Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 1d

In just six days Europe’s June 2025 heatwave led to 16,500 excess deaths and caused €43 billion in short-term lost earnings. But the effects of heatwaves linger long after the stifling temperatures have passed. By 2029 the cost of those six days is expected to climb to €126 billion.

1 2

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 2d

Unhappily, I'm reading Dipesh Chakrabarty's The Climate of History in a Planetary Age. The judo moves he makes to let capital off the hook for global heating are something to behold.

2 5

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 2d

Much better under their new leader but they're still a marginal force and face two significant challenges: 1) an electoral system that makes it hard for insurgent parties to win large numbers of seats; 2) the right's successful demonisation of all things green.

2 2

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 3d

Not to mention removing the media passes of critical journalists at this year's party conference, suppressing dissent within the party, and bending to the far-right's agenda on immigration. Starmerism's enduring legacy will have been to open the door to a Reform government in 2029.

1 2

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 3d

Britain's authoritarian Labour government has given the police even more power to suppress protests. But this won't stop them. When your government is participating in genocide the only option is to throw wrenches into the machine.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Police to get broader powers to crack down on repeated protests

The move is not a ban on protests but

www.bbc.co.uk

2 2 9

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

Interview with Jason Hickel: breakdownjournal.substack.com/p/interview-...

Reply: degrowth.info/en/blog/deba...

INTERVIEW with Jason Hickel: "Degrowth is a gateway into socialist thought for the 21st century"

Jason Hickel on the last five years of debating degrowth.

breakdownjournal.substack.com

4

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

Degrowth has never been a coherent political perspective, nor has it had an agreed political strategy. This interview with Jason Hickel and reply by Vincent Liegey, Anitra Nelson, and Terry Leahy pair well to highlight the dividing lines. Links below.

1 3 9

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

"Famines are wars over the right to existence" - Mike Davis

www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/li...

457 Palestinians killed by starvation in Gaza, health ministry says

www.middleeasteye.net

14 15

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

The consequences of this erasure are then turned around and used to tarnish pro-Palestinian movements in a desperate effort to crush widespread, popular, opposition in this country to its participation in genocide. It's a shameless, dishonest, and dangerous maneuver. 8/8

5

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

We should also keep in mind that Israel and its allies have routinely conflated their actions and beliefs with the actions and beliefs of all Jews, and in so doing have helped foster an environment where misunderstandings or erasures of this essential distinction can spread. 7/8

1 3

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

As for the slogan's alleged anti-Semitism, it can't be stressed enough that globalise the intifada is an anti-Zionist slogan, which is *not the same* as an anti-semitic slogan. 6/8

1

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

There's a brilliant explainer of the slogan's meaning here: mondoweiss.net/2025/10/what... 5/8

What does Globalize the Intifada mean?

The slogan “Globalize the Intifada” has resonated globally, embraced by activists and attacked by opponents. But what does it mean? It’s not just a slogan but a call to steadfastness that turns everyd...

mondoweiss.net

1 1

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

Protesting, obstructing, and resisting Britain's involvement in the genocide (not merely its complicity as we sometimes hear, but its active participation) is an essential right and duty. This obviously does not extend to actions like those seen in Manchester. 4/8

1

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

The slogan makes the simple point that Israel could not sustain its genocide for a week, let alone the nearly two years that it has, without operational, logistical, ideological, and diplomatic support offered to it by imperial powers including Britain. 3/8

1 2

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

The slogan 'globalise the intifada' has come under especially sustained criticism, with some saying its meaning is unclear or intrinsically antisemitic. Neither of these claims are true. 2/8

1 1

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 4d

The attack in Manchester is utterly deplorable. I am also dismayed to see members of Parliament and parts of our media ecology attempting to use this tragedy to suppress protests against Israel's genocide in Palestine. 1/8

1 1 4

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 5d

"The future is not inscribed in the present even if it is circumscribed by the past" - Wallerstein

2 11

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 6d

“This plan was formulated without the participation of Hamas or any Palestinian party, including the Palestinian Authority. So how can the U.S. administration reach an agreement with one side of the conflict while excluding the Palestinian side?” www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-hamas...

