Annie Heffernan
@annieheff.bsky.social
AP in political theory at University of Michigan working at the intersection of disability studies, feminist theory, and democratic theory. she/hers.
www.annheffernan.net
www.annheffernan.net
Pinned
“They Attend Strictly to Their Own Business”: Disability and the Construction of the Worker-Citizen | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
“They Attend Strictly to Their Own Business”: Disability and the Construction of the Worker-Citizen
www.cambridge.org
My article, “‘They Attend Strictly to Their Own Business’: Disability and the Construction of the Worker-Citizen” is now up on APSR FirstView!
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
NEWS: Judge Biery has ordered the release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos. A thunderous rebuke against ICE’s violent campaign in Minnesota. Read the order below.
Link:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Link:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Order – #9 in Conejo Arias v. Noem (W.D. Tex., 5:26-cv-00415) – CourtListener.com
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE COURT--The Court finds that the Constitution of these United States trumps this administration's detention of petitioner Adrian Conejo Arias and his minor son, L.C.R. The Grea...
storage.courtlistener.com
January 31, 2026 at 8:27 PM
NEWS: Judge Biery has ordered the release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos. A thunderous rebuke against ICE’s violent campaign in Minnesota. Read the order below.
Link:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Link:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
I think it is OUTRAGEOUS that people are LEAPING to the conclusion that some our post prominent Americans are child rapists when it is EQUALLY PLAUSIBLE that they are simply indifferent to whether other people are child rapists so long as those other people can offer them access to power.
January 31, 2026 at 2:41 PM
I think it is OUTRAGEOUS that people are LEAPING to the conclusion that some our post prominent Americans are child rapists when it is EQUALLY PLAUSIBLE that they are simply indifferent to whether other people are child rapists so long as those other people can offer them access to power.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
It's near-white out conditions in Chicago as the snow comes down, and tonight's anti-ICE/CBP rally is wrapping up in front of city hall.
But not before the crowd bounces and chants, "I believe that we will win!"
But not before the crowd bounces and chants, "I believe that we will win!"
January 31, 2026 at 12:41 AM
It's near-white out conditions in Chicago as the snow comes down, and tonight's anti-ICE/CBP rally is wrapping up in front of city hall.
But not before the crowd bounces and chants, "I believe that we will win!"
But not before the crowd bounces and chants, "I believe that we will win!"
Wes:
Murder and Adultery: The French and Russian Novel (Meyer)
Hughes, Hurston, Morrison, Wideman (Pemberton)
Harvard:
The Normal and the Abnormal (Kleinman and Rosenberg)
Punishment, Politics, and Culture (Sarat)
Medical Sociology (Good)
Murder and Adultery: The French and Russian Novel (Meyer)
Hughes, Hurston, Morrison, Wideman (Pemberton)
Harvard:
The Normal and the Abnormal (Kleinman and Rosenberg)
Punishment, Politics, and Culture (Sarat)
Medical Sociology (Good)
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college
Urban politics
Urban sociology
Mid 20th century U.S. History
Gender and Politics
World History (I'm sorry for sleeping through this at 8am, but the prof was so nice in office hours, I will always pay that forward)
Urban politics
Urban sociology
Mid 20th century U.S. History
Gender and Politics
World History (I'm sorry for sleeping through this at 8am, but the prof was so nice in office hours, I will always pay that forward)
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college
Calc II
Irish drama
Bertolt Brecht auf deutsch
Poetry writing
Race in America
Calc II
Irish drama
Bertolt Brecht auf deutsch
Poetry writing
Race in America
January 31, 2026 at 2:37 AM
Wes:
Murder and Adultery: The French and Russian Novel (Meyer)
Hughes, Hurston, Morrison, Wideman (Pemberton)
Harvard:
The Normal and the Abnormal (Kleinman and Rosenberg)
Punishment, Politics, and Culture (Sarat)
Medical Sociology (Good)
Murder and Adultery: The French and Russian Novel (Meyer)
Hughes, Hurston, Morrison, Wideman (Pemberton)
Harvard:
The Normal and the Abnormal (Kleinman and Rosenberg)
Punishment, Politics, and Culture (Sarat)
Medical Sociology (Good)
Exactly this. But instead of providing families with resources, healthcare, or well-funded schools--all things that might address those feelings of anger and desperation--RFK has instead reverted back to the "refrigerator mother" theory of autism.
