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
The key to the reconstruction of the social sciences lies in the resolution of these tensions…
2) the underemphasized continuities and breaks between the two paradigms; 3) and the unresolved tensions in his late thought, especially in regards to the relationship of Marxism to race and colonialism, 3b) reconsidered in light of his ongoing commitment to labor. +
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...
Also, states usually create, feed, use, and occasionally crown the people they call "terrorists."
sociology.berkeley.edu/sites/defaul...
spectrejournal.com/the-evolutio...
"state terror"
Springsteen's wording here reminds us of a basic fact:
Despite their frequent vitriol against "terrorists," empires and states are the greatest terrorists in human history.
Syria's HTS is gearing up for its third round of ethnic cleansing with full Western guardianship. For a discussion of the first two rounds, and a sociological explanation of why Western powers would support such murderous forces, see this essay:
@jonathansmucker.bsky.social
to interactively build their group, mark it from other groups of activists, and contest ownership of ideas.”
We build this concept by synthesizing the boundary work literature with the sociology of emotions.
The article is Open Access.
Sociologists have been emphasizing point 5 for decades, but this has been largely ignored in populism studies, as our literature review shows.
As to our theoretical intervention… “Emotive contestation is the process through which activists meld feelings, policy preferences, and symbolic ideation +
2) We develop the concept “emotive contestation”
3) We discuss how emotive contestation operates and illustrate its impact on everyday politics
4) We document the richness of emotions among populists
5) We reiterate that emotions and reason are interwoven.
++
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
and the strategy to channel radicalization, the dynamics change significantly.
A must-read for political scientists, activists, sociologists, politicians, and the wider public interested in the Left and the Right.
Great article on why radicalization in the 1960s and 1970s produced very different results for the American Left and Right.
Grumbach problematizes the widely held belief that polarization is bad for all parties involved. If you have the organization +
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
This is an embarrassment for “science,” especially given that THE AKP REGIME IS THE LONGEST-LASTING UNINTERRUPTED ELECTED FAR-RIGHT REGIME IN WORLD HISTORY.
“Social sciences” are predominantly studies of Western behavior rather than human behavior. Example? With the exception of Likud, the strongest far-right parties are outside the West: the AKP in Turkey, BJP in India, etc. But theorizations of the far right largely ignore them. +
Here are my New Quarter Century's resolutions:
· Defeat fascism
· Unite people’s struggles
· Build socialism
Start (or continue) all of the above in 2026 but don't get demoralized by roadblocks.
We're in it for the long haul...
Party time now 🎉🎈🪩
· Zohran Mamdani's victory was great, despite reinforcing the trends summarized above. I'll be celebrating that in the remaining hours of 2025!
And it's not on Zohran but all of us to go beyond those limits, so ...
4/
· In the 1990s, almost all globally prominent intellectuals were saying “Socialism is dead,” and most people believed that. Socialism is now back on the agenda, although it still lacks the capacity to build sturdy bridges between popular struggles.
3/
· Popular struggles subsided in the last two decades of the 20th century. But they came back with full force especially after 2010, even if they still lack vision, organizations, programmes, and sustainability.
2/
Happy 2026 everyone!
2025 was horrible but here are a few things to appreciate about the first 26 years of the 21st century (yes, including 2025):
· “Fascist” is still a curse word, despite the rise of the far right throughout the globe. They are still ashamed of who they are.
1/
On my reading list for early 2026:
The International Sociological Association's magazine just published a special issue on Michael Burawoy
globaldialogue.isa-sociology.org/uploads/imge...
Erdoğan’s AKP had absorbed Brotherhood-type Islamism both into Turkey’s institutional system and into the world order. Can the cooperation between the Syrian HTS and the Turkish AKP tame salafism too and make it serve global capitalism more smoothly?
I discuss this question here:
The Political Education Committee of @dsaeastbay.bsky.social wraps up the Socialist Fundamentals Series with this panel.
In the spirit of Marx's third thesis on Feuerbach, the audience educates the educators during this meeting.
Bagels + community + fierce debate!
www.eastbaydsa.org/events/4716/...
Bourdieusian theorizations of populism are long overdue. I am putting this article on my reading list.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
My essay on Syria, Islamism, and capitalist geopolitics has been translated to Indonesian.
indoprogress.com/2025/12/evol...
Küresel cihatçıların küresel kapitalizmle ilişkisi (Video) - Medyascope medyascope.tv/2025/12/07/p...
@cihantugal.bsky.social
ICYMI: @cihantugal.bsky.social 's analysis on the movement dynamics of HTS and Syria's current political conjunction is still live on our website.
Check out this new article by CRWS faculty affiliate @cihantugal.bsky.social, "The Evolution of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and Syria’s Future: The Interplay between Islamism and Capitalist Geopolitics."
"Fourteen years ago, Syrians rose up with democratic demands. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the West sought to hijack these demands for capital accumulation and empire-making. But a major unexpected winner of this process might instead, or along with these actors, be a new kind of Islamism."
