Matt Thompson

From climate breakdown and settler-colonial genocide to economic turmoil and the culture wars, all kinds of crises are reshaping the political terrain as we know it. As contradictions sharpen and antagonisms intensify, there has been a remarkable resurgence in conjunctural analysis across geography, urban studies and well beyond. With multiple crises intersecting, the potential—and the challenge—of thinking conjuncturally lies in articulating precisely how diverse forces, relations, tensions, and contradictions condense in the present and condition the terrain of the politically possible. This presents a profoundly spatial as well as historical challenge. In this special issue, we invite researchers, theorists, critics, practitioners, activists and others engaged with different modes of conjunctural thinking to ask: what’s at stake in this conjuncture? How might we interpret everything that’s going on? Where, exactly, should we be looking? And what might be done about it? Informed by quite different intellectual traditions, political currents and social movements, our hope is to make space for critical dialogue attempting to get to grips with this conjuncture, thinking with and across particular places, scales, moments, and movements wherever that might lead us—whether that be critical insights into shifting socio-spatial configurations, promising new methodological avenues, or emerging political possibilities energising the kinds of social change so urgently needed.

Amidst deepening neoliberal assault on academia, the continuing commodification and fragmentation of knowledge production under capitalism, and rising revanchist populisms threatening intellectual autonomy and political freedoms, this conjuncture demands collective strategic responses that can bridge such divides. As a growing body of diverse approaches to critique that share a relational, expansive, reflexive, synthetic and action orientation, conjunctural analysis presents a promising avenue for critical thinking in times of crisis. Yet how to translate the emergence of all these different conjunctural approaches and methods into political praxis? How might we narrate this formation and consolidate such diverse energies into practical strategies for tackling the divisions and dangers that define the present conjuncture? The special issue therefore aims to take stock of the recent resurgence in conjunctural thinking. What’s new or distinctive about this conjuncture compared to previous historical peaks of interest in conjunctural thinking—from Gramsci’s analysis of the crisis of liberalism and the rise of fascism in Italy in the 1920s and 1930s, and Stuart Hall’s reading of ascendant authoritarian populism and neoliberalism in Britain of the 1970s and 1980s, to rising nationalist revanchisms the world over today? What can be translated from those moments and places to make sense of our present troubles? What lessons might be learnt from elsewhere (and other times) in search of new political openings? How might (historical and spatial) comparison – and the comparative imagination – dovetail with conjunctural thinking? And how might we rethink the spaces and scales of conjunctural analysis to better interpret the multiple geographies of crisis now taking hold?

Grappling with this conjuncture is not something that could ever be undertaken alone. There really is no one vantage point onto the troubles of the present that will reveal all the necessary answers. And yet to talk about how ‘we’ might respond—politically, analytically, methodologically—demands rejecting prevailing, and deeply uneven, tendencies within the worlds of criticism and academia which undermine generous, comradely and collective scholarship. Our hope is to resist pressures to fight it out for a ‘definitive’ mode of conjunctural analysis by instead encouraging a space, however modest, for critical dialogue that grapples with complexity and contradiction in attempts to articulate urgent alternatives. Contributions might take different forms or formats. It is anticipated that a geography/urban studies journal will be approached for the Special Issue, but of course this will depend on the expressions of interest we receive. Rather than providing a list of potential themes or issues, we instead encourage getting in touch if this sounds like the kind of conversation you want to be part of. In which case, please contact Colin Lorne (colin.lorne@open.ac.uk) and Matt Thompson (matt.thompson@ucl.ac.uk) before August 15th 2025 with a brief abstract/summary that offers a sense of what you are seeking to write about. Any questions, thoughts or suggestions, please do get in touch with us both.

Still a few weeks left to submit something to this exciting (!) call for a special issue on conjunctural analysis

if you're thinking about the conjuncture, what to do about it politically, and how to write about it strategically and conceptually, we'd love to hear from you!
@colinlorne.bsky.social

now published:
The Socialization Debate
Revolutionary Confusion after the German Revolution of 1918
Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal
Volume 46, Issue 1, 2025, Pages 93-122
doi.org/10.5840/gfpj...

