Benjamin Moffitt
@benmoffitt.bsky.social
Political Scientist @ Monash University | Author of 3 books | Writing about populism, weird reactionary politics & visual politics | he/him
Articles/publications here: https://monash.academia.edu/BenjaminMoffitt
Articles/publications here: https://monash.academia.edu/BenjaminMoffitt
Pinned
Very honoured (and pleasantly surprised) that The Australian newspaper has named me the top researcher in political science this year!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
Very proud of my colleagues @blairwilliams26.bsky.social & @lachlanmcnamee.bsky.social on their DECRA success today! It's such a slog to put together these massive applications - so am so happy for them and excited to see what they do with their coming 3 years!
November 25, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Very proud of my colleagues @blairwilliams26.bsky.social & @lachlanmcnamee.bsky.social on their DECRA success today! It's such a slog to put together these massive applications - so am so happy for them and excited to see what they do with their coming 3 years!
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
Very honoured (and pleasantly surprised) that The Australian newspaper has named me the top researcher in political science this year!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
November 19, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Very honoured (and pleasantly surprised) that The Australian newspaper has named me the top researcher in political science this year!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
Very honoured (and pleasantly surprised) that The Australian newspaper has named me the top researcher in political science this year!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
November 19, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Very honoured (and pleasantly surprised) that The Australian newspaper has named me the top researcher in political science this year!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
The measure is based on citation over a 5 year period in the top 20 journals in each discipline - I'm in very good company in the list of social scientists below!
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
Having won this last year, there are few people I'd be happier to see take the title than Ben Moffitt - a truly world-class researcher and a nice guy too!
Rather gobsmacked & honoured to find that I have been named Australia's top researcher in political science by The Australian!
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
www.theaustralian.com.au
November 18, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Having won this last year, there are few people I'd be happier to see take the title than Ben Moffitt - a truly world-class researcher and a nice guy too!
Rather gobsmacked & honoured to find that I have been named Australia's top researcher in political science by The Australian!
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
www.theaustralian.com.au
November 18, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Rather gobsmacked & honoured to find that I have been named Australia's top researcher in political science by The Australian!
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
More evidence that “crisis” is performed and that “populists” are particularly apt at performing “crisis”, as @benmoffitt.bsky.social has argued forcefully.
🤔 Illiberal policy frames? Turns out it’s fear-mongering, not crisis-driven
👥 @miklossebok.bsky.social, @buzogany.bsky.social, @juliafleischer.bsky.social, @gessler.bsky.social, Anna Takács, @seanmtheriault.bsky.social & Ákos Holányi
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
👥 @miklossebok.bsky.social, @buzogany.bsky.social, @juliafleischer.bsky.social, @gessler.bsky.social, Anna Takács, @seanmtheriault.bsky.social & Ákos Holányi
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Crisis-exploitation or fear-mongering? A research agenda for the comparative study of policy crises and illiberal policy frames
The pervasive and growing illiberal movement is, perhaps, the greatest global challenge to liberal democracy today. Scholars argue that domestic and international crises have played an important ro...
www.tandfonline.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:35 PM
More evidence that “crisis” is performed and that “populists” are particularly apt at performing “crisis”, as @benmoffitt.bsky.social has argued forcefully.
From actual serious academic to some kind of Temu Charlie Kirk. What a journey.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reform UK accused of embracing racism over its pick for head of student organisation
Matthew Goodwin argued people from minority ethnic backgrounds born and raised in UK were not always British
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:33 AM
From actual serious academic to some kind of Temu Charlie Kirk. What a journey.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
New Review of International Studies article! 🌟
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' by Benjamin Moffitt 📚
Interested? 👉 https://ow.ly/yU2850Xmhtx
Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' by Benjamin Moffitt 📚
Interested? 👉 https://ow.ly/yU2850Xmhtx
Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR
November 4, 2025 at 9:20 AM
New Review of International Studies article! 🌟
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' by Benjamin Moffitt 📚
Interested? 👉 https://ow.ly/yU2850Xmhtx
Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' by Benjamin Moffitt 📚
Interested? 👉 https://ow.ly/yU2850Xmhtx
Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR
The Trump x Insane Clown Posse crossover we've all been waiting for
November 11, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The Trump x Insane Clown Posse crossover we've all been waiting for
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
🎆 NEW OA ARTICLE ALERT 🎆
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' in @risjnl.bsky.social
How do populist publics visually represent themselves & how have shifts in visual technologies altered this process?
