European Union - 60 years treaty of Rome- check out these free resources

The EU has been celebrating the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome.
The Treaty of Rome, yis an international agreement that led to the founding of the European Economic Community (EEC) on 1 January 1958. It was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.

 to mark the occasion it has also been discussing its future.
It also has a special commemorative page where tyou can view EU60 in 60 seconds.

Eurlex - the official EU legal site has a special feature on the Rome Treaty . It includes the full text plus explanations and glossaries of terms.
The EU bookshop has a new publication called the Europe Story with interesting facts and figres which you can download. It also has a selction of free books on European Union history.

 AEI Archive of European Integration
 is a great  electronic repository and archive for research materials on the topic of European integration and unification which has been created by the University of Pittsburgh and provides free aces to thousands of historic documents, reprts and journal articles covering all aspects of history
CVCE à l’Université du Luxembourg has historic materials in French . It has a good section on historic events.

The Historical Archives of the EU are administered by the European University Institute of Florence. Get access to their catalogues and study guides from the website

Happy Europe Day - try our favourite EU research research resources

9th May is Europe Day which celebrates peace and unity in Europe

Discover more about the history, this year's events and hear the European Anthem! on the special Robert Schuman Foundation website

Get some more official information and read the text of the Schuman daclaration on the EU website

Here are some favourite free resources covering Europe - which all student should know about.

EU sites

• The EU makes available many free statistics via Eurostat
• Eurobarometer polls are great for getting insight into public opinion for EU citizens. What do they really think of the EU
• EUR-Lex - free access to laws and treaties of the EU

Literature searching.

• European Research paper archive - sadly no longer updated but access over 1,000 working papers from leading institutions on European integration. Great for history 
• Archive of European Integration - University of Pittsburgh- papers, reports and more on all aspects of European Integration
• European Sources online - News and analysis of current events from this great University of Cardiff resources

Subscription resources.
These are offered by LSE but are often available in other academic libraries.
LSE Subject guide for European Institute.Check the journals tab for databases

• CELEX via Justis (LSE staff and students only) - archive of legal and judicial materials. European Court of Justice judgments since 1952.

• Lexis Library- EU legislation and case law
• Westlaw UK  - EU legislation and case law

Social science sites of the week

In the news this week: What’s wrong with the British Steel Industry?

Get the facts on its contribution to UK manufacturing, employment and trends in production.

Guardian Newspaper  launch campaign against Internet abuse and harassment

Guardian comment on nature and extent of online abuse.

They have also released some initial analysis of comments posted and blocked on their website. This reveals  more abusive comments were blocked about articles written by women. As a result the site is leading a discussion on what can improve social relations on the Internet.

Here are some other useful sources measuring the extent and nature of online abuse.

In 2015 the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development issued a report calling for a world-wide wake up call against cyberviolence targeting women and girls.

In England/ Wales Official figures on negative online experiences are gathered by the Office for National Statistics and published as a supplementary table they record online harassment by gender. In 2014 Demos published an interesting report on the extent and nature of misogyny on Twitter

In Australia a recent Norton survey found that 47& of women responding had suffered online abuse. In the USA a 2014 survey found that 73% of those responding had witnessed online harassment

Reports on cyberstalking and Cyberbullying in the USA can be retrieved from this special feature on the NCRJC website. and WAM has some resources concerning harassment, women and twitter.

Which graduates earn the most? Do family, class and Gender matter?

New from IFS an analysis of 260,000 student tax and loan records which examines variations in earnings over a 10 year period after graduation . It considers whether gender, socioeconomic class, institution and subject studied effect income. A key conclusion is that

p.55 Graduates from higher income households earn more (up to around 60%

more for males and 45% for females) than their peers from lower income households.

There were also shocking  large variations by institution

‘For instance, more than 10% of male graduates from LSE, Oxford and Cambridge were earning in excess of £100,000 a year ten years after graduation in 2012/13, with LSE graduates earning the most. LSE was the only institution with more than 10% of its female graduates earning in excess of £100,000 a year ten years on . Whereas the median male graduate earnings were nearer £45,000

Universities UK response to the report

Million+ report

Russell Group Response

New EU referendum reports this week

This week IFS launch an interactive tool to allow voters to explore the EU budget which countries pay in the most? Who gets the most?

