Meera Venkatachalam
@meerakat.bsky.social
South-South relations; Mobilities; Afro-Asia; India in Africa; Africans in India; West Africa; Voodoo/Vodun.
Third Worlder. Cat person.
Third Worlder. Cat person.
Pinned
A short piece on a ongoing project which seeks to understand trajectories of recent African migration to Mumbai, and the contributions of Africans to the city's economic + cultural landscapes. Thanks to @iias.bsky.social + @miasa-ug.bsky.social for support
humanitiesacrossborders.org/blogs/africa...
humanitiesacrossborders.org/blogs/africa...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
on the topic of dick cheney, one thing i’ve always said is that you shouldn’t kill a million people
November 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM
on the topic of dick cheney, one thing i’ve always said is that you shouldn’t kill a million people
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
We’re excited to announce the release of a publication edited by Ute Fendler and Clarissa Vierke.
An essential read for anyone interested in Indian Ocean studies, cultural and literary studies, performance, and transdisciplinary art research.
Available now.
👉 www.routledge.com/Transoceanic...
An essential read for anyone interested in Indian Ocean studies, cultural and literary studies, performance, and transdisciplinary art research.
Available now.
👉 www.routledge.com/Transoceanic...
October 25, 2025 at 1:14 PM
We’re excited to announce the release of a publication edited by Ute Fendler and Clarissa Vierke.
An essential read for anyone interested in Indian Ocean studies, cultural and literary studies, performance, and transdisciplinary art research.
Available now.
👉 www.routledge.com/Transoceanic...
An essential read for anyone interested in Indian Ocean studies, cultural and literary studies, performance, and transdisciplinary art research.
Available now.
👉 www.routledge.com/Transoceanic...
A short piece on a ongoing project which seeks to understand trajectories of recent African migration to Mumbai, and the contributions of Africans to the city's economic + cultural landscapes. Thanks to @iias.bsky.social + @miasa-ug.bsky.social for support
humanitiesacrossborders.org/blogs/africa...
humanitiesacrossborders.org/blogs/africa...
October 8, 2025 at 8:57 AM
A short piece on a ongoing project which seeks to understand trajectories of recent African migration to Mumbai, and the contributions of Africans to the city's economic + cultural landscapes. Thanks to @iias.bsky.social + @miasa-ug.bsky.social for support
humanitiesacrossborders.org/blogs/africa...
humanitiesacrossborders.org/blogs/africa...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
🎉Congratulations to Mayke Kaag! We celebrated her inaugural lecture as Professor of the Anthropology of Politics and Governance in Africa at Leiden University, titled 'Reflections on power, knowledge, and trust. Political dynamics in Africa and beyond'. www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
September 30, 2025 at 9:11 AM
🎉Congratulations to Mayke Kaag! We celebrated her inaugural lecture as Professor of the Anthropology of Politics and Governance in Africa at Leiden University, titled 'Reflections on power, knowledge, and trust. Political dynamics in Africa and beyond'. www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
Brand new here and pleased to share news of the publication of our new @degruyterbrill.bsky.social book “Beyond Federation: Ideas and Practices of East African Regionalism in a National and Global Age, 1950–1975". Available for free: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
August 28, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Brand new here and pleased to share news of the publication of our new @degruyterbrill.bsky.social book “Beyond Federation: Ideas and Practices of East African Regionalism in a National and Global Age, 1950–1975". Available for free: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
"In fact, the best estimate is that we’re emitting carbon perhaps 10 times faster than even the mindless, undirected Siberian volcanoes that brought about the worst mass extinction ever."
Read that again.
Read that again.
‘A climate of unparalleled malevolence’: are we on our way to the sixth major mass extinction?
The long read: Churning quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at the rate we are going could lead the planet to another Great Dying
www.theguardian.com
August 19, 2025 at 5:37 PM
"In fact, the best estimate is that we’re emitting carbon perhaps 10 times faster than even the mindless, undirected Siberian volcanoes that brought about the worst mass extinction ever."
Read that again.
