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Antara Datta

@antaradatta.bsky.social
672 followers 208 following 78 posts

Historian of South Asia. Refugees, Migration and Borders.

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Reposted by Antara Datta
Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I don't think I've ever said this before, but "I love the top recommendation from this Policy Exchange report"
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Jasmine K Gani @jasminekgani.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
30,000 people attended the vigil for Prof. Jason Arday at Trafalgar Square. Speeches can be heard here: www.youtube.com/live/lPHGREJ...
30,000 people attended the vigil for Prof. Jason Arday at Trafalgar Square on 17 August 2026.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
These are archives of global importance run by some fabulous archivists. How we write the history of refugees is at stake if we allow the continued destruction of this.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
What Exeter’s example has shown is that Departments that are excellent at research and teaching (the much vaunted dual excellence) and recruiting very well can still be threatened. Hard to believe these are not motivated by factors beyond the financial ones.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
More awful news from Exeter. Solidarity with all colleagues who got horrible news today.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
I was well within time because I was terrified of Bella. A fantastic day of listening to my colleagues from @rhulpir.bsky.social and other Departments present their work.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Come and work with us! We are a very friendly Department and there is a regular campus cat war to boot. What more could you want? jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk
Job Opportunity at Royal Holloway University of London: Lecturer in International Relations
Full-Time, Permanent.The Department of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy at Royal Holloway seeks to appoint a Lecturer in International Relations (Teaching and Research focus). The succ...
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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
On this #InternationalArchivesWeek I'd like to repost this absolute gem by the @bucksarchives.bsky.social!
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
This is terrible terrible for Nottingham and HE. Solidarity with everyone in this situation. The lack of wider outrage about this is absolutely telling. Academics are paying the price for problems not of their own creation.
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Alex Church @alexchurch.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Out: The Europeanisation of British politics In: The Indianisation of British politics
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kalramnath @kalramnath.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
A thread about new bks that I used in my teaching about the Indian Ocean World this past semester:
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If you know you know @privatechand.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
There is no Jai Hind without Joy Bangla. We are not a people to be conquered.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Life stages of a historian- thread. 1. Oooh I wonder what the archives say about X. 2. Wanders down multiple rabbit holes. 3. Discards several ideas because people have already written about them. Why. But do I like their take on it? 4. Collects more material.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
The BBC Proms schedule is out! The first born is on stage on the 8th of August with the amazing teenagers of the NYO. Come listen! www.bbc.com/mediacentre/...
bbc.com
BBC Proms 2026 presents 86 concerts over eight weeks with every note broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, and 24 Proms programmes on BBC TV and iPlayer
The BBC Proms 2026 run from Friday 17 July to Saturday 12 September at London’s Royal Albert Hall and venues across the UK with more than 70,000 tickets at £8
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
I went to see my son and his friends in the National Youth Orchestra perform this weekend. Many of the teenage boys (and girls) were in tears backstage- moved by Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. 160 teenagers playing their hearts out on stage. Felt a glimmer of hope after the relentlessness of 206.
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Asian Review of Books @asianreviewofbooks.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Drops today: this week's ARB @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast features Rian Thum, author of “Islamic China: An Asian History” @harvardpress.bsky.social asianreviewofbooks.com/podcast-with...
asianreviewofbooks.com
Podcast with Rian Thum, author of “Islamic China: An Asian History”
Can someone be Chinese and Muslim? For some academics, this has been a surprisingly fraught question, with some asserting that Chinese Muslims are not really Chinese, or not really Muslim.
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kalramnath @kalramnath.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
I put on my lawyer hat for this piece on time limits under Indian citizenship legislation, and ongoing constitutional challenges in the Indian Supreme Court for Statelessness and Citizenship Review: statelessnessandcitizenshipreview.com/index.php/jo...
statelessnessandcitizenshipreview.com
View of Citizenship on Pause? The Ambiguities Surrounding Termination of Citizenship in India
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Mike is a former colleague and will be an amazing councillor. This is very exciting!
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PIR at Royal Holloway @rhulpir.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
🚨 Launching: A Roadmap to Votes at 16 🚨 Kaat Smets and @jamessloam.bsky.social contributed to A Roadmap to Votes at 16 🗳️ - a report co-created with organisations, teachers, youth workers and young people to make Votes at 16 a success. 👉 Read the full report: docsend.com/view/9nnhamt...