My BIL has two kids on the spectrum and he said "So many parents are angry and sad and desperately looking for anything to blame for their child's unfair struggles and RFK and the right are cashing in on misery and fear and we're the prop"
WSJ reports RFK Jr has instructed HHS to link autism with Tylenol use during pregnancy and folate deficiency.
January 30, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Exactly this. But instead of providing families with resources, healthcare, or well-funded schools--all things that might address those feelings of anger and desperation--RFK has instead reverted back to the "refrigerator mother" theory of autism.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
Anyway, you can give $5 tax deductible to PBS for their app and get Ken Burns Revolutionary War doc along with Lupita and Sandra Oh in Twelfth Night and not pollute all of Memphis while you’re watching it.
First trailer for Darren Aranofsky's new AI animated series 'On This Day... 1776'
• Tells short narrative stories about the Revolutionary War
• Uses Gen AI tools, including tech made by Google DeepMind
• Has SAG voice actors
• Tells short narrative stories about the Revolutionary War
• Uses Gen AI tools, including tech made by Google DeepMind
• Has SAG voice actors
January 29, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Anyway, you can give $5 tax deductible to PBS for their app and get Ken Burns Revolutionary War doc along with Lupita and Sandra Oh in Twelfth Night and not pollute all of Memphis while you’re watching it.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
Today, Luke Farrell (@lukef.bsky.social) explains how complex eligibility requirements have turned America’s safety net into a lucrative revenue stream for monopolistic private contractors.
The Means-Testing Industrial Complex
As Republicans tightened work requirements and eligibility rules for Medicaid and SNAP last year, Equifax’s CEO openly celebrated the profits to be made from administering this deprivation.
lpeproject.org
January 28, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Today, Luke Farrell (@lukef.bsky.social) explains how complex eligibility requirements have turned America’s safety net into a lucrative revenue stream for monopolistic private contractors.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
Weather is something that happens in other places, to other people. They call me and tell me about it. I go, wow the sky is wet? And the air hurts? That's crazy.
January 28, 2026 at 11:09 PM
Weather is something that happens in other places, to other people. They call me and tell me about it. I go, wow the sky is wet? And the air hurts? That's crazy.
Emmalon Davis (Philosophy, U-M) and I are thrilled to be welcoming Margaret Price (English and Disability Studies, OSU) to Michigan next Friday, February 6 from 3-5pm. Dr. Price will be giving a lecture entitled "Exploring the Politics of Disability, Accompaniment, and Collective Accountability."
Exploring the Politics of Disability, Accompaniment, and Collective Accountability | Happening @ Michigan
events.umich.edu
January 28, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Emmalon Davis (Philosophy, U-M) and I are thrilled to be welcoming Margaret Price (English and Disability Studies, OSU) to Michigan next Friday, February 6 from 3-5pm. Dr. Price will be giving a lecture entitled "Exploring the Politics of Disability, Accompaniment, and Collective Accountability."
This is a beautiful testament to food, memory, and adaptation. Reminds me a bit of Sara Hendren's What Can a Body Do (gift link)
How Losing My Limbs Turned Me Into a Different Kind of Cook
www.nytimes.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:01 PM
This is a beautiful testament to food, memory, and adaptation. Reminds me a bit of Sara Hendren's What Can a Body Do (gift link)
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
CNN is reporting that federal authorities may have been collecting information and "documenting details" about Alex Pretti before killing him on Saturday, and that officers tackled him a week earlier. www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/u...
