Prof Katherine Brickell
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kbrickell.bsky.social
Prof Katherine Brickell
@kbrickell.bsky.social

Prof Urban Studies + Associate Dean (Impact & Innovation) KCL | Author Debt Trap Nation: Family Homelessness in a Failing State (2025) | Housing/Home/Law | UK & Cambodia | Editor TIBG | Views own | https://www.debt-trap-nation.org/book .. more

Political science 50%
Sociology 30%
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Published today on #WorldHomelessDay: my book Debt Trap Nation – a deep dive into how government policy is driving families into homelessness & debt.

All royalties to @seacharity.bsky.social 💜

Families aren't failing. They're being failed.

📖 www.agendapub.com/page/detail/...

#DebtTrapNation

Today I had the pleasure of giving a book talk at Cardiff University on Debt Trap Nation: Family Homelessness in a Failing State

On my walk there I passed the Mother and Son / Mam a Mab statue by Robert Thomas (1963) – a beautiful piece that felt fitting for a book about family & mothering ❤️

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

🌟 Thrilled to share some exciting news 🌟

I have been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, which I will be carrying out at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social in collaboration with @kbrickell.bsky.social, Westminster City Council, and @justinkadi.bsky.social.

More details here ⤵️

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

The Wall Street Journal just illustrated the core argument of my book: a system rigged to reward capital over labor is one in which even full-time work no longer secures the most basic material needs.

This is the economic order that produces the "working homeless."

www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

Yesterday in Parliament we launched the report: “It’s Like Torture”: Life in Temporary Accommodation for Neurodivergent Children and Their Families.

📖 www.sensorylivesproject.org/policy

📯Please share!
🚨 Major NEW research published today 🚨

Our book Unsung Britain reveals that squeezed families now face waiting more than a lifetime for the doubling of living standards we used to enjoy every 40 years.

Full findings here 👉 buff.ly/7WcqrbQ

Grateful to The Landmark Trust for the space + time to come together through their "Futures" programme to prepare for the parliamentary launch of our report today.

📘 Report: www.sensorylivesproject.org/policy

💡 Landmark Futures: www.landmarktrust.org.uk/get-involved...

Highly recommend applying!
Some colleagues in my old department in Trondheim are recruiting a PhD candidate in Gender Studies and/or STS on the "Imagining Positive Energy Futures" project. 3 years, fully funded. Norway's a good place to do a PhD and Trondheim's a nice place to live!
PhD candidate within Gender Studies and/or STS: Imagining Positive Energy Futures (294972) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Job title: PhD candidate within Gender Studies and/or STS: Imagining Positive Energy Futures (294972), Employer: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Deadline: Sunday, March 15, 2026
www.jobbnorge.no

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

“Children living in homes with wood burners could be exposed to over three times more pollution than those in non-wood-burning homes.”

Article by @drgaryfuller.bsky.social

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/06/children-living-homes-wood-burners-exposed-pollution
Wood burners may treble children’s exposure to pollution in homes, study finds
Research in Wales found that home, not outdoor travel, was largest contributor to children’s daily exposure
www.theguardian.com
If you were interested in @jaytoddgla.bsky.social’s and my critical response to the “Sullivan Review” yesterday, make sure you read @kevinguyan.bsky.social’s very recently published “Trans-exclusionary data activism in the UK”
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Trans-exclusionary data activism in the UK
In the UK, the design and management of sex and gender categories in data – including census questions, police and health records, and digital ID – has become a key focus of trans-exclusionary acti...
www.tandfonline.com

⚠️ Government has got it wrong, scrapping flooring from the Decent Homes Standard.

💷 When a home comes without floors, it comes with debt – esp. for people after homelessness + domestic abuse.

Read more on my thoughts @insidehousing.bsky.social

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/chariti...
Charities ‘disappointed’ after government scraps flooring requirement from new DHS
Charities and sector groups have said it is “disappointing” that the government has scrapped a proposed flooring requirement from the Decent Homes Standard.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
We're recruiting 2 PhD candidates in human geography here in Uppsala, one position focused on urban/housing issues and one in political ecology.

