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
This blog was written by postgraduate student Âurea Mouzinho as an assessment for the module ‘Global Commodity Chains, Production Networks and Informal Work’, and selected for the blog by Dr Alessandra Mezzadri. Along the 22 kilometres that stretch between the iconic Largo da Independência in Luanda’s city centre and the special industrial zone in the district of Viana, the presence of informal street vendors is ubiquitous. On any given day,
This blog was written by postgraduate student Adam Charles Wilman as an assessment for the module ‘Global Commodity Chains, Production Networks and Informal Work’, and selected for the blog by Dr Alessandra Mezzadri. In the early 1900s American journalist Upton Sinclair published his exposé on the working conditions facing immigrant labour in American industrial cities. His grizzly illustrations were first published in the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason in 1905
This blog was written by undergraduate student Amy Rosetta Jose as an assessment for the module ‘Issues in global commodity chains, production networks and informal work’, and selected for the blog by Dr Alessandra Mezzadri. “I make school uniforms and can’t afford to send my daughter to school”. These are the words of a mother in Bangladesh, interviewed in The Mirror, who makes school uniforms for Tesco and Sainsbury’s for
This post is written by Liam Campling, Cristóbal Kay, Jens Lerche, Bridget O’Laughlin, and Carlos Oya. It was originally published on Agrarian Questions, the website of the editors of the Journal of Agrarian Change. We are pleased to announce that Enric Tello, Gabriel Jover, Ivan Murray, Onofre Fullana and Ricard Soto have been awarded the 2018 Bernstein & Byres Prize for their article ‘From feudal colonization to agrarian capitalism in Mallorca: Peasant endurance under
This post is written by Kira Brenner, Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Development Studies at SOAS. In July of 2018, I met a group of women who had been occupying their former factory for six months, located in an industrial area outside of the tourist city of Monastir, on the central coast of Tunisia. The factory closed in December, and their sit-in began immediately after. They have suffered numerous
This post is written by Alessandra Mezzadri, Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at SOAS and author of The Sweatshop Regime (CUP, 2017). When it comes to the fate of sweatshop workers worldwide, one of the most under-researched areas of concern is what happens to them upon leaving the sweatshop. We know all about the poor wages they get, their little access to social contributions, and their great exposure to occupational health
This post has been jointly written by the editors of the Journal of Agrarian Change: Liam Campling, Cristóbal Kay, Jens Lerche, and Carlos Oya. It is part of the Journal of Agrarian Change blog, hosted on the Development Studies at SOAS blog. The ‘Bernstein & Byres Prize’ has been awarded since 2008 by the Journal of Agrarian Change (JAC) to the best article published in that year. An award of £500 is
This post is written by John M. Talbot, Chair of the Political Economy of the World System section of the American Sociological Association. It is part of the Journal of Agrarian Change blog, hosted on the Development Studies at SOAS blog. Mobilizing Labour for the Global Coffee Market: Profits from an Unfree Work Regime in Colonial Java, by Jan Breman. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2015. Pp. 404 + 8 Plates €99 (hb). ISBN