The Electoral Commission designated the two lead campaigners at the EU Referendum – designating ‘The In Campaign Ltd’ to be the lead campaigner for the “Remain” outcome, and ‘Vote Leave Ltd’ for the “Leave” outcome. Its decision , with associated papers can be downloaded from the website.

LSE launches EU referendum videos on its YouTube channel. The 10-week video series (starting 13^th April) will feature daily  expert comment from the School’s academics on a wide range of issues relating to the EU referendum on 23 June.

See the links to the latest papers, speech transcripts and reports on our blog

Million pound homes – get the facts!

According to some data releases from the Office for National Statistics. 13,679 was the number of properties sold for £1million or more in England and Wales, in the year ending September 2015. In 1996 it was 270 . Get the full data set   House price statistics for all areas from 1995-2015 and Test your knowledge in the million pound properties quiz!

A report by the LSE and Santander has predicted that by 2030 1 in 4 London homes will be valued at £1milion or more.

In terms of affordability . In 2015 Shelter published a report that from 1969-2014, house prices for first time buyers had increased by 48 times, whereas incomes had risen 29 times. the London Data store has information on  house price ratios to salary in London Boroughs.   Recently the Centre for London also issued a report on Housing and inequality in the capital which shows rising housing costs (both in the rented and mortgage sector)  causing greater wealth disparity.and a move to the suburbs for poorer people. Shelter has also issued a tube map of affordability of rented housing in London stating that of 270 stations only 15 are in affordable renting areas.

Use the BBC tracker tool to find out where you can afford to live

Fairness for Children: a league table of inequality in child well-being in rich countries

The latest report card from UNICEF examines the condition of children in  the EU and wealthy OECD nations. It focuses on the gap between rich and poor in four areas: income, education, health and life satisfaction

Key policy concerns include:

 Protect the incomes of households with the poorest children.
• Improve the educational achievements of disadvantaged learners.
• Promote and support healthy lifestyles for all children.
• Take subjective well-being seriously.
• Place equity at the heart of child well-being agendas. 

See the UK ranking. UNICEF concluded that the gap between rich and poor had narrowed .

Denmark was ranked first in the report's findings. Britain 1. There were concerns in gaps about educational performance, and health eating where the uK was rated lowly.

Another key report published this week relating to Child wellbeing was CentreForum Commission on children and young people’s mental health. It revealed the problems young people face when trying to access mental health care.

Hansard Society Audit of Political Engagement released.

The 13^th annual edition of this key publication  has just been published. It is based on is based on an opinion poll conducted by Ipsos MORI between 11 and 29 December 2015 with a representative quota sample of adults aged 18+ across Great Britain measuring factors associated with interest in and engagement in politics amongst voters. Topics covered include interest in EU and certainty to vote in the referendum, perception of parliament and levels of participation.

Data USA

A great new site which visualizes American government Data. It is developed by Deloitte, Datawheel, and Cesar Hidalgo, Professor at the MIT Media Lab with the aim of making statistical data visible and accessible.

View maps or profiles  by location, occupation and industry and education . The site also has visual stories created by users. See for instance this one on the skills required for an economics degree. Which also has data on gender, racial composition of award holders, geographic concentration in the USA and pay!

Trussell Trust Food Bank data visualization.

The Trussell Trust has worked with data scientists, business model specialists and academics from the University of Hull and the commercial sector to create the UK’s first ever dynamic visualisation tool for crises leading to foodbank use, mapping 18 months of foodbank data against deprivation indices from the 2011 census and other open data. See the mapping hunger report

How to choose a world Leader

This week the United Nations held its first public debates to select a new secretary general. This press release explains the process. Further detail is on the UN website .  UN webTV has recordings.

There is also a twitter feed where you can see questions submitted.

1 for 7 Billion is a global campaign supported by organisations and individuals from all corners of the globe committed to getting the best UN Secretary-General. see its discussion of the process and its 10 urgent reforms.        

Finally find a remedy for your hayfever!

