Linus Westheuser

Stop arguing, start describing

Earlier today I read the phrase (about Proust in fact) ‘It came to an end but it wasn’t finished.’

Markwayne Mullin: "It's up to the Iraqi people -- I'm sorry, the Iranian people -- to choose their next leader"

Logo for the European Journal of Political Research displaying the text "EJPR European Journal of Political Research" in cream letters on a blue background, accompanied by the hashtag "#OpenAccess".

#OpenAccess from @ejprjournal.bsky.social -

Reference groups and electoral behavior - https://cup.org/46neAJZ

- Rune Stubager, Christoffer Hentzer Dausgaard, @lenamariahuber.bsky.social & Michael Lewis-Beck

#FirstView

The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering

The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory

The Biden Admin directed hundreds of billions to clean energy/manufacturing.

Did these investments shift public opinion?

We find that these projects are visible but not traceable: People notice nearby investments, but connect them to Governors, not Biden.

Thread 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

satisfy the needs of every living creature:

BREAKING: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has barred the U.S. from using Spanish military bases for attacks on Iran.

Listen up liberal,

Is a democratic economy possible? Lessons from history, horizons for the future

1/2 - 30 March| 6:30pm|LSE
50 years after labour movements launched radical plans to democratise the economy & gain control of big business: what’s their legacy & the prospects for economic democracy today? On the anniversary of the “Meidner Plan” join us to discuss👇🏾
www.lse.ac.uk/events/democ...

#Berlin’s TV Tower during construction in 1968.

#CfA: Call for Applications für bis zu zwei Post-Doc Fellowships 2026/27. Die Fellows werden insbesondere Teil des #NormativeOrdersResearchNetwork sein. Allgemeines Thema ist "The Future of Democracy". Bewerbungsschluss ist am 15. März 2026. 👇

English version below.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Screenshot from the first page of the PDF showing the title, author names and abstract of the paper. Title: Between “Cancel Culture” and Campus Culture: Debate and Dissent in the Discursive Space of the University.

Based on a representative survey of academics at German universities, Christiane Thompson and I find little support for "canceling" controversial views on campus. Instead, universities are widely expected to facilitate debate on controversial issues. Our two main findings:
doi.org/10.1007/s110...

CDU Antwort auf jedes Problem:

New working paper!

I examine whether exposure to local unemployment during adolescence shapes immigration attitudes in adulthood, focusing on the long-term imprint of early economic insecurity

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

🎉 New publication 😍 The 4th wave of the #farright is marked by #mainstreaming & #normalisation - but how can we distinguish between them? In our new article, @gefjonoff.bsky.social and I map the existing literature, introduce a conceptual framework & outline research avenues. doi.org/10.1017/S147...

Irgendwie interessant wie sich Konservative und Linksliberale in dem Impuls ähneln, strukturelle Probleme durch Pep Talks wegzupredigen. Was sich unterscheidet ist der Stil: netter Sozialarbeiter ("das Wir stärken") versus polternder Chef ("Genug gefaulenzt"). Aber es wirkt doch ähnlich hilflos

The war on Iran likely brings a new oil price shock and windfall profits.

So, who stands to win?

Our research shows: Last time around (2022), the US reaped the largest fossil fuel profits of any country ($377bn). 50% went to the top 1%, only 1% to the bottom 50%. A🧵

Matt Goodwin looking like an idiot with flags and doing double thumbs up.

Sad trombone

Looks like us ‘bloc politics’ people were on to something after all ;)

benansell.substack.com/p/british-po...

To my son and his generation and may they not tale as long as I have in finding out about these matters

Marion Milners Widmung in "On not being able to paint"

Far-right authoritarian tactics to socially marginalize, intimidate, and disenfranchise a group. The oppression of one group signals to others you could be next. This goes far beyond bigotry. The authoritarian playbook enabled and empowered by anti-trans and anti-woke actors.

this comparison is going to drive a subset of people insane but this site is essentially Taiwan for the centre-left/left-wing power users of Twitter

Quite rare to see a chart that says quite so overtly that no one involved has the slightest clue what’s happening here

Interesting: Human political opinions are too messy for LLMs trying to imitate them

🔥🔥🔥🔥

Today, in honour of WEB DuBois's birthday in 1868, the @publicdomainrev.bsky.social features the hand-drawn infographics DuBois made with his students to depict the conditions of African-American life in 1900.

Arts-based pedagogy all those years ago!
buff.ly/3kdWqRD

Suprematism, by Nikolai Suetin, 1920-21, 📸 by @tiltoncreative

The Starmer/McSweeney strategy followed the illusion of needing to win back the nativist-authoritarian worker and in the process alienated those who form their actual electoral coalition. This has been the story of social democratic parties across Europe. This won’t be easily reversible.