Stephen H. Jones
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stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
Stephen H. Jones
@stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
190 followers 190 following 160 posts

Social scientist. Writes about religion and prejudice, society and politics. Teaches sociology and criminology. Rides bikes.

Videos
Political science 39%
Sociology 28%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Stephen Jones

will-davies.bsky.social
Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 13h
The emerging conservative vision of social media is a complete black-out until you hit your 16th birthday, after which you get to exercise 'free speech' by creating deep fake child porn

Reposted by Adrian Vickers, Stephen Jones, Paul Nightingale

stephenkb.bsky.social
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 14h
Not least because if you actually *want* more people to do high paying tertiary qualifications, you’re creating a weird situation where an electrician on a higher salary is paying less tax than an English teacher. Not clear what the value of this is.

Reposted by Stephen Jones

philbc3.bsky.social
Phil Burton-Cartledge @philbc3.bsky.social · 2d
Sage words from 35 years ago.
Baudrillard on the Appeal of AI Slop
"If men create intelligent machines, or fantasise about them, it is either because they secretly despair of their own intelligence or be...
averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com

Reposted by Stephen Jones

will-davies.bsky.social
Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 2d
Pretty devastating takedown of American political science, and its inability to acknowledge anti-liberal forces harpers.org/archive/2026...
In the Land of the Data Blind, by Jason Blakely
Why political science can’t grasp Trumpism
harpers.org

stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
Stephen H. Jones @stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social · 2d
Being able to accrue interest on savings.
thereal3ccentric.bsky.social 3ccentric @thereal3ccentric.bsky.social · 3d
Without revealing your actual age,what's something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand?

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott , and 2 more

adambienkov.bsky.social
Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 2d
If a new app was produced which had, as its core features, the generation of sexual deep fake images of children and calls for a violent global far-right revolution, then not only would it be swiftly banned, but you wouldn't have a single mainstream politician willing to associate themselves with it

Reposted by Christian Odendahl, Richard S.J. Tol, Will Jennings , and 17 more

thereal3ccentric.bsky.social
3ccentric @thereal3ccentric.bsky.social · 3d
Without revealing your actual age,what's something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand?

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Laurent Pech, Stephen Jones

drjennings.bsky.social
Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 3d
Even more broadly, large organisations need to think very carefully whether they should be encouraging employees and customers to engage with them in any way on a platform where there is industrial scale production and distribution of CSAM and where the owner has shown no interest in tackling it.
psurridge.bsky.social Paula Surridge @psurridge.bsky.social · 3d
The government should not only be stopping using the platform they should also be issuing urgent safeguarding advice to all institutions not to post pictures there.
louisehaighmp.bsky.social Louise Haigh @louisehaighmp.bsky.social · 3d
I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.

stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
Stephen H. Jones @stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social · 4d
Very astute point.
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 7d
It is underdiscussed how far Reform is an attempt to find a narrow governing coalition of a group of voters - a majority of whose views are the opposite of a public majority on many/most major public policy issues. Underestimated because of media ecosystem overestimating support for these positions

stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
Stephen H. Jones @stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social · 4d
Note also that Farage gave the same response today to a question about respecting international law - a concern only for 'Islington elites' apparently. International law, of course, was a direct response to the Holocaust.
adamjschwarz.bsky.social Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 4d
Antisemites have long depicted Jews as members of an urban, elite social class.

So when Farage dismisses accusations of antisemitism as the exclusive concern of a London-based “upper middle class”, he’s deliberately invoking that dog-whistle stereotype.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Stephen Jones

adamjschwarz.bsky.social
Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 4d
Antisemites have long depicted Jews as members of an urban, elite social class.

So when Farage dismisses accusations of antisemitism as the exclusive concern of a London-based “upper middle class”, he’s deliberately invoking that dog-whistle stereotype.

