Jan-Werner Mueller
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jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Jan-Werner Mueller
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social

Political Theory and Intellectual History. Politics of Architecture and Iconography. Some Public Affairs Commentary.

Posting in a personal capacity.

Texts mostly in LRB, Guardian, Foreign Policy, Architectural Review.

Representation: Wylie. .. more

Computer science 57%
Mathematics 29%

Reminder that journalists CAN follow up on non-answers.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?

It was years ago.

Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?

Not in a hurtful way.

Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?

Not with intent.

Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?

Not genuine abuse.

😮🫣😬😱 ~AA
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?

It was years ago.

Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?

Not in a hurtful way.

Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?

Not with intent.

Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?

Not genuine abuse.

😮🫣😬😱 ~AA

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Looking forward to this online event next week, which is open to all!

I will once again share a (virtual) stage with the wonderful @veghzsuzsanna.bsky.social 👩‍🎓

Big, but, alas, not surprising. And "family businesses" is about as much of a smokescreen as talk of "small businesses" is in the US.
Germany’s family business lobby opens door to AfD, sparking backlash
Germany’s family-owned companies’ lobby has confirmed it is “saying goodbye to firewalls” against the far-right AfD as the party surges in national polling.
www.euronews.com
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:

@punchbowlnews.bsky.social

"Es stimmt, dass viele Wirtschaftsvertreter dabei sind, die Nerven zu verlieren und mit dem Gedanken liebäugeln, eine Unions-Minderheitsregierung könne sich von der AfD tolerieren lassen und Deutschland auf Vordermann bringen. Sie alle denken die Sache nicht zu Ende."
(S+) Meinung: Mittelstand auf Abwegen: Der fatale Flirt der Familienunternehmer mit der AfD
Christine Ostermann, Präsidentin des Verbands »Die Familienunternehmer«, hält nichts mehr von der Brandmauer gegen die AfD. Glaubt die Lobbyisten ernsthaft, die Rechtsextremen bekehren zu können?
www.spiegel.de

"In Sachsen-Anhalt arbeitet die Landtagsfraktion der AfD offensichtlich bereits an Listen von Studiengängen und Lehrstühlen, welche der Partei ein Dorn im Auge sind. Sie zielt dabei vor allem auf Gender Studies und postkoloniale Studien."

Von Trump und Orban lernen heisst siegen lernen...
AfD hetzt gegen Hochschulen: Angriff auf die Freiheit der Wissenschaft
Die AfD Sachsen-Anhalt fragt gezielt nach Listen postkolonialer Seminare und Lehrstühle. Wie die Universitäten beginnen, sich gegen die Angriffe zu wappnen.
taz.de

👇
What a strange framing and characterization. How does one describe his blatantly dishonest, racist question about taxes as “press[ing] the Mayor-elect on his policy proposals”? In what way does this lying troll emerge as a “winner“?

'That people move from representing the presidency to representing banks is so normal that we forget the costs: the private job done with the savvy to outfox one’s former public-sector colleagues, the public job done gently to keep open doors.'

Recommended analysis:
Opinion | How the Elite Behave When No One Is Watching: Inside the Epstein Emails
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Andy Warhol, Udo Kier, 1973 #RIP😢 whitney.org/collection/w...
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges
Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.
www.cnbc.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Boualem Sansal s’exprime pour la première fois depuis sa libération : « Je contrôle chacun de mes mots »
Boualem Sansal s’exprime pour la première fois depuis sa libération : « Je contrôle chacun de mes mots »
L’écrivain franco-algérien, de retour en France depuis mardi, était l’invité de France 2 dimanche soir. Il avait été condamné à cinq ans de prison en Algérie pour « atteinte à l’unité nationale ». Il a finalement été gracié le 12 novembre.
www.lemonde.fr
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
A depraved and decadent Trump WH dinner for MBS was a stunning low for an American ruling class that's stopped pretending to carry a moral compass

It was really a celebration of death - of democracy, of an overheating planet, and ultimately themselves. My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/ceos...
The night America’s doomed ruling class gorged on lamb, blood, and oil
For America’s deeply corrupt billionaires, time heals all wounds — even from a murderous Saudi prince’s bone saw.
www.inquirer.com
Whenever you think this can’t get any lower, Orbán proves otherwise.

Orbán is posting right-wing extremist tourism ads, and Austria’s most prominent right-wing extremist, Martin S., responds to this post with "Right decision." Well then.
Trump’s special envoy Witkoff put his hand over his heart when Putin walked in the room. Like he’s reunited with a loved one. That really tells you all you need to know.
Since February, according to my latest analysis, almost 600,000 Black women have been economically sidelined. The November 20, 2025, Jobs Report makes clear this isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. That is not a recovery. It is a redistribution of opportunity.
The exit economy is here. Black Women are paying the highest price | Fortune
This isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. And it's not a recovery, it's a redistribution of opportunity.
fortune.com
Artículo de un “think tanker” conservador estadounidense defendiendo a Franco, en el Wall Street Journal.
El problema no son los jóvenes españoles.
@marujatorres.bsky.social
@mariaramirez.bsky.social
@robiols.bsky.social

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

🧪 More than 74,000 people were affected by the cancellation of 383 clinical trials funded by the #NIH.

Many of these grants funded #cancer research.

When science is silenced, patients suffer.

Via @scientificamerican.bsky.social on IG

'But is a “state of exception” a real thing? Even if it is—are we in one? Do voters believe in this stuff—or even know about it?'

Complaining about "abstractions" (versus "real-world truths") and going all anti-intellectual might not be the best response to the so-called New Right...
Does MAGA Have Ideas?
A new book traces the intellectual origins of Trumpism—straight into the void.
www.newyorker.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Student Journalists (Again) Showing Us How dept:

—@theharvardcrimson.bsky.social plays latest 'Harvard about to cave' story the way it should. Ie, as another MAGA claim. (Left image)

—Gives "well, actually...." context missing from most MSM reports. (Right)

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
This excellent WSJ annotation of the Molotov/Ribbentrop … sorry, Witkoff/Dmitriev … “peace deal” for Ukraine shows how ridiculously vague and utterly unworkable this thing is

Free link

www.wsj.com/world/europe...
Trump’s Peace Plan for Ukraine, Annotated
Here’s a breakdown of some of the key points in the plan and how Ukraine and its European allies might respond.
www.wsj.com

New conceptual weapon of mass false equivalence for reactionary centrists: "post-liberal."
I don't think this is a correct description of America's party system.
I don't think this is a correct description of America's party system.

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Well worth a read for its ironclad reasoning, no matter how much its conclusions will depress you.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
This is all John Roberts’ fault
Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man.
www.motherjones.com

👇🎯
After more than 10 years of “the Danish Model”, nativism is hegemonic in the country, the far right polls near level highs again, and the Social Democrats lost Copenhagen and poll at historic low.

European Social Democrats should look at the facts, not the myths!

Me in @theguardian.com
The ‘Danish model’ is the darling of centre-left parties like Labour. The problem is, it doesn’t even work in Denmark | Cas Mudde
This week’s local elections are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they’re making a mistake, says academic and author Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com

Could not find all the well-known Communists at Princeton?
Ah yes. Harvard Law School in the early 1990s, well known for its Communist professors.

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Three newly published books about Russia, all excellent in their own way, share a similar perspective: you mustn't trust Russian diplomatic initiatives, because perfidy is Putin's calling card. Yet this is precisely what Steve Witkoff, dubbed "witless" by his Russian counterparts, is doing.