Hamish Kallin
@hamishkallin.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Edinburgh. Interested in cities, housing, capitalism. Sometime artist and drummer.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
Everything in this report reflects on what we value, for communities, for peripheral places, for young people, for education, for the future - and it looks like we’ve got it all wrong.
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?
When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Everything in this report reflects on what we value, for communities, for peripheral places, for young people, for education, for the future - and it looks like we’ve got it all wrong.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
Top tip: to avoid having the British Union of Fascists logo on the side of your mock-up train, don't use horrible text-to-image AI slop instead of actual designers and artists.
www.scotsman.com/news/transpo...
www.scotsman.com/news/transpo...
February 2, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Top tip: to avoid having the British Union of Fascists logo on the side of your mock-up train, don't use horrible text-to-image AI slop instead of actual designers and artists.
www.scotsman.com/news/transpo...
www.scotsman.com/news/transpo...
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
If there's a financial crisis at the University of Edinburgh, it is of senior management's making. Staff and students deserve answers. Why should we trust a senior management team responsible for such mismanagement to 'fix' this?
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/depreci...
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/depreci...
Depreciating the University of Edinburgh into the Ground — UCU Edinburgh
There are four key takeaways from the University of Edinburgh’s 2024-25 annual report, which this post explores: The University continues to make a sizeable surplus. What financial pressures exi...
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk
January 29, 2026 at 9:40 AM
If there's a financial crisis at the University of Edinburgh, it is of senior management's making. Staff and students deserve answers. Why should we trust a senior management team responsible for such mismanagement to 'fix' this?
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/depreci...
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/depreci...
My klezmer band Och Vey are playing alongside Edinburgh-based Italian folk band The Badwills on 21st Feb, followed by a cumbia set from Peruvian DJ él-pi-b0y. It's gonna be fun, and you're invited. Tickets via www.skiddle.com/e/41960406
January 19, 2026 at 11:50 AM
My klezmer band Och Vey are playing alongside Edinburgh-based Italian folk band The Badwills on 21st Feb, followed by a cumbia set from Peruvian DJ él-pi-b0y. It's gonna be fun, and you're invited. Tickets via www.skiddle.com/e/41960406
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Let’s be clear: if the Palestine Action hunger strikers die, the government will bear moral responsibility | George Monbiot
The three remaining hunger strikers have been convicted of nothing. Yet with astonishing cruelty, ministers refuse to listen to their reasonable demands, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:07 AM
If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
utterly depressing to read of the plans to demolish Argyle House, another modernist jewel potentially disappearing from Edinburgh’s urban fabric after the loss of the RBS building on Dundas Street.
November 12, 2025 at 7:48 AM
utterly depressing to read of the plans to demolish Argyle House, another modernist jewel potentially disappearing from Edinburgh’s urban fabric after the loss of the RBS building on Dundas Street.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
Some of our most precarious members, tutors and demonstrators on 'guaranteed hours' contracts, have had their work hours cut or disappeared entirely in management's cost cutting spree. All the money paid to Nous could have gone to them.
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.theferret.scot/consultancy-...
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.theferret.scot/consultancy-...
‘Nousferatu’: the notorious consultancy advising Edinburgh uni amid 'huge' cuts
Scotland’s largest university has turned to Nous Group at the same time as it is making savings that could lead to nearly 2,000 job losses. Staff say they were misled about the extent of its work.
www.theferret.scot
November 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Some of our most precarious members, tutors and demonstrators on 'guaranteed hours' contracts, have had their work hours cut or disappeared entirely in management's cost cutting spree. All the money paid to Nous could have gone to them.
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.theferret.scot/consultancy-...
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.theferret.scot/consultancy-...
At this rate, I honestly don't know why we aren't seeing mass riots against AI, which drains our most precious resources, replaces our jobs, steals our culture, will likely break our economy (again), infantalises us, and syphons money up to the uber rich who see themselves as rulers of our future.
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates on.ft.com/4ij0yh8
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates
A burning platform
on.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:50 PM
At this rate, I honestly don't know why we aren't seeing mass riots against AI, which drains our most precious resources, replaces our jobs, steals our culture, will likely break our economy (again), infantalises us, and syphons money up to the uber rich who see themselves as rulers of our future.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
This is one of the big accounts boosting Tommy Robinson, Farage and Reform and ‘English Patriots’.