Politics journal article: A new Elizabethan age: The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) and the nostalgic politics of Anglofuturism

My latest article is out #OA in @politicsjournal.bsky.social ‪✍️

✅ The first academic study of Anglofuturism
✅ Expands our understanding of 'forward-looking' nostalgias

💡 Part of forthcoming special issue on Global Britain

@sotonpolitics.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Chart showing relative change in crime rate, and share of people who believe levels are rising

America and Britain appear to be in the middle of a crime paradox, with data showing disorder is rising in public consciousness. Is it rising in reality? https://on.ft.com/4oguUmZ

Journal of Political Philosophy Officially Ends - Daily Nous "The Journal of Political Philosophy will cease publication effective January 1, 2026." That's from an email sent by the journal's publisher, Wiley, earlier today, calling the move "a difficult decisi...

Wiley officially closes the Journal of Political Philosophy, which was abandoned by its editorial team and shunned by academics after Wiley attempted moves that would have compromised the journal's editorial independence.

ChatGPT is going to kill God I hate generative AI. I hate how it's destroying writing pedagogy and giving students even more excuses not to read (because they can just read a "summary"). I hate how whiny and defensive AI users are about the pathetic little ways they've integrated it into their lives. If I could push a button and permanently delete it from existence, I would.

ChatGPT is going to kill God

I hate generative AI. I hate how it's destroying writing pedagogy and giving students even more excuses not to read (because they can just read a "summary"). I hate how whiny and defensive AI users are about the pathetic little ways they've integrated it into their…

I found a use as a writer for ChatGPT. I gave it my manuscript and asked it to write an additional chapter, which I read, and am using to clear out some of the predictability of the real parts. I thought I might pinch a few lines from the Chat version but nah.

BrewDog, the Stale Beer of Hipster Capitalism BrewDog is closing ten bars across the UK, with staff reportedly given “three days’ notice”. Unite Hospitality said: “BrewDog have announced that they are closing 10 flagshi…

BrewDog, the Stale Beer of Hipster Capitalism bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/07/24/b...

ARE PRIVATE EYE JOKES CRIMINAL?! 'PALESTINE ACTION' EXPLAINED ❌ Unacceptable Palestine Action Spraying military planes with paint ✅ Acceptable Palestine Action Shooting Palestinians queueing for food © Private Eye no. 1653 --- PALESTINE Solidarity campaigner Jon Farley was arrested, bundled into a van and taken to the cells during a silent march in Leeds last weekend. What egregious act had prompted the police to act? He was, er, carrying a Private Eye joke piece as a placard (pictured)! As the Eye went to press, Mr Farley, a retired headteacher who marches regularly with the Leeds Palestine Solidarity Campaign, told the Eye that police had confirmed on Monday morning there would be no further action and all bail conditions were lifted. He described the ordeal as a “nasty experience”, noting that West Yorkshire cops are “normally quite reasonable” but that despite his efforts to explain the obvious point the Eye’s joke was making, “nuance isn’t their thing”. More than 100 people were arrested at various protests over the same weekend, amid warnings from police not to test the limits of the law by expressing support for Palestine Action, now a proscribed organisation, meaning any show of “support” for the group is a criminal offence. Even when no charges are brought, being arrested under the Terrorism Act leaves a record potentially affecting travel and employment. Home secretary Yvette Cooper took measures to proscribe Palestine Action after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last month and sprayed two planes with paint. As the Eye wrote in issue 1652: “Some will argue that proscribing Palestine Action and extending the definition of terrorism to direct action groups that destroy property but don’t aim attacks at the public — rather than using the current criminal law — is a high price for society to pay.” This was before the police decided to extend the definition of terrorism to include people cutting jokes out of satirical magazines…

We're at a pretty worrying place when it comes to protest rights in the UK, in my opinion.

Via the new Private Eye (alt text available)

Front page of Warwick.ac.uk

Self-inflicted embarrassment for the University of Warwick — first it rebrands hyper-generically, then someone totally unhinged decides the *front page of the uni website* should say ‘Learn more about our Brand’.

Revealed: Harvard publisher cancels entire journal issue on Palestine shortly before publication As Harvard’s feud with Trump escalated, so did tensions over an ‘education and Palestine’ issue of a prestigious journal. Scholars blame the ‘Palestine exception’ to academic freedom

This is so much more grave of a violation of academic freedom than a few Oberlin students protesting a speaker. And yet the “Free Press” crew will be completely silent about it. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

The Future of Revolution, book review and response You should read Jasper Bernes’s recent book The Future of Revolution: Communist Prospects from the Paris Commune to the George Floyd Uprising. In what...

hey bluesky, I wrote this about why you should read Jasper Bernes's new book The Future of Revolution. (In the 2nd half I nitpick on a few points in a spirit of 'let's run with it in THIS direction, not THAT one'. That matters less, the main point is read the book!)

buttondown.com/nateholdren/...

