What should the left do when it governs? My new one from @hammerandhope.bsky.social

We're excited to announce an alternative conference for those boycotting ASA! "Resisting Authoritarianism: Global Solidarity & Democratic Futures" will take place in NYC on Aug 10-11 at the CUNY Graduate Center. RSVP today: tinyurl.com/ResistSoc #BoycottASA

Still not fully recovered from last week’s @labornotes.bsky.social conference in Chicago. Despite taking place in a time of huge challenges for unions and the working class in general, it was an inspiring place to take stock, recharge, and gear up for the battles ahead. 1/

@eidlin.bsky.social rocking S4P's pin and showing support for Palestine 🇵🇸 We will be sharing more pins at our alternative conference in August. Another great reason to #boycottASA😉 There are many ways to support, and we appreciate how sociologists are showing up in this moment!

Pro tip: if you ever get the chance to hear @prof-deleon.bsky.social give a talk, sprint to it. He is an amazing speaker, incredible scholar, and all around great human. Thanks for the great talk and congratulations on the book prize Prof de Leon!

David Camfield and I go back three decades, to the days of the New Socialist Group and the various Days of Action citywide strikes across Ontario in the mid-1990s. 1/

It was great to reconnect with @prof-deleon.bsky.social at the @cawls-acets.bsky.social meeting in Winnipeg. Not only did we get to catch up & strategize together, but he got to pick up his hardware for the Leo Panitch Book Prize, & deliver the keynote. A true friend, colleague, and comrade ✊❤️

Academic Conference Fashion Report, @cawls-acets.bsky.social 2026 Edition, Day 3: The conference wrapped with some great panels. Most notable for me was a two-part session on “The State of Canadian Labour” 1/

Academic Conference Fashion Report, @cawls-acets.bsky.social 2026 Edition, Day 2: The conference continued with some great panels, including one where I presented alongside @thomascollombat.bsky.social , Steve Tufts, Julia Smith, and Geoff Bickerton 1/

Academic Conference Fashion Report, CAWLS 2026 Edition, Day 1: We kicked off this year’s premier gathering of Canadian labour scholars with a morning plenary, followed by paper sessions and then a bus/walking tour of Winnipeg’s North End led by a local indigenous community activist, 1/

Looking forward to gathering in Winnipeg with my fellow laboUr scholars for the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Work and Labour Studies! See you 🔜 #CanLab

We are finally seeing ASA leadership recognize the ASA meeting boycott and its impacts, to the point where they're extending the deadline to June 15, and committing to an early council meeting to "work towards a resolution." Keep up the pressure! As we've been saying, boycotts work!

I was up early this morning for a 4:30 am PDT interview with CTV Your Morning to talk about the Carney government’s plans to revise the Canada Labour Code, which will likely include tighter restrictions on workers’ Charter-protected right to strike. 1/ youtu.be/H6c7cXkQz58?...

So proud of my students who relaunched the labour radio show on CKUT, the student radio station. The inaugural episode features an interview with me about the origins of May Day, reporting from May Day in Montreal, and a story about this weekend’s sex worker strike: ckut.ca/archive-play...

My annual repost of Wallace, our punk rock kitty 🐱 #WallaceChaton #CatsOfPunkRock #BlackFlag

Nearly 700 sociologists have pledged to boycott this year's ASA meeting in a fight for a democratic sociology. Join the boycott, and share (DM or email video) with us why you plan to #BoycottASA Read #BoycottASA FAQ: www.sociologistsforpalestine.org/faqs

I appreciated @mcgillarts.bsky.social giving me the opportunity to reflect on my experience participating in the États généraux du syndicalisme (Estates General of Québec Labour) back in April: www.mcgill.ca/arts/article...

Are you upset about the actions of the ASA leadership? Do you want a more democratic ASA, but are unsure of what to do? Support S4P's call to boycott the ASA registration fees and hotel block this August!

Journos based in the EU must press their respective governments for clear answers as to what kind of consular support has been provided to these hostages of a rogue state If they'd been kidnapped by the Iranian regime, their governments would've never heard the end of it

[English below] Ce fut un grand honneur de participer à la session d’ouverture du colloque des États généraux du syndicalisme, qui a réuni à Drummondville des centaines de délégués venant de partout à travers le Québec mardi et mercredi dernier. 1/

ASA is fundamentally a member-driven organization, relying to the unpaid work and goodwill of thousands of dues-paying members. The executive's recent actions fly in the face of that reality, and undermine the basis for our association 1/

"More than ever the American Sociological Association has to choose if it will use data and rationality to take a public stand & protect all social groups including Palestinians or knuckle under an administration that has no respect for our discipline and in some cases see sociologists as the enemy"

And this of course, links to the broader erosion of democracy that we're observing in the country, "The fundamentals of sociological reason and research ... are under attack by our own government. Antisemitism is being callously used ... to eliminate social sciences that criticize ... policy." 6/

