Gary Rawnsley
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garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley
@garydrawnsley.bsky.social

Head of the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Lincoln. Research on propaganda, public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy & soft power. Lover of all things literary. Has Crohn’s Disease. Views expressed here are mine & mine alone. .. more

Gary David Rawnsley is a British political scientist whose research is located at the intersection of international relations and international communication. Rawnsley writes extensively on soft power, public and cultural diplomacy, propaganda, international broadcasting, media and democracy, and political cinema. He is the author/editor of 13 scholarly books, and the book review editor of Journal of International Communication and International Journal of Taiwan Studies. Since 2023, he has been Professor of Public Diplomacy & Soft Power and Head of the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Lincoln. From 2020 to 2022, Rawnsley was a professor of public diplomacy at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS) of this university. .. more

Political science 46%
Sociology 25%
Pinned
Now available - the 2nd edition of my co-edited Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media. Covering the PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, & Macao + impact of Covid on the media, communications, & information landscape. More details available here: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Ha...
Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media
The new, second edition of this successful Handbook explores the growing and evolving field of Chinese media, offering a window through which to observe multi-directional flows of information, culture...
www.routledge.com

Congratulations to Dr Mark Bennister, Honorary Senior Fellow in the School of Social & Political Sciences (Uni of Lincoln). The Constitution Society has published Mark’s essay on Labour government proposals for a digital ID scheme @consoc.bsky.social
Identity – The Crisis You Can’t See: Time for digital ID? - The Constitution Society
Mark Bennister investigates government proposals to introduce digital ID cards in this blog post for the Constitution Society.
consoc.org.uk

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Oh, I’ve picked up Waiter in Paris a few times, tempted to buy it. Is it good?

Lucky to live in this gorgeous city. Our university graduation ceremonies take place in the Cathedral

Few films have stayed with me as much as Kurosawa’s beautiful, unsettling & hypnotic Dreams (1990) with its set pieces & use of colour. A masterpiece of cinema.

The Machine Gunners is my all time favourite. I never knew that a book for children could be so authentic. It changed my life

A stunning essay by Penelope Lively on the importance of children's literature. I first encountered Lively when I read The Ghost of Thomas Kempe 40+ years ago along with Robert Westall, Gene Kemp & Robert Swindells who all taught me what literature is & can be #Booksky
observer.co.uk/culture/book...

A mere footnote in Empire podcast’s wonderful mini series on George Orwell, but enough to pique my interest. I collected from the library Yashodhara Dalmia’s biography of Indian artist, Amrita Sher-Gil. A fascinating & productive but tragically brief life! @anitaanand.bsky.social

Congratulations to David Szalay, author of Flesh & winner of the 2025 Booker Prize. An excellent choice. @thebookerprizes.com

Happy birthday to one of the most important programmes in the history of television. Sesame Street has been transforming lives in the US & across the world for 56 years. It reflects the power of education, tolerance, inclusion & cultural diversity - values under attack today in too many places

Luke Turnock has also published (with Tim Piatkowski from Griffith University) “The new DNP”: Discussion of the experimental ‘fat burner’ BAM15 on bodybuilding forums and YouTube, again in Performance Enhancement & Health (14:1): www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Congratulations to School of Social & Political Sciences's Luke Turnock. His new new article (with PhD student Mikey Hirst) is in Performance Enhancement and Health: 'Off-label Semaglutide & GLP-1 weight-loss medicine use for anti-ageing' is available at
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Off-label Semaglutide & GLP-1 weight-loss medicine use for anti-ageing: A Netnography of older bodybuilders’ experiences and understandings
GLP-1 weight-loss medicines (e.g. Semaglutide; Tirzepatide) are increasingly prevalent, with many users accessing these drugs off-label through the in…
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Gary D. Rawnsley

When VOA was silenced by the Trump administration, we stopped telling America's story to 360 million people worldwide. America lost its voice. Join the fight to save VOA. Go to savevoa.com

Good luck to all authors shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 announced tonight. It’s an extremely strong shortlist this year - I can’t call it. #BookerPrize

Read this back in June. Loved it! Now one of my all time favourites (thanks to @backlisted.bsky.social for recommending)

A Sunday afternoon stroll along the Fossdyke Canal, Lincoln, with views of Lincoln Cathedral #photography

Reposted by Gary D. Rawnsley

Remembering DYLAN THOMAS - who left us 72yrs ago today, aged just 39.
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me

More brilliant news from the School of Social & Political Sciences. Delighted my colleague @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social has co-edited this fascinating new interdisciplinary book Lights and Shadows: The Ongwen Case at the International Court published by Brill. brill.com/display/titl...
brill.com

Congratulations to my School of Social & Political Sciences colleague, @mcslaven.bsky.social and his co-author, @emile-chabal.bsky.social on the publication of their timely & important new article on the immigration debate in the UK @foreignpolicy.com
Wrote something with @emile-chabal.bsky.social in @foreignpolicy.com about how the immigration debate in the UK has gotten so off the rails recently: foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/05/b...
Britain Is Having the World’s Most Extreme Immigration Debate
The British discourse makes even the Trump administration look moderate.
foreignpolicy.com

I have always loved A Prayer for Owen Meany. Such a well plotted story with one of the most satisfying endings in literature. I couldn’t read anything for several weeks after finishing it

Just arrived on publication day: John Irving’s 16th novel, Queen Esther, prequel to The Cider House Rules. Looking forward to adding it to my full collection of books by John Irving who I started reading 40 years ago. #Booksky

Reposted by Louise Edwards

The arts & humanities, & languages especially, are again under attack, easy scapegoats for problems in HEIs. Nottingham prides itself on being a global university, but without language provision, that is now a problematic boast
Music and modern languages courses suspended at University of Nottingham
In a statement the institution also says it is
www.bbc.co.uk

Never thought I would say this but thank you, Reviewer #2, for your constructive and helpful feedback on my new paper. (Now need to lie down in a dark room and hope normality returns shortly.)

I am not a huge Rushdie fan and enjoy only few of his books. It may be a cliche but my absolute favourite is Midnight’s Children - a masterpiece of storytelling & imagination.

Congratulations to Salman Rushdie on the publication today of his new book, The Eleventh Hour. Just received my copy & looking forward to reading it #booksky

Reposted by Anna Tarrant

School of Social & Political Sciences is launching an online short course An Introduction to Supporting Fathers and Male Caregivers led by @profatarrant.bsky.social. 28th January 2026, 09:30 – 12:30, £75 per person. Scan the QR code or email [email protected].

Delighted that my Social & Political Sciences colleague, Dr Marianna Charountaki, has written a blog for the LSE Middle East Centre @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social. Titled ‘From Inquiry to Theorisation: Towards a Holistic Framework in International Relations’, Marianna’s essay is available below.
From Inquiry to Theorisation: Towards a Holistic Framework in International Relations - Middle East Centre
What explains the behaviour – and relative success – of certain armed non-state actors (NSAs) in the Middle East? A new typology suggests groups like HTS and the PLO are better understood as 'states-t...
blogs.lse.ac.uk