Impossible to disagree with a single word that Ben Rhodes (Obama era NSC official) is saying here:
Heaven Crawley
@heavencrawley.bsky.social
Writer and researcher exploring migration, food, and power. Currently tracing the journeys of everyday foods. Reflections from travel and work in progress.
Wars are reported through the language of strategy. News coverage follows missile strikes, air defence systems, and military targets. The US-Israeli attacks on Iran are no exception. But wars are lived very differently by the people caught inside them. heavencrawley.substack.com/p/between-a-...
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Afghans in Iran and the Hidden Human Costs of War
heavencrawley.substack.com
In times when Iran is spoken about mostly in the language of conflict, its food reminds us of something quieter and older: a culture built around beauty, hospitality, and the shared pleasure of a meal. heavencrawley.substack.com/p/when-the-p...
When the Pot Turns
Tahdig and the Hidden Beauty of Iran
heavencrawley.substack.com
Wars are reported through the language of strategy. News coverage follows missile strikes, air defence systems, and military targets. The US-Israeli attacks on Iran are no exception. But wars are lived very differently by the people caught inside them. heavencrawley.substack.com/p/between-a-...
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Afghans in Iran and the Hidden Human Costs of War
heavencrawley.substack.com
Denmark has *far* worse outcomes - economic, social and integration - than the UK. Just a fantasyland for those who want an excuse for their own xenophobia and/or are incapable of doing the hard work of confronting the UK's real problems. www.thetimes.com/world/europe...
A Danish lesson for Labour on how to stop migrants and start winning
Like the home secretary, I visited recently to learn how the centre-left is riding high and reclaiming the asylum debate from the populist right
thetimes.com
This paper with @j-hagen-zanker.bsky.social questions the extent to which deterrence policies have their intended or assumed effects. Preferred destinations are rarely identified solely, or even primarily, on the basis of migration policies onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Deciding Where to go: Policies, People and Perceptions Shaping Destination Preferences
There is considerable interest among European politicians and policymakers in the factors influencing the destination preferences of refugees and other migrants. Drawing on in-depth qualitative inter....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Indeed. My research and that of many others has shown this over and over (and over…) again heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com/migrant-deci...
Migration decision making
Understanding the causes of forced migration, the decision making of asylum seekers and the impacts of policy making in relation to the journeys that people make has been a significant theme of my …
heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com
Dan Sohege@danielsohege.bsky.social · 5mo agoIn entirely predictable news, the very thing which every reputable asylum policy specialist said happens when you focus on hostile border policies is happening. Hostile policies don't stop people needing or seeking asylum. They do shift routes to make it more dangerous. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
As someone who worked with Labour when they came into power in 1999 and spent much of my time explaining why competing with the right wouldn’t help, I couldn’t agree more. Pandering to anti-immigrant narratives has taken us to some horrible places.Good leadership on migration is desperately needed
Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 5mo ago"Trying to compete with Reform not only feels inauthentic... but a betrayal of what Labour is supposed to represent. We must address the concerns and fears of voters, not play on them." Damning stuff from Sadiq Khan www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What an utterly disgusting misrepresentation from the Daily Mail, reinforcing every stereotype of an anti-Western ‘Middle East’. Israel slaughters 100s of Iranian school girls and the US kills 100s of citizens in Teheran but somehow Iran is the protagonist. Also, when did Dubai become ‘Western’?
I only have 5 chickens but over the last week they’ve decided it’s spring!
“Take that rag off your head” Once upon a time racism in the UK was pernicious but often subtle. Not any more www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...
‘People here are tired, scared and feel forgotten’: Racism stalks UK towns
As hatred is increasingly normalised and assaults rise, ethnic minorities are becoming hypervigilant.
aljazeera.com
This from @jasonhickel.bsky.social sums up my utter despair and frustration at what’s happening right now. Two bullies. Zero accountability
It's horrifying, so I don't say it lightly: US soldiers and Iranian kids are dying for nothing. America wasn't in danger from Iran in 2026. What Trump is doing is protecting his Israeli patrons, his Saudi/UAE golf courses and "Trump Gaza." And he's known this is coming for years.
Iranians protesting against the regime (and in support of US and Israeli strikes) are respectable "expats" according to the BBC and therefore completely unrelated to the Iranian "migrants", "asylum-seekers" and "refugees" whom they regularly demonise.
Iran launches attacks across Middle East after US and Israel strikes on leadership sites
Apparent Iranian attacks have been reported in Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, and elsewhere in the region. Earlier, Donald Trump said
bbc.co.uk
Another splendid 'debunk' from @monkemma.bsky.social. It's hard to overestimate just how much work it takes to excavate, accurately and in detail, the layers of half-truth, falsity, misinterpretation etc. of these kinds of stories: monkdebunks.substack.com/p/the-500k-b...
