This aged well without even aging much onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

It's not just that Orbán losing inspires hope in other competitive-autocratic countries ruled by right-wing nationalist authoritarians. It's that his loss materially changes things in those other countries, because he's been operating as a headquarters and funding source...

Kanske symptomatiskt för den bredare amerikaniseringen men hur många svenska queers känner till kulmen av den amerikanska frigörelsens startsalva Stonewall utan att känna till *Europas* första s.k. homopolitiska demonstration med Gay Power Club 1 den 15e maj 1971 i Örebro

Get more from Talk Eastern Europe on Patreon Bringing voices of Central and Eastern Europe to you each week

Talk Eastern Europe, the Podcast of @neweasterneurope.eu, recently lost a major funding source. If you can, I highly suggest taking out a subscription. With it, you can listen to in depth interviews with experts on the post-Soviet sphere!
www.patreon.com/talkeasterne...

DC Friends! Please join me to launch my new book, The Queer Face of War: Portraits and Stories from Ukraine at Politics and Prose's Wharf location. I'll be in conversation with the extraordinary @chrisgeidner.bsky.social discussing homophobia and the global assault on democracy.

CitizenGO has caused significant harm. In addition to this valuable Good Law Project piece on the organisation’s UK connections, our co-authored report on the subject shows its damaging transnational impact in Latin America and Kenya. Both are well worth reading! lassociacio.org/wp-content/u...

Russian “Z-Nuns” Busted for Running Spy Network Through Swedish Churches Swedish authorities investigate Orthodox nuns allegedly linked to Russian military actions and using church sales for pro-Kremlin activities.

In Sweden, nuns from the St Elisabeth Convent, which was originally based in Belarus, were found to be working for Russian intelligence. Active in 20 churches across the country, they raised funds for the Russian army while posing as a charity.
united24media.com/latest-news/...

Thank you for the interesting read!

On the Fringe: Terrorism, Extremism & Radicalization in America | Chris Verga | Episode 148 YouTube video by The TLB Podcast

Sharing from the part that speaks to one of the aspects of violent right-wing extremism I find most interesting: its normalisation youtu.be/7GSWsVdoh2M?...

The rise and fall of nationalism studies What the demise of a small department in an embattled university says about the future of Europe and the world. 

As nationalism grows ever more central to international politics, the Vienna-based Central European University department that studies it is on the verge of extinction.

So what would be lost if this small but scrappy program disappears?

Interesting sessions at NCSR 2026 in Finland this August, including panels on religious minorities, migration & gender in the Nordics. Paper abstracts due Feb 1, 2026. Worth checking out for sociology of religion scholars. #AcademicSky #conferences

https://sites.abo.fi/ncsr2026/sessions/

'[G]ender- and sexuality-related articles were almost absent on RT Deutsch before 2018, but increased sharply in 2018, and have been constantly present since' www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I've learned a strange new word today: wokehöger

Academia misdelivering for political and market demand

Nuremberg A compelling yet cautious portrait of the men behind recent history’s atrocitiesThe Nuremberg trials of Nazis were a monumental moment in the collective digestion of the horrors perpetrated in World W...

New Review: Nuremberg (2025)
A compelling yet cautious portrait of the men behind recent history’s atrocities. Vanderbilt’s psychological angle is moving but often too restrained.
Full review: www.youngcriticmovies.com/post/nuremberg
#YoungCritic #FilmReview #Nuremberg

Подпольный квир. Кто и как в российских регионах создает ЛГБТ-искусство, несмотря на гомофобные законы В материале упоминается «движение ЛГБТ», деятельность которого запрещена в РФ

'В поэтической тусовке, где Владислав периодически выступает [...], есть посетитель, которого не получилось идентифицировать. Поэтому поэты читают стихи, делают вид, что мероприятие закончилось. Когда этот посетитель уходит, авторы читают неподцензурные тексты' semnasem.org/articles/202...

Pope: 'Unfortunately, it has become increasingly common to drag the language of faith into political battles, to bless nationalism, and to justify violence and armed struggle in the name of religion. Believers must actively refute (...) these forms of blasphemy that profane the holy name of God'

Här vill naziledaren rekrytera oss – ”Vissa får utegångsförbud av sina mammor” De ingår i en nazistisk rörelse. Och de är unga – vissa av dem barn. Aftonbladet har träffat ledaren för Aktivklubb Sverige. – Ibland får folk utegångsförbud av

Vi låtsades vara en ung kille - och fick prata med ledaren för Aktivklubb. Och höra hur det går till när nazisterna vill rekrytera. ”Vissa får utegångsförbud för sina mammor”.
www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/L4...

'the symbolic conflation of marriage with coupledom and monogamy renders ‘marriage reform’ an unlikely candidate for providing meaningful answers to the need to legally protect diverse intimacies and familiar arrangements'

I suppose these findings have already caused some discussions (I'm still digesting)

Join us for the 10th Edition: Global Congress on Gender & Sexuality Studies 2026 (GSS 2026)!
May 18–19, 2026
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Theme: Beyond Binaries: Reimagining Gender and Sexuality in the 21st Century
Register now!

#GenderStudies #SexualityStudies #Feminism #LGBTQ #QueerStudies

The Politics of Christian Nationalism: A Conversation with Ruth Braunstein - The Centre for Christian Engagement

Sociologist Ruth Braunstein in the What Matters Most episode - a podcast from the Centre for Christian Engagement

Follow @jwmartens.bsky.social

Like 35 espressos - MEPs weigh regulating energy drinks for minors | Euractiv “The absence of restriction in many member states means that children are freely exposed to these products”, said MEP Tilly Metz

South Ossetia, by the way, has a universal ban on them 😀 but
almost nobody has ever written about it. I think many would genuinely be curious to read an explanation of how, and why on earth, that happened

Orthodox Christian clergy call on US officials, drawing accusations of Russian influence (RNS) — The visits have caused feuds among both US Orthodox Christian groups and Republicans.

A delegation of Orthodox Christian clergy met with Trump administration officials and members of Congress this week, igniting feuds among both U.S. Orthodox Christian and Republican groups amid accusations that the visitors were agents of Russian influence.
religionnews.com/2025/11/21/o...

The Christian Extremism Crisis Is Worse Than You Think...And What to Do About It YouTube video by HumanistsMN

Matthew D. Taylor on why many Evangelical Christians were not and won't be conflicted about supporting Donald Trump despite Trump always being Trump.

Taylor also outlines what is needed to save American democracy (a generally good approach to resisting authoritarianism elsewhere too)

Screenshot of Balkan Insight article dealing with the rise of AI in the Orthodox church.

My new piece for Balkan Insight. As the #Vatican emerges as a de facto #AI ethicist, the #Orthodox Church has barely engaged.

Now, as AI spreads, some Orthodox Primates warn of the "end times" while others are overtaken by algorithms and influencers.

balkaninsight.com/2025/11/14/a...

‘From Kyiv with Love: the Push to Legalize Same-Sex Civil Partnerships’ - an interesting Master’s thesis by Thomas Cline-Fedorus www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Приставили нож к горлу! Охота на геев стартовала в России? // А Поговорить?... YouTube video by А поговорить?

This specific account is so illustrative of what queerphobia is based on: systemic extortion, blackmail, sexual exploitation, incarceration, coerced recruitment, torture

Anti-queer violence is, above all, institutionalised violence; social prejudices (indoctrination) is just an extention of it

2025 was a year of significant progress for EU enlargement.

Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova stand out.

They advanced most on reforms in the past year.

Our candidates have ambitious goals to finish negotiations.

The coming year will be a moment of truth.