Author Archives: jedstevenson

Making space for difference

Posted on August 3, 2020 by jedstevenson

In asserting so emphatically that some-one belongs, we also send a message that others don’t. Continue reading →

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Signs of the times

Posted on March 21, 2020 by jedstevenson

Reflections on the state of the world, on a bus journey from Miami to Atlanta. Miami bus station sits in the shadow of the city’s sprawling, palatial airport. The taxi driver who brought me here said he would never take … Continue reading →

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A workshop on climate, water, and migration

Posted on March 13, 2020 by jedstevenson

Last week I attended a workshop on the relationship between climate change, water insecurity, and migration. Water insecurity is sorely under-researched, and much of the action at the workshop was about how to integrate recent advances in measuring household water … Continue reading →

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A campaign of dehumanisation in Ethiopia

Posted on November 23, 2019 by jedstevenson

Two weeks ago I wrote about the sad events of the past month in Ethiopia – the violence convulsing some of the cities, and the killing of members of ethnic minority communities in the far southwest of the country, where … Continue reading →

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Working and praying for peace in Ethiopia

Posted on November 7, 2019 by jedstevenson

Last month Ethiopia’s prime minister, Dr Abiy Ahmed, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Felix Girke and I wrote an article in The Guardian on his achievements and on the challenges that remain. We applauded his efforts in making peace … Continue reading →

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Thinking outside the basin

Posted on June 21, 2018 by jedstevenson

This week I had the honour of delivering a keynote at the first International Conference of Water Security in Toronto. The conference, which also launched a new journal devoted to the topic, brought together 150 people from hydrology, engineering, and … Continue reading →

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Books of 2017

Posted on January 22, 2018 by jedstevenson

The books I’ve read this year ask some big questions: How can we understand cultural diversity? How do classic works of social science come into being? What makes humans care for and do violence to each other? The issues fall … Continue reading →

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Talking shit

Posted on October 27, 2017 by jedstevenson

Last week at UCL, Sjaak van der Geest of the University of Amsterdam gave a stimulating talk on the topic of faeces. His point of departure was the great 16th-century humanist Erasmus’ observation that his own shit was “bland” to … Continue reading →

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*New paper* ‘Do our bodies know their ways?’ Villagization, food insecurity, and ill-being in Ethiopia’s lower Omo valley

Posted on July 13, 2017 by jedstevenson

Some results from my research in Ethiopia are now available, ahead of publication in African Studies Review. The paper, co-authored with Lucie Buffavand, is a product of several years work in the lower Omo valley, where a massive hydroelectric dam … Continue reading →

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Living on a fault-line

Posted on June 16, 2017 by jedstevenson

Or, the challenge of thinking geologically. Last week I attended the Oxford Desert Conference, to bang the drum about work my colleagues and I are doing in the Turkana basin (stay tuned for more on that). I came away reminded … Continue reading →

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