For some people, shouting "we don't want no Zionists here" is like "we don't want no fascists here". I can see their argument - terrible things were done in the name of Zionism. But almost all Jews would hear "we don't want no Jews here". And they have good reason to fear this is the subtext.

For me this is very simple. There is widespread, longstanding practice of using "Zionists" as coded slur for Jews, or "Jews I don't like" (regardless how they define themselves). That is sufficient reason to refrain from broad-brush language such as "Zionism=Racism" or "Zionists not welcome".

5 hours at Schiphol it is!

On this lovely winter Saturday I will either make my tight connection back to Birmingham or (best case scenario) spend 5 hours at Schiphol airport waiting for the next flight. We are not even entertaining the possibility of not getting back today no matter how much I miss Amsterdam.

Winter wonderland in Oldenburg 😁

Please, please get a colonoscopy. The prep kind of sucks, but it's the best sleep you'll ever have. And it could save your life.

More than 10 years of flying with a (for the most part “invisible”) mobility restrictive disability and even with this broken foot, which is very visible, I’m still uncomfortable saying yes when asked “will you need assistance when we land as well?” 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’m not sure what the correct approach is but

📢New co-authored article in @polbehavior.bsky.social about PARTICIPATION and REPRESENTATION! ✨We ask "Are the Politically Active Better Represented?" Our answer, using the most comprehensive data to date: A clear "YES" for nonelectoral participation like protest. ⬇️See Jesper's 🧵for more ✨

I have a follow up appointment at the fracture clinic today and while I wait for an x-ray I read a notice on the wall that the radiology department here is doing a study with AI analysing x-rays and I don’t even know where to start

I never thought about the “I don’t listen to music whose lyrics are in a language I don’t understand.” I’m far from a music expert; my go-to is eclectic and whatever makes me feel good. Whether I understand the lyrics isn’t part of it. Is this a flex? I don’t know. The argument feels pointless.

39 trips around the sun are now complete (time-differences aside 😅) and I’m really looking forward to the next one ☺️ An evening of good food and Lego is a nice start.

Good to see this up! In this piece itself, I argue the problem is not *just* Keir Starmer.

זה כזה מוזר שחברות מסחריות שולחות איחולי מזל טוב. ככה היום תיבת המייל שלי מלאה בכאלה כמו מגדל ביטוחים ופיננסים עם ״שמענו שיש לך יום הולדת״ חחח לפחות KLM שלחו שובר של 30 יורו 🤪

🎉 New paper out in Political Behavior (with @gijsschumacher.bsky.social & @mrooduijn.bsky.social) Why do some people feel stronger emotions about politics than others? 💡Not political knowledge, but interest and confidence-in-knowledge drive emotional engagement. link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🧵

Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.

I’ve spent so much time today looking at w-a-y too many articles published in the past 15 years that used coding schemes without ever making those public. How did the field ever think that this is acceptable???

Day 6 with broken foot: Second this I hate most is how long my mornings take now. I’m anyway a slow morning starter but now everything takes about twice as long + having to wait for the pain meds to kick in.

Some people like using our (w/ @markuswagner.bsky.social) heroes & villains paper to teach partisanship. We've made it easier (and fun?) for students with a new online playground 🦹 doi.org/10.1017/psrm... www.turnbulldugarte.com/heroes-playg...

With Harvard Dataverse being down - where else would you make public a large (and extremely important to you) dataset that should be accessible to as wide-as-possible political science audience? Unfortunately my position does not allow me to maintain my own source.

Day 4 with a broken foot - working from home and managed the pain enough to work a good amount today. Now I’m waiting for the pain killers to take effect again so I can sleep. 5 weeks and 3 days (🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻) to go.

After a short hiatus, Respect the Marble is back: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/introducin... Introducing a new series The Long Carve: about how to decide which ideas deserves our long-term writing attention, & how we learn to keep writing when the outcome is unknown and uncertain. 🧵

This is who runs this account

Acceptances (+ rejections 😔) on panel & paper proposals for this year’s EPSS conference in Belfast 18-20 June went out today. If you have submitted, please check your inbox! You need to register for the conference by Friday 13 March. 1/3

☀️ The Call for a fantastic Summer School is out: 👇

What I hate most about this broken foot situation is that it makes my everyday life so much more expensive - a simple trip to campus for an IT appointment (that ended with no solution and no laptop) is 3 times more expensive than normal, as is every trip for groceries or any venture outside

I was interviewed for a podcast! I talked with Wendo King'ang'i about (large) language models and opinion mining. It was recorded some time ago, so my affiliation is old, but the topic is still relevant, and I tried to make it as accessible as I could.

Day 2 with a broken foot: managed quite a lot while the pain killers are in effect but can do very little when they wear off. Given the limited amount of them I can take, my day it much shorter. No fun.

