Biff Parker-Magyar
@biffpm.bsky.social
1.7K followers 500 following 100 posts
postdoc @ Harvard Weatherhead 24-25 & asst prof @ Yale 25-. Networks, contentious politics, MENA. Peripatetic product of the garden state. https://biffpm.github.io/
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Reposted by Biff Parker-Magyar
weatherheadcenter.bsky.social
New article from @biffpm.bsky.social on a little-noticed court decision to outlaw Jordan’s teacher’s union. Her analysis? The muted response underscores how Jordan’s political landscape has shifted as attention/activism center on Gaza. https://loom.ly/D97MUsU
Graph shows the number of monthly protests in Jordan from 2016 to 2024, with a steep rise in protests in 2024 focused on Palestine.
Reposted by Biff Parker-Magyar
economeager.bsky.social
Oh so it does have phd level intelligence
victorshammas.com
Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:

‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments
Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."
www.businessinsider.com
biffpm.bsky.social
That shift is obvious to all: I reached out to a knowledgeable friend about the piece, and he hadn't even heard of the court case: "I've been on Palestine frequency since 2023"

But it also shows up in the data, for instance ACLED's tabulations of protests in Jordan --
biffpm.bsky.social
The muted response to the decision also underscores how Jordan’s political landscape has shifted as attention and activism center on Gaza and recent, horrifying images of starvation, rendering secondary many of the animating controversies of the post–Arab Spring years
biffpm.bsky.social
The court decision declared unconstitutional an Arab Spring-era law conceding organizing rights for teachers, and comes nearly 5 years after a crackdown on the group that came to be seen as primary evidence of Jordan's shrinking political space
Reposted by Biff Parker-Magyar
Reposted by Biff Parker-Magyar
merip.bsky.social
NEW: Why are women overrepresented in STEM fields in the Arab world, despite broader gender inequality? Fida Adely, Jennifer Olmsted and Sana Odeh surveyed members of Arab Women in Computing to find out, and the results defy simplistic economic explanations.

READ NOW
Unpacking the Gender 'Paradox’ Behind Arab Women in Tech - MERIP
ompared to women in the United States and most European countries, Arab women are highly represented in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and related computing fields. In fact, six of […]
buff.ly
biffpm.bsky.social
10 million people

"President Donald Trump on Monday urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States."

(as a quick reminder, it did.)

www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Trump says everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran
President Donald Trump on Monday urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States.
www.reuters.com
biffpm.bsky.social
list experiment in the wild
Reposted by Biff Parker-Magyar
crampell.bsky.social
Days before masked ICE agents detained Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk to deport her, Dept determined that the admin had not produced any evidence showing she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
No evidence linking Tufts student to antisemitism or terrorism, State Dept. office found
An internal memo, prepared before Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by ICE, raises doubts about the Trump administration’s claims that she supports Hamas.
www.washingtonpost.com
biffpm.bsky.social
Congrats, Chagai! Amazing news.
Reposted by Biff Parker-Magyar
apsgworkshop.bsky.social
Join us next week! Polisky Dictatorsky
On Tuesday April 8 at 11:00-12:00pm EST/5:00-6:00pm CET Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed (Toulouse) will present "Monopolizing Clientelism During Regime Transition" followed by comments by @shalaby12.bsky.social (Wisconsin-Madison) and @biffpm.bsky.social (@harvard.edu)
The image repeats the information in the post
Reposted by Biff Parker-Magyar
jonmladd.bsky.social
"Creating a ruckus" is his euphemism for wrote an op-ed in a newspaper. The Constitution protects all people under U.S. jurisdiction (not just citizens) from government actions penalizing them for speech, use of the free press, or peaceful assembly.
1st Amendment
biffpm.bsky.social
It's a rare bit of good news to (belatedly) see this order re: the Columbia student been in hiding. Hopefully it's followed

Honest q is when will we see lawsuits on the legal rationale for Rubio unilaterally revoking visas? Would that go to the Supreme Court?

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/n...
Columbia Student Hunted by ICE Sues to Prevent Deportation
Yunseo Chung, a legal permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. since she was 7, participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Immigration agents visited residences looking for her.
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Biff Parker-Magyar
owasow.bsky.social
Many “savvy” folks argue protests can’t work. Evidence suggests otherwise.

“Muslim ban set off a fury of protests across US, garnering tremendous media attention and discussion… Portraying ‘Ban’ at odds with inclusive elements of American identity prompted some citizens to shift their attitudes…”
A Change of Heart? Why Individual-Level Public Opinion Shifted Against Trump’s “Muslim Ban” - Political Behavior
Public opinion research suggests that rapid and significant individual-level fluctuations in opinions toward various policies is fairly unexpected absent methodological artifacts. While this may gener...
link.springer.com
biffpm.bsky.social
My fantastic co-authors on this cross-platform study have not crossed platforms onto BlueSky. On X, we'll have to post the same thing (but in Arabic, to hopefully reach a different audience...)

Link here: doi.org/10.1086/732997
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
doi.org
biffpm.bsky.social
I hope the coming days and years require fewer perilous, personal sacrifices on the part of Syria’s journalists, more freedom of expression for every social media user, and less violence on all three platforms 🙏
biffpm.bsky.social
He nevertheless uses Twitter “more frequently given a humanitarian duty to convey the suffering of Syrians and the demographic, political, and local changes in a transparent way to the whole word in the hope it will one day have an impact on changing what is occurring in Syria.”
biffpm.bsky.social
With the unexpected fall of Bashar, I find some of the users’ responses especially poignant. One photographer noted that Telegram “allows him to convey Syria’s bloody reality, and facts, as is,”