A square image with a pink background. The logo for Democracy Classroom is in the bottom right-hand corner. In the bottom left is the title "A roadmap to votes at 16". From the title is a snaking path which has groups of cartoon people clustered along it. Some groups are holding discussions; one is in a classroom; one is on a protest; and the final is queuing at a polling booth.Another pink square with the democracy classroom logo. There is a large block of text which says "Launching the roadmap to votes at 16, a shared vision to support young people to engage in democracy". There is a smaller cartoon image of two women helping each other carry a large object up a flight of stairs.
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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
In recent years, Jinal Parekh and @antaradatta.bsky.social have published on aspects of the ‘virginity testing’ practice that had not been studied explored yet. For example, they wrote about the Indian response in this article for @globalhistjnl.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
India, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, and the 1979 Virginity Testing Scandal | Journal of Global History | Cambridge Core
India, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, and the 1979 Virginity Testing Scandal - Volume 19 Issue 1
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Shame on all those news channel that would quote the death tolls with the caveat: ‘according to the Hamas controlled Gaza Health Ministry’ to cast doubt.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
The teenager who once asked me if I had ‘ever heard of a cricketer called Rahul Dravid’ has also just asked me if I’d heard of the Weimar Republic…?!
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life.
Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage.
I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys.
I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show,
A show that I named and helped develop over all those years.
Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry.
These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenterIn a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices.
Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'.
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I chose the latter.
It broke my heart.
I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make.
I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer.
I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence.
One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career.I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more.
I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost".
James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice.
Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences.
I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness.
Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire.
I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal.
I am so sorry to let you down.
I hope that you can understand my reasoning.
I have to accept that I am not what the current
BBC expects of their freelance presenters.Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not
"just a job"
I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world.
From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too.
The strawberry is dead.
Long live the strawberry. B
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Esheru @esherukweku.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
If handing someone their arse, was a video clip
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Ben O'Loughlin @benoloughlin.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Excited our department seminar tomorrow is @duncanbell.bsky.social on #Socialism and #Telepathy: Group Minds and Freedom in Interwar British Political Thought. The talk takes place 1-2pm in McCrea 2-01, all welcome.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Apparently my copy is on the way! Congratulations @kalathmika.bsky.social!
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Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
New on advance access: "Air Travel, Statelessness, and the Rights Claims of Ugandan Asians, c.1973" by @riakapoor.bsky.social (@qmul.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Validate User
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Rahul Rao @rahulraothariel.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
UK universities claim to be reckoning with their imperial and colonial pasts, but refuse to see their implication in the genocidal settler colonialism of the present – so how serious are these exercises? wrote about this for @versobooks.bsky.social blog www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/...
versobooks.com
Race Reports
In July 2025, the University of Edinburgh published a wide-ranging ‘Review of Race and History’ that attempts to confront its legacies of enslavement and colonialism. Four months earlier, the Universi...
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Andreu Casas @andreucasas.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
🚨Hiring a fully funded (3.5 years) PhD for the @ldnsocmedobs.bsky.social to research social media and politics. Candidates should have quantitative/computational skills and/or be interested in content curation/moderation. UK home candidates only unfortunately. www.royalholloway.ac.uk/media/hquftp...
royalholloway.ac.uk
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
A superb special issue on caste and Indian diplomacy. Well done @kalathmika.bsky.social and the other editors! brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Congratulations to my lovely colleague Andreu @andreucasas.bsky.social on his fellowship- keep an eye on all the stuff he’s going to be doing!
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 09/09/2025
‘The conditions in the hotels are very bad: most residents share rooms with complete strangers, have no laundry or cooking facilities, no choice about when or what they eat, with any visits strictly policed by security.’ Helen Charman on ‘our girls’ vs asylum hotels: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/se...
lrb.co.uk
Helen Charman | Of Flags and Families
The new home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said in May (in an interview with Michael Gove for the Spectator) that she has...
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Come to our lovely campus to hear about how @danielalai.bsky.social, Will Jones, Ibrahim Halawi and Mohammad Kalantari and I have been re-designing our ‘intro to IR’ class over the last five years.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 30/07/2025
‘Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to allow in, as though food were a legitimate bargaining chip. Gazans cannot afford to wait for either.’ Amjad Iraqi on the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ju...
lrb.co.uk
Amjad Iraqi | Walking Corpses
Israel’s allies are still buying time for Israel to change course or come to a deal with Hamas over how many trucks to...
