Emma Pritchard

From Slavery, Criminalization and the Civilizing Mission to Re-Articulating Human Rights amid Colonialities

I'll be speaking @torchoxford2013.bsky.social at Oxford University on 12th Feb 'The British Empire and its Legacies: From Slavery, Criminalisation and the Civilizing Mission to Re-articulating Human Rights amid Colonialities', 3.30pm Kopperberg Room, Exeter College torch.ox.ac.uk/event/the-br...

Workshop: Queer Data: Methods, Approaches, and What is Queer Social Research Anyway?

📆Friday 13th February: "Queer Data: Methods, Approaches, and What is Queer Social Research Anyway?" with @kevinguyan.bsky.social and @sociologyoxford.bsky.social. A workshop exploring how we think about and use data.

Don't miss it!

From Slavery, Criminalization and the Civilizing Mission to Re-Articulating Human Rights amid Colonialities

Two exciting events with Queer Intersections Oxford coming next week:

📆 Thursday 12th Feb 3.30pm, a seminar w/@matthewwaites.bsky.social on their chapter in their forthcoming co-edited book Colonialisms and Queer Politics. Join us for a discussion on sexualities and genders under the British Empire

I also quite enjoy Phase one being Leeds to Bradford, with Bradford not appearing on any of the maps and also being a 20 minute journey from Leeds already...

I just hadn't realised that the negotiations dividing Hull into North and South Hull had reached the point of being included on official maps...

Positive: I was absolutely right in thinking that 'Braiding Sweetgrass' would be a great birthday present for my sister.

Negative: I was so correct, she already owns it.

... ah well, late birthday present it is.

#goals

Also featuring my first solo authored paper presenting an index of LGBTIQ+ inclusion and agency in truth commissions - you should check it out: academic.oup.com/ia/article/1...

(I did a thing!)

If, for example, trans rights protesters interrupt your free right to speak that is, shockingly, covered by free speech.

Apropos of the BBC front page: The right to free speech means you can (within limits) say what you want to say and the *government* can't stop you.

It doesn't mean others can't protest what you're saying, and by that protest make it difficult for you to be heard. That is *also* free speech.

which language? which human expert? what level of expertise? in which domain? by what metric?

This is indeed the ancient wisdom I follow.

Stages of cold: if I eat enough banana bread it'll go away. Right?

I'd love to!

And they'll be very good and interesting doing it, can confirm!

Presented without comment: My top song of 2025 was 'I Say No' from Heathers.

I'm in Thailand... How have I *already* lost whammageddon?

you do have to do it in a couple of places but this tutorial makes it easy to go uncheck the boxes that otherwise lets Google's AI read all your shit. or move everything over to protonmail but moving everything over is a giant thing I know.

What progressives won’t say about abortion The sanitised narrative ignores ethical truths

Kathleen Stock has written an article against "abortion permissiveness". She claims abortion requires "justification" saying the state should limit "unacceptable decision-making" by women about their own bodies.

This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.

Headline: "Home Office to deport refugees already granted asylum in the UK"

Quote copied from the article (which is paywalled): "Under the new rules, if a refugee is already in the country and has been granted five years of leave to stay, the Home Office will not shorten their current leave. However, at the end of the five years, the government will review if their country is safe, and return the migrant if it is. If their country is not deemed safe, the migrant will not receive automatic lifetime settlement but will move to the Home Office’s new model. They will get 30 months more leave to remain before their next review, with lifetime settlement only available 20 years after their arrival."

The i Paper is reporting that once the changes are brought in, the 20 year route will be applied to refugees who are already here.

I can't over emphasise the level of terror this will cause to our refugee population, and the lack of detail and timescale will make it very difficult to calm nerves.

Mainstream loses control of agenda by mimicking far-right, study finds During the 2024 European Parliament election campaign, centrist politicians warned about the threat posed by far-right parties to democracies. Yet experts suggest the political mainstream itself is pa...

“One common strategy of mainstream political parties — adopting the same topics and rhetoric as the far-right — often backfires. Instead of reducing their appeal, it can amplify extremist narratives and legitimise their agenda.”

We cannot defeat fascism by platforming it and debating on its terms.

Dogs off-lead on shared use cycle/foot paths: discuss.

Into the annoying period when I need to put events in for next year but my diary company haven't released their 2026 diaries yet.

Starmer to end asylum ‘golden ticket’ of resettlement and family reunion rights People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’

People recognised as refugees fleeing persecution & granted the right to live in the UK to be denied the right to be joined safely by their spouse & children.

This Labour govt is a moral void, a stinking darkness, an empty hollow of cowardice & contempt. #r4today www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This is also true for LGBTIQ+ people - I've had so many more friends report instances of harassment both verbal and physical in the last year.

In other news, we are now making school cake.

The north-south divide in our house currently being played out in a Bake-off provoked argument over whether school cake has pink icing or white icing.

Does anyone have recommendations for good second hand book websites that aren't owned by Amazon?

I've gone for the opposite vibe, and dressed up very nice for my Zoom meeting where no one is going to see my outfit.

I do not like being in a version of the UK where I am actively considering whether it is safe to have the rainbow/queer stickers I have on my laptop while travelling.