South Asian mobilisation in two northern cities: a comparison of Manchester and Bradford Asian youth movements

Anti-racist movements develop and maintain their energy through the establishment of local, grass root networks. To date, research on the anti-racist movement in Britain has focussed on the creation of national narratives that highlight the power and influence of the movement. This article compares two of the Asian Youth movements that operated in the late 1970s and early 1980s to explore the importance of investigating localised settings when researching the history and impact of the antiracist movement as a whole. Oral histories and documents produced by the Asian Youth Movements are used to reflect and understand how the organisations operated and developed differently, highlighting the influence of specific urban environments which affected local migratory experiences and therefore the makeup and operations of the movements themselves

Absences and Silences: The Representation of the Tea Picker in Colonial and Fair Trade Advertising

Ethical consumption as a form of consumerism suggests that there can be a benign form of globalization where consumers can effect positive change by exercising the ‘choice’ of opting for fair trade. In marketing this choice, fair trade advertising of tea, cocoa and coffee in particular has adopted the image of the smiling and happy worker from the global South, often in their working environment and testifying by their presence and their smile to the ethical and moral nature of the product. They therefore condone our consumption as moral pleasure. This essay explores the history of this image in colonial advertising and considers how the smile works in contemporary advertising to silence these workers who are unable to ‘speak the truth about themselves’ (Michel Foucault interviewed by Gerard Raulet)

Contesting the Visualisation of Gaza

During July-August 2014 it is estimated that Israel dropped 18-20,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, which led to the deaths of over 2,100 people with homes, hospitals, schools and whole districts obliterated to rubble. Photographs played a crucial role in mediating this devastation within corporate media, social media as well as in street protests and pickets. Through an analysis of imagery used in BBC news reports for the first day of the bombing, this paper will explore the dominant visual discourses in the mainstream media, which through both regulatory frameworks as well as political positioning supported Israeli PR agendas, to normalise Israeli perspectives and reinscribe Palestinians as both political and social ‘other’. It will then consider the success with which citizens both within Gaza and outside - as protestors and journalists - acted to challenge the corporate media’s control over the visual mediation of the bombing. While recognizing that photographs of abject suffering can operate to simply consolidate an image of Palestinians as ‘other’ and different from ourselves, (Jones 2011; Campbell 2009) I argue that through employing Ariella Azoulay’s notion of a ‘citizenry of photography’ (2008) and reflecting on the wider communication of ecologies in which photographs operated both on social media and in street protests, we can identify the ways in which images of suffering, placed in personal narratives and within a wider visual discursive field did play a role to influence the public’s understanding of the Palestinian plight, turning despair to indignation to demand action. (Berger 1980

(In)credible India? : a critical analysis of India’s nation branding

We offer a political-economic, postcolonial interrogation of nation branding based on the Incredible India campaign. We show how the violence inherent in nation branding promotes internal hegemonies and external market interests at the expense of ideas of belonging and community. In Incredible India, colonial identities are reinscribed, peripheralising India in line with the demands of global markets and privileging Western desires and imagination. Internal political hegemonies promoting India as a Hindu nation are also reflected in the campaign, marginalising minority groups. However, the attempt to construct a unitary nation simultaneously reveals the presence of the ‘other’, contesting the boundaries of the narrative. The analysis confirms nation branding as a fundamentally political process, implicated in the production and perpetuation of inequalities. Keywords: nation branding; India; postcolonial criticism; Hindutva; neoliberalism; tourism and media. Keywords: nation branding; India; postcolonial criticism; Hindutva; neoliberalism; tourism and medi

A Graphical Data Visualisation Approach to Assessing Associations and Variations of the Impact of COVID-19

