Please consider donating to this fundraiser organised by colleagues with direct links to families in Gaza. Direct Action for Palestinians in Desperate Need: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/gaza-hunge...

Having just been through something similar at Newcastle University, full solidarity to colleagues at Lancaster. Over 400 jobs at risk, with all the wider reverberations cuts at that scale will involve. Please sign and share their petition. chng.it/6yPC66XSKB

An open letter has been launched today (27/7/25) for members of the UK academic community (academics and other university staff) to sign, to press the UK Home Office to facilitate safe passage out of Gaza for 40+ students with offers for UK universities. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

The UK government is blocking Palestinian students in Gaza from taking up UK scholarships. Some have been killed while waiting @theguardian.com We’ve written to the Home Secretary demanding action and @drjogrady.bsky.social will be on @lbc.co.uk at 4 PM urging the govt to step in. tr.ee/HjzPtS

Sheinbaum’s rise to power marks a critical chapter for Mexico, but it offers little reprieve from the issues plaguing the nation. This piece shows how she deepens ties between state power and the military. By Inés D. Matute & @alkejenss.bsky.social in @phenomenalworld.bsky.social

We are receiving desperate messages of starvation from #Gaza, including from our colleagues. Food prices have increased 40 fold. UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months, stockpiled just outside Gaza. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale.

Job announcment: post-doc at Newcastle on the War & Geos project (warandgeos.co.uk). Please share and email me with questions! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNU169/p...

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us at #BRISMES2025 — to our plenary and keynote speakers, our conference organising team and student volunteers, and to our amazing hosts at Newcastle University, including the support staff who made the event possible.

On 1 July, following the #BRISMES2025 keynote lecture by Dr Rana Barakat, BRISMES members and conference participants stood in solidarity with all those affected by Israeli bombardments. #StopArmingIsrael #EndTheGenocide

A MASSIVE WIN AT NEWCASTLE UNI ICU

🚨IT'S A WIN 🚨 Well done to every single @newcastleucu.bsky.social member 44 days on the picket line ZERO compulsory redundancies University bosses need to look at what our members have achieved in Newcastle & heed the warning: work with us or face disruption www.ucu.org.uk/article/1406...

'The university has informed staff of plans to cut 400 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions by July 2026, with academics the first to go.' Professor Andy Schofield, VC at Lancaster University since 2020, will take up position of Principal & VC at Glasgow University on 1 October 2025.

“Mass redundancies will trash the global reputation of UK universities” As @nickmegoran.bsky.social of writes, cuts aren’t just short-sighted they’re self-destructive. ✊ Join UCU and Fight back. www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/mass...

Dear EISA board, Your members have been repeatedly asking for the association to 1 - commit concrete resources to support Palestinian colleagues, 2 - take practical steps to join international campaigns against scholasticide, or, at least, consult the membership on the feasibility of such ventures.

Solidarity with @newcastleucu.bsky.social and all branches taking action in defence of jobs and conditions right now. We’re in Newcastle today for a national demo to #DefendHE #NoRedundancies #DefendEducation #StopTheCuts t.co/ZzwgiJ3gSs

HE funding is under attack across Europe as highlighted in this EISA statement. Though I wish my own professional association wouldn't reproduce the 'projected deficit' logic that thousands of university workers have been fighting against in the UK...

Much to commend here in this detailed and precise intervention from BISA, PSA & UACES, offering an overview of what associations are doing and steps to mobilise their members. If you are in the UK, write to your MP (template letter in the link).

Our members are on strike for over 30 days, Solidarity in the form of donations to our hardship fund are VERY welcome! All details and a template motion can be found here. ncl.web.ucu.org.uk/newcastle-uc...

End unnecessary redundancies at Newcastle University. Please sign, share and circulate this @newcastleucu.bsky.social petition amongst your colleagues and networks. chng.it/BXNkGMFNJS

Great overview from @elifuzgoren.bsky.social on her new book *Political Economy of Turkey’s Integration with Europe, Uneven Development and Hegemony* with @manchesterup.bsky.social - the latest in the @ppesydney.bsky.social Book Series! @abieler.bsky.social

Solidarity with @newcastleucu.bsky.social and all those back on the picket lines this morning. Staff and Students deserve better than cuts and casualistaton. #ProtectEducationNow #UCU

£274M. This they proudly present, at the same time they are making 38 people compulsory redundant…. To save £3.8M www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A fantastic, collegial department (w/ the highest QS ranking in the Uni) just had the majority of Professors be threatened with redundancy. Newcastle geographers will obvi fight for our colleagues & the future of higher ed (& geography!) with all we've got, but SUPPORT & SOLIDARITY VERY WELCOME!

The workers united will never be defeated! Our strike action finishes at Sheffield after membership of our UCU branch @sheffielducu.bsky.social accept offer from management for no compulsory redundancies as a result of organisational restructures this year (and no pay deductions to be taken!)

