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Mwenza Blell

Mwenza headshot

Dr Mwenza Blell

School of Geography, Politics, and Sociology

What area does your research focus on?

I’m very interested in, at a very basic level, the question of suffering, why do some people seem to have good lives and others not so much? So, I explore ideas of justice and injustice in depth in particular contexts, often through work on the ground (ethnography). This entails looking at how race, class, gender, sexuality, shape people’s lives. In addition to this more interpretive work, I also use mixed methods and have training in more scientific approaches, particularly epidemiological ones. Currently I’m working on projects about technology and reproductive justice, healthcare and policing, race and educational technologies, and access to wild spaces for working class racially minoritised people. 

What are the other key aspects of your role?

I also teach and supervise students at all levels.  

What do you like to do outside of work?

I do grassroots political work, community organising and other kind of activism in the UK with local organisations and other national level groups. This includes work that tackles food and fuel poverty as well as work on racism, police violence, and xenophobia / the Hostile Environment. 

What do you think you could particularly offer mentoring support with?

I think I could potentially help with:

  • exploring career options,
  • planning and organising time,
  • challenges in the student-supervisor relationship,
  • struggles with writing.