Prof Katherine Brickell

🌟 Thrilled to share some exciting news 🌟

I have been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, which I will be carrying out at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social in collaboration with @kbrickell.bsky.social, Westminster City Council, and @justinkadi.bsky.social.

More details here ⤵️

Screenshot of a Wall Street Journal article titled "The Big Money in Today’s Economy Is Going to Capital, Not Labor." Two charts show trends since 1980: corporate profits rising as a share of gross domestic income, while labor compensation steadily declines.

The Wall Street Journal just illustrated the core argument of my book: a system rigged to reward capital over labor is one in which even full-time work no longer secures the most basic material needs.

This is the economic order that produces the "working homeless."

www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

Yesterday in Parliament we launched the report: “It’s Like Torture”: Life in Temporary Accommodation for Neurodivergent Children and Their Families.

📖 www.sensorylivesproject.org/policy

📯Please share!

Ruth Curtice, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The 13 million working-age families across the poorest half of the country are widely courted by politicians. But despite working harder they have seen their disposable incomes stagnate, as they grapple with shrinking pay rises, higher costs and a growing struggle with their health and care needs. “The stalling of disposable incomes means that many families’ hopes of home ownership have evaporated and work is not a guaranteed a route out of poverty. “If politicians want to regain the trust of the families of Unsung Britain, they need to get the economy growing again so that pay rises pick up, while also putting their specific needs at the heart of efforts to turn the country around. If they fail to do so, the economic malaise facing Unsung Britain risks fuelling further political disruption.”

🚨 Major NEW research published today 🚨

Our book Unsung Britain reveals that squeezed families now face waiting more than a lifetime for the doubling of living standards we used to enjoy every 40 years.

Full findings here 👉 buff.ly/7WcqrbQ

Grateful to The Landmark Trust for the space + time to come together through their "Futures" programme to prepare for the parliamentary launch of our report today.

📘 Report: www.sensorylivesproject.org/policy

💡 Landmark Futures: www.landmarktrust.org.uk/get-involved...

Highly recommend applying!

PhD candidate within Gender Studies and/or STS: Imagining Positive Energy Futures (294972) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology Job title: PhD candidate within Gender Studies and/or STS: Imagining Positive Energy Futures (294972), Employer: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Deadline: Sunday, March 15, 2026

Some colleagues in my old department in Trondheim are recruiting a PhD candidate in Gender Studies and/or STS on the "Imagining Positive Energy Futures" project. 3 years, fully funded. Norway's a good place to do a PhD and Trondheim's a nice place to live!

Wood burners may treble children’s exposure to pollution in homes, study finds Research in Wales found that home, not outdoor travel, was largest contributor to children’s daily exposure

“Children living in homes with wood burners could be exposed to over three times more pollution than those in non-wood-burning homes.”

Article by @drgaryfuller.bsky.social

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/06/children-living-homes-wood-burners-exposed-pollution

Trans-exclusionary data activism in the UK In the UK, the design and management of sex and gender categories in data – including census questions, police and health records, and digital ID – has become a key focus of trans-exclusionary acti...

If you were interested in @jaytoddgla.bsky.social’s and my critical response to the “Sullivan Review” yesterday, make sure you read @kevinguyan.bsky.social’s very recently published “Trans-exclusionary data activism in the UK”
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Charities ‘disappointed’ after government scraps flooring requirement from new DHS Charities and sector groups have said it is “disappointing” that the government has scrapped a proposed flooring requirement from the Decent Homes Standard.

⚠️ Government has got it wrong, scrapping flooring from the Decent Homes Standard.

💷 When a home comes without floors, it comes with debt – esp. for people after homelessness + domestic abuse.

Read more on my thoughts @insidehousing.bsky.social

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/chariti...

We're recruiting 2 PhD candidates in human geography here in Uppsala, one position focused on urban/housing issues and one in political ecology.

Please spread the word/repost etc. Being a PhD student in Sweden is a good gig.

A question on #TemporaryAccommodation #Neurodiversity tabled by Adam Dance on 27-01-2026 has been answered by Alison McGovern. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-01-27/108930

Helpful thread here on UKRI + strategy. Vital in any cross-disciplinary calls that arts, humanities + social sciences have a central and transformative role, and hopefully aren't seen as 'service sciences' stuck on at the end of the pipe to assess public opinion or 'convince' the public about tech.

Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.

