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Understanding how tissue geometry and signalling dynamics control cell fate patterning using an in vitro model of human anterior primitive streak
No full textCell fate patterning remains difficult to study, particularly when focusing on gastrulation and the anterior primitive streak (APS). The cells present at and surrounding the APS will give rise to anterior and nascent mesoderm, definitive endoderm, neuromesodermal progenitors and axial mesendoderm. Despite the latter two being crucial for axial elongation and formation of the spinal column, how these cells spatiotemporally pattern and interact remains to be fully understood. This is mainly due to the inherent complexity of the emerging patterning and the difficulties to investigate this in vivo.
In recent years, the use of 2D micropatterning technologies has gained traction as means to partially reconstruct cellular environments and decouple biological variables in quantitative studies. Indeed, 2D micropatterning techniques have shed light into the effect of cellular confinement on signalling dynamics and cell fate decisions. In this thesis, micropatterned mediated cellular confinement has been used to investigate how spatiotemporal signalling regimes lead to APS cell fate decisions and organisations, and how spatial organisation organisation influences the signalling environment that dictates APS-associated cell fate emergence and patterning.
In the first chapter of this thesis, I address the issue of investigating cell fate decisions during gastrulation. To address this, I have developed an in vitro system that mimics the anterior primitive streak. Culturing 2D confined human embryonic stem cells stimulated with the WNT pathway activator CHIR9901 and FGF2, elicits the self-organisation of human embryonic stem cells into a multi-tissue architecture, composed of an internal region of pluripotent cells surrounded by posterior mesoderm and a ring-domain of definitive endoderm at the periphery of the colony. Importantly, I show that cell fate patterning only arises under strict confinement, with size of micropattern controlling different morphological changes. I further show that whilst initially there is an emergence of anterior primitive streak cell fates, such as neuromesodermal progenitors, these are then lost in favour of definitive endoderm. Thus, showing the potential of using this model to study anterior primitive streak cell fate decisions.
By using this model, in the second chapter, I then look at understanding cell fate patterning with a focus on the role of biochemical signalling pathways. Via small molecule inhibition of the WNT and NODAL pathways, I show that endogenous TGFβ signalling dynamics downstream of CHIR9901, controls cell fate decision. I show that whilst NODAL inhibition is required for NMP specification, sustained NODAL signalling drives endoderm emergence, in accordance with in vivo data on when these cell types emerge during gastrulation. I also show evidence of a crosstalk between TGFβ inhibition and increase in WNT activity which correlates with notochord progenitor emergence. Additionally, I show that both adequate NODAL suppression and colony size control neuromesodermal progenitor-like cell emergence and axial elongation. Altogether, this work provides insights into the specification of APS cell fates during gastrulation, highlighting the importance of spatiotemporal signalling dynamics in their emergence.
Finally in my last chapter I investigate the effects of geometrical confinement in cell fate specification, more specifically, the effects of boundary curvature. I show that epithelial organisation depends on the boundary curvature (convex vs concave). These changes induced by curvature ultimately defines the domain in which SOX17+ endodermal and SOX2+ pluripotent cells arise in our patterns. Additionally, I show that whilst SOX2+ epiblast-like cells coalesce to the centre of the colony via an actomyosin-mediated mechanisms, SOX17+ do not pattern in the same manner. These results further show the complexity of definitive endoderm patterning, the importance of tissue geometry, and highlight the further need to understand how
does definitive endoderm migrate in vivo within the developing embryo.
Overall, this work has lead to a first author publication in development and provides insights into the regulatory biochemical and physical mechanisms that ultimately control cell fate patterning and population balance of the progenitors emerging at the APS during gastrulation. Whilst more research is required, this work provides an initial step in understanding definitive endoderm patterning as well as a starting point for the investigation of neuromesodermal and notochordal progenitor interactions. Thus, providing further understanding of APS cell fate patterning, useful for the generation of APS cell fates in vitro for further clinical and therapeutic applications
Campus for higher education in China: what is the link between the outdoor spaces on campus with students’ health and wellbeing?
No full textWithin China's rapidly expanding higher education sector, students face mounting pressures that adversely impact their health and wellbeing. The outdoor environments of university campuses—key settings in students' daily lives—are increasingly recognised as potential resources for health promotion. Yet, empirical evidence on how Chinese students use, perceive, and benefit from these spaces remains limited, and design guidelines lack a robust
behavioural and evidence-based foundation. This study investigates the relationships between
the use and design of campus outdoor spaces (COS) and student wellbeing in the distinctive context of high-density Chinese campuses.