The £500k “Boat Migrant Payout” Story Isn’t What You Think
How unlawful phone seizures, selective reporting and misleading headlines turned a government failure into a culture-war outrage.
monkdebunks.substack.com
Isabel Wilkerson, THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: THE EPIC STORY OF AMERICA'S GREAT MIGRATION
The Warmth of Other Suns
In The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-lon...
smithsonianstore.com
I spent 8 years of my life leading MIDEQ and even today I don’t think I’ve managed to read everything our brilliant team of researchers has written 🙌🏼
Jason Gagnon@jason-gagnon.bsky.social · 8mo agoMore South–South migration resources here: www.mideq.org/en/ Thanks to MIDEQ and Heaven Crawley for advancing decentring knowledge in migration and development. #SouthSouthMigration #Migration #Development #Displacement #DecentringKnowledge
Delis make you think of family gathering and community. These meeting points helped immigrants find their footing in second homes. Hand-sliced pastrami and knishes helped shape American culture. #FoodHistory #FoodCulture #FoodHeritage #Delis #DeliCounters foodculturebites.com/how-delis-be...
How Delis Became American Legends Behind the Counter
Delis make you think of family gathering and community. These meeting points helped immigrants find their footing in second homes filled with familiar smells and language.
foodculturebites.com
I'm fascinated by the work of Ayrson Heráclito who places Black bodies in direct contact with rice, corns and dendê, Brazilian staples shaped by Atlantic slavery and African agricultural knowledge. My Substack reflections on why this matters heavencrawley.substack.com/p/food-memor...
Food, Memory, and the Afterlives of Slavery
Sacred substances and the work of Ayrson Heráclito
heavencrawley.substack.com
Like many of my generation, I grew up being fed the lie that the British Royal Family were something to aspire to and be proud of. Coronation mugs and plates were a thing. This piece by my brilliant sister Fay Bound-Alberti unpacks the lie www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
From handsome prince to a ghost behind glass, Andrew’s face tells the story of his decline | Fay Bound-Alberti
Royals have always prized their images as ways to assert their lineage and authority. Now this pathetic photo will define the former prince, says historian Fay Bound-Alberti
theguardian.com
A few years ago on a work trip to Manila I came across the incredible migration stories that lie behind halo-halo. Now my conversations about the Philippines more often than not end up returning to the subject of this bizarre and colourful dessert beloved by so many. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Mixing it up in the Philippines
The story of halo-halo
substack.com
Many American dishes trace their roots to African agricultural expertise. These influences that have gone unrecognized. Acknowledging these contributions helps tell a fuller, more accurate story. #FoodHistory #FoodCulture #FoodHeritage #BlackHistoryMonth foodculturebites.com/the-overlook...
The Overlooked African influence of Many American Foods
Many beloved American dishes trace their roots to African agricultural knowledge and culinary traditions, influences that have often gone unrecognized despite traveling across the Atlantic centuries a...
foodculturebites.com
This time last year I was at Feira de São Joaquim market in Salvador where rice sits alongside spices, fabrics, and ritual objects, an echo of survival and memory, but also inequality rooted in slavery and exploitation. Read my full Substack piece here: lnkd.in/d5g4jqRx
'Some'?? If there were safe and legal routes all deaths at sea would be completely avoidable heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com/journeys-ove...
Journeys over land and sea
What is it like to travel to Europe over land and sea in order to secure a future for yourself and your family? Why are so many people willing to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean? What a…
heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com
Refugees@refugees.skyfleet.blue · 6mo agoUK inquiry finds that 'some' deaths in 2021 sinking in English Channel could have been 'avoidable' #Refugees
I co-edited a book, the internet downloaded it 422k times and counting. Open access = global readership. Proof that collective Global South scholarship travels far when it’s not bound by Global North profit. Grateful to everyone who’s read, taught, and shared. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
The Palgrave Handbook of South–South Migration and Inequality
This is an open access handbook, which provides a ‘state-of-the-art’ resource on South-South migration, intersectional inequalities and development.
link.springer.com
I spent 35 years of my life, including 2 years at the UK Home Office, trying to understand the causes of forced migration and why people end up where they do. The fact that these simplistic narratives still dominate British politics drives me crazy 🤯 You can read the findings here bit.ly/4aeI0ey
Migration decision making
Understanding the causes of forced migration, the decision making of asylum seekers and the impacts of policy making in relation to the journeys that people make has been a significant theme of my …
heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com
Cathal Malone@cathalmalone.bsky.social · 6mo agoDo they understand how mad they sound? As if anyone has ever decided to cross the Channel in a small boat because, if they make it, they might get to take a free taxi to a doctor's appointment? "Pull factors" on steroids. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Hello BlueSky 👋🏼 I’m new to this platform and need my feed to be full of smart, thoughtful, kind people who can cut through the tedious Twitter-style nonsense the algorithm has decided to send my way. Hit me up if you are interested in #migration #power #food or any combination of the three!
This ⬇️
Dan Sohege@danielsohege.bsky.social · 6mo agoIn news which surprises no-one who actually understands migration, cutting it undermines the whole economy. Even reductions which remain above the mythical political idea of "zero net" have fundamental impacts. Not least, because migrants actually create jobs. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Received a message from @hebagowayed.bsky.social which reminded me not to completely let go of 35 years working in the migration space, even as I try to find new ways to critically engage with how we got here If you are interested in my back catalogue you can find it here: www.heavencrawley.com
Heaven Crawley
Writer | Migration, Food & Power
heavencrawley.com