Tessa Devereaux

You can hear my discussion with @tessadevereaux.bsky.social on Mali and the role of JNIM here.

Why an armed group linked to al-Qaida is gaining ground in Mali Decades of neglect, corruption and state brutality have allowed armed group JNIM to gain the support of Mali’s marginalised communities.

How and why are JNIM gaining ground in Mali? My latest analysis for @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/why-an-armed...

🚨 Job Alert! We have a fascinating new project running on jihadist insurgencies in Africa, for which three research positions are open. Only five more days left to apply! Details about the three positions 👇

International Organization logo featuring the text 'IO' in large white letters on a dark blue background, followed by the words 'LATEST ISSUE' in smaller white letters.

#OpenAccess from the latest issue of @iojournal.bsky.social -

The Determinants of Insurgent Gender Governance - cup.org/4jjcejL

"I demonstrate that armed groups exploit pre-existing gender grievances, using strategies like punishing domestic violence..."

- @tessadevereaux.bsky.social

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

Dozens more pregnant and postpartum women have died in Texas hospitals since the state banned abortion, our analysis shows.

As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, it rose in Texas by 33%.

The New York Times is the first to put out comprehensive estimates on the cost of a year without U.S.A.I.D. and they’re higher than I thought:
- 1.65 million deaths from AIDS
- 500,000 from lack of vaccines
- 550,000 from lack of food aid
- 290,000 from malaria
- 310,000 from TB

How & why do insurgents challenge gender norms during conflict? Using data on 137 armed groups and two Malian case studies, my new @iojournal.bsky.social article shows how rebels reshape local power relations by regulating gender customs. Read it here: bit.ly/3DIjRRe
@polviolencepapers.bsky.social

Trump has punished South Africa for something its government has not done The US president has claimed the South African government is seizing land from white farmers. The reality is much more mundane

I've written my thoughts down about one of Trump's many executive orders: condemning South Africa on baseless grounds.

South Africa's Expropriation Act does not constitute anything other than a regular piece of legislation.

blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/...

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

Life-threatening infections in Texas have soared among women losing a pregnancy after the state’s abortion ban.

www.propublica.org/article/texa...

The Manosphere and Politics - Mariel J. Barnes, Sabrina M. Karim, 2025 The revived men’s movement, colloquially the “manosphere,” has recently increased in prominence and influence, and has been connected to numerous instances of v...

Heard of the #manosphere? Dr. Mariel Barnes & @sabrinamkarim.bsky.social's new @cpsjournal.bsky.social paper urges the recognition of the revived men's movement as political, and explores when different parts of the manosphere turns violent.
#GenderSky #polisky

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

University announces new scholarships for Palestinian students These scholarships will provide fully-funded support for two Palestinian students, with a particular focus on those impacted by the conflict in Gaza

Masters scholarships for Palestinian students at Sussex. Please disseminate?

www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/re...

Update: They were removed from our reviewer assignments completely. I'm so sorry to all those graduate students. Anonymous to protect the identity of the NIH employee I spoke to...I am on study section next month to discuss F awards. We were just instructed to put the F31-Diversity applications on the bottom of our priority list for review because there is a chance we may not be able to review them. My heart is breaking for the grad students and their mentors that put so much work into these just for them to be disqualified and thrown out.

Just in case you thought that removing DEI criteria would mean that everyone is competing equally: NIH is removing grad students from underrepresented backgrounds from the applicant pool altogether. Their applications will not be considered. Other students, not from these backgrounds, will be.

PhD Positions in Political Science/Conflict Studies/African Studies (two full-time positions) PhD Positions in Political Science/Conflict Studies/African Studies (two full-time positions, each 1.0 fte)The Institute of Political Science of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences invites ...

JOB ALERT: I have two vacancies for fully-funded, 4 year PhD positions in my European Research Council Project “Countering Jihadi Insurgencies in Africa”; one on Nigeria, one on Mozambique. Closing date for applications 15 March 2025, start in Sept. 2025

www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/vacancies...

South Korea's president briefly declared martial law. President Yoon’s approval rating hit a record low, at just 19 percent, last week. So what's behind his declaration of martial law?

In an explainer for @goodauth.bsky.social, I share some historical and contemporary context to martial law in South Korea and Yoon's botched attempt yesterday.

goodauthority.org/news/martial...

Idaho Will Enforce Abortion Travel Ban 12.2.24

jessica.substack.com/p/idaho-will...
An appeals court has ruled that Idaho can enforce most of its anti-abortion travel ban, making it the first state in the nation to do so.

PhD workshop - call for papers — Conflict & Change

The call for the UCL Conflict & Change PhD Workshop is out! ECRs working on IR, conflict and contentious politics are invited to apply by 8 December. London 24-25 February, 2025. Apply here: conflictandchange.org/phdworkshop2025

ICYMI: I wrote on shifting trends in Africa’s post-coup politics @africa.theconversation.com

Excerpt from Anthony Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour"

It is an absolute shame that Anthony Bourdain is not alive for this moment