Julie Ren

Ontological locationality: A reflection on positionality - Julie Ren, 2025 Palat Narayanan's concept of ontological locationality – the position from which research concerns emerge, distinct from geography or researcher identity –...

My commentary on the idea of ontological locationality, and how it relates to positionality in Dialogues in Urban Research, in conversation with N. Palat Narayanan journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A (post-)socialist reading of Creating Chinese Urbanism by Fulong Wu, driven by an agenda to expand the reading of certain geographies by certain geographers. With thoughts by S.Ferenčuhová, T.Tuvikene, E.Trubina, @liviu-chelcea.bsky.social, N.Kinossian www.urbangeographyjournal.org/journal/book...

More than a rough sleeper: Framing and examining holistic approaches to poverty alleviation at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - More than a rough sleeper: Framing and examining holistic approaches to poverty alleviation at The University of Manchester, listed on FindAPhD.com

🚨 I'm recruiting a funded MA + PhD to research poverty alleviation models w/ a leading Greater Manchester organisation!
More than a rough sleeper: Framing & examining holistic approaches to poverty alleviation.
Deadline: July 1 | Start: October
UK/home students only www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Hiring a PhD researcher with Aspirational Urbanism and the Recodification of Defiance. Offering 4-year fully-funded joint degree with University of Basel and University of Amsterdam. Ideal candidate speaks Mandarin, Cantonese & English. Deadline June 18. career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job...

Germany Turns to U.S. Playbook: Deportations Target Gaza War Protesters Four Gaza protesters in Germany are set for deportations despite objections from an immigration official that none were convicted of crimes.

Germany Turns to U.S. Playbook: Deportations Target Gaza War Protesters - my latest @theintercept.com
theintercept.com/2025/03/31/g...

A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time:

Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.

"Masculinities in transit" a forum on Romit Chowdhury's book City of Men (@rutgersupress.bsky.social) with Sanjay Srivastava, Wangui Kimari, Manali Desai, Greg Noble, @colinmcfarlane.bsky.social, @plyushteva.bsky.social in @urbangeography.bsky.social: www.urbangeographyjournal.org/journal/book...

📣 JOB ALERT
PostDoc (3+3 years) and PhD (3 years) in Cultural Geography/Society-Environment Research in the new Society-Environment Research Group at @fau.de
Deadline: 28 March 2025.

More info here:
www.geographie.nat.fau.de/job-offer-po...
Do get in touch with any questions!

Critical geographies of everyday crisis In various domains of social and political life, ‘crisis’ has become a ubiquitous taken-for-granted narrative. This ubiquity risks diminishing the political significance and meaning of the term and...

"Everyday crisis" as a framework to facilitate the reading of quieter registers of subjectivity, agency, politics. The ubiquity of crisis narratives risks diminishing its significance. How to grapple with crisis as a condition without normalizing it? With @ifidimi.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1360...

"Reworking relations of epistemological authority in teaching collaborations" w Hanna Hilbrandt, a critical reflection on prj w Sans-Papiers & students now out as part of special feature "Decolonising urban knowledge(s): an ordinary imperative in extraordinary times" in City doi.org/10.1080/1360...

Began as a discussion at the Deutscher Kongress für Geographie 2023, with contributions by N. Appelhans, I. Carstensen-Egwuom, M. Houssay-Holzschuch, S. Myat, L. Nkula-Wenz, M. Larsen, N. Palat Narayanan, GenUrb Collective, N. Sami, M. Streule @ankeschwarz.bsky.social y.social

"Doing urban geography in times of crisis" co-organized w H. Hilbrandt, now @ Geographica Helvetica. From the impact of right-wing media on uni admin, to the subjects doing research navigating the growing incompatibilities of institutional rules v. academic aims gh.copernicus.org/articles/80/...

Previous link went awry, use this updated link: career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job...

today FNV union members begin our strike at the uni of amsterdam. our exec. board continues to impose antidemocratic limits on protest & refuses to cut ties with institutions complicit in grave human rights violations. but the university isn’t them, it’s students & workers www.fnv.nl/cao-sector/o...

Universität Basel: Postdoctoral Researcher (FTE) The University of Basel, Switzerland, invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher (100% FTE) for the project Aspirational Urbanism and the Recodification of Defiance (ASPIRA) The function of a ...

Hiring a postdoctoral researcher on the project "Aspirational Urbanism and the Recodification of Defiance," 4 years, full time, based at the University of Basel. Deadline Dec 20. See details: jobs.unibas.ch/offene-stell...

