"I call my sweetheart as often as I can ... She tells me that it’s complicated and confusing for her, speaking to the ghost who disappeared twenty years ago. But, leaning against a wall, next to all the other guys talking with loved ones on the phone, I don’t feel like a ghost. I feel alive."
One implication of this essay is that the foundational principles of social theory matter for contemporary political analysis. I conjecture that political scientists routinely confuse illiberalism with authoritarianism because they have lost the conceptual vocabulary required to make this distinction.
recently written sentence which may be of interest
I am increasingly convinced that comparative politics (including especially me) has fundamentally misunderstood contemporary democratic backsliding. We are attending to elections and the rule of law, when the politics is more fundamental, about a vision for the state and society within it 1/x
It's not about celebrating murder. It's not about the absence of societal decency or morality.
It's about loss of faith.
People are losing faith in the rule of law. In its ability to hold the rich and powerful accountable.
Keep gaslighting them at your own peril.
Me: What's the first rule of cooking? 4 yo: Don't put your hands in your butt. Me: 4 yo: Me: Correct.
New podcast: President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Rep. Jim Jordan and other MAGA Republicans are engaged in an ongoing campaign to target researchers studying disinformation and hate speech. Duke University professor Philip Napoli is documenting their strategy and tactics.
My own professional association home @apsa.bsky.social chose to replatform the Claremont Institute at this year’s meeting. I won’t attend next year, if they do the same. And I’ll help @davekarpf.bsky.social to organize and mobilize our colleagues in this and other ways.
What’s the handle?
ATTENTION Frankfurt School scholars, fans, and followers! I haven't seen a Starter Pack or a List dedicated to these OG anti-fascists. Anybody have suggestions for where to start? I think I need 5 or 6 to start a Starter Pack. Help! #polisky #polisci #polsky #poltheory #politicalscience
If Bluesky is the new social media app of record, I thought we should move the Jesse Eisenberg story over here.
Hey! Thanks for the personal reply! :)
hello computer i would like to make a poll that asks people if they believe that some of these cabinet appointments are distractions and if so which ones. also make a second question that asks people to choose how many of these appointments they believe will technically be "recess appointments" tks
I agree. And they analyse demagoguery against the background of a theory of monopoly capitalism. Especially in the 1930s and 40s, the people around Horkheimer keep returning to the question how language, ideology, collectives change under monopolistic conditions, see eg the last two chs of the DoE.
I am one of those people. 😉 Can you elaborate?
I think they (and works written that tackle related issues, like “Prophets of Deceit”) do help shed light on some of the similar societal conditions that give rise to agitators. I also think that tech has played a massive role in that malaise.
People like to turn to Adorno, Horkheimer, and other Frankfurt School scholars to make sense of Trump's demagoguery. But their critique of authoritarianism is embedded in a theory of monopoly capitalism. Worth revisiting these days, with Musk, Sacks, and their ilk soon relocating to the WH
Ah I see. Thank you for giving me that additional information. No, with that limitation and given your broad subject area, I’m not ready yet! I’m working on xtian nationalism+fascism in grad school but not publishing yet. Thank you for replying!
I would love to work on theorizing whether Intelligence Agencies constitute an as yet unrecognized form of government but wow I’m nowhere close to that yet! 😁
This semester, deep diving into the literature on digital repression in hopes of using it to better focus my dissertation topic. Last semester I analyzed spyware usage in countries with and without state religions.
Hello! Would you mind adding me to your starter pack? Thank you!
Hello! Would you mind adding me to your starter pack? Thank you!
@muzach.bsky.social Hello! Would you mind adding me to your starter pack? Thank you!
Hello! Would you mind adding me to your starter pack? Thank you!
Hello! Would you mind adding me to your starter pack? Thank you!
Hello! Would you mind adding me to your starter pack? Thank you!
Here is Kash Patel, in line to possibly be Trump’s FBI director, on his plans to prosecute journalists who accurately reported on the outcome of the 2020 election.
The lesson has not been lost on aspiring autocrats elsewhere: don't waste time on culture wars, but capture the state; once judges and civil servants are in your pocket, you can pursue culture war to your heart’s content. And nobody will stop the creation of what Bálint Magyar calls a “mafia state.”
Excellent analysis. The authoritarians understand that the state and its administrative apparatus are key: while we poli scis survey the masses to get their views on democracy as an abstraction, the authoritarians attack the institutions that structure power and establish authority
