James Hickson
@jmchickson.bsky.social
📤 403
📥 593
📝 25
Political theorist and policy researcher at the Heseltine Institute, University of Liverpool.
pinned post!
Delighted to share that
@mwojciechowska.bsky.social
and I have published our article, Why go local? Developing the research agenda for “local political theory”, in the European Journal of Political Theory. It's available open access here:
doi.org/10.1177/1474...
5 months ago
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James Hickson
The Guardian
16 days ago
What is the endgame in this toxic immigration debate: is it friends and neighbours thrown out of the country? | Jonthan Liew
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What is the endgame in this toxic immigration debate: is it friends and neighbours thrown out of the country? | Jonthan Liew
The notion of remigration was abstract, but the right is dragging it towards respectability. If the goal is homogeneous whiteness, they should say it, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/10/immigration-debate-country-remigration-right?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=bsky_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1757486377
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James Hickson
Liam Thorp
19 days ago
I’ve been frustrated to see so much of the ongoing story about asylum seekers and the protests against them covered without hearing from those seeking asylum and now being met with hostility and hatred I set out to speak to those directly affected to find out about the impact this is having 👇
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We escaped war and torture but now we feel unsafe in Britain
Special report: Amid protests and rising aggression towards asylum seekers across the country, we spoke to those being targeted
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/escaped-war-torture-now-feel-32418669
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James Hickson
Political Quarterly
22 days ago
@jacknewman.bsky.social
and
@jmchickson.bsky.social
discuss the tensions and ambiguity at the heart of the devolution agenda "Although the what of English devolution appears to be settled for now, the why remains much more volatile."
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Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
The government’s devolution bill is justified along economic growth lines. This risks the devolution agenda as a whole if it doesn't materalise.
https://politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/localism-levelling-up-and-taking-back-control-tensions-in-the-ambiguous-justification-of-english-devolution/
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Nice to be back in Manchester today for the MANCEPT workshops, where I presented on radical municipalism and republican political theory as part of the workshop on The City as a Normative Political Space: Institutions, Relations, and Republicanism.
22 days ago
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reposted by
James Hickson
Political Quarterly
29 days ago
"Although the what of English devolution appears to be settled for now, the why remains much more volatile."
@jacknewman.bsky.social
and
@jmchickson.bsky.social
discuss the tensions and ambiguity at the heart of the devolution agenda
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Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
The government’s devolution bill is justified along economic growth lines. This risks the devolution agenda as a whole if it doesn't materalise.
https://politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/localism-levelling-up-and-taking-back-control-tensions-in-the-ambiguous-justification-of-english-devolution/
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James Hickson
Alex Walker
about 2 months ago
My take on the hefty English devolution & community empowerment bill that was introduced earlier this month. One of several reforms the govt is quietly getting on with, it marks a shift towards a more coherent, standardised framework and places English devolution on a firmer constitutional footing.
add a skeleton here at some point
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James Hickson
Political Quarterly
2 months ago
Localism, Levelling up, and Taking Back Control: tensions in the ambiguous justification of English devolution
@jmchickson.bsky.social
@jacknewman.bsky.social
#Englishdevolution
#politicaldecentralisation
#takingbackcontrol
#levellingup
#localism
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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James Hickson
Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place
2 months ago
New article in
@politicalquarterly.bsky.social
by
@jmchickson.bsky.social
and
@jacknewman.bsky.social
- a timely intervention following the recent publication of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
There is an increasingly powerful argument for the decentralisation of policy making in England's highly centralised political context. In recent years, this issue has represented one of the clearest....
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.13570
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NEW:
@jacknewman.bsky.social
and I have just published our new article 'Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution' open access in
@politicalquarterly.bsky.social
. Read the article here:
doi.org/10.1111/1467...
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Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
There is an increasingly powerful argument for the decentralisation of policy making in England's highly centralised political context. In recent years, this issue has represented one of the clearest...
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13570
2 months ago
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In a new blog for the
@apaphilosophy.bsky.social
, I explore how republican political philosophy can help us to illuminate the expansion of unchecked, arbitrary power in contemporary politics, and articulate why this poses such a threat to freedom and democracy
blog.apaonline.org/2025/06/11/t...
