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Matthew Erie

@matthewserie.bsky.social

800 followers 660 following 200 posts

Assoc. Prof. of Law, American U. Washington College of Law; Assoc. Member, Oxford Law; lawyer & anthropologist; writes on non-liberal law, international development, transnational business, property, justice; https://www.matthewserie.com/ Views are my own.

www.matthewserie.com

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Mar 3

I'm happy to announce that we've just published a Casebook on Chinese Outbound Investment: Law, Policy, and Business (CUP 2025).

Given the US's retreat from overseas development, the future of international development looks very Chinese. We need to understand what this means.

lnkd.in/e2KSFgVR.

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Reposted by Matthew Erie

Alex Wang @greenlawchina.bsky.social · 1d

A must read. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

A Compact for Control (opinion)

No self-respecting institution of higher education should accept the Trump administration’s unconstitutional terms, Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg write.

www.insidehighered.com

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · 3d

Go Big Green!

(BA ‘99)

Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 4d

It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.

Office of the President
Dear Dartmouth community,

As many of you know, Dartmouth was one of nine universities asked by the White House to give feedback by Oct. 20 on a draft of its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

I am deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission and values and will always defend our fierce independence.

You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves.

Best,
Sian Leah Beilock
President

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · 9d

Proud to be Captain of the National Postal Museum. Shout out to the volunteers I’m working with. Citizens are heroes, too.

#savetheSmithsonian

www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Citizen historians document Smithsonian exhibits under White House scrutiny

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex. It's a public-private trust that has long operated at arm's length from the White House, but now finds itself...

www.pbs.org

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · 12d

After 7 yrs of work, the special issue "China in Compliance" is out with @reggovjournal.bsky.social. The focus is to unpack how #compliance works in globalizing China. #Cambodia #Kyrgyzstan #Tajikistan #Fiji #Vanuatu #Singapore #Taiwan #Ethiopia #Hungary

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...

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Reposted by Matthew Erie

Association for Political and Legal Anthropology / PoLAR journal @polar-journal.bsky.social · 20d

PoLAR is hiring a new managing editor. The full details are available here: shorturl.at/uqEn5

Hiring Announcement: PoLAR Managing Editor

PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, the journal of the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology (APLA), is hiring a Managing Editor. PoLAR is in an exciting transformational sta…

shorturl.at

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · 25d

These figures rebut the “whataboutism” line of the administration.

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 25d

Extremist murders by ideology, 2013 to 2022. www.pbump.net/o/reassessin...

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · 28d

My amazing colleague Bec Hamilton is swimming 20km to raise money for Charlie's Place, a drop-in shelter for homeless in #WashingtonDC whose numbers and hardships are increasing of late. Please consider giving here: www.gofundme.com/f/swim-for-c...

Thank you.

Donate to Marathon swim for people experiencing homelessness in D.C., organized by Rebecca Hamilton

People experiencing homelessness in Washington, D.C. are havi… Rebecca Hamilton needs your support for Marathon swim for people experiencing homelessness in D.C.

www.gofundme.com

Reposted by Matthew Erie

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 29d

"We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent." —Justice Sonia Sotomayor

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Sep 7

The incremental normalization of life under authoritarianism is one of its defining features.

Authoritarianism is often not a rupture but, rather, a slow tear.

*Every* day we must be vigilant to this fact.

Eric Champnella @echamp.bsky.social · Sep 6

This. 👇👇👇

JB Pritzker: "Any rational person who has spent even the most minimal amount of time studying human history has to ask themselves one important question: Once they get the citizens of this nation comfortable with the current atrocities committed under the color of law, what comes next?”

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Sep 7

Introverts, unite!

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Sep 6

Yes!

Luca Migo ❌👑 @victinibcn.bsky.social · Sep 6

Washington DC - the bells of this church are ringing in support of the protest! 😁

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Sep 6

Inspiring and on such a hot and humid day!

luna @imlunahey.com · Sep 6

anyone else seeing the massive protests in DC?