I generally love my life & my job & living in Birmingham. But some days, like today, with my family all gathered at my mom’s for dinner while I’ll be spending my birthday next week alone with a broken foot, it really sucks And I know the world is messed up rn, but tonight I’m just bummed for me.

Broken in two places 😩😩 Thank the gods for the NHS. Really. Aside from the app picking an UTC that was quite far away, the whole thing (x-rays included) took about an hour and cost nothing out of pocket. 6-10 weeks in a boot cast and it should be fine 🤞🏻

11.5 years living abroad and other than getting treatment for my CRPS, I’ve managed to avoid Urgent Care in the US, Ireland and the Netherlands. 4 weeks in the UK and my lucky streak has ended, am spending my morning at a UTC. Cross all your fingers that it is not a fracture.

Thrilled to share our new paper with amazing Agus. We show that non-traditional families, especially open and age-gap couples, face substantial prejudice. Even LGB couples encounter bias, highlighting persistent inequalities in societies often seen as tolerant.

I just got done watching a truly horrible movie at Sundance ("The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist"). It was introduced by the Sundance programming rep as having "a strong sense of informational integrity", but it's hard to imagine a characterization more off the mark. A long thread 🧵>>

One person claims that "AI" (ahem: image and video synthesis systems -EMB) can generate images and video "from scratch". That's bullshit: these systems can only generate images and video because they were out of tremendous collections of (largely stolen) images and video. >>

When I signed the contract for the position I now have in Birmingham, I decided to trust that the move would all work out and boost my mood by planning theatre, comedy and other performance art shows to attend in 2026. Tonight was @matt-forde.bsky.social & it was great! This was an excellent plan.

If you want to learn more about our MSc AI & Government or MSc AI & Sustainable Development, join us on Tues,27.1.26 (4-5pm UK). Together with student rep Daksh Dewgun you can ask us anything. Register: [email protected] #AIforgood #datascience #computationalsocialscience #sciencerocks

Congratulations to my amazing @ucddublin.bsky.social @ucdpolitics.bsky.social colleague @stefanmueller.bsky.social on his latest project www.ucd.ie/newsandopini...

Nearly three weeks since I moved to Birmingham; all my possessions arrived from Amsterdam and the apartment is full of boxes and mess. Having to remind myself over and over that these things take time, especially when also working full time and doing it all by myself.

Book Launch of “How Ireland Voted 2024: The New Normal?” 21 January, 6pm, Dublin @hodgesfiggis.bsky.social Editors: @michaelgtcd.bsky.social, @theresareidy.bsky.social & Eoin O'Malley Launch by Pat Leahy, Political Editor, Irish Times All welcome! Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launc...

I’ll never understand how universities that know all too well that researchers move around, especially when hired on short-term fixed contracts, ever expect them (me) to solely use THEIR file-keeping system to which they (I) will lose access when they (I) leave. Zero sense.

There is one week left to apply for @uclspp.bsky.social's new Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics role! Importantly, the successful candidate will also join our senior team and contribute to our research and impact activities. Applicants must have, or be near to finishing, a PhD. Apply 👇

Same old, same old? Germany held an early election after the implosion of the traffic-light coalition in Feb 25. Some takeaways from our election report @klingelt.bsky.social @wepsocial.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

New country, new city, new job. And its snowing outside.

A new adventure starts. Landed in London and am making my way to Birmingham. Moving is always difficult, and international relocations more so. Still, I’m really excited to be here. Wish me luck settling in and drop me a line if you’re around Birmingham 😁

דעה לא פופולרית: מעצבנים מאוד אנשים עם ילדים קטנים שלא קונים מראש מושבים במטוס ואז מתחילים לבקש מכל העולם להחליף כי הם חייבים לשבת ביחד. על הבוקר (וגם לא על הבוקר).

I stayed away from here for a few days and I honestly feel better. I’m mostly still here because I’m still on the job market and I feel like I NEED to be here to maintain visibility while I continue looking for work in the profession I love. And while I like some of you, I really hate it here.

I love my job. Not working is great!

Happy Christmas to all who celebrate, and happy all the holidays to everyone!

רק בשביל החולצה הקצרה שאני לובשת עכשיו ב-24 לדצמבר(!) היה שווה לבוא לביקור

שלום!! הגעתי לקראת חגיגת הנובי גוד הנהדרת של משפחתי. אני מבקשת, בכל לשון של בקשה, להתאפק עד הטיסה שלי החוצה עם כל מיני תוכניות שעלולות בטעות לגרום שוב לסגירת השמיים. תודה מראש, זו שעוד בטראומה מיוני 2025 ובכל זאת הגיעה לביקור.

חג שמח