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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · 27d

Sometimes you leave a conference with just a few notes, sometimes with many ideas, and sometimes with empty hands. But sometimes, you walk away with both ideas and emotions.

Thank you, escapes.unimi.it/archivio-con..., for this beautiful experience, and ActionAid Italia, for inviting me.

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Reposted by Federica Zardo

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jul 28

Protesting over Gaza’s starvation feels like screaming into a void – but we mustn’t stop | Nesrine Malik

Political platitudes and a few trucks of aid won’t save the children dying now. But they show leaders can’t ignore public opinion for ever, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Federica Zardo

Department for Migration and Globalisation @demigkrems.bsky.social · Jul 14

💶 New on scilog:
How does EU funding shape migration policy? The project MigFund reveals a growing focus on border control and externalization.

🗃️ The research is led by political scientist Federica Zardo (@federicazardo.bsky.social).

📖 Read more: scilog.fwf.ac.at/en/magazine/...

An origami bird folded from a 500-euro banknote sits among green leaves on a branch. | © butenkow / Adobe Stock

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Reposted by Federica Zardo

Österreichischer Wissenschaftsfonds FWF @fwf-at.bsky.social · Jun 16

Die EU setzt migrationspolitische Maßnahmen u.a. mit Fördergeldern. Politikwissenschaftlerin @federicazardo.bsky.social zeigte, dass sich der Fokus in Richtung Abschottung & Auslagerung an Drittstaaten verschiebt. #Migrationspolitik #scilog @unikrems.bsky.social

scilog.fwf.ac.at/magazin/was-...

Was EU-Fördermittel über Europas Migrationspolitik verraten

Die EU setzt migrationspolitische Maßnahmen unter anderem in Form von Fördergeldern. Die Politikwissenschaftlerin Federica Zardo nimmt den Weg des Geldes unter die Lupe. Ihre Analyse zeigt: Der Fokus ...

scilog.fwf.ac.at

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Jun 17

@demigkrems.bsky.social @fwf-at.bsky.social

Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Jun 17

Why does this matter?
It allows to:
• Track shifts in funding priorities over time
• Compare internal vs. external funding
• Link budget decisions to policy goals
• Explore trends in how migration is framed & funded
It’s grounded in the approach discussed here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Jun 17

Measures are grouped by sub-policy areas like:
• Border & land management
• Return and readmission
• Legal migration & mobility
• Protection
• Migration-development

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Jun 17

What’s in it?
For each entry (an objective associated with a committed amount), MigFund records:
- Budget commitment
- Target groups & regions
- General and specific objectives
- Implementation details
- A “restrictiveness” score (open ↔ restrictive)

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Jun 17

🚨 The full MigFund database is now publicly available.
It covers EU funding for migration and asylum from 2000 to 2023, across both internal and external programmes.
1,700+ funding measures.
All major instruments, from AMIF to EUTF.
You can download it here: zenodo.org/records/1568...

MigFund Dataset

MigFund tracks over 1,700 EU-funded measures related to migration and asylum policy between 2000 and 2023. It covers internal and external instruments, coded by sub-policy area, target group, geograph...

zenodo.org

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Jun 16

@demigkrems.bsky.social

Reposted by Federica Zardo

Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · May 6

If at this point you’re still saying that this is remotely related to antisemitism or viewpoint diversity, you are part of the problem.

Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · May 6

🚨🚨 Deranged letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon to Harvard’s president, cutting off federal funding for any new grants.

Worth reading in full. It is NUTS.

THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
WASHINGTON, DC 20202
May 5, 2025
Dr. Alan Garber
Office of the President
Harvard University
Massachusetts Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138
Dr. Garber,
The Federal Government has a sacred responsibility to be a wise and important steward of American taxpayer dollars. Harvard University, despite amassing a largely tax-free $53.2 billion dollar endowment (larger than the GDP of 100 countries), receives billions of dollars of taxpayer largess each year. Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right. Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students, Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these "students" come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country—and why is there so much HATE? These are questions that must be answered, among many more, but the biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public?
Harvard University has made a mockery of this country's higher education system. It has invited foreign students, who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States of America, to its campus. In every way, Harvard has failed to abide by its legal obligations, its ethical and fiduciary duties, its transparency responsibilities, and any semblance of academic rigor. It had scrapped standardized testing requirements and a normalized grading system. This year Harvard was forced to adopt an embarrassing "remedial math" program for undergraduates.
Why is it, we ask, that Harvard has to teach simple and basic mathematics, when it is supposedly so hard to get into this "acclaimed university"? Who is getting in under such a low standard when others, with fabulous grades and a great understanding of the highest levels of mathematics, are being rejected?
Harvard has even been embroiled in humiliating plagiarism scandals, exposed clearly and plainly in the media, with respect to your then…

