Dr Maha
@maharafiatal.bsky.social
New Yorker abroad. Adam Smith Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Political Economy at University of Glasgow studying governance by/of corporations. Sometimes journalist. Always feminist.
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Dr Maha
@maharafiatal.bsky.social
· Aug 1
Afrofuturist ambiguities: Inclusion and consolidation in South African digital finance - Maha Rafi Atal, Pamela Mondliwa, 2025
In recent years, two changes have begun to transform the South African banking sector. First, financial technology startups have emerged, offering payments and ...
doi.org
New from Pamela Mondliwa and me in @bigdatasoc.bsky.social: the wild story of how South African banks launched mobile apps and chat-bots that compromised their customer data while patting themselves on the back for promoting "financial inclusion." doi.org/10.1177/2053...
Reposted by Dr Maha
From Stoppard’s Arcadia:
November 29, 2025 at 8:30 PM
From Stoppard’s Arcadia:
There is not a single work of Stoppard's that either on the page or the stage did not leave my heart a gaping open wound and my brain going a mile a minute. RIP to one of the best to ever do it.
R.I.P. Tom Stoppard, playwright most famous for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia he fled his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain at the age of eight. He later discovered all four of his grandparents had died in the Holocaust.
Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia he fled his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain at the age of eight. He later discovered all four of his grandparents had died in the Holocaust.
Sir Tom Stoppard, playwright famed for his wit and depth, dies at 88
Winning an Oscar for the screenplay for Shakespeare In Love, he captivated the hearts of audiences for more than six decades.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 10:59 PM
There is not a single work of Stoppard's that either on the page or the stage did not leave my heart a gaping open wound and my brain going a mile a minute. RIP to one of the best to ever do it.
Reposted by Dr Maha
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
November 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
All New Yorkers have an inner Jewish mother somewhere. This post speaks to my soul - a full house and laden tables is my happy place.
And this is my happy plate. Turkey, cran relish, roast parsnips/potatoes/sprouts, braised green beans, carrots in mole, fennel salad, cornbread, broccoli gratin.
And this is my happy plate. Turkey, cran relish, roast parsnips/potatoes/sprouts, braised green beans, carrots in mole, fennel salad, cornbread, broccoli gratin.
November 28, 2025 at 10:45 AM
All New Yorkers have an inner Jewish mother somewhere. This post speaks to my soul - a full house and laden tables is my happy place.
And this is my happy plate. Turkey, cran relish, roast parsnips/potatoes/sprouts, braised green beans, carrots in mole, fennel salad, cornbread, broccoli gratin.
And this is my happy plate. Turkey, cran relish, roast parsnips/potatoes/sprouts, braised green beans, carrots in mole, fennel salad, cornbread, broccoli gratin.
Some quick budget reactions from smart people (and me) for @theconversation.com: theconversation.com/what-will-th...
TLDR: Reeves patched the hole, just about, but there's not enough here to generate growth or productivity - and only those can insulate the UK from external economic shocks.
TLDR: Reeves patched the hole, just about, but there's not enough here to generate growth or productivity - and only those can insulate the UK from external economic shocks.
What will the budget mean for economic growth? Experts give their view
Nothing is certain but debt and taxes.
theconversation.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Some quick budget reactions from smart people (and me) for @theconversation.com: theconversation.com/what-will-th...
TLDR: Reeves patched the hole, just about, but there's not enough here to generate growth or productivity - and only those can insulate the UK from external economic shocks.
TLDR: Reeves patched the hole, just about, but there's not enough here to generate growth or productivity - and only those can insulate the UK from external economic shocks.
Excellent public service from Dave here - live-tweeting the Education Committee hearings on what to expect (nothing good) in the UK university sector.
"A system built on specialisation, efficiency", that right there is the death knell for the current university system in the UK, if (big if) government pushes it through. They actively don't want HE to grow, they will intervene, apparently, to help it shrink.
per this morning's education committee.
per this morning's education committee.
November 25, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Excellent public service from Dave here - live-tweeting the Education Committee hearings on what to expect (nothing good) in the UK university sector.
Sunday night with the greatest movie ever made about imperial capitalism and the 20th century social revolutions that brought it down.
Teaching prep is fun sometimes.
Teaching prep is fun sometimes.
November 23, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Sunday night with the greatest movie ever made about imperial capitalism and the 20th century social revolutions that brought it down.
Teaching prep is fun sometimes.
Teaching prep is fun sometimes.