The research addressed four questions: (1) What is the relationship between frequency of COS
use and students' physical, mental, and social wellbeing, and how is it moderated by demographic and contextual factors? (2) What are students' preferences for different typologies of COS, and which environmental features are perceived as most important? (3)
What are the behavioural patterns of student activities across different COS, and how do they vary by time, gender, and period (lockdown vs. post-COVID)? (4) Which specific physical and design characteristics are most strongly associated with health-promoting activities?
A mixed-methods approach was employed across four case study campuses in Cangzhou, integrating a Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) survey (n=1285), systematic behavioural mapping (n=12,000+ observations), and environmental quality audits using the NEST tool. Spatial, statistical, and qualitative analyses were used to triangulate findings.
Key results demonstrated a consistent positive association between frequency of COS use and multiple dimensions of wellbeing. A composite Green-User Score (GUS) correlated significantly with better self-reported health (Rₛ ≈ 0.29–0.36), higher quality of life (Rₛ ≈ 0.31–0.45), reduced stress (Rₛ ≈ -0.29 to -0.32), and moderately with improved academic performance. Notably, active—not just passive—use was a critical predictor of benefits. Behavioural mapping revealed that social interaction—especially ‘chatting’—was the most prevalent activity across all space types, underscoring the role of COS as vital social infrastructure. Student preferences
strongly favoured functional, well-maintained, and socially conducive spaces (e.g., sports facilities, hard squares, accessible lakes) over under-managed green areas (e.g., woods, green corridors), challenging a simplistic ‘green vs. grey’ dichotomy. Key design characteristics supporting health-promoting activities included flat paving, varied seating, shading facilities, good lighting, high maintenance, and visual permeability.
The study concludes that well-designed COS can significantly contribute to student health and
wellbeing, particularly when they facilitate active use and social interaction. Findings advocate for a shift in Chinese campus planning policy from prescriptive green-space targets towards evidence-based, behaviour-centred design that prioritises functional affordances, social support, and perceptual quality. The research provides transferable insights for the development of healthier and more inclusive academic environments in China and similar high-density educational settings internationally
Tools for monitoring and managing sustainable improvement in honeybee populations
No full textThe Western honeybee is a species of economic importance globally, yet in recent decades it has been experiencing substantial colony losses that result in economic damage and possibly decreased genetic diversity.
This situation is highlighting the need for honeybee breeding and conservation programmes. Monitoring genetic variability is an essential component of breeding programmes to ensure genetic gain and managing both global and local genetic diversity.
One way to study breeding and conservation programmes is via stochastic simulation. Stochastic simulators are essential for rapid and low-cost testing of breeding decisions and methods, aiding in the optimization of current programmes or the establishment of new ones. These simulations provide valuable insights when they accurately model realistic populations and parameters, allowing for a deeper understanding of factors such as population genetic variability, responses to selection and levels of inbreeding.
There was, however, no existing genetics simulator that allows for a detailed simulation of individual honeybee. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to develop a simulation tool and demonstrate concepts of honeybee relatedness to aid in the sustainable improvement of managed honeybee populations.
Chapter 1 introduces key concepts essential to the understanding of the thesis.
It’s first focus is on honeybees; describing some of their basic biology, their economic importance to humans, addressing the stressors affecting honeybee populations, and why maintaining genetic diversity within these population is so critical.
The chapter then delves into quantitative genetic methods for calculating relatedness, outlining methods such as relatedness coefficients derived from both pedigree and genome-wide data, as well as their pedigree decomposition of genetic values into parent average and Mendelian sampling deviations. The penultimate section describes stochastic simulators and their application in quantitative genetics and selective breeding.
Finally, the chapter concludes by outlining the thesis objectives, providing the necessary understanding and context as to why this thesis is relevant.
Chapter 2 of this thesis describes the implementation of SIMplyBee, a holistic simulator of honeybee populations and breeding programs that a small team and myself have developed as an R package. SIMplyBee builds upon the stochastic simulator AlphaSimR that simulates individuals with their corresponding genomes and quantitative genetic values. To enable honeybee-specific simulations, AlphaSimR was extended by developing classes for global simulation parameters, for a honeybee single colony, and multiple colonies. Functions to address major honeybee specificities were also developed: honeybee genome, haplodiploid inheritance, social organisation, complementary sex determination, polyandry, colony events, and quantitative genetics at the individual- and colony-levels. SIMplyBee provides a research platform for testing breeding and conservation strategies and their effect on future genetic gain and genetic variability.