It’s Russian.
It’s Russian.
November 24, 2025 at 9:29 AM
This is one of the big accounts boosting Tommy Robinson, Farage and Reform and ‘English Patriots’.
It’s Russian.
It’s Russian.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
I do hope that Peter Mathieson can hear this from his office and that he is finding it REALLY annoying. Well done, @hamishkallin.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 10:34 AM
I do hope that Peter Mathieson can hear this from his office and that he is finding it REALLY annoying. Well done, @hamishkallin.bsky.social
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
RALLY TOMORROW!
Join the fightback against job cuts!
Wednesday 19th November at 1pm at the
Scottish parliament.
Join the fightback against job cuts!
Wednesday 19th November at 1pm at the
Scottish parliament.
November 18, 2025 at 4:39 PM
RALLY TOMORROW!
Join the fightback against job cuts!
Wednesday 19th November at 1pm at the
Scottish parliament.
Join the fightback against job cuts!
Wednesday 19th November at 1pm at the
Scottish parliament.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
Calling all staff and students at UoE, and all those who care about its future: join us on the picket lines!
Teach outs, picket locations, bake sale... see our FAQ
#UCU
#WearetheUniversity
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/industrial-d...
Teach outs, picket locations, bake sale... see our FAQ
#UCU
#WearetheUniversity
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/industrial-d...
Industrial Action FAQ — UCU Edinburgh
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Calling all staff and students at UoE, and all those who care about its future: join us on the picket lines!
Teach outs, picket locations, bake sale... see our FAQ
#UCU
#WearetheUniversity
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/industrial-d...
Teach outs, picket locations, bake sale... see our FAQ
#UCU
#WearetheUniversity
#StopStaffCutsatUoE
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/industrial-d...
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
SAVE GEOGRAPHY at Leicester University (UK) - We call on the University of Leicester to urgently reconsider the proposal to dissolve Geography. This is direct attack on the discipline of Geography at Leicester with likely loss of Geography staff. Please sign + share
www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
November 7, 2025 at 12:02 PM
SAVE GEOGRAPHY at Leicester University (UK) - We call on the University of Leicester to urgently reconsider the proposal to dissolve Geography. This is direct attack on the discipline of Geography at Leicester with likely loss of Geography staff. Please sign + share
www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
my band Shinlifter have their EP launch on Saturday and with impeccable timing our Instagram has been hacked so we’ve lost our main channel for promoting it. if anyone wanted to help share this brilliant poster by my pal Grace there, here or elsewhere we’d be very grateful!
October 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
my band Shinlifter have their EP launch on Saturday and with impeccable timing our Instagram has been hacked so we’ve lost our main channel for promoting it. if anyone wanted to help share this brilliant poster by my pal Grace there, here or elsewhere we’d be very grateful!
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
Universities across the world seeing this:
"its only wrong 45% of the time!!
Lets buy free licenses for our students, staff and faculty!!
Lets lock into contracts with rapacious predatory AI companies with shitty technofascist politics, sucking up water and jacking up electricity prices!!"
"its only wrong 45% of the time!!
Lets buy free licenses for our students, staff and faculty!!
Lets lock into contracts with rapacious predatory AI companies with shitty technofascist politics, sucking up water and jacking up electricity prices!!"
October 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Universities across the world seeing this:
"its only wrong 45% of the time!!
Lets buy free licenses for our students, staff and faculty!!
Lets lock into contracts with rapacious predatory AI companies with shitty technofascist politics, sucking up water and jacking up electricity prices!!"
"its only wrong 45% of the time!!
Lets buy free licenses for our students, staff and faculty!!
Lets lock into contracts with rapacious predatory AI companies with shitty technofascist politics, sucking up water and jacking up electricity prices!!"
Chakrabortty on fine form: this is economically, politically, and morally bankrupt nonsense from Steve Reed, the new Labour housing minister.
