Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ashwini Vasanthakumar

@ashwinivasantha.bsky.social

1.9K followers 1K following 690 posts

Legal and political theory | migration, authority, obligation, oppression and the ethics of resistance | writing a book on why immigrants should not 'integrate' www.ashwinivasanthakumar.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · Nov 10

A quick introduction to new followers: I am a political and legal philosopher working on diasporas and transnationalism, the ethics of immigration control, victims' duties, and transitional justice.

My first monograph looked at exile politics,

Cover of book, The Ethics of Exile: a political theory of diaspora, depicting an airdropped aid box in a bombed out city scape. Original artwork by Houssam Alloum.

2 11 59

Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · 10h

Maybe we shouldn't trust the nation state....

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 10h

Border failings in Europe are eroding trust in nation states, warns Mahmood

Home secretary to tell meeting of interior ministers that international cooperation is way to curb irregular migration The failure to bring order to European borders is eroding trust in politicians and the concept of nation states, Shabana Mahmood will warn. As she hosts a meeting of fellow interior ministers to discuss migration routes through the western Balkans on Tuesday, the home secretary will say that international cooperation is the way to curb irregular migration. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

7 17

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 17h

We’re going to make migrants read Ian McEwan? Now that’s a hostile environment.

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 19h

Well this will certainly do it www.gov.uk/government/n...

Migrants will be required to pass A Level standard of English

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today.

www.gov.uk

8 9 87

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 1d

"We have an economy where a handful of modern-day robber barons wield extraordinary power. They hold enormous control over our paychecks, our bills, our time, and our futures.

...But the good news is that nothing about any of this is inevitable." - Lina Khan

87 1.4K 6.6K

Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · 1d

Please do come if you're in Amsterdam!!

The Ethics of Being an Immigrant: Living under the 'Integration Gaze' - Amsterdam Research Centre for Migration

In this talk, Ashwini Vasanthakumar (Queen's University, Canada) discusses her book project, in which she aims to explore the ethics of being an immigrant.

arc-m.uva.nl

1 5

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Frederick Deknatel @freddydeknatel.bsky.social · 1d

For some reason, Sassoon has nothing to say about a different "cycle of censorship" coming from the federal government, demanding universities give up academic freedom and pledge loyalty to Donald Trump's political agenda in exchange for federal funding.

To break the cycle of censorship, students should be warned: If you disrupt this event in a manner that censors speech, we will identify you and impose severe consequences. If a student organization engineers such a disturbance, the group’s leadership will face the same fate. When robust security is paired with meaningful consequences for those who violate campus policies, threats of disruption and violence will lose their force as a weapon to monopolize campus speech. In the long run, that is the right investment to ensure that Mr. Kirk’s killer and those who use less lethal forms of intimidation do not have the last word.

4 3

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 1d

Front page of Scottish newspaper The National today.

43 3.4K 8.7K

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

elia ayoub 🌱 @ayoub.bsky.social · 2d

Absolutely horrible news - Saleh was killed today

www.middleeasteye.net/news/saleh-a...

5 740 1.2K

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

William Clare Roberts 🇵🇸 @marxinhell.bsky.social · 3d

The McGill Assoc. of Univ. Teachers (MAUT) yesterday *overwhelmingly* endorsed the academic and cultural boycott of Israel, & calls upon McGill to end its partnerships with Israeli universities & other institutions.

("Overwhelmingly" means 104 yea to 8 nay!)

2 21 78

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Alexander Douglas @axdouglas.bsky.social · 3d

I wonder if Dutch philosophy departments in the 1630s were only hiring in the philosophy of tulips.

Doctor Logic @saraluckelman.bsky.social · 3d

One might also say "hiring committees".

2 22 71

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 4d

At least one senior Labour official seems to finally remember they aren't in Reform.
The changes won't just harm economy and country, they'll destroy families and force more people into becoming undocumented, leading to more deportations. They need scrapping not pausing.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Sir Sadiq Khan calls for pause on new immigration rules

The mayor of London said the changes had "moved the goalposts".

www.bbc.com

18 200 620

Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · 4d

Its systematic critique of the notion of the ‘perfect victim’ is a respite for victims themselves, who otherwise must navigate the 'victimological gaze". Read it in conjunction with Mohamed El-Kurd's searing Perfect Victims (Haymarket Books.)

Perfect Victims

www.haymarketbooks.org

Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · 4d

I reviewed @profcheryllawther.bsky.social's excellent new book, Constructing Victimhood (OUP 2025 - global.oup.com/academic/pro...): essential reading for anyone working on transitional justice, social and political oppression, and/or Northern Ireland.

