Ben Laurence
@agentsofchange.bsky.social
240 followers 120 following 19 posts
Author of Agents of Change. Political philosopher at UChicago who is obsessed with the relation of theory to practice. Currently working on the political theory of labor unions. https://benlaurence.net
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jdcmedlock.bsky.social
“I’ll declare war on you if you don’t give me the peace prize” is an incredible bit
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emanabdelhadi.bsky.social
Watch the videos of our people celebrating and fuel up on joy for the next phase of the fight for a Free Palestine. We will never stop until our people have the dignity of full lives on our land: self determination, freedom of movement, the right to return. In our lifetime.
agentsofchange.bsky.social
Claus Offe, the great German Marxist sociologist died yesterday. His essays collection Disorganized Capitalism is so good! I'm obsessed with "2 Logics of Collective Action", a rejoinder to Mancur Olson's neo-classical treatment of unions. "The Political Economy of the Labor Market" is also a banger!
agentsofchange.bsky.social
The Ezra Klein conversation with Ta
-Nahisi Coates is like listening to an evolved human (Coates) trying to reason, with great moral clarity and nuance, with a hollow shell of a person.
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althistorian.bsky.social
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day! On this day one man prevented the apocalypse.
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noamchompers.bsky.social
sorry i know we already did this, but just remembered that the sorta-tacit-sorta-explicit thing in that amicus brief is 'we are goldbugs for gender' and had to stare at the wall for five minutes
galabonty.bsky.social
So this is clearly trying to appeal to gold standard cranks yeah? And that may well describe at least a couple justices
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attackerman.bsky.social
It gives me no pleasure to report that he does indeed have that shit on
agentsofchange.bsky.social
A new Chotiner dropped
dancow.bsky.social
this is the most chotinered a chotiner interview has ever chotinered
THE NEW YORKER 10D
Q. In terms of human rights, I've always found it a little bit puzzling, given what you write, and given who your wife is, that you two were so close to Henry Kissinger. Of all the pre-Trump political figures in America, he is the one I think of as in some ways the opposite of liberal, given his behavior toward the rest of the world.

A. I'll tell you a story. I wrote a book a few years ago on Star Wars. We invited Dr.
Kissinger to my Star Wars book party, and he said, "You wrote a book about Star Wars? Why'd you write a book about Star Wars?" He was puzzled and courteous, but really confused. And then he came to the book party, which was quite generous. He was a busy person. Q. Well, the next time someone brings up a terrible anecdote about Cambodia or Vietnam, I will definitely drop the Star Wars story to show that people have two sides.


A. Yeah. And I get those who think you shouldn't be friends with someone who did terrible things. I hear that. I can just say that he was, as a very large number of people would say, though many fewer would say it publicly, an extraordinarily generous friend.
agentsofchange.bsky.social
Claus Offe talks about this in "The Political Economy of the Labor Markey". I was reading it today.
Reposted by Ben Laurence
mayamedia.bsky.social
Unions in Italy have launched a one-day strike to protest Israel's war on Gaza. Thousands of workers are demonstrating in the general strike that's brought schools, transit and ports to a halt.
agentsofchange.bsky.social
So so sad to learn about the death of Jonathan Lear. His work on Aristotle and Freud was formative for me. He was a model of philosophical intelligence and curiosity. More importantly he was a human human, with rare integrity and sharp judgment. It's hard to imagine the world without him in it.
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uchicagoaaup.bsky.social
All of us at the university budget town hall heard the same thing when the president said that donors liked the “sharpening” we’ve done and will reward future “sharpening,” right?
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reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
We haven’t seen the text of this yet, but to be clear, the president has literally zero legal authority to impose a $100,000 fee on visas. None. Zip. Zilch.

The only authority Congress has ever given the executive branch here is to charge fees to recover the cost of processing the application.
atrupar.com
Trump signs an EO on H-1Bs raising "the fee that companies pay to sponsor H1-B applicants to $100,000"
agentsofchange.bsky.social
Seems like ending H1-B visas may result in offshoring some high skilled jobs. Not in higher ed obvs but in tech
aaronsojourner.org
On the news of H-1B visa fees rising to $100,000, reupping this analysis.
aaronsojourner.org
Have U.S. multinationals been growing remote-suitable jobs offshore rather than onshore?

Elton Mykerezi & I partnered with Revelio on new analysis. Their data is built from worker LinkedIn profiles & corp structure info.

Toplines:
www.reveliolabs.com/news/busines...
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astra.bsky.social
We’d be in a much stronger position right now if mainstream Democrats had taken a common sense stand for First Amendment principles instead of piling on undergraduate standing up for Palestine.
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nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
The free speech activist who built a list of professors he worked to get fired for their speech must be celebrated for his support of free speech, and anyone who quotes his speech accurately in context will be fired and/or face state punishment by the champions of free speech, do I have that right?
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olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
I see we're at the "put Jewish people on a special surveillance list" stage of "combating antisemitism"
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olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
this is, hands down, the best video I've seen on men's influencer content and it's not close either
agentsofchange.bsky.social
The RNs of Magee's Women's Hospital just won their election and succeded in forming a union. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is the biggest employer in PA. David just beat goliath. I can't believe it. It wasn't even close. Solidarity forever.
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jacobtlevy.bsky.social
Oh good. We've reached the "I don't have to be faster than the bear, I only have to be less woke than you" stage of faculty solidarity. archive.is/wGNDr
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bencollins.bsky.social
AI filmmaking is peeing. It’s pooping. It’s throwing up. It’s a new kind of liquid coming out. It’s hated by the establishment. It’s what goes in the toilet. It’s wet. It’s what’s in the bathroom.
AI filmmaking and storytelling is punk rock. It’s hip hop. It’s counterculture. It’s a new type of creativity. It’s a new medium. It’s hated by the mainstream film and art establishment. It resists ideology. It ignores gate keeping. It’s uncomfortable. It’s scary. It’s viral. It’s accessible. It’s refreshing. It’s welcoming. It’s here.
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oldjerryfodor.bsky.social
"We saw you from across the bar and liked your vibe"
Sexy Brandon and McDowell dot jpg