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Tom Mills

@tommills.bsky.social

2.7K followers 560 following 270 posts

Public sociologist & socialist. Interested in elites, knowledge & communication. Author of 'The BBC: Myth of a Public Service'.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Feb 28

New article with Narzanin Massoumi in the @bjsociology.bsky.social: ‘Elite Status-Seeking and Class Reproduction in Civil Society.’ Thread.👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Elite Status‐Seeking and Class Reproduction in Civil Society: An Analysis of Corporate Elite Appointments to Charity Boards

This article examines the relationship between economic elites and civil society by analysing the appointments of corporate elites to the boards of charitable companies in the UK. Whilst previous res...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · 4d

This sweeping discussion is focused on the US, but there's so much that's directly relevant to the UK's dysfunctional political economy. Covers so much ill have to listen twice I think.

Daniel Denvir @danieldenvir.bsky.social · 7d

New @thedigradio.bsky.social: first of two w @melindacooper.bsky.social on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. How neoliberalism remade US capitalism into an engine for endless asset appreciation, and the attendant reactionary politics www.thedigradio.com/podcast/coun...

Counterrevolution w/ Melinda Cooper

Featuring Melinda Cooper on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. Neoliberalism remade the American economy into an engine for the appreciation of assets stretching from the...

www.thedigradio.com

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · 6d

And it will

Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · 6d

It was so clear to so many of us - ignored or ridiculed - the disastrous path we were on since 2008 (at the earliest). And here we are. We've arrived at our destination.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · 12d

Still funny to me that academics have to organise 'retreats' to find time to write anything.

Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · 18d

Interesting read on the roots of MAGA in early 90s conservatism. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

William Davies · Repeal the 20th Century: Pre-MAGA

To understand the intellectual coordinates of Trumpism requires us to look in less conventional places and to pay more...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Reposted by Tom Mills

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · Sep 7

Nigel Farage is the biggest charlatan in British political history.

And here's what his constitutents in Clacton really think:

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Sep 5

We now go live to our Westminster correspondent who will explain with inordinate enthusiasm why keeping all the same people but changing their roles is in fact extremely interesting & important.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Sep 5

One of the things I enjoy the most in life is producing a highly detailed Gantt chart for a project that will never be funded.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Sep 3

Great initiative. Transformative politics needs its own media. Mad Corbyn never did this.

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · Sep 3

Leading a political party means leading the political conversation - being available and being heard on the platforms people actually use.

Join me every Wednesday on my new podcast: Bold Politics.

The only podcast led by a current party leader in the UK. Link in bio.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Sep 3

Had some in Rhodes the other week. Surprisingly good.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Sep 3

Missed this. Very clever and interesting paper.

Sol Gamsu @solgamsu.bsky.social · Aug 5

Our paper on clusters of schools across the UK is out.

We find five clusters: multi-racial & super-diverse middle & working-class schools of towns & cities, suburban white middle class schools, established elite schools & (post-)industrial white working class schools.

doi.org/10.1002/berj...

A hierarchical cluster analysis on principal components showing five clusters of points, coloured by cluster, on a graph.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Sep 1

'...the International Association of Genocide Scholars: Declares that Israel’s policies & actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide'
t.co/HigtT0Ldrl

https://genocidescholars.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/IAGS-Resolution-on-Gaza-FINAL.pdf

t.co

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Aug 19

Israel Accuses Al Jazeera Of Being Mouthpiece For Journalism theonion.com/israel-accus...

Israel Accuses Al Jazeera Of Being Mouthpiece For Journalism

JERUSALEM—Following its ban of the Qatar-based news outlet’s operations in the country, Israel accused Al Jazeera Monday of being a mouthpiece for journalism. “It is clear from its continuous, 24-hour...

theonion.com

Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Aug 17

Great book

Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Aug 13

Worth noting that Netanyahu has personally invested a lot of energy in promoting the concept since the 80s.

Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Aug 13

Yeah it's a weak position and I'm agreeing with David. My point though is this has much closer to how terrorism is defined in practice than the myriad of academic definitions. Imo it's an inherently propagandists term anyway.

Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Aug 12

Quite. But if you understand terrorism as political actions - violent or peaceful - that threaten or disrupt the geopolitical interests of states, then it makes more sense.

David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · Aug 12

It is inherently absurd to proscribe a group as terrorists based on acts the public doesn't know about. Terrorism *by definition* involves violence intended to intimidate a civilian population. How can the target population be terrorised by acts they know nothing about?

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Yvette Cooper: Some 'don't know the full nature' of Palestine Action

Defending the group's proscription under terror law, she said the organisation was "not a non-violent organisation".

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by Tom Mills

Bruno Leipold @brunoleipold.com · Aug 12

In a new article in @poppublicsphere.bsky.social I propose an institution reform to make representative government less oligarchic: having elected politicians held accountable by randomly selected "Constituency Juries"

Perspectives on Politics @poppublicsphere.bsky.social · Jul 30

NOW OUT ON FIRSTVIEW!!

Constituency Juries: #Holding #Elected #Representatives #Accountable through #Sortition

By @brunoleipold.com

doi.org/10.1017/S153...

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Reposted by Tom Mills

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · Aug 11

"This Weekend, We Saw the UK Descend Into Censorship, Brutality, and Authoritarianism"

Keir Starmer government arrested elderly protesters, a blind man using a wheelchair, & others – all in the name of providing diplomatic cover for a genocidal regime, writes @graceblakeley.substack.com for Zeteo.

This Weekend, We Saw the UK Descend Into Censorship, Brutality, and Authoritarianism

Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper's government arrested elderly protesters, a blind man using a wheelchair, and others – all in the name of providing diplomatic cover for a genocidal regime.

zeteo.com

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Aug 11

Ran a Multiple Correspondence Analysis and a Latent Class Analysis today. Admittedly neither are going to be any use for the paper, but pleased with myself and that's the main thing.

Reposted by Tom Mills

Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · Jul 14

Palestinian lives mean nothing to the BBC.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Jul 13

Everything in the UK is punishingly expensive. But at least the politicians are cheap.

The National @scotnational.bsky.social · Jul 12

Tomorrow's front page 🗞️

Arms firms buying access to Westminster lawmakers for just £1499

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Jul 12

So much respect for Francesca Albanese. If only our politicians & journalists had even a fraction of her bravery & moral & intellectual clarity.

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Jul 3

'All the decisions about our film were not taken by journalists, they were taken by [Director General] Tim Davie'. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...

Gaza film’s producer accuses BBC of trying to gag him over decision to drop it

Ben de Pear hits out at ‘PR person’ Tim Davie and claims corporation attempted to use legal gagging clauses

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Mills @tommills.bsky.social · Jul 2

Good interview from @declassifieduk.org. Mostly just the longstanding official FCO positions & statements of the obvious. But we've moved so far from that now. www.declassifieduk.org/israel-not-a...

Israel ‘not an ally’, says former British ambassador

Sir Richard Dalton tells Declassified the US and Israel pose greater threat to Middle East peace than Iran.