One of the ISRF’s key objectives is to look beyond what is inherently ‘interesting’ about a topic and imagine how exploring social, cultural, economic and political phenomena from an interdisciplinary perspective could have tangible impact on the world beyond academia. With this in mind, this issue will consider the real-life values of interdisciplinary social sciences research. It contains four articles on this theme, three by our Fellows Pál Nyíri, Andrea Ruggeri and Olly Dowlen, and one by Charles Stewart, Professor of Anthropology at UCL. The Fellows’ articles provide an outline of their projects before suggesting how their research could have wider implications beyond academia. Each, though only coincidentally, is sited within areas which might traditionally be categorised as ‘Politics’, but take place at three different levels.