Read that again.
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
🎙Hot Off the Mic: Don't Miss Our Latest Episode of Cluster Conversations! In this edition, fellow Dr. Renu Modi talks with her host Prof. Dr. Clarissa Vierke about her recent fellowship with the Cluster of Excellence in Bayreuth. www.africamultiple.uni-bayreuth.de/en/1_4-Publi...
August 5, 2025 at 11:31 AM
🎙Hot Off the Mic: Don't Miss Our Latest Episode of Cluster Conversations! In this edition, fellow Dr. Renu Modi talks with her host Prof. Dr. Clarissa Vierke about her recent fellowship with the Cluster of Excellence in Bayreuth. www.africamultiple.uni-bayreuth.de/en/1_4-Publi...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
On 9 July, the US imposed sanctions on special rapporteur Francesca Albanese. Below I provide a brief context of this unprecedented attack against this body of experts.
UN special rapporteurs provide pro bono advice and expertise on vital latters of international law.
The US has sanctioned UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese – here’s why she’s the wrong target
UN special rapporteurs provide pro bono advice and expertise on vital latters of international law.
tcnv.link
July 25, 2025 at 8:53 AM
On 9 July, the US imposed sanctions on special rapporteur Francesca Albanese. Below I provide a brief context of this unprecedented attack against this body of experts.
My article which examines India's positionality and relations w/Africa in the Third World turned Global South is now open access. Co-authored w/ @danbanik.bsky.social and published by Third World Quarterly
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com
July 24, 2025 at 8:36 AM
My article which examines India's positionality and relations w/Africa in the Third World turned Global South is now open access. Co-authored w/ @danbanik.bsky.social and published by Third World Quarterly
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
We are receiving desperate messages of starvation from #Gaza, including from our colleagues.
Food prices have increased 40 fold.
UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months, stockpiled just outside Gaza.
Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale.
Food prices have increased 40 fold.
UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months, stockpiled just outside Gaza.
Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale.
July 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM
We are receiving desperate messages of starvation from #Gaza, including from our colleagues.
Food prices have increased 40 fold.
UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months, stockpiled just outside Gaza.
Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale.
Food prices have increased 40 fold.
UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months, stockpiled just outside Gaza.
Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale.
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
Bubaraye Dakolo, an influential traditional chief and the traditional ruler of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, has demanded that Shell pay $12 billion to address environmental damage caused by decades of oil pollution before divesting its onshore assets in the region - AFP /1
June 20, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Bubaraye Dakolo, an influential traditional chief and the traditional ruler of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, has demanded that Shell pay $12 billion to address environmental damage caused by decades of oil pollution before divesting its onshore assets in the region - AFP /1
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
My book Life at a Distance is now out! Many thanks to colleagues, friends, and the press for the support along the way.
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Life at a Distance by Vincent Duclos | Paperback | Cornell University Press
In Life at a Distance, Vincent Duclos recounts the story of the Pan-African e-Network. Branded as "India's gift to the world," and as a "shining example of South-South cooperation," the Pan-African...
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu
June 20, 2025 at 2:46 PM
My book Life at a Distance is now out! Many thanks to colleagues, friends, and the press for the support along the way.
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
In a new article w/ @danbanik.bsky.social , I analyse the evolution of India's political relations and development cooperation w/Africa
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Moral geographies: Indian exceptionalism, Africa, and the politics of South–South cooperation
This article seeks to understand the evolution of India’s political relations and development cooperation with Africa, in the context of India’s ambitions of playing a leading role in the Third Wor...
www.tandfonline.com
May 13, 2025 at 8:15 PM
In a new article w/ @danbanik.bsky.social , I analyse the evolution of India's political relations and development cooperation w/Africa
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
#Oldpost. The fiction of an "international community" involves a relationship in which the 'Global North' ignores the African subject in favour of the ‘African project’. This makes it easy for some to take decisions that inevitably result in death for many.
folukeafrica.com/for-africa-t...
folukeafrica.com/for-africa-t...