She continues "ASA relies on enormous amounts of volunteer labor to function, and we serve gladly because we are a member association; that work may become less attractive and more difficult to justify if the association morphs into a corporation and continues its undemocratic practices." 5/

Romero laments the transformation of ASA from a member organization to a "corporation," detailing how for decades she has been fighting this slow erosion of its democracy, and the exclusion of members from having a voice in the organization. 4/

She emphasizes that to this end, "the argument about membership is a red herring" Adding that "While some ASA members may have left in response to the 2024 resolution, there are many who stayed because it did pass." 3/

She writes that ASA has a tradition of condemning human rights violations, and that the BDS resolution "assures that ... our membership does not contribute to or support organizations that participate in genocide, human rights violations or in the current US regime's campaign of scholasticide." 2/

Recognizing the complicity of Israeli academia in genocide, she asks "How can ASA support sociology faculty and students when they are unwilling to address policies instigated by a foreign government, in consortium with the US regime that attacks our research, teaching, practice, and funding?" 1/

Mary Romero, President of the ASA for its 110th session in 2019, when her theme was “Engaging Social Justice for a Better World” has announced she is boycotting this year's meeting in reaction to ASA leadership's decision. With her permission we share the full text of her letter here.

Joel Andreas wrote, "Were you ashamed while you were writing this blatantly misleading and anti-democratic message? The resolution proposed by the membership petition is clearly about a public policy issue... You may be opposed to it, but that is for the membership, not the two of you to decide."

Florence Castillo writes "Thank you for this update as it solidifies the position of ASA to bury it's head in the sand while using the language of policy and governance. This clarification from the communications team is timely, and I will not waste my money to renew a membership with ASA."

David Purucker writes to ASA leadership that he supports the petition because, "the question of Israel-Palestine is the Vietnam of our time. It is the issue ... about which our children will ask: what did you do, when you had the chance? This is ... a pressing issue of global survival."

In another letter to ASA membership, a student writes "I'm left struggling to see what the purpose of this organization is, or my place within it. I will not be renewing my membership or attending the conference."

In her letter, Sadia Saeed writes of her "deep disappointment" that our organization refuses to live up to its mission of "positive social change" explaining "The proposed petition asking for a boycott of Israeli institutions is a very small step in this direction."

Sociologists for Palestine have asked members to send us the letters they have written to @asanews.bsky.social. We are sharing them here as evidence of how unpopular this decision is with the ASA membership. Please amplify this thread & any letters that resonate with your position.

We are appalled at this undemocratic action. More on collective response coming soon. In the meantime, follow us for updates. If you sent ASA a response tag us & we'll amplify. If you prefer to remain anonymous, send it to us on our email (in bio) & we'll share it here. Together we will win 🇵🇸

Sociologists for Palestine is on Bluesky! You know this means business. Follow & amplify! Let's go!

A great piece from @ericblanc.bsky.social on why there’s no antiwar movement in the US, and how to change it: open.substack.com/pub/laborpol...

Recalling one of my top archival finds ever. 🧵 1/

Government budgets—especially US federal government budgets—are statements of political priorities, Exhibit A:

While it's an incredibly low bar, it is still notable that the uptick in strikes we saw in 2022-23 has kept going despite all the anti-labour attacks in 2025. Not enough to shift the balance of power, but it's a start. (Also, nice to see @epi.org shout out the @laboraction.bsky.social !)

Useful report from @epi.org on US unionization trends. Interesting to see that US union density actually rose in 2025. Just by 0.1 percentage points, but still, it’s the first time since 2020 that union density has gone up. And even more interesting, 1/ www.epi.org/publication/...

Soooo…it has now been *30 years* since this happened 🤯😱 Free the Feb. 7 Four! ✊

A great piece from @titocurtis.bsky.social at @therovermedia.bsky.social on union busting at McGill: therover.ca/mcgill-spent...

Brand new at the Marxist Sociology Blog: a great piece from Gabriel Huland on the central role that labor must play in democratic transitions, using the failed transition in Egypt as a case study. Based on his recent article in the Global Labour Journal: marxistsociology.org/2026/02/egyp...

It’s always worth hearing what @nickhwilson.bsky.social has to say about corruption and comparative historical sociology, and this new volume edited with Marco Garrido and Marina Zaloznaya looks great!

@eidlin.bsky.social even more internet-famous now! www.youtube.com/shorts/V3Z2e...

Excited to have @jamiemccallum.bsky.social come and talk about his research on “Unions Beyond the Workplace” at @mcgillarts.bsky.social later this month! Hope some of you can make it!

Inspired by the great work of the people at @labornotes.bsky.social , who do something similar for the US, @emmaarkell.bsky.social at @pressprogress.ca has written an article previewing the collective bargaining agreements set to expire across Canada in 2026: pressprogress.ca/who-could-st...

Chotiner interviews are also worth a read when he is not skewering his subject before our very eyes. Case in point: