“Equipment operator Angel Gomez felt the power shift after the vote. A supervisor came up to ask him what he’d be able to do now. ‘The way you’re touching the machines now, you ain’t going to be able to do that,’ he told him.” labornotes.org/2026/02/majo...

Black Flag is coming to Kelowna. Hive mind: do I go see this reboot? exclaim.ca/music/articl...

Just got my copy of Mujun Zhou’s new book, which provides a really compelling argument about why China’s various grassroots social reform movements embraced and then became disaffected with Chinese liberals’ grand “civil society” project (I provide an appreciative blurb on the back).

Opposition movements elsewhere have brought down competitive authoritarian regimes by leaning into traditional get-out-the-vote tactics despite the deck being stacked against them—-and then calling out irregularities afterward. See Bunce and Wolchik’s work: www.cambridge.org/core/books/d...

A fast, effective campaign. For context: the Jim Pattison Group is something of a grocery monopolist in BC--they own at least five grocery store chains in my city--plus they control car dealerships, radio stations, and billboards. Yet, the company obviously felt vulnerable to charges of complicity.

As a Swedish-American, I am delighted to be on the receiving end of these accusations!

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

This is not in fact the definition of the “working class.”

This year’s batch of inflatable Santas in my neighborhood all seem ready to (cheerfully) pronounce, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf…”

Best discussion about where the US stands right now that I’ve listened to in a while. Featuring Stephen Levitsky, @dziblatt.bsky.social, and @lucanway.bsky.social. Somehow at once sobering and hopeful. podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...

Another embarrassment from an MLA near me: a proposal to establish a provincial holiday in honor of the Freedom Convoy. Won a somewhat close election last year. Checked an old news report and she said then she would focus on “affordability, housing and healthcare.” www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna...

All I can say is that if the Democrats come back, they better not bail these people out this time around like Obama felt he had to do in 2009. At least not without asking for a LOT more in return. Otherwise, both bad policy & bad politics.

Traveled through N. China for a few days and was impressed by both the expansion of green power since I last spent real time there--solar panels draping terraced hills and poking up out of villages, windmills along ridges--and, at the same time, the persistence incredible levels of air pollution.

More from the scene

Recent impulse purchase

Lucky to have gotten to hear this incredible call to action: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/l...

Send the email. www.amnesty.org/en/documents...

Big news! My book "Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formation" is officially available for pre-order through University of Washington Press! Here's a brief summary of the book, contested politics, and why Taiwan matters for political science:

The anniversary of the start of the Blair Mountain uprising just passed. Here's a nice video on the incredible work done by the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum to keep that history alive. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUxq...

Have been getting requests from my book's publisher to sign / decline an AI agreement. My instinct is to say "no" for now. But, then, I would want stuff generated about my areas of interest to draw on work like mine. Thoughts about the best course of action?

Enjoyed doing this interview with Asian Labour Review about Chinese worker activism. labourreview.org/a-question-o...

Not everything that was demanded. But these kinds of moves add up. South Africa's apartheid regime similarly suffered a thousand cuts by investors. www.huffpost.com/entry/norway...

Enjoyed doing this interview with Serhii Shliapnikov for Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal links.org.au/node/7352

This is just staggering. In a fair world, there would be tribunals at the end of all this and some sort of accountability. www.cnn.com/2025/07/01/p...

This is great, extremely valuable research.

Yes. Exactly what I was thinking. The assumption seems to be that this will all play into Trump’s hands. But we have evidence from the past that this need not be the case—and, in fact, that images of police overreaction can backfire for the White House, at least outside of its hardcore supporters.

Trump seems to be having his 1971 Lin Biao moment with Musk. Hopefully, with the same blow to support among core supporters to follow…

Proud to be a signatory of this letter. medium.com/@lawasia/pet...

600 election victories. I’ve been trying to let that sink in all day. Workers have chosen the union SIX HUNDRED times in the last 3.5 years. That’s about one election win every other day. Truly incredible.

I do think public pressure has made a difference here in Canada to date—under Trudeau and now under Carney. People should keep applying it. nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...

Jason Isbell! In the Okanagan! Obligatory grainy documentation!

Kelowna still being counted…

When Carter passed, I wasn’t sure how to respond meaningfully. This piece captures the context in which I briefly intersected with his post-presidential work: the Carter Center China program. Its director (and my boss for a year) Yawei Liu has great insights. pekinghotel.substack.com/p/jimmy-cart...

Xiaojun Li and I have a new article in @scidjournal.bsky.social. China's economic growth has slowed. We use a survey experiment to examine the effects of state media messaging on who and what people blame for their difficulties. #chinasky #china 🧵 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The trade war comes to conservative Kelowna, Canada, where I saw my first MAGA hat “in the wild” and where people flew both American and Canadian flags during the anti-vax truck convoy protests a couple years ago.

If the worry was that Democrats would “own” Trump’s chaos if they shut down the government, they will now “own” it in many people’s minds by having not put up a fight.

UPDATE: Called all my NY reps - national and state, as well as my city councilperson, to ask them to speak out for and fight for the release of Mahmoud Khalil. Here's a quick script if you need one and want to make calls yourself. You can find your reps here: reps.fyi

Excited to welcome York University's Eric Tucker to @ubcokanagan.bsky.social to discuss AI and labor law. Second annual lecture co-sponsored by the North Okanagan Labour Council. Scan the QR code to join the livestream.

Regarding the admin’s abandonment of Ukraine and longstanding U.S. double standards on Palestine: I’ve been thinking more about Martha Finnemore’s point that hypocrisy at least gives others leverage on a state. With no articulated values whatsoever, there’s no hypocrisy—but also fewer constraints.

A thought I just had that probably a million people have already articulated on here: pessimism about what’s possible in terms of resistance introduces its own confirmation bias.

Save the date: Working People Organizing Against Authoritarianism: Past and Present Perspectives. 02/27/25. Register via this link: docs.google.com/forms/d/1T2F...

We mourn the sudden loss of Michael Burawoy--eminent scholar, mentor, and friend to the labor movement. oaklandside.org/2025/02/05/s...

Lu Xun had an essay arguing against the popular saying “don’t beat dogs who have fallen into the water,” which was used at the time in a “let bygones be bygones” way with respect to overthrown tyrants. No, he said, wade in after them and keep beating.

The union representing thousands of janitors said ICE went to multiple downtown San Francisco offices but that building security kept them from entering, KTVU reports. “Union president Olga Miranda said the janitors were relieved that someone spoke up for them.” www.ktvu.com/news/ice-age...

Feeling like I would benefit from cracking open Jeffrey Winters’ “Oligarchy” again right now: www.cambridge.org/core/books/o...

I agree about the general stupidness of the switch to Xiaohongshu. But if it gets some tankies and China hawks alike to engage / confront the PRC in all its capitalist messiness, rather than as some abstract stand-in for all that is not America, then maybe there’s a little bit of a silver lining?