Anna is a social and economic Geographer. She is currently researching how work and livelihoods intersect with environmental problems and solutions. Her main focus is on informal work in circular systems in lower- and middle-income countries. She also studies how the crises of climate change and COVID-19 intersect with young people’s livelihoods in Uganda, Nepal and Indonesia.
Biography
Previous positions
- Fellow, Lecturer and Director of Studies for Geography at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. https://www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk/
- Fellow, Lecturer and Director of Studies for Geography at Girton College, University of Cambridge. https://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/
- Research Associate, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge on ‘Regimes of Austerity: Economic Change and the Politics of Contraction’. Working with Dr Mia Gray and funded by the Cambridge Political Economy Society Trust. https://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/regimesofausterity/
- Research Associate, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge on ‘Humanitarian Crises, Population Displacement and Epidemic Diseases, 1901-2010’. Working with Heather Hooper, Prof. Andy Cliff and Prof. Matthew Smallman-Raynor. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust. https://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/populationdisplacement/
- Post-doctoral Research Fellow and Director of Studies for Geography, Homerton College, University of Cambridge. https://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/
- Research Associate Institute of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge on ‘The Melanoma Interview Project’. Working with Dr. Fiona Walter, funded by Cancer Research UK. https://www.phpc.cam.ac.uk/pcu/research/archived-projects-list/melints/
- Visiting Research Fellow, at The Equality Trust & York Fairness Commission. https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/
- Researcher at Television Centre, BBC on the ‘School Report Survey’. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rs4sk
- Research Assistant, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield on the Worldmapper project. Working with Prof. Danny Dorling and Prof. Mark Newman. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust. https://worldmapper.org/
Qualifications
- Ph.D in Geography, University of Sheffield entitled ‘An international comparative study of attitudes towards socio-economic inequality’. Funded by an ESRC +3 scholarship. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1232/
- MA in Research Methods in Sociology, University of Nottingham. Funded by a University scholarship.
- BA in Geography, University of Cambridge. With a dissertation about participatory development programmes in the Terai region of Nepal, with Students Partnership Worldwide. Awarded a college scholarship.
Other affiliations
- Founding member of the Decent work and youth livelihoods group (https://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/decentwork/ ) at the University of Cambridge
- Bye Fellow in Geography at Murray Edwards College
Recent funding
- School of Technology Seed Funding, University of Cambridge (2021).
- Asian Development Bank: Youth-specific livelihoods impacts and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with Restless Development. Focusing on Nepal and Indonesia.
- British Academy Youth Futures grant: Peak Youth, Climate Change and the Role of Young People in Seizing their Future. In partnership with Makerere University (Uganda) and Restless Development (Uganda). 2020-2021. https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/projects/youth-futures-peak-climate-change-role-young-people-seizing-future/
- ESRC DTP Knowledge Exchange Scheme in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, funding for a 1+3 graduate student starting in 2020, on the research project: Characteristics, expectations and aspirations for work amongst marginalized young people in low- and middle-income countries.
- Global Challenges Research Fund Impact Acceleration Account NGO Data, ESRC-4: “Understanding the experiences of young people making a living in low-income countries”, follow-on funding.
- Global Challenges Research Fund Impact Acceleration Account NGO Data ESRC-4: ‘Understanding the experiences of young people making a living in low-income countries’. Plus follow on funding. With partner NGO Restless Development.
- Cambridge Humanities Research Grants Scheme, ‘Peak youth and work in low-income countries’, University of Cambridge.
- Returning Carers Scheme, University of Cambridge.
- Roberts Funding, University of Sheffield, to support placement at The Equality Trust.
- Buckley Summer Scholarship on ‘Inequality and Social Change in Britain and the United States’, Social Change: A Harvard – Manchester initiative.
- Dudley Stamp Memorial Trust research grant, Royal Geographical Society.
- PhD funded by U.K. Economic and Social Research Council’s +3 studentship
- MA full scholarship, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham.
- David Richards Travel Scholarship, University of Cambridge.
Research
Research interests
Anna’s research considers how the impacts and solutions to the environmental challenges of climate change and plastic pollution intersect with the global scarcity of work and the dominance of the informal sector in lower-income countries. In seeking to understand this work-environment nexus amongst vulnerable and hard-to-reach demographic groups, Anna leads on several complementary themes: (1) The quality and quantity of work in the circular economy, with a focus on informal work within the recycling sector in Africa and Asia; (2) How businesses transition towards more circular modes of operating; and (3) Youth livelihoods in lower income settings in the context of a structural deficit of work.
While the circular economy is principally concerned with flows of materials, intending to capture and reuse value within material flows, Anna examines how a more circular use of materials intersects with key social outcomes, paying attention to Sustainable Development Goal 8, which demands decent work for all. The dearth of decent work worldwide is especially acute in lower income countries where low unemployment rates reflect the vital need to make a living in a context of minimal state welfare. While the work done to get by is often considered to be economically unproductive, informal waste-pickers underpin the recycling loop of the circular economy in many settings. The economic vulnerability of waste pickers has been highlighted, as COVID19 containment measures left many without work, income or food. The mismatch between the essential labour performed by informal waste collectors and their poor working conditions leads Anna to argue for the inclusion of labour as a pillar of circular economy thinking.
