Almost everything we argue about is a substitute for the thing we should be arguing about: the immense wealth & power of an oligarchic class, which captures governments, ruins lives and wrecks the living planet.
This class redirects our rage at scapegoats. To resist its lies is to resist its power.
Six months of an ineffective #ceasefire have left 733 people dead and 1,913 injured in #Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders calls on world leaders to protect civilians, restore dignified living conditions and allow humanitarian aid to reach those who need it.
This is key to political understanding: austerity causes a rise in support for the far right.
BTW, austerity is *not over*, unless you accept the meaningless official definition. A meaningful definition is "a decline in public services caused by a shortfall in funding". catherinedevries.eu/NHS.pdf
Looking forward to speaking at the Glasgow May Day rally on Sunday 3 May. As we approach the centenary of the 1926 general strike, the struggle for a more just and peaceful world has never been more important or necessary than it is today.
Christopher Penn wrote: Just remember that given the abundance of neurodivergent people in science, it's far more likely that autism causes vaccines.
A different perspective.
Always helpful.
📌 ICYMI — How the US Christian Right and Anti-Abortion Lobbyists are Reshaping NHS Policy
A new investigation exposes a global network of anti-abortion groups and US Christian……
bylinetimes.com/2026/04/02/how-the-us-ch...
Zack in front of a hope is here sign.
🚨 First time in British history that a party to the left of Labour have topped a national poll.
💚 Hope is here. It's all of us.
✊🏼 Reject hateful, divisive politics - and let's make hope normal again.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
An anti-abortion group in Scotland receives huge amounts of funding from the US-based Alliance Defending Freedom - £1,409,342 in total in 2025.
archive.is/MAKTm
maternal mortality rates? increasing in states that ban abortion
infant mortality rates? increasing in states that ban abortion
pre-term birth rates? increasing in states that ban abortion
food aid rates? increasing in states that ban abortion
Dobbs did this
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
Half a million strong. Together.
The biggest march against the far-right in British history.
Jupiter Artland , near Edinburgh. A pretty amazing place.
A new special issue of Soundings explores rising authoritarian political culture in Britain. I edited it with my colleagues, Dave Featherstone and Jenny Morrison. Read our introduction on the Starmer government's embrace of repressive crackdowns 🔽
This war is more likely to end up doing regime change in America than in Iran
Le Tribunal international des crimes contre les femmes, fondée en 1976 ; : un événement fondateur du féminisme
"What is lost in Palestine will be lost to us all"
Francesca Albanese at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday on how all of us will ultimately pay the price for the destruction of international law, wherever we live.
‘My ties to Habermas were multi-layered. He was a mentor and an antagonist; a figure who showed me early on how to practise “critique with an emancipatory intent” but from whom I eventually had to distance myself.’
Nancy Fraser, new on the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...
"In the days following the 2016 EU Referendum, Jeffrey Epstein had emailed another associate, Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, describing Brexit as 'just the beginning' of 'a return to tribalism, counter to globalisation, amazing new alliances'"
New on the blog: John Foot on the trial of three former Red Brigades members accused of involvement in a 1975 kidnapping that left two dead.
Read here: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...
Book Review: Reproductive rights in modern France: feminism, contraception and abortion, 1950–1980
by Maud Anne Bracke (@maudannebracke.bsky.social) Oxford, @academic.oup.com 2025, by Caroline Rusterholz is available here doi.org/10.1080/0961...
"I have a child who's lost both parents & all 3 siblings. I have another child who has shrapnel in her face & her eyes, whose mother was killed when she was on her lap.."
Ghassan Abu Sitta is working in Lebanon right now treating children injured by Israeli bombs.
Feminism: don't put flowers on her grave just yet. (Not my title but definitely my essay.) Nicely timed to remind us all that Harvey Weinstein is not at the Oscars (and never will be again). On how change works and what it takes to actually perceive change.
A happy mother's day to all those who do the mothering ❤️🔥🌻
Literally this
You've all heard of the Resource Curse: countries are impoverished by rich resources in their territories, as these trigger colonial looting.
Now we see the Base Curse: if you host a US base, you don't enhance your security. You make yourself a target.
‘It was women – Julie K. Brown, Tina Brown, Vicky Ward, Tara Palmeri – who broke and pursued the story. Yet Alastair Campbell, Rory Stewart and the rest waded in and manfully explained Epstein to me.’
Susan Pedersen on Epstein and entitlement.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
#OtD 12 Mar 1912 the Bread and Roses strike won all their demands. The strike was organized by mostly women workers and the Industrial Workers of the World and included 20,000 workers. More on the strike: workingclasshistory.com/2018/12/02/e...
Looking forward to reading this!
I was interviewed by Gina Stamm at @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social about my recent book, Reproductive rights in modern France, 1950-80 (Oup 2025). Really enjoyed talking about it and grateful for the opportunity. Tune in!
newbooksnetwork.com/reproductive...
Good luck to French colleagues and students, and we should urgently do similar in the UK
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞! 🦋
In collaboration with @sgsss.bsky.social we are thrilled to share this unique series of interdisciplinary workshops focused on innovative research methods for PhD researchers.
View the programme & sign-up: www.sgsss.ac.uk/training/spr...
