Jamie Johnson

Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division. When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney. As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I filled water tanks and picked up litter. What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country. Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it. It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and croissants to refugees and food parcels. When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …

Dear Shabana,

Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.

Next season of The Apprentice looks interesting.

NATO Ambassador Mike Waltz threatens Iran's NATO ambassador: "Not my first firefight. He should be careful with his words sitting on American soil, and I'll just leave it at that."

São Paulo State University - International Unesp - Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho

"when education is not liberating, the dream of the oppressed is to become the oppressor". Paulo Freire's philosophy of education still more relevant than ever
www.international.unesp.br#!/noticias/v...

"in theater"

And the next train is also held at the station and significantly delayed. A day in the life of the UK commuter.

EMR train to and from work cancelled today. Exceptional service.

Adam Tooze: Electrostates, Petrostates and the New Cold War YouTube video by London Review of Books (LRB)

Adam Tooze gave the inaugural 𝘓𝘙𝘉 Autumn Lecture, ‘Electrostates, Petrostates and the New Cold War’, at the New School in New York City on 27 October 2025.

Watch the lecture in full here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLnx...

The making of a racial scandal: security and the location of critique Abstract. Scandals have become an important mode of making visible and knowable the violence of security practices. This is done through a revelatory mecha

Essential reading for anyone interested in the politics of scandals.

academic.oup.com/sd/advance-a...

Ten years of fortress Europe has served only cruelty, profiteers and racists. The next decade is up to us | Maurice Stierl The hard right and far right are the political winners from the migration ‘crisis’, but only because centrist parties keep legitimising them, says migration and border researcher Maurice Stierl

www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

Remember to check out Thomas Gregory's new Review of International Studies editors selection 🌟

Entitled 'Restraining War' ft Moya Lloyd, Joanna Tidy, Maja Zehfuss and more! 📚

All free to read until end of Feb 👉 https://ow.ly/a0PA50XGJ2f

Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR

“The question therefore is not so much whether we are the masters or the slaves of our machines, but whether machines still serve the world and its things, or if, on the contrary, they and the automatic motions of their processes have begun to rule and even destroy world and things” - Arendt

What do these two pictures have in common (besides @sebkaempf.bsky.social's infectious smile)?

They are both behind-the-scenes of the RIS podcast! Have a listen to our recent discussions with Poppy Winanti and Thomas Gregory!

🎧 www.buzzsprout.com/2395572

When neoliberalism meets technocracy: intra-elite conflict and the realignment of Britain’s macroeconomic regime under Liz Truss This article offers a new account of Liz Truss’s premiership by analysing the political economy of the 2022 mini-Budget crisis. Engaging with literature on depoliticisation, statecraft, and the Cit...

More here: doi.org/10.1080/1356...

🚨 My article, with Jessica Wolfendale and Chris Elliott, is now available (open access) with @risjnl.bsky.social.

We systematically detail and critique war crime apologism - efforts to excuse, downplay, or even celebrate battlefield atrocity. Give it a read!
cup.org/49gmlUi

£20 administration fee?! The cost of altering a booking on @eastmidsrailway.bsky.social is more than the price of my original ticket.

Call for two or more open-rank academic positions in Sociology

Two or more Open-rank Professorships in Sociology at the University of Copenhagen:

jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...

Interesting for both it’s historical account of US conduct in Vietnam and Afghanistan, and for it articulating a US way of war that is uninterested in signalling any adherence or deference to notions of just war.

“The Onion stands at the ready to act as a mouthpiece of the world’s elite, using its distinguished reportage to parrot whatever the party line happens to be. Genocide, eugenics, incest—no topic is too taboo to find support in our paper so long as it has been approved by a trustworthy establishment”

This begs the question of why we have collectively chosen to make this such a difficult phenomena to explain.

Why choose the mystification and psychologising when such an obvious and intuitive answer is so readily available?

So pleased to share Elke Schwarz’ and my new article on morality and meaning in the cyber-nuclear age @elkeschwarz.bsky.social

Some fantastic reviews coming in on the new book, co-authored with @rhyscrilley.bsky.social and @m-deceit.bsky.social colleagues
@ou-gcsj.bsky.social

Reparation for extractivist genocide: harm, responsibility and implications for a just transition There has been increasing focus on the links between genocide and extractive megaprojects. Meanwhile, proposals for a ‘just transition’ to low carbon energy are increasingly concerned with ecologic...

Great new piece out in The International Journal of Human Rights.

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

Gaza aid contractor tells BBC he saw colleagues fire on hungry Palestinians The Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has strongly denied the allegation.

The hallmarks of settler colonial genocides: offering relief as an opportunity to kill; complete dehumanisation (“zombie hordes”) and an exultation at the infliction of pain & suffering.

Gaza aid contractor tells BBC he saw colleagues fire on hungry Palestinians www.bbc.com/news/article...

On war, wounds, law and ethics.

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

After scrambling around trying to find a reason to govern, I’m so thrilled war has furnished him with a purpose.

Thanks Emil, some great ones in here. Really appreciate you taking the time.

Good question. I’m thinking mainly of academics talk about these processes.