Reposted by Stephen Jones, Lisa Diedrich

jonathanliew.bsky.social
Jonathan Liew @jonathanliew.bsky.social · 5d
and when you say things like that, about a man like jason wilcox

www.theguardian.com/football/202...
What does Ruben Amorim know compared to Sir Jim, Jason Wilcox and the gilded overclass? | Jonathan Liew
In Manchester United’s brave new world coaches are more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still to blame if it arrives cold
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Stephen Jones

andrewcopson.bsky.social
Andrew Copson @andrewcopson.bsky.social · 5d
We all choose how to live the one life we have and how to meet the things that happen to us. This woman has turned tragedy into progress and positive change. She is an inspiration to us all, as is the model of restorative justice. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'Why I now hug my son's killer on stage'
Joan Scourfield joins forces with Jacob Dunne to highlight the benefits of restorative justice.
www.bbc.co.uk

stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
Stephen H. Jones @stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social · 6d
Not enough people recognise this. There is a glaring contradiction between the anti-racist ethos of the modern FA and the sport's reliance on a platform that actively promotes white supremacism.
jezd.bsky.social Jez D yeah you know me @jezd.bsky.social · 6d
Truth is until football clubs come off Xhitter this problem will persist.

It might sound odd but football is a consistent reason people continue to use it. Therefore it's seen as a valued platform when the reality is about 80% of traffic is bad actors, bots and trolls.

Reposted by Stephen Jones

jezd.bsky.social
Jez D yeah you know me @jezd.bsky.social · 6d
Truth is until football clubs come off Xhitter this problem will persist.

It might sound odd but football is a consistent reason people continue to use it. Therefore it's seen as a valued platform when the reality is about 80% of traffic is bad actors, bots and trolls.

Reposted by Stephen Jones

theguardian.com
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 6d
Male bonds develop one way, female friendships another. Should we stop trying to make men more like women? | Gaby Hinsliff
Male bonds develop one way, female friendships another. Should we stop trying to make men more like women? | Gaby Hinsliff
The strong and silent masculine image is often derided, but why? Perhaps companionship via trains, golf or a quiet drink is enough, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Stephen Jones

nick-pettigrew.bsky.social
Nick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 6d
Reposting this one last time:
Me predicting that the Man Utd job would break Amorim like a bearded butterfly on a wheel driven through shit.

Reposted by Stephen Jones

irksomelib.bsky.social
Dave @irksomelib.bsky.social · 7d
Lately I've been thinking about these 1983 Iron Maiden lyrics way more often than I should
Yeah, another prophet of disaster Who says this ship is lost Another prophet of disaster Leaving you to count the cost Taunting us with visions Afflicting us with fear Predicting war for millions In the hope that one appears Lyrics from Iron Maiden's "Die With Your Boots On" a song on their alubm "Piece of Mind"

stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
Stephen H. Jones @stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social · 7d
One of the most depressing facts about my life is that Mark Collett is the most famous person I went to university with. I've been reading about his stupid fascism for a quarter of a century.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Leading UK far-right activist spoke at Russian extreme nationalist event
Exclusive: Patriotic Alternative’s Mark Collett addressed forum along with ideologue described as ‘Putin’s brain’
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Will Jennings, Stephen Jones, Pauline Stafford

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 7d
It is underdiscussed how far Reform is an attempt to find a narrow governing coalition of a group of voters - a majority of whose views are the opposite of a public majority on many/most major public policy issues. Underestimated because of media ecosystem overestimating support for these positions

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Will Jennings, Daniel W. Drezner , and 8 more

kjhealy.co
Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 8d
It’s sobering to look back on the run-up to the Iraq war—a period of unceasing chattering-class debate, elaborate official lies, media complicity, unavailing global protest, in the end a giant stitch-up—and have it seem like some sort of paradise of public deliberation compared to these gangsters.

stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
Stephen H. Jones @stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social · 8d
I do wonder if, in a different online ecosystem, Rowling, Goodwin or Linehan might have stopped at just being wrong, and not been driven by dunks to radical paranoia.

stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social
Stephen H. Jones @stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social · 8d
Off topic but, one of the worst things about the social media world is it provides huge disincentives to acknowledging a wrong position. It is IMO one of the main engines of online radicalisation.
stephenkb.bsky.social Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 8d
Right - it's in fact good to be wrong, it's how you learn things. But you need to actually acknowledge that and seek to reflect, as opposed to snarling at people who point out that you've missed something and never doing any actual learning.

