Volume 34, Issue 1 A quarterly journal of politics and ideas, committed to exploring and expanding the radical potential of social democracy.

NEW ISSUE ALERT: Renewal 34:1 The Employment Rights Act and the Politics of Work

Guest edited by Renewal contributing editors @stevenklein.bsky.social and @fhpitts.bsky.social along with co-editor @lisebutler.bsky.social

renewal.org.uk/journal/volu...

Universities in England could face fines for freedom of speech failures Office for Students to launch new complaints system as Bridget Phillipson says academics too often are being silenced

Very glad to see this introduced - addresses a real problem and the legislation needed an enforcement mechanism.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...

What a cynical photo opportunity. Do they honestly think they walk in Hardie's footsteps? My grandfather was a Welsh miner and lifelong socialist and lived long enough to know and hate Farage's politics.

Yes - given the sector's financial crisis, universities have become extremely reluctant to do this.

Academic Job Market Trends in Politics and International Relations - Political Studies Association Academic Job Market Trends in Politics and International Relations: Evidence from the UK, 2012-25 Authored by: Dr Ralph Scott, Dr Lawrence McKay, and Dr William Allen Read the full report here  …

*NEW ACADEMIC JOB MARKET REPORT*
If you missed the launch of the new #Politics #Academic #Job Market Report at #PSA26 it's now online. Authored by @ralphscott.bsky.social, @lawrencemckay.bsky.social & Dr William Allen in collaboration with PSA ECN @psaecn.bsky.social
➡️ Read report buff.ly/q8IwqWj

ORBÁN CONCEDED

So the long nightmare of Central and Eastern European authoritarianism seems to be coming to an end; this would be amazing news for the region and European Union.

Woke - Sunderland v Tottenham
Broke - Chelsea v Man City
Bespoke - Flint v Caernarfon in the Welsh Cup final 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿💪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Millwall? West Ham?

So if Caernarfon are the 'most Welsh club' in world football, who are the most English club?!?

Caernarfon football club press prior to tomorrow's Welsh Cup final. How exactly can you be the 'most Welsh club in world football'?!?

Well deserved - it's a great paper.

Tonight in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square, a sea of young Hungarians—who’ve only ever known Orbán’s corrupt, suffocating regime—are packed together, singing, chanting, and daring to dream of freedom again.

Their hope is raw, their courage is real. The heart of Europe is beating in Budapest tonight. 🇭🇺❤️🇪🇺

Here's the Hungarian opinion poll published by AtlasIntel, mapped out:
🟦Tisza 138 seats
🟧Fidesz-KDNP 54 seats
🟩MH 6 seats
⬛National minorities, 1 seat

Will the rise of AI submissions to journals increase the importance of affiliation to an institution with a decent reputation? Should it?

The Politics of Aspiration: Ideology as a Luxury Good in Occupational Choice Turgut Keskintürk April, 2026 [followed by the abstract, which can be accessed via the PDF.]

a new working paper, where I show that political ideology significantly shapes occupational preferences in early adulthood, a result far stronger among people from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

work-in-progress right here: tkeskinturk.github.io/aspirations.pdf

Mercifully, the UK remains far from Trumpian politics and it's odd to suggest that this isn't the case.

Seeing some odd data on journal acceptance rates. Certain journals with impact factors of 1.5-2 claim acceptance rates of 11-12% yet APSR and AJPS have rates of 7-8%?!? 🫤

Jan Palach - Wikipedia

Wow enjoy! Had an amazing time there a few years ago! Check out Wenceslas Square and the site of Jan Palach's self-immolation (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pal...).

🚫🇷🇺 Hungarian protesters chanted “Russians go home!” (Ruszkik haza) at Viktor Orbán during a campaign rally, hours after we revealed his foreign minister conspired behind allies' back and even shared EU documents with Sergey Lavrov. The chant echoes the main slogan of the 1956 uprising.

Yeah we're losing in the comments lol

Heavily edited!

I'm one of the good guys 😇😇😇

Why the ‘heterodox’ university failed

With @ghostofchristo1.bsky.social, I'm in Unherd today setting out reservations about the heterodox intellectual movement.

Finally, I've written something that may get me kudos on Bluesky 😇 😇 😇

unherd.com/2026/04/why-...

Indeed, the very existence of a large group of people who are hostile to any criticism of Bluesky is itself a red flag. People used to call Twitter a 'hellsite' routinely and no one batted an eyelid.

Academic Job Market Trends in Politics and International Relations - Political Studies Association Academic Job Market Trends in Politics and International Relations: Evidence from the UK, 2012-25 Authored by: Dr Ralph Scott, Dr Lawrence McKay, and Dr William Allen Read the full report here   Execu...

🚨 NEW REPORT! 🚨

What is the state of the UK academic job market in politics, and what does this mean for the field and #highered?

In a new @psaecn.bsky.social report, @lawrencemckay.bsky.social @williamlallen.bsky.social and I find worrying trends in job adverts and HESA data from 2012-25

#PSA26

Yeah in fairness, I'm a middle-class professional who has a season ticket at a university club (Cardiff Met). Perhaps should sit this one out lol.

Yes - not really my thing!

Appreciate all those points but this club doesn't sound like one for me.

Anyone know a pub in Oxford that might show Sweden v Poland tonight?!?