Charles Martin-Shields
@charlesmartinshields
Senior researcher, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). Working on forced displacement, digitalization, and conflict. Opinions here are my own. My book: Open access:
I didn’t expect this quote repost to do this (and it’s still getting traction). Over 6000 likes - wild. Thanks @gbrockell.bsky.social for the original post - these flights seem to really strike a righteous nerve. It’s given me something to push with my political representatives
A little Saturday night weekend action, academia edition
Nice, made it to the 1K mark! Thanks everyone for following, nice little milestone in the post-Twitter rebuild.
Off to meet some great colleagues, give some book talks, inspire some PhD students, and take in the majesty (of New Zealand’s nature) and terror (of Australia’s fauna).
Break from normally scheduled content to say I made chili today and it was good.
I hate this framing because it can’t even be chalked up to naïveté anymore. OBVIOUSLY Trump and Musk are going to ruin the Department of Defense. They’e arsonists. A reporter that presents this behavior as anything other than purposeful destruction is being derelict in their duty to the public.
I just…it’s so galactically stupid. My country is being run by the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stupid people.
Just the most cowardly pack of feckless assholes our tech oligarchs are.
It’s a small thing, but I managed to update my handle to my personal domain. I’m now the Bluesky equivalent of verified. It’s the small successes.
A whole agency, which has existed in law since 1961 is now gone as far as the internet is concerned. And before some bumblefuck replied with a “DURRR, who needs development aid”, it’s not just about USAID. It’s coming for Social Security, it’s coming for Postal Service, it’s coming for everything.
There isn’t a hell hot enough to receive him when departs this mortal coil. (Or cold enough, if you’re partial to Dante)
The problem is when I see Scholz or Habeck and some one says “they’ve got that dog in ‘em” this is the dog I see: well behaved, institutional, nice. It’s a alrge dog, and could mess you up if so motivated, but it really doesn’t want to.
As far as Dutch cities go I have to say, Rotterdam > Amsterdam
“You will be visited by three spirits.” The three spirits:
End of the year, and all the academic and research work is done. Since I don’t have my bike for a few weeks it’ll have to be running in the winter forests of Ostwestfalen to stay reasonably fit against the onslaught of holiday food.
Something I did on Twitter was fashion posts for academics. Well, academic men. Fashion is a hobby of mine, and it’s fun to share tips on how to look more splendid.* So I’ll start that back up here. First BlueSky fashion post: workshop dinner. *many men of academia lack splendor clothing-wise
It was a good book event when everyone was so deep in discussion about the content that the only two photos I managed to take were a view from the post-talk reception and the food at the group dinner. So many thanks to the team at the University of Amsterdam for making it happen!
Via @bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social as a North Carolinian this bit stood out. I can *categorically* guarantee that this Republican Voter’s willingness to vote for Trump but not Robinson is based on exactly one thing, and it’s not Robinson’s loud mouth. (Spoiler: It’s because Robinson is black)
Do we really need economists to use their methods to tell us that wildfire smoke is bad for our health? I mean, I knew this without even needing the quantitative analysis.
Really cool getting messages from colleagues at APSA with photos of my book, Urban Refugees and Digital Technology, displayed at the McGill-Queens UP stand! For those interested here’s the link to the open access version: repository.library.carleton.ca/concern/work...
Fucking David Ignatius just sort of skips over how the 1968 election actually went for the Democrats.
Can’t believe I have this in my hands. Four years of work, and very happy to have the author’s copies of Urban Refugees and Digital Technology in hard copy! Thanks to McGill-Queens UP for being an amazing partner in this project. More to come soon! www.mqup.ca/urban-refuge...
It’s live! My copies are in the mail, and while I’ll be doing more formal promotion starting next month and through 2025, if you’re too amped to wait you can order my book! This is for anyone working in refugee studies, urban studies, or tech and society - very excited! www.mqup.ca/urban-refuge...
Planning the next few weeks of data collection with colleagues at the University of Ghana. It’s such a pleasure to work with great people on research projects.
A few impressions of the University of Ghana campus and an excellent bowl of waakye.
Doing some fieldwork in Ghana the next few weeks. Feels good to be out of the office and doing research with amazing colleagues at the University of Ghana.
My new book Urban Refugees and Digital Technology is coming out in March through McGill Queens University Press. Very excited to see this project coming to fruition!