Last day to apply!

As expected, the objection was rejected by the centre-right to far-right majority in the EP, including what looks like quite a bit of support from Renew. Did not expect, though, to see that standing ovations from the right & far-right erupting to in the EP plenary afterwards.

Includes a long rant on the EU’s returns regulation.

Is this my best photo? No. Should it dissuade you from booking time to chat with me in Innsbruck? Also no.

*** Deadline extended *** You now have until 27 March to submit your abstracts for our conference!

A few more days left to apply for our workshop! We welcome contributions from academics, journalists and practitioners from think tanks, NGOs and foundations, working on migration, asylum, and security. Further information available in the link.

every quantitative measure is actually a stack of qualitative assumptions in a trenchcoat

We have launched 3 calls for grants! The Dissemination Conference Grant: Your presentation has to be on linking Euroscepticism and Populism. The aim is to develop new contacts and make the Action visible. Please read the instructions carefully and apply by 19th March 2026. eupoplink.eu/node/16

Young Researchers and Innovators: You are a young researcher (age <40) who is presenting on the topics of the Action consider applying. You will advance the objectives and visibility of our Action. Please read the guidelines carefully and apply by 19th March 2026. eupoplink.eu/node/19

Scholars from Inclusiveness Target Countries: If you are presenting at a conference on the topics of the Action, consider applying. The conference should take place before 30th June 2026. Please read the instructions carefully and apply by 19th March 2026. eupoplink.eu/node/20

***CALL FOR ABSTRACTS*** On 15 May, @psa-italian.bsky.social, hosted by the @lse-ei.bsky.social, is organizing a workshop on 'Italy under Giorgia Meloni: a ‘vanguard’ in the management of migration?' www.lse.ac.uk/european-ins...

***CALL FOR ABSTRACTS*** On 15 May, @psa-italian.bsky.social, hosted by the @lse-ei.bsky.social, is organizing a workshop on 'Italy under Giorgia Meloni: a ‘vanguard’ in the management of migration?' www.lse.ac.uk/european-ins...

⚠️ New book review! 🌍 Europe as ideological resource: European integration ad far right legitimation in France and Italy, @mlorimer.bsky.social @academic.oup.com 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... ✒️ Marianna Griffini

After getting a grant rejection yesterday, I needed a pick me up. Luckily, it came in the form of a review of my book 'Europe as Ideological Resource', written by the wonderful Marianna Griffini: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Monday 30 March, 09:30 (Venue 21) German Politics, Italian Politics & Greek Politics Roundtable - The Global Far right in Comparative and Transnational Perspective with @matthiasdilling.bsky.social @dafnoukos.bsky.social @mlorimer.bsky.social @vtsagkr.bsky.social Josefin Graef

Tuesday 31 March, 9:30am (Venue 16) Italian Politics & International Relations - Populism and the International with @ugaudino.bsky.social Omran Shroufi @dbonansinga.bsky.social @mlorimer.bsky.social

📣 We are gearing up for #PSA26... Held in Oxford from 30 March to 1 April 2026, the Annual Conference of the @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social will showcase the best of British and international political research. Check out our Italian Politics events below ⬇️

Is hype about AI justified? Cristobal Garibay-Petersen @lse-ei.bsky.social @mlorimer.bsky.social and @neuralisa.bsky.social argue AI discourse has gone too far, limiting the space for democratic engagement with and control of the technology @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social

Finally got around to writing a convenient summary of our article 'Creating certainty where there is none'. If the short version just isn't doing it for you, you can find the full article in all its glory here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Finally got around to writing a convenient summary of our article 'Creating certainty where there is none'. If the short version just isn't doing it for you, you can find the full article in all its glory here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

The moral panic about young men is the new version of “UKIP is winning over former Labour voters” (also a Goodwin argument). Both rely on anecdote more than data, and do significant damage to public understanding of the radical right. Young men are the second *least* pro-Reform group in the UK.

The good thing about receiving a paper rejection on a Friday morning is that you can take the afternoon off to curse the gods of peer review.

Can mainstreaming of the far right help normalise undemocratic practices? @mlorimer.bsky.social & Matteo Cavallaro explore the case of Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, showing how the party still displays elements of continuity with its neofascist predecessor. Read OPEN ACCESS:

Delighted to be speaking about my book and some new research on the far right at a FEPS event in Lisbon. But mostly, delighted to have a friendly @evianeleidig.com in the audience to take photos.

As the RN has said in party documents for a few decades now, they love European civilisation because it gave us the nation state as its highest expression.

