Dr Maha
@maharafiatal.bsky.social
New Yorker abroad. Adam Smith Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Political Economy at University of Glasgow studying governance by/of corporations. Sometimes journalist. Always feminist.
Sunday night with the greatest movie ever made about imperial capitalism and the 20th century social revolutions that brought it down.
Teaching prep is fun sometimes.
Teaching prep is fun sometimes.
November 23, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Sunday night with the greatest movie ever made about imperial capitalism and the 20th century social revolutions that brought it down.
Teaching prep is fun sometimes.
Teaching prep is fun sometimes.
You know that Trump doesn't care about climate change. But did you know that his tariffs may also prevent *other* countries from taking climate action?
New by me for @uofgpolicy.bsky.social on the Trumpian shadow over COP30: tinyurl.com/mpf7thee
New by me for @uofgpolicy.bsky.social on the Trumpian shadow over COP30: tinyurl.com/mpf7thee
November 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
You know that Trump doesn't care about climate change. But did you know that his tariffs may also prevent *other* countries from taking climate action?
New by me for @uofgpolicy.bsky.social on the Trumpian shadow over COP30: tinyurl.com/mpf7thee
New by me for @uofgpolicy.bsky.social on the Trumpian shadow over COP30: tinyurl.com/mpf7thee
Me, in February: the Trump Admin is going to try to force the EU to withdraw or weaken CBAM and the CSDDD. www.gla.ac.uk/explore/glas...
The FT this morning: www.ft.com/content/678f...
The planet cannot afford for Brussels to give Washington what it wants here.
The FT this morning: www.ft.com/content/678f...
The planet cannot afford for Brussels to give Washington what it wants here.
October 8, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Me, in February: the Trump Admin is going to try to force the EU to withdraw or weaken CBAM and the CSDDD. www.gla.ac.uk/explore/glas...
The FT this morning: www.ft.com/content/678f...
The planet cannot afford for Brussels to give Washington what it wants here.
The FT this morning: www.ft.com/content/678f...
The planet cannot afford for Brussels to give Washington what it wants here.
Actual LOL.
A related myth to bust: when I talk about chipping away, I always find that students think that approach is somehow not "radical." But Weber is clear, it's the *ability* to keep boring the hard boards that makes radicalism possible. A lot of things click when students grasp that.
A related myth to bust: when I talk about chipping away, I always find that students think that approach is somehow not "radical." But Weber is clear, it's the *ability* to keep boring the hard boards that makes radicalism possible. A lot of things click when students grasp that.
August 18, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Actual LOL.
A related myth to bust: when I talk about chipping away, I always find that students think that approach is somehow not "radical." But Weber is clear, it's the *ability* to keep boring the hard boards that makes radicalism possible. A lot of things click when students grasp that.
A related myth to bust: when I talk about chipping away, I always find that students think that approach is somehow not "radical." But Weber is clear, it's the *ability* to keep boring the hard boards that makes radicalism possible. A lot of things click when students grasp that.
This made the cover of today's @bostonglobe.com
August 2, 2025 at 12:02 AM
This made the cover of today's @bostonglobe.com
Wildest of all, the banks launched "chat-banking," a way to authorize transactions over WhatsApp or WeChat. While presented as an "African" innovation, these bots actually gave US and Chinese tech platforms access to SA customer data...and some were scrapped after security breaches.
August 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Wildest of all, the banks launched "chat-banking," a way to authorize transactions over WhatsApp or WeChat. While presented as an "African" innovation, these bots actually gave US and Chinese tech platforms access to SA customer data...and some were scrapped after security breaches.
The new apps mostly offer additional services to the wealthiest - those who have multiple bank accounts. The dominant banks haven't given up market share.
And replacing physical branches with apps - as many banks did - also hurts those who need to withdraw cash. So much for "inclusion."
And replacing physical branches with apps - as many banks did - also hurts those who need to withdraw cash. So much for "inclusion."