Alex Pretti was in earlier confrontation with federal agents who tackled him, broke his rib, sources say | CNN
Federal immigration officials have been collecting information on protesters and agitators, sources told CNN.
www.cnn.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:25 PM
CNN is reporting that federal authorities may have been collecting information and "documenting details" about Alex Pretti before killing him on Saturday, and that officers tackled him a week earlier. www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/u...
In which the author argues that the *real* problem with ICE isn't its rapid expansion, its weaponized deployment, or its role in facilitating and committing state terror, but agents' insufficient preparation for the job. Clearly the answer here is higher education. Got it.
Opinion | To Avoid More Tragic Deaths, ICE Needs Higher Education and Training Standards
Higher ed can play an important role in making federal immigration enforcement safer. https://bit.ly/4bRR5fx
#EDUSKy #HigherEd #AcademicSky
Higher ed can play an important role in making federal immigration enforcement safer. https://bit.ly/4bRR5fx
#EDUSKy #HigherEd #AcademicSky
January 28, 2026 at 12:28 AM
In which the author argues that the *real* problem with ICE isn't its rapid expansion, its weaponized deployment, or its role in facilitating and committing state terror, but agents' insufficient preparation for the job. Clearly the answer here is higher education. Got it.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
Greg Bovino sadly filling one steamer trunk after another with elaborate fashy overcoats, the teargas canisters he always has bouncing around on him like labubus, and dozens of "chest-belts." They will be shipped ahead of him as he prepares to return to his home, which is a men's size 10 boot.
January 27, 2026 at 12:18 AM
Greg Bovino sadly filling one steamer trunk after another with elaborate fashy overcoats, the teargas canisters he always has bouncing around on him like labubus, and dozens of "chest-belts." They will be shipped ahead of him as he prepares to return to his home, which is a men's size 10 boot.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
Vigils were held around Minneapolis and beyond Saturday night in the wake of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents.
Photo and video: Jeff Wheeler, Anthony Souffle, Simon Peter Groebner/The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Photo and video: Jeff Wheeler, Anthony Souffle, Simon Peter Groebner/The Minnesota Star Tribune.
January 25, 2026 at 3:06 AM
Vigils were held around Minneapolis and beyond Saturday night in the wake of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents.
Photo and video: Jeff Wheeler, Anthony Souffle, Simon Peter Groebner/The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Photo and video: Jeff Wheeler, Anthony Souffle, Simon Peter Groebner/The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
Tomorrow's front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 24, 2026
January 23, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Tomorrow's front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 24, 2026
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
I am not being snarky. I need my colleagues who wrote on covid school lockdowns to engage with this. To be as loud as they have been about prior "learning loss." Hell, you can cite Tom & Mark's AERJ paper so you feel better that there's some econ somewhere in your argument.
"In St. Paul, at least one-fourth of students from Spanish-speaking homes have missed every day of school since Dec. 12."
8 weeks under siege in Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer
Frank has a hard time explaining to his 8-year-old daughter why they rarely leave their home in the Twin Cities. Why she can’t go to school, and why he can’t work. “The only thing we tell her is that ...
minnesotareformer.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:05 PM
I am not being snarky. I need my colleagues who wrote on covid school lockdowns to engage with this. To be as loud as they have been about prior "learning loss." Hell, you can cite Tom & Mark's AERJ paper so you feel better that there's some econ somewhere in your argument.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
"Oh my gosh, it was so nice to see you! Have a lovely day, fuck ICE!"
"Oh you too hon! Stay safe in that traffic, fuck ICE!'
- two older Minnesota ladies, bidding farewell after the protest
"Oh you too hon! Stay safe in that traffic, fuck ICE!'
- two older Minnesota ladies, bidding farewell after the protest
January 23, 2026 at 11:17 PM
"Oh my gosh, it was so nice to see you! Have a lovely day, fuck ICE!"
