SAGE’s Ziyad Marar Named to Campaign for Social Science
Ziyad Marar, Global Publishing Director, SAGE
The Campaign for Social Science, Britain’s pre-eminent champion for promoting the social sciences before the government and the public, has named Ziyad Marar, SAGE’s global publishing director, to its 14-member board. Marar has been with SAGE for more than a quarter century, during which time he has labored diligently in expanding SAGE’s role as a publisher of the social sciences to serving as a global advocate for them, including being a guiding force behind the creation of Social Science Space in 2011. (SAGE is the parent of Social Science Space.)
A release from SAGE explains that Marar “has played a pivotal role in both initiating and supporting SAGE’s global work in campaigning for the social sciences, working alongside key organizations to lobby against government acts and threats to social science funding as well as working with key policy figures and academics to publish research outputs into the challenges against social sciences in the UK,” often alongside the Campaign.
“As a thinker, writer and publisher, Ziyad Marar has for many years been a dynamic and persuasive advocate on behalf of social science, here in the UK, in the US and further afield,” said professor James Wilsdon, the Campaign’s chair. “We’re delighted to welcome Ziyad onto the board of the Campaign for Social Science, and look forward to benefiting from his energy and ideas.”
The Academy of Social Sciences launched the Campaign launched four years ago this month in a meeting room at the House of Lords. The intention was to craft a unified coalition to strengthen the perception and highlight the impact of the social sciences during a time of significant change in Britain’s higher education landscape. Some 80 universities, learned societies, charities and publishers currently support the organization.
“Social science is at work in every part of our daily lives, in the media, in policy making and in public debate more generally,” Marar reflected while discussing his appointment. “Yet despite this, its voice is often lost or misheard. The excellent work that the Campaign does benefits all of society and is an area very close to my heart. I am delighted to play a more active as part of the Campaign’s board, to help ensure that the true significance and impact of social science is more widely understood and supported.”
Wilsdon added that Marar’s appointment “further strengthens our relationship with SAGE, which has done a tremendous amount to support the work of the Campaign, including as the publisher of our pre-election report The Business of People.”
Marar, 48, attended Exeter University, where he earned a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in the philosophy and psychology of language. He is also the author of three books, 2003’s The Happiness Paradox, 2008’s Deception, and Intimacy, published in 2012.
Besides Wilsdon and Marar, other members of the Campaign’s board are Stephen Anderson, the director of the Campaign; Jonathan Breckon, manager of the Alliance for Useful Evidence; Jacqui Briggs, head of the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of East Lincoln; Will Davies, senior lecturer in political economy at Goldsmiths, University of London; Rick Delbridge, dean of Research, Innovation & Enterprise at Cardiff University; Barbara Doig, former chief researcher of the Scottish Executive; Patrick Dunleavy, professor of political science and public policy chair at the London School of Economics; Matt Flinders, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield; John Goddard OBE, emeritus professor of regional development studies at Newcastle University; Ceridwen Roberts of the University of Oxford; Neil Ward, pro-vice-chancellor (academic) at the University of East Anglia; and Diana Wilkinson, former chief researcher of the Scottish Executive.