Reposted by Matthew Erie

Free DC @freedcproject.bsky.social · Sep 6

This is what democracy looks like! A people united will never be defeated. We want federal forces out of DC NOW! #WeAreAllDC #FreeDC

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Reposted by Matthew Erie

Antonia Juhasz @antoniajuhasz.bsky.social · Sep 6

#FreeDC Mass march hitting the streets of DC now.

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Sep 6

“The follow-up message is that for those of us who are not Supreme Court justices or Republican legislators should resist every day in every way we can. Put sand in the gears, make it slower, make everybody else know that we are not alone, and that there are more of us than there are of them.”

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · Sep 6

@garrettepps.bsky.social has been a friend and colleague for decades.

An enjoyable (for me) podcast with him this week, for @washingtonmonthly.com , about life in DC these days. Audio and transcript here:

washingtonmonthly.com/2025/09/04/f...

Fear and Loathing in Washington D.C.

Contributing Editor James Fallows shares what life is really like in Washington D.C. under military occupation.

washingtonmonthly.com

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Sep 4

A new study by Kiel Institute on How China Collateralizes show how rather than infrastructure as collateral, it's cash collateral in escrow reserves paid by debtor's commodity exports which underpin such agreements. Governance implications.

www.ifw-kiel.de/fileadmin/Da...

@agelpern.bsky.social

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Reposted by Matthew Erie

Scott MacFarlane @macfarlanenews.bsky.social · Sep 3

The ad campaign criticizing the use of masks by federal agents working in Washington, D.C. has expanded to 115 bus stops, per organizers

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Sep 1

This.

Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · Sep 1

What a gang of mindless amateurs in Washington accomplished in Beijing:

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Aug 31

The Far Right are the new globalists.

The Center-Left must up their game.

Better coalitions, better policies, better messaging, better *listening*.

Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · Aug 31

Bleak:

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Populist Right-Wing Parties Lead Polls in Europe’s Biggest Economies

For the first time, far-right parties are leading in the U.K., France and Germany, the latest sign of growing voter discontent across the continent.

www.wsj.com

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Aug 31

Incredibly insightful.

Also: “While the outlook is bleak, resistance is not futile…Support independent media…Organize locally to strengthen grassroots networks that resist authoritarian policies…Strengthen ties with global democratic movements to share strategies and resources…”

Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · Aug 31

Here's how watching autocracy overtake democracy in one place helps to predict what will happen in another. Here, lessons from Russia are offered as a PREDICTION about what could happen under Trump BEFORE he took office: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Now That America Elected a Dictator: What Can We Expect?

A Guide to the Worst Case Scenario

substack.com

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Aug 30

Seeing these all over the city.

#FreeDC

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Aug 30

act.indivisible.org/sign/smithso...

Tell the Smithsonian: Reject demands to whitewash history

The Trump regime’s campaign of whitewashing US history has reached the halls of the Smithsonian museums, with exhibits dealing with slavery, the civil rights movement, and other struggles against oppr...

act.indivisible.org

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Aug 30

In solidarity.

National Humanities Center @natlhumanities.bsky.social · Aug 29

The National Humanities Center stands firmly in support of the Smithsonian Institution, its administration, and its museum professionals. Please read the complete statement on our website.

Statement in Support of the Smithsonian Institution | National Humanities Center

The National Humanities Center stands firmly in support of the Smithsonian Institution, its administration, and its museum professionals. The Smithsonian must be allowed to fulfill its mission without...

bit.ly

Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Aug 26

Looking forward to presenting "Adversarial Comparativism: The Role of Emotion in US-China Comparative Law Projects" next week @georgetownlaw.bsky.social's Comparative Law Colloquium. Thanks to Yvonne Tew for the invite.

Draft paper here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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Matthew Erie @matthewserie.bsky.social · Aug 26

Sharing an amicus curiae brief I co-wrote with Jeffrey Green, Rose Cuison-Villazor, @jackchin.bsky.social, and Pei (Leo) Yu. The Arkansas laws, Act 636 and Act 174, violate federal preemption and equal protection. Discriminatory state laws must be stopped.

drive.google.com/file/d/1NzDv...

Brief of Racial Justice Centers, Affinity Bar and Professional Associations, and Civil Rights Advocacy Organizations as Amici Curiae 8.25.25.pdf

drive.google.com