What's the point of anything anymore

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Birthday present to myself arrived today. Giddy with excitement and can't wait to have it framed and in my office! It is a 1960s 'genuine reproduction' (as it were) of a poster from the Mai '68 protests. Absolutely love it.

Had a spate of high quality new followers recently, despite not posting all that much. Hi everyone! My pinned post tells you a little about me, although it's a bit out of date now. I should probably update it soon...

Just finished one of my Work and the Welfare State lectures, and once again mentioned the Reserve Army of Labour - and then I see this post.

Feeling very "pessimism of the intellect", not very "optimism of the will", today.

I thought for a millisecond this was about grindcore the musical genre. Which is also, some might say, absolute insanity...

On question time someone would say 'oh that's an important point' and move on without questioning it. Or the person questioning it would just get shouted down as a radical lefty

I will always remember, during his quasi-respectable period, an organisation committed to addressing inequality (yes, it's true) asking me how they might be able to court Goodwin to come to one of their events, so they could have 'both sides'. I politely declined. hopenothate.org.uk/state-of-hat...

Have adverts on journal websites always been a thing and I haven't noticed before, or is this a new level of hell we now get to enjoy?

"I’m going to pause here just to review: an institution that purports to be a university has told a philosophy professor he is forbidden from teaching Plato." surreal times dailynous.com/2026/01/06/t...

Really, a remarkable statement from Colombia’s President.

Turns out a combination of not using That Other Site and the economic landscape at the moment in general does, in fact, makes fulfilling the whole "starving artist" stereotype a whole lot more achievable 😅

A new report for the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) with my colleague, Orla Dingley, on "Examining the Concept and Use of Just Resilience in Ireland and Internationally". It looks at how we can ensure climate adaptation is effective and fair. www.nesc.ie/publications...

Such lazy "journalism" from the BBC. Perpetuating all sorts of stereotypes, removing any historical context, and conveniently ignoring recent shifts.

I'd wager this is evidence that the furore over 'migration' isn't about migration but the presence of dark-skinned people in the UK... And yes, this was evident in the more sinister corners of the Brexit campaigns.

Very pleased to see UCD Master of Public Policy ranked within the top10 in Western Europe and no. 1 in Ireland. Thanks to co-director @drdonoghue.bsky.social faculty @ucdspswsj.bsky.social & @ucdsocscilaw.bsky.social You can apply for 2026 here: www.ucd.ie/publicpolicy

Just fyi: Streeting has spent his entire adolescent and adult life hitherto strategising about how he can become PM. It's all a game etc etc. A depressing one, at that.

There is a difference, but there can be a significant amount of overlap, and the differences can sometimes be context dependent. (not as catchy, but true)

Exactly. Unlimited (or continuous) growth is a damaging myth. It justifies all sorts of resource extraction and market fundamentalism. There have been no breaks or barriers because to now these have all been based on politics (i.e. agreements and fictions). Climate collapse is the first physical one

It's been a while since I've been able to say an article has been submitted for review, but thanks to the ideas, efforts and research of @inigoaldama.bsky.social - that I've been privileged to support - we submitted an article for review today. Now just to cross fingers for straightforward reviews!

Further proof that AI stands for Actually Indians

There's an old and probably not very fashionable maxim that goes along the lines of: when capitalism's survival is threatened, the system is more likely to slide into fascism than it is to transcend capitalism. (1/2)

I assume they get AI to read for them

I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read.

I have so many documents to code, but I just can't seem to concentrate on it for more than a few minutes, before I click away, do something else, and get back to it. (which is exactly why I'm writing this post...) Any tips? Anything that works well for you?

I've updated my professional profile. Give it a read when you have a moment, and if anyone is interested in potential collaborations or might be looking for a PhD supervisor in my areas of interest, let me know. people.ucd.ie/matthew.dono...

One the one hand, these things are incoherent if we believe in a particular kind of enlightenment liberalism. On the other hand, I expect this juxtaposition is in fact very coherent based on Jenrick's personal politics.

That's my podcast title sorted, then.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... I did some of my PhD fieldwork in Handsworth in the late 00s-early 10s. Felt pretty integrated to me, despite high levels of deprivation. The residents weren't particularly enamoured with the government, mind.

I have decided that the coffee bag (like a teabag but with coffee) is the perfect example of innovation under capitalism. It's nice and it's convenient, but we don't *really* need it.

Many people in the west are going to have to get over the fact that some people are smarter than them, and in fact need to rely on their expertise, knowledge and experience to make the appropriate choices. Like doctors.

Rather than a dogmatic adherence to the line that benefit levels satisfy a formal statistical calculation of Existenzminimum, ergo there is no poverty… maybe the task is to examine how and why current social security levels fall short of ensuring the human right to an adequate standard of living.

Germany’s chancellor: “No one in our country falls into poverty because they become unemployed.” („Niemand fällt in unserem Land in die Armut, weil er arbeitslos wird.”) Lived experience of unemployment benefits strongly suggests otherwise. Screengrabs via @sanktionsfrei.bsky.social

The man had many insights into life that I enjoy!

Just to say, if those Jimmy Kimmel remarks were *that* offensive, media outlets around the world would not be airing them. Yet, they are.

This is basically the takeaway for my qualitative methods class today: All data must be interpreted. And all data are qualitative unless and until they're interpreted quantitatively.

www.brusselstimes.com/1732122/unem... Can anyone point me to any more information/sources/analysis of these Belgian welfare reforms? I assume this is focused on social assistance not insurance...

Labour strategists would do well to look at this data.

I've just had to double check that I know what necessary and sufficient conditions are, and if I associated them with the correct Mill's method. Time for bed I think.

I'm back teaching some comparative social policy this year. Starting with the question of why compare. So of course we have to look at health spending and outcomes...

Fellow ‘Bluesky Elders’ will remember that the site was set up to pivot away from quote-tweets and dunks, but unfortunately I’ve found the perfect image to quote-tweet dunk someone with.

The Home Office's own (excellent) research summary says a) asylum seekers come to the UK primarily because of social networks/ties b) welfare and labour market policies are *not* a big "pull factor" c) safe routes would help freemovement.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Day 1 of Week 0 at the beginning of the 25-6 academic year. My morning has disappeared, alien abduction style, taken by to-do lists, emails, and a sense of 'if I just get these done then I'll have the time and space to do X'. But I won't, will I?! Note to self: Need to make the time and space

Breaking news: Pope a Catholic

Some thoughts on the racist 'protests' in the UK We must challenge the mainstream narrative that 'the people' with 'legitimate concerns' are to be found amongst a handful of racists, while the many more fighting for a better future are ignored aurelmondon.medium.com/the-people-l...

This is a fantastic cheat sheet for AI rhetoric. And we should have these keywords in our minds when we engage with AI, as well.