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Who do we think we are?Author: Michaela Benson - Who do we think we are?
From Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, to the Windrush deportation scandal citizenship and the responsibilities of the UK government to the people of Hong Kong, it seems that citizenship and migration in Britain are never far from the headlines. Who do we think we are? explores all of this and more. Join Professor Michaela Benson and her guests as they debunk taken-for-granted understandings of who is a citizen and who is a migrant in Britain today. Language: en Genres: Education, Science, Social Sciences Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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S4 E5 The pace of change: MAGA, the US, the UK
Episode 5
Thursday, 18 December, 2025
In the time of MAGA, as nightmares rapidly become reality for many living in the USA, it can be hard to keep up with the pace of change. Here, we take stock of the latest news - including the move to cap refugee numbers at a record low, the further rollback of Temporary Protected Status for many vulnerable groups, and Trump's threat to cut funding to New York City under new mayor Zohran Mamdani. We consider these developments in light of our conversations this series with Heba Gowayed, Cecilia Menjívar, Ernesto Castañeda and Rachel Humphris, and reflect on why it's important to see the present moment as both exceptional but situated in a longer history of racialised politics stretching beyond the borders of the USA alone. We also ask how MAGA rhetoric and policy is making waves beyond the USA itself - including in the UK, where not only is Reform on the rise but the Labour Party is tightening asylum laws, and academics are concerned about the state of academic freedom. Plus: how racism at the "top" filters down to shape what sociologists speak of as the "structure of feeling" - and why we need to "demigrantise" migration research, to see how discourse and policy affects all of our lives. **Recorded November 2025**
