Rebecca Graff-McRae
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poliscirish.bsky.social
Rebecca Graff-McRae
@poliscirish.bsky.social
830 followers 520 following 1.1K posts
Political researcher. Deconstructor of discourses. Dancer of jigs. Spectator of spectres. Herder of hooligans.

PhD in Irish political history. QUB alum. Research manager at Parkland Institute
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poliscirish.bsky.social
I do the same (26/11). Happy belated birthday! 🥳
A black & white image of a Christmas tree branch in the background with a text box in the foreground. The text reads: It's almost time to switch from your regular anxiety to your fancy Christmas anxiety.
December 2, 2025 at 3:38 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
A dear friend - a most discerning & distinguished poet - shares a birth month with me. It is also the birth month of my daughter & grandmother, a lost mentor, 2 uncles.

So I wrote this off-the-cuff for my friend on his day. Since today is mine, let me share it here for all the November birthdays.
A poem by Rebecca Graff-McRae November Birthday November crispens jaundiced aspen leaves, leaving a breath of smoke on my tongue, in my lungs and the air feels heavy with more than the present rain a d the snow promised - most and all I've missed while I was busy living, raising, shaping, hoping. Time was never constant but we are constant companions now. I take another turn around this world I haven't finished building; keep walking, waiting. Read a new and better time into the leaves.
November 26, 2025 at 7:28 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Looks like a perfect spot for His Highness!

Maple sending a cheery wave from his kingdom.
A ginger cat sprawls indolently atop a throne of dark wood and purple velvet.
November 25, 2025 at 8:04 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Sshhhh, let's not tell them 🤫
From the Canadian Encyclopaedia (online) entry for "Grit": Grit, a popular reference to a member of the LIBERAL PARTY of Canada. The nickname derives from grit, fine sand or gravel, which is often valued for its abrasive quality, and from an American slang term implying firmness of character, as used in the phrase "true grit." Canadian political usage of the word dates from 1849, when progressive members of the Upper Canada Reform Party were dubbed CLEAR GRITS and characterized as being "all sand and no dirt, clear grit all the way through." Led by George BROWN of the Globe, in the early 1870s the progressive members joined with Lower Canada reformers to create the Liberal Party, and the description of the few was applied to the many.
November 25, 2025 at 7:59 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Where?! I need to send a guy with a trombone.
A hand holding up a bumper sticker in front of the rear end of a Toyota, which is already covered in bumper stickers. It reads: Keep honking! I'm listening to ska and you're in the band now
October 29, 2025 at 11:37 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Former MLA Jon Carson stayed up to bear witness as Smith's UCP steamrollered our Charter Rights - and our public education system.
FB post from former MLA Jon Carson, October 27, 2025: Thought I'd come witness the UCP dismantling democracy while Albertans sleep. Update: It's so ridiculous that it's hard to believe it's even true, but the UCP MLA's were using a meat smoker on their balcony while they were in the legislature trampling on the rights of teachers and all Albertans. Separate from that, a group of us chanted "shame on you" from outside the legislature loud enough that members in the chamber could hear us while the final vote was being counted. Security drove up within about 10 seconds and told us to stop yelling. 😒 Unfortunately, while Albertans were sleeping, this government rammed through what they themselves know is an unconstitutional piece of legislation that forces teachers back to work with a contract they never agreed on and strips them (and all Albertans) of so many fundamental rights. The UCP used their majority to put one-hour limits on each stage of the debate, voting and passing the legislation through all three stages in six and a half hours, finishing at 2 AM. Unprecedented and certainly undemocratic. FB post from former MLA Jon Carson, October 27, 2025: Nothing has been fixed in our classrooms. The conditions that teachers have been raising alarms about are no closer to being fixed, and the government, through these actions, is showing that it has no intention of trying to make things better at all.
October 28, 2025 at 2:34 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
When our Charter rights to collective bargaining are superseded by hubris and pettiness, how will we respond?

This is our tipping point, Albertans.

#Bill2 #abpoli
A post by CUPE Alberta president Raj Uppal, 27 October 2025: Today is a defining moment in Alberta's history. The UCP is pushing Bill 2 through without even showing Albertans what's in it. No transparency. No debate. No democracy. This government is showing its true colours - serving the rich and powerful while silencing working people. Join us at the Legislature this afternoon and stand up for your rights. Because if they use the Notwithstanding Clause, it will strip away your worker protections and your voice. It's time to wake up, Alberta. Our rights are on the line.
October 27, 2025 at 8:19 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Jason Stanley, "How Fascism Works":
"In fascist ideology, in times of crisis and need, the state reserves support for members of the chosen nation, for “us” and not “them.” The justification is invariably because “they” are lazy, lack a work ethic, and cannot be trusted with state funds and because “they” are criminal and seek only to live off state largesse. In fascist politics, “they” can be cured of laziness and thievery by hard labor. This is why the gates of Auschwitz had emblazoned on them the slogan ARBEIT MACHT FREI—work shall make you free." Excerpt from "How Fascism Works", by Jason Stanley
October 26, 2025 at 11:32 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Oooh, now do Derrida.
A spoof poster parodying Jacques Derrida's "Spectres of Marx", featuring Karl dressed in black robes holding a bloody sickle aloft like the Grim Reaper. The tagline reads: The world's #1 bestselling postmodernist brings back Marx ... With a vengeance.
October 23, 2025 at 4:38 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
A circular sticker, pink and orange ombré, held between a wee* thumb and forefinger. In white cursive lettering it reads: The government is giving me a migraine. *The wee thumb and forefinger are my own.
October 23, 2025 at 1:04 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Absolutely brilliant craic with the lads from @foilarmsandhog.bsky.social in Edmonton last night! And incredibly generous of them to hang about and sign a few (hundred) autographs. Best moment of the night: the 🎶Doom-dah 🎶

