A morbid reminder of consumerism Author: Tommaso Serra All photos taken in 2023 © Tommaso Serra, Documentary Photographer London, UK The second-hand market in Albergheria – a peripheral neighbourhood of Palermo’s historical centre – is a semi-informal market for trading and buying any sort of objects, from hammers and batteries, to ancient paintings and abandoned dolls. This market represents the last chance for a multitude of old and often faulty
Author: Annabel Miller MSc Migration, Mobility and Development Studies Jane Baker Award Assistantship Through the generous support of MSc Migration, Mobility and Development Studies alumna Jane Baker, this summer I have undertaken a Research Assistantship under the supervision of Dr Anna Lindley. Together we have been working to track the burgeoning elements of ‘quasi-detention’ in UK’s asylum system. I carried out a literature review of academic research, NGO reports and
Author: Zoë Ciara Miller This blog is an original submission for the course Feminist Political Economy and Global Development and was written in January 2023. I slip on my jacket, plug in my earphones and step outside, pulling the door behind me. I scrape my hair into a bun, a few strands escaping loose around the sides of my face. I’m on my way to the Barbican Centre to see
Author: Fili Gena The blog is original work for the Feminist Political Economy and Global Development course In the past weeks, I have encountered the book Transgender Marxism (Gleeson and O’Rourke, 2021). For the first time in months, I felt that there had been a fundamental shift in how I problematise my way through my days. I started reflecting on the instances of social reproduction through which I sustain my Non-Binary body
Author: Livia Michelle Capparelli This blog is an original submission for the course Global Commodity Chains, Production Networks and Informal Work Imagine you’re scrolling through TikTok and you spot a content creator reviewing a top. You click on the sponsored link: Shein’s website opens and the top is only 3£. The pictures are questionable, but you want it (and it’s so cheap!). So you buy it, and also grab a few
The Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) has recently partnered with SOAS’ Development department to enable single honours Development Studies students the opportunity to take part in the Development Studies Immersion Programme (DSIP) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia with Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM).Last year, for the first term of our academic year (and slightly more), I took this opportunity. I spent the first half of my final year at SOAS studying
Over the last month of summer, Term One, and the Christmas break, SOAS, partnering with ‘The Australian Consortium for In Country Studies’ (ACICIS), gave single degree Development Studies students such as myself the opportunity to study a semester abroad in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The experience has been incredibly formative, and at times, extremely challenging. However, despite facing bumps in the road, I ultimately found the time spent in Indonesia participating in
Cross-stitching or phulkari has been around me for as long as I can remember. My nanu (maternal grandmother) was skilled in the art of cross-stitching, and she passed it down to my mother as well. Throughout the various homes I’ve lived in, I’ve always been able to admire fully handmade, meticulous, ornate cross-stitch work whether in wall hangings, cushion covers, or as embroidery on clothing. In a similar way, Manpreet
A reflection from the recent Drugs and Disorder conference (“image of coca farmers Colombia – Bing images,” n.d.) I had a chance to attend the Drugs and Disorder Conference from Feb 14-16, where I had an opportunity to learn about how drugs affect individual lives in Myanmar and Colombia ; I specifically learned how the demand for the cocaine that comes from the manufacturing process of coca leaves has impacted
Learning from research on illicit drug economies in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Myanmar. Starting from February 14, a group of academics and stakeholders will come together to share the latest research findings on the effect of illicit drug economies in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Myanmar. The conference will focus on the role of drugs in terms of peacebuilding and development in these conflict-affected states. The conference will feature country-specific and thematic analysis,
