Mo Torres
@motorres.bsky.social
sociologist: cities, political economy, race/racism
umich.edu/~motorres
umich.edu/~motorres
New ethnographic work highlights "class evasiveness" in a diverse suburban high school where "students, adults, and school policies... [displace] class onto race and [downplay] socioeconomic inequalities, [leaving] material inequalities [to] persist and go undiscussed" doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spaf075
December 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
New ethnographic work highlights "class evasiveness" in a diverse suburban high school where "students, adults, and school policies... [displace] class onto race and [downplay] socioeconomic inequalities, [leaving] material inequalities [to] persist and go undiscussed" doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spaf075
Another year as a loyal @thedigradio.bsky.social listener 🎧💙
December 3, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Another year as a loyal @thedigradio.bsky.social listener 🎧💙
there’s a moment in Zootopia 2 where the film’s entire discussion of social stigma, cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing (with allegories to Palestine throughout) gets recoded as neutral “difference,” a perfect illustration of the exact move Barbara Fields described in her 1990 NLR essay
November 29, 2025 at 11:32 PM
there’s a moment in Zootopia 2 where the film’s entire discussion of social stigma, cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing (with allegories to Palestine throughout) gets recoded as neutral “difference,” a perfect illustration of the exact move Barbara Fields described in her 1990 NLR essay
2025 is one hell of a ride. also: federalism!
November 15, 2025 at 1:52 AM
2025 is one hell of a ride. also: federalism!
one of the best books of race theory ever published but especially this paragraph which i've basically committed to memory at this point
November 10, 2025 at 5:12 PM
one of the best books of race theory ever published but especially this paragraph which i've basically committed to memory at this point
causal chain flowcharts are always insane but yes it is that serious (+complicated)
November 9, 2025 at 10:07 PM
causal chain flowcharts are always insane but yes it is that serious (+complicated)
Looks like one of the biggest gaps in the exit polls was between voters who thought Mamdani's policies were realistic (44% of all respondents, 97% of whom voted for M) vs. unrealistic (50% of respondents, 74% of whom voted C)
November 5, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Looks like one of the biggest gaps in the exit polls was between voters who thought Mamdani's policies were realistic (44% of all respondents, 97% of whom voted for M) vs. unrealistic (50% of respondents, 74% of whom voted C)
A fun result from NBC's exit polling in New York: 24% of respondents answered yes to the question "do you consider yourself a democratic socialist?"
November 5, 2025 at 9:46 PM
A fun result from NBC's exit polling in New York: 24% of respondents answered yes to the question "do you consider yourself a democratic socialist?"
“Startlingly unpopular” is a startlingly dishonest way of interpreting the actual finding in this poll—that 44% of respondents don’t know enough about Mamdani (don’t forget: a relative newcomer running in a municipal election) to evaluate him one way or the other.
October 24, 2025 at 6:24 PM
“Startlingly unpopular” is a startlingly dishonest way of interpreting the actual finding in this poll—that 44% of respondents don’t know enough about Mamdani (don’t forget: a relative newcomer running in a municipal election) to evaluate him one way or the other.
this is from el-Sayed’s mailing list btw
October 22, 2025 at 10:31 PM
this is from el-Sayed’s mailing list btw
accidentally doing a genocide every time i clear my stata cache
October 7, 2025 at 9:17 PM
accidentally doing a genocide every time i clear my stata cache
i remembered some Discourse about this back in the day and was surprised to see the Vote Blue folks celebrating biden's name being left off the checks because "we're not a monarchy" uhh ok.
September 23, 2025 at 3:47 PM
i remembered some Discourse about this back in the day and was surprised to see the Vote Blue folks celebrating biden's name being left off the checks because "we're not a monarchy" uhh ok.
can’t figure out why the comms team deleted this fantastic and historically totally accurate tweet
September 6, 2025 at 2:46 AM
can’t figure out why the comms team deleted this fantastic and historically totally accurate tweet
it’s a good thing there’s growing energy to democratize the university here in ann arbor, we’ll need it (and more)
September 6, 2025 at 12:08 AM
it’s a good thing there’s growing energy to democratize the university here in ann arbor, we’ll need it (and more)
ET Thompson would be shocked to learn that he “exemplifies” the climate theory of the plantation given that his work systematically disproved the theory (which dominated academic circles at the time). Another example of Google AI “summarizing” research by describing its exact opposite.
September 5, 2025 at 10:48 PM
ET Thompson would be shocked to learn that he “exemplifies” the climate theory of the plantation given that his work systematically disproved the theory (which dominated academic circles at the time). Another example of Google AI “summarizing” research by describing its exact opposite.
20 minutes into the new school year and our interim president already sent out a campus-wide email about student activism. This can’t be a good sign?
August 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
20 minutes into the new school year and our interim president already sent out a campus-wide email about student activism. This can’t be a good sign?
tomato season just started in southeastern michigan and i couldn’t be happier
August 16, 2025 at 10:17 PM
tomato season just started in southeastern michigan and i couldn’t be happier
The view from one of the many hills in Sderot, with the sun setting over Gaza, Mediterranean Sea at the horizon. Photo from 2018, 5 years before Israel’s all-out genocidal attacks on this very section of Gaza.
July 22, 2025 at 8:45 PM
The view from one of the many hills in Sderot, with the sun setting over Gaza, Mediterranean Sea at the horizon. Photo from 2018, 5 years before Israel’s all-out genocidal attacks on this very section of Gaza.
Sure we could make our reporting more accurate and concise by cutting a bunch of unnecessary characters but think of the poetry we would deny the world? As we breathe the obtuse racial air into our racially tinged lungs?
July 9, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Sure we could make our reporting more accurate and concise by cutting a bunch of unnecessary characters but think of the poetry we would deny the world? As we breathe the obtuse racial air into our racially tinged lungs?