Spencer Beswick
@spencerbeswick.bsky.social
Historian of anarchism, labor, and the left in the Americas / Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell's Humanities Scholars Program / Views my own, not my employer's
Pinned
Empty Hands History – Spencer Beswick
emptyhandshistory.com
I updated my website emptyhandshistory.com after letting it lie fallow for over a year. It's easiest way to find links to all of my publications, including the two peer reviewed journal articles and a book chapter that I published in 2024. As always, DM me for PDFs of anything!
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
*Radical Histories of Palestine and Palestinians* – A new Call for Proposals from Radical History Review. Abstract proposals due November 30, 2025: www.radicalhistoryreview.org/radical-hist...
November 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM
*Radical Histories of Palestine and Palestinians* – A new Call for Proposals from Radical History Review. Abstract proposals due November 30, 2025: www.radicalhistoryreview.org/radical-hist...
Everything is getting worse and worse and worse and it's not gonna get better and boy does that suck.
November 25, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Everything is getting worse and worse and worse and it's not gonna get better and boy does that suck.
literally fuck off
November 25, 2025 at 5:57 PM
literally fuck off
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
So sick of an internet dominated by bots, ads, and AI. Everything feels like a scam. It wasn't always this way. It could be different. The problem is that the internet is set up to extract value from users rather than provide a service. Which is to say, the problem is capitalism.
November 24, 2025 at 7:16 PM
So sick of an internet dominated by bots, ads, and AI. Everything feels like a scam. It wasn't always this way. It could be different. The problem is that the internet is set up to extract value from users rather than provide a service. Which is to say, the problem is capitalism.
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
Making literature of any kind illegal is one step towards being able to manufacture evidence that your perceived enemies are much more vast and dangerous than they are .
This is a floating signifier of sorts that will be used to target anyone the fascists see as a threat to their power.
This is a floating signifier of sorts that will be used to target anyone the fascists see as a threat to their power.
November 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Making literature of any kind illegal is one step towards being able to manufacture evidence that your perceived enemies are much more vast and dangerous than they are .
This is a floating signifier of sorts that will be used to target anyone the fascists see as a threat to their power.
This is a floating signifier of sorts that will be used to target anyone the fascists see as a threat to their power.
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
So. How many of you are in trouble? interc.pt/3KhNsEp
November 24, 2025 at 5:51 PM
So. How many of you are in trouble? interc.pt/3KhNsEp
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
it's wild to watch this happening in a situation where we've had no prior military engagements with the country or recent attack to even drum up a public desire for vengeance. nothing at all is going down but Trump is clearly trying to push Iraq 2.0 on the country.
I presume Foreign Affairs is not yet running my one-word rebuttal "don't"
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
How to Topple Maduro
And why regime change is the only way forward in Venezuela.
www.foreignaffairs.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:19 AM
it's wild to watch this happening in a situation where we've had no prior military engagements with the country or recent attack to even drum up a public desire for vengeance. nothing at all is going down but Trump is clearly trying to push Iraq 2.0 on the country.
Everything is awful but the saving grace is the rise of early-mid 2000s culture nostalgia.
November 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Everything is awful but the saving grace is the rise of early-mid 2000s culture nostalgia.
What in the world
November 21, 2025 at 9:24 PM
What in the world
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
Happy birthday, Alexander Berkman!
Born in 1870, "Sasha" was a Jewish emigre from the Russian Empire to the US and major figure of the anarchist movt. He tried to assassinate magnate Henry Clay Frick, was deported under the Anarchist Exclusion Act & became an outspoken critic of Soviet repression.
Born in 1870, "Sasha" was a Jewish emigre from the Russian Empire to the US and major figure of the anarchist movt. He tried to assassinate magnate Henry Clay Frick, was deported under the Anarchist Exclusion Act & became an outspoken critic of Soviet repression.
November 21, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Happy birthday, Alexander Berkman!
Born in 1870, "Sasha" was a Jewish emigre from the Russian Empire to the US and major figure of the anarchist movt. He tried to assassinate magnate Henry Clay Frick, was deported under the Anarchist Exclusion Act & became an outspoken critic of Soviet repression.
Born in 1870, "Sasha" was a Jewish emigre from the Russian Empire to the US and major figure of the anarchist movt. He tried to assassinate magnate Henry Clay Frick, was deported under the Anarchist Exclusion Act & became an outspoken critic of Soviet repression.
"No General but Ludd
Means the Poor Any Good"
Found in Peter Linebaugh, "Ned Ludd & Queen Mab: Machine-Breaking, Romanticism, and the Several Commons of 1811–12"
Means the Poor Any Good"
Found in Peter Linebaugh, "Ned Ludd & Queen Mab: Machine-Breaking, Romanticism, and the Several Commons of 1811–12"
![Screenshot of text reading "We will never lay down Arms [till] The House of Commons passes an Act to put down all Machinery hurtful to Commonality, and repeal that to hang Frame Breakers. But We. We petition no more--that won't do--fighting must. Signed by the General of the Army of Redressers. Ned Ludd Clerk. Redressers for ever. Amen."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:76u2okyn5zvvavtgpedzyfi3/bafkreib4sp7lphj3u4ww6z726giqkgdbmys63smbkvyod3th3io4rk7wta@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 11:20 PM
"No General but Ludd
Means the Poor Any Good"
Found in Peter Linebaugh, "Ned Ludd & Queen Mab: Machine-Breaking, Romanticism, and the Several Commons of 1811–12"
Means the Poor Any Good"
Found in Peter Linebaugh, "Ned Ludd & Queen Mab: Machine-Breaking, Romanticism, and the Several Commons of 1811–12"
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
Personally I think a sitting president calling for the execution of members of Congress is A1 scream headline news, but what do I know
November 20, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Personally I think a sitting president calling for the execution of members of Congress is A1 scream headline news, but what do I know
"To confront this wave of gender fascism, we need a transformative framework to describe what we’re fighting for. Most advocates use a rights discourse to explain their opposition to this wave of oppressive policies. We propose a different framework: gender self-determination." 1/3 @crimethinc.com
The Fight for Gender Self-Determination
To confront the legislative assault on trans freedom, we must shift from a discourse of rights to create the conditions for gender self-determination.