Digital archive of Druggist and Chemist

A fascinating digital journal archive project completed by the Wellcome Library and available on the Internet Archive.  The Chemist and Druggist is weekly journal of the pharmacy trade, the online issues cover over 150 years from the 1850s. As well as  constituting a fascinating  resource on the history of medicine and pharmacy; Social historians can browse original advertisements for patent medicines, medical products and more.  See this example from May 1889 which features on the front page an advertisement for Royal embrocation- I was not sure if this was for the horse or the rider to rub in!  Read more about the digitisation project on their blog.

Social science sites of the week

In the news this week: Google and tax
The charity Full Fact has examined the claim that Google only pays 3% of its profits in tax. consult its website to see what it concludes:

See more discussion on the background to the controversy as well as responses from the government and other international agencies such as the EU and OECD
our special blog posts.

Portugal Presidential elections
Try our election blog for links to the full results and analyses

Universal credit – does anyone benefit?
IFS has conducted an economic analysis into the impact finding that it ‘will tend to weaken the incentive for single parents to be in work, and to strengthen the incentive for couples to have one person in work (rather than none or two)’

For background see the UK government official website . It includes this useful paper on welfare reform and some analysis of impact
For commentary from other organisations useful starting points include: Joseph Rowntree foundation
Early assessments include this report on the possible impact from Inclusion
Local Government Association review of 2014 pilots
Social Market Foundation 2012

EU renegotiation.

Read the full text of David Cameron’s statement to parliament on the Uk government website and the proposals sent by the European Council
Parliament TV has a recording of the debate and there is a transcript in Hansard
For access to free discussion and news services
Try European Sources online (try searching for Brexit) an online database and information service which provides access to information on the institutions and activities of the European Union . The LSE Brexit blog for discussion and the latest polls and commentary
The Conversation blog also explains the EU Brake as well as discussing other EU renegotiation matters.

Nashriyah: digital Iranian historic newspapers
The University of Manchester now provides free access to a digital library of Iranian newspapers. These comprise 23 newspapers covering the period from the 1950s to the early 21st Century. Therefore covering key political events such as the Iranian revolution of 1979. The complete list of titles can be found on the project website where there are also background essays which set the publications in context.

Freedom in the World 2016 published
Freedom in the World is a yearly survey and report by the U.S.-based non-governmental organization Freedom House that measures the degree of civil liberties and political rights in every nation and significant disputed territories around the world. Read the methodology for the full facts. And download the data in a zip file.

International Idea also has some well regarded country assessments. Its publications provide insight into the techniques. and methodology.

Racism in British Universities.
The UCU union has just released a survey of its BME members in which shockingly 90% of those who answered reported that they had faced barriers to promotion and over 70% reported sometimes or often being subject to bullying or harassment by their managers. The Runnymede trust has just published a collection of essays on race and diversity in the UK academy which elaborates on the issues. It covers participation of BME students in higher education the experiences of BME academic staff. The topic was also discussed at a UCL lecture – why isnt my professor black ?in 2014 and has also led to the launch of the why is my curriculum white campaign

In 2011 the NUS also recorded widespread racism against BME students
For access to more recent stories see Race card
See more reports on higher education teaching and learning on our scoop.it page.

Global Social Theory
This free website provides a useful starting point for students of social theory . It introduced them to key topics (transnationalism, intersectionality, settle colonialism, modernism ) thinkers (Stuart Hall, Franz Fanon, Paulo Freire) . It is edited by Gurminder K Bhambra Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick and a primary focus is in highlighting the global nature of wrings with contributions from around the world. Each entry has a summary of key themes, a bibliography of key readings (some full text) and some questions to guide research

Digital Fan Magazine Collection (1911-1963)
Free access to the full text of a growing number of popular magazines produced for film fans in the mid 20th century via the Media History Digital Library. A great resource for American cinema, popular culture and social historians. They include Silver Screen (1930-1940), Motion Picture [Magazine] (1914-1941) read this example of Hollywood magazine from 1934 with some great adverts- celebrity photographs, contemporary film advertising. Find out why love is doomed in Hollywood.and Mae west’s maid tells all!

The unhappiest people in the UK are those aged 45-59
According to the latest 3 year survey from the office for National Statistics. Find out more from the website. Where there are also maps levels of happiness for local authority areas.

There are also excel data tables at a local level for anxiety, satisfaction and happiness
The BBC has an interesting online test – find out where you should live to feel happy – it is based on your personality!