Reposted by Dr Maha
A recording of this webinar is now available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYY... Should you wish to see the range of pained facial expressions I make while trying to think and talk at the same time.
November 20, 2025 at 6:53 PM
A recording of this webinar is now available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYY... Should you wish to see the range of pained facial expressions I make while trying to think and talk at the same time.
A recording of this webinar is now available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYY... Should you wish to see the range of pained facial expressions I make while trying to think and talk at the same time.
November 20, 2025 at 6:53 PM
A recording of this webinar is now available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYY... Should you wish to see the range of pained facial expressions I make while trying to think and talk at the same time.
Reposted by Dr Maha
80s: Japan is the future
90s, 00s: Japan in dying country typified by stagnant incomes, xenophobia and toxic, sexless nerd culture
Now: oh, that WAS the future
90s, 00s: Japan in dying country typified by stagnant incomes, xenophobia and toxic, sexless nerd culture
Now: oh, that WAS the future
the actual suicide of the West will be combining a rapidly aging population with hostility to migrants. however we must give credit to East Asia, especially Japan, for pioneering this model.
November 18, 2025 at 9:22 PM
80s: Japan is the future
90s, 00s: Japan in dying country typified by stagnant incomes, xenophobia and toxic, sexless nerd culture
Now: oh, that WAS the future
90s, 00s: Japan in dying country typified by stagnant incomes, xenophobia and toxic, sexless nerd culture
Now: oh, that WAS the future
Reposted by Dr Maha
This will be an interdisciplinary event: we're interested not just in Smith and his works, but the broader context of his time (abolition struggles! revolutions from Haiti to France!) and the state of his themes (labor, trade, finance, etc.) in the world today. If you work on *any* of these, apply!
Call for Papers: "The World in 1776/2026." 250 years after Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations blasted monopolists, mercantilists and enslavers as the scourges of a free society, what light can his ideas shed on the world today?
Abstracts due December 15th. Details: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Abstracts due December 15th. Details: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
The World in 1776/2026: The Wealth of Nations at 250
The World in 1776/2026: The Wealth of Nations at 250 Conveners: Maha Rafi Atal and Craig Smith, University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow and the British Academy invite submissions to "The Worl...
docs.google.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:40 PM
This will be an interdisciplinary event: we're interested not just in Smith and his works, but the broader context of his time (abolition struggles! revolutions from Haiti to France!) and the state of his themes (labor, trade, finance, etc.) in the world today. If you work on *any* of these, apply!
Reposted by Dr Maha
Call for Papers: "The World in 1776/2026." 250 years after Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations blasted monopolists, mercantilists and enslavers as the scourges of a free society, what light can his ideas shed on the world today?
Abstracts due December 15th. Details: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Abstracts due December 15th. Details: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
The World in 1776/2026: The Wealth of Nations at 250
The World in 1776/2026: The Wealth of Nations at 250 Conveners: Maha Rafi Atal and Craig Smith, University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow and the British Academy invite submissions to "The Worl...
docs.google.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Call for Papers: "The World in 1776/2026." 250 years after Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations blasted monopolists, mercantilists and enslavers as the scourges of a free society, what light can his ideas shed on the world today?
Abstracts due December 15th. Details: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Abstracts due December 15th. Details: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
On the form a British citizen and non-citizen spouse must fill in to live together in the UK you have to declare a reason you *can't* live together elsewhere. The default position of the UK government since 2012 is that a citizen who married a non-Brit should just leave.
The UK already prohibits MARRIED BRITISH CITIZENS from automatic family reunification, including my own, which is why my wife and I have to live in a third country together. Mahmood wants to further erode the Right to Family Life assured by the ECHR. This is an evil anti-family and anti-human policy
Illegal migration is ‘tearing our country apart’ and system is broken, says Shabana Mahmood – UK politics live
November 16, 2025 at 10:33 AM
On the form a British citizen and non-citizen spouse must fill in to live together in the UK you have to declare a reason you *can't* live together elsewhere. The default position of the UK government since 2012 is that a citizen who married a non-Brit should just leave.
Reposted by Dr Maha
Rudy Bridges is younger than the Sitting President of the United States and 29 sitting United States Senators
It’s useful for people of my generation to be reminded that this wasn’t that long ago. Ruby Bridges isn’t just still alive—she’s only 71, not ancient!
65 years ago on Nov. 14, little Ruby Bridges was escorted into an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Norman Rockwell, renowned for blissful depictions of Americana, did this remarkable painting for Look magazine. Printed as a double page, over-size spread, it's his masterpiece.