Chapter 3 demonstrates principles of genetic relatedness in honeybees by analysing the genetic and pedigree information from a SIMplyBee simulation, comparing closed and hybrid populations. Coefficients of relatedness are regularly used to measure genetic similarity within and between populations and their individuals. Although the haplodiploid inheritance of honeybees is well understood, interpreting the various types of relatedness coefficients based on pedigree and genotype data is a challenge for researchers and practitioners in honeybee breeding. I evaluated the relatedness between individuals within a colony, between queens of the same population, and between queens of different populations.
The results demonstrated an alignment of mean relatedness using different sources of information when calculated using the same founder population. Identity-by-state (IBS) relatedness varied significantly when calculated relative to different founder populations. While this result is anticipated, it highlights the need for caution when comparing values across studies that use different founder populations with varying allele frequencies. Misestimation of relatedness if interpreted incorrectly can lead to inappropriate breeding and conservation decisions. These decisions may exacerbate inbreeding, reduce a population’s genetic diversity, or compromise genetic gain. This emphasises the need for better understanding and standardising methodologies for computing relatedness coefficients, to ensure accurate comparability in relatedness studies.
In Chapter 4, I evaluated pedigree reconstruction and patriline determination in honeybees using both real and simulated data. Comparison of simulated data and real data allows researchers to identify weaknesses in established models of genetic inheritance associated methods, or errors in real data, and analyse the accuracy of outputs. In this chapter, real genotype data collected from the mating experiment "BeeConSel" was replicated using SIMplyBee-generated genotypes. Four simulated SNP array sizes were examined to assess the limitations of each software and used the actual pedigree information of the simulation to measure the precision of sire assignments. While gametic information is an important aspect of genetic analysis, gap in the literature was identified for a method to assign parent-of-origin to haplotypes derived from phased genotypes. To address this gap, I developed an R function for this task. Additionally, the information gathered from these tasks was used to develop and evaluate a method for determining the number of patrilines in a honeybee colony. My analysis demonstrated that the effectiveness of different software tools and SNP array sizes in determining paternal assignments and reconstructing pedigrees varies significantly. Real-world data showed variations in software performance, revealing that simulated results often failed to capture the full complexity of actual genetic data. Moreover, the observed deviations in haplotype assignments highlight potential issues with phasing accuracy and the need for better methods and higher-quality data in genetic studies.
Overall, my thesis explores the complexities of honeybee biology and breeding, through the development and application of the honeybee-specific simulation tool, SIMplyBee. Through the analysis of the simulation outputs using quantitative genetic methods and comparison to real data, the thesis provides insight into optimizing breeding programmes and managing the genetic diversity of honeybee populations.
The thesis concludes with Chapter 5, which reiterates the objectives and findings of Chapters 2-4 before discussing the relevance of these findings in relation to current research. This chapter also expands upon the limitations of the work and the implications of the thesis’ findings on future work
Fairly quantifying insertion and deletion landscapes in mammalian genomes
Full text linkInsertion and deletion mutations (indels) are a major component of genome evolution, and their disruptive properties play an important role in genetic diseases, including cancer. Incidence and sequence context of indels are clinically important in characterising tumours and detecting underlying molecular defects. Despite the functional and clinical importance of indels, they have often been overlooked, discarded as difficult to confidently identify in panels and problematic to meaningfully categorise. A key component of difficulty with indels lies in their association with repetitive sequences. Tandemly repeated sequences (e.g. AAAAA or ACACAC) are often enriched for indels and may be shortened or expanded by indel generating processes. Indels often cannot be unambiguously positioned onto repetitive sequences, adding to their complexity. These features make indels challenging to use in approaches such as mutation signature analysis, which have been illuminating when applied to single nucleotide substitutions. However, indels have considerable potential for mutation signature analysis if their underpinning challenges can be overcome.