With an interest in the practicalities and politics of transitioning towards greater circularity, Anna is collaborating with Saffy Ahmad and Aris Vrettos to understand how multinational companies are moving towards greater circularity. As circular economy goals are increasingly adopted, we ask how businesses and business models are being reconfigured around goals to be increasingly circular? Large multinationals often have the resources and scale to have a far-reaching impact, yet their business models are usually linear, potentially making it difficult to change tack. Through interviewing incumbent businesses, we seek to document the motivations, barriers, enablers, and ambitions vis-à-vis the circular economy. The aim is to share lessons and therefore support other businesses in their own circular transitions.
Anna leads a research project in Uganda which investigates how environmental crises impact upon work and livelihoods. This work is in collaboration with Makerere University and Restless Development Uganda, and is supported by British Academy funding. With a median age of 15.8, Uganda is demographically the third youngest country in the world. Yet the youth labour under-utilisation rate of 67.9% makes it unlikely that these young people will find decent jobs. Climate change exacerbates livelihood precarity with increased flooding and droughts and disrupted seasonality leading to less reliable agriculture and intensified rural-urban migration. Starting from youth experience and agency, this research project investigates how climate change in Uganda is affecting young lives and youth livelihoods in the regions of Karamoja and Jinja. The research will document the diverse lives and livelihood strategies of young people in rural and urban settings; investigate how climate change impacts upon young people's lives and livelihoods; and identify youth solutions to the challenges they face.
Publications
Books
- Dorling, D., Newman, M. and Barford, A. (2010). Atlas of the real world (2nd edition). Thames and Hudson, London. Also published in Germany and Austria. https://thamesandhudson.com/atlas-of-the-real-world-mapping-the-way-we-live-9780500288535
- Dorling, D., Newman, M. and Barford, A. (2008) The atlas of the real world. London, Thames & Hudson. Also published in the United States, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Two further foreign language editions were published in South Korea and Japan in 2009.
Book chapters
- Barford, A. 2014. Representing. In: Lee, R., Castree, N., Kitchin, R., Lawson, V., Paasi, A., Philo, C., Radcliffe, S., Roberts, S.M., Withers, C.W.J. (eds). The SAGE Handbook of Human Geography, 2v. London: SAGE, 273-295. https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-sage-handbook-of-human-geography-2v/book235283#contents
- Barford, A. and Dorling, D. 2011. Inequalities. In Southerton, D. et al. (Eds.) Encyclopaedia of Consumer Culture. SAGE Publications, London. https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/consumerculture/n290.xml
- Barford, A. and Dorling, D. 2008. Telling an old story with new maps. In: Dodge, M., McDerby, M. and Turner, M. (eds.) Geographic Visualization: Concepts, Tools and Applications. Wiley, Chichester https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/doi/book/10.1002/9780470987643
Reports
- Barford, A., Proefke, R., Mugeere, A. and Stocking, B., 2021. Young people and climate change. COP 26 Briefing Series of The British Academy, p.1-17. doi:10.5871/bacop26/9780856726606.001.
- Barford, A., Brayne, C., and Shuckburgh, E.. 2020. Just transition: Supporting society in the zero-carbon transformation. In Shuckburgh, E., Zenghelis, D., Agarwala, M., Diaz Anadon, L., Howard-Grenville, J., Peñasco, C., . . . Hayes, J. (2020). A Blueprint for a Green Future - Multidisciplinary report on a green recovery from COVID-19 by the Cambridge Zero Policy Forum. Cambridge Open Engage. Chapter 2. doi:10.33774/coe-2020-2831j https://www.zero.cam.ac.uk/green-recovery-report [1]
- Barford, A. and Cieslik, K. 2019. Making A Living: A Youth Employment Agenda. Published by Murray Edwards College, in July 2019. CC BY Creative Commons license. DOI: 10.17863/CAM.41570 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/294839
- Barford, A. and Coombe, R. 2019. Getting by: young people's working lives. Published by Murray Edwards College, in April 2019. CC BY Creative Commons license. 10.17863/CAM.39460 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/292310
Conference proceedings
- Barford, A., 2020. Informal work in a circular economy: waste collection, insecurity and COVID19. Proceedings of the IS4CE2020 Conference. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/309081
Peer reviewed journal articles
- Barford, A., and Ahmad, S.R. (forthcoming). A call for a socially restorative circular economy: waste pickers in the recycled plastics supply chain. Journal of Circular Economy and Sustainability.
