Mathew Abbott
@mathewabbott.bsky.social
160 followers 190 following 33 posts
Humanities lecturer & NTEU President, FedUni. Book in progress on human distinctiveness and ecological crisis. Latest publication: https://doi.org/10.1177/07255136241256980
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Reposted by Mathew Abbott
aarnegranlund.bsky.social
"50 % of profits went to the wealthiest 1 % of individuals, predominantly through direct shareholdings and private company ownership. In contrast the bottom 50 % only received 1 %."

It was a cost-of-living crisis only for the many.

#Inequality

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Best of times, worst of times: record fossil-fuel profits, inflation and inequality
The 2022 oil and gas crisis resulted in record fossil-fuel profits globally that rehabilitated the oil and gas industry, obstructed the energy transit…
www.sciencedirect.com
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
nplusonemag.com
“Overshoot ideology came packaged in a peculiarly Californian business ethos in which unhinged entrepreneurialism was elevated to a cultural form.” New online: Wim Carton and Andreas Malm on recent experiments in geoengineering.
www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
Overshooters | Wim Carton and Andreas Malm
It was not the underprivileged who took the initiative. It was one Luke Iseman, merchant of hardware and software, founder of multiple companies, former director of a “tech incubator,” builder of art ...
www.nplusonemag.com
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
grist.org
So many climate solutions, so few emissions reductions. A new book explains why.

In The Long Heat, Wim Carton and Andreas Malm argue that capitalism has turned the climate crisis into a business opportunity.

grist.org/culture/clim...

#BookSky #Climate #Capitalism #Business #Tech #Politics
So many climate solutions, so few emissions reductions. A new book explains why.
In The Long Heat, Wim Carton and Andreas Malm argue that capitalism has turned the climate crisis into a business opportunity.
grist.org
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
nteunion.bsky.social
Take part in a groundbreaking workplace psychosocial safety census of all university staff in Australia, run by Pyschosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory. This an independent survey from University management and only open to staff.

Start here: nteu.info/census (takes 5-6min)
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
cominsitu.bsky.social
🚨 Conference Announcement 🚨

The Land Question
October 30-31, 2025
Grimm Zentrum, HU Berlin

Full Program + Abstracts now online. 2 days, 30 scholars, 8 panels. No registration required. Keynotes by Omar Dahbour and Isabel Feichtner. Come!

criticaltheoryinberlin.de/event/the-la...
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
nteunion.bsky.social
MUA member Hamish Paterson has been sailing with the Global Sumud Flotilla that has reportedly been intercepted by Israeli forces. NTEU’s National Council members express our strong solidarity with all the courageous activists.
mathewabbott.bsky.social
I’ve an article out in Angelaki this week. It reconstructs Marx’s notion of species-being in light of contemporary naturalism. It argues his thought differs from McDowell et al as he thinks achieving naturalism is a practical task requiring social revolution. It’s open access - link below!
mathewabbott.bsky.social
heading to Berlin next week for a fellowship at the @cpkp.bsky.social. Looking forward to connecting with other scholars working across intellectual divides in philosophy!
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
brooklyninstitute.bsky.social
Faculty Writing | @alybatt in @nplusonemag with an excerpt from her new book, Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature | buff.ly/GWjl851
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
francismarkham.bsky.social
Australian universities are in a governance crisis. VC pay blowouts, scandals, mission drift — these aren’t random, they’re structural.

This new working paper with @marijataflaga.bsky.social & Keith Dowding digs into why the system is broken, and how to fix it.

doi.org/10.25911/MWW...

A thread:
Neither corporate nor government: Why university governance needs to be different, and better
Marija Taflaga, Francis Markham and Keith Dowding.

Preprint, 29 August 2025. https://doi.org/10.25911/MWW4-9781

Abstract
Australian universities face a governance crisis rooted in failures of accountability. Unlike parliaments and corporate boards, university councils lack effective mechanisms for principals to discipline agents. In parliaments, voters can replace elected representatives; in corporations, shareholders can vote out directors. Both systems close the delegation–accountability loop, ensuring alignment between principals and outcomes. University councils, however, are self-perpetuating bodies dominated by external appointees, and in recent decades they are typically from corporate backgrounds. As neither producers nor consumers of universities’ core product—knowledge creation and dissemination—they have minimal intrinsic stake in academic outcomes leaving councils detached from the university’s core mission. This misalignment fosters mission drift, weakens oversight, and contributes to repeated scandals. Because councils largely appoint their own successors, they remain insulated from meaningful scrutiny, unlike boards or parliaments where underperformance is sanctioned externally. Restoring accountability requires giving academic staff and students a renewed oversight role, alongside clear safeguards for the public interest. Because academics and students are both producers and consumers of knowledge, they have a direct and enduring stake in its quality. We recommend two mechanisms to do this are:
1. Academic Senates empowered to appoint and review council members, ensuring councils reflect the university’s purpose.
2. Robust Committee Systems that embed staff and student voices in decision-making, reduce information asymmetries, and align incentives with academic purposes.
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
greenj.bsky.social
The little Meanjin collection that I helped bring into the world as editor. Just a fragment of its 85-year catalogue. What an act of bone-stupid arrogance to kill it.
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
cominsitu.bsky.social
excited to see this essay out in the RRPE Special Issue on Climate and Change I am co-editing with some other great scholars. This essay in particular, on the calculation debate and climate change, is super interesting. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
nteuvictoria.bsky.social
Workers Rally for #Palestine: 1pm, State Library, Weds 10 Sept.
Last week hundreds of NTEU members joined thousands of fellow unionists at Trades Hall who then joined tens of thousands of Victorians to demand an end to the genocide in #Gaza.
Let's keep the momentum going!
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
histmat.bsky.social
In case you missed it, you can now catch @kathunfeld.bsky.social and Andreas Malm discussing *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature* with author Alyssa Battistoni on the Historical Materialism YouTube channel.
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
anthonymoser.com
I considered writing a long carefully constructed argument laying out the harms and limitations of AI, but instead I wrote about being a hater. Only humans can be haters.
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
anthonymoser.github.io
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
nteunion.bsky.social
Join NTEU members this Sunday 24 August at marches across the country in solidarity with Palestine.

Find out where it’s happening in your city 👉 nteu.info/24

@nteuact.bsky.social @nteuvictoria.bsky.social
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
nteuvictoria.bsky.social
NTEU is proud to support the National March for #Palestine this Sunday, 24 August.
Meet up with our official NTEU Victorian Division contingent at 11am outside Trades Hall, Carlton, to join the State Library march from midday.
Bring union gear and purple flags!
www.nteu.au/News_Article...
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
"“If this volume just grows even more, we simply have a societal situation that is not bearable anymore because it is just too much risk that is no longer covered,” Thallinger told CNBC..."

whatever politicians pretend to believe about climate, this is what they know

www.cnbc.com/2025/08/08/c...
Why insurers worry the world could soon become uninsurable
Günther Thallinger, a board member at Allianz, one of the world's biggest insurers, says the climate crisis could make adaptation economically unviable.
www.cnbc.com
Reposted by Mathew Abbott
nteuvictoria.bsky.social
Coming up on Friday - The Encampments at Cinema Nova - screening plus Q&A.
Telling the story of how the US student protest movement erupted from college campuses with worldwide impact.
Get tickets: events.humanitix.com/the-encampme...
Proceeds go to support charities working in #Palestine.
The Encampments
A documentary on the student protests in the US exposing universities’ ties to the war on Gaza, which sparked hundreds of university protests globally.
events.humanitix.com