Till Mostowlansky

Humanitarianism from Below? Since the late twentieth century, wealthy nations and international organisations have claimed a monopoly on humanitarianism. Even critical views of this regime of global aid and assistance have reinf...

Congratulations to @mostowlansky.bsky.social, Elmira Muratova, and everyone who contributed to Humanitarianism from Below? Universalism and the Politics of Inhumanity, which publishes today! Read and download it free: uclpress.co.uk/book/humanit...

Download free from here: discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

Humanitarianism from Below? Since the late twentieth century, wealthy nations and international organisations have claimed a monopoly on humanitarianism. Even critical views of this regime of global aid and assistance have reinf...

uclpress.co.uk/book/humanit...

Written by leading scholars in the field, Humanitarianism from Below? forcefully illustrates that these humanitarian actors do not merely represent grassroots initiatives but have altered humanitarianism at large, involving alternative economies and politics.

Mostly invisible to Western publics, this humanitarianism has reshaped global landscapes of aid; from protecting Indigenous communities in Canada to African diasporic initiatives in response to the Ebola pandemic; from Islamic economies of giving to crowdfunding aid in Ukraine.

At the same time, around the world various humanitarian institutions and practices have flourished that remain outside this realm.

Since the late twentieth century, wealthy nations and international organisations have claimed a monopoly on humanitarianism. Even critical views of this regime of global aid and assistance have reinforced the image of a phenomenon shaped by Euro-American politics of life.

New book out in Open Access with UCL Press, co-edited with Elmira Muratova, with chapters on case studies ranging from Ukraine, Turkey-Afghanistan, diasporic West Africa, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan-Kuwait, and Indigenous Canada. Free download from the link in the thread.

Shush! How silence is destroying European universities from within - Allegra Lab The camera shows a deserted, dilapidated room somewhere in war-torn Ukraine. On an intercepted phone call a Russian soldier argues with his wife back

New essay out co-authored with @mostowlansky.bsky.social on #AcademicFreedom, fear and the culture of silence in European universities. Published on @allegralab.bsky.social
@easainfo.bsky.social

allegralaboratory.net/shush-how-si...

New PhD 👉 Digital technologies, mobility, and border violence in European borderlands | by 🎓 Nina Khamsy
@gvagrad.bsky.social y.social @mostowlansky.bsky.social

📲 How does #ethnography reveal new links between #digital #technology and border #violence?

👁️ 👁️ Read the interview shorturl.at/fRKPJ

How Chinese Miners Adapt to Kyrgyzstan’s Legal Compliance Negative public perception about Chinese expansion into Kyrgyzstan, along with an unpredictable regulatory environment, has profoundly shaped Chinese business practices inside Kyrgyzstan. Despite comm...

Commentary with @adoolotkeldieva.bsky.social on how Chinese mining companies in Kyrgyzstan have worked to adapt to a state court system in which compliance as such is an impossibility. @gvagrad.bsky.social

carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/0...

Agreed, these decisions are often opaque. My impression of these engagements over the past two decades: sector trends, “fashions” and ambitions in Bern blend with priorities and desires in Dushanbe. It’s not very coherent for a reason.

Promoting democracy in authoritarian Tajikistan – is Switzerland making a difference? While the government of Tajikistan’s long-standing ruler grows more repressive, Switzerland continues to support human rights – a delicate balancing act.

Should Switzerland pump development funds for digitalisation into an autocracy? Some of my thoughts here: www.swissinfo.ch/eng/democrac...

Congrats! Looking forward to reading this 💫

Academic Freedom Under Fire: Why It Matters and How to Protect It Graduate Institute What Matters Today · Episode

In this interview, I talk about the importance of #academicfreedom, the challenges it faces globally, and the ways in which academics & researchers can promote and defend this essential liberty. @gvagrad.bsky.social @easainfo.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/0kuI...

I am hiring a PhD researcher! Join our international team of Social scientists and take part in an exciting collaborative research project that seeks to push interdisciplinary boundaries in innovative ways!

Job alarm with the fabulous @juliebillaud.bsky.social in a project on “Digital Humanitarianism: Governing Vulnerable Populations in an Age of Technological Innovation”, hosted by @gvagrad.bsky.social

erecruit.graduateinstitute.ch/recrutement/...

Small Grants Scheme - Delta on the Move Foundation Small Grants Scheme The Foundation’s Small Grants Scheme has been established to support creative scholarship and independent projects with an inter-disciplinary and inter-Asian nature that may not ha...

Great funding opportunity for scholarly - creative - transdisciplinary projects that relate to Asia in the broadest sense possible (and no, there is no fascist language code that you have to adhere to in order to get funded):

deltamove.org/small-grants...

“On the advice of a friendly tattoo studio owner in Baghdad Pete finally decided to go for a short but beautiful Arab calligraphy from the studio’s booklet.”

The New York Times is the first to put out comprehensive estimates on the cost of a year without U.S.A.I.D. and they’re higher than I thought:
- 1.65 million deaths from AIDS
- 500,000 from lack of vaccines
- 550,000 from lack of food aid
- 290,000 from malaria
- 310,000 from TB

Oh gosh these absolute morons. My commiserations

republicans: fyi we are bombing france for being too gay and lead poisoning is now mandatory

democrats: yeah? well prepare yourselves for several strongly worded haikus

Trump says he 'can't believe' he called Zelensky 'dictator' "Did I say that? I can't believe I would say that," U.S. President Donald Trump responded when asked whether he still considers President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator."

No space in history books for all these twists and lies.

kyivindependent.com/trump-says-h...

This is a good summary.

This term, my colleague @mostowlansky.bsky.social and I are teaching a course on 'Comparative Humanitarianisms' @gvagrad-mint.bsky.social The course offers a grounded understanding of key debates in different humanitarian traditions. More info here 👇

www.graduateinstitute.ch/communicatio...

Professor Billaud (@juliebillaud.bsky.social) and Professor Mostowlansky (@mostowlansky.bsky.social) discuss their Spring 2025 Course on Comparative Humanitarianisms. Read more about it here 👇

It's testimony to a materially, politically and socially highly complex country in which an existential war is top of the agenda but in which people's lives are defined by many more fine-grained aspects of mundane existence and far-reaching histories. Have a read!

Pasts Cast in Concrete and Steel? Infrastructure and the War in Ukraine - Allegra Lab In May 2024, following a barrage of Russian missile attacks on power stations across Ukraine, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that citizens had to

I have held a professorship in urban studies at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) sind the beginning of this year. If you would like to get some insights into what my students and I have been up to have a look at this short article based on our collaboration.

allegralaboratory.net/pasts-cast-i...