Irna Hofman
@irnahofman.bsky.social
Rural Central Asia | Tajikistan | Global China | Critical agrarian studies | Everyday geopolitics | Ethnography | Labour | Cotton | Running |
@unileiden.bsky.social https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff/ihofman.html
@unileiden.bsky.social https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff/ihofman.html
Pinned
Irna Hofman
@irnahofman.bsky.social
· Oct 9
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....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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....
"Everyday Politics of Global China: Looking to, Reflecting on, and Enacting Authority in Rural Tajikistan"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
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....
"Everyday Politics of Global China: Looking to, Reflecting on, and Enacting Authority in Rural Tajikistan"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
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....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:33 PM
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....
"Everyday Politics of Global China: Looking to, Reflecting on, and Enacting Authority in Rural Tajikistan"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Interesting dynamics here..:
On the Corteva split of seeds and agrochemicals: "the crop protection division will also bear responsibility for environmental liabilities, including PFAS (forever chemical) claims." www.agriculture.com/what-corteva... Might explain the division...
October 8, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Interesting dynamics here..:
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...
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...
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
tj.usembassy.gov
September 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
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...
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...
A new academic year, a new chapter!
Happy to share I have joined Leiden University's Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology
Happy to share I have joined Leiden University's Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology
August 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
A new academic year, a new chapter!
Happy to share I have joined Leiden University's Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology
Happy to share I have joined Leiden University's Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology
Reposted by Irna Hofman
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
August 5, 2025 at 1:40 PM
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
Reposted by Irna Hofman
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...
July 29, 2025 at 7:34 AM
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...
"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...
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...
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...
globalchinapulse.net
July 29, 2025 at 9:31 AM
"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...
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...
Reposted by Irna Hofman
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...
carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/0...
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...
carnegieendowment.org
July 24, 2025 at 9:42 AM
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...
carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/0...
Reposted by Irna Hofman
Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/seco...
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...
www.linkedin.com
July 23, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/seco...
Reposted by Irna Hofman
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.
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...
globalchinapulse.net
July 17, 2025 at 1:59 PM
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.
Publication alert!
Happy to share my recently published article in Regulation & Governance:
Happy to share my recently published article in Regulation & Governance:
#Earlyview #Openaccess
'Which and Whose Rules Rule? Chinese Agribusinesses and the Challenge of Compliance in Rural Tajikistan'
by @irnahofman.bsky.social
Abstract below 👇
#RevGov #Compliance #Agribusiness
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
'Which and Whose Rules Rule? Chinese Agribusinesses and the Challenge of Compliance in Rural Tajikistan'
by @irnahofman.bsky.social
Abstract below 👇
#RevGov #Compliance #Agribusiness
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
July 17, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Publication alert!
Happy to share my recently published article in Regulation & Governance:
Happy to share my recently published article in Regulation & Governance:
Reposted by Irna Hofman
"This is ... about the remaking of (domestic and international)law." An excellent essay
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
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
www.theguardian.com
July 6, 2025 at 4:44 PM
"This is ... about the remaking of (domestic and international)law." An excellent essay
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
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?
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
Fairtrade NAPPs Strategic Engagement in the International Sustainable Conference in Turkmenistan to Foster Sustainable Agricultural Collaboration
shorturl.at
June 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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?
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
Fairtrade NAPPs Strategic Engagement in the International Sustainable Conference in Turkmenistan to Foster Sustainable Agricultural Collaboration
shorturl.at
June 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Fairtrade now also introduced in.... Turkmenistan shorturl.at/4fSKl
Reposted by Irna Hofman
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.
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.
June 23, 2025 at 7:26 PM
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.
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!
A few of us at the Made in China Journal have been working on a very exciting new project. Stay tuned for the launch of our podcast, 开门见山 | Gateway to Global China, a monthly interview series hosted by @yangyangcheng.bsky.social. The first episode drops next week, wherever you get your podcasts.
June 21, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Another great initiative!
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...
Shifting geopolitical fault lines and global food security
www.iss.nl/en/events/sh...
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
www.iss.nl
June 2, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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...
Shifting geopolitical fault lines and global food security
www.iss.nl/en/events/sh...
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...
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...
April 27, 2025 at 2:25 PM
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...
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...
Reposted by Irna Hofman
April 17, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Looking forward to discuss water challenges in Central Asia at @clingendael.bsky.social coming Thursday. Join us in person or online!
April 15, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Looking forward to discuss water challenges in Central Asia at @clingendael.bsky.social coming Thursday. Join us in person or online!
Reposted by Irna Hofman
📍 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
⬇️ 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
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.
buff.ly
March 28, 2025 at 2:23 PM
📍 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
⬇️ 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
Great funding opportunity!
Great funding opportunity for scholarly - creative - transdisciplinary projects that relate to Asia in the broadest sense possible (and no, there is no fascist language code that you have to adhere to in order to get funded):
deltamove.org/small-grants...
deltamove.org/small-grants...
Small Grants Scheme - Delta on the Move Foundation
Small Grants Scheme The Foundation’s Small Grants Scheme has been established to support creative scholarship and independent projects with an inter-disciplinary and inter-Asian nature that may not ha...
deltamove.org
April 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Great funding opportunity!
Sometimes it is better to focus on the things you can control
April 6, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Sometimes it is better to focus on the things you can control