Stephen Macekura
@smacekura.bsky.social
Historian of the United States and the twentieth century world. Professor at Indiana University. Most recent book: The Mismeasure of Progress (Chicago UP). Now working on consultants, contracting, and the U.S. state
** Humanitarianism: A Very Short Introduction ** is officially published today! Happy to have this new little book out in the world. For more info: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Our work on higher ed by @lookheron.bsky.social explores the foundation of many of today’s higher education challenges: from funding and governance to the conditions that make free speech possible on campus. 🧵
it's happening www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804714...
Control Science by Henry Snow: 9781804293201 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A thrilling intellectual and economic history of workplace control from the birth of capitalism to the modern tech giants. What are the rules that govern our workday? Who made these rules? And how do...
penguinrandomhouse.com
Former @nsarchive.bsky.social FOIA coordinator Nate Jones discovered that the State Department deleted already declassfied records from one of its "FRUS" historical volumes. Today, the Archive published the censored documents.
National Security Archive@nsarchive.bsky.social · 9mo agoThe Censored History of Able Archer 83: Archive Publishes “War Scare” Documents Deleted from State Department History (click below to read) nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...
Happy news: My new book -- Humanitarianism: A Very Short Introduction -- now has a cover and is available for preorder! The book is a concise history of humanitarianism in an international and global perspective, from the 18th century to the present. More info here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Digital edition of IDS (IU Bloomington student paper, now in its 158th year) does continue to publish real news, including this shocking story: www.idsnews.com/article/2025...
Jewish Studies director replacement ‘unprecedented,’ students and faculty say
Dean Rick Van Kooten later held a nomination process one faculty member called “symbolic.”
idsnews.com
Mike Glass and I argue for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social that we’ve tried the #abundance incentive-based approach to housing crises before. But lack of oversight + incentives produced fraud, profiteering, and inflated rents -- and the Trump family fortune. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/add...
Adding Value | Phenomenal World
Mortgage insurance has traditionally been the method the federal government has used to induce investment in owner-occupied housing. But for multifamily rentals, the history of mortgage-insurance prog...
phenomenalworld.org
Part of a great special issue on "History of Economics in the Extended Field" ed. Joel Isaac & Philippe Fontaine. Alongside articles by @abenanav.bsky.social, @smacekura.bsky.social, @simontorracinta.bsky.social, Eli Cook, Erik Baker, and Jonny Bunning read.dukeupress.edu/hope/advance...
Advance Publication | History of Political Economy | Duke University Press
read.dukeupress.edu
Serious, long piece via @apnews.com about the concerted attack on public education in Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Iowa, and elsewhere. Features many nice photos of the lovely Bloomington campus! apnews.com/article/harv...
Far beyond Harvard, conservative efforts to reshape higher education are gaining steam
Far beyond Harvard University and its standoff with the Trump administration, Republican officials in several states have been pushing for changes at public universities.
apnews.com
Our Forum "Visions of the Planet" is now published in Diplomatic History (49.3) - and you can find all articles in one place: academic.oup.com/dh/issue/49/3
Volume 49 Issue 3 | Diplomatic History | Oxford Academic
The official journal of Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Examines issues relating to U.S. diplomacy, foreign relations, and security issues from the colonial period to the present...
academic.oup.com
Utterly disgraceful and an open assault on the historical profession. These are utterly professional, non-partisan advisors, overseeing and giving advice to the State department on the declassification of US government documents.
Elizabeth N. Saunders@profsaunders.bsky.social · last yr.Unhappy to confirm that the entire Historical Advisory Committee at the State Department received termination notices this afternoon (myself included). The HAC, set up by Congress, oversees the office that produces the FRUS series. history.state.gov/about/hac/in... 1/
The office is a true jewel and the historians that produce FRUS are phenomenal. This is a resource everyone who studies foreign policy and national security should care about protecting, and anyone who believes in government transparency should care too. 3/3 history.state.gov/historicaldo...
Historical Documents - Office of the Historian
history.state.gov 3.0 shell
history.state.gov
It was a true honor to serve on the HAC which was chaired by @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social. I was an at-large member; several others were official representatives of scholarly orgs like @apsa.bsky.social, AHA, OAH, SHAFR, ASIL. 2/
Unhappy to confirm that the entire Historical Advisory Committee at the State Department received termination notices this afternoon (myself included). The HAC, set up by Congress, oversees the office that produces the FRUS series. history.state.gov/about/hac/in... 1/
The Kennan quote is from this excellent essay by @smacekura.bsky.social on the tensions between the emerging "planetary consciousness" of the 1970s and the Global South's demands for rapid economic development & a widespread commitment to absolute sovereignty rights. academic.oup.com/dh/advance-a...
The Growth Debate, North-South