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
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,
This post is written by Christian Lund who is Professor of Development, Resource Management, and Governance, at the Department of Food and Resource Economics, at Copenhagen University. It is part of the Journal of Agrarian Change blog, hosted on the Development Studies at SOAS blog. The Burning Forest. India’s War in Bastar, by Nandini Sundar. Delhi: Juggernaut, 2016. Pp. 413+xvi. ₹ (Indian Rupees) 699 (cloth). ISBN 978-93-8622-800-0. Terror is at the heart
Michael Jennings is a Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His research interests include the politics and history of development processes in sub-Saharan Africa; governance, civil society, non-governmental organisations and faith-based organisations; and social aspects of health in Africa. On the scale of some of the things that emerged from the mouth of now US president-elect Donald Trump on the campaign scale, allegedly calling
Emma Saville (MSc Violence, Conflict and Development 2014) is the Education Programme Manager at PositiveNegatives. Emma’s book, Human Trafficking as a Weapon of War: Sudan a Case Study, has recently been published. She tweets from @_EmmaSaville_. An estimated 35.8 million persons are thought to be currently enslaved worldwide. Human trafficking is a fundamental violation of human rights that has been referred to by some as a form of ‘modern-day slavery’ (see
Alfredo Saad Filho is Professor of Political Economy at the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His research interests include the political economy of neoliberalism, industrial policy, alternative macroeconomic policies, and the labour theory of value and its applications. The judicial coup against President Dilma Rousseff is the culmination of the deepest political crisis in Brazil for 50 years. Every so often, the bourgeois political system runs into crisis. The machinery of
Michael Jennings is a Senior Lecturer in the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His research interests include the politics and history of development processes in sub-Saharan Africa; governance, civil society, non-governmental organisations and faith-based organisations; and social aspects of health in Africa. This article is an abridged version of a post which first appeared on Michael Jennings’ Africa, Development and Politics blog. In a recent foray away from the usual Facebook
Ryan Brading is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Development Studies at SOAS. He is author of the 2013 book Populism in Venezuela. His research interests include populist politics in Latin America and East Asia. December elections leave Chavismo in disarray The death of the charismatic President Hugo Chávez in March 2013 left an emotional, political and institutional vacuum in Venezuela. Chávez’s fiery rhetoric and alpha male persona captured
Joe Buckley studied the MSc Labour, Social Movements and Development programme at SOAS from 2012-2013. He is currently a PhD candidate in the SOAS Department of Development Studies, researching labour informalisation in Vietnam. He Tweets at @JoeJBBuckley. International trade deals are often condemned because of the effect they will have on workers’ wages, conditions, and bargaining power. In America, Democrat party members and trade unionists are currently campaigning against the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Subir Sinha is Senior Lecturer in Institutions and Development in the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His recent research has focused on decentralised development in India, early postcolonial planning, and on the global fishworkers’ movement. He Tweets at @PoMoGandhi. Social science wisdom has long held that Indian elections are determined by ‘primoridial’ collective identities of caste, religion and region. Certainly, all political parties combine these elements in their election calculus, from
