Basak Kus
@basakkus.bsky.social
Professor of Government and Environmental Studies at Wesleyan. OUP author. SER editor. Writes about political economy, public policy, state, finance, climate, American politics. Lives in New Haven and NYC. Daydreams about Mediterranean 🐟☀️🌊 🧿 basakkus.net
If you are looking for a writing retreat, here is one I’m hosting in Turkey next June. Application open today. www.thelongtableretreat.com
A Writing Retreat For Women In The Social Sciences And Humanities
A Writing Retreat For Women In The Social Sciences And Humanities
thelongtableretreat.com
And I am looking forward to working with her! @sasemeeting.bsky.social
Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI)@ibei.org · last mo.Great news! Fulya Apaydın (IBEI) has been elected to the @sasemeeting.bsky.social Executive Council for 2026-29, alongside @basakkus.bsky.social and Victor Tan Chen. Together, they will help guide the Society’s activities and shape its strategic direction for the years ahead. t.ly/wdKnw
Voluntary buyouts, a dominant tool in U.S. climate adaptation policy, typically happen only after a federally declared disaster. In this policy brief, @basakkus.bsky.social (Wesleyan University) calls for a shift to proactive, community-focused planning. Read: scholars.org/contribution...
@70sbachchan.bsky.social: energy shocks are geopolitical in origin AND they cascade. They amplify nonlinearly, triggering economic crises, political instability, and social shockwaves.
What a day! @triofrancos.bsky.social, @aldasky.bsky.social and @70sbachchan.bsky.social came to Wesleyan University and blew our minds. Watching people operate with that much rigor and generosity- is genuinely restorative. Makes you want to go back to the desk and do better work. Thank you!
The reason it feels hard to get ahead right now is because it's hard to get ahead right now. Wages are barely keeping up with prices, and prices are just starting to heat up.
My colleague Mitali Thakor, @70sbachchan.bsky.social, and I wrote a piece reflecting on our visit to CDMX. coexist.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2026/04/02/c... We discuss the Utopias initiative led by Mayor Brugada, Rafael Cauduro’s murals, and our convo with technology scholar Paola Ricaurte Quijano.
CDMX: Dignity and Possible Futures – coexist
by Basak Kus, Tim Sahay & Mitali Thakor As part of our Bailey COE Think Tank’s ongoing work on disruption and futures that feel increasingly unpredictable, and more dystopian than hopeful, we (Basak Kus, Mitali Thakor, and Tim Sahay) headed to Mexico for a three-day excursion. The trip was short and intentionally dense. Curated by…
coexist.blogs.wesleyan.edu
Feel the disruptions in empire, economics, ecology? Join @triofrancos.bsky.social & I & @basakkus.bsky.social at Wesleyan University Extraction: the frontiers of green capitalism www.theariofrancos.com/extraction Iran War & the dawn of the Electric World Order thepolycrisis.org/electric-wor...
🚨New piece in Politics & Society! w/ @maxkiefel.bsky.social @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social Internationalizing Industrial Policy: How China and the United States Use State Capacity to Secure Critical Minerals for Electric Vehicles 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 doi.org/10.1177/0032...
US bet: Ai, China bet: Green “In 2024, the country invested an estimated $940bn in clean-energy capex, broadly defined as renewables, electricity grids and energy storage (batteries), dwarfing its AI investments” ft.com/content/1258... Presented basically this argmnt last wk @basakkus.bsky.social
Could America win the AI race but lose the war?
The US has gone all-in on artificial intelligence. But the idea of an end-of-times battle with China over tomorrow’s key technology is part delusion, part lobbying tool for Silicon Valley
ft.com
Intereconomics has a forum on "Frontiers of Growth" in their last issue and I have a piece in it: "rom Kuznets to Daly: Growth, Social Justice and the State in the Age of Climate Crisis." www.intereconomics.eu/contents/yea...
From Kuznets to Daly: Growth, Social Justice and the State in the Age of Climate Crisis
Intereconomics is an academic journal that publishes articles by experts on current economic and social policy issues affecting Europe.
intereconomics.eu
It’s been 20 years and, as always happens, people have forgotten again that financial markets are inherently prone to collapse. It looks superficially different every time so we can con ourselves into believing otherwise
Erin Lockwood@erinkaylockwood.bsky.social · 10mo ago@profhilaryallen.bsky.social on the risky confluence of an AI bubble fueled by highly leveraged non-bank financial institutions and the integration of crypto -- an asset highly correlated with the stock market -- into traditional financial markets
I finally got around to reading @jonasmeckling.bsky.social's Nature article "The geoeconomic turn in decarbonization" and it is a must read! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Client Challenge
nature.com
“Chinese overseas FDI is nearing $100 billion per year. The Marshall Plan was $200b—and locked Europe into US tech and standards. When we see sums of this size, we can ask whether it will have a similar effect on the globe.” NEW: @70sbachchan.bsky.social & @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social on the BRI 2.0
This year, the College of the Environment think tank at Wes will focus on “Risk and Uncertain Futures: Responding to Global Disruptions.” We've exciting events in the works and are thrilled to welcome Tim Sahay as our distinguished fellow! @70sbachchan.bsky.social @wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social
We're now inviting proposals for the New Thinking in Industrial Policy Conference, November 6–7, 2025, at Columbia University! It is a great opportunity to present and discuss the latest research on industrial policy across the social sciences.