$running the institution in a totally chaotic way. Harvard alumnus and highly successful hedge fund manager Bill Ackman noted that, under her leadership, Harvard has become "a political advocacy organization for one party." Ackman has called for the resignation of Pritzker, concluding that the "[t)he mismanagement here is Penny Pritzker" and noting that any serious corporation would have removed her after a litany of recent failings and the fact that, incredibly, "Harvard is not in a good financial position." According to Ackman, one of the world's foremost finance experts, Harvard's so-called S53 billion endowment is "massively overstated as far as what it's really worth," and Harvard has irresponsibly taken out $8 billion in debt. If this is true, it is concerning evidence of Harvard's disastrous mismanagement, indicating an urgent need for massive reform-not continued taxpayer investment. If Harvard prefers not to change, then Harvard should have no problem using its overflowing endowment to fund its bloated bureaucracy. At its best, a university should fulfill the highest ideals of our Nation, and enlighten the thousands of hopeful students who walk through its magnificent gates. But Harvard has betrayed this ideal. Perhaps most alarmingly, Harvard has failed to abide by the United States Supreme Court's ruling demanding that it end its racial preferencing, and continues to engage in ugly racism in its undergraduate and graduate schools, and even within the Harvard Law Review itself. Our universities should be bastions of merit that reward and celebrate excellence and achievement. They should not be incubators of discrimination that encourage resentment and instill grievance and racism into our wonderful young Americans. The above concerns are only a fraction of the long list of Harvard's consistent violations of its own legal duties. Given these and other concerning allegations, this letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the fede…$

Federal Agencies. The Administration's priorities have not changed and today's letter marks the end of new grants for the University.
These requests will advance the best interests of Harvard University, so it can reclaim its status as a respected educational institution for the future leaders of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Sincerely,
Linda E. McMahon
Secretary of Education

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Reposted by Federica Zardo

Geopolitics Journal @geopoliticsjournal.bsky.social · Apr 24

Now out and #openaccess in Geopolitics: "Beyond the Internal-External Policy Divide: How the EU Communicates on Migration" by Caterina Carta, Federica Zardo & Mattia Sguazzini
@mattiasguazzini.bsky.social @federicazardo.bsky.social
Download and read for free:

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Federica Zardo

Alberto Alemanno @alemanno.bsky.social · Apr 15

Boom. Harvard University unveils a fresh website entirely focusing on its impact on society.

Magnificent, yet long overdue. Thanks Donald!
www.harvard.edu

Harvard University

Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.

www.harvard.edu

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 15

Wow, very well done!

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

We also make all our data available: full dataset + replication material. 📂 check it out!

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

7/9 Institutional communication on migration is strategic, segmented and often competing. It tells a lot about how the EU sees itself, and it wants to be seen.
Who speaks really matters.

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

6/9 Our argument: the internal/external policy divide does not hold up discursively, but proximity to "the crisis" and institutional logics still shape communication, despite more collaboration across institutions.

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

5/9 And when it's symbolic (like on the international migrants' day?)
Migration is part of our identity, values and solidarity. Complex topics like return or integration are carefully sidestepped. Unity in discourse, but selective.

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

4/9 When the crisis is far away: migration is a foreign policy issue, not an internal threat.
Border management is absent.
EEAS: diplomacy, solidarity, multilateralism.

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

3/9 When the focus in on the Neighbourhood:
DG Home: border control, first line of defence.
EEAS/HR: human dignity, root causes.

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

2/9 Drawing on 50k+ institutional EU documents (2010-2021), we show how internal and external migration policies are narrated differently by actors like the EEAS, DG Home, DG Near or DG Intpa.

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

1/9 We ask: how do different EU institutions frame migration? Do they speak with one voice? Or do they tell different stories depending on who's doing the talking - and to whom?

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Federica Zardo @federicazardo.bsky.social · Apr 11

New open access article out in @geopoliticsjournal.bsky.social Beyond the internal-external policy divide: how the EU communicates on migration by Caterina Carta, @mattiasguazzini.bsky.social and me! Read here 👇and a short thread 🧵 below!

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Beyond the Internal-External Policy Divide: How the EU Communicates on Migration

Focusing on statements produced by the European External Action Service and several Commissioners, this paper explores how various institutional actors conceive of and discuss migration policies. I...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Federica Zardo

Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · Apr 8

Tariffs xkcd.com/3073

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Reposted by Federica Zardo

Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · Apr 5

We should all remember this whenever CEOs are treated as sages on anything except their own industry, and sometimes only their own company.

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · Apr 5

Bankers and CEOs’ surprise and dismay over Trump’s massive tariffs appears genuine.

They really did believe in an Imaginary Reliable Trump, one who was tossing meat to the rubes but would do what a Wall St. CEO would do, and told each other this to the point it was socially-reinforced groupthink.

Tariffs Expose Wall Street's Misplaced Faith in Trump

Bankers and business leaders imagine a more reliable, less protectionist version of the president than the one that actually exists. Now they're finding out the hard way.

www.arcdigital.media

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