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Reposted by Henry M J Tonks

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 6d

It took Trump less than 24 hours to “turn a government shutdown into a weapon wielded against the civil servants he once praised and the opposing party he has long derided,” Toluse Olorunnipa and Jonathan Lemire report.

A Government Shutdown, Weaponized

The president is boasting about doing things to Democrats that are “bad for them and irreversible by them.”

bit.ly

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Reposted by Henry M J Tonks

Modern American History @modamhist.bsky.social · 23d

Our last research article from 8.2: @henrymjtonks.bsky.social looks at Lowell, MA, as an example of how deindustrialization & urban decay in the 1970s forced policymakers to focus on public-private partnerships as mechanisms of economic regeneration

Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Snowstorm, Lowell, Massachusetts documentary photographs, 1980s, public domain.

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Aug 8

Thank you! I’d be curious to hear more/what you cited it for, feel free to drop me a message.

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Reposted by Henry M J Tonks

Jake Anbinder @jakeanbinder.bsky.social · Jul 30

This from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social is v good. "Abundance need not be an instrument of Democratic factional competition. Instead, it has the potential to unite the liberal-left together around a vision for how to implement grand Democratic ambitions." hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/lessons-fr...

Lessons from the forgotten history of Democratic abundance

Moderates and leftists misunderstand the 1990s. That is stopping them from seeing their joint path forward.

hypertext.niskanencenter.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Jul 30

Does liberalism need an “abundance mindset”?

I ventured into the #abundance debate with an essay for @niskanencenter.bsky.social historicizing everybody’s favorite topic. #USPolitics

hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/lessons-fr...

Lessons from the forgotten history of Democratic abundance

Moderates and leftists misunderstand the 1990s. That is stopping them from seeing their joint path forward.

hypertext.niskanencenter.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Jun 10

My @modamhist.bsky.social article about industrial decline, economic regeneration, and the rise of the “New Liberals” is available to read! ➡️ doi.org/10.1017/mah....

I explore Lowell National Historical Park as a microcosm of the modern Democratic Party’s complex transformation. #USHistory

“‘Downtown Lowell is a Fun Place to Be’: Postindustrial Regeneration and the Making of the ‘New Liberals,’ 1974–1992” | Modern American History | Cambridge Core

“‘Downtown Lowell is a Fun Place to Be’: Postindustrial Regeneration and the Making of the ‘New Liberals,’ 1974–1992”

doi.org

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Reposted by Henry M J Tonks

Lily Geismer @lilygeismer.bsky.social · Jun 4

A great review of Mastery and Drift from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social!

Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · May 22

Bill Clinton said his colleagues were “new” Democrats who thought and governed differently to the “old” party. Was this true?

I reviewed @lilygeismer.bsky.social and @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Mastery and Drift” for @clereviewbooks.bsky.social. #USPolitics www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...

Thinking like a Technocrat: On Brent Cebul and Lily Geismer's "Mastery and Drift" — Cleveland Review of Books

This reconfiguration of liberalism has created a new Democratic coalition that is capacious yet precarious.

www.clereviewofbooks.com

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · May 22

Bill Clinton said his colleagues were “new” Democrats who thought and governed differently to the “old” party. Was this true?

I reviewed @lilygeismer.bsky.social and @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Mastery and Drift” for @clereviewbooks.bsky.social. #USPolitics www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...

Thinking like a Technocrat: On Brent Cebul and Lily Geismer's "Mastery and Drift" — Cleveland Review of Books

This reconfiguration of liberalism has created a new Democratic coalition that is capacious yet precarious.

www.clereviewofbooks.com

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Reposted by Henry M J Tonks

Daniel Schlozman @daschloz.bsky.social · May 20

A very sharp paragraph from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social that pairs nicely with the Catalist report. www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Feb 25

Last year’s electoral earthquake exposed the difficulty the Democratic Party faces in building a majority for an age of populism.

Read my “American Affairs” essay on liberalism’s transformation, grand ambitions constrained, and what comes next. #USPolitics americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-...

The Rise and Fall of the New Liberals: How the Democrats Lost Their Majority - American Affairs Journal

Since the 1960s, the Democratic Party has transformed. From a party rooted since the New Deal era in both “developmental liberalism” and a version of social democratic class politics, it has grown int...

americanaffairsjournal.org

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Reposted by Henry M J Tonks

Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · Feb 11

@lilygeismer.bsky.social and I are thrilled that our new project, Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals since the 1960s, is published today. When we began this work a few years ago, we had no idea how sadly relevant exploring the evolution . . . (1/10)
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Mastery and Drift

A revelatory look at modern liberalism’s historical evolution and enduring impact on contemporary politics and society. Since the 1960s, American liberalism and the Democratic Party have been rema...

press.uchicago.edu

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Feb 4

“What’s past is prologue.” – Roger Stone

To understand 2025, go back to the #Nineties. Read my review of @lioneltrolling.bsky.social’s “When the Clock Broke” and @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social and Judith Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure” to learn why. #USPolitics www.phenomenalworld.org/reviews/back...

Back to the ‘90s | Henry Tonks

On Ganz’s “When the Clock Broke” and Lichtenstein and Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure”

www.phenomenalworld.org

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Reposted by Henry M J Tonks

Marc Hudson @marchudson.bsky.social · Jan 19

Brilliant book review by @henrymjtonks.bsky.social .