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' in @risjnl.bsky.social
How do populist publics visually represent themselves & how have shifts in visual technologies altered this process?
Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots | Review of International Studies | Cambridge Core
Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots
www.cambridge.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:22 AM
🎆 NEW OA ARTICLE ALERT 🎆
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' in @risjnl.bsky.social
How do populist publics visually represent themselves & how have shifts in visual technologies altered this process?
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' in @risjnl.bsky.social
How do populist publics visually represent themselves & how have shifts in visual technologies altered this process?
🎆 NEW OA ARTICLE ALERT 🎆
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' in @risjnl.bsky.social
How do populist publics visually represent themselves & how have shifts in visual technologies altered this process?
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' in @risjnl.bsky.social
How do populist publics visually represent themselves & how have shifts in visual technologies altered this process?
Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots | Review of International Studies | Cambridge Core
Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots
www.cambridge.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:22 AM
🎆 NEW OA ARTICLE ALERT 🎆
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' in @risjnl.bsky.social
How do populist publics visually represent themselves & how have shifts in visual technologies altered this process?
'Populism, visual technologies, and the self-mediation of ‘the people’ from the 2002 Venezuelan coup to the 2021 US Capitol riots' in @risjnl.bsky.social
How do populist publics visually represent themselves & how have shifts in visual technologies altered this process?
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
Anthoula Malkopoulou and @benmoffitt.bsky.social ask - how should we respond to #populism? - arguing for responses to it to contain populism’s most egregious characteristics while salvaging its productive side.
@compeurpol.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@compeurpol.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
How not to respond to populism - Comparative European Politics
Although the nature and definition of populism are a source of considerable disagreement, there seems to be a minimal consensus by now that populism poses a number of threats to liberal democracy, and...
link.springer.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Anthoula Malkopoulou and @benmoffitt.bsky.social ask - how should we respond to #populism? - arguing for responses to it to contain populism’s most egregious characteristics while salvaging its productive side.
@compeurpol.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@compeurpol.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Jeez it's good when you see great work from great people getting funded (part 2). Some of the best & kindest mentors in Australian political science w/ some of sharpest ECRs in the game. Congrats @kurtsengul.bsky.social & the team!
Feeling incredibly lucky and privileged to be part of a successful ARC Discovery Project application ❤️
‘Foreign conflicts, domestic divides: Advancing a deliberative response’
‘Foreign conflicts, domestic divides: Advancing a deliberative response’
October 28, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Jeez it's good when you see great work from great people getting funded (part 2). Some of the best & kindest mentors in Australian political science w/ some of sharpest ECRs in the game. Congrats @kurtsengul.bsky.social & the team!
Jeez it's good when you see great work from great people getting funded (part 1). Big congrats to some of the best in Australian political science - @duncanmcdonnell.com, @ammassarisofia.bsky.social & Ferran - on this big and important grant!
I'm thrilled to see @ammassarisofia.bsky.social, Ferran Martinez i Coma & I have won over $825,000 in funding from the Australian Research Council for our Discovery Project "Generation-Z engagement with political parties".
(When you're recovering from drinking Lima tap water, this helps a lot).
(When you're recovering from drinking Lima tap water, this helps a lot).
October 28, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Jeez it's good when you see great work from great people getting funded (part 1). Big congrats to some of the best in Australian political science - @duncanmcdonnell.com, @ammassarisofia.bsky.social & Ferran - on this big and important grant!