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The Republican Moment: Reviving Freedom and Democracy in an Authoritarian Age
Across the globe, authoritarianism is in the ascendancy. As Freedom House have reported, over the last two decades many repressive regimes across the world have increased their domestic power, and amp...
https://blog.apaonline.org/2025/06/11/the-republican-moment-reviving-freedom-and-democracy-in-an-authoritarian-age/
4 months ago
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James Hickson
PSA Political Thought Specialist Group
4 months ago
If any members have any ideas for applications for this funding, please get in touch with the group convenors by 20 June 👇
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
James Hickson
Delighted to share that
@mwojciechowska.bsky.social
and I have published our article, Why go local? Developing the research agenda for “local political theory”, in the European Journal of Political Theory. It's available open access here:
doi.org/10.1177/1474...
5 months ago
2
35
13
Delighted to share that
@mwojciechowska.bsky.social
and I have published our article, Why go local? Developing the research agenda for “local political theory”, in the European Journal of Political Theory. It's available open access here:
doi.org/10.1177/1474...
5 months ago
2
35
13
Brilliant panel led by
@ariannagiovannini.bsky.social
on the role of academia in shaping policy, particularly at the subregional level in England. Lots of valuable experience, insight, and advice from Patrick Diamond, Peter Murphy,
@louisereardon.bsky.social
, and
@rileyresearch.bsky.social
#PSA2025
5 months ago
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Great to be in Birmingham for
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
conference. I'll be presenting a paper, written with Hannah McHugh, on 'Republican citizenship in an era of economic globalisation' on Wednesday as part of a
@psapolthought.bsky.social
panel on the politics of marginality & cosmopolitanism
5 months ago
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reposted by
James Hickson
Morgan Jones
6 months ago
I'm in LabourList, writing about Project Chainsaw, Scottish DOGE, and Labour talking about making Britain great again, all of which does nothing but signal desperation and a clanging lack of ideological self confidence.
labourlist.org/2025/03/labo...
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‘Labour should drop the chainsaw rhetoric and stop trying to impress journalists' - LabourList
Morgan Jones argues that Labour does not need to riff on Milei and Musk.
https://labourlist.org/2025/03/labour-milei-musk-cuts-nhs-england/
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James Hickson
Lea Ypi
7 months ago
I always struggle a little to explain my students why Marxists are right about freedom in the capitalist state. Jeff Bezos does it so much better.
add a skeleton here at some point
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James Hickson
Steven Klein
7 months ago
We are hiring TWO political theorists as well as a PPE position which is open to theorists (focus on history of economic thought) - please apply and circulate!
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/108445-...
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Lecturer in Political Theory
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/108445-lecturer-in-political-theory
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James Hickson
Miranda Green
7 months ago
Strongly worded warning by Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury select cttee, for the FT here - on deregulation of the City and financial services - to whose benefit?
www.ft.com/content/57c1...
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Show me the evidence that City deregulation will help growth
There is a severe risk of ‘Treasury capture’ as consumers are outgunned in the battle for the ear of policymakers
https://www.ft.com/content/57c14cfd-641f-4edf-9c57-9715a99e6dea
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James Hickson
Markus Patberg
7 months ago
What is social media's place in democracy? Tragically timely, given that the owner of a key social media platform is now part of the US government. Still, happy to see the article finally published (OA).
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
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What is Social Media’s Place in Democracy? | The Review of Politics | Cambridge Core
What is Social Media’s Place in Democracy?
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-politics/article/what-is-social-medias-place-in-democracy/FDF002489288AE3C2F2C0826FE9773C7
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reposted by
James Hickson
Rebecca Florisson
8 months ago
New Unison survey finds that quarter of migrant care staff were paid less than the minimum wage + over 50% were not paid for time spent travelling between visits. Visa system for care workers creates power imbalance and leaves very little room for recourse for workers.
www.ft.com/content/703f...
