My Wish Lists Login / Join

Possessions

A Memoir of Transformation in an Era of Precarity

By: Davina Quinlivan

Write A Review

Hardcover | 29 January 2026

At a Glance

Hardcover
240 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.6 x 13.5 x 2.1

Hardcover

RRP $34.99

$34.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $8.69 with

Ships in 15 to 25 business days

'I was so thirsty for the prize of academia, so thrilled to defy the fates, that I suffocated my own history and culture, my Burmese heritage and my mother's language. By doing this, I also possessed my ancestors and made them dance to the tune of Imperialism. How could I be so wrong?'

After two decades of academic research and undergraduate teaching Davina Quinlivan, and the world of university education, were approaching crisis; teaching online, ticking boxes for other people's diversity criteria, stuck, like so many others, in a cycle of fixed term contracts. Yet as a child of Anglo-Burmese parents, growing up in West London, academia had promised a way out. Something better.

This is her powerful, compelling story of fragmenting and rebuilding from the inside out, one that is filled with the voices of both Burma and Southall. Haunted by the ghosts of colonialism, Davina Quinlivan beautifully lays bare our blind spots as we grapple with decolonisation and the hypocrisies within our institutions of education.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.