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka, Håvard Kauserud, Steve Peers , and 7 more

oalexanderdk.bsky.social
Oliver Alexander @oalexanderdk.bsky.social · 8d

Reposted by Stephen Jones

stephenkb.bsky.social
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 8d
Right - it's in fact good to be wrong, it's how you learn things. But you need to actually acknowledge that and seek to reflect, as opposed to snarling at people who point out that you've missed something and never doing any actual learning.

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Anna O. Law, Steve Peers , and 2 more

cristianfarias.com
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 8d
Best thing I’ve read this morning, from a human rights lawyer in Mexico. Translation is in the ALT-text.
Twitter thread in Spanish by José Mario de la Garza, a human rights lawyer in Mexico, translated using Google Translate: 1. Overthrowing a dictator sounds morally right. No one mourns a tyrant. But international law wasn't built to protect the good, but to restrain the powerful. That's why it prohibits force almost without exception: not because it ignores injustice, but because it knows that if each country decides whom to "liberate" by force, the world reverts to the law of the strongest. 2. The problem is not Maduro. The problem is the precedent. When military force is used to change governments without clear rules, sovereignty ceases to be a limit and becomes an obstacle. Today it is “overthrowing a dictator”; tomorrow it will be “correcting an election,” “protecting interests,” “restoring order.” The law does not absolve dictatorships, but neither does it legitimize unilateral crusades. Cont’d: 3. The uncomfortable question is not whether a tyrant deserves to fall, but who decides when and how. Because history teaches something brutal: removing a dictator is easy; building justice afterward is not. And when legality is broken in the name of good, what almost always follows is not freedom, but chaos, violence, and new victims. The law exists to remind us of this, even when it makes us uncomfortable. Maduro isn't the problem: he's the face of the problem. Removing him from power would be merely opening the door. Behind him is the machine: Rodríguez, Cabello, the military command, the operators of repression and plunder. If you only change the person at the top and leave the system intact, what follows isn't democracy: it's a reshuffling. And there's something even more difficult: Chavismo didn't just capture institutions, it captured daily life. Economy, media, bureaucracy, employment, fear, favors, blackmail. A country can't be "de-Chavistaized" by decree or by an electoral miracle. The real transition begins when that network is broken without setting the country ablaze. The challenge is enormous, and it's also a moral one: to unite without vengeance, but without impunity. Targeted justice for those most responsible, truth for the victims, guarantees that the rest will dismantle the system, and a plan for people to live again—not just survive. Because freedom doesn't come with a new president: it comes when the state ceases to be a threat.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Douglas Guilfoyle, Stephen Jones , and 1 more

rolandmcs.bsky.social
Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 8d
'Unorthodox'

Reposted by Steve Peers, Robert Wolfe, Ingrid Robeyns , and 4 more

casmudde.bsky.social
Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 11d
My wish for 2026 is that Europeans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in their own country as they are about them in the U.S. and that Americans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in the U.S. as Europeans are.

Reposted by Stephen Jones, Stuart White

omaromalleykhan.bsky.social
Omar Khan @omaromalleykhan.bsky.social · 13d
You can't support liberty & oppose diversity. Human beings use their freedom in different ways make different choices abt life

Difference just is the consequence of people exercising their freedom

'Postliberals' [sic] don't like some choices which is to say they are anti-liberty & its consequences

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Tim Bale , and 1 more

cjfaraday.bsky.social
Dr Christina Faraday @cjfaraday.bsky.social · 13d
I seem to have woken up in 1529…
Screenshot of a Telegraph article with the headline “The King is a better Christian than the Pope and Archbishop”