Geographical

Official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Andrew Brooks

Andrew is a regular columnist and book reviewer for Geographical. He is a reader in uneven development and deputy head of the geography department at King’s College London.

His books include Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-hand Clothes, and Bullsh*t Comparisons: A Field Guide to
Thinking Critically.

Palestinians with food aid bag

Food, fat and famine

Oct 23, 2025

New appetite-suppressing drugs are booming in the West while famine claims lives in Gaza. In both cases, food is a…

Oasis sign

How Oasis’s music transcends time & place

Oct 9, 2025

From Motown to Britpop, music has the power to turn a city into a global landmark. In Manchester, Oasis continue…

signpost of gap year and university

Closing doors – how rising costs and politics are curbing student travel

Aug 22, 2025
Fewer undergraduates are taking gap years – but it doesn’t have to be that way. We need a reinvention, not a rejection, of student travel
The bias of balance: net zero, denial and political spin

The bias of balance: net zero, denial and political spin

Jul 24, 2025
From climate change to Gaza, the pursuit of ‘balance’ often misleads rather than informs, warns Andrew Brooks
An elderly woman rides a tractor in the countryside

Beyond the farmer’s wife: unpacking gendered spaces

Jun 29, 2025
From Scottish tractors to Senegalese rice fields, Andrew Brooks traces how outdated labels still frame women’s work and men’s status across global landscapes
nespresso machine

Business models that aren’t fit for every purpose

Jun 5, 2025
A forgotten kitchen gadget prompts Andrew Brooks to reflect on how an often lauded business model, while good for profit, might not benefit us all
A rotting apple on a white background

Nimble fingers to shrinking apples: Unlearning the junk science of school geography

May 11, 2025
Andrew Brooks on how geographers must keep challenging false ideas and develop new, truthful theories
Outstretched hands

The end of international development?

Apr 3, 2025
Andrew Brooks argues that long-term development aid was failing those it meant to help. But scrapping it without systemic changes will be disastrous
The word 'boycott' written on a typewriter

Do boycotts work in a post-political age?

Feb 28, 2025
Andrew Brooks looks at how consumer boycotts and celebrity activism reflect our changing, complex times around the world
Huge selection of different used clothes for men, women and children on the rack in a second hand shop or thrift store. Concept of waste problem in fashion industry.

How fashion is becoming ever-faster

Feb 13, 2025
Andrew Brooks considers whether recycling old clothes makes the fashion industry more sustainable or simply fuels even more consumption
Landscaping of the yard with artificial turf.

The divisive art of lawns: lawn people versus fake lawn people

Dec 27, 2024
Andrew Brooks ponders on what exactly makes lawns so divisive
LISBON, PORTUGAL - AUGUST 09, 2017: Everyday Life In Busy Downtown Lisbon City Of Portugal.

Packing in the tourists in the ‘Sardine City’ of Lisbon

Dec 3, 2024
As tourism to Lisbon booms, Andrew Brooks looks at how the city must balance globalisation alongside its local communities
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