The experiences of Sahrawi
women peacefully protesting the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara will be
recorded as part of a new project by a Northumbria University academic.
Dr Joanna Allan has been awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize
worth £100,000 to carry out the research, which will explore the lives of four
women and their participation in nonviolent resistance movements against
colonialism and occupation.
Dr Allan hopes her work
will raise global awareness of Western Sahara’s occupation which, due to
restrictions by the Moroccan authorities on journalists and human rights
activists entering the country, has lacked media coverage.
Her research will also explore
the role natural resources have played in ongoing political and environmental conflicts
in North Africa and Spain, specifically phosphates, which are used as
fertilizer in food production around the world.
Philip Leverhulme Prizes
are awarded by the Leverhulme Trust to researchers at an early stage of their
careers whose work has had international impact and whose future research
career is exceptionally promising.
With more than 300
nominations for this year, Dr Allan is one of just 30 academics chosen to
receive a 2022 Philip Leverhulme Prize.
Speaking about her
research she said: “I am deeply grateful and honoured to have been
selected by the Leverhulme Trust for this prize. The funding will have a
transformational impact on my work, allowing me to take my research on women’s
anti-colonial resistance and environmental justice in new directions.”
Dr Allan will undertake
two projects as part of her research. The first will be a biography following
the experiences of four women from Western Sahara who have spent their lives campaigning
for their country’s independence through non-violent resistance to Moroccan
occupation.
She explains: “There is
increasing research on how women have participated in nonviolent resistance
movements against colonialism, occupation, and war. However, we know little
about how such cultural activists attempt to change the ‘hearts and minds’ of the
people their protests are aimed at. I hope to expand such knowledge through the
Four Women project, as well as to contribute to the theorisation of culture’s
role in nonviolent movements globally.”
The second project will explore
different cultural understandings of ‘environmental justice’ and what these
mean for transforming the global food system. It will focus specifically on
cultural representations of phosphates in the literature and oral traditions of
Northwest Africa and Spain.
Dr Allan is a member of Northumbria University’s Centre for International Development. Speaking about her success, Centre Co-Director Professor Katy Jenkins said: “We
are delighted that Dr Allan’s innovative research has been recognised with this
prestigious award. Her internationally significant research makes an important
contribution to the Centre for International Development’s cutting-edge
interdisciplinary research on environmental activism and resistance in the
global South.”
Professor John Woodward, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Northumbria’s Faculty
of Engineering and Environment added: “The Philip Leverhulme Awards recognise
outstanding researchers with promising careers ahead of them. Dr Allan’s
selection from such a strong field of candidates is impressive recognition of
her excellent contribution and is a clear sign of the ever-growing body of
excellent research and world-class researchers we have here at Northumbria University.”
Speaking about the
Philip Leverhulme Prize, Professor Anna Vignoles, Director of the Leverhulme
Trust, said: “In its twenty-first year, this scheme continues to attract
applications from an array of researchers of an incredibly high calibre, and
the decisions get harder every year.
“The Leverhulme Trust is
delighted to award prizes to academics undertaking work on an impressively wide
range of topics, from robotics to Romans, labour markets to Black British
literature, and greenhouse gases to disability and wellbeing. We are very proud
to support these researchers through the next stage of their careers.”
Dr Allan is a member of
Northumbria University’s Departmentof Geography and Environmental Sciences. Northumbria
was recently ranked second in the UK for research power in Geography and
Environmental Studies, with over 90% of research outputs rated as world-leading
or internationally excellent in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
Find out more about Northumbria University’s Centre for International Development and Faculty of Engineering and Environment.