A leaked memo, a Maga-style hat and a trail of broken pledges – it’s Labour’s great housing betrayal | Aditya Chakrabortty
Ignore the bombast: Steve ‘build, baby, build’ Reed’s boast looks likely to end in targets more pathetic than they are now, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
www.theguardian.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Chakrabortty on fine form: this is economically, politically, and morally bankrupt nonsense from Steve Reed, the new Labour housing minister.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
New commentary in Transactions:
'Decolonial limits to Henri Lefebvre's spatial revolution' by James D. Sidaway
In this commentary, Sidaway responds to @hamishkallin.bsky.social's recent TIBG paper on the reconciliation of anarchist and Marxist approaches in geography.
doi.org/10.1111/tran...
'Decolonial limits to Henri Lefebvre's spatial revolution' by James D. Sidaway
In this commentary, Sidaway responds to @hamishkallin.bsky.social's recent TIBG paper on the reconciliation of anarchist and Marxist approaches in geography.
doi.org/10.1111/tran...
September 16, 2025 at 10:46 AM
New commentary in Transactions:
'Decolonial limits to Henri Lefebvre's spatial revolution' by James D. Sidaway
In this commentary, Sidaway responds to @hamishkallin.bsky.social's recent TIBG paper on the reconciliation of anarchist and Marxist approaches in geography.
doi.org/10.1111/tran...
'Decolonial limits to Henri Lefebvre's spatial revolution' by James D. Sidaway
In this commentary, Sidaway responds to @hamishkallin.bsky.social's recent TIBG paper on the reconciliation of anarchist and Marxist approaches in geography.
doi.org/10.1111/tran...
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
I see we're at the "put Jewish people on a special surveillance list" stage of "combating antisemitism"
UC Berkeley has given the Trump administration the names of 160 students, faculty, and staff as part of an investigation into antisemitism on campus. One of them is Judith Butler. www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
UC Berkeley gives Trump administration 160 names in antisemitism probe
UC Berkeley gave the Trump administration the names of 160 students, faculty and staff and info about their “potential connection to reports of alleged antisemitism” — sparking due-process...
www.sfchronicle.com
September 13, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I see we're at the "put Jewish people on a special surveillance list" stage of "combating antisemitism"
Playing on pickets is always immensely fun, I recommend it.
🔉🎵 Sound Up! Great support for our striking workers from Old College passers-by and Och Vey, a local Klezmer band!
September 11, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Playing on pickets is always immensely fun, I recommend it.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
We're striking to stop budget cuts and mass redundancies and standing up for the future of our students' education. There is no deficit.
September 10, 2025 at 11:20 AM
We're striking to stop budget cuts and mass redundancies and standing up for the future of our students' education. There is no deficit.
Interesting reflection on the removal of the Kirkgate benches by Connor Robertson. What did it signify and why does it matter? "The benches are back, but the battle for the right to the city continues."
Holding the Line: Gentrification and the Dispossession of the Kirkgate Benches
EXCLUSIVE FEATURE
www.discontent.wtf
September 3, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Interesting reflection on the removal of the Kirkgate benches by Connor Robertson. What did it signify and why does it matter? "The benches are back, but the battle for the right to the city continues."
Lovely show on the life and politics of the anarchist Colin Ward on @resonancefm.bsky.social just now. You can listen via the link below.
Resonance Extra
Resonance Extra is a 24/7 digital broadcasting platform dedicated to global music, sound art and radio art based at Resonance, London's community radio station for the arts.
extra.resonance.fm
August 14, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Lovely show on the life and politics of the anarchist Colin Ward on @resonancefm.bsky.social just now. You can listen via the link below.
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
Israeli forces bulldozed Palestinian seed bank in Al-Khalil/Hebron, home to 22 years of seed collection efforts to preserve heritage varieties and plants with valuable traits: e360.yale.edu/digest/hebro...
Israeli Forces Bulldoze Palestinian Seed Bank
e360.yale.edu
August 10, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Israeli forces bulldozed Palestinian seed bank in Al-Khalil/Hebron, home to 22 years of seed collection efforts to preserve heritage varieties and plants with valuable traits: e360.yale.edu/digest/hebro...
Reposted by Hamish Kallin
There was a time when the government would piss on us and tell us it was raining; now they're pissing on us and telling us it's piss.
Labour homelessness minister Rushanara Ali threw four tenants out of her east London townhouse before relisting the property for £700 a month more in rent, The i Paper can reveal trib.al/E59gUNW
August 7, 2025 at 10:55 AM
There was a time when the government would piss on us and tell us it was raining; now they're pissing on us and telling us it's piss.