Jonathan Smucker

But Minneapolis' example of POPULAR resistance is instructive. That's the key ingredient for stopping these wannabe fascists.

Which means it's UP TO US to stop them. It's up to everyday people, standing up for our neighbors, saying no to tyranny, putting ourselves in their way.

Power through might and force, without winning sufficient consent, is the most expensive way to govern. What they're attempting is incredibly ambitious, and there are a million ways they could fail...

To be clear, these fascists are dangerous and should not be underestimated. Their budget and expansion plans and signals (re: election interference, targeting opponents, etc.) are terrifying.

But like many authoritarians, they're operating from a position of weakness — in important ways.

I'm bringing this up now (late) because I've sometimes noticed among folks planning for ICE resistance in other places a sense of despair and a projection of unlimited power and inevitability onto Trump, Miller, Noem, ICE, etc...

It's worth noticing how Minneapolis did not go the way the Trump Administration had hoped.

Yes, they intended to sow fear and create chaos.

But they wanted the resistance to appear extreme, fringe, unrelatable.

Instead it looked popular—like everyday Americans of all stripes.

Because it was.

Top Noem aide entered cockpit before firing pilot over missing blanket, sources say Top U.S. homeland security aide Corey Lewandowski entered the cockpit of a government jet uninvited during a flight last year, after which he fired a pilot over a misplaced blanket, two people familia...

This incident may be small in comparison to greater horrors of this wrecking-ball administration, but it so plainly illustrates the sadistic power tripping and complete disdain for everyday working people that is part and parcel of authoritarianism. www.reuters.com/world/us/top...

Revolution as Horizon, Not Apocalypse | Jonathan Matthew Smucker In this article, Smucker reveals how radicals can pursue a revolutionary horizon that "delivers the goods." The key is to arm ourselves with the strategic knowledge and orientation to start building t...

Revolution as Horizon, Not Apocalypse | Jonathan Matthew Smucker www.filmsforaction.org/articles/rev...

ONLINE FIRST

In this new TSQ article, Cihan Tuğal (@cihantugal.bsky.social), Jonathan Smucker, and Kip Roberts examine how emotions shape boundary work among populists and anti-populists within the Republican and Democratic parties.

Read more at bit.ly/4cg6ir2

Multicolored background with speech bubble that reads “Voting in a sense feels like a privilege. And that’s pretty weird because people are like, ‘It’s your duty to vote.’ But it’s like, a lot of times things don’t change even if you do vote.” Text below reads “John, a 27-year-old Black UPS worker”

Multicolored background with speech bubble that reads “Politicians have a very predictable script at this point, and I’m kind of done hearing it.” Text below reads “Sylvia, an unemployed 33-year-old White woman”

Last week, I published a report - the "Political Disconnect" -based on interviews with 144 low-income & working-class people, across racial groups, who don't usually vote. They are the experts on why, and today I want to share their words.
www.swarthmore.edu/u...

My tribute to and critical analysis of Michael Burawoy, published as the lead article in Sociologia. The heart of the piece is a discussion of 1) why/how Burawoy transitioned from his early, “labor process”-focused research programme to a “counter-market” one; ++
ojs.letras.up.pt/index.php/So...

Check out this important new research from Daniel Laurison et al on low-income and working-class Pennsylvanians about what politics means to them.

image of a report cover, with a US flag in the background, and the text "The Political Disconnect: Working-Class and Low-Income People on What Politics Means to Them and How They Might be Mobilized”

Today I'm releasing probably the most important scholarly thing I've ever worked on - a report based on talking with 144 people about why they don't vote or only vote regularly, and on what needs to be done to build a democracy that can include everyone.
www.swarthmore.edu/u...
please share!

"I was only following orders" wasn't an acceptable excuse at the Nuremberg trials & won't work now.

#AccountabilityIsComing

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

When the people lead the fight against tyranny, the opposition politicians follow.

As ICE tries to tear our communities apart, we must elect Democrats who will fight back. @analiliafornj.bsky.social will stand strong, build solidarity, and push back against ICE’s violence. Join @sanders.senate.gov, @workingfamilies.org & me in supporting Analilia in the NJ-11 special election.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara: "People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone ... this is not sustainable."

The Washington Post published a clear video of federal agents removing Alex Pretti's handgun moments before he was fatally shot. There's nothing in the video to suggest Pretti even reached for his weapon.

wapo.st/49Zqv1L

dear
@facethenation.bsky.social @meethepress.com

🇨🇦 we all saw 2 executions.Renee Good. Alex Pretti.

interviewing known liars of the criminal regime without calling out their lies is wrong. insults the dead and their families. 💔

#ICEout #MinnesotaStrong

Good afternoon from downtown Chicago, where despite heavy snowfall, thousands have gathered for an anti-ICE/CBP demonstration in solidarity with the Twin Cities. More are still streaming in.

Lt. Illinois Gov. Juliana Stratton just addressed the crowd, and called for ICE to be abolished.

People magazine with a more accurate header than most of the "papers of record."

Nurse-murdering terrorist thugs.

Referring to ICE as "federal law enforcement" is pro-terrorist propaganda.

Abolish ICE.

Primary any Democrat who votes to fund Trump's Gestapo.

From this moment forward (and before, but clearly now):

-If you work for ICE.
-If you vote for money for ICE.

You are complicit. This is the gestapo. You're on the wrong side. You can't pretend not to know.

What's the plan, Chuck? I run a fake news website. You're the Senate Minority Leader. What's the plan?

"What can Democrats actually do?"

- Vote against funding for ICE and DHS

- State that any ICE officers who commit crimes under Trump will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law

- Encourage cities and states to refuse to cooperate with ICE

- Explain ICE is part of Trump's tyranny

Abolish ICE is now the moderate minimum position,

Prosecute ICE is where Dems should be at next.

Our article on populism, emotions, and boundary work is out in the The Sociological Quarterly.

Populism, Emotions, and Boundary Work Among Political Activists in the Trump Era How do emotions shape boundary work among populists and anti-populists? Based on 52 in-depth interviews, we analyze how political activists construct their positions through “emotive contestation.”...

Our article on populism is published in @socquarterly.bsky.social

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Based on 52 interviews with populists and anti-populists during Trump’s first presidency, we make the following contributions
1) We demonstrate the centrality of emotions in anti-populist politics