This thesis describes the development of a novel framework that quantifies the ambiguity inherent in indel alignment to systematically score the repetitiveness of the local sequence context. This framework provides means for sequence composition correction and to generate null expectations from any sequence. It allows composition corrected indel rates to be compared between genomic regions and species. This has previously been the limiting factor in current indel analyses, as this thesis outlines whilst characterising indel landscapes in four mouse species. Exploring indel rate variation in human colon cancer genomes revealed an indel mutational signature associated with DNA mismatch repair independently of replication timing. Further evaluation of 2-5-bp deletion rate variation at nucleosomes in other cancers did not indicate a local mutation enrichment.
Strand-specific DNA analyses in this thesis identify indel-substitution clusters in mouse liver cancer, showing that 1bp deletions are caused by base-skipping and downstream substitutions by collateral mutagenesis through translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases bypassing DNA lesions. Conversely, 1bp insertions downstream of substitutions are caused by collateral mutagenesis rather than DNA damage. In human melanoma, similar deletion-substitution clusters with 1bp deletions in dipyrimidine context were detected. The mutational signature of substitutions downstream of deletions are reminiscent of the collateral mutations found in mouse tumours, suggesting that these clusters are the result of TLS polymerases bypassing UV-induced DNA lesions. Surprisingly, these clusters show that UV-induced damaged Ts in dipyrimidine context may mutate through translesion synthesis. This is typically undetected when considering single base substitutions but these results revealed T mutations as deletions.
Together, this work demonstrates that sequence alignment ambiguity scoring can account for variability in sequence composition in order to make accurate comparison of indel mutation rates across the genome and better resolve aetiology of the events and processes leading to cancer
Investigating the role of primary cilia loss in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
No full textPrimary cilia (PC) are important sensory organelles which protrude from the epithelial cells lining bile ducts (cholangiocytes), where they serve as sensors of bile composition, flow and osmolality. PC malformation has been reported in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a neoplasia that originates from these biliary epithelial cells. Despite changes in cilia regulation within CCA, PC-loss alone is insufficient for CCA initiation. However, we show that when PC is deleted from biliary cells in an intrahepatic CCA (iCCA) mouse model, tumour burden significantly increases. Interestingly, these non-ciliated tumour cells do not show significant differences in cell proliferation when compared to ciliated cells. In this thesis, I explore the transcriptional differences between ciliated and non-ciliated iCCA tumour cells and ask how these changes influence the immune cells that surround emerging tumours.
Using an iCCA mouse model in which Trp53 and Pten are deleted alongside the essential cilia gene Wdr35, I found that loss of cilia accelerated tumour development. In the absence of chronic inflammation, cilia loss in the context of tumour suppressor loss accelerated the development of biliary neoplasia. Bulk RNA sequencing of these tumour cells demonstrated that PC-loss increased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as Cxcl9, Cxcl10 and Cxcl11. However, the expression of neutrophil-specific chemokines such as Cxcl1, Cxcl2 and Cxcl5 was significantly suppressed. In concordance, immunohistochemical analysis revealed that neutrophil infiltration was frequently decreased in the livers of mice with non-ciliated biliary cells when compared to mice with ciliated cholangiocytes.
To further explore tumour-neutrophil interactions in vitro, I derived organoid lines from biliary cells isolated from ciliated and non-ciliated mouse models of iCCA and showed that the expression and secretion of neutrophil-specific chemokines was significantly downregulated in non-ciliated organoids. I then isolated naïve WT bone marrow neutrophils and co-cultured these with organoid conditioned media (CM). In a Transwell migration assay, I showed that neutrophils exposed to non-ciliated CM migrated significantly less than when cultured in the presence of ciliated CM, suggesting that PC-loss on cancer cells directly impacts neutrophil migration.
The work presented here demonstrates how losing primary cilia can promote a more immunosuppressive microenvironment during iCCA development and highlights the importance of continuing to address the status and role of primary cilia in future iCCA studies
Spectral spaces: approaching dimensional colour through sculptural practice
No full textIn this practice-based research, I investigate how colour can function as a dynamic, formative element of sculpture and sculptural installation. Drawing on colour theory and the concept of ‘entanglement’ from environmental humanities and multispecies studies, I explore the relational and dimensional nature of colour. By entering a sculptural space through colour, I map out the different material-chromatic states that sculpture can take, positioning colour as a driving force in both the evolution of sculpture and the cultivation of ecological awareness.
I begin with the notion of colourform, which implies that colour can only be experienced in conjunction with form, to develop novel ways of thinking about colour in sculpture and working with colour sculpturally. Drawing on Karen Barad’s concept of ‘entanglement’ as ‘intra-action’, I develop the idea of intra-action of colour as a process through which colour emerges via dynamic intra-relations rather than in isolation.