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
What was the ‘alt’ in alt-right, alt-lite, & alt-left? @benmoffitt.bsky.social traces these terms’ development & interrogates the construction, meaning & utility of the ‘alt’ modifier in US politics. Read more: buff.ly/0YY3ruG
#PSHighlyViewed 8/10
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polisky
#PSHighlyViewed 8/10
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polisky
October 21, 2025 at 9:02 PM
What was the ‘alt’ in alt-right, alt-lite, & alt-left? @benmoffitt.bsky.social traces these terms’ development & interrogates the construction, meaning & utility of the ‘alt’ modifier in US politics. Read more: buff.ly/0YY3ruG
#PSHighlyViewed 8/10
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polisky
#PSHighlyViewed 8/10
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polisky
I always thought One Nation would go down when Hanson leaves, but if this is true, I genuinely think the path forward for the party might be around (and be far more successful) for longer than we might have expected www.afr.com/politics/fed...
Barnaby Joyce to succeed Pauline Hanson as One Nation leader
The former Nationals leader will leave the party at the end of this term to explore “all options” as his relationship with its leaders had “irreparably broken down”.
www.afr.com
October 18, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I always thought One Nation would go down when Hanson leaves, but if this is true, I genuinely think the path forward for the party might be around (and be far more successful) for longer than we might have expected www.afr.com/politics/fed...
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
Thrilled that my first (ever!) and first single-authored article is out in @ausjpolsci.bsky.social 🎉
PRR parties have built a shared transnational discourse on issues like immigration & culture wars. But do their digital publics also take part in this discursive transnationalisation?
A 🧵
PRR parties have built a shared transnational discourse on issues like immigration & culture wars. But do their digital publics also take part in this discursive transnationalisation?
A 🧵
Transnational publics of the populist radical right: patterns of topic convergence across Europe and the United States
In recent years, populist radical right parties (PRRPs) have constructed a shared transnational discourse around issues like immigration and culture wars. However, we do not know how their publics ...
www.tandfonline.com
October 16, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Thrilled that my first (ever!) and first single-authored article is out in @ausjpolsci.bsky.social 🎉
PRR parties have built a shared transnational discourse on issues like immigration & culture wars. But do their digital publics also take part in this discursive transnationalisation?
A 🧵
PRR parties have built a shared transnational discourse on issues like immigration & culture wars. But do their digital publics also take part in this discursive transnationalisation?
A 🧵
International populism watchers - in Australia, the former Deputy PM is currently in talks to join One Nation. Would be a pretty massive coup for Hanson (although anyone who joins the party almost inevitably ends up getting in some kind of conflict with her)
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
October 17, 2025 at 8:16 AM
International populism watchers - in Australia, the former Deputy PM is currently in talks to join One Nation. Would be a pretty massive coup for Hanson (although anyone who joins the party almost inevitably ends up getting in some kind of conflict with her)
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
I'm so pleased to see our new article out in Perspectives on Politics.
Since I moved to Australia, I've heard many people say "you'll never publish in a top US journal with Australia as your only case" (and they weren't wrong to think that).
But yesterday, we did.
Thread by Josh about it below:
Since I moved to Australia, I've heard many people say "you'll never publish in a top US journal with Australia as your only case" (and they weren't wrong to think that).
But yesterday, we did.
Thread by Josh about it below:
🎉 New publication out in @poppublicsphere.bsky.social with @duncanmcdonnell.com and Michelle Evans!
We expected public bias to work against aspiring Indigenous political candidates in Australia. Instead, we found the opposite - an 'inverted hierarchy' of bias.
Open access: doi.org/10.1017/S153...
We expected public bias to work against aspiring Indigenous political candidates in Australia. Instead, we found the opposite - an 'inverted hierarchy' of bias.
Open access: doi.org/10.1017/S153...
October 3, 2025 at 9:57 AM
I'm so pleased to see our new article out in Perspectives on Politics.
