Irna Hofman

The Seville Process: Developmentalism after American hegemony A lecture by Professor Daniela Gabor, hosted by the journal Development and Change

Registration is now open for Daniela Gabor's lecture:
www.iss.nl/en/events/seville-process-developmentalism-after-american-hegemony-2026-01-22
@danielagabor.bsky.social @powelljr.bsky.social @ingridhk.bsky.social @andrewmfischer.bsky.social @marsel.bsky.social @cacrisalves.bsky.social

(Though) the reality of/labour involved in silk wormbreeding in the region is harsh...

@scwobservatory.bsky.social @lauchinainstitute.bsky.social @madeinchinajournal.com

Everyday Politics of Global China: Looking to, Reflecting on, and Enacting Authority in Rural Tajikistan The visible manifestations of Global China, and the responses these manifestations elicit, are at the centre of much of the scholarly literature on, and popular interest in, China's growing global pr....

Written with passion, completed and shared with the usual anxiety:

"Everyday Politics of Global China: Looking to, Reflecting on, and Enacting Authority in Rural Tajikistan"

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Interesting dynamics here..:

Thanks for posting! Might try to come ..

United States Delivers 75 Tons of Fortified Food Assistance to Support Vulnerable Populations in Tajikistan September 17, 2025, Dushanbe, Tajikistan – The United States delivered 75 tons of U.S.-manufactured food worth $255,666 to support about 40,000 vulnerable

US -aid?

US delivered 75 tons of U.S.-manufactured food, "proudly produced" in Texas

"'Our mutual goal is simple: to save lives, improve health, and make a real difference for Tajik families and communities,'” said Ambassador Micaller"

tj.usembassy.gov/united-state...

As lecturer, I look forward interacting and working with students and (new) colleagues, engaging with exciting and critical themes of political ecology, sustainability, belonging, diversity, and development

A new academic year, a new chapter!

Happy to share I have joined Leiden University's Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology

Over the past 2 decades, China has become Laos’s top investor, main creditor, and 2nd-largest trade partner. In a new report, @profjulietlu.bsky.social and I unpack Chinese investment across four land-intensive sectors: agriculture & plantations, mining, infrastructure & SEZs. tinyurl.com/kw5vteem

The new issue of Global China Pulse is now live! What does it mean to do fieldwork on Global China? This issue explores the methodological, ethical, and political challenges researchers face when studying China’s global presence from the ground up. Download here: globalchinapulse.net/download/glo...

Relating and Differentiating: Navigating Worlds and Negotiating Positionality in Research on Chinese Agribusinesses in Rural Tajikistan ‘I don’t understand her,’ the Chinese mechanic told my friend in Chinese, pointing at me. ‘We learned the Tajik language on the street; we didn’t take classes. She speaks the official language.’ The m...

"Where did she come from? Whose side is she on?"

Relating and Differentiating: Navigating Worlds and Negotiating Positionality in Research on Chinese Agribusinesses in Rural Tajikistan

My contribution to the SI "Researching Global China" in Global China Pulse:
globalchinapulse.net/relating-and...

How Chinese Miners Adapt to Kyrgyzstan’s Legal Compliance Negative public perception about Chinese expansion into Kyrgyzstan, along with an unpredictable regulatory environment, has profoundly shaped Chinese business practices inside Kyrgyzstan. Despite comm...

Commentary with @adoolotkeldieva.bsky.social on how Chinese mining companies in Kyrgyzstan have worked to adapt to a state court system in which compliance as such is an impossibility. @gvagrad.bsky.social

carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/0...

Second Cold War Observatory | LinkedIn Second Cold War Observatory | 6 followers on LinkedIn. Research collective committed to understanding how great power rivalry shapes societies, economies & ecologies worldwide | The Second Cold W...

Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/seco...

Ethnography in the Shadow of Suspended Sovereignty: Navigating Geopolitical Tensions and Indigenous Claims in Taiwan What does it mean to conduct ethnographic fieldwork in a territory where sovereignty is not only contested but suspended—where diplomatic ambiguity, imperial entanglements, and historical wounds satur...

How do you do ethnography in places of suspended sovereignty? Richard Nyelade draws on his fieldwork in Taiwan to explore how researchers navigate legal ambiguity, geopolitical tension, and fragile alliances, proposing 'ethnographic diplomacy' as a mode shaped by silence, suspicion, and performance.

This article is part of a forthcoming Special Issue "China in Compliance", edited by, and many thanks to, @matthewserie.bsky.social

@scwobservatory.bsky.social @beltandroadpod.bsky.social @madeinchinajournal.com

Publication alert!

Happy to share my recently published article in Regulation & Governance:

The destruction of Palestine is breaking the world | Moustafa Bayoumi The rules of the institutions that define our lives bend like reeds when it comes to Israel – so much that the whole global order is on the verge of collapse

"This is ... about the remaking of (domestic and international)law." An excellent essay

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

While I wouldn't talk of plantations in Central Asia, my thoughts resonate with Sarah Besky's, who questioned whether a plantation can be fair.

European firms increasingly look to Central Asia for sourcing agricultural commodities, and markets play a role in setting standards #shiftinggeographiesofproduction.
Yet can we talk of fair trade where/if farmers are subject to production plans, as (still) happens in parts of the region?

Fairtrade now also introduced in.... Turkmenistan shorturl.at/4fSKl

Rode lijn acties om genocide in Gaza te stoppen.

Na 1,5 jaar vroeg kabinet om ‘onderzoek’. EU-onderzoek: Israël volledig over de schreef.

Toch trekt kabinet geen enkele consequentie. Diep teleurstellend hoe coalitie meewerkt aan straffeloosheid van Netanyahu’s misdaden.

Another great initiative!

Shifting geopolitical fault lines and global food security This international workshop brings together academics and societal organizations to discuss food security in the current geopolitical turbulence

Join us this Thursday (5 June) at the International Institute of Social Studies:

Shifting geopolitical fault lines and global food security

www.iss.nl/en/events/sh...

AI & Academia. Aw.

Wageningen trekt een rode lijn. Dit kabinet staat niet voor de waarden die… | Jobbe Wijnen Wageningen trekt een rode lijn. Dit kabinet staat niet voor de waarden die we op 5 Mei vieren. Daarom was er een subtiel, maar niet te missen protest tijdens het startschot van het Bevrijdingsfestival...

www.linkedin.com/posts/jobbew...

I was delighted to speak at the seminar on water challenges in Central Asia at @clingendael.bsky.social on 17 April.

What are (some of) the everyday water challenges encountered at the microlevel?

Were you interested but unable to attend? Watch the recording:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV6g...

The Central Asia gang in the Hague ☀️
@irnahofman.bsky.social
@plovism.bsky.social

Looking forward to discuss water challenges in Central Asia at @clingendael.bsky.social coming Thursday. Join us in person or online!

Doing Fieldwork in Challenging Environments, Online, 12–16 May 2025 Learn to plan, prepare, and conduct field research in conflict, post-war, and closed political settings.

📍 Are you preparing for #fieldwork in a conflict, post-war, or closed political setting?

⬇️ Get hands-on training on ethical & practical aspects, covering:
⚠️ Risk assessment & mitigation
🔎 Common #ResearchMethods
📈 Managing your #data

💻 12–16 May 👩‍💻 Vera Axyonova
#ecprms #methodsky #polisky