Michael Vaughan

The Politics of Feeling Populism, Progressivism, Liberalism

This book is brilliant - insightful, timely, and also written quite beautifully. If you are confused about or interested in how politics "feels" in the present conjuncture of UK/US politics, read it! @benandersongeog.bsky.social @ajsecor.bsky.social www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-p...

Absolutely dystopian juxtaposition from the Guardian front page. Difficult to understand how anyone of decency and conscience can defend this government at this point. Just sheer moral degeneracy to arm a state that does this and arrest people for objecting. Wtf are we doing as a country?

Thomas Piketty and Michael Sandel on the struggle for equality - LSE Review of Books Equality: What It Means and Why It Matters is a wide-ranging discussion between economist Thomas Piketty and philosopher Michael J. Sandel on ways to think about and achieve real equality.

NEW✨ ‪ @michaelvaughan.bsky.social @lseinequalities.bsky.social reviews Equality: What It Means and Why It Matters by Thomas Piketty @thomaspiketty.bsky.social and Michael J. Sandel @politybooks.bsky.social 👇

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

Starmer’s policy: a transfer of resources from the poorest, straight to the arms industry.

Storytelling for advocacy in the digital age - LSE Review of Books Story Tech: Power, Storytelling and Social Change Advocacy by Filippo Trevisan, Michael Vaughan & Ariadne Vromen examines digital storytelling for advocacy.

Story Tech: Power, Storytelling, and Social Change Advocacy by Filippo Trevisan @michaelvaughan.bsky.social‬ @lseinequalities.bsky.social @ariadnevromen.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social @livunipress.bsky.social @uofmpress.bsky.social

#Review by Juliana Reimberg @cu-cardiffbusiness.bsky.social‬

Talking about wealth inequality Looking at perceptions of, and attitudes towards, wealth and wealth inequality — and how to increase public support for a fairer distribution.

🧵New @jrf-uk.bsky.social and @lseinequalities.bsky.social report by @wealtherty.bsky.social @michaelvaughan.bsky.social and Annalena Oppel:

We showcase three different ways of talking about wealth inequality and what difference it makes to public attitudes.

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www.jrf.org.uk/wealth-fundi...

Racial justice and wealth inequality: a call for action Public event at LSE | Shabna Begum, Esiri Bukata, Kojo Koram, Mina Mahmoudzadeh, Mike Savage, Faiza Shaheen | Tues 10 June, 6.30 to 8.00pm

Are you concerned by huge & escalating racial wealth inequalities in the UK? Please come to hear the launch of our @lseinequalities.bsky.social report for @runnymedetrust.bsky.social on 10th June. Features @shabna.bsky.social @kojokoram.bsky.social Faiza Shaheen & us!

www.lse.ac.uk/Internationa...

Given the local election results in the UK, a short #thread - based on much of our own research - on the vicious cycle of radical right support that we have seen in many countries.
1) When radical right parties (such as Reform) are electorally successful established parties move right on immigration

The wealth of billionaires is growing very fast (7-9%/year). Let's be clear: a 2% wealth tax is an important first step, but it won't be enough to stabilize the ⤴️ concentration at the top. 5-10% is the minimum to stop inequality from rising. These questions must be part of open, democratic debates.

Move to cut UK aid will “destroy Labour’s legacy on international development” say NGO leaders in letter to PM and Treasury | Bond 138 leaders of NGOs from across the UK, including Save the Children UK, Oxfam GB, World Vision UK, ONE, Christian Aid, Action Aid UK, Islamic Relief,

138 NGO leaders tell Keir Starmer: "It is unacceptable that taxing extreme wealth was not looked at before cutting UK aid."

www.bond.org.uk/press-releas...

We find: news media tend toward images of luxury and consumption (e.g. cars + yachts); civil society have more contrasts between rich and poor. We also look at two tropes which show how tricky this domain is: ambivalent representations of the super-rich, and birds-eye aerial photography

Screenshot of article abstract from journal website.

Out today - new article with @wealtherty.bsky.social on visual representations of wealth inequality, by UK news media and civil society orgs journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

It's difficult to engage in good faith in a discussion about 'compromise' proposals that dignify the phoney premise that we simply can't afford to scrap the two-child limit & benefit cap. £3.5bn would be incredible value for the poverty alleviation (& knock-on economic benefits) it would achieve

This will be great!

