Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Professor Beth Perry @itsbethperry.bsky.social · Jul 29

Another fascinating duo of guests joining us on this episode to discuss @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's rise in #NYC and whether we need a #wealthtax on the super rich

Thanks @katiepruszynski.bsky.social and @qurbanist.bsky.social

Listen to #urbanradar now ...

Sheffield Urbanism @sheffieldurbanism.bsky.social · Jul 29

More summer listening with latest episode of Urban Radar - @goodfellowtom.bsky.social and @itsbethperry.bsky.social dive into urban political and wealth elites with @katiepruszynski.bsky.social and @qurbanist.bsky.social

@unishefplayer.bsky.social

open.spotify.com/episode/2GhJ...

Radar 7: URBAN POLITICS OF TRUTH AND WEALTH (+ AI data centres, +extreme heat and more)

Urban Radar · Episode

open.spotify.com

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · Nov 20

Top genocide scholar calls Starmer and Lammy ‘hypocrites’ over Gaza stance - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/top-genocide-scholar-calls-starmer-and-lammy-hypocrites-denying-gaza-genocide

Top genocide scholar calls Starmer and Lammy ‘hypocrites’ over Gaza stance

William Schabas noted how British leaders previously voted in favour of recognising genocides in conflicts of a lesser scale than Gaza

www.middleeasteye.net

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Urban Studies Journal @urbanstudiesjournal.com · Feb 6

Invisible fish: The selective (dis)connection of elite Chinese gated community residents from urban public space by Yixin Liu and @qurbanist.bsky.social

Out now in #UrbanStudies February issue:
https://buff.ly/4hKqiBx

#mobilities #ActivitySpace #GatedCommunities #China

Article information including DOI, title, author, abstract and keywords.

Sheffield UCU @sheffielducu.bsky.social · Apr 29

This forms part of 10 days of action our branch has called.

Whilst we have had somewhat productive negotiations with HR, our Vice Chancellor still refuses to meet with us.

This is not good enough. We hope the show of strength tomorrow will encourage him to show some leadership.

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Jun 17

A reminder that this live event on the global capitalist class is at 4pm tomorrow at the University of Sheffield. All welcome.

This particular event in our series will not be recorded.

Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Apr 1

Lecture 3 of Urban Riches, with Katie Higgins, 18 June at 4pm. Details in the attached image, cutting-edge global study from one of the core urban riches team, please share. We hope to circulate a live link in due course.

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Kon Karapanagiotidis @kkarapanagiotidis.bsky.social · Jun 9

#freedomflotilla #madleen #gaza #palestine #greta

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Bert Russell @bertrussell.bsky.social · May 29

We don’t need to increase productivity.

We need to abolish socially unproductive work.

That’s the starting point for improving social well-being.

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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · May 29

Men are extremely keen to explain to me that Britain *needs* a domestic steel production plant and doesn't necessarily *need* universities. Okay. Steel contributed about £1.7bn to the UK economy in 2024. Universities contributed more than £200bn.

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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · May 19

Richard Littlejohn mostly lives in a gated mansion in Florida.

Andrew Neil mostly lives in Grasse in the South of France.

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · May 13

Keir Starmer hands out excellent prospective book titles to critical sociologists too eagerly - Island of Strangers: Emulation, Inequality and Despair in British Politics perhaps.....

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Simon Parker @sparkerworld.bsky.social · Apr 30

This is the Labour MP for Pendle & Clitheroe who hilariously believes in "a very powerful higher education lobby" (that will be why thousands of university staff are being made redundant this year presumably). With 'friends' like this who needs Farage & Badenoch as enemies?

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Apr 30

Its hard to fathom the logic of senior management going to ground and avoiding discussion with its own professional association. Dialogue is always the answer and the easiest means of dissipating anxiety over institutional change.

Sheffield UCU @sheffielducu.bsky.social · Apr 29

This forms part of 10 days of action our branch has called.

Whilst we have had somewhat productive negotiations with HR, our Vice Chancellor still refuses to meet with us.

This is not good enough. We hope the show of strength tomorrow will encourage him to show some leadership.

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Sam Bright @writesbright.bsky.social · Apr 29

Three years since Fortress London hit the bookshops.

Still in love with this front cover. No idea why we changed it for the paperback

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Apr 25

The Gated City - this is a timely book, strongly recommend for anyone doing work around gating, walls, fortification, segregation:

policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-gated-city

The Gated City

The Gated City - Planning Practice and the Challenges of Urban Fragmentation in Mexico; The book tells the story of the proliferation of gated communities in Mexico over the last three decades. Weavin...

policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Apr 24

I have written a short piece based on an article from ten years ago to discuss how the model used there might help us today to interpret politics in the USA as one of 'social catharsis':

alphacity.blog/2025/04/24/s...

