I think I can also safely say that years of branding efforts paid off, because I received no less than 5 gifts/cards that had something to do with corgis. Jupi meeting the walking corgi balloon was a definite highlight!

It’s official - I am #PhDone!!!

I defended my thesis on populism, democracy, and collective memory through CZ & SK case studies on Friday 🎉 Huge thanks to my wonderful opponent Kevin Deegan-Krause, my custos & supervisor @emiliapalonen.bsky.social, & everyone who showed up to support me!

Brawls with the bishops, very Henry VIII energy here, I like it

A very happy #feastoftheass to those who celebrate! Thanks to @dansavage.bsky.social for putting this very important celebration back on our collective calendar 🙏 This red currant and lemon Bundt with lemon glaze is my contribution to the festivities 🫏

He wasn't connected to anything *Slovak* as such, but Slovak leaders since the 19th century have articulated him as a great Slovak, linking him with national pride. This takes place in public; we chose Svätopluk because of his statue at Bratislava castle, which was the center of a huge scandal.

Medievalist pseudohistories are particularly salient examples, because while they may center an individual from the past, the general lack of historical documentation leaves a lot of room for, let’s say, character development. We explored this through King Svätopluk I of Great Moravia, 871-894.

My colleagues Jonáš Syrovátka and @Zea Szebeni and I studied pseudohistory, and pseudohistory's role in nation-building. We argued that a pseudohistorical narrative emerges through a long term process, rather than reflecting a single character or event from the past.

He was also constantly banging on about his party’s fight against oppressive forces and often made vaguely violent threats towards opponents - ie, he could clearly take or leave democracy. There were elements of populism and nationalism, sure, but there was also ✨tribalism✨

We found one clear example of a tribalist party in Kotleba’s L’SNS. He articulated an antagonistic divide between “us,” the people, linked by shared values and identities, and anyone who does not share those values, or “them.”

Now, we move north of Pannonia to Slovakia - We differentiated tribalism from populism and nationalism by stalking the Facebook pages of four political party leaders in Slovakia (Marian Kotleba, Krisztián Forró, Igor Matovič, and Boris Kollár) who are now largely irrelevant, thanks Slovak politics

Populism is an essential part of a democratic system (we will die on this hill), but tribalism is apathetic towards democracy.

Unlike populism, tribalism does not have a hegemonic character - no Caesars here! It articulates groups through a horizontally oriented shared value system, so in/out (Roman, loves Jupiter vs not Roman, doesn’t love Jupiter) and not higher/lower (plebs vs elites)

Here is the theory in 2 sentences: We’re going Laclaudian here, so we view tribalism, like populism, as a mode of articulation that draws antagonistic frontiers between societal groups, BUT on the basis of shared values

WHAT IF there was ✨another way✨? We’re here to offer you tribalism, which, as you will see, provides a different (Roman?) road to analyzing politics in both national and transnational contexts. More nuance, yay!

Populism is the Roman Empire, UGGs in winter, WWII, or pumpkin spice lattes - we love them, but like, they are so basic. You can’t attend a conference without hearing populism populism populism, and let’s not get started on WHAT populism is (but let's do get started on unhinged Roman themed Dall-Es)