The Whole Equation: Can “Neoliberalism” Explain Everything?, reviewing

The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America by Mehrsa Baradaran • W.W. Norton • 2024 • 464 pages • $32.50

screen grab of portion of Henry Tonks book review

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 20

“It can be understood too, but only dimly and in flashes.”

For @lpeblog.bsky.social, I wrote about @mehrsab.bsky.social’s “The Quiet Coup” and what we talk about when we talk about #neoliberalism. @lpeproject.bsky.social lpeproject.org/blog/can-neo...

The Whole Equation: Can “Neoliberalism” Explain Everything?

In The Quiet Coup, Mehrsa Baradaran takes the conversation about neoliberalism beyond the realm of economics, focusing instead on legal revolutions, the conservative reaction to the Civil Rights…

lpeproject.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

The Biden Administration strove to enact an ambitious reset of American economic policy. For @washingtonpost.com, I explored historical parallels in the rise – and demise – of the Atari Democrats and high-tech industrial policy in the Eighties. www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-hist...

Perspective | Biden is reviving a lost Democratic industrial policy playbook

Biden is deploying ideas developed to compete with Japan in the 1980s to stay ahead of China in 2022.

www.washingtonpost.com

Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

“The populace is unaroused.”

For @washingtonpost.com, I rewatched Warren Beatty’s underrated political satire “Bulworth” – a movie that predicted (or warned us about?) the rise of populism. www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-hist...

Perspective | 25 years later, ‘Bulworth’ proves prescient

The film is a trenchant political critique — one that explains much of what has happened since then.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

There’s more on the Nineties, as well! For @publicbooks.bsky.social, I reviewed two brilliant reassessments of the decade’s politics: @pastpunditry.bsky.social’s “Partisans” and Lily Geismer’s “Left Behind.” www.publicbooks.org/what-the-199...

What the 1990s Did to America

The 1990s are usually seen as a moment of tranquility. Cold War won, business booming, history at an end. Nothing could be further from the truth.

www.publicbooks.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

For “Public Seminar,” I reviewed @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Illusions of Progress” – an essential read for understanding modern American liberalism. Cebul’s book bears revisiting in the aftermath of “Bidenomics.” publicseminar.org/2023/06/can-...

Can American Liberalism Reinvent Itself? - Public Seminar

Illusions of Progress reinterprets neoliberalism as growing out of midcentury and postwar liberalism rather than emerging in opposition to it.

publicseminar.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

How much love, sex, fun, and friendship can a person take?

For @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, I explored how “The Big Chill” explains modern American politics, what happened to the Sixties, and how the film makes sense of the passage of time. lareviewofbooks.org/article/you-...

You Can Always Get What You Want: On “The Big Chill” and American Politics | Los Angeles Review of Books

Henry M. J. Tonks explains how Lawrence Kasdan’s “The Big Chill” gets generational politics all wrong—and why we still need to watch it.

lareviewofbooks.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

Perhaps relevant again after this year’s electoral earthquake, for @time-magazine.bsky.social I wrote about Jimmy Carter’s role in the rise of “anti-politics” and America’s crisis of faith in government. time.com/6328709/jimm...

How Political Outsiders Destroyed Trust in Government

By convincing Americans government was incompetent, their rhetoric made it impossible to deliver what voters want.

time.com

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

Marsha Barrett’s “Nelson Rockefeller’s Dilemma” is an ambitious new history of the triumph and tragedy of midcentury moderate Republicanism. I reviewed it for “Public Seminar.” publicseminar.org/2024/09/nels...

How Moderate Republicans Went Extinct - Public Seminar

Henry Tonks reviews Marsha E. Barrett’s new book on Nelson Rockefeller and the disappearance of moderate Republicans from American politics.

publicseminar.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

Nostalgic for the Nineties? I reconsidered America’s “holiday from history” for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social, reviewing @lioneltrolling.bsky.social’s “When the Clock Broke” and @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social & Judith Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure.” www.phenomenalworld.org/reviews/back...

Back to the ‘90s | Henry Tonks

On Ganz’s “When the Clock Broke” and Lichtenstein and Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure”

www.phenomenalworld.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

Pre-election, I wrote for “Public Seminar” about the history of Democrats’ 21st-century #industrialpolicy moment, examining its contradictions and uncertain prospects. publicseminar.org/2024/10/new-...

Behind the Balancing Act of Kamala Harris's Industrial Policy - Public Seminar

Henry Tonks looks at how Kamala Harris could shift towards the recovery of the formative goal of New Liberals in the 1970s-1990s— renewing liberalism’s quest to shape and manage American capitalism.

publicseminar.org

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Dec 2

I’ve put together a thread of pieces I’ve written about American history and political culture over the past couple of years. Please take a look and read below! ⬇️

For @time-magazine.bsky.social, I wrote about the Democratic Party’s class realignment. #2024Election time.com/7173651/demo...

The Democratic Party Realignment That Empowered Trump

Since the 1970s, the Democratic Party has realigned—a shift that might have cost Kamala Harris the White House.

time.com

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Henry M J Tonks @henrymjtonks.bsky.social · Nov 30

Hello, brave new world! 🙏🏼 Pleased to be here on Bluesky.

🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

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