The COVID–19 pandemic, like other global phenomena such as climate change, food security and democracy and human rights, arise from within confined geographical and legislative boundaries. Tackling such challenges entails robust and sustainable collaborative initiatives–a natural challenge, given the geo–political, socio–economic and cultural variations across countries and regions. Any initiatives to address the challenges inevitably evolve around data modelling–typically, uncovering the associations and variations across geo–political and socio–economic and cultural variations of our societies. This view aligns with the non–orthogonal nature of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), initiated by the United Nations in 2015. We present a data–driven approach to assessing the associations and variations of the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic in the UK, across ethnic lines of selected health and care workers. The main motivation is that the exercise cuts across multiple SDGs and as such it highlights the impact of different data attributes and how they interact. While individual clinicians have tracked deaths through the press and social media to gain an understanding of which groups of health workers were particularly affected, gaps remain as to how the distribution of the impact of the pandemic actually was. This paper seeks to paint the overall picture of which health care workers were impacted based on those data attributes. Data was obtained from a nation–wide survey involving 380 responses from health and care workers on a range of demographic characteristics such as age, sex, ethnicity, job role and personal views on how they felt in different situations. Emerging graphical patterns provide insights into the way the health and care workers staff were impacted along those attributes. Our findings provide insights into what happens within a particular domain country, sector or an individual SDG. Its is expected that the study will highlights the impact of the events on other SDGs and promote further collaboration

Racialised experiences of Black and Brown nurses and midwives in UK health education: A qualitative study.

Background Institutional racism within the United Kingdom's (UK) Higher Education (HE) sector, particularly nurse and midwifery education, has lacked empirical research, critical scrutiny, and serious discussion. This paper focuses on the racialised experiences of nurses and midwives during their education in UK universities, including their practice placements. It explores the emotional, physical, and psychological impacts of these experiences. Methods This paper draws on qualitative in-depth interviews with participants from the Nursing Narratives: Racism and the Pandemic project. Of the 45 healthcare workers who participated in the project, 28 participants obtained their primary nursing and midwifery education in UK universities. Interviews with these 28 participants were selected for the analysis reported in this paper. We aimed to employ concepts from Critical Race Theory (CRT) to analyse the interview data in order to deepen our understanding of the racialised experiences of Black and Brown nurses and midwives during their education. Findings The interviews revealed that the healthcare workers' experiences coalesced around three themes: 1) Racism is an ordinary, everyday experience; 2) Racism is operationalised through power structures; and 3) Racism is maintained through denial and silencing. Experiences often touch on a series of issues, but we have highlighted stories within specific themes to elucidate each theme effectively. The findings underscore the importance of understanding racism as a pandemic that we must challenge in response to a post-pandemic society. Conclusion The study concludes that the endemic culture of racism in nurse and midwifery education is a fundamental factor that must be recognised and called out. The study argues that universities and health care trusts need to be accountable for preparing all students to challenge racism and provide equitable learning opportunities that cover the objectives to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requirements to avoid significant experiences of exclusion and intimidation

Challenging the cultures of racism at work in the UK's healthcare sector

Background: In UK’s health care sector, racism is rampant. It impacts Black and Brown staff working in NHS at all levels. We aimed to explore and understand the stories and experiences of Black and Brown health care staff during the pandemic and previously in their working lives. Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey and qualitative interviews with Black and Brown nurses, midwives and other healthcare staff. 308 respondents completed an online survey, and 45 people participated in the narrative interviews. Interviewees were contacted through meetings organised with several BME health and social care professional networks and the survey. In total, 353 Black and Brown staff members participated. The Critical Race Theory informed the data collection and analysis of the study. Findings: The study findings report that racism is prevalent in the health and social care sector, and it is usually unreported. Most participants worked during the pandemic and reported experiences of racism before and during it. Our survey findings revealed that 52.6% of the Black and Brown staff experienced unfair treatment in the pandemic concerning Covid deployment, PPE or risk assessment provision. Similarly, 59% had experienced racism during their working lives, making it difficult to do their job; thus, 36% had left a job. Most participants reported that exclusion and neglect as a form of bullying were among the most widely recounted experiences that took a toll on their lives; for example, 53% said racism had impacted their mental health. Interpretation: Our research underscores that the endemic culture of racism is a fundamental factor that must be recognised and called out. Colourblindness exacerbates racist practices. We argue that only implementing an active zero tolerance to racism policy with penalties for organisations that do not comply can change the status quo