- Barford, A., Coombe, R. and Proefke, R., 2021. Against the odds: Young people’s high aspirations and societal contributions amid a decent work shortage. Geoforum, v. 121, p.162-172. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.02.011
- Barford, A. 2021. Challenging inequality in Kenya, Mexico and the UK. Third World Quarterly. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2020.1826299 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2020.1826299 [2]
- Barford, A., Coombe, R., and Proefke, R. 2020. Youth experiences of the decent work deficit. Geography, 105(2), 60-68. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/305784
- Gray, M. and Barford, A. 2018. The depths of the cuts: the uneven geography of local government austerity. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 11(3), 541–563, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsy019 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/284729
- Barford, A. 2017. Emotional responses to world inequality. Emotion, Space and Society, 22, 25-35. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/261825
- Barford, A. 2016. Discourses supporting socio-economic inequality in Kenya, Mexico and the UK. Portuguese Journal of Social Science, 15(3), 331-347. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/309078
- Smallman-Raynor, M., Cliff, A. and Barford, A. 2015. Geographical Perspectives on Epidemic Transmission of Cholera in Haiti, October 2010–March 2013. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 105(4), 665-683. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00045608.2015.1050755
- Barford, A. and Pickett, K. 2014. How to build a more equal American society: lessons from successful experiences abroad. Solutions, 5(4) https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/how-to-build-a-more-equal-american-society-lessons-from-successful-experiences/
- Barford, A. (2009). World poverty - what can we do about it?. Geography, 94 (3), 215-218. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.56456 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/309367
- Moraru, M., Barford, A. and Dorling, D. 2009. Cartografiando la extensión de la globalización. Geofocus, 9, 1-18 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/309079
- Barford, A. 2008. Worldmapper, des centaines de cartes du monde sur Internet. M@ppemonde, 89(1), 1-15 http://mappemonde-archive.mgm.fr/num17/articles/art08105.html
- Dorling, D. and Barford, A. 2007. Shaping the world to illustrate inequalities in health. WHO Bulletin, 85(11), 821-900 https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/11/07-044131/en/
- Dorling, D., Barford, A. and Wheeler, B. 2007. Health impacts of an environmental disaster. Environmental Research Letters, 2(4) 1-11 https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/transformations/gis/papers/dannydorling_publication_id1829.pdf
- Dorling, D. and Barford, A. 2007. The shape of global causes of death. International Journal of Health Geographics, 6(48), 1-13 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/310582
- Dorling, D., Barford, A. and Newman, M. 2006. Worldmapper: the world as you've never seen it before. IEEE Transactions on Visualisation and Computer Graphics, 12(5), 757-764. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4015427
- Dorling, D. and Barford, A. 2006. Humanising Geography. Geography, Autumn 2006, 187-197 https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/transformations/gis/papers/dannydorling_publication_id0893.pdf
- Moraru, M., Barford, A. and Dorling, D. 2006. The long war. Student BMJ, 14, 445 https://www.bmj.com/content/333/Suppl_S6/0612445
Relevant links
- Decent work and youth livelihoods group: https://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/decentwork/
- Murray Edwards College: https://www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk/subject/geography
- British Academy Research Project, ‘Peak Youth, Climate Change and the Role of Young People in Seizing their Future’: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/projects/youth-futures-peak-climate-change-role-young-people-seizing-future/
Teaching and Supervisions
Grace Mueller, PhD student
Grace’s doctoral research focuses on work and local labour markets from the perspective of young women in Nepal, and the implications of non-market influences on youth employment experience and intervention. She is also interested in co-produced and decolonised research methods, considering how inclusive research approaches shape knowledge production related to labour market policy. This project builds on Grace’s work related to COVID-19 and youth livelihoods (supported by the Asian Development Bank, led by Restless Development and in collaboration with Dr. Anna Barford), as well as youth entrepreneurship and social mobility studies at the University of Edinburgh (2019) and University of Texas (2016).
Kate Brockie, PhD student
Kate is a postgraduate student in the Department of Geography with an interest in decent work opportunities for the world's growing youth population. In collaboration with the International Labour Organization, Kate's research is concerned with the characteristics, expectations and aspirations for work amongst marginalised young people in low- and middle-income countries. Her doctoral research will combine detailed data analysis of relevant global surveys with qualitative research focused on the lived experiences and perspectives of female NEET (not in employment, education or training) youth in Bangladesh.
Other Professional Activities
Awards
- Shortlisted for ‘Supervisor in the Arts Humanities and Social Sciences’, in the Cambridge University Student-Led Teaching Awards
- Gold Award for ‘The atlas of the real world’, from the U.K. Geographical Association
- Award for Excellence in Leading Geography, from the U.K. Geographical Association
- Sidney Sussex College Downham Yeomans scholarship, University of Cambridge
Additional sources of funding:
School of Technology Seed Funding, University of Cambridge (2021).
The Asian Development Bank: Youth-specific livelihoods impacts and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with Restless Development. Focusing on Nepal and Indonesia.
British Academy Youth Futures grant: Peak Youth, Climate Change and the Role of Young People in Seizing their Future. In partnership with Makerere University (Uganda) and Restless Development (Uganda). 2020-2021.
Two ESRC DTP Knowledge Exchange Scheme studentships for graduate students. One in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, and the other in collaboration with the Youth NGO Restless Development.