"Crisis and Collectives Shaping Art Events: From Events that Matter to Events that Care" now online at Third Text, written with Charlotte Matter, Rosa Sancarlo and Virginia Marano, partly an outcome of our crisis-shaped reading. Available open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Cover page with title and university logo

Collaboration is not an elixir; it can be enormously challenging under the best circumstances. And yet we hope "Research-based collaboration: A toolkit for teaching and learning" might inspire/inform new efforts: www.zueri-urban.com/toolkit

#AcademicSky #FeministSky @ifidimi.bsky.social

reposting from bird: join us for a symposium on the urban politics of infra-density at UZH on 14th of December 2023. With Yimin Zhao, @jonschu.bsky.social, @julieren.bsky.social, @nitin bathla, ColinMcFarlane, Gabriela Debrunner, Charlotte Lemanski and Hanna Hilbrandt www.geo.uzh.ch/en/units/sok...

"Aspirational Urbanism and the Recodification of Defiance" is a project about the cruelty of hope, about recognizing aesthetic possibilities in the face of inevitability, about Hong Kong and Taipei, and about urban theorizations at the very small scale. Thrilled about this SNSF Starting Grant.

Letter to RGS concerning de-platforming of PalFest Dear Professor Joe Smith, Nigel Clifford, Trustees, and members of the Royal Geographical Society, We write to express our deep concern with the Royal Geographical Society’s decision to cancel its h...

Geographers might want to read and sign this letter to the RGS on their de-platforming Palfest

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A Dangerous Conflation We are Jewish writers, artists, and activists who wish to disavow the widespread narrative that any criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic. Israel and its defenders have long used this rhetoric...

'We refuse the false choice between Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom; between Jewish identity and ending the oppression of Palestinians. In fact, we believe the rights of Jews and Palestinians go hand-in-hand.'

A v good overview of the state of Germany rn by @hahauenstein.bsky.social .

Racism, islamophobia, and anti-Semitism all on the rise, backed by German gvt.

Stand-out quote by Ben Mauk:
“It seems hard to get institutions and politicians in Germany to recognise that Palestinians are human beings.”

Brief aus Berlin – kritische Wissenschaftler*innen an die deutsche Politik und Öffentlichkeit Seit den Massakern der Hamas in Israel am 7.10.2023 und der darauf folgenden Kollektivbestrafung Gazas durch das israelische Militär werden in Berlin zahlreiche Proteste verboten, die sich mit der Zi...

Brief aus Berlin: kritische Wissenschaftler*innen an deutsche Politik + Öffentlichkeit

Es ist möglich, gegen antisemitische Anschläge und rassistische Polizeigewalt, gegen das Massaker der Hamas und die Kriegsverbrechen der israelischen Armee gleichzeitig zu sein.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Who Is Allowed To Do Science? | Defector On Oct. 13 Michael Eisen, the editor-in-chief of the science journal eLife, retweeted a piece from The Onion titled “Dying Gazans Criticized For Not Using Last Words To Condemn Hamas” with a singl...

I wrote about Michael Eisen's ousting from eLife for defending Palestinian life, and what kind of science can happen under occupation
defector.com/who-is-allow...

Eine Woche nachdem die rechtsextreme Demo auch vor ein geplantes Flüchtlingsheim in #Dresden-#Klotzsche zog, gab es dort jetzt einen Brandanschlag - es ist bereits der Zweite innerhalb von vier Wochen. Die Täter scheinen sich bestätigt zu fühlen.
Eine beklemmende Drohkulisse...

The risk assessment considers the safety of the event contributors and guests, our staff and contractors (cleaning, catering and security staff), and the site itself. A venue like ours (historic; set within a globally known cultural estate; ‘Royal’) is particularly exposed to risk of protest or indeed attention seeking activity by ‘bad actors’. We are in no way suggesting that such disorder would be generated by the organisers, contributors or visitors to the event. Rather we are aware of the public protest and other disruptive activity that such events can be lightning rods for at such a sensitive time. Our decision is consistent with security advice and the views of those responsible for other historically significant buildings and venues. We very much hope that the organisers will bring their events to the Society on future occasions, and as I say we have offered both full refund or postponement.

Response from the Royal Geographic Society when questioned about cancelling Palestinian Literature Festival. "Risk assessment" is the bureaucratic language used for suppression of speech. It was brought into educational facilities after Cast Lead:

Opinion | The Palestine Double Standard The task of the Palestinian is to audition for empathy and compassion. To prove that we deserve it.

Why must Palestinians audition for your empathy? Hala Alyan

www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/o...

Over 100 College Campuses Walkout Protesting for Israel Ceasefire on Gaza “We can't stay silent about this," said one student organizer.

hi Bluesky! @teenvogue.bsky.social I interviewed some of the young people coordinating an 100+ campus walkout in support of a ceasefire in Gaza today, including from the Palestinian Youth Movement and the anti-war group Dissenters. please read and share, was no small feat

A Virtual Special Issue of Politics & Space ( t.co/tBto4VKM9k ) on Critical Political Geographies of Palestine/Israel, published in the face of the current horror, containing papers since 2019, now made free-to-access.
t.co/xMRzlfRvfV