Book Review: Constructing Victimhood: Beyond Innocence and Guilt in Transitional Justice - Ashwini Vasanthakumar, 2025

journals.sagepub.com

1 6

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 4d

Is it cancel culture when they threaten to kill you?

www.nj.com/news/2025/10...

Sold-out Ta-Nehisi Coates speaker appearance in N.J. canceled over security reasons

Organizers canceled a sold-out Ta-Nehisi Coates event in Montclair citing undisclosed security concerns.

www.nj.com

53 950 3.4K

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 4d

@mit.edu has done an incredibly important service to the nation by being willing to be the first school to reject the administration's "compact."

President Kornbluth focuses—and she's right—on the principle that "scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."

The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.

4 130 490

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 4d

Portland Frog gets it

40 390 1.7K

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Forced Migration Review @fmreview.bsky.social · 4d

"Every migrant lost on a dangerous journey is someone's child, parent or friend. Writing for FMR meant honoring those lives by reaching people who can prevent the next loss. Not just academics, but aid workers at borders & officials whose policies determine life & death."

-Houman Oliaei, FMR75

1 2 4

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Lisa Stampnitzky @lisastampnitzky.bsky.social · 6d

This really is beyond parody

Thomas M. Keck @tmksyracuse.bsky.social · 6d

Weber State administrators told student they couldn't present their research on the state's anti-DEI law at an on-campus conference on censorship(!) unless they removed all mentions of DEI from their slides

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Weber State Censors, Then Cancels, Censorship Conference

University officials said that several planned presentations violated a Utah state law banning diversity, equity and inclusion at public universities.

www.insidehighered.com

2 34 87

Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · 7d

“Alexa Culver, a planning lawyer who works at RSK Wilding, added: “There are lots of elements of nature that are essential to social and economic prosperity, and are microscopic, that we can’t see. Air for example, being one of them.”

Reeves reveals herself to be both corrupt and incompetent.

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 7d

Utterly beholden to lobbyists, staggeringly ignorant and dismissive of the natural world: Rachel Reeves might not look or sound like Donald Trump, but she is behaving very much like him. This government is even more of an ecological hazard than the Tories were.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Rachel Reeves clears planning blockage amid ‘good relationship’ with developer

Exclusive: Chancellor says 20,000 homes were being held up due to ‘some snails that are a protected species or something’

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Elise Wang @elisewang.bsky.social · 8d

One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city.

They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 8d

@lataco.bsky.social first began as a blog documenting local Mexican cuisine. Now, it’s an essential reporting powerhouse to the city as Trump’s mass deportation plot unfolds.

Check out the latest from our friends at Reveal: tinyurl.com/4cm2bsdr

21 1.9K 4.8K

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Gillian Brockell @gbrockell.bsky.social · 8d

Claim: 10 cars rammed ICE
Truth: No cars rammed ICE

Claim: She boxed ICE in
Truth: ICE boxed her in

Claim: She shot a rifle at ICE
Truth: She did not have a rifle

Claim: ICE returned fire
Truth: Only ICE fired

Claim: She drove herself to the hospital
Truth: Paramedics found her

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 8d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

610 14K 29K

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Lisa Young 🇨🇦🇺🇦 @jlisayoung.bsky.social · 8d

The war on Christmas continues!

Dale Smith @journodale.bsky.social · 8d

New ceremonial robes vs old ceremonial robes. #SCC

2026 photo of the Supreme Court of Canada, where the new robes are black with red piping.

2025 photo of the Supreme Court of Canada, with the red velvet and ermine robes.

3 7 43

Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · 8d

Is this excerpted from the post linked below? Sorry I couldn't find it.

Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 8d

From @lawdorknews.bsky.social: Calling the order “yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket,“ Jackson wrote that the majority had failed by “privileging the bald assertion of unconstrained executive power over countless families’ pleas for the stability our Government has promised them.“

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 10d

Friday’s SCOTUS decision was issued in a brief, unsigned order that contained virtually no reasoning. It was accompanied by no signed opinions from any of the justices in the majority and over opposition from the three Democratic appointees. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote.

Supreme Court lets Noem end legal status for many Venezuelans in the U.S.

The majority gave virtually no reasoning. The Democratic appointees objected, but only Justice Jackson wrote: "[Y]et another grave misuse of our emergency docket."

www.lawdork.com

3 4

Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · 8d

ploughshares.ca/targeted-fro...

Targeted from above: Canadian sensors facilitating unlawful U.S. airstrikes in the Caribbean - Project Ploughshares

On the morning of September 2, 2025, a small speedboat skims across open water somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. Suddenly, in a flash of white, it’s destroyed in a U.S.-launched airstrike. All 11 people...

ploughshares.ca