Since I moved to Australia, I've heard many people say "you'll never publish in a top US journal with Australia as your only case" (and they weren't wrong to think that).
But yesterday, we did.
Thread by Josh about it below:
Since I moved to Australia, I've heard many people say "you'll never publish in a top US journal with Australia as your only case" (and they weren't wrong to think that).
But yesterday, we did.
Thread by Josh about it below:
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
This is great. Being a political scientist at the moment is a bit like being a climate scientist a few years back. You can see clearly catastrophe is coming, but most people seem blithely unaware of it
An outstanding interview. Patrick Iber of Dissent Magazine has interviewed the legendary Polish political scientist Adam Przeworski about de-democratisation in the USA, and what lessons he’s gleaned from Chile, Peru & beyond.
Iber’s questions are stellar. Przeworski’s answers, chillingly candid.
Iber’s questions are stellar. Przeworski’s answers, chillingly candid.
September 28, 2025 at 6:39 AM
This is great. Being a political scientist at the moment is a bit like being a climate scientist a few years back. You can see clearly catastrophe is coming, but most people seem blithely unaware of it
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
Every journalist and anyone at all really should be thinking hard about their personal and digital security. The surveillance powers of the U.S. state are awesome and they’re demonstrating in real time that they will take whatever they find and make up any old shit
Getting more sinister by the minute www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/u...
September 15, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Every journalist and anyone at all really should be thinking hard about their personal and digital security. The surveillance powers of the U.S. state are awesome and they’re demonstrating in real time that they will take whatever they find and make up any old shit
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
It is Book Launch day for @amaramarasingam.bsky.social and My edited volume "Contemporary Far-Right Culture The Art, Music, and Everyday Practices of Violent Extremism"
www.routledge.com/Contemporary...
www.routledge.com/Contemporary...
September 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM
It is Book Launch day for @amaramarasingam.bsky.social and My edited volume "Contemporary Far-Right Culture The Art, Music, and Everyday Practices of Violent Extremism"
www.routledge.com/Contemporary...
www.routledge.com/Contemporary...
Reposted by Benjamin Moffitt
Another piece of (excellent) research showing that support for the far-right is never going to be driven purely by either 'culture' or 'economics'. Inevitably, both are involved - and they're often inseparable.
Now out in @cpsjournal.bsky.social. In our new article, @denis-cohen.bsky.social @thmskrr.bsky.social and I show that where local rent prices increase more, residents with lower incomes become more likely to support the radical right AfD.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
September 25, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Another piece of (excellent) research showing that support for the far-right is never going to be driven purely by either 'culture' or 'economics'. Inevitably, both are involved - and they're often inseparable.
This is an excellent piece on the term "reactionary" - a term I increasingly think is the core notion for understanding what is going on all around us
Core to reactionary politics is a cowardly project that aims to protect and restore privilege and hierarchies of oppression
Some thoughts on terminology and the term reactionary @reacpolrn.bsky.social
reacpol.net/on-reactiona...
Some thoughts on terminology and the term reactionary @reacpolrn.bsky.social
reacpol.net/on-reactiona...
Article: On reactionary politics (Aurelien Mondon) - Reactionary Politics Research Network
This article by Aurelien Mondon explores the meaning of reactionary politics and its use in our current context
reacpol.net
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 AM
This is an excellent piece on the term "reactionary" - a term I increasingly think is the core notion for understanding what is going on all around us
As with anything @lwestheuser.bsky.social has written, this paper is very much worth yr time
OK, a🧵: Our new paper studies workers' political consciousness in times of class demobilization.
We show there's more to workers' politics than right-wing resentment. Listening to workers, we reconstruct their moral critiques of money, power & recognition.
Link journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
We show there's more to workers' politics than right-wing resentment. Listening to workers, we reconstruct their moral critiques of money, power & recognition.
Link journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
September 10, 2025 at 11:31 AM
As with anything @lwestheuser.bsky.social has written, this paper is very much worth yr time