Geoffrey Hughes
@geofffhughes.bsky.social
Teacher, Ethnographer, Arabist; Author of Affection and Mercy (2021) and Social Media Tribes: Jordan's Bedouin and the Margins of the state (2026) ♥️🇯🇴♥️🇵🇸 (he/هو)
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lLU0JwkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lLU0JwkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Pinned
![Title page of a book manuscript:
Social Media Tribes
Jordan’s Bedouin and the Margins of the State
Geoffrey F. Hughes
University of Texas Press
[logo]
Austin](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mg4zwpzbpzxnsvha5xosquni/bafkreihjvqtjjecmqbbilhqt7bp7v476nkzankcz7zebs3krjw7jwhy33a@jpeg)
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
the invasion of Afghanistan is among the most horrific recent chapters of the long history of elite impunity in the US. this coda is grim but fitting - the govt practically explicitly affirming that it should only be Afghans who live with the consequences amid fading public memory of the atrocity
November 27, 2025 at 3:58 AM
the invasion of Afghanistan is among the most horrific recent chapters of the long history of elite impunity in the US. this coda is grim but fitting - the govt practically explicitly affirming that it should only be Afghans who live with the consequences amid fading public memory of the atrocity
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
the cottage industry of misinfo studies post-2016 was very worried about under-resourced information environments, where lack of literacy and access to high quality news drove conspiracism. meanwhile, the most well-resourced people on the planet were getting pilled on channer content
November 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM
the cottage industry of misinfo studies post-2016 was very worried about under-resourced information environments, where lack of literacy and access to high quality news drove conspiracism. meanwhile, the most well-resourced people on the planet were getting pilled on channer content
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
A recording of my lecture is now available here. In the missing first 5m, Professor Berry tells the potted history of my rise from 2Cs and a D at A Level, to a Desmond from Nottingham Trent, then from Wollongong (MA) to toil at Aberystwyth, to finally graduating with a PhD from Loughborough in 2008.
November 26, 2025 at 11:04 AM
A recording of my lecture is now available here. In the missing first 5m, Professor Berry tells the potted history of my rise from 2Cs and a D at A Level, to a Desmond from Nottingham Trent, then from Wollongong (MA) to toil at Aberystwyth, to finally graduating with a PhD from Loughborough in 2008.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
This being named a NYT Notable Book of 2025 seems to prove it's thesis
November 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
This being named a NYT Notable Book of 2025 seems to prove it's thesis
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Dave watched this government Education Committee meeting so you didn’t have to. But you do have to read his summary (if you have any interest in the future of HE)
"A system built on specialisation, efficiency", that right there is the death knell for the current university system in the UK, if (big if) government pushes it through. They actively don't want HE to grow, they will intervene, apparently, to help it shrink.
per this morning's education committee.
per this morning's education committee.
November 25, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Dave watched this government Education Committee meeting so you didn’t have to. But you do have to read his summary (if you have any interest in the future of HE)
Regular reminder that the New York Times Jerusalem Bureau chief's house is built on top of a stolen Palestinian home...
Zohran Mamdani chastised a Manhattan synagogue that hosted an event promoting migration to Israel and settlements in occupied territories. His stance further tested his strained relationship with pro-Israel Jews in New York.
Mamdani Response to Protest Inflames Tensions with Jewish Leaders
The mayor-elect chastised a synagogue that hosted an event promoting migration to Israel and settlements in occupied territories. His stance further tested his strained relationship with pro-Israel Jews.
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Regular reminder that the New York Times Jerusalem Bureau chief's house is built on top of a stolen Palestinian home...
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
What I love about this quote is that she unwittingly admits that her agenda is about scolding and policing public discourse, the kind of thing that she is projecting onto "wokeness' and "the left"
"elevate charismatic figures such as Alan Dershowitz"
-____________-
-____________-
November 25, 2025 at 9:28 AM
What I love about this quote is that she unwittingly admits that her agenda is about scolding and policing public discourse, the kind of thing that she is projecting onto "wokeness' and "the left"
The way this is written is peak New York Times: they're using the law enforcement exonerative to describe how universities and the institutional democratic party came together to violently beat pro-justice and anti-genocide protesters to a pulp.
I think @brendannyhan.bsky.social is exactly right in this piece, but I’d go one step further here. Elites very explicitly told young people to sit down and shut up. Society punished them for standing up for their beliefs, and targeted and vilified the organizers. Now we need need them.
