Smina Akhtar

Bio: Smina Akhtar is an academic researcher from University of Glasgow. The author has contributed to research in topics: Economic Justice & Racism. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 2 publications receiving 31 citations.

Rethinking racial capitalism: questions of reproduction and survival

Abstract: Upon opening this book, the reader enters a deep conversation with Gargi Bhattacharyya on what racial capitalism is. She makes it very clear in the brilliant introductory chapter that this is not a...

Containment, activism and state racism: the Sheku Bayoh justice campaign

Abstract: This article develops a framework to think sociologically about the containment of activism in contexts of state racism. It argues that normal everyday practices of the police and judicial system h...

Migration and the Invisible Economies of Care: Production, Social Reproduction and Seasonal Migrant Labour in India

Abstract: This paper focuses on the processes of migrant labour exploitation which are crucial for capitalist growth and the inequalities they generate. Ethnographic research conducted in different sites across India shows how patterns of seasonal labour migration are driven by class relations marked by hierarchies of identity (caste and tribe) and the spatial geopolitics of internal colonialism (region) – differences that are mobilised for accumulation. Labour migration scholarship has mainly explored sites of production. We extend recent social reproduction theory (SRT) and an older literature on labour migration and reproduction to argue that the intimate relationship between production and social reproduction is crucial to the exploitation of migrant labour and that this means we have to place centre-stage the analysis of invisible economies of care which take place across spatiotemporally divided households, both in the place of migration and in the home regions of migrants. Furthermore, we develop recent work on SRT and migration to argue that an analysis of kinship (gender over generations, not just gender) is crucial to these invisible economies of care. This analysis is important in showing the machinations of capitalist growth and for political alternatives.

The business school is racist: Act up!:

Abstract: In this essay, we call upon our fellow scholars of colour to recognise the ways Business Schools are structured by white supremacy and actively de-value our knowledge and experiences. Alongside thi...

Colonial global economy: towards a theoretical reorientation of political economy

Abstract: Standard accounts of the emergence of the modern global economic order posit its origins in the expansion of markets or in the changing nature of the social relations of capitalist production. Each...

Toward transformative climate justice: An emerging research agenda

Abstract: Calls for climate justice abound as evidence accumulates of the growing social and environmental injustices aggravated or driven by climate change. There is now a considerable and diverse literature on procedural, distributional and intergenerational dimensions, including questions of recognition in climate justice. Yet its meaning, scope and practical implications are still contested. Importantly, the broader landscape within which climate justice is situated is rapidly changing, bringing new challenges to the understanding and practice of climate justice. This review takes stock of climate justice literature in view of this new context. We find several disconnects and tensions between more philosophical and academic treatments of the subject on the one hand, and “activist”-oriented approaches to climate justice on the other. Scholarship often falls into silos around scales from global and local, between mitigation and adaptation or draws distinctions between climate justice and other forms of (in)justice. This inhibits an understanding of climate justice that can address more directly its underlying root causes in an historically constituted global economic system and intersecting set of social inequalities. We propose a research agenda centered on a transformative approach to climate justice, placing analysis of power in its various guises at the center of its enquiry, and subverting and moving beyond existing distinctions by focusing on the social and institutional relations and inequalities that both produce climate change and profoundly shape responses to it. We elaborate on three key strands of such an approach: inclusive climate justice, deepening climate justice and governance for climate justice.

Colonial Lives of the Carceral Archipelago: Rethinking the Neoliberal Security State

Abstract: Mass incarceration, police brutality, and border controls are part and parcel of the everyday experiences of marginalized and racialized communities across the world. Recent scholarship in international relations, sociology, and geography has examined the prevalence of these coercive practices through the prism of “disciplinary,” “penal,” or “authoritarian” neoliberalism. In this collective discussion, we argue that although this literature has brought to the fore neoliberalism's reliance on state violence, it has yet to interrogate how these carceral measures are linked to previous forms of global racial ordering. To rectify this moment of “colonial unknowing,” the collective discussion draws on decolonial approaches, Indigenous studies, and theories of racial capitalism. It demonstrates that “new” and “neoliberal” forms of domestic control must be situated within the global longue duree of racialized and colonial accumulation by dispossession. By mapping contemporary modes of policing, incarceration, migration control, and surveillance onto earlier forms of racial–colonial subjugation, we argue that countering the violence of neoliberalism requires more than nostalgic appeals for a return to Keynesianism. What is needed is abolition—not just of the carceral archipelago, but of the very system of racial capitalism that produces and depends on these global vectors of organized violence and abandonment. L'incarceration de masse, la brutalite policiere et les controles aux frontieres constituent une partie integrante des experiences quotidiennes des communautes marginalisees et racialisees du monde entier. Des etudes recentes en relations internationales, en sociologie et en geographie ont examine la prevalence de ces pratiques coercitives par le prisme du neoliberalisme « disciplinaire », « penal » ou « autoritaire ». Dans cet article, nous soutenons que bien que cette litterature ait mis en evidence la dependance du neoliberalisme a la violence etatique, elle ne s'est pas encore interrogee sur le lien entre ces mesures carcerales et les formes precedentes d'ordre racial mondial. Cet article s'appuie sur le feminisme noir, les approches decoloniales, les etudes indigenes et les theories de capitalisme racial pour rectifier cette « ignorance coloniale » marquante. Il demontre que les formes « nouvelles » et « neoliberales » de controle national doivent se situer dans la longue duree globale de l'accumulation racialisee et coloniale par depossession. Nous associons les modes contemporains de maintien de l'ordre, d'incarceration, de controle migratoire et de surveillance a des formes anterieures d'assujettissement racial/colonial pour soutenir que contrer la violence du neoliberalisme exige davantage que des appels nostalgiques au retour du keynesianisme. Ce qu'il faut, c'est une abolition : non seulement de l'archipel carceral, mais aussi du systeme de capitalisme racial en lui-meme qui produit et depend de ces vecteurs globaux de violence organisee et d'abandon. El encarcelamiento masivo, la brutalidad policial y los controles fronterizos forman parte de las experiencias cotidianas de las comunidades marginadas y racializadas de todo el mundo. Estudios recientes en RI, Sociologia y Geografia han examinado la prevalencia de estas practicas coercitivas a traves del prisma del neoliberalismo “disciplinario,” “penal” o “autoritario.” En este articulo, sostenemos que, si bien esta literatura puso en primer plano la dependencia del neoliberalismo de la violencia estatal, aun tiene que cuestionar la manera en que estas medidas carcelarias se vinculan a formas anteriores de ordenamiento racial global. Para rectificar este momento de “desconocimiento colonial,” el articulo recurre al feminismo negro, a los abordajes descoloniales, a los estudios indigenas y a las teorias del capitalismo racial. Demuestra que las formas “nuevas” y “neoliberales” de control interno se deben situar dentro de la longue duree global de la acumulacion por desposesion racializada y colonial. Al trazar un mapa de los modos contemporaneos de vigilancia policial, encarcelamiento, control de la migracion y vigilancia sobre las formas anteriores de subyugacion racial-colonial, sostenemos que contrarrestar la violencia del neoliberalismo requiere algo mas que apelaciones nostalgicas de retorno al keynesianismo. Lo que se necesita es la abolicion, no solo del archipielago carcelario, sino tambien del propio sistema de capitalismo racial que produce y depende de estos vectores globales de violencia y abandono organizados.