Eric Verhoogen@ericverhoogen.bsky.social · last yr.Call for papers! 3rd New Thinking in Industrial Policy Conference at Columbia, Nov. 6-7, 2025. Submit here by Sept. 12: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F.... Conf page: cdep.sipa.columbia.edu/content/new-.... Hosts: @ipdcolumbia.bsky.social, @cdepcolumbia.bsky.social, @columbiaigp.bsky.social, CPE.
Hello folks, we are hiring in the area of global justice (potential research areas include human rights, international inequality, migration, global health, the environment, international law, or the erosion of democracy). Here is the ad: wesleyan.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/career...
Assistant Professor of Government
Wesleyan University Rank: Assistant Professor Subfield(s): Open Wesleyan University's Department of Government invites applicants for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Government beginning July 1,...
wesleyan.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
A new blog post by Director of Industrial Policy and Trade @toddntucker.com breaks down what’s really at stake from the tariff court hearing—and why the outcome could shape economic policymaking for years. Read more 📄 rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/c...
In Constitutional Clash Between Trump and Courts on Tariffs, Risks Ahead for Progressive Policies - Roosevelt Institute
Today, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in two lawsuits brought against the Trump administration’s chaotic deployment of tariffs. To some observers, these cases may seem like arcane, boring trade law in a federal court that few have heard of. To others, the lawsuits represent an opportunity to resist Trump and fight his overreach on tariff hikes that are already starting to pinch consumers’ wallets. But it’s important to step back and look at some less obvious stakes in these disputes: Namely, what kind of powers do or should presidents have in the future to deal with economic emergencies?
rooseveltinstitute.org
“The postwar order rested on three pillars: American hegemony, the fossil-fuel energy system, and an open, multilateral trading order. America has now attacked each pillar at the foundation of its hydrocarbon global order.” — New: @katemac.bsky.social & I www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/bri...
My brilliant colleague and friend Sonali Chakravarti (who's not here) wrote about I'm Still Here. It's a lovely piece. @publicseminar.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/04/im-s...
In I’m Still Here, a Mother Refuses to Let a Dictatorship Rewrite Reality - Public Seminar
Sonali Chakravarti reviews I'M STILL HERE, and discusses the importance of fighting for a full life under fascism.
publicseminar.org
Full special issue out today: Greening the Economy: Toward a New Political Economy: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17485991... See the open access article by GJ and yours truly: "Green Transitions: Rethinking Political Economy in the Context of Climate Change": onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Green Transitions: Rethinking Political Economy in the Context of Climate Change
Although political economy (PE) has long engaged with environmental issues, climate change has remained at the margins of the field until very recently. This article argues that fully addressing the ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
#Specialissue #Greentransitions #Politicaleconomy 'Green Transitions: Rethinking Political Economy in the Context of Climate Change' by @basakkus.bsky.social & Gregory Jackson See special issue introduction 👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Ah! I forgot about THIS amazing paper by @trgn.bsky.social and Luuk Schmitz. You want to know what the divestments and losses involved with decarbonization mean for the regulatory state? Make sure to read it! @reggovjournal.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Picking Losers: Climate Change and Managed Decline in the European Union
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onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Check out these two wonderful papers! It’s not just about carbon in the West—what’s happening in other regions of the world? Renato Lima de Oliveira and Pieter Stek on carbon markets in Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia. @reggovjournal.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
The Development of Carbon Markets in Upper‐Middle‐Income Countries
Upper-middle-income economies face a specific set of trade-offs when reducing carbon emissions, which differ from the trade-offs faced in low- and high-income economies. To mobilize domestic funds, m...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
As part of our special issue on the political economy of climate change, Gregory Jackson and I invited essays from three senior scholars to discuss the issue from perspectives they believe need to be addressed: Jens Beckert, Kathryn Hochstetler, and Neil Fligstein.
Another paper out from our special issue on Greening the Economy. @joseatiles.bsky.social and David Whyte examine the role of "regulatory havens" in climate change by looking at fossil capital in the Caribbean. Read here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Fossil Capital in the Caribbean: The Toxic Role of “Regulatory Havens” in Climate Change
Secrecy jurisdictions play a crucial role in the legal framework perpetuating climate change. This paper demonstrates how these jurisdictions sustain the dynamics of climate change by enabling capita...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Jose Atiles@joseatiles.bsky.social · 2y agoHappy to share that my article with @david-whyte.bsky.social "Fossil Capital in the Caribbean: The Toxic Role of “Regulatory Havens” in Climate Change," is out now! Big thanks to @basakkus.bsky.social for making this possible! Check it out: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
In May, we will convene in Berkeley for a 2-day conference to honor Neil Fligstein, our retiring mentor, and discuss recent developments in economic sociology and political economy. Many thanks to Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative and the Dept of Sociology. sites.google.com/berkeley.edu...
Reading @bartbonikowski.bsky.social "Three Lessons..." this morning in preparation for a discussion with my students this afternoon. I appreciate his argument that populism must be examined "in the full range of its empirical manifestations, not just in electoral politics..."