Joshua Wallace
Department, Institution: Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck
Supervisor: Prof. Silvia Posocco, Prof. Lisa Baraitser
My Research
We live in a time of polycrisis. However, whilst the 21st century is understood by an increasing number of crises, less attention is paid to those left behind in the aftermath, for whom the crisis becomes chronic through a lack of care. Contributing to a growing scholarship that understands how people produce, respond to, and live through crises, this research investigates different formations, responses and failings of what it labels ‘infrastructures of care’, often in response to moments of crisis. Focusing on this interface between crisis and care is central as how crisis is framed and mobilised is crucial to how care is formed and structured.
This work has three sites of focus: i) Asylum Seekers/Refugees; ii) Long Covid and iii) Precarious Housing.
Impact of My Research
The pressing nature of these topics create clear vectors as to how this work can move beyond academia. Firstly, there is the question of how we can provide a type of care informed by an ethics rooted in an understanding of chronicity. With its focus on institutional interfaces and spatial infrastructures there is a clear map for practitioners where additional resources can be deployed to build more robust infrastructures of care. This includes new data about housing experiences, provisions for better access to public and private spaces and priority areas for research funding in Long Covid. This can be an integral part of campaigning to unlock additional resources such as the recent £20 million increase in legal aid for asylum seekers (although over half of asylum seekers still do not have access to legal aid). Practically this research hopes to create workshops, relevant journals and white papers with partner organisations.