Dr Ayushman Bhagat
Lecturer in Political Geography
- Anthropology
- Social Science and Communications
- College of Arts, Law and Social Sciences
Summary
I am a political geographer with a research focus on the spatial politics of anti-slavery and migration control. My interest in contemporary anti-slavery abolitionist movement emerged from my long-term consultancy work with the International Labour Organization (ILO), where I assisted multiple anti-trafficking/slavery programmes in various locations in India. This experience helped me to identify a disconnect between the migration, labour, and anti-trafficking/slavery policies and practices, and the voices of people on the move who are oppressed, exploited, and rendered rightless due to such protectionist policies and practices. To address this gap, I conducted Participatory Action Research at a post-disaster Himalayan site in Nepal and engaged in border ethnography spanning across four countries during my doctoral research in the Department of Geography at Durham University. Subsequently, I pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at TraffLab within the Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel-Aviv University.
I have taught a range of human geography modules at all levels, at both Durham University and Edge Hill University.
Qualifications
PhD Geography, Durham University, United Kingdom (2021)
MBA Rural Development, Xavier Institute of Social Service, India (2012)
Newest selected publications
Bhagat, A. (2025) 'The autonomy of migration as travelling theory: Situated principles from Nepal'. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 0 (ahead of print). pp. 1 - 20. ISSN: 0263-7758 Open Access Link
Bhagat, A. and WOREC. (2025) 'Invisible in life and death: Visibilising the deaths of female Nepali migrant domestic workers and the struggles of their families'. Place of publication: Brunel University of London and WOREC. Available at: https://brunel.figshare.com/articles/book/_i_Invisible_in_life_and_death_Visibilising_the_deaths_of_female_Nepali_migrant_domestic_workers_and_the_struggles_of_their_families_i_/29804651/1?file=56874200.Open Access Link
Bhagat, A. (2025) 'BLAs in domestic work'. Place of publication: The Kathmandu Post. Available at: https://kathmandupost.com/columns/2025/07/15/blas-in-domestic-work.Open Access Link
Bhagat, A., Khanal, S. and Nepali, S. (2025) 'Missing Nepali women'. Place of publication: The Kathmandu Post. Available at: https://kathmandupost.com/columns/2025/06/27/missing-nepali-women.Open Access Link
Bhagat, A. (2025) 'Who’s the ‘parasite’ in anti-trafficking?'. Place of publication: openDemocracy. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/whos-the-parasite-in-anti-trafficking/.Open Access Link