Statecraft as catharsis: The mobilisation of social anger in politics

Donald Trump announces the 2020 re-election campaign in Orlando, Florida. Source: Executive Office of the President of the United States, A while ago I was very interested in how policymaking in ci…

alphacity.blog

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Professor Beth Perry @itsbethperry.bsky.social · Apr 14

One for the diary. Another inspiring discussion from the Urban Riches team planned for June ...

@invisiblemapper.bsky.social @qurbanist.bsky.social

Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Apr 1

Lecture 3 of Urban Riches, with Katie Higgins, 18 June at 4pm. Details in the attached image, cutting-edge global study from one of the core urban riches team, please share. We hope to circulate a live link in due course.

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Apr 1

Lecture 3 of Urban Riches, with Katie Higgins, 18 June at 4pm. Details in the attached image, cutting-edge global study from one of the core urban riches team, please share. We hope to circulate a live link in due course.

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Mar 21

Trumps attack on the elites - Rufo has frequently denounced what he calls the left’s “ideological capture” of America’s universities...said his goal was to change the way the federal government funds universities “in a way that puts them in an existential terror”

Financial TimesFinancial Times

News, analysis and opinion from the Financial Times on the latest in markets, economics and politics

FT.com

Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Mar 20

The canary in the mine? This excellent interview a must-watch for academics looking at the Columbia university horror-show, fascism arrives noisily but not all are noticing. Deportation is the start.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgx2...

America’s Constitutional Crisis (w/ Katherine Franke) | The Chris Hedges Report

YouTube video by The Chris Hedges YouTube Channel

www.youtube.com

Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Mar 19

Word of the day is ultracrepidate - to criticize beyond the sphere of one's knowledge (Chambers Thesaurus, 5th edition).

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Eva Gajek @evagajek.bsky.social · Mar 12

Felix Römer and I take a deep dive into the term and concept of wealth in Docupedia —worth a read! docupedia.de/zg/gajek_roe...

Reichtum | Docupedia-Zeitgeschichte

docupedia.de

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Mar 11

Even the cards can be against you...

A "no trumps" hanging sign used by card game players in an antique shop window.

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Mar 9

It is an unfortunate sign of where we are that, in an attention economy, hiding your humanity becomes a winning strategy.

Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Mar 6

Festival of Social Action is a series of public events being organised by Change Lab, an initiative being run within Sheffield Student Union. Event list: shorturl.at/72XK0

I will be speaking on Jets, Planes, and Rocketmobiles 25th March, free registration here - shorturl.at/Z2Afb

Festival for Social Action

Welcome to the Festival of Social Action, a week of collaborative events to inspire people to get involved and drive positive change in their local communities. All of the events are free and open to...

shorturl.at

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Mar 4

So the makers of the 'Trump Gaza' video are bemused that their work was broadcast by Trump 'out of context', leaving many questions still unanswered about the purpose of the video - www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...

'Trump Gaza' AI video creators say they don't want to be the president's 'propaganda machine'

Co-creators Solo Avital and Ariel Vromen said they’re not sure how their video made its way to the president and that the video was meant to be satirical.

www.nbcnews.com

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Oliver Bullough @oliverbullough.bsky.social · Feb 28

Spent a while last night picking out the planets in the beautiful clear sky, but after a while the most striking thing was quite how many starlink satellites there are. That guy is really taking over everything.

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Feb 26

A real-estate president's AI vision of the future of Gaza. From horror, $$$$

This did not possibly seem to be credible, but now reported on Sky here: news.sky.com/story/trump-...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Feb 26

Complete batshit lunacy on the president's Truth Social account. Yes, he really posted this.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Feb 26

Complete batshit lunacy on the president's Truth Social account. Yes, he really posted this.

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Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Feb 25

Good journalism is something we should be prepared to pay for, if you don't believe that go and do YOUR job for free.

Rowland Atkinson @qurbanist.bsky.social · Feb 25

In ten minutes a day Democracy Now's daily briefing has made me feel more informed (also depressed, angry and upset) than any other in recent years. Wonderful really.

www.youtube.com/@DemocracyNow

Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! is a viewer-supported independent, global weekday news hour anchored by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. The show is broadcast on more than 1,500 TV, radio and i...

www.youtube.com

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