Jared Davidson

Riot Prime | 30% Off Titles on Resisting the Right In Riot. Strike. Riot, Joshua Clover describes the modern form of upheaval as riot prime –where the economy is out of reach but the state is near, with its progressively militarized police forces depu...

PS Verso currently have his book as a free download: www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/...

The Many Lives of Joshua Clover (1962–2025) How the militant, poet, political theorist, organizer, and giver of gifts refused to die.

A month late, but the news is still sad. And considering LA right now, 'Riot. Strike. Riot' remains crucial reading. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

I've begun researching a new book, 'Farms Aflame: The Secret History of Rural Arson' (working title). Still very much at the gathering archives phase, but I can already see this is going to be interesting mahi!
#envhist #radicalhistory

A poster with an illustration of a transgender person hitting Destiny Church's logo with a hammer. Text reads: Defying Destiny: Day of Queer Power. Doctor Emmy Rākete, Chloe Swarbrick, Rev. Mua Strickson-Pua. Sunday 23rd Feb, 2pm, Albert Park Rotunda. These queers bash back.

Last weekend, Destiny Church escalated its attacks against the queer community. Destiny wants to drive queer New Zealanders back into the closet.

PAPA won't let this happen. We stood for queer liberation as No Pride in Prisons and we stand for it now.

Some pics from a recent research visit to Ōamaru, where I visited the Waitaki Archives as well as some historic estates (Totara, Windsor Park)

Here's the closure details BTW: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Heavy metal: Forced labour, commodity frontiers and highways through Aotearoa’s central plateau Read or download a PDF version of this paper at Scribd , Academia or Issuu . Tongariro National Park, located in the central plateau of Aot...

The closure of The Desert Road (SH1) will see people diverted onto highways first made by prisoners - SH4, 46, 47 and 48. I've written about these highways and work that went into their making here: garagecollective.blogspot.com/2024/11/heav...

I've seen 'precis' used online

Hey team. What is the technical term for this way of laying out a chapter's content? You see it in lots of 19th and early 20th century work...

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT! (Kind of) 📚💙

In honor of my late grandfather CLR James's 124th birthday, meet the new edition of his 1953 book *Mariners, Renegades, and Castaways: The Story of Herman Melville and the World We live In*

I wrote the foreword with 🧪 in mind!

press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Black Folk Named one of <em>Smithsonian</em>'s Best Books of 2023<p>2024 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book Award</p><p>2024 Philip Taft Labor History Award&nbsp; </p><p>2024 Brooklyn Public Library Book Pr...

Back at work and reading (and very much enjoying) 'Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class'. I love how Kelley weaves her own family story into the many lives she shares in the book
wwnorton.com/books/978163...

I read some great historical fiction this year. These were my favourites

Also, very happy to announce that I've received a Whiria Te Mahara New Zealand History Grant for my next book, 'Farms Aflame: The Secret History of Stack Burning'. Turns out incendiarism in the NZ countryside was a thing...
Congrats to the other recipients!
#envhist #radicalhistory #labourhistory

Made my submission opposing the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Nothing flash but sharing in case there's something of use to people. You can oppose the Bill here:
www.parliament.nz/en/ECommitte...

Lol. Really? 'Marx himself would be aghast at the transference of his critiques of capitalist production into the technological issues of computer geeks working from home today'. What a strange review

'It is not often that a book can challenge the way you see the world around you. Jared Davidson’s Blood and Dirt does precisely this... Davidson effortlessly outlines how fundamentally the historical toil of incarcerated workers shapes NZs contemporary economy and relations of power.' 😍📕🔥

'I became obsessed' – Academy of New Zealand Literature Writers on the books that shaped their year.

Nice to get a mention in this round-up of reads. Thanks @brannavan.bsky.social (and cool to learn about your reading process as well)
www.anzliterature.com/feature/i-be...

Some snaps from this week: Ōnuku, Takapūneke, and the Coronation Library, Akaroa. Ngāi Tahu and colonial history.