Please spread the word/repost etc. Being a PhD student in Sweden is a good gig.
2 PhD student positions in Human Geography - Uppsala University
2 PhD student positions in Human Geography, Department of Human Geography, Uppsala University
www.uu.se

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

A question on #TemporaryAccommodation #Neurodiversity tabled by Adam Dance on 27-01-2026 has been answered by Alison McGovern. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-01-27/108930

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

Helpful thread here on UKRI + strategy. Vital in any cross-disciplinary calls that arts, humanities + social sciences have a central and transformative role, and hopefully aren't seen as 'service sciences' stuck on at the end of the pipe to assess public opinion or 'convince' the public about tech.
And for my colleagues in arts, humanities and social sciences it may be worth gearing up to be part of bigger cross disciplinary calls which are relevant to the industrial strategy priorities if that fits your work. Use the coming months to talk to colleagues in other disciplines so you are set up!
Hot off the press - a letter from the Exec Chair of @ukri.org explaining his plans and in particular the financial position of STFC. It notes curiosity driven research is protected and will make up around half of UKRI spend over the coming period
www.ukri.org/news/open-le...
Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community
UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.
www.ukri.org
BIG news from @bloomberg.com, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* multiple commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps.

This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — literal warehousing of people.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US
Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.
www.bloomberg.com

⚠️ What is happening to neurodivergent children in temporary accommodation is a SAFEGUARDING FAILURE ⚠️

📕 'It's like torture' report: www.sensorylivesproject.org/policy

🗞️ Read our Inside Housing "comment": www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/we-n...
We need to speak about the safeguarding crisis facing neurodivergent children in temporary accommodation
These conditions dismantle the foundations that neurodivergent children rely on, write King’s College London academics Rosalie Warnock and Katherine Brickell.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
Rachel Reeves: "It is not right that people who don't go to university bear the cost for others to." I don't use local leisure centres and I don't drive, so will I be made exempt for taxation that pays for all that stuff? Or is it only education we'll be going after

⏰ This Friday ⏰

Do come to this @homelessnessimpact.bsky.social event if you are interested to learn more about the links between problem debt and homelessness.

I'll be speaking about my book "Debt Trap Nation: Family Homelessness in a Failing State".

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/homelessne...

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

My book Feeling at Home is out in paperback today! It's a call for a more radical struggle for housing and a transformed vision of home www.versobooks.com/en-gb/produc... @versobooks.bsky.social
Feeling at Home
Housing is more than bricks and mortar. Feeling at Home grapples with the practical and emotional questions of housing – domestic labour, privacy, security, ownership, and health. Is it possible to im...
www.versobooks.com

Reposted by Felicity Callard

“It’s like torture”: our new report reveals how Temporary Accommodation is harming neurodivergent children and families across the UK. Based on a nationwide call for evidence, it sets out urgent policy asks for change.

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Temporary accommodation in England is ‘torture’ for neurodivergent children, report finds
Exclusive: Parents said their children had become withdrawn or hypervigilant because of uncertainty, unsafe environments and removal of support
www.theguardian.com
Geographers, in case you missed this detail, Alex Pretti graduated from the Minnesota Geography department in 2011.
CfP for @rgsibg.bsky.social annual conference just dropped! Organised by @geogdurham.bsky.social 's Leah Edwards and myself: The Family as Site of Environmental Politics. Please share widely!

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
RGS 2026 CfP Family as site of environmental politics
RGS Call for papers - RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2026 – London, England (1st-4th  September 2026) Session title: The family as a site of environmental politics Co-organisers: Leah Edwards [Durham U...
docs.google.com

Couldn’t agree more!

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

Last week, @rosalie-warnock.bsky.social and I met Oliver Persey (Barrister, @gardencourtlaw.bsky.social) to discuss our research on experiences of neurodivergent children in Temporary Accommodation.

A key topic – speed is a justice issue, particularly for children moved out of area.

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

In "When Home Is a Photograph," Leigh Raiford asks how Black people use photography to make home in the world through an exploration of the practices of Black American activists and artists. #BlackStudies Read the intro for free now: buff.ly/lMkphrj
Hello Bluesky!

We’re the Department of Geography and Environment at LSE. Follow us here for department news, events, research highlights, and opportunities.

🔗 lse.ac.uk/geography-and-environment
Department of Geography and Environment | LSE
Study geography and environment at LSE. Explore world-leading research, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and a vibrant academic community.
lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Katherine Brickell

Today we launch States of Precarity in UK HE Geography.

Thank you to the 364 colleagues whose experiences shaped this work.

Download the report, share widely, and join us in advocating for change.

Launch event (1:00-2:30GMT):
www.rgs.org/events/upcom...

Read report:
www.rgs.org/research/hig...
States of precarity in UK Higher Education geography
Findings from a discipline-focused research project exploring the lived realities of precarious academic work within UK Higher Education geography.
www.rgs.org
Incredible article which points out that it often collectively costs more to apply for scarce research funding than the funds awarded to the successful proposals.

What an absurd system we've built in the service of efficiency and competition.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...