For Africa, the International Community is a Dangerous Myth
International law ignores the African subject in favour of the ‘African project’
folukeafrica.com
June 2, 2025 at 11:16 AM
#Oldpost. The fiction of an "international community" involves a relationship in which the 'Global North' ignores the African subject in favour of the ‘African project’. This makes it easy for some to take decisions that inevitably result in death for many.
folukeafrica.com/for-africa-t...
folukeafrica.com/for-africa-t...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
Invitation to upcoming #MIASA Public lecture by Dr. Stephanie Lämmert on "(Un)silencing #women in the colonial #archive" on 27 May 2025 at 3:00 pm (UTC) at the Univ. of Ghana.
Zoom link via: miasa.ug.edu.gh/event/public...
Zoom link via: miasa.ug.edu.gh/event/public...
May 22, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Invitation to upcoming #MIASA Public lecture by Dr. Stephanie Lämmert on "(Un)silencing #women in the colonial #archive" on 27 May 2025 at 3:00 pm (UTC) at the Univ. of Ghana.
Zoom link via: miasa.ug.edu.gh/event/public...
Zoom link via: miasa.ug.edu.gh/event/public...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
Around D.C., the new going rate is well-known: $5 million for a one-on-one dinner with Trump, but gov-affairs execs have “no clue where the money is eventually going,” one said. Another told me it’s “outer-borough Mafia sh*t.” My new piece is out @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Donald Trump’s Politics of Plunder
The greed of the new Administration has galvanized America’s aspiring oligarchs—and their opponents.
www.newyorker.com
May 26, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Around D.C., the new going rate is well-known: $5 million for a one-on-one dinner with Trump, but gov-affairs execs have “no clue where the money is eventually going,” one said. Another told me it’s “outer-borough Mafia sh*t.” My new piece is out @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
So sickened and enraged.
135 Palestinians killed in Gaza so far today. Massacre after massacre, day after day. The world does nothing.
Israeli military begins ‘extensive’ ground operation as 135 killed in Gaza
Israel continues to unleash its bloodbath in the enclave, rendering all public hospitals in north Gaza ‘out of service’.
www.aljazeera.com
May 18, 2025 at 8:52 PM
So sickened and enraged.
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
According to the canonical Star Trek timeline, World War III starts next year, and goes on for the next three decades...
Just in case you had any plans...
Just in case you had any plans...
World War III
World War III was the last of Earth's three world wars, lasting from approximately 2026 to 2053. The conflict involved nuclear cataclysm as well as genocide and eco-terrorism. The post-atomic horror i...
memory-alpha.fandom.com
May 14, 2025 at 12:10 PM
According to the canonical Star Trek timeline, World War III starts next year, and goes on for the next three decades...
Just in case you had any plans...
Just in case you had any plans...
In a new article w/ @danbanik.bsky.social , I analyse the evolution of India's political relations and development cooperation w/Africa
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Moral geographies: Indian exceptionalism, Africa, and the politics of South–South cooperation
This article seeks to understand the evolution of India’s political relations and development cooperation with Africa, in the context of India’s ambitions of playing a leading role in the Third Wor...
www.tandfonline.com
May 13, 2025 at 8:15 PM
In a new article w/ @danbanik.bsky.social , I analyse the evolution of India's political relations and development cooperation w/Africa
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Meera Venkatachalam
"The UN climate change chief Simon Stiell warned on Wednesday the world was “on a trajectory to 3C” above pre-industrial times — a level at which scientists have warned of devastating environmental and human consequences."
By @attractamooney.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/f17d...
By @attractamooney.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/f17d...
Global warming reaches 1.58C over 12 months
Record heat for almost two years leads to concerns about ‘inevitable’ breach of lower Paris accord target
www.ft.com
May 9, 2025 at 1:07 PM
"The UN climate change chief Simon Stiell warned on Wednesday the world was “on a trajectory to 3C” above pre-industrial times — a level at which scientists have warned of devastating environmental and human consequences."
By @attractamooney.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/f17d...
By @attractamooney.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/f17d...