I explore the possibility of disentanglement and introduce the concept of colour extinction to examine how the loss of specific colour combinations in the natural world alters one’s aesthetic experience of the environment, and how this phenomenon can be investigated through sculpture. I consider this within the broader context of the current ecological crisis, particularly the ongoing mass extinction. Finally, I propose the idea of acchromatising, as the process and practice of gradual attunement towards a place and its multifaceted relationships through colour.
Through the lens of sculptural practice, this thesis evidences how colour can play a pivotal role in reshaping our perceptions and interactions with our surroundings. Beyond sculpture, this approach encourages the development of ecological sensitivity and empathetic understanding towards the environments where human and non-human worlds coexist
Impaired ketogenesis is implicated in intestinal stem cell function and epithelial regeneration in ulcerative colitis
No full textEpithelial repair and regeneration is key to mucosal healing in Ulcerative Colitis (UC). Intestinal stem cells (ISCs) drive this response, proliferating and differentiating from the base of the crypt to regenerate the entire epithelium. ISCs therefore exist in a highly active state and resultantly are vulnerable to changes in energy dynamics in the intestine. Mitochondria, which amongst other functions are critical for energy production are therefore crucial for maintenance of the stem cell niche are significantly implicated in UC pathogenesis. Up to now, the mechanisms of how mitochondrial dysfunction influence ISC function in UC is not known. To investigate this, we used single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), single cell quantitative immunofluorescence and single cell energetic metabolism by profiling translation inhibition (SCENITH) on treatment-naïve UC patient epithelial samples and on UC patient derived organoids.
Single-cell quantitative immunofluorescence showed a loss of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation proteins Complex I and IV, necessary for ATP production in the UC epithelium. Moreover, in UC-derived organoids from ISCs, we show persistence in mitochondrial damage as evidenced by immunofluorescence and scRNA-seq data that showed also defective mitophagy (PINK1) and mitochondrial biogenesis (PPARGC1α) in ex vivo culture conditions. This data suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction is a stable feature of ISCs and potentially can be propagated during division and differentiation into multiple progeny epithelial lineages to occupy the entire epithelial compartment. In parallel, scRNA-seq of the UC epithelial cells showed significant downregulation of metabolic pathways in ISCs, with de-regulation of fatty acid metabolism pathways, particularly ketogenesis, with HMGCS2 as the top downregulated gene in UC ISCs.
HMGCS2, the rate limiting mitochondrial matrix enzyme in the ketogenesis pathway, producing βHB, which alongside providing metabolites for the mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid TCA cycle, has important roles in stem cell fate-signalling. We show that HGMCS2 expression was reduced throughout the intestinal crypt in active UC, and is increased in patients responding to therapy with mucosal healing. We find via colorimetric assay that colonic organoids secrete βHB, and production is reduced in active UC.
We identify PPARα, a known key inducer of HGMCS2 transcription as being significantly downregulated in UC. We find HGMCS2 expression and βHB production can be restored in UC organoids via administration of PPARα agonist, fenofibrate. We performed scRNA-seq of βHB treated UC organoids finding that βHB specifically enhance the transcriptome of pathways that regulate mitochondrial function and reduces cellular stress, particularly in ISCs, by downregulating genes associated with cellular stress and protein misfolding (SOD2, HSPD1), as well as mitochondrial fission (FIS1, DNM1L). Specifically, βHB induces expression of key mitophagy related genes, aiding clearance of faulty mitochondria (PINK1). Functionally, we showed that βHB restored OXPHOS capacity in UC organoids as measured by SCENITH and reduced the production of cellular and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, as measured by CellRox. Finally, HMGCS2 protein expression significantly increases in responders to medical therapy with mucosal healing.