Hot off the press - a letter from the Exec Chair of @ukri.org explaining his plans and in particular the financial position of STFC. It notes curiosity driven research is protected and will make up around half of UKRI spend over the coming period
www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.

BIG news from @bloomberg.com, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* multiple commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps.

This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — literal warehousing of people.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

We need to speak about the safeguarding crisis facing neurodivergent children in temporary accommodation These conditions dismantle the foundations that neurodivergent children rely on, write King’s College London academics Rosalie Warnock and Katherine Brickell.

⚠️ What is happening to neurodivergent children in temporary accommodation is a SAFEGUARDING FAILURE ⚠️

📕 'It's like torture' report: www.sensorylivesproject.org/policy

🗞️ Read our Inside Housing "comment": www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/we-n...

Good grief. Do people who don't go to uni not benefit from doctors, librarians, researchers, lawyers, architects, artists, writers, archivists, historians, designers, programmers, etc etc etc...? What is this weird unjoined up world she imagines?

⏰ This Friday ⏰

Do come to this @homelessnessimpact.bsky.social event if you are interested to learn more about the links between problem debt and homelessness.

I'll be speaking about my book "Debt Trap Nation: Family Homelessness in a Failing State".

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/homelessne...

The housing crisis is killing us.

Feeling at Home Housing is more than bricks and mortar. Feeling at Home grapples with the practical and emotional questions of housing – domestic labour, privacy, security, ownership, and health. Is it possible to im...

My book Feeling at Home is out in paperback today! It's a call for a more radical struggle for housing and a transformed vision of home www.versobooks.com/en-gb/produc... @versobooks.bsky.social

Read our report here: www.sensorylivesproject.org/policy

Temporary accommodation in England is ‘torture’ for neurodivergent children, report finds Exclusive: Parents said their children had become withdrawn or hypervigilant because of uncertainty, unsafe environments and removal of support

“It’s like torture”: our new report reveals how Temporary Accommodation is harming neurodivergent children and families across the UK. Based on a nationwide call for evidence, it sets out urgent policy asks for change.

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Geographers, in case you missed this detail, Alex Pretti graduated from the Minnesota Geography department in 2011.

RGS 2026 CfP Family as site of environmental politics RGS Call for papers - RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2026 – London, England (1st-4th  September 2026) Session title: The family as a site of environmental politics Co-organisers: Leah Edwards [Durham U...

CfP for @rgsibg.bsky.social annual conference just dropped! Organised by @geogdurham.bsky.social 's Leah Edwards and myself: The Family as Site of Environmental Politics. Please share widely!

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Couldn’t agree more!

Last week, @rosalie-warnock.bsky.social and I met Oliver Persey (Barrister, @gardencourtlaw.bsky.social) to discuss our research on experiences of neurodivergent children in Temporary Accommodation.

A key topic – speed is a justice issue, particularly for children moved out of area.

Department of Geography and Environment | LSE Study geography and environment at LSE. Explore world-leading research, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and a vibrant academic community.

Hello Bluesky!

We’re the Department of Geography and Environment at LSE. Follow us here for department news, events, research highlights, and opportunities.

🔗 lse.ac.uk/geography-and-environment

Cove of When Home Is a Photograph: Blackness and Belonging in the World by Leigh Raiford.The cover features a silver iridescent couch on a hardwood floor surrounded by a gallery wall of framed artwork and photographs on a white wall. The art is arranged by color to create a rainbow. Above this the title appears in a bold sans serif all caps font aligned left in a gradient from purple to pink. In the upper right corner the subtitle appears in a black serif font. The author's name appears below in all caps in the same font.

In "When Home Is a Photograph," Leigh Raiford asks how Black people use photography to make home in the world through an exploration of the practices of Black American activists and artists. #BlackStudies Read the intro for free now: buff.ly/lMkphrj

States of precarity in UK Higher Education geography Findings from a discipline-focused research project exploring the lived realities of precarious academic work within UK Higher Education geography.

Today we launch States of Precarity in UK HE Geography.

Thank you to the 364 colleagues whose experiences shaped this work.

Download the report, share widely, and join us in advocating for change.

Launch event (1:00-2:30GMT):
www.rgs.org/events/upcom...

Read report:
www.rgs.org/research/hig...

Incredible article which points out that it often collectively costs more to apply for scarce research funding than the funds awarded to the successful proposals.

What an absurd system we've built in the service of efficiency and competition.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...