Liam Shields
@liamshields.bsky.social
2K followers 500 following 390 posts
Senior Lecturer in Political Theory @UoMPolitics. Former post-doc @stanfordethics. Working on equality in education, parents' rights, and sufficientarianism. www.liamshields.com
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Reposted by Liam Shields
florianscheuer.bsky.social
I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7
Reposted by Liam Shields
handle.invalid
Big turnout of staff and students for day ten of our strike. We've forced management to negotiate for the first time since July.
A crowd of staff and students holding 'Stop the Cuts' banners.
Reposted by Liam Shields
anthonypainter.bsky.social
You can ban smartphones from schools and kids from social media.

But we are still going to have to contend with a mental health crisis and the fact that our kids are growing up in a connected technology society with increasing genAI features.

www.politico.eu/article/denm...
Denmark aims to ban social media for children under 15, PM says
“We have unleashed a monster,” Mette Frederiksen tells Danish lawmakers.
www.politico.eu
Reposted by Liam Shields
shaiagmon.bsky.social
Just spoke to @euronews.com about the Trump deal to end the Gaza war. Here are the main points I made 🧵:

1. Trump should have formally brought in the Palestinian Authority as part of both the negotiations and the implementation.

>>>
Reposted by Liam Shields
stephenkb.bsky.social
Something grimly predictable about the way that the conversation about 'ripoff degrees' in the UK is always about degrees that aren't rip-offs, but are instead fairly obvious 'this student has chosen something unlikely to pay off economically' rather than the short tail of crap business degrees:
Everyone needs educating in the fight over university degrees
Political confusion over the purpose of these institutions means the obvious fixes are being neglected
www.ft.com
Reposted by Liam Shields
georgemonbiot.bsky.social
ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have been left untreated for so long.
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Scientists develop first ‘accurate blood test’ to detect chronic fatigue syndrome
Research could offer hope for ME patients – but some experts urge caution and say more studies needed
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Liam Shields
georgemonbiot.bsky.social
No sudden rupture is now required for the far right to take power in this country. For what we're seeing is a steady normalisation of extremists by the Conservative and Labour Parties, BBC, Telegraph, Mail and others. A shift once considered unthinkable beings to look acceptable, even inevitable.🧵
liamshields.bsky.social
I've just read a book for my research that was published by Routledge and there are a huge number of glaring typos in it and other errors.

The research was really good and very helpful. I'd be distraught if a publisher was so careless with my own manuscript.
liamshields.bsky.social
Very good come back that #utft
liamshields.bsky.social
One of the good things about making your own massaman curry is that you can add as many peanuts as you like
Reposted by Liam Shields
birchlse.bsky.social
What a great responsibility and a great privilege to be directing the world's first Centre for Animal Sentience. Many thanks to the ~300 in the room and ~500 online who attended our launch event. Wonderful to have you there on Day 1. www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/s...
Launch event of the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, LSE
liamshields.bsky.social
The attainment, when not contextualised, is not really an indicator of ability. Fortunately a lot of universities do use contextualised data, though not as much as id like to see.
Reposted by Liam Shields
plashingvole.bsky.social
If a university thinks it’s the ‘best’ it should take people with low or no prior attainment and prove it. Otherwise it’s just cherry-picking and claiming unearned credit.
liamshields.bsky.social
Thinking of Jewish friends in Greater Manchester and beyond after this morning's despicable attack.
sundersays.bsky.social
Four people have been injured in an attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. A major incident, being investigated as terrorism, with suspect/perpetrator reportedly shot at the scene. Updates
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live...
Manchester synagogue attack latest: suspect shot after four people injured in vehicle and stabbing attack at synagogue, police say
Prime minister Keir Starmer will fly home early from Europe to chair a Cobra meeting, while Greater Manchester mayor tells people to avoid the area
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Liam Shields
jamesbreckwoldt.bsky.social
Every group of current Reform supporters wants immigration reduced by a lot.

Importantly, the differences between self-placement and party placement are tiny in every case. For immigration, Reform’s voters and Reform’s perceived policies are almost identical.
Reposted by Liam Shields
samfr.bsky.social
Correct. Unless the government is going to impose limits on the number that can go to university, it's meaningless. (They're not).
will-davies.bsky.social
Given 50% of school leavers currently choose to go to university, as a matter of (ahem) investor choice, without any targeting by government, Starmer has effectively just set a target of an additional 1/6 doing apprenticeships
liamshields.bsky.social
I'm delighted to be in York today to present my paper What is Wrong with Severing a Grandparent-Grandchild relationship?

18 years ago I studied for an MA political philosophy (the idea of toleration), thanks to the financial support of the C and J B Morrell Trust. I am extremely grateful.