In newly diagnosed UC patients we provide evidence to show a crucial role in HMGCS2-mediated ketogenesis in ISC function. This phenotype can be rescued with βHB supplementation or pharmacologic induction of ketogenesis, thereby implicating the ketogenic pathway in UC pathogenesis and the potential for a novel metabolic therapy
William Bell Scott's 'Decorative painting of a pictorial kind': history and national identity
No full textThis thesis provides new research into William Bell Scott (1811–90), a nineteenth-century Edinburgh-born artist whose oeuvre has rarely been the subject of in-depth published scholarship. It analyses his most important works: the large-scale decorative schemes that he designed for a range of architectural interiors and termed ‘decorative painting of a pictorial kind’. These comprise a scheme for the central hall of Wallington, the country house of Sir Walter and Lady Pauline Trevelyan in Northumberland, north-east England, undertaken from 1856 to 1868; the King’s Quair mural (1865¬–8) in Penkill Castle, the home of the artist Alice Boyd in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland; and designs for the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum), London, begun in 1864 and completed in 1871, including stained-glass windows for the Lecture Theatre staircases and Keramic Gallery. The King’s Quair screen (1867–8) – an item of furniture that derives from the King’s Quair mural – is introduced as another example of Scott’s pictorial decorative painting. The thesis assesses these works in terms of a theme that is common to each: the representation of history subjects as assertions of national identity.
This is the first study to compare the schemes to each other; moreover, the King’s Quair mural has never been published on in detail, nor had the King’s Quair screen and individual Keramic Gallery windows been analysed before. Due to the lack of existing secondary information, the thesis is based on extensive archival research, employing documents such as Scott’s letters, manuscripts and Boyd’s diaries. A key resource is four albums of drawings and preliminary studies by Scott that are held by the National Galleries of Scotland. Additionally, the cultural significance of the schemes is determined by assembling a wealth of printed primary sources. The visual and material properties of the schemes are scrutinised, and those schemes that were damaged, removed or never completed are reimagined and reconstructed.
By reinterpreting the schemes in this way, the thesis argues that Scott’s works at Wallington were more fully realised than the pictorially decorated interiors attempted by other members of the Pre-Raphaelite circle in the 1850s. The King’s Quair mural was more completed than those planned by William Morris for Red House. And the History of the Art of Pottery windows were an important contribution to an endeavour to develop educational decorations for the South Kensington Museum.
Scott is also identified as a valuable commentator on his Victorian milieu, regarding issues such as historical processes, the revival of ‘national romance’ and the rivalry generated by international trade exhibitions. Submitted in fulfilment of a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership studentship, the thesis supports the National Galleries of Scotland, which holds a substantial collection of works by Scott, including the King’s Quair screen
Race, masculinity and citizenship-making in Singapore
No full textExtant scholarship on citizenship has focused primarily on the lived experiences and exclusions of women, queer and migrant communities. Since the construction of the citizen has been historically been a white, bourgeois, masculine construction, this tendency in citizenship studies to focus on those excluded from this construction is unsurprising. However, I argue that an interrogation of that which is taken-for-granted, such as masculinity, in the conceptualisation of citizenship, is necessarily in order to denaturalise such assumptions in the first place.
This research focuses on the construction of masculinities among Singaporean men in their everyday lives. Its purpose is two-fold: to investigate the intersections of masculinity and race in such constructions, and to connect them to broader citizenship-making practices. In Singapore, meritocracy and multiracialism are two central ideological tools that are employed by the state to produce particular forms of citizenship and claims to belonging. My research sheds light on the connections and dialogic relationship between masculinity, race, and the ideological coupling of both meritocracy and multiracialism, by highlighting how masculinity and race are constructed in everyday lives as a form of citizenship-making practice.
For the purposes of this research, I recruited 30 cis-het Singaporean men from various racial backgrounds, who were between 25 and 50 years old and conducted one to two rounds semi-structured interviews. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, I conducted these interviews both online and in-person in Singapore. My fieldwork lasted from September 2020 to August 2021. Utilising a decolonial intersectional methodology, I employed both thematic and narrative data analysis methods to analyse data co-constructed with my participants.
My findings illustrate the workings of race and masculinity through participants’ experiences navigating various citizenship-making sites, namely: schooling, national service, work, and family. Participants’ experiences of race and masculinity are necessarily situated within broader ideologies of national identity and citizenship, and embedded in an assemblage of social policies. Often, these experiences and constructions of racialised masculinity among participants are also shaped by masculine norms around class and around definitions of adulthood. I illustrated how men experienced multiple contradictions and tensions while navigating different citizenship sites, where masculinity can take on different and even conflicting meanings in these spaces. This effect is further exacerbated by unintended consequences from contradictory social policies. For example, even though national service is seen as a place where “boys become men”, participants perceive the two years spent in national service as a hindrance to their careers, preventing them from earning as much as women. Rhetoric of meritocracy and multiracialism, together with policies and ideologies that uphold its principals, serve to obfuscate gendered, racialised, and classed inequalities.
