Porcupines in Winter is a collection of fascinating essays which paint a compelling picture of how Britain and British society have changed and of the challenges we face in creating stronger and more mutually supportive communities.

The book maps out the state of relationships that matter most in our daily lives including friendship, love and marriage, our relations with our children, parents, work colleagues, neighbours and strangers, the connections we make over the Internet and our identification with the virtual communities of soap operas.

Urban riots and rural gentrification; speed dating and isolate pensioners; ‘The Office’ and ‘Neighbours from Hell’; road rage and madrasas; grandparents providing childcare and children looking after other children; mentors and bloggers. These are just a few of the topics covered in this survey of the state of contemporary Britain.

Porcupines in Winter also contains portraits of places – from Grimethorpe and Shropshire to Glasgow and London’s East End, and portraits of communities – including Polish migrants and Jamaican transnational families.

Schopenhauer once described human beings as like porcupines in winter, huddling together for warmth, then pulling part when their quills pricked each other, and constantly striving for the right balance between being together and apart. Porcupines in Winter looks at how modern Britons are negotiating this difficult balance.

• Paul Barker, journalist, broadcaster and fellow of the Young Foundation
• Elaine Bauer, social anthropologist and fellow of the Young Foundation
• Belinda Brown, fellow of the Young Foundation
• Alessandra Buonfino, Research Associate at the Young Foundation
• Cary Cooper, Visiting Professor at Heriot-Watt University
• Malcolm Dean, The Guardian
• Geoff Dench, Professor of Sociology at Middlesex University and fellow of the Young Foundation
• Philip Dodd, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts
• Kate Gavron, trustee and fellow of the Young Foundation
• Roger Graef, journalist and broadcaster
• Peter Hall, Senior Fellow at the Young Foundation and Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration, University College London
• Jeremy Hawkins
• Paul Hilder, Director of the Transforming Neighbourhoods programme at the Young Foundation
• Dorothy Hobson, cultural critic and author
• Penny Mansfield, journalist and broadcaster
• Stephen Marshall, University College London
• John Matthews
• Geoff Mulgan, director of the Young Foundation
• Kevin O’ Sullivan, trustee of the Young Foundation
• Ray Pahl, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex
• Chris Phillipson, Professor of Social Gerontology, University of Keele
• Jenni Russell, journalist and fellow of the Young Foundation
• Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology at the LSE and Bemis, Professor of Social Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Tom Steinberg, director of mysociety.org and fellow of the Young Foundation
• Paul Thompson, social historian and sociologist and fellow of the Young Foundation