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Re-stating the obvious for any one still in doubt.
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Saima Nasar @saimanasar.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
I am working on 'The Asian Mother and Baby Campaign' which ran from 1984-1986. I would love to interview any linkworkers who were employed by the campaign or any women who were supported by linkworkers. Please spread the word or get in touch if this is you! My email is saima.nasar@bristol.ac.uk
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Janina Beiser-McGrath @jbeisermcgrath.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
📣 If you’re in London on 7 July, join us at our mini workshop on Global South Politics! The programme is below. If interested, please email me!
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Read @uttara.bsky.social’s excellent new paper on exit control!
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Amanda Lanzillo @amandazillo.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
[And since we're finally asking questions, why is Israel allowed to commit genocide?]
currentaffairs.org
Wait, Why Is Israel Allowed To Have Nukes?
According to our elected leaders, we should be very scared of the possibility that Iran could get a nuclear bomb. But Israel already has them, and its government is increasingly unstable and belligere...
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Daniela Lai @danielalai.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
"diverted" is when the 75 bus goes through an alternative route due to roadworks, not when a boat is seized in international waters
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Congratulations @sandipto.bsky.social and if you haven’t read his book, you absolutely should!
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PIR at Royal Holloway @rhulpir.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Our students on the final-year visual writing module will be exhibiting a selection of their work Thursday 29th May at 5pm in the Chris Rumford Library in the McCrea Building Come along to meet the markers and enjoy their excellent work 🖼️🎨
Poster advertising the event.
Across the top is the text "Visual/Writing Exhibition of student work. Chris Rumford Library, Royal Holloway (Egham) 29 May 2025, 17:00"
Taking up most of the page is a collage piece by Phoebe Solomon. Most of the image is a black and white shot of a white family. The child in the centre is watching a TV which has a colour union jack on it. The child's face has been collaged over with black features. Out of the window behind the family is a colour photo of Grenfell tower burning and in the top right hand corner is an England flag.
The right hand side of the poster is a quote from Stuart hall about racialised forms of looking.
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kalramnath @kalramnath.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Please see this @radhistreview.bsky.social call for proposals on Mobility Regimes | Edited by Amy Chazkel, Jecca Namakkal, Evan Taparata, and myself | Deadline June 15, 2025.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Come and work with us for a year teaching political theory. We are an exceptionally friendly department and we have a pet cat on campus. What more could you want? jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk
Job Opportunity at Royal Holloway University of London: Lecturer in Political Theory
Full-Time, Fixed-Term (12 months)The Department of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy at Royal Holloway seeks to appoint a Lecturer in Political Theory (teaching focused). The successful...
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Same. I had two small kids, teaching online was exhausting. I could only record lectures when they were in bed. Seminars with a bunch of letters on screen instead of actual people broke me. And the archives were shut and no international travel meant I couldn’t see my sick dad or do any research.
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Akil N Awan @akilnawan.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Today marks Nakba Day (Palestinian Catastrophe) commemorating the destruction of Palestinian society & homeland in 1948 when Zionist militias expelled 750k Palestinians & captured 78% of historic Palestine. A glimpse into Palestine before the Nakba, in 100 photos. www.aljazeera.com/news/longfor...
aljazeera.com
Palestine before the Nakba, in 100 photos
A glimpse into the places, people and daily life of Palestine before the 1948 Nakba.
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Ben O'Loughlin @benoloughlin.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
If you're a US student looking to do a masters in the UK from September, do join our department information event online, info below, link here: eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e8...
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Rev. Dr. Liz Gloyn @lizgloyn.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Medical Aid for Palestinians are asking people to e-mail their MPs to highlight the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. You can find their template letter here. Please do think about sending a copy to your MP.
map.org.uk
Stop the blockade of aid and reject Trump’s land grab
Email your MP today and ask them to stand in solidarity with Palestinians against Trump’s threats and Israel’s military attacks.
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Antara Datta @antaradatta.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
My latest article with Jinal Parekh: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/.... In this we look at how the British state shifted its focus from worrying about young South Asian men as a source of immigration fraud to South Asian women, and the consequences of this.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
South Asian Bodies at British Borders in the 1970s: From the Ugandan Asian ‘Stateless Husbands’ to ‘Virginity Testing’
This article looks at two critical moments in British immigration – the case of the ‘stateless’ Ugandan Asian husbands, whose wives successfully argued for their entry in Britain in 1973 and the ‘vir...
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