#speirgorm
A giddy fangirl (curly brown hair, glasses, and a purple jumper) poses with the legendary Irish comedy trio Foil, Arms, and Hog. She holds a yellow sign with the catchphrase, "Enh Doom-Dah", which has been autographed.
October 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
What a beautiful thing, to wake up to a new (old) Heaney poem, woven with love and memory and paternal pride. Even this world, in this time, can cherish such a gift.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Text of a newly published poem from Seamus Heaney, written in 2004 in honour of his son Christopher's wedding. It is titled: Chair, Pocket Knife, Guitar
October 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Today's haunting:

The sign is amazing, but the message is urgent. Shout out to Holly Nichol, ward C trustee candidate for EPSB, who is literally walking the talk in support of public education today.

#ABteacherstrike #ATAstrike
A black sign with orange and white lettering and images of ghosts, reading: Inclusion doesn't have to be scary, but support for the kids is ghosting me!
October 7, 2025 at 6:38 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
One of my favourite memories from living in Belfast: KiaProvoGate.
A headline from the Belfast Telegraph newspaper (online edition), Tuesday 5 March 2013: "Unionists Hit Out at Kia Provo Name" The story details how members of the Democratic Unionist Party felt deeply offended by the Korean carmaker's name choice for a model in development, saying the vehicle should be given a name "not associated with terror and mayhem."
October 1, 2025 at 3:42 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
It's me: I'm Rebecca.
A comic by Tom Gauld: a woman with a dark ponytails, in a sweater and vaguely preppy skirt and satchel, runs between two trees, past a church, to chase a mobile library van. A thought bubble above her reads: I've got to follow my heart and leave this sleepy village behind. A new life awaits on the open road, touring from town to town in a merry band of brilliant eccentrics! The caption below reads: Rebecca runs away to join the travelling library.
September 23, 2025 at 4:28 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
After difficult news today, a bright spot: the always delightful @domsball.bsky.social at @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social delivering a scathing deconstruction of Irishness, capitalism, the project of ethnonationalism and Guinness ... While pouring one out to lubricate the lecture. Time-defying indeed.
A screenshot of a virtual lecture. An anthropology professor in a mustard yellow button-down pours a can of Guinness into a pint glass, while standing next to a lecturn. Hilarity and critical thinking ensue.
September 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Commemoration is used to weave together stories about the past to read the present. The echoes are emphasized, the dislocations & discontinuities downplayed. We might feel that these histories rhyme. It might be true. It's important nonetheless to see how memory is being deployed & to what effect.
A screenshot of a post on X by @IrishUnity. The caption reads: (Irish flag) 1845: It's not famine, it's genocide (Palestinian flag) 2025: it's not famine, it's genocide The image shows an Irish memorial to an gorta mór, with human figures wasted by hunger and despair. They have been clothed in keffiyehs and Palestinian flags are waved by demonstrators in the background.
September 21, 2025 at 9:51 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Yes! Like, have these guys heard about the care economy? Do they not know that healthcare, childcare & eldercare are foundational, under-resourced, and a necessary precondition to economic growth in every sector? 🤔
A crowd of people holding unions flags (not visible) and a short woman on a purple hoody holding a handmade sign with the words Pharma Care is Nation Building
September 12, 2025 at 12:25 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
If you have some time for recreational reading, can I recommend Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn? It might reframe your vanishing vowel predicament.
Cover of Mark Dunn's novel Ella Minnow Pea. The book is bright green with orange and yellow accents, and features a pea pod below the title.
September 10, 2025 at 5:42 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
My eldest son, second child, has always carved his own path - and usually seeks the most challenging route. This weekend he competed at Canmore #HighlandGames and did his band EYPB proud. This is Loch Rannoch 🎶
September 1, 2025 at 4:33 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
A overlapping series of brightly coloured apples, on a mint green background against a yellow sun. The foremost apple reads: I support AB (Alberta) Teachers.
August 29, 2025 at 6:31 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
My birthday is in November, but my husband knows I've been yearning for a deeply scholarly office after 5 years of wfh.

This is my new happy space, dark and studious and smelling vaguely like the memory of vellum and bookdust.
A home office with honey oak hardwood floors, deep mixture blue walls, cherrywood desk with a green banker's lamp, and a purple velvet deacon's chair flanked by dark cherrywood barrister bookcases. The white trimmed window on the far wall is awaiting paint ...
August 18, 2025 at 5:17 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Salutations from these two feline weasels: Ninja & Maple
August 8, 2025 at 10:36 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
The housing market means having to put up with a pushy flatmate:

Ninja (tuxie) and Maple (ginger weasel)

#caturday
A black and white tuxedo cat and an orange tabby kitten stare wide-eyed at the camera from a too-small cardboard box.
July 27, 2025 at 1:44 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
I'm sure we would all flourish our job titles with a question mark if we worked for this government.

Infrastructure? Possibly? For now? 🤷🏻‍♀️
A screenshot of the email signature of the current (possible) press secretary for the Alberta Ministry of Infrastructure. It reads: Media Inquiries Michael Kwas [Phone number] Press Secretary, Infrastructure? Followed by links to other press releases and websites.
July 18, 2025 at 5:14 PM