"Oh you too hon! Stay safe in that traffic, fuck ICE!'
- two older Minnesota ladies, bidding farewell after the protest
"Oh you too hon! Stay safe in that traffic, fuck ICE!'
- two older Minnesota ladies, bidding farewell after the protest
POLIO vaccines should be optional?! POLIO?! Almost nothing about the vileness of this regime surprises me any more, but 'freedom of choice' is one hell of a justification for not mandating a vaccine for a disease that killed and disabled tens of thousands of people between 1900 and 1960.
The leader of the federal panel that recommends vaccines for Americans said shots against polio and measles — and perhaps all diseases — should be optional.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 12:03 AM
POLIO vaccines should be optional?! POLIO?! Almost nothing about the vileness of this regime surprises me any more, but 'freedom of choice' is one hell of a justification for not mandating a vaccine for a disease that killed and disabled tens of thousands of people between 1900 and 1960.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
If a Minnesotan says to you, "I don't plan to let you do that," run.
January 17, 2026 at 11:47 PM
If a Minnesotan says to you, "I don't plan to let you do that," run.
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
Fascinating story about how genome-based theories of disease clouded our understanding of exposome-based explanations of disease and how those errors are now slowly being corrected.
“Your exposome is the sum of your own personal environmental exposures, from the womb to the casket.”
“Your exposome is the sum of your own personal environmental exposures, from the womb to the casket.”
“No one knows exactly how much of the world’s drinking water is laced with TCE. The CDC reckons the water supply of 4-18% of Americans is contaminated… In Silicon Valley, where TCE was integral to manufacturing of early transistors, a necklace of underground plumes…”
www.wired.com/story/scient...
www.wired.com/story/scient...
Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water
New ideas about chronic illness could revolutionize treatment, if we take the research seriously.
www.wired.com
January 11, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Fascinating story about how genome-based theories of disease clouded our understanding of exposome-based explanations of disease and how those errors are now slowly being corrected.
“Your exposome is the sum of your own personal environmental exposures, from the womb to the casket.”
“Your exposome is the sum of your own personal environmental exposures, from the womb to the casket.”
I am back in Ann Arbor, nursing my annual start-of-winter-term cold (all hail Theraflu), but here is the finished syllabus for Disability: A Democratic Dilemma. Not entirely satisfied, but I need to stop fussing and get on with prepping my other class. Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions!
static1.squarespace.com
January 6, 2026 at 6:38 PM
I am back in Ann Arbor, nursing my annual start-of-winter-term cold (all hail Theraflu), but here is the finished syllabus for Disability: A Democratic Dilemma. Not entirely satisfied, but I need to stop fussing and get on with prepping my other class. Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions!
Reposted by Annie Heffernan
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
January 1, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
Moonlighting as filial tech support for my parents has made compiling my third-year review materials seem positively joy-filled by comparison.
(I may have brought this upon myself--I went with my mother to purchase the new computer that I am now in charge of setting up. I have regrets)
(I may have brought this upon myself--I went with my mother to purchase the new computer that I am now in charge of setting up. I have regrets)
January 1, 2026 at 6:37 AM
Moonlighting as filial tech support for my parents has made compiling my third-year review materials seem positively joy-filled by comparison.
(I may have brought this upon myself--I went with my mother to purchase the new computer that I am now in charge of setting up. I have regrets)
(I may have brought this upon myself--I went with my mother to purchase the new computer that I am now in charge of setting up. I have regrets)
Friends, if you or someone you know has published awesome work in disability studies (defined *broadly*), please let me know! I'm updating my "Disability: A Democratic Dilemma" course and would love to include some newer work (both academic and otherwise).
December 27, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Friends, if you or someone you know has published awesome work in disability studies (defined *broadly*), please let me know! I'm updating my "Disability: A Democratic Dilemma" course and would love to include some newer work (both academic and otherwise).