At its heart, this research dissertation is about investigating relations of power and marginalisation that manifest and produce particular ways of being and becoming masculine. It connects the everyday lives of the individual masculine, racialised, and classed citizen, with the nation-state, and sheds light on how this relationship between citizen and state is mediated through citizenship-making practices and citizenship-making sites
“When you are eating food, you are alive, but for life in your mind you have to have something more”: everyday informal support among refugees at a social kitchen in Athens
No full textTaking as its starting point the struggles of refugees in Athens, this thesis explores everyday informal practices and relations of support in the face of the precarity of long-term urban displacement. It is situated in a context of intertwined “crises”: the impact of the 2009 financial recession; the hostile bordering policies following the unprecedented arrival of more than a million refugees in 2015-16; and the COVID-19 pandemic with its strict restrictions and policing. Refugees have to navigate a complex environment of marginality where the erosion of state welfare leads to limited assistance and insufficient routes to integration, in addition to wider prevailing employment insecurity. These are realities of urban precarity that in Athens refugees share with the local poor, including their mechanisms of coping with marginalisation. In addition, hostile asylum policies result in an arguably deeper social isolation. As a result, in an attempt to structure their everyday lives in the temporariness of displacement, refugees have to also rely on informal networks of support to help meet their need for physical and emotional well-being. In this context the research aims to answer what practices do refugees employ to navigate urban marginality in Athens what is the role of informal relations of support in their coping mechanisms and what shape do they take?
Previous research has focussed on the life of refugees in humanitarian settings and protracted displacement, showing how the humanitarian reason shapes living conditions of dependency and undermines refugees’ political and moral subjectivities, but also how these processes are resisted (Allan 2014; Dudley 2010; Feldman 2018a). In contrast, there is less understanding of the everyday life of refugees in urban displacement particularly in a European context. This research focuses on this context in an attempt to understand how refugees navigate urban marginality and legal precarity (Fontanari 2019; Sanyal 2012), and the tactics they develop - in De Certeau’s sense (1984) - to meet basic physical and emotional needs. The research is based on nine months of ethnographic fieldwork at a social kitchen in Athens, a setting of solidarity established by international volunteers. Through cooking with, and for, refugees and through informal discussions and semi-structured interviews, I explored the practices they employ to overcome everyday challenges. Reflecting the demographics of urban refugees and the priorities of aid to families and unaccompanied minors, the majority of my interlocutors were young men who had arrived in Greece alone and were living undocumented. During the fieldwork, and over continuing chats and follow-up discussions, I observed the materialisation of claims to a liveable life and the ordinary city through interpersonal relations and mundane acts of support (Anderson et al. 2015; Brownlie and Anderson 2017) practised by refugees.
I conceptualise informality with relation to who or how it is practiced by, broadly as happening through two interrelated dimensions of the material and the emotional. On the personal level, I intend informal practices as agentic acts that fall outside the normative order of cities and refugees employ to meet their needs, such as food, accommodation, finance and employment (Lombard 2014). With regards to interpersonal relations, I consider informal support as mundane acts happening between people outside institutional frameworks. In the wider ecosystem of support in Athens, I frame informal relations of support facilitated through networks as practices that happen ‘beyond’ the state (Polese et al. 2018).
In unpacking these dimensions of informality, I focus on three distinct everyday practices and the mundane encounters that these enable. The first involves the role of food and consumption that, as I argue, goes beyond the mere need for sustenance, through cultural proximity can act as a glue that connects and allow relations of trust to emerge. Having established the kitchen as a place of familiarity and support in the wider geographies of care in Athens, I then turn to how this trust is mediated through refugee-to-refugee support that further deepens interpersonal ties in a context where suspicion of strangers is abundant. The third practice concerns friendships and the management of emotional lives through these interpersonal connections. Framing these through the lens of personal communities (Pahl and Spencer 2004), I situate them as significant emotional relationships in the context of everyday life in displacement.
Overall, I argue that refugees negotiate their needs and desires in ways that challenge the subjectivisations and conventional hierarchies of needs in refugeedom. Through these informal practices, refugees not only manage to meet their needs, but they also find new routes to challenge bordering structures and social exclusions by opening possibilities for participation in civic life
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