In this perspective piece, we argue for a new wave in climate urbanism research that calls for both inward reflection on the injustices embedded in urban climate actions, and outward engagement with the escalating social and political backlash. 👇🚨
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

BALTIC project has ended [https://shorturl.at/NcxtY] but great to see our published ideas being advanced by engaging policymakers, practitioners, and wind energy representatives across the Baltic countries. Kudos to Anete,Rico,and Aijan for organising these two-day workshops in Riga!

'Elevates the mood': Third places providing a space away from work and home In an increasingly digital world, Brisbane residents are still heading out to enjoy third places to take a break, enjoy life, and expose themselves to new ideas.

“The term ‘third place’ was coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his book The Great Good Place, which explored the role of places like cafes, parks, & libraries in societies.

He argued such places were not only important for mental health, but were essential to democracy & a sense of community.”

I think each of us in academia knows people in our departments or fields who are horrible people and also know who’s protecting them. These revelations should not be a surprise to any of us.

Image of the TPG journal cover and the abstract of the article: This article provides a spatial justice critique of the urban sustainability agenda. Reflecting on the apparent growing discontent against urban sustainability policies, we argue that this backlash can partly be traced to how this agenda has favoured city centres and overlooked spatial dynamics and injustices that fuel core–periphery polarisation. The urban sustainability agenda tends towards ‘urban triumphalism’, while framing suburban areas and spaces as inherently problematic. We propose to widen the geographical scope of the urban sustainability agenda, and discuss policy directions that may contribute to this, with the view to achieving greater legitimacy, more inclusivity and value pluralism.

Read this #openaccess TPG article by Håvard Haarstad and Mahir Yazar, 'Urban sustainability: a spatial justice critique' which reflects on the apparent growing discontent against urban sustainability policies. doi.org/10.1080/2162...

Beware of ‘anti-woke’ liberals: they attacked the left and helped Trump win | Jan-Werner Müller So-called ‘reactionary centrist’ pundits proclaimed that there was a global ‘vibe shift’ in favor of the right. They were wrong

Great intervention by @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on reactionary centrism, anti-wokeness, and the tendency to interpret the success of the right as backlash instead of as its own political project

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

US tech giants allying with European far-right to strip back EU rules Amid rising EU-US tensions, a new report has accused Big Tech of courting far-right MEPs to weaken the EU's regulatory power on AI and data.

Meta, Microsoft and Google are all coordinating with the European far right in order to dismantle EU digital laws designed to protect citizens, according to a new report.

The recent 🇺🇸NSS strategy outlined regime change plans to support the European far right.

A public-private partnership.

Selective intersectionality: far-right populist Re-casting of social discontent in Europe’s green transition European regions long reliant on fossil-intensive energy are undergoing change driven by the European Green Deal, yet the green transition remains uneven across regions. In Estonia’s Ida-Virumaa, o...

🚨Far-right populists recast discontent in Europe’s green transition via selective intersectionality; invoking gender, labour heritage, and land.A strategy now visible across “left-out regions” in the US, Central & Eastern Europe @environmentalpol.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0964... funded @cssn.org

#Green agenda success in #city cores may breed resentment in the periphery.
As @havardhaarstad.bsky.social & @mahiryazar.bsky.social argue in @rsa-tpg.bsky.social, a moral hierarchy that punishes car-dependent suburbanites —often on lower incomes— is a recipe for #populism.
doi.org/10.1080/2162...

‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival Biden earmarked billions for former coal communities in Appalachia – and his successor came and took it away

By me: ‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Urban sustainability: a spatial justice critique This article provides a spatial justice critique of the urban sustainability agenda. Reflecting on the apparent growing discontent against urban sustainability policies, we argue that this backlash...

We have a new paper critiques urban sustainability 🚨🏡. Amid rising discontent, we argue the backlash stems from an agenda that favours city centres while overlooking spatial dynamics and injustices fueling core-periphery divides that linger on.... 👇
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

My guide to populist-proofing your democracy – before it’s too late | Timothy Garton Ash From public service broadcasting to an independent judiciary, these are the things that we must fight to keep, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash

Great to have scholars like @fromtga.bsky.social engaging in public debate about institutions we must fight for to keep our #democracy alive in times of authoritarian rise. We need to go back to the basics like independent judiciary or civil service neutrality

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

📈 Cities growing, rural areas shrinking - or are they?

Mapping #population change across the Nordics over 30 years (1990-2022) shows:
🔹 #Growth around capitals
🔹 #Decline in many inland & northern areas
🔹 Pockets of renewal along coasts and small towns

🗺️ See more: nordregio.org/maps/total-p...