Microsoft is so not mad about "AI" becoming synonymous bad writing that they hired someone to tell you that's actually very classist of you and you should check your privilege.

Why Canada needs to build a public cloud Dependence on US tech giants must end if the country is serious about digital sovereignty

Canada can see the costs of dependence on the US first hand. Trump is bullying us and Silicon Valley used his leverage to kill the digital services tax.

As the Canadian government looks for a new cloud provider, it shouldn’t just prioritize local companies; it should invest in a public cloud.

@karenkyng.bsky.social on species being in Hegel and Marx.

www.academia.edu/130298337/Sp...

Exclusive: Watchdog probing Starmer aide’s secret lobbying of Tory ministers openDemocracy findings on Varun Chandra’s activities at Hakluyt prompted official watchdog to launch investigation

Exclusive: Watchdog probing Starmer aide’s secret lobbying of Tory ministers

This story is chilling, and the Police response is profoundly authoritarian. Responsibility for this lies with the Labour Party. It is not a criminal offence to say FREE GAZA.

Police in Canterbury today informed a protestor that the phrase "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza" could be considered a declaration of support for Palestine Action and therefore a terrorism offence.

So, today's REF2029 Town Hall was on CKU (Contributions to Knowledge & Understanding, including Outputs and Disciplinary Level Statements or DLSs). The recording with slides will be posted on Resources (link below) soon.

Here are some preliminary thoughts, starting with the good news. 1/10

Another drop from the SI on "Planetary Property" Alain Pottage and I co-edit for TCS. This time Anna Tsing's and Hatib Kadir's brilliant piece that shows why property is not a creature of the mud!

3 in 4 say Britain's best days are behind us. The most common description of the country is 'Broken' & 53% think the next generation will have a worse life than our parents. What do Brits think has gone wrong? How do they want to fix it? And who are the 7 new tribes of Britain?

Latest @theguardian.com cartoon

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

1. Yesterday, 86 people were arrested in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding signs saying "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
They are the opposite of terrorists. They were protesting *against* terrorism. 🧵

New article!

In this extended introduction to an imminent SI, I argue for renewed engagement with key Marxist debates about exploitation as a way of understanding the mutations of contemporary global capitalism.

Now out in @NPEjournal! (Open Access)

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

SCORING HIGH, PAYING UP, GATING IN: Middle‐class Formation and Asset Inequalities under Digital Capitalism in South Africa This article examines how modern class dynamics become intertwined with automated classifications and data-driven regimes of value creation under digital capitalism by demonstrating how housing marke....

How does digital capitalism affect wealth inequalities and class formation? This is a question I answer in this new paper, focusing on South Africa.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Is Capitalism Over? The ‘Technofeudalism’ Debate Podcast Episode · Culture, Power and Politics » Podcast · 04/07/2025 · 1h 53m

Enjoying @jemgilbert.bsky.social double-drop diss track on Varoufakis, Dean, Durand et al, and if ‘why capitalism is very much still the enemy’ is your vibe, so can you! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...

NYC art schools see record-high application numbers as Gen Zers clamber to enroll Yes, even in this economy.

“Fine arts programs in New York City are receiving record-high applications… The surge comes as many young adults grapple with fears about the impacts of artificial intelligence, a sense of internet overload and a desire to reconnect with the physical world.”

Across Europe, the financial sector has pushed up house prices. It's a political timebomb | Tim White We’ve been living in a great experiment: can finance provide basic human rights such as housing? The answer is increasingly no, says researcher and writer Tim White

I have an article in the Guardian today on how finance capitalism is wreaking havoc on housing across Europe www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Mark Saunders of Spectacle Productions just died suddenly. His video archive is an invaluable treasure for activism, resistance and a different urban future. Have a look: www.spectacle.co.uk/distribution...

1. One thing you need to realise about the British Establishment is that it uses clowns to express its deepest desires. People like Rod Liddle offer a kind of deniability - "lighten up, he's just having a laugh". But they deliver a closer representation of its truths than any sober editorial.