Why I find funny about this column is that it speak of a conservative (or far right Europe) as something new. Jean-Marie Le Pen used this reasoning of unity against a common threat in the 1980s. The Italian Social Movement spoke of a Nation Europe in the 1950s. There never was only a liberal case.

👋 Hello 2026! 🔓 We are @ecpr.bsky.social's O.G #OpenAccess journal 🏠 Home for innovation in #PolSci 🌱 Looked after by Editors @lisazanottiphd.bsky.social @mlorimer.bsky.social @steven-vanhauwaert.bsky.social 😍 Take a look at all the amazing articles from last year: buff.ly/QopHmSx

Thinking of adding this to my out of office.

Radical right parties in Europe have not moderated. Their positions and rhetoric have entered the mainstream. They have become normalized and legitimized. Unless we understand this, we have little chance of countering their success.

Time for a (long - apologies)🧵 summarizing the findings! The paper was born out of a shared annoyance with some of the wild claims flying around about AI. Things like 'AI could destroy or save humanity'. For a recent example, see e.g., this piece in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/technology/n...

Time for a (long - apologies)🧵 summarizing the findings! The paper was born out of a shared annoyance with some of the wild claims flying around about AI. Things like 'AI could destroy or save humanity'. For a recent example, see e.g., this piece in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/technology/n...

A philosopher and a neuroscientist walk into a bar and say 'we should write a paper on AI'. Ten years later, a political scientist (?) joins them and says 'I want in - let's write it'. Delighted to see finally this piece out in Big Data & Society: journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....

A philosopher and a neuroscientist walk into a bar and say 'we should write a paper on AI'. Ten years later, a political scientist (?) joins them and says 'I want in - let's write it'. Delighted to see finally this piece out in Big Data & Society: journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....

⚙️ #ecprjs26 Workshop directors 🎬 @andreadis.bsky.social & @sofiavasilopoulou.bsky.social 💡 Seeks Papers that analyse the critical interplay between #populism and Euroscepticism ✔️ @ecprpovb.bsky.social endorsed ⌛ Submit by 10 Dec buff.ly/zHXfdwM #Polisky #CallforPapers #EuropeanUnion

The season where GWR discovers that it rains in the UK is back upon us. My train is so cancelled, it’s not even on the board anymore.

🇫🇷📊 Le "front républicain" existe-t-il encore ? Dans @lemonde.fr d'hier, j’analysais des données récentes @ipsosfrance.bsky.social sur la capacité de la gauche et du centre à faire barrage au RN 👇

With just a few weeks until publication, it's possible to pre-order my book in time for Xmas! For anyone who wants to read a decolonial approach to populism and understand why we are still so attached to the idea of 'populism' bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/europes-popu... @brisunipress.bsky.social

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @mlorimer.bsky.social and Andrew Thompson on the imminent - or not - US invasion of Venezuela, and our report from the World Travel Market in London. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

The JCMS Annual Review 2024 is now out! Several great contributions, including a piece by @leoniedejonge.bsky.social, Marianna Griffini & myself on far right mainstreaming in the French & Dutch elections of 23/24. Thank you to the editors for all their work! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14685965...

Can mainstreaming of the far right help normalise undemocratic practices? @mlorimer.bsky.social & Matteo Cavallaro explore the case of Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, showing how the party still displays elements of continuity with its neofascist predecessor. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/ElYnx4u

Join me and Stijn van Kessel at Queen Mary University of London, as we present our book on populist radical party organisation and activism. Corina Lacatus will act as discussant - link to registration below!

It's been three years since Giorgia Meloni became Prime Minister, which reminds me it's a good time to repost this article. If you're still wondering about how similar her party is to its neo-fascist and post-fascist predecessors, look no further: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds

The deadline for #PSA26 is tomorrow! Our group @psa-italian.bsky.social is accepting proposals on: 🇮🇹 Italian politics 🖼️ Visual populism - collab with @populismpsa.bsky.social 🚜 Rural politics - with @psagreekpol.bsky.social 🌐 Populism & IR - with @psainter-relations.bsky.social Direct links below:

Strong start to the week.

Work and Health alert! I'm putting together a panel for the Council for European Studies mtg in Dublin in June on Work and Health. I've got room for a couple more papers. Please email me ASAP at Penn if you've got something you'd like to present. Papers on any aspect of the relationship welcome.

Call me old fashioned, I love receiving an author copy in the traditional paper format.

@dpzollinger.bsky.social and I are thrilled "Cleavage Politics in Western Democracies" is out as an SI at @wepsocial.bsky.social! Its papers explore the foundations of the cleavage pitting new left against radical right parties, and how it compares to the classic cleavages of Lipset & Rokkan: 🧵⬇️

A valuable addition to the ‘mainstreaming’ literature!