Perceived inequality and populism | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core Perceived inequality and populism

🆕 Perceived #Inequality and #Populism

Evidence from 🇩🇰🇩🇪🇮🇹 show that people who perceive great inequality are more likely to hold populist attitudes according to @lstoetze.bsky.social, Johannes Giesecke & @heikekluever.bsky.social 🗣️

📖 #OA

Continuous “Safety”?  Labour Succeeds in Norway’s 2025 Elections Amidst Polarization illiberalism.org | Katrine Fangen on Norways election and the issues that animated the campaign, growing polarization, and the paradoxes inherent in the rise of the right-wing Progress Party.

Norway remains one of the world’s most stable democracies. Yet rising populism and sharper debate in the 2025 election revealed growing strains beneath the surface. Read @katrif.bsky.social analysis of the recent general election in Norway for @illsp.bsky.social www.illiberalism.org/continuous-s...

This book finally got published today - free for download here cssn.org/news-researc...

A monumental effort documenting climate obstruction across sectors, countries & governance levels, by 110 @cssn.org scholars

I was chuffed to contribute to one of the chapters (thread)

Birds are behaving strangely — and it could have dire implications for humanity, scientist warns Is it the sign of the a-flock-alypse?

Hitchcock was a visionary...
nypost.com/2025/10/07/s...

After the far-right mass rally in London, Britain must learn lessons from abroad – and fast | Cas Mudde This is no time for complacent exceptionalism. The UK is part of the fourth phase of the far right in the postwar era, and its politicians must respond, says political scientist Cas Mudde

After the far-right mass rally in London, Britain must learn lessons from abroad – and fast | Cas Mudde

Most US adults think individual choices keep people in poverty, new AP-NORC/Harris poll finds A new AP-NORC poll finds that most U.S. adults think personal choices are a major driver of poverty and homelessness, while fewer blame a lack of government support.

The belief that poverty and homelessness are about "individual choices" didn't arise on its own. It was manufactured through decades of messaging designed to protect the policies and interests that create mass precarity.

As this new poll shows, that propaganda campaign has been wildly successful.

NEW PUBLICATION - The Great Dane @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social Larsen and I review the differing concepts of state-led approaches to the green transition over the past two decades. We attempt to provide some conceptual coherence to the debate. The article is Open Access.

Legal Entanglements: Mapping Connections of Anti-Offshore Wind Groups and their Lawyers in the Eastern United States Today we released a new CDL report: “Legal Entanglements: Mapping Connections of Anti-Offshore Wind Groups and their Lawyers in the Eastern United States,” a deep look into litigation efforts against ...

New report that maps the network of anti-offshore wind groups and their lawyers: www.climatedevlab.brown.edu/post/legal-e...

Interviews with Bruno Latour An ongoing, annotated list

I recently found an interview with Bruno Latour I had been looking for for a long time and thought this might be a good idea: A list of all the interviews he did during his lifetime, plus some commentary. It's not yet finished, but useful enough to share, I hope.

open.substack.com/pub/wondrous...

Great to be part of this collective effort! New transformation injustices overlap and intersect with legacy injustices — see our commentary published @Nature Energy 👇, led by @lukashermwille.bsky.social

Governance can’t be automated On the corners of the Holborn viaduct in central London, there are four statues: Commerce, Agriculture, Fine Art, and Science. The figure representing Science looks like she should be in Ancient Greec...

My new piece for @science.org is about safety, technology and how we can't automate governance. A quick thread... 🧵 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

1/ Yesterday the @coe.int European Committee of #SocialRights published its review on the #costofliving #crisis in #Europe. It provides an overview of the impacts of the crisis on #humanrights related to #socialprotection #housing #work #energy #food & of #groups most severely affected by the crisis

I've just finished/delivered my new book on hauntology, landscape and music. Out Nov! The end of England, post-Brexit malaise, the decline of the left, strange music, weird walking, ghosts of the past. You probably won't like it, but be brave and have a listen: www.mixcloud.com/gypjh2000/li...

Join us for our forthcoming webinar Legal Geography for Regions and Cities: A Place-first Approach, 26th March 2025, 13.00 GMT. In this webinar, the speakers will explore how law shapes and is shaped by the spaces we inhabit. Register here: bit.ly/RCI26Mar

Germany has swung to the right. What does that mean for the country – and Europe? Our panel responds Friedrich Merz’s CDU/CSU may have won the German election, but all eyes are on the far-right AfD after its huge gains, say Fatma Aydemir, Katja Hoyer and others

"...the anti-immigrant campaigns of both centrist parties...did not win over any far-right voters. Nor did they inspire their core voters. To do that, they will need their own ideas and priorities, which means looking beyond immigration (which was only the third most important issue for voters..."

Great to see the pre-recorded guest lecture worked well for engaging with graduates at Groningen Uni on urban sustainability, justice, and populism. Thanks again for the invite @muhalefetserhi.bsky.social ! #CriticalApproaches25