“Elicitory Structural Power and Agential Power” is now out in 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. I defend the notions of structural power as a species of “elicitory” power (which does not operate by way of one’s intentional actions) and power efficaciously wielded without causing outcomes.

We’re excited to announce the launch of Philosophical Logic at the Open Library of Humanities. This follows another mass editorial resignation at Springer Nature (open letter linked in the announcement). Read more:

Do you work at an academic publishing house? This self-paced scholarly publishing training is for you, from #CRAFT-OA. It outlines the potential to automate certain stages of editorial work, e.g.,DOI registration & the use of Google Sheets as a publishing dashboard. iblpan.gitbook.io/craft-oa_tra...

Montreal gains 15th spot in the 2025 Copenhagenize Index’s global ranking of bicycle-friendly cities, 1st in North America, and the only non-European country in the top 25.

Vietnamese food has a concept I don't often see in western cuisine - "ngán." It's translated as being bored but applies when your palate is dulled by the sameness in texture, taste. We want our food to hit different notes. A bánh mì is simultaneously soft and crunchy, spicy and cool, fatty and sour.

Arendt’s warning: “Though tyranny, because it needs no consent, may successfully rule over foreign peoples, it can stay in power only if it first of all destroys the national institutions of its own people.”

Congratulations to Ryan Pevnick, whose article “The Representation-Enabling Approach to Campaign Finance Reform” has win the 2025 Rockwell Prize for the Best Article on Ethics, Leadership, and Public Policy. #poliphil #polisky #PolTheory

Call for applications: The Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire en philosophie politique de Montréal (GRIPP) invites applications for its 2026 manuscript workshop award.

Nyt article on randomly selected citizen assemblies in Belgium

Misinformation, democratic breakdown, social identity: An excellent set of reflections from @samuel-bagg.bsky.social

O wow: Chrystia Freeland (Prairies & St Antony’s 1991) has just been selected the next Warden of Rhodes House and CEO of the Rhodes Trust. #canpol

I reviewed Thomas Holden’s excellent new book, _Hobbes’s Philosophy of Religion_, in NDPR. TLDR;: theological expressivism yes, justified theism no, rational piety yes.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 🎤 If you’ve read this far and still need convincing, please check out our preprint arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 and this infographic: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... 10/10

Over the past months (and at least 11 versions!), I was lucky to work with 11 amazing colleagues on a call to action to reform academic publishing. Not another declaration, but an appeal to our powerful friends, research funders & institutions, to Stop the Drain of Scientific Publishing. 1/n

We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing: a 🧵 1/n Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/... Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

Back to the future: 1934 ad for electric car charger

Do they DID know that smoking was bad for health in 1934

“Stalin’s method of accusing a fictitious enemy of the crime he himself was about to commit” (Yes, am reading Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism for the first time.)

Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY. There was also a 71% drop in air pollution. Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople

Interview with @manongarcia.bsky.social On the Pelicot rape trials in France

This op-ed published in the @nytimes.com by Stephen Witt thoughtfully captures the urgency and complexity of navigating AI's risks, but also my sincere conviction that technical solutions are possible — we still have agency and an opportunity to act. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

Super interesting challenge to the current banking regime by Aaron James:

US Ambassador threatens to tariff, annex, and bomb Canada if anti-American sentiment doesn't improve

Institutional food policy matters. When it comes to addressing food insecurity, school lunches matter most. But I would be remiss not to note mine and my co-authors' article from Lancet Planetary Health arguing that universities should lead on food sustainability. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

“My standing piece of advice for those who live in North America who pine to see the best-practice streets of dozens of places in Europe or want to educate colleagues/friends what’s possible: just go to Montreal. It’s much closer. They really have it all.”

I’m thrilled that my paper “Elicitory Structural Power and Agential Power” has been accepted for publication at 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. It’s taken over 5y of rejections, so I’m especially pleased. #poliphil #PolTheory #socialphil

An Albertan Tale: “They never picked their noses or had bowel movements or zits.”

"bike lanes are still used as political scapegoats. But to what end? ...To deflect attention from real government failures – or from the inconvenient truth that bike lanes do not increase traffic congestion?" www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Ontario premier says he was elected by the people of Ontario to remove bike lanes in Toronto put in by the city council elected by the people of Toronto.

Shopkeepers in Montreal ordered to greet clients with “Goeiedag, Bonjour” instead of “Bonjour-Hi.” The truth is in my neighbourhood we actually just say the ambiguous “Allô”

"Jonathan Caravello...was reportedly “piled on by multiple agents all at once” as “he tried to help a man in a wheelchair” who was having difficulty moving after...[ICE] agents threw canisters of tear gas" our colleague is still missing as of the last info I got dailynous.com/2025/07/12/p...

The Digital Tax capitulation has longterm consequences. One is to reduce Cdn bargaining power. Reminder to gov about bargaining power: If A is trying to get B to do X, A can either: threaten: “if you don’t do X, we impose big tariffs” Or: make an offer: "if you do X, we scratch your back” /1

Not only has the language evolved from “based on” to “based off of,” we now have “spaced off” for “spaced out.” So ‘out’ and ‘on’ are out, ‘off’ is in. Or rather: ‘Out’ and ‘on’ are off, ‘off’ is on.

“Don’t find too many slaves”

Selon l’étude, les demandes d’admission d’étudiants internationaux ont chuté de 45,9% dans les universités québécoises. #immigration #enseignement

GRIPP Annual Montreal Political Theory Manuscript Workshop Award 2025 co-winners: Jakob Huber: Diachronic Democracy: A Political Philosophy of Hope @jakobhuber.bsky.social Charles Girard, La liberté d’expression à l’épreuve: Dilemmes démocratiques @charlesgirard.bsky.social Dates TBA

Co-lauréats 2025 du Prix de l’atelier annuel de théorie politique de Montréal du GRIPP: Charles Girard, La liberté d’expression à l’épreuve: Dilemmes démocratiques @charlesgirard.bsky.social Jakob Huber: Diachronic Democracy: A Political Philosophy of Hope @jakobhuber.bsky.social Dates à venir

“Alchemist Review will use advanced AI capabilities to automatically extract key manuscript insights, including central claims, methodology assessment, reference validation, and research originality… to support OUP's editors in making more informed decisions while reducing administrative burden.”

Jon Stewart is a legend & the way this show is trying to explain to a mainstream audience the gravity what is happening in the US is amazing. It was both thrilling & terrifying to be part of it. Thank you @TheDailyShow 👏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG7C...

They called her a mad cat woman and tried to destroy her reputation. Then they dragged her through the courts and tried to destroy her life. But @carolecadwalla.bsky.social is standing tall and continues telling the inconvenient truth. A must see. youtu.be/vG7CvbccdVM?...

Tomorrow I'm joining a @uclopenscience.bsky.social panel, Scaling Up Diamond Open Access Journals along with @theblochian.bsky.social and @abizadeh.bsky.social as part of the UCL Open Science & Scholarship Festival 2025. You can book here: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/open-access/...

whenever i encounter people who say they can't understand shakespeare verses I always send them this clip from the 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing

One of the world’s foremost political scientists continues his observations about the breakdown of the USA into a more authoritarian and repressive regime. @adamprz.bsky.social

meanwhile www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

Arbitrary incarceration and abuse at the USA border continue, this time Australian ex-cop en route to visiting her husband, a USA army lieutenant.

I'm in @canadiandimension.bsky.social with some ideas about rebuilding Canada's NDP: canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...

Social housing with a fire station, nixed this time but maybe not the next