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Heaven Crawley

@heavencrawley.bsky.social
207 followers 253 following 32 posts

Writer and researcher exploring migration, food, and power. Currently tracing the journeys of everyday foods. Reflections from travel and work in progress.

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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
What happened in Nepal last week wasn’t a natural disaster. It was the result of inequalities operating at many scales — local, national, global — that left those with the least power carrying the greatest risks. #nepal #displacement #inequality theconversation.com/nepal-floods...
theconversation.com
Nepal floods: Khalte residents knew the river could take their camp – and then it did
Khalte’s residents survived one disaster – but were left vulnerable to the next.
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Simon Marks @simonmarksfsn.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Impossible to disagree with a single word that Ben Rhodes (Obama era NSC official) is saying here:
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Wars are reported through the language of strategy. News coverage follows missile strikes, air defence systems, and military targets. The US-Israeli attacks on Iran are no exception. But wars are lived very differently by the people caught inside them. heavencrawley.substack.com/p/between-a-...
heavencrawley.substack.com
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Afghans in Iran and the Hidden Human Costs of War
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
In times when Iran is spoken about mostly in the language of conflict, its food reminds us of something quieter and older: a culture built around beauty, hospitality, and the shared pleasure of a meal. heavencrawley.substack.com/p/when-the-p...
heavencrawley.substack.com
When the Pot Turns
Tahdig and the Hidden Beauty of Iran
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Wars are reported through the language of strategy. News coverage follows missile strikes, air defence systems, and military targets. The US-Israeli attacks on Iran are no exception. But wars are lived very differently by the people caught inside them. heavencrawley.substack.com/p/between-a-...
heavencrawley.substack.com
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Afghans in Iran and the Hidden Human Costs of War
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Denmark has *far* worse outcomes - economic, social and integration - than the UK. Just a fantasyland for those who want an excuse for their own xenophobia and/or are incapable of doing the hard work of confronting the UK's real problems. www.thetimes.com/world/europe...
thetimes.com
A Danish lesson for Labour on how to stop migrants and start winning
Like the home secretary, I visited recently to learn how the centre-left is riding high and reclaiming the asylum debate from the populist right
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
This paper with @j-hagen-zanker.bsky.social questions the extent to which deterrence policies have their intended or assumed effects. Preferred destinations are rarely identified solely, or even primarily, on the basis of migration policies onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Deciding Where to go: Policies, People and Perceptions Shaping Destination Preferences
There is considerable interest among European politicians and policymakers in the factors influencing the destination preferences of refugees and other migrants. Drawing on in-depth qualitative inter....
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Indeed. My research and that of many others has shown this over and over (and over…) again heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com/migrant-deci...
heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com
Migration decision making
Understanding the causes of forced migration, the decision making of asylum seekers and the impacts of policy making in relation to the journeys that people make has been a significant theme of my …
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
As someone who worked with Labour when they came into power in 1999 and spent much of my time explaining why competing with the right wouldn’t help, I couldn’t agree more. Pandering to anti-immigrant narratives has taken us to some horrible places.Good leadership on migration is desperately needed
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
What an utterly disgusting misrepresentation from the Daily Mail, reinforcing every stereotype of an anti-Western ‘Middle East’. Israel slaughters 100s of Iranian school girls and the US kills 100s of citizens in Teheran but somehow Iran is the protagonist. Also, when did Dubai become ‘Western’?
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
I only have 5 chickens but over the last week they’ve decided it’s spring!
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
“Take that rag off your head” Once upon a time racism in the UK was pernicious but often subtle. Not any more www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...
aljazeera.com
‘People here are tired, scared and feel forgotten’: Racism stalks UK towns
As hatred is increasingly normalised and assaults rise, ethnic minorities are becoming hypervigilant.
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
This from @jasonhickel.bsky.social sums up my utter despair and frustration at what’s happening right now. Two bullies. Zero accountability
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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
It's horrifying, so I don't say it lightly: US soldiers and Iranian kids are dying for nothing. America wasn't in danger from Iran in 2026. What Trump is doing is protecting his Israeli patrons, his Saudi/UAE golf courses and "Trump Gaza." And he's known this is coming for years.
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Chris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Iranians protesting against the regime (and in support of US and Israeli strikes) are respectable "expats" according to the BBC and therefore completely unrelated to the Iranian "migrants", "asylum-seekers" and "refugees" whom they regularly demonise.
bbc.co.uk
Iran launches attacks across Middle East after US and Israel strikes on leadership sites
Apparent Iranian attacks have been reported in Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, and elsewhere in the region. Earlier, Donald Trump said
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Another splendid 'debunk' from @monkemma.bsky.social. It's hard to overestimate just how much work it takes to excavate, accurately and in detail, the layers of half-truth, falsity, misinterpretation etc. of these kinds of stories: monkdebunks.substack.com/p/the-500k-b...
monkdebunks.substack.com
The £500k “Boat Migrant Payout” Story Isn’t What You Think