November 24, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The way this is written is peak New York Times: they're using the law enforcement exonerative to describe how universities and the institutional democratic party came together to violently beat pro-justice and anti-genocide protesters to a pulp.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
One of my favorite takes on this website by the Ball Knowers was that the year plus of cracking down on anti-genocide youth movements in this country, on campuses and otherwise, had no effects whatsoever on turnouts come November nor in general for mobilization etc. Goldfish levels of myopia.
I think @brendannyhan.bsky.social is exactly right in this piece, but I’d go one step further here. Elites very explicitly told young people to sit down and shut up. Society punished them for standing up for their beliefs, and targeted and vilified the organizers. Now we need need them.
November 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
One of my favorite takes on this website by the Ball Knowers was that the year plus of cracking down on anti-genocide youth movements in this country, on campuses and otherwise, had no effects whatsoever on turnouts come November nor in general for mobilization etc. Goldfish levels of myopia.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
this had me at women do not like ugly men
You may have gotten the impression that I hated the del Toro Frankenstein and your impression would be correct. Here's my review
www.dailysabah.com/arts/reviews...
www.dailysabah.com/arts/reviews...
Del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ drains life out of Shelley’s masterpiece
Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ is very loosely inspired by the classic novel and offers fireworks instead of a story
www.dailysabah.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:51 AM
this had me at women do not like ugly men
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Read Male Fantasies.
November 24, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Read Male Fantasies.
It's because the scammers are more savvy and sensitive to the platform's actual incentive structure than the governments, civil society groups, and legacy journalists who are still over there posting like it's 2019. The scammers have to be! Their meal ticket depends on it!
One fascinating and yet expected thing is that none of the big foreign accounts pretending to be American are left of center, or even anti-Trump. Not a single one. Says something about the economics and geopolitics of political grifting
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?
November 24, 2025 at 6:51 AM
It's because the scammers are more savvy and sensitive to the platform's actual incentive structure than the governments, civil society groups, and legacy journalists who are still over there posting like it's 2019. The scammers have to be! Their meal ticket depends on it!
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
A planned protest by Israel’s Sudanese population at the United Arab Emirates embassy was canceled on Thursday, with police reportedly citing fears of disturbing the Israel-UAE relationship.
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
Sudan protest halted over fears of harming UAE ties | The Jerusalem Post
Protesters told The Jerusalem Post that the right to demonstrate in a democracy like Israel was important and that this demonstration was calling for accountability.
www.jpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:42 AM
A planned protest by Israel’s Sudanese population at the United Arab Emirates embassy was canceled on Thursday, with police reportedly citing fears of disturbing the Israel-UAE relationship.
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
Is it really infinitely preferable to crush an apartment building full of kids to death in Gaza in the name of gay rights? Discuss.
I hate this sort of meme.
“The only difference between the parties is whether the power to destroy human civilization rests in the hands of leaders who think gays, women, and black people should have their rights acknowledged.”
Even if true, how is Rainbow B-52 not infinitely preferable?
“The only difference between the parties is whether the power to destroy human civilization rests in the hands of leaders who think gays, women, and black people should have their rights acknowledged.”
Even if true, how is Rainbow B-52 not infinitely preferable?
November 21, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Is it really infinitely preferable to crush an apartment building full of kids to death in Gaza in the name of gay rights? Discuss.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
What I've been noticing lately in convos with students is that they *despise* the AI-slopification of everything as much or even more than I do. And yet our universities & their admin seem to believe that students for some reason want it integrated into everything. THEY DON'T.
“To be sat there with this material in front of you that is just really not worth anyone’s time, when you could be spending that time actually engaging with something worthwhile, is really frustrating,” he said.
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:38 PM
What I've been noticing lately in convos with students is that they *despise* the AI-slopification of everything as much or even more than I do. And yet our universities & their admin seem to believe that students for some reason want it integrated into everything. THEY DON'T.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
“He explained the majority of the people complaining about the artwork are against high levels of immigration and believe the artwork is an attempt to humanise small boat crossings because the people walking across the water have Christmas hats on.”
It’s the exclusive everyone wanted, the story that will win next year’s Pulitzer…
I can reveal London’s giant AI generated Christmas artwork, the subject of much online mockery, is being torn down - and I honestly *genuinely* think you’ll never guess why. www.londoncentric.media/p/ai-artwork...
I can reveal London’s giant AI generated Christmas artwork, the subject of much online mockery, is being torn down - and I honestly *genuinely* think you’ll never guess why. www.londoncentric.media/p/ai-artwork...
