Research
Research Interests
My research lies at the intersections of postcolonial, political and cultural geographies. Most of my research focusses on ideas about anticolonial political resistance, often related to South Asia, but I also conduct research in Liverpool - an archetypal postcolonial city - as well.
This manifests itself in the following, overlapping, areas:
1) Transnational/Translocal politics: My research is most often informed by ideas about transnationalism - that is geographical activity that spreads over national boundaries. In particular, I am interested in ideas about how political networks function across borders. My PhD on Tibetan activism engaged with this in the contemporary period, but my more recent historical work is also indebted to these ideas.
2) Political Geographies of South Asia: My work is often related to South Asia. Recently, this has meant work on the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946, thanks to a small research grant from the RGS-IBG. I am currently conducting further historical research about anticolonial activism in southern India in the early 20th Century (funded by the British Association of South Asian Studies & British Academy). My monograph, 'Geographies of Anticolonialism' published by the RGS-IBG book series, explores the varied geographies of anticolonialism in and beyond South India during the early 20th Century.
3) Maritime Geographies: One of my research interests is in how people live and work in maritime professions. My political work often looks at how ships were important spaces for moving seditious materials like guns and propaganda, and have explored this in relation to the Hugli river in West Bengal as part of the Hugli River of Cultures project. However, I have a broader interest in the cultural geographies of the sea and would be interested in supervising PhDs related to this.
4) Participatory archival and historical research: When not sitting in archives, I try to conduct research that is participatory - that is, co-produced in collaboration with research participants, rather than extracting information from them. I have conducted work with colleagues in Liverpool and Newcastle and young people in Liverpool on their understanding of the 1981 and 2011 'riots' in the city. This produced a radio documentary which is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoobCjbjnLY.
More recently, I have been working with Writing on the Wall on projects which involve community archiving of their various projects - including the George Garrett Archive and the Great War to Race Riots Archive. A short film produced by this research is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyF7uM-thGo
Research groups
Research grants
The properties, mechanisms, and hazards of interplate and intraplate earthquakes in India
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL
February 2024 - February 2028
The Hugli River of Cultures Pilot Project, from Bandel to Barrackpore
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS) (UK)
February 2018 - January 2020
Lives and legacies of black and colonial servicemen’s families in Liverpool, 1919 - present
ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL
February 2017 - December 2017
BASAS/ECAF Fellowship
BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES (BASAS)
June 2013 - August 2013
Young people and stories of the riots: Liverpool 1981 and 2011
BRITISH ACADEMY (UK)
July 2012 - September 2013