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Mike McCarthy

@itsmccarthy.bsky.social

5.6K followers 600 following 670 posts

University of California Santa Cruz Prof. Director of Community Studies. Author: The Master’s Tools (Verso) + Dismantling Solidarity (Cornell). Senior Associate Editor: Critical Sociology. Likes: economic democracy, critical social theory, 2x2 tables.

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · Aug 23

Love to see that @jamellebouie.net engaged with my @hammerandhope.bsky.social essay on class, identity, black politics, labor and @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social in depth today at the @nytimes.com. I’m a bit blown away. Shared below as a thread:

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 5d

Offe's "The Crisis of Crisis Management" is key the theory developed in my finance book called, "The Frankenstein Problem." There he did was Poulantzas couldn't. And you can't understand change without "The Two Logics of Collective Action." His theories are dynamic in the best possible way. RIP.

Hertie School @hertieschool.bsky.social · 5d

The Hertie School mourns the passing of Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Claus Offe, Professor Emeritus of Political Sociology, an extraordinary scholar, teacher and colleague.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and all who had the privilege to know him.

Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 6d

Sharp reflections on the the life, work, and politics of Audre Lord by @keeanga.bsky.social. The essay presents that legacy with clear eyes, contradictions and all.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor · I do not have to be you: Audre Lorde’s Legacy

Lorde never had to persuade her comrades about a strategy, tactic or new idea, lose an argument in order to maintain a...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 7d

A graphical summary of Nicos Poulantzas argument about the rise of totalitarianism in Italy and Germany in his book Fascism & Dictatorship. The graphic is from Dylan Riley's brilliant forward to the book. It is hauntingly familiar, and almost echoes in our own time.

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 7d

It’s well understood how liberalism reveals its own limitations in the middle of an economic crisis. But what Ezra Klein’s recent writing shows so well is how it also reveals itself in political and ideological crises. In all crisis forms, accommodation, accommodation, and more accommodation.

Reposted by Mike McCarthy

In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 8d

Take a moment today to dive into the reality of how we are financing our own destruction, and what can be done: inthesetimes.com/article/fina...

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 8d

inthesetimes.com/article/fina...

Financing Our Own Destruction

How workers’ pensions fuel attacks on the working class—and how to reclaim them for the common good.

inthesetimes.com

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 8d

Excellent reporting from at @inthesetimes.com that draws from some of my work. The labor movement still hasn’t got its head around the way the institutions of capitalism have changed between the 1930s and today. If the workplace needed democracy then, today pooled assets do as well.

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 10d

Our political discourse is inhuman, literally

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 12d

Really excited to read this

www.harvardmagazine.com/social-scien...

A New Narrative of Civil Rights | Harvard Magazine

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

www.harvardmagazine.com

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 12d

Rudolf Bahro on Stalinist political culture seems a pretty accurate description of whatever stage of capitalist democracy we are currently in.

Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 20d

I have an essay in the latest issue of New Labor Forum.

The whole issue looks great… especially the @cgmaisano.bsky.social article on the future(lessness) of conservative leftism.

Thanks to @micahuetricht.bsky.social for the editing help!

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 20d

One has to wonder for only a second why billionaires are spending so much on an agenda to divide the working class to figure out the answer.

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 20d

On October 15th I will be at @redemmas.org in Baltimore with Ho-fung Hung talking democracy, finance, and how we can build the working-class power we need to take on the oligarchs and solve our underinvestment crises. Put it on your calendar and come out to join the discussion!

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 21d

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 21d

The housing crisis in America won’t be solved by more markets or endlessly tinkering with the fine print in the zoning laws. If we want our cities filled with working people rather than empty second homes, consider what the socialists of Paris are doing. From The Big Read at the @financialtimes.com:

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Reposted by Mike McCarthy

The Cooperative Economy @cooperatives.bsky.social · 22d

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 22d

According to the NYT...despite the fact that the vast majority of cases of domestic political violence is advocated and done by far right groups and individuals. Don't worry, its definitely not fascism. I fear for all our futures, we are on a tightrope that can snap any time.

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 22d

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Elon Musk calls for dissolution of parliament at far-right rally in London

US-based tech boss was addressing the ‘unite the kingdom’ protest organised by Tommy Robinson via video link

www.theguardian.com

Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 22d

We are in the middle of a reactionary right-wing backlash in the world's richest democracies and the billionaire oligarchs are throwing their money and power behind it. They win by dividing working people, creating in and out groups, and wrecking solidarity. We can't let them win.

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 22d

www.versobooks.com/products/755...

The Master's Tools

Why is democracy so broken and how might it be fixed? In The Master's Tools, award-winning author Michael A. McCarthy argues the answer can be found in the flows of credit and investment bound up with...

www.versobooks.com

Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 22d

You can pick up my recent book from @versobooks.bsky.social for up to 40% off as part of a back to school sale they are running. Sale ends today though, sorry for the late notice!

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Reposted by Mike McCarthy

Fred Wellman @fpwellman.bsky.social · 25d

Great new episode tonight! Chatting with Professor Michael McCarthy about how Democrats can build a populist coalition! — LIVE: Trump SCREWS Americans as Dems FIGHT BACK | On Democracy youtube.com/live/81wJo929i… via @meidastouch.com

YouTube

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

https://youtube.com/live/81wJo929i…

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 25d

I am live on @ondemocracychannel.bsky.social with @fpwellman.bsky.social speaking about working-class politics. Tune in!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=81wJ...

LIVE: Trump SCREWS Americans as Dems FIGHT BACK | On Democracy

YouTube video by MeidasTouch

www.youtube.com

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 25d

People should really wait at least three days before they put things in writing about this kind of stuff.

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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 26d

This gave me a needed laugh.