforts to regulate and eliminate war, it provides a guide to the complex problems it poses now – and threatens in the future.

Does charitable giving still matter but need to change? Philanthropy, the use of private assets for public good, has been much criticised in recent years. Do elite philanthropists wield too much power? Is big-money philanthropy unaccountable and therefore anti-democratic? And what about so-called “tainted donations” and “dark money” funding pseudo-philanthropic political projects? The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified many of these criticisms, leading some to conclude that philanthropy needs to be fundamentally reshaped if it is to play a positive role in our future. Rhodri Davies, drawing on his deep knowledge of the past and present landscape of philanthropy, explains why it’s important to ask what philanthropy is for because it has for centuries played a major role in shaping our world. Considering the alternatives, including charity, justice, taxation, the state, democracy and the market, he examines the pressing questions that philanthropy must tackle if it is to be equal to the challenges of the 21st century.

How will protecting our digital infrastructure shape our future? Cybersecurity is one of the key practical and political challenges of our time. It is at the heart of how modern societies survive and thrive, yet public understanding is still rudimentary: media portrayals of hoodie-wearing hackers accessing the Pentagon don’t convey its complexity or significance to contemporary life. This book addresses this gap, showing that the political dimension is as important as the technological one. It accessibly explains the complexities of global information systems, the challenges of providing security to users, societies, states and the international system, and the multitude of competing players and ambitions in this arena. Making the case for understanding it not only as a technical project, but as a crucial political one that links competing visions of what cybersecurity is for, it tackles the ultimate question: how can we do it better?