Marginal money, mainstream economy

Max Gallien, a student at the London School of Economics and Political Science, was joint runner-up in Making Sense of Society, the ESRC’s writing competition 2017 in partnership with SAGE Publishing. This is his essay.

As I talk to him, Ahmed pulls his chair into his store to escape the hot Tunisian sun. He is a retired teacher – the years of screaming children can be counted in the rings framing his eyes. Behind him is his merchandise. To make up for a small pension, Ahmed is selling kitchenware in a market near the Libyan border. Over 400 tiny concrete garages surround him, goods piled high – clothes, bags, microwaves. It looks like any other market, but note an invisible detail: everything sold here is illegal. Every good in this market has been smuggled into Tunisia. Ahmed, though he may not look the part, is a smuggler.

Living and looking for lavatories

Lauren White, a student at the ESRC-funded White Rose Doctoral Training Centre, was joint winner of Making Sense of Society, the ESRC’s writing competition 2017 in partnership with SAGE Publishing. This is her winning essay.

 

It may be a turn of the stomach, a nervous flutter, a morning coffee or a sudden, unpredictable rush. You may look for a sign, if you are lucky enough to live in a society where they are readily available. There may or may not be a queue, often depending on the room of your gender. You may look for disabled access, whether you are in a wheelchair or whether you have an invisible illness. You may select a space based on who is there or your perception of the cleanliness. For some, it is an unwritten rule that one cannot go next to another person relieving themselves. What are you looking for?

Once more, with feeling: life as bilingual

Wilhelmiina Toivo, an ESRC-funded PhD student from the University of Glasgow, was joint winner of Making Sense of Society, the ESRC’s writing competition 2017 in partnership with SAGE Publishing. This is her winning essay.

 

My dad had a rather liberal philosophy of bringing up children, but he would always tell us off for swearing. As a result, I grew up feeling very uncomfortable using swearwords.

How to get published: notes from an editor

Mila Steele is Publisher at SAGE Publishing, where she leads the research methods textbook programme.

SAGE are partners in this year’s ESRC writing competition, Making Sense of Society. The winner and runners-up will be announced later today, and the shortlisted entrants will enjoy a ‘how to get published’ masterclass presented by Mila. Here she gives a few of her top tips.

Editors tend to love lists, and here are my top five pieces of advice that never go out of date.

ESRC writing competition: How to write a winning entry

Martin Ince is a science journalist and president of the Association of British Science Writers. Among his many books are Conversations with Manuel Castells, and the Rough Guide to the Earth. He is a frequent contributor to the ESRC’s own publications.

Martin will be among the judges of Making Sense of Society, the ESRC writing competition 2016-17, in partnership with SAGE Publishing. Here he writes a piece on the kind of content the judges will be looking for as a winner.

The days are long gone when the only people who had to like a thesis were the examiners who could approve or reject it. Academics now need to be able to talk about their research to broad audiences, and in a way that makes its importance and relevance clear to anyone. That’s why ESRC and SAGE, one of the world’s top social science publishers, are encouraging you to do just that, with a competition which will get current and recent ESRC-funded students writing about the significance of their work.