November 15, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Rudy Bridges is younger than the Sitting President of the United States and 29 sitting United States Senators
I will be talking with some smart people about what Reeves should actually be doing in this budget next Tuesday at 5pm. Register here: buff.ly/fXy9xsz
November 14, 2025 at 9:16 AM
I will be talking with some smart people about what Reeves should actually be doing in this budget next Tuesday at 5pm. Register here: buff.ly/fXy9xsz
Even the bond traders think Reeves' "smörgasbord of tiny tax canapés" is lunacy. www.ft.com/content/abfe...
UK government bonds sink after Reeves ditches plan to raise income tax
Dramatic U-turn ahead of Budget sparks sell-off in gilt market
www.ft.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Even the bond traders think Reeves' "smörgasbord of tiny tax canapés" is lunacy. www.ft.com/content/abfe...
Reposted by Dr Maha
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M adopts policy requiring professors to get OK from school president to discuss certain race and gender issues.
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
Reposted by Dr Maha
In 1622, when the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa I was supposed to be returned to power after years of imprisonment, he instead barricaded himself in his room and refused to come out, telling court officials "I do not want to be the Sultan".
Not sure what made me think of that.
Not sure what made me think of that.
November 14, 2025 at 12:31 AM
In 1622, when the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa I was supposed to be returned to power after years of imprisonment, he instead barricaded himself in his room and refused to come out, telling court officials "I do not want to be the Sultan".
Not sure what made me think of that.
Not sure what made me think of that.
Good to talk COP30 with Deutsche Welle earlier: www.dw.com/en/trump-is-...
Trump is not going to COP30 in Brazil, but America is – DW – 11/11/2025
The Trump administration has trivialized COP30, and is not sending anyone to the climate talks in Belem. But local and regional leaders from across the US want the world to know they're not giving up.
www.dw.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Good to talk COP30 with Deutsche Welle earlier: www.dw.com/en/trump-is-...
Just spending the evening thinking about all the very sophisticated people both left and center who thought the Women's March and the pink hats were frivolous and cringe, when in fact "grab 'em by the pussy" was the most important and true thing to know about the man.
November 12, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Just spending the evening thinking about all the very sophisticated people both left and center who thought the Women's March and the pink hats were frivolous and cringe, when in fact "grab 'em by the pussy" was the most important and true thing to know about the man.
Reposted by Dr Maha
COP30 is now underway, and I have more to say on the shadow Trump is casting over it here: theconversation.com/how-trumps-t...
November 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
COP30 is now underway, and I have more to say on the shadow Trump is casting over it here: theconversation.com/how-trumps-t...
In all the justified "screw those guys" obits for Cheney (and before him Rumsfeld) it has not featured heavily enough that in addition to the harm the WoT caused to the Middle East, Africa and domestic US politics, it also led the US and allies to fumble the actual strategic imperative of the time.
As I like to point out, it would be interesting to see how things would have turned out if the US focus in the early 2000s had been pressing China on issues such as market-orientation, human rights, and democracy, instead of, say, all the War on Terror stuff.
November 10, 2025 at 10:30 PM
In all the justified "screw those guys" obits for Cheney (and before him Rumsfeld) it has not featured heavily enough that in addition to the harm the WoT caused to the Middle East, Africa and domestic US politics, it also led the US and allies to fumble the actual strategic imperative of the time.
COP30 is now underway, and I have more to say on the shadow Trump is casting over it here: theconversation.com/how-trumps-t...
November 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
COP30 is now underway, and I have more to say on the shadow Trump is casting over it here: theconversation.com/how-trumps-t...
Sunday night villain origin story: journals that use none of the common citation formats (Harvard, Chicago, MLA, APA etc.) but have some bespoke format of their own.
a close up of a cartoon character covering his eyes with his hands
ALT: a close up of a cartoon character covering his eyes with his hands
media.tenor.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Sunday night villain origin story: journals that use none of the common citation formats (Harvard, Chicago, MLA, APA etc.) but have some bespoke format of their own.
Reposted by Dr Maha
Glad that someone has finally taken responsibility for the appalling assault on democracy that was the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Slightly confused that it's the Director-General of the BBC, but what do I know?
Slightly confused that it's the Director-General of the BBC, but what do I know?
November 9, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Glad that someone has finally taken responsibility for the appalling assault on democracy that was the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Slightly confused that it's the Director-General of the BBC, but what do I know?
Slightly confused that it's the Director-General of the BBC, but what do I know?