The text builds on extensive material collected in the field between 2021 and 2023. There's more texts to come — stay tuned!

While the the BRI empowers
the local community by shifting it from Europe’s peripheries toward the center of the Global East, it simultaneously increases their exposure to geoeconomic dynamics that unfold far beyond local control.

I outline various strategies that local actors in Małaszewicze employ to capture the global potential of the port infrastructure.

As one of Europe's largest transhipment ports, Małaszewicze is an obligatory stop for freight train connections labeled “China-Europe Railway Express” and an important node in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In the article, I explore how Małaszewicze, a small locality located near the border between Poland and Belarus, has become deeply entangled with China’s global ambitions.

Here you can consult the broad overview of my research areas at the intersection of urban political economy, transport/mobilities, and global China: www.arch.hku.hk/staff/upad/k...

Feel free to share this among your graduate and PhD students!

International candidates are very welcome, and there's ample opportunities for funding their research at HKU.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact me by sending their CV and a statement of research interests by e-mail.

I am truly excited to be here, and looking forward to the journey ahead!

My new office might be empty for now, yet outside the window, countless stories are waiting to be captured. Stay tuned!

Check out the conference programme here:
capitalist-transformations.com/conference-p...

Participation is free of charge, but you need to register beforehand. See you there!

“Elon Musk might have started as a Henry Ford but he will exit as a Leonid Brezhnev”

“In selecting Soviet-style reality denial over Chinese-style reality monitoring, they’ve fashioned echo chambers that will ultimately fracture their grand designs.”

“Musk’s DOGE apparatus converts remaining employees into nodding mannequins, while his cohort hunts dissenters across digital platforms with algorithmic efficiency”

We also observed that #FFPT has rapidly shifted from the policy margins to the mainstream, having transformed from a highly controversial measure to a widely accepted strategy across the US. #policymobility #policytransfer

We looked at their demographic, economic and political profiles and found out that localities with higher Democratic Party support were more likely to abolish fares in #masstransit, while larger transit agencies with substantial vehicle fleets resumed fare collection sooner.