Visiting @newcastleucu.bsky.social pickets this morning (more pics to follow) Solidarity to all #UCU branches in dispute right now defending jobs & all taking industrial action, including full solidarity with @uniteucu.bsky.social, the #UCU staff union whose first day of strike action is today.

Day 7 of the #Turkey protests. Students are declaring boycotts and organising protests at universities against the AKP regime. This is from Yeditepe University in #Istanbul.

Turkish authorities have detained nine journalists who covered overnight protests in several cities against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the Journalists Union of Turkey said reut.rs/41U8rlC

More than ever, we need professional associations committed to defending their members and using their collective power to affect change. Cast your votes for candidates who recognise this necessity and are committed to member-led democracy, transparency and accountability within EISA.

Monday morning we continue to show our management we don’t accept their approach. Why would we trust them to get us out of this when they are the ones who got us in this? Join your pickets 8 to 11 am. Check your email or section WhatsApp for section days.

İmamoğlu's detention has sparked the largest popular mobilisation since the Gezi Park protests in 2013. The parliamentary centre-left (often criticised by its base for its overcautious approach) is now actively calling for coordinated mass protests and grassroots action.

Revolution will definitely not be tweeted. www.politico.eu/article/musk...

With İmamoğlu in detention, the majority of voters in Turkey now have their potential presidential candidates in prison/detention (+ Demirtaş & Özdağ). A wholesale assault on democracy built on a much longer history of political arrests and interventions in municipal governments & local elections.

This is what the redundancy wave in British Higher Education currently looks like on the map: ‘British University Redundancy Map’ maps.app.goo.gl/yUteDm2MCXUi...

"Creating a financial crisis in universities gives leverage to those who want to ensure that universities serve power, rather than critique it"

Out now! Elif Uzgören *The Political Economy of Turkey's Integration into Europe: Uneven Development and Hegemony* Progress in Political Economy Series @ppesydney.bsky.social @manchesterup.bsky.social @abieler.bsky.social @angelawigger.bsky.social @monicaclua.bsky.social @garethbryant.bsky.social

What is striking about this article is the support it details for previous mass job losses in Dundee. Redundant workers were helped, hugely, by local campaigns. There is literally *nothing* being offered to redundant university staff anywhere and it is wrecking lives + will wreck communities

Today, Shane O’Neill, our interim Principal announced the University of Dundee needs to cut 632 jobs to be financially sustainable. Also there are 237 vacancies (in part due to the recruitment freeze since Nov). That’s 870 colleagues from 3200. OVER A QUARTER! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A busy and colourful picket in warm spring sun @newcastleucu.bsky.social with lots of support from passers-by, all here to fight compulsory redundancies and wider threats to the university.

Sign our open letter docs.google.com/document/d/e...

Strike Day 1 of 14 @newcastleucu.bsky.social Politics out in full force ✊ @ucu.org.uk

We start 14 days of strike action tomorrow @newcastleucu.bsky.social, in response to the threat of compulsory redundancies and other cost-cutting measures - please send vibes of solidarity and please don’t cross our picket lines (virtual and IRL).

All around us institutions built on/sustained by our own labour are hollowed out by a lethal mix of mismanagement, moral decrepitude, and political inertia. No time to sit silent—Organise and mobilise whenever/wherever you can.

Dreadful news. 'UCU said that it believed as many as 1,000 professional services staff were likely to be threatened with redundancy under a plan to restructure every school within the university.'

Today is the first day of the @ducuuo.bsky.social strike against cuts. The future of higher education, our members jobs, & our students, is being ripped up across the UK. Brilliant work from the branch fighting back for us all, please send your solidarity. www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/opinion/5...

MENA Research Group at Newcastle is officially launched. We'll be hosting seminars/workshops + student-facing & networking events throughout the year. Get in touch if you'd like to participate in the group's activities. @brismes.bsky.social @unamcgahern.bsky.social www.ncl.ac.uk/gps/research...

New article where I examine Gulf deposits to other Arab states' central banks as monetary statecraft in the service of counter-revolution @ripejournal.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Our members have given a clear message, cuts this way is not the way forward. They want a more democratic governance of their university, reasonable workloads, and most importantly, to stop this devastating approach to HE as a business. oh, and if you want to sign the letter the article refers to:

Please consider making a donation to the BRISMES Fund for Higher Education in Gaza. The funds will be allocated to the vital task of reopening universities and supporting staff/students in Gaza. www.gofundme.com/f/the-brisme...

2 years on from the great disaster of February 6 earthquakes in Turkey, barely 30% of the overall housing need has been met across 11 cities. More than 200,000 people still live in containers in Hatay. Workers increasingly forced to accept insecure and low-wage jobs in disaster areas.