How Hamas Is Navigating Trump’s Gaza Ultimatum

In an exclusive interview, veteran Hamas official Mohammad Nazzal discusses strategy, red lines, and Israel’s attempt to assassinate Palestinian negotiators.

www.dropsitenews.com

3 5

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 6d

I’m looking forward to this event. I’ll be riffing off the London-Edinburgh Weekend Return Group’s idea of being ‘in and against the state’ to reflect on what it means to pursue an academic career ‘in, against and beyond’ the university. Which is something I'm still trying to figure out myself...

Environment and Climate Politics Working Group @bisa-ecpwg.bsky.social · 7d

It's October, and we have an event coming up!

Pathways for environment research: academia, activism, policy. A conversation for ECRs about post-PhD research between 3 people who have taken different paths.

17th October, online & free, 1pm-2.30pm BST.

Register here

www.bisa.ac.uk/members/work...

Aimed at PhD and ECR researchers who are thinking about their future in environmental research, this roundtable brings together three researchers who have taken different pathways with their PhDs. Professor Rosaleen Duffy, Chair of International Politics at the University of Sheffield, will speak to her academic career as a researcher and teacher of global environmental change and governance. Dr Jane Clarke, Principal Analyst at the Office for Environmental Protection, will discuss her experience working on environmental policy across both non-government and government sectors. And Dr Kai Heron, Lecturer in Political Ecology at Lancaster University and co-director of the progressive policy platform Abundance, will share his experience as an activist researcher and using academia to further social movement goals.

The discussion will shed light on different ways to use your environment PhD, what different career pathways can offer, and opportunities for intersections between them. We hope you can join us!

3 9

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 6d

Softly so, yes. That has been his trajectory for years now. This is a good introduction to the subject: theanarchistlibrary.org/library/out-...

Lies Of The Land

Out of the Woods Lies Of The Land against & beyond Paul Kingsnorth’s völkisch environmentalism 2017 Re-printed and annotated in Return Fire vol.6 chap.7...

theanarchistlibrary.org

1 1

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 6d

Though I do hope it's the only reading list where our book features alongside the eco-fascist Paul Kingsnorth...

1 1

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 6d

"You know those books which spend seven or eight chapters elegantly diagnosing a problem in our society and then add 10 pages on at the end with some solutions? This is precisely the opposite."

It's an honor to feature in this Autumn reading list: www.shortlist.com/health-and-f...

10 new non-fiction books to read for your Autumn reset

The bell’s ringing, school’s very much in: learn a lesson from these new non-fiction book must-reads

www.shortlist.com

1 4

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 7d

“This has been the main goal of the US policy against Cuba for more than six decades – to make life as economically difficult, unbearable as possible,” Rodríguez asserted. But imperialism “cannot make us abandon the path of socialism.”
peoplesdispatch.org/2025/09/30/i...

Imperialism “cannot make us abandon the path of socialism,” reaffirms Cuban foreign minister : Peoples Dispatch

Bruno Rodríguez Parilla, Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, condemns UN inaction on Palestine and US blockade of Cuba at solidarity event

peoplesdispatch.org

2 5

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 8d

Ultimately, Starmer's technocratic belief that he just needs to have the right advisors by his side and pull the right policy levers is a form of government that is out of touch with the realities of our conjuncture. www.theguardian.com/politics/202... 2/2

Keir Starmer to tell Labour conference growth is the ‘antidote to division’

In a combative speech, the prime minister will pledge to raise living standards and ‘face down’ threats of a volatile world

www.theguardian.com

1 1 4

Kai Heron @kaiheron.bsky.social · 8d

Labour's wager that economic growth will limit Reform's appeal is foolish. Growth is slowing and won't bounce back by 2029 - falling productivity, under investment, an aging population, and the cascading effects of ecological crises are all beyond this government's control. 1/2

1 3 7