📣 New paper by @michaelvaughan.bsky.social, Ariadne Vromen and Serrin Rutledge-Prior

They explore how personal storytelling was used in the 2023 Voice referendum to argue against the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

🔗 https://buff.ly/3EQ1f1Q

You can also find my brilliant colleagues at @ariadnevromen.bsky.social and @serrinrp.bsky.social

Storytelling in the Australian 2023 voice referendum campaign - Ariadne Vromen, Serrin Rutledge-Prior, Michael Vaughan, 2025 Personal stories are a strategic tool often used by advocacy movements to pursue claims for equality. In the 2023 Voice referendum campaign in Australia, person...

My new article written with @serrinrp.bsky.social & @michaelvaughan.bsky.social has just been published in @bjpir.bsky.social
“Storytelling in the Australian 2023 voice referendum campaign” available OA at doi.org/10.1177/1369...

Where do we draw the line? Exploring an extreme wealth line Public event at LSE | Ingrid Robeyns, Olivier De Schutter, Fernanda Balata, Gary Stevenson, Tania Burchardt | Thurs 6 March, 6.30 to 8.00pm

Please join us on Thursday 6 March for a @lseinequalities.bsky.social discussion about where & how to draw the line on extreme wealth. Fabulous line up @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social @garyseconomics.bsky.social @deschuttero.bsky.social, Fernanda Balata & Tania Burchardt

www.lse.ac.uk/Internationa...

Thanks to the LSE European Politics Blog for commissioning a summary of our study on class consciousness and voting.

We show that even class conscious workers are not immune to radical right appeals. And we discuss how the left can still win.

The study is here: www.fes.de/cgi-bin/gbv....

It's not a demolition site it's a mass grave. It's not a demolition site it's a crime scene. It's not a demolition site its a homeland. It's not a demolition site it's Palestine. It's not a demolition site it's a genocide.

“Inequality as spectacle” – or why Mangione trumps Gini What do people talk about when they talk about inequality? To begin with, they probably don’t use the word “inequality” much at all, writes Michael Vaughan. More than elite-led debate about inequal…

What do people talk about when they talk about inequality? For starters, they probably don’t use the word “inequality”… @michaelvaughan.bsky.social on the rise of “inequality as spectacle” over elite-led debate, drawing on Mangione & other case studies #LSEInequalitiesBlog

🚨Job alert 🚨

I am looking for two PhD students to work on (comparative) economic inequalities, broadly defined 💰📈💸

The positions are fully funded (E13, 100%), 4 years (with possibility of a 1y extension), and in beautiful Heidelberg! 🏰
adb.zuv.uni-heidelberg.de/info/INFO_FD...
Deadline is Feb 28!

Perfectly timed, and very nicely crafted report. Great work by NEF and Patriotic Millionaires 👏👏

📢 New paper by @michaelvaughan.bsky.social and David Schieferdecker:

Through an analysis of the 2021 billionaire space race, they argue that “inequality as spectacle” is critical to contemporary inequality discourse.

Read it here 👇
https://buff.ly/4hikYFg

We're delighted to welcome @graceblakeley.bsky.social to our event this evening! Grace is joined by @michaelvaughan.bsky.social and @davidjmadden.bsky.social to discuss her new book "Vulture Capitalism".

Watch the discussion online ➡️ www.youtube.com/live/iQJVkW5...

#LSEEvents

"Reversing racial wealth and health disparities will require bold change, a substantial power shift and significant, long-term investment...viewing home ownership less aspirationally and certainly not as an asset for wealth accumulation"

✍🏽 Me and my colleague Serena for @lseinequalities.bsky.social

New year, new article 🎉 David Schieferdecker and I talk about "inequality as spectacle" as a distinct type of inequality discourse, exemplified in the billionaire space race. E.g. focused on the super-rich (not distributions), emerging via hybrid media (not just newspapers) ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

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Wealth has raced ahead of earnings, creating a new caste society

Tax is only part of the answer: we also need a new political economy that differentiates good & bad wealth

My major new @ippr.bsky.social report: Earning Vs Owning

ippr-org.files.svdcdn.com/production/D...

A billionaire wins the US presidential election, bankrolled by the richest man in the world using his own huge social media site to spread propaganda and disinformation. Yet, we don't talk about money in politics but about how standing up for marginalized groups supposedly lost the election.

Information, Communication & Society Special Issue: Platforms, Power, and Friction. Guest Editors: Pawel Popiel and Krishnan Vasudevan. Volume 27, Issue 10 of Information, Communication & Society

Our special Issue on platforms, power & friction is officially out with shiny volume and issue numbers in @icsjournal.bsky.social, just in time for thinking about the interplay between platform power and authoritarianism www.tandfonline.com/toc/rics20/2...