Friday essay: ‘A future of dust’ – Jeff Sparrow on Gaza and why, in evil times, writers have a responsibility to take sides Paradoxically, the very scale of the crisis in Gaza makes worthwhile even the tiniest gesture of solidarity.

A piece about writing, polarisation and genocide

theconversation.com/friday-essay...

This might be of use: natlib.govt.nz/blog/posts/o...

The govt can afford 3 billion for landlord tax cuts. The *entire Marsden fund* is 78 mil or so. & Soc sciences & humanities were only ever a fraction of that. The govt implicitly saying it can't afford it is not credible.

They just don't want critic & conscience work from academics.

Govt guts funding for social sciences and humanities We are building a future where we do more, faster, to protect our planet and make sure everyone is treated equally.

And the Greens. Very strong statement opposed & identifying what is lost.

www.greens.org.nz/govt_guts_fu...

Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins today announced the Government has updated the Marsden Fund to focus on core scientific research that helps lift our economic growth and contributes to science with a purpose. “The Government has been clear in its mandate to rebuild our economy. We are focused on a system that supports growth, and a science sector that drives high-tech, high-productivity, high-value businesses and jobs,” Ms Collins says “I have updated the Marsden Fund Investment Plan and Terms of Reference to ensure that future funding is going to science that helps to meet this goal.” The new Investment Plan focuses on supporting research that can be of economic, environmental or health benefit to New Zealand. The new Terms of Reference outline that approximately 50 per cent of funds will go towards supporting proposals with economic benefits to New Zealand. “The Marsden Fund will continue to support blue-skies research, the type that advances new ideas and encourages innovation and creativity and where the benefit may not be immediately apparent. It is important that we support new ideas which lead to developing new technologies and products, boosting economic growth, and enhancing New Zealand's quality of life,” Ms Collins says. “The focus of the Fund will shift to core science, with the humanities and social sciences panels disbanded and no longer supported. Real impact on our economy will come from areas such as physics, chemistry, maths, engineering and biomedical sciences.

In the most direct statement yet that NZ's hard right government is totally opposed to any research that might challenge the social order they support, they have stripped the Humanities & Social Science panels from the largest fund for innovative research in the country.

What is Brain Rot, the Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year? Technically, yes, it's two words. But who wants to risk getting pedantic with an Oxford dictionary?

Punk bands everywhere scrambling to claim 'Brain Rot' for next EP.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...

‘It’s about justice’: fighter from guerrilla war sues Spanish government for €1m Joan Busquets, 96, suffered torture, forced labour and 20 years in prison under the Franco regime and seeks reparations

'Maíllo says that, to his knowledge, no case such as this has been successful but Busquets, a lifelong anarcho-syndicalist, is not deterred.

“It’s not about the money,” he said. “It’s about justice. This country hasn’t made reparations to the victims.'
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

Cover of Mary E. Hick's new book, Captive Cosmopolitans: Black Mariners and the World of South Atlantic Slavery.

Can't tell you how exciting I am to see this in print, having seen some of the work that's gone into it. Believe me when I say @maryhicks.bsky.social's first book is going to be a fantastic contribution to #AtlanticWorld, #AfricanHistory, and #AfricanDiaspora #history. #BlackHistory

Writing tip no. 7: in my view, the essential unit of good writing is the paragraph. If you're stuck, spinning your wheels, write one strong paragraph, just one, about whatever topic you are on. In my experience, this breaks the logjam and allows thoughts to flow onto the page.

Victorian Women's Tattoos From initials to butterflies, Nastasha Sartore explores Victorian women's tattoo choices.

While the lower back tattoo or the barbed wire on the bicep may feel like recent trends, women have been getting inked for centuries.

From initials to butterflies, Nastasha Sartore explores Victorian women's tattoo choices. ✊🗃️

www.historyworkshop....

Here you go! The refs for this particular section, which comes from an unpublished rewrite with full refs.

Yes will tidy up the draft rewrite (that hasn't been published) and share it with you