How unlawful phone seizures, selective reporting and misleading headlines turned a government failure into a culture-war outrage.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Isabel Wilkerson, THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: THE EPIC STORY OF AMERICA'S GREAT MIGRATION
smithsonianstore.com
The Warmth of Other Suns
In The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-lon...
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
I spent 8 years of my life leading MIDEQ and even today I don’t think I’ve managed to read everything our brilliant team of researchers has written 🙌🏼
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Janette Speyer @janettespeyer.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Delis make you think of family gathering and community. These meeting points helped immigrants find their footing in second homes. Hand-sliced pastrami and knishes helped shape American culture. #FoodHistory #FoodCulture #FoodHeritage #Delis #DeliCounters foodculturebites.com/how-delis-be...
foodculturebites.com
How Delis Became American Legends Behind the Counter
Delis make you think of family gathering and community. These meeting points helped immigrants find their footing in second homes filled with familiar smells and language.
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
I'm fascinated by the work of Ayrson Heráclito who places Black bodies in direct contact with rice, corns and dendê, Brazilian staples shaped by Atlantic slavery and African agricultural knowledge. My Substack reflections on why this matters heavencrawley.substack.com/p/food-memor...
heavencrawley.substack.com
Food, Memory, and the Afterlives of Slavery
Sacred substances and the work of Ayrson Heráclito
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Like many of my generation, I grew up being fed the lie that the British Royal Family were something to aspire to and be proud of. Coronation mugs and plates were a thing. This piece by my brilliant sister Fay Bound-Alberti unpacks the lie www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
From handsome prince to a ghost behind glass, Andrew’s face tells the story of his decline | Fay Bound-Alberti
Royals have always prized their images as ways to assert their lineage and authority. Now this pathetic photo will define the former prince, says historian Fay Bound-Alberti
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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Brooke slave ship diagram with bodies crammed together
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
A few years ago on a work trip to Manila I came across the incredible migration stories that lie behind halo-halo. Now my conversations about the Philippines more often than not end up returning to the subject of this bizarre and colourful dessert beloved by so many. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Mixing it up in the Philippines
The story of halo-halo
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Janette Speyer @janettespeyer.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Many American dishes trace their roots to African agricultural expertise. These influences that have gone unrecognized. Acknowledging these contributions helps tell a fuller, more accurate story. #FoodHistory #FoodCulture #FoodHeritage #BlackHistoryMonth foodculturebites.com/the-overlook...
foodculturebites.com
The Overlooked African influence of Many American Foods
Many beloved American dishes trace their roots to African agricultural knowledge and culinary traditions, influences that have often gone unrecognized despite traveling across the Atlantic centuries a...
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
This time last year I was at Feira de São Joaquim market in Salvador where rice sits alongside spices, fabrics, and ritual objects, an echo of survival and memory, but also inequality rooted in slavery and exploitation. Read my full Substack piece here: lnkd.in/d5g4jqRx
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
'Some'?? If there were safe and legal routes all deaths at sea would be completely avoidable heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com/journeys-ove...
heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com
Journeys over land and sea
What is it like to travel to Europe over land and sea in order to secure a future for yourself and your family? Why are so many people willing to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean? What a…
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
I co-edited a book, the internet downloaded it 422k times and counting. Open access = global readership. Proof that collective Global South scholarship travels far when it’s not bound by Global North profit. Grateful to everyone who’s read, taught, and shared. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
link.springer.com
The Palgrave Handbook of South–South Migration and Inequality
This is an open access handbook, which provides a ‘state-of-the-art’ resource on South-South migration, intersectional inequalities and development.
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
I spent 35 years of my life, including 2 years at the UK Home Office, trying to understand the causes of forced migration and why people end up where they do. The fact that these simplistic narratives still dominate British politics drives me crazy 🤯 You can read the findings here bit.ly/4aeI0ey
heavencrawleydotcom.wordpress.com
Migration decision making
Understanding the causes of forced migration, the decision making of asylum seekers and the impacts of policy making in relation to the journeys that people make has been a significant theme of my …
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Hello BlueSky 👋🏼 I’m new to this platform and need my feed to be full of smart, thoughtful, kind people who can cut through the tedious Twitter-style nonsense the algorithm has decided to send my way. Hit me up if you are interested in #migration #power #food or any combination of the three!
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
This ⬇️
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Received a message from @hebagowayed.bsky.social which reminded me not to completely let go of 35 years working in the migration space, even as I try to find new ways to critically engage with how we got here If you are interested in my back catalogue you can find it here: www.heavencrawley.com
heavencrawley.com
Heaven Crawley
Writer | Migration, Food & Power
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Heaven Crawley @heavencrawley.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
I’ve stepped away from Twitter in search of my people. After 35 years working on migration, I’m currently writing The Taste of Power — a book about food, power and how five everyday foods have shaped the world we live in. I will be sharing reflections from research, travel, and work in progress.
A mural in Oaxaca, Mexico — maize rendered as a winged figure, part human, part plant. Corn as sustenance, ancestry, and power.
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