London's giant AI artwork to be torn down
The bizarre story of why a much-talked-about creation is being torn down. Plus: Docklands Light Railway extension, giant laser stalks the night sky, and more tales of Android phone theft rejection.
www.londoncentric.media
November 20, 2025 at 12:02 PM
“He explained the majority of the people complaining about the artwork are against high levels of immigration and believe the artwork is an attempt to humanise small boat crossings because the people walking across the water have Christmas hats on.”
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
This is the metaphysics where only specific categories of humans get to possess the quality of victimhood, and it is those who have lots of guns, nuclear weapons, and have the airpower can rain death from above onto the undeserving others
I'm struck by this clip of former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz saying Holocaust education has backfired in part because people Palestinians as victims: "They think the lesson of the Holocaust is…you fight the big powerful people hurting the weak people."
www.reddit.com/r/JewsOfCons...
www.reddit.com/r/JewsOfCons...
From the JewsOfConscience community on Reddit: Former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz speaking to the Jewish Federation and lamenting that young people are learning the wrong lessons from Holocaust e...
Explore this post and more from the JewsOfConscience community
www.reddit.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:15 PM
This is the metaphysics where only specific categories of humans get to possess the quality of victimhood, and it is those who have lots of guns, nuclear weapons, and have the airpower can rain death from above onto the undeserving others
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
worth noting that the $30.2 million deficit the school is facing can be traced to ballooning admin salaries, real estate, and admin benefits, according to the economics department's analysis. the salaries for the actual professors is in line with or *below* the school's revenue growth
November 19, 2025 at 4:33 PM
worth noting that the $30.2 million deficit the school is facing can be traced to ballooning admin salaries, real estate, and admin benefits, according to the economics department's analysis. the salaries for the actual professors is in line with or *below* the school's revenue growth
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
It's not even a morality issue---it's an equity issue.
In essence, about half the student body has to manage the prospect that approaching the professor for help, professional advice, guidance, or feedback is going to go sideways.
Women in his classes are not getting the same class.
In essence, about half the student body has to manage the prospect that approaching the professor for help, professional advice, guidance, or feedback is going to go sideways.
Women in his classes are not getting the same class.
I know that at this point it's a subplot in the Epstein files drama, but I feel compelled to point out, once again, that Larry Summers HAS NO BUSINESS teaching students at ANY university ever again!
My latest cries into the abyss, in @thenation.com
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
My latest cries into the abyss, in @thenation.com
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Why Is Larry Summers Still Employed?
The revelations about the economist’s attempts to pressure a women into a “relationship”—with guidance from Jeffrey Epstein—should finally disqualify him from teaching students.
www.thenation.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:12 PM
It's not even a morality issue---it's an equity issue.
In essence, about half the student body has to manage the prospect that approaching the professor for help, professional advice, guidance, or feedback is going to go sideways.
Women in his classes are not getting the same class.
In essence, about half the student body has to manage the prospect that approaching the professor for help, professional advice, guidance, or feedback is going to go sideways.
Women in his classes are not getting the same class.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Highlights in @alybatt.bsky.social's latest: the anthropocentrism of the wage; pregnancy as ecosystem service; "Critics of commodification have misidentified the problem afflicting the biosphere: not that capital has absorbed all of life, but that it has abdicated responsibility for so much of it."
Free Gifts
A timely new critique of capitalism’s persistent failure to value nature
press.princeton.edu
November 19, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Highlights in @alybatt.bsky.social's latest: the anthropocentrism of the wage; pregnancy as ecosystem service; "Critics of commodification have misidentified the problem afflicting the biosphere: not that capital has absorbed all of life, but that it has abdicated responsibility for so much of it."
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
To the contrary, the laws of thermodynamics are one of the most serious real-world constraints on AI.
….
…
What
…
What
November 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
To the contrary, the laws of thermodynamics are one of the most serious real-world constraints on AI.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
It is in this context that it became so apparent that NVIDIA sounds like envidia, envy in Spanish.
I don’t want to seem out of touch but I don’t actually understand the economy anymore.
November 19, 2025 at 12:48 PM
It is in this context that it became so apparent that NVIDIA sounds like envidia, envy in Spanish.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Exactly right. Nothing miserable people hate more than seeing other people not equally miserable. Hence the crabs in a bucket phenomena.
Seems like the West is full of folks who have spent their whole lives with central heating, never gone to bed hungry, strap on 2000 pounds of metal to pop around the block lest their feet touch the ground--and a lot of them are seething that people who have literally lost everything feel more joy...
Asylum seekers aren't crying and terrified all the time and that makes the Daily Express mad
November 19, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Exactly right. Nothing miserable people hate more than seeing other people not equally miserable. Hence the crabs in a bucket phenomena.