August 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The new apps mostly offer additional services to the wealthiest - those who have multiple bank accounts. The dominant banks haven't given up market share.
And replacing physical branches with apps - as many banks did - also hurts those who need to withdraw cash. So much for "inclusion."
And replacing physical branches with apps - as many banks did - also hurts those who need to withdraw cash. So much for "inclusion."
We call these linked beliefs - that market competition, financial inclusion and African empowerment go together - the Afrofuturist imaginary.
Like its science fictional namesake, this one relied on a fair bit of magical thinking about what the new FinTech experiments do in practice.
Like its science fictional namesake, this one relied on a fair bit of magical thinking about what the new FinTech experiments do in practice.
August 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
We call these linked beliefs - that market competition, financial inclusion and African empowerment go together - the Afrofuturist imaginary.
Like its science fictional namesake, this one relied on a fair bit of magical thinking about what the new FinTech experiments do in practice.
Like its science fictional namesake, this one relied on a fair bit of magical thinking about what the new FinTech experiments do in practice.
Financial professionals believed that digital innovation would make South African companies leaders in the global financial industry and take them out of the shadow of Western dominance. They called this aspiration "Africanicity."
August 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Financial professionals believed that digital innovation would make South African companies leaders in the global financial industry and take them out of the shadow of Western dominance. They called this aspiration "Africanicity."
South Africa is a middle-income country: most people have bank accounts (81%) and a smartphone (90%), but the informal economy is huge, cash is king, and broadband is a luxury. Many "underbanked" consumers have an account to draw cash, but don't have access to credit or the ability to build wealth.
August 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
South Africa is a middle-income country: most people have bank accounts (81%) and a smartphone (90%), but the informal economy is huge, cash is king, and broadband is a luxury. Many "underbanked" consumers have an account to draw cash, but don't have access to credit or the ability to build wealth.
Trade scholars going to start showing this graph to concerned family who keep asking us why we look so exhausted...
July 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Trade scholars going to start showing this graph to concerned family who keep asking us why we look so exhausted...
In Montreal for @sasemeeting.bsky.social #sase2025 and interested in regulating corporations? I'll be presenting on Saturday AM on how even the most binding laws still leave too much power in managers' hands. Come say hi!
July 9, 2025 at 1:01 AM
In Montreal for @sasemeeting.bsky.social #sase2025 and interested in regulating corporations? I'll be presenting on Saturday AM on how even the most binding laws still leave too much power in managers' hands. Come say hi!
I have a chapter comparing Rhodes and Musk in my book, When Companies Rule (forthcoming, Columbia University Press).
Here's what exasperated corporate board members told Parliament about their inability to rein in one of Rhodes' many illegal and deadly schemes:
Same type of dude.
Here's what exasperated corporate board members told Parliament about their inability to rein in one of Rhodes' many illegal and deadly schemes:
Same type of dude.
June 8, 2025 at 11:22 PM
I have a chapter comparing Rhodes and Musk in my book, When Companies Rule (forthcoming, Columbia University Press).
Here's what exasperated corporate board members told Parliament about their inability to rein in one of Rhodes' many illegal and deadly schemes:
Same type of dude.
Here's what exasperated corporate board members told Parliament about their inability to rein in one of Rhodes' many illegal and deadly schemes:
Same type of dude.
Tom Malinowski making good sense, if only Schumer would listen. No Dem should vote to sustain a coup. newrepublic.com/article/1925...
March 11, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Tom Malinowski making good sense, if only Schumer would listen. No Dem should vote to sustain a coup. newrepublic.com/article/1925...
At #isa2025 with an interest in art, social movements, and human rights? Heartily recommend this free exhibition on Chicago's anti-apartheid movement, just around the corner from @isanet.bsky.social at Columbia College.
March 4, 2025 at 8:24 PM
At #isa2025 with an interest in art, social movements, and human rights? Heartily recommend this free exhibition on Chicago's anti-apartheid movement, just around the corner from @isanet.bsky.social at Columbia College.
