King's College London

Dr Mark Langan, from the Department of European and International Studies, was among recipients of the British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship announced earlier this month.

Dr Langan’s fellowship grant of £139,000 will fund a project that seeks to understand the impact of UK and EU trade deals on migration and food security in west Africa.

By focusing upon lived experiences of African entrepreneurs and labourers within import-competing agricultural sectors, Dr Langan will explore alternative ways of viewing free trade in the region.

He will explore African business concerns about whether free trade deals may undermine jobs, stimulate inter-continental migration, and jeopardise food security under the weight of cheap foreign importations. The fellowship will therein unpack possible counter-narratives aimed at resisting UK and EU free trade demands.

The British Academy has awarded more than £5.8 million in Mid-Career Fellowships to 44 mid-career academics whose research will promote public engagement with, and understanding of, the social sciences, humanities and arts disciplines.