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Care workers routinely mistreated despite UK government efforts to tackle abuses, report finds
Unison survey shows more than a quarter of migrant staff were paid less than the statutory hourly minimum
https://www.ft.com/content/703f6e77-27c7-4ad2-952a-6e3bfbc0016e?xnpe_tifc=OFxJxFQ.4FHphFo7OIEsh9pJVdUZMds_O.bd4Fb84.bDtfPsbuYA4FnjbZJNhIo8tIYjbfHp4IHJb.V8bMXdxF4.4FQsxF_D4DhLh.Q_&utm_source=exponea&utm_medium=email&xnpe_cmp=.eJwTUni1XNvHsFnz36pHM03k2jri2VIXzln2cmm1xr2TRRv4DRkMS0vLLx95ddMxKlNfPyk_pVK_JDEpJ1W_BMIu0i9JgYhEm8ViCiKLRBvHQlWaxkLVpGSWgXGBfnFBYp5-cUlRfl66fmIWT8Lio90MJtnlEv97twMA3PBBfQ.aWRUu61hkuXsRQ
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James Hickson
Hannah Forsyth 🍉
8 months ago
40 years ago a small number of believers ran around purposefully turning universities into “businesses” run by managers with metaphorical muscle. Time’s up for that idea…
open.substack.com/pub/hannahfo...
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The business end of the university
Time's Up for crappy governance (fingers crossed). Why did anyone think it was a good idea?
https://open.substack.com/pub/hannahforsyth/p/the-business-end-of-the-university?r=ru853&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
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James Hickson
404 Media
8 months ago
You can’t post your way out of fascism Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them 🔗
www.404media.co/you-cant-pos...
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You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism
Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them, Janus Rose writes.
https://www.404media.co/you-cant-post-your-way-out-of-fascism/
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James Hickson
James Muldoon
8 months ago
great to be on @PoliticsJOE_UK to chat about our book Feeding the Machine, DeepSeek and a little bit about my new book on AI companions.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w-J...
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AI will make your job worse | AI expert interview
YouTube video by PoliticsJOE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w-JjvO9OzM
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James Hickson
Teen Vogue
8 months ago
When a single billionaire can accumulate more money in 10 seconds than their employees make in one year, while workers struggle to meet the basic cost of rent and medicine, then yes, every billionaire really is a policy failure. Read our op-ed here ⤵️
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Billionaires Should Not Exist
Yes, every billionaire really is a policy failure.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/billionaires-should-not-exist
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James Hickson
Justice Everywhere
10 months ago
Especially in large
#urban
areas, public spaces can be highly threatening to
#children
. Why are children excluded from equal use of public spaces? Do children have a right to responsive and inclusive urban design? by Nico Brando &
@katepitasse.bsky.social
#philsky
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Small in the City: The Exclusion of Children from Public Spaces
by Nico Brando and Katarina Pitasse-Fragoso I know what it’s like to be small in the city…The streets are always busy. It can make your brain feel like there’s too much stuff in it. Sydney Smith – …
https://buff.ly/3Z6wTPd
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James Hickson
Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place
10 months ago
We’re excited to be welcoming
@lcrmayor.bsky.social
and
@andyburnham.bsky.social
this evening for our annual lecture at Liverpool’s beautiful St George’s Hall. The event is sold out, but we’ll be posting updates here throughout the event.
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James Hickson
Rebecca Florisson
10 months ago
So key to keep talking about the absolutely devastatingly low level of SSP - £3 per hour. Amounts to less than 17% of people's average income. No one can survive on that.
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On Monday, I attended the Founding Assembly of Liverpool Citizens on behalf of
@livuniheseltine.bsky.social
. Here I share my personal perspective on the event and what it revealed about the possibilities for active, democratic citizenship in our communities
www.liverpool.ac.uk/heseltine-in...
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What does it mean to be a citizen? Reflections from the Founding Assembly of Liverpool Citizens - Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place - University of Liverpool
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/heseltine-institute/blog/whatdoesitmeantobeacitizenreflectionsfromthefoundingassemblyofliverpoolcitizens/
10 months ago
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“Towns like Mansfield were not ‘left behind’ but actively remade through … enterprise zones, land sell-offs and financial perks for large businesses, most of which offered only low-paid, insecure work.” Spot on
@sachahilhorst.bsky.social
@cmmonwealth.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
10 months ago
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you reached the end!!
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