This photo series by Tamer Abd Elkreem and Susanne Jaspars illustrates how Starlink private internet provision has been normalised and weaponised during the war. 

This working paper presents findings for the second, in-depth phase of the research in England. It focuses on the experience of marginalised populations as well as how digital food assistance practices interact with political and economic processes.

As food assistance goes digital, vulnerable people risk being shut out. Iris Lim presents some of the key findings of our UK research in this short 8 minute pod bite produced together with the Food Foundation. 

This photo series by Yasmin Houamed explores the everyday practices and improvised adaptations that arise as welfare and social support systems move increasingly online. In England, access to state welfare services – including [...]

This photo series explores the everyday practices and improvised adaptations that arise as welfare and social support systems move increasingly online.

On 19 November 2026, Tamer and Susanne presented preliminary findings of the second phase of Sudan research at CEDEJ Khartoum in Cairo.

Together with the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA), the team has edited a blog series on ‘The politics of food and technology’ based on their IHSA conference panel.

The team organised a panel on ‘The politics of food and technology in changing global and local crises’ at the conference of the International Humanitarian Studies Association in Istanbul (15-17 October). 

Tamer and Susanne presented a paper at the IDS conference (from 15-17 September 2025) on ‘The Politics of Digitalising Food Assistance in Sudan’s Crisis, and its Effect on the Food Security of Marginalised Populations’.

After several weeks of mass starvation in Gaza dominating global television coverage, news reports of similar conditions in Sudan’s El Fasher, once Darfur’s capital, are finally emerging. Both regions remain under siege, with starvation deployed as a weapon for the purpose of emptying and occupying them.

The international team met in Cairo (with Indian colleagues joining online) to discuss the preliminary analysis of our three country cases, start a comparative analysis, and plan our publications and dissemination strategy.

Sathya, Tamer and Susanne participated online in the DSA conference of 2025 on the 26th of June. 

This article argues that the digitalisation of food assistance mimics aspects of colonialism, especially in terms of the asymmetries involved in the extraction of data (as a valuable resource) from vulnerable populations and the dominating role of US-based multinationals.

This working paper reports on phase I – the exploratory phase – of ESRC-funded research into the effects of digitalising food assistance in India.

On May 21, 2025, Yasmin presented on findings from the Birmingham case study at the Future Food Symposium 2025, hosted by the University of Birmingham's Business School.

Susanne was invited to speak at a conference at Utrecht University (13-14 February 2025) on 'Conflict, War and Peace', as part of a panel on rethinking structural violence.

This working paper examines the digitalisation of food assistance in the UK, focusing on its implementation, challenges, and socio-political implications.

This working paper reports on the exploratory phase of ESRC-funded research into the effects of digitalising food assistance in Sudan. The main question addressed is: to what extent have food assistance and social welfare practices been digitalised, and why?

A freedom of information request has revealed that an AI system used by the UK government for assessing benefits cases is apparently getting it wrong by a “statistically significant” amount.

On 5 November 2024, Iris Lim presented “Digital Access to Welfare Services and Food Assistance for Migrants in the UK” at the Future of Immigration Conference 2024.

The UK team co-delivered an interactive workshop “Digital Solutions for Food Insecurity: Can Technology Address Food Access Challenges?”

In this blog, IHSA Vice-President and Senior Research Fellow at the Food Studies Centre at SOAS (University of London) Susanne Jaspars summarises and expands upon a contribution to the roundtable that followed the inaugural IHSA Annual Lecture on “War and Humanity” held in Bergen in May 2024.

This article, originally published on 30 October 2024 by Disasters, explores the role of historical, political, and economic processes in understanding war and famine in Sudan after 2023.

From 16-19 July 2024, Sathya and Susanne participated in a conference in Amsterdam organised by the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) and the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S).

In this podcast, Dr Susanne Jaspars and Dr Tamer Abd Elkreem speak with Amnesty International Students Rotterdam about the ongoing crisis in Sudan.