At @isanet.bsky.social #isa2025 and wanna understand the tech oligarchs smashing up the US state and the international system? I'll be explaining the privatization and breakup of USAID on Tuesday at 10:30, and co-chairing a roundtable on tech and corporate power on Wednesday at 10:30. Say hi!
March 1, 2025 at 4:47 PM
At @isanet.bsky.social #isa2025 and wanna understand the tech oligarchs smashing up the US state and the international system? I'll be explaining the privatization and breakup of USAID on Tuesday at 10:30, and co-chairing a roundtable on tech and corporate power on Wednesday at 10:30. Say hi!
A huge loss. One thing I appreciated about Ferguson was his ability to change his mind. In the opening to Global Shadows (maybe my favorite text about globalization) he subtly guts the "anti-development" positioning of his own early work:
February 22, 2025 at 6:41 PM
A huge loss. One thing I appreciated about Ferguson was his ability to change his mind. In the opening to Global Shadows (maybe my favorite text about globalization) he subtly guts the "anti-development" positioning of his own early work:
Starting the season with the greatest Christmas movie that is also a commentary on capitalism, corporate social responsibility and the state as a social construct.
December 6, 2024 at 9:33 PM
Starting the season with the greatest Christmas movie that is also a commentary on capitalism, corporate social responsibility and the state as a social construct.
I did not think I could be more angry, but I could. The failure to hold Trump legally accountable for his effort to subvert American democracy is *why* he is going to get another try. To pre-emptively capitulate on these cases is political, constitutional and moral malpractice.
November 6, 2024 at 8:46 PM
I did not think I could be more angry, but I could. The failure to hold Trump legally accountable for his effort to subvert American democracy is *why* he is going to get another try. To pre-emptively capitulate on these cases is political, constitutional and moral malpractice.
I feel micro-aggressed.
August 26, 2024 at 10:26 AM
I feel micro-aggressed.
An apocryphal story: a French linguist advised IBM on marketing their new computing device in 1955. He suggested, call it "God, who brings order to the world," or "ordinateur."
From @marionf.bsky.social and @kjhealy.bsky.social masterful new history of our Ordinal Society. #sase2024
From @marionf.bsky.social and @kjhealy.bsky.social masterful new history of our Ordinal Society. #sase2024
June 27, 2024 at 3:44 PM
An apocryphal story: a French linguist advised IBM on marketing their new computing device in 1955. He suggested, call it "God, who brings order to the world," or "ordinateur."
From @marionf.bsky.social and @kjhealy.bsky.social masterful new history of our Ordinal Society. #sase2024
From @marionf.bsky.social and @kjhealy.bsky.social masterful new history of our Ordinal Society. #sase2024
Attending SASE this week and interested in corporations? I'll be presenting on and chairing this excellent panel on transnational approaches to regulation on Thursday morning. Come say hi! #sase2024
June 24, 2024 at 9:47 AM
Attending SASE this week and interested in corporations? I'll be presenting on and chairing this excellent panel on transnational approaches to regulation on Thursday morning. Come say hi! #sase2024
This, from the NYT analysis of the Indian election results, is key: Congress needed to accept, as it has been unwilling to do before, that it is not the only legitimate progressive party. We are all relieved RG got there eventually. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/w...
June 6, 2024 at 5:56 PM
This, from the NYT analysis of the Indian election results, is key: Congress needed to accept, as it has been unwilling to do before, that it is not the only legitimate progressive party. We are all relieved RG got there eventually. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/w...
The whiskey is American. Obviously.
A nation of laws, if we can keep it.
A nation of laws, if we can keep it.
May 30, 2024 at 10:03 PM
The whiskey is American. Obviously.
A nation of laws, if we can keep it.
A nation of laws, if we can keep it.
Okay, the torment nexus-ing has gotten officially out of hand:
May 18, 2024 at 8:11 PM
Okay, the torment nexus-ing has gotten officially out of hand: