Natasha Patel
@tashahpatel.bsky.social
teaching @ Stanford and Menlo College; phd candidate in Political Science @ Stanford; co-founder & former co-organizer of critical carceral studies collective 2023-25;
see my work at tashahpatel.com
see my work at tashahpatel.com
I'm very aware that my time in academia may be over when I graduate in June. For now, I'm extremely thrilled to be teaching and writing. My first meetings of the quarter with students were SO beautiful.
January 16, 2026 at 4:55 AM
I'm very aware that my time in academia may be over when I graduate in June. For now, I'm extremely thrilled to be teaching and writing. My first meetings of the quarter with students were SO beautiful.
Reposted by Natasha Patel
John Berger had a powerful phrase: “Undefeated despair.” Acknowledge and respect your grief. But don’t give in to it. And help others keep afloat.
January 8, 2026 at 3:12 PM
John Berger had a powerful phrase: “Undefeated despair.” Acknowledge and respect your grief. But don’t give in to it. And help others keep afloat.
Reposted by Natasha Patel
‘We’re drowning’: Gaza baby dies as storm floods tent encampments
www.middleeasteye.net/news/palesti...
www.middleeasteye.net/news/palesti...
‘We’re drowning’: Gaza baby dies as storm floods tent encampments
Rainwater and sewage flood streets and tents in Gaza as storm brings heavy downpours expected through Friday
www.middleeasteye.net
December 11, 2025 at 10:51 PM
‘We’re drowning’: Gaza baby dies as storm floods tent encampments
www.middleeasteye.net/news/palesti...
www.middleeasteye.net/news/palesti...
In today's class we discussed Ruthie Gilmore's 1998 piece, "Globalization and US Prison Growth from Military Keynesianism to Post-Keynesianism Militarism." Over the last few weeks, students have explored the following question: "what explains the expansion of prisons between 1980 and 2000?"
December 3, 2025 at 12:22 AM
In today's class we discussed Ruthie Gilmore's 1998 piece, "Globalization and US Prison Growth from Military Keynesianism to Post-Keynesianism Militarism." Over the last few weeks, students have explored the following question: "what explains the expansion of prisons between 1980 and 2000?"
On Thursday, I'll be teaching Ruthie Gilmore's essay "Globalisation and US prison growth: from military Keynesianism to post-Keynesian militarism" (1999). In this class, we are really covering how the US came to be the largest global incarcerator. We read Hinton first, and...
November 19, 2025 at 3:40 AM
On Thursday, I'll be teaching Ruthie Gilmore's essay "Globalisation and US prison growth: from military Keynesianism to post-Keynesian militarism" (1999). In this class, we are really covering how the US came to be the largest global incarcerator. We read Hinton first, and...
Tomorrow, I'll be teaching the first chapter of Elizabeth Hinton's From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime. It gives us a chance to revisit Du Bois's discussion of the politics surrounding the Freedmen's Bureau, the Sentencing Project's data visualizations on mass incarceration,...
November 18, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Tomorrow, I'll be teaching the first chapter of Elizabeth Hinton's From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime. It gives us a chance to revisit Du Bois's discussion of the politics surrounding the Freedmen's Bureau, the Sentencing Project's data visualizations on mass incarceration,...
Tomorrow, I will teach Naomi Murakawa's chapter, "Freedom From Fear" in her book, The First Civil Right. I use the chapter teach the operations of political parties and their significance in American governance in context for an Intro to U.S. politics course. I really like when academic writing has
November 10, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Tomorrow, I will teach Naomi Murakawa's chapter, "Freedom From Fear" in her book, The First Civil Right. I use the chapter teach the operations of political parties and their significance in American governance in context for an Intro to U.S. politics course. I really like when academic writing has
Tomorrow, I am teaching chapter 6 of Iris Marion Young's *Justice and the Politics of Difference* in my Intro to American Politics course. Re-reading her political theory, again and again, has been the best teacher for me. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class.
November 6, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Tomorrow, I am teaching chapter 6 of Iris Marion Young's *Justice and the Politics of Difference* in my Intro to American Politics course. Re-reading her political theory, again and again, has been the best teacher for me. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class.
Tomorrow, I teach "Counter-Revolution of Property" from Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 (Du Bois 1935). It's my first time reading this chapter and teaching this book. I hope it goes well!
October 14, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Tomorrow, I teach "Counter-Revolution of Property" from Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 (Du Bois 1935). It's my first time reading this chapter and teaching this book. I hope it goes well!
Reposted by Natasha Patel
I'm furious on behalf of everyone who was brutalized by ICE today in Chicago. My GOD, this is completely horrible.
I've been in meetings most of today and I just checked messages and see that comrades & friends were part of the people they brutalized today.
I've been in meetings most of today and I just checked messages and see that comrades & friends were part of the people they brutalized today.
October 3, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I'm furious on behalf of everyone who was brutalized by ICE today in Chicago. My GOD, this is completely horrible.
I've been in meetings most of today and I just checked messages and see that comrades & friends were part of the people they brutalized today.
I've been in meetings most of today and I just checked messages and see that comrades & friends were part of the people they brutalized today.
Reposted by Natasha Patel
Several times this year more than 100,000 people have been out in the streets in particular cities to protest this regime and the NYT & MSM barely covered those protests. I wonder why [I don't actually so no need to respond].
September 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Several times this year more than 100,000 people have been out in the streets in particular cities to protest this regime and the NYT & MSM barely covered those protests. I wonder why [I don't actually so no need to respond].
Reposted by Natasha Patel
The thing everyone can do right now is to find your lane if you don't already have one and work that lane diligently and with commitment.
September 19, 2025 at 1:30 PM
The thing everyone can do right now is to find your lane if you don't already have one and work that lane diligently and with commitment.
Reposted by Natasha Patel
Law is central to today’s social crises—from democratic backsliding to immigrant exclusion. This paper shows how cultural sociology offers rigorous explanations of, and insights into how to tackle, law-related crises. Hope it’s useful to law and society scholars and others
osf.io/preprints/so...
osf.io/preprints/so...
August 13, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Law is central to today’s social crises—from democratic backsliding to immigrant exclusion. This paper shows how cultural sociology offers rigorous explanations of, and insights into how to tackle, law-related crises. Hope it’s useful to law and society scholars and others
osf.io/preprints/so...
osf.io/preprints/so...
Participating in the Emotion and Society Lab hosted by Myisha Cherry and Francisco Gallegos was one of my favorite graduate student experiences. The cohort, our discussions, & the feedback reminded me how meaningful intellectual life can be. The lab now invites grad students to apply for 2025-26!
August 13, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Participating in the Emotion and Society Lab hosted by Myisha Cherry and Francisco Gallegos was one of my favorite graduate student experiences. The cohort, our discussions, & the feedback reminded me how meaningful intellectual life can be. The lab now invites grad students to apply for 2025-26!
This is absolutely fantastic.
People have been asking about what I think about GenAI in higher ed, so I put together a guide for students & educators that attempts to demystify what GenAI is & how it's bad.
Very much a work in progress, so do let me know if you have feedback/updates!
alinautrata.substack.com/p/the-anti-d...
Very much a work in progress, so do let me know if you have feedback/updates!
alinautrata.substack.com/p/the-anti-d...
The Anti-Dystopian's Guide to GenAI for students & educators
What is GenAI, Why is it Bad, and How Can Higher Education Resist It?
alinautrata.substack.com
June 6, 2025 at 8:07 PM
This is absolutely fantastic.
It would be really awesome if we could have a small Cedric Robinson conference for people working primarily on theory building with his ideas. Just throwing it out there!
June 4, 2025 at 5:36 AM
It would be really awesome if we could have a small Cedric Robinson conference for people working primarily on theory building with his ideas. Just throwing it out there!
Reposted by Natasha Patel
Nearly three years before the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd as he cried that he couldn’t breathe, Zoya Code found herself in a similar position: handcuffed facedown on the ground, with Chauvin’s knee on her. Code said she began pleading: “Don’t kill me.”
“That Could Have Been Me”: The People Derek Chauvin Choked Before George Floyd
They describe an officer quick to use force and callous about their pain.
www.themarshallproject.org
May 24, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Nearly three years before the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd as he cried that he couldn’t breathe, Zoya Code found herself in a similar position: handcuffed facedown on the ground, with Chauvin’s knee on her. Code said she began pleading: “Don’t kill me.”
Friend and colleague, @bodegagyroao.bsky.social made this fantastic poster for Friday's talk. I hope this talk is just the beginning. Feel free to DM me for zoom link or see you in person!
May 22, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Friend and colleague, @bodegagyroao.bsky.social made this fantastic poster for Friday's talk. I hope this talk is just the beginning. Feel free to DM me for zoom link or see you in person!
I finally finished reading the entirety of "Leadership: A Mythic Paradigm" -- just in time for this presentation on Friday. Please DM me if you want to access a zoom link otherwise hope to see you in person. New summary of the talk below: 🧵
50 years since Cedric Robinson walked the halls of Stanford Political Science | Political Science
politicalscience.stanford.edu
May 21, 2025 at 3:21 AM
I finally finished reading the entirety of "Leadership: A Mythic Paradigm" -- just in time for this presentation on Friday. Please DM me if you want to access a zoom link otherwise hope to see you in person. New summary of the talk below: 🧵
Reposted by Natasha Patel
I have been working over the last 8 months to bring Jamaica Osorio, esteemed scholar & kanaka maoli activist, to speak at Stanford. Osorio's timely and powerful lecture is entitled, "E Mau ke Ea: Sovereignty, Sanctuary, and Collective Liberation." Please join us in person or on zoom! (RSVP below)
Jamaica Osorio | E Mau ke Ea: Sovereignty, Sanctuary, and Collective Liberation | Stanford Humanities Center
Critical Carceral Studies Collective
shc.stanford.edu
April 1, 2025 at 10:14 PM
I have been working over the last 8 months to bring Jamaica Osorio, esteemed scholar & kanaka maoli activist, to speak at Stanford. Osorio's timely and powerful lecture is entitled, "E Mau ke Ea: Sovereignty, Sanctuary, and Collective Liberation." Please join us in person or on zoom! (RSVP below)
Thank you, David.
My resignation from the #MLA. Dismayed at how academic organizations are obeying in advance and betraying their members. academeblog.org/2025/02/05/r...
Resignation Letter from the Modern Language Association (David Palumbo-Liu)
POSTED BY JENNIFER RUTH As readers are no doubt aware, the problem of undemocratic professional associations is coming more and more to the fore as members attempt to hold their scholarly and profe…
academeblog.org
February 7, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Thank you, David.