crimethinc.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:09 PM
"To confront this wave of gender fascism, we need a transformative framework to describe what we’re fighting for. Most advocates use a rights discourse to explain their opposition to this wave of oppressive policies. We propose a different framework: gender self-determination." 1/3 @crimethinc.com
Mikhail Bakunin: "Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult the architect or the engineer. 1/2
November 19, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Mikhail Bakunin: "Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult the architect or the engineer. 1/2
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
my yearly reminder (to myself mostly) that The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) was formed by 6 (SIX!!) people, on this day, November 17th, 1983.
November 17, 2025 at 4:00 PM
my yearly reminder (to myself mostly) that The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) was formed by 6 (SIX!!) people, on this day, November 17th, 1983.
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
The federal government is in overdrive trying to arrest people for speech online.
Anarchists snd other left varieties are getting hit all over the site the last couple days with these it appears. This is like the fourth account I have seen posting something like this since last week.
Anarchists snd other left varieties are getting hit all over the site the last couple days with these it appears. This is like the fourth account I have seen posting something like this since last week.
Getting subpoenaed by the US government over bluesky posts
November 17, 2025 at 3:37 PM
The federal government is in overdrive trying to arrest people for speech online.
Anarchists snd other left varieties are getting hit all over the site the last couple days with these it appears. This is like the fourth account I have seen posting something like this since last week.
Anarchists snd other left varieties are getting hit all over the site the last couple days with these it appears. This is like the fourth account I have seen posting something like this since last week.
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
Yeah. We went through this last time there was a big Epstein splash in the news. Trumpists do not really care about women or girls and the topic may only be hot right now because novel info keeps trickling out. Hope I'm wrong. bsky.app/profile/spen...
When the furor over the Epstein Files began a few months ago, the Conservative subreddit was furious. There were multiple posts a day about it and *almost everyone* was pissed at Trump for betraying his promises. Now, there is basically no talk of it. Here's what happened: 1/
November 17, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Yeah. We went through this last time there was a big Epstein splash in the news. Trumpists do not really care about women or girls and the topic may only be hot right now because novel info keeps trickling out. Hope I'm wrong. bsky.app/profile/spen...
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
Not damned by their failures, damned by their goals
I think some people who are against AI for other reasons rely on the environmental impact because it is an easier argument to make. But what happens if/when better tech mitigates the impact? If you're against AI, argue against it on its own merits, not secondary ones.
The thing is that I'm against AI irrespective of its environmental impacts (which are also devastating, of course).
November 14, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Not damned by their failures, damned by their goals
I think some people who are against AI for other reasons rely on the environmental impact because it is an easier argument to make. But what happens if/when better tech mitigates the impact? If you're against AI, argue against it on its own merits, not secondary ones.
The thing is that I'm against AI irrespective of its environmental impacts (which are also devastating, of course).
November 14, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I think some people who are against AI for other reasons rely on the environmental impact because it is an easier argument to make. But what happens if/when better tech mitigates the impact? If you're against AI, argue against it on its own merits, not secondary ones.
The thing is that I'm against AI irrespective of its environmental impacts (which are also devastating, of course).
November 14, 2025 at 5:31 PM
The thing is that I'm against AI irrespective of its environmental impacts (which are also devastating, of course).
Reposted by Spencer Beswick
A dangerous new policy requires a campus President's approval for profs to teach race & gender topics in Texas.
"It strikes at the heart of what education means...which is circulate the exchange of knowledge without fear of retaliation.”
— Rana Jaleel, AAUP Chair of Committee on Academic Freedom
"It strikes at the heart of what education means...which is circulate the exchange of knowledge without fear of retaliation.”
— Rana Jaleel, AAUP Chair of Committee on Academic Freedom
Texas A&M University professors now need approval for some race and gender topics
Texas A&M University System regents on Thursday adopted a new policy requiring professors to first get approval to discuss some race and gender topics.
apnews.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:24 PM
A dangerous new policy requires a campus President's approval for profs to teach race & gender topics in Texas.
"It strikes at the heart of what education means...which is circulate the exchange of knowledge without fear of retaliation.”
— Rana Jaleel, AAUP Chair of Committee on Academic Freedom
"It strikes at the heart of what education means...which is circulate the exchange of knowledge without fear of retaliation.”
— Rana Jaleel, AAUP Chair of Committee on Academic Freedom
My strongest niche non-political opinion is that 1.15 is by far the best line spacing option.
November 13, 2025 at 7:50 PM
My strongest niche non-political opinion is that 1.15 is by far the best line spacing option.
I still have no idea when to use "that" and when to use "which." Everything I read about it just confuses me further! This is why I try not to ever judge people (let alone non-native English speakers) for small grammatical errors. Language is hard.
November 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I still have no idea when to use "that" and when to use "which." Everything I read about it just confuses me further! This is why I try not to ever judge people (let alone non-native English speakers) for small grammatical errors. Language is hard.
Begging senior professors to stop writing op-eds about how they think students using AI for everything is ok, actually.
November 13, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Begging senior professors to stop writing op-eds about how they think students using AI for everything is ok, actually.