Congratulations to @ashartnett.bsky.social and Mohamed Saleh, winners of the Best MENA Politics Article award for "Precolonial Elites and Colonial Redistribution of Political Power," published in the APSR. buff.ly/nBaY8YC

I am honored and thrilled to have received APSA MENA Section's Book Award for a junior scholar! It means a lot for this community to see fit to award Civilizing Contention, especially as there were some excellent books published last year. So many thanks to the committee and section 🙏

APSA MENA Politics Section@apsamena.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Announcing 2026 APSA MENA Book Awards! Best Junior Scholar Book: Rana Khoury @rbkhoury.bsky.social Civilizing Contention: International Aid in Syria's War (Cornell Press) Huge congrats!

Announcing awards for best articles on MENA politics published in 2025: Best Article: Allison S. Hartnett and Mohamed Saleh "Precolonial Elites and Colonial Redistribution of Political Power." Many congrats @ashartnett.bsky.social and Mohamed!

New book on democracy. #OpenAccess Seven Myths about Democracy by Jørgen Møller & Svend-Erik Skaaning, Routledge taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mon.... Challenges (full or partial) misunderstandings about the meaning, trajectory, causes, and consequences of democracy.

Seven Myths about Democracy | Jørgen Møller, Svend-Erik Skaaning | Tay

This timely book challenges seven widespread misconceptions about democracy that continue to shape public and academic debates about its past, present, and

taylorfrancis.com

Just a few days left to apply!

Allison Hartnett@ashartnett.bsky.social · 6mo ago

CfP for our 3rd Annual HPE Conference @uscprice.bsky.social @usc.edu sponsored by @usccis.bsky.social and PIPE. Submit by May 30. If you work on MENA, I am running a smaller pre-conference for HPE papers focused on the region. @polisky.bsky.social docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

It's gonna be May (30) before you know it. Submit your HPE paper to our conference before this meme hibernates for another year. (Yes, this is niche millennial content. We get hit with every crisis, let us have this meme.)

Justin Timberlake: It's Gonna Be May Meme

ALT: Justin Timberlake: It's Gonna Be May Meme

static.klipy.com

Allison Hartnett@ashartnett.bsky.social · 6mo ago

CfP for our 3rd Annual HPE Conference @uscprice.bsky.social @usc.edu sponsored by @usccis.bsky.social and PIPE. Submit by May 30. If you work on MENA, I am running a smaller pre-conference for HPE papers focused on the region. @polisky.bsky.social docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

"Deliveries of food and other goods into Gaza dropped sharply after Israel and the US launched their war with Iran [...] Israel ... continues to ban the entry of a wide range of essential items, including building materials." www.ft.com/content/d099...

Deliveries of food and goods into Gaza fell after Iran war began, officials say

Flow of aid and supplies misses targets more than six months into Trump-backed ceasefire

ft.com

For anyone working with scholars from the MENA region, I wanted to share a community resource. For 156 weeks, with the help of co-hosts from Turkey, Syria, and Iran, I've run a MENA writing solidarity group across time zones. Here's the info: www.liselhintz.com/mena-solidar.... Please share!

Fantastic opportunity for MENA scholars of historical political economy! Deadline May 30. @ashartnett.bsky.social is hosting a pre-conference for MENA-focused papers at the annual HPE conference. Toward a methods-diverse MENA HPE! Indicate interest on the form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Third Annual Historical Political Economy Conference: Call for Papers

Co-organized by Allison Hartnett, Assistant Professor of Political Science; and Jeffery A. Jenkins, Provost Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Law University of Southern California Oc...

docs.google.com

Allison Hartnett@ashartnett.bsky.social · 6mo ago

CfP for our 3rd Annual HPE Conference @uscprice.bsky.social @usc.edu sponsored by @usccis.bsky.social and PIPE. Submit by May 30. If you work on MENA, I am running a smaller pre-conference for HPE papers focused on the region. @polisky.bsky.social docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

This is such an amazing conference and the most welcoming community. Please consider applying!

Allison Hartnett@ashartnett.bsky.social · 6mo ago

CfP for our 3rd Annual HPE Conference @uscprice.bsky.social @usc.edu sponsored by @usccis.bsky.social and PIPE. Submit by May 30. If you work on MENA, I am running a smaller pre-conference for HPE papers focused on the region. @polisky.bsky.social docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

“This year there will be a small pre-conference workshop for HPE scholars with work focusing on the SWANA/MENA region. If you are interested in participating, please indicate your interest in the application form.”

Allison Hartnett@ashartnett.bsky.social · 6mo ago

CfP for our 3rd Annual HPE Conference @uscprice.bsky.social @usc.edu sponsored by @usccis.bsky.social and PIPE. Submit by May 30. If you work on MENA, I am running a smaller pre-conference for HPE papers focused on the region. @polisky.bsky.social docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

CfP for our 3rd Annual HPE Conference @uscprice.bsky.social @usc.edu sponsored by @usccis.bsky.social and PIPE. Submit by May 30. If you work on MENA, I am running a smaller pre-conference for HPE papers focused on the region. @polisky.bsky.social docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Third Annual Historical Political Economy Conference: Call for Papers

Co-organized by Allison Hartnett, Assistant Professor of Political Science; and Jeffery A. Jenkins, Provost Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Law University of Southern California Oc...

docs.google.com

From our November Issue: Precolonial Elites and Colonial Redistribution of Political Power by @ashartnett.bsky.social and Mohamed Saleh. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🚨 3-Year Postdoc in Political Science at Aarhus University 🚨 I’m seeking to recruit a postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu research project 𝑬𝑸𝑼𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑴 on state-citizen interactions. Link and more information in second post. Position Start: Fall 2026 Application Deadline: ‼️ February 5, 2026, 23:59 CET ‼️

We launched a PAC! “This PAC is an extension of our fight to ensure a future for American higher ed through bipartisan legislation that recognizes that college can be tuition-free, debt-free, welcoming to all, conducive to academic freedom & offer jobs with dignity.” - Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

Professors Launch PAC to Fight Back Against Trump’s Attacks

The American Association of University Professors, a union whose members are fighting policies from the Trump administration and GOP Congress, launched a PAC this week to spend in federal elections.

news.bgov.com

🚨 New WP 🚨: All states monitor the political activity of their citizens. But who do they choose to surveil, and why? We study this question with the universe of Italian political surveillance files: 152,000 individuals born 1816–1932, across democracy and autocracy. 🧵 1/11

NBER@nber.org · 10mo ago

Studying the logic of state surveillance based on the universe of Italian files finds that states target educated and subaltern groups, with mobilization and radical change potential, from Gemma Dipoppa and Annalisa Pezone www.nber.org/papers/w34492

Call for Submissions: Democratic Resilience and the Politics of Belonging Columbia, June 4-5, 2026 Co-Organizers: @aalrababah.bsky.social (Bocconi), @gemmadipoppa.bsky.social (Columbia), Shigeo Hirano (Columbia), @ginvernizzi.bsky.social (Bocconi) Submit: lnkd.in/eiPgt_w5 Details ⬇️

Next up we have two in migration studies. Check out Merve Edilmen's "Against the Charge of Charity: Refugee-Led Organisations, Localisation, and Decolonising Humanitarianism." Thanks to discussant Lama Mourad! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... And...

Against the charge of charity: refugee-led organisations, localisation and decolonising humanitarianism

Two of the main recent trends in humanitarianism have been the increasing focus on decolonialisation and localisation of humanitarian assistance. Donors have committed to raising funding for local ...

tandfonline.com

...also check out @kpnorman.bsky.social's "Leveraging Selective State Capacity: Understanding Changing responses to Migration and Refugees." Thanks to discussant Anne Marie Baylouny! academic.oup.com/jogss/articl...

Leveraging Selective State Capacity: Understanding Changing Responses to Migration and Refugees

Abstract. State capacity is seen as one of the central elements determining whether countries have “strong” or “weak” systems of immigration and asylum. An

academic.oup.com

The next @pomeps.bsky.social Virtual Research Workshop series is coming soon. In the meantime, here's some great work coming out of previous VRWs. Check out @ashartnett.bsky.social and @msaleh-econhistory.bsky.social's recent article. Thanks to discussant Neil Ketchley! doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Recognizing the Merit of our Peers: 2026 APSA Awards Nominations Open | Deadline: February 11, 2026

Recognizing the Merit of our Peers: 2026 APSA Awards Nominations Open | Deadline: February 11, 2026

One of the many important roles of the American Political Science Association (APSA) is recognizing excellence in the political science profession.  APSA makes awards for the best dissertations, papers and articles, and books in the various subfields, and for career achievement in research, teaching and service to the discipline.  These awards will be presented at the 2026 APSA Annual Meeting…

politicalsciencenow.com

Currently in FirstView: In “Measuring Media Criticism with ALC Word Embeddings,” @cbarrie.bsky.social, Neil Ketchley, @aasiegel.bsky.social, and Mossaab Bagdouri introduce a method for estimating media criticism using à la carte word embeddings which requires only minimal computational resources.

Citizen and Subject (and Mayor.)

Leah McElrath@leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 11mo ago

ZOHRAN MAMDANI

Excited to share my new publication @poppublicsphere.bsky.social! We often think that women’s formal political participation began in the 1900s. Using archival records from over 150 assembly meetings between 1493-1789 in France, I show that, in fact, some women had political rights much earlier!

Many thanks to @ashartnett.bsky.social Jeff Jenkins and USC for the wonderful opportunity to keynote at the annual Historical Political Economy conference. It was great to catch up with and learn from such an amazing set of people. I had a blast!

Allison Hartnett@ashartnett.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Capping a great day of research and discussion at our second annual HPE Conference with @saumjha.bsky.social 's keynote @usc.edu @usccis.bsky.social

Capping a great day of research and discussion at our second annual HPE Conference with @saumjha.bsky.social 's keynote @usc.edu @usccis.bsky.social

This is how you normalize authoritarianism.

there is something quite close to unanimity among serious scholars on this point, but the Washington Post omits that in favor of highlighting one such scholar's donations to Democratic candidates

"Comparative politics has needed a book like this – one that directly and dedicatedly tackles the topic of counterrevolutions – for a very long time." Return of Tyranny by Killian Clark, Coming Soon #PoliSky #BookSky #PoliSci cup.org/4dX8DWU

Return of Tyranny

Cambridge Core - Middle East Studies - Return of Tyranny

cambridge.org

This is the vibe in our household at the moment. We're tired. Also, big ask for young parents in Poland to have to vote for their kids' future AND make Dzień Dziecka happen all in one day.

Anna Grzymala-Busse@annagbusse.bsky.social · last yr.

Exit poll has Trzaskowski at 50.3. If anyone needs me, I’m at home, sacrificing chickens.