Our vision for 2025
This year Power to Persuade will continue to bring you articles on a variety of topics related to social policy, written by experts involved in designing, implementing, studying and/or navigating social policy. However, in addition to our regular call for submissions, we invite you to be part of a new conversation in 2025 on the relevance of rights for 21st century policy. We are at a point in history where well-trodden paths in politics, policy and practice are being reworked. What are the implications for equality, diversity, inclusion and equity? We hope you will join us in that conversation this year, as readers and authors. Find out more about submitting an article for publication with us here.
As we begin 2025 filled with new year’s resolutions and anticipation for the year ahead, the Power to Persuade moderating team would like to invite you to be part of a themed conversation.
As 2024 drew to a close, our team was reflecting on how, why, and by whom this blog was established and what it was intended for. When it was conceived in 2011, Power to Persuade aimed to make policy debate accessible and to amplify voices of those with lived or living experiences of policy impact. Since then, we have published close to 1500 posts on topics ranging from disability, poverty, safeguarding, mental health, the environment, and the impact of policy and policy instruments and how each of these are shaped by and interact with society.
This year, we are hoping that we will continue to receive blog pieces from far and wide about a variety of policy relevant topics. However, in addition to regular submissions, we are putting a call out to source pieces around the theme of the relevance of rights for 21st century policy.
We live in uncertain times globally facing significant economic and environmental challenges, in an increasingly conflict affected world. We are at a point in history where well-trodden paths are being reworked and we have seen international questioning of the role and relevance of established civil rights – and in some cases, the reversal or removal of rights has occurred. As we renegotiate the nature of our societal fabrics in our different country contexts, there are some key questions to explore. How can we enshrine rights within policy, and which rights should we as a society protect? If we remove certain rights, who will be most affected (positively and negatively) and what implications will that have for equality, diversity, inclusion and equity?
As we both reflect and look forward, we are seeking to start a new conversation on Power to Persuade. We are putting a call out for pieces on the relevance of rights for 21st century policy. You may wish to submit a piece relating to the implications for removal or roll back of rights, or something on why and how rights were established in your particular policy area. We welcome reflective, policy-relevant, evidence-informed submissions from a range of countries and contexts.
Our aspiration, in addition to publishing these pieces on the blog, is to weave these pieces together in collaboration with our authors, in two formats:
1) A published edited collection.
2) A summative annual panel debate hosted in Melbourne Australia with hybrid technology to allow international engagement with a selection of invited contributors.
You’ll find details of how to share your work with Power to Persuade here.
We look forward to working with you all in 2025.
This post was written on behalf of the Power to Persuade moderating team by Dr Sarah-Jane Fenton.
Content moderator: Sue Olney