Professor Gargi Bhattacharyya

Biography

I joined UAL as Professor of Anti/Post/Decolonial Theory and Praxis in September 2023. Before this, I have worked at the Universities of East London, Aston, Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

My work focuses on questions of systemic inequality and injustice and processes of imagination and collaboration that seek to navigate, bypass and overturn such structures.

I have authored a number of books, including: Tales of dark-skinned women (1998); Sexuality and Society (2002); Dangerous Brown Men (2008); Traffick (2005); Crisis, Austerity and Everyday Life (2015); Rethinking Racial Capitalism (2018); We, the heartbroken (2023); The Futures of Racial Capitalism (2023). I have also co-authored books with colleagues (and continue to believe that collaborative work is an important element of the project, despite the challenges it can bring). My collaborative works include: Race and Power (2001); Go Home? Mapping Immigration Controversy (2017); How media and conflicts make migrants (2020); Empire's Endgame (2021).

I have appeared in a range of podcasts and previously convened an online series 'Who's afraid of anticapitalism?' with the Left Book Club. I am co-editor of the Pluto short book series, Fireworks. Please do contact me if you have an idea for a short and accessible book on a topic you feel is urgent for our collective well-being and freedom.

I have had a varied and highly interdisciplinary career and my work borrows from many disciplines. Joining UAL is an opportunity for me to learn new skills and approaches to thinking. As the need for collective and collaborative solutions to the question of how we might all live and live thriving and joyful lives becomes increasingly urgent, I hope to meet and convene with others who still believe that intellectual work can play a part in human, inter-species and planetary survival.