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.
Want to know why Inida is hosting a high-level political summit with Africa after 11 years, and what to expect? New article for @thediplomat.com does just that. thediplomat.com/2026/05/indi...
India Is Hosting the 4th India-Africa Forum Summit: Why Now and What to Expect?
For the first time in 11 years, African leaders and multilateral organizations will convene in the Indian capital.
thediplomat.com
As India prepares to host another India-Africa forum summit in a fortnight, we revisit a recent volume which looks at how India's soft power has been imagined/ implemented by the diaspora, government + private sector. www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv...
Can a middle powers/internationalist coalition form between the Global North and South? New article for IPQ assess opportunity and limitatoins ip-quarterly.com/en/chances-m... @ipq.bsky.social @dgap.org
The Chances for a “Middle Powers” Strategic Alignment Don’t Look Good
There are growing calls for the formation of a coalition of middle powers. History suggests, however, that they lack the ideological glue necessary to sustain a deeper and more powerful global movemen...
ip-quarterly.com
Just published: an excellent collection of essays on the cultural/material flows and interconnections between West Africa & India in 'Africa: Journal of the International African Institute', (volume 95, issue 3), ed. by Shobana Shankar + Oliver Coates www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Africa: Volume 95 - Issue 3 | Cambridge Core
Cambridge Core - Africa - Volume 95 - Issue 3
cambridge.org
on the topic of dick cheney, one thing i’ve always said is that you shouldn’t kill a million people
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...
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...
🎉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...
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...
"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.
‘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
theguardian.com
🎙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...
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.
The Conversation UK@uk.theconversation.com · last yr.UN special rapporteurs provide pro bono advice and expertise on vital latters of international law.
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....
tandfonline.com
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.
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
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...
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...
cornellpress.cornell.edu
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....
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...
tandfonline.com
#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...
For Africa, the International Community is a Dangerous Myth
International law ignores the African subject in favour of the ‘African project’
folukeafrica.com
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...
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.
newyorker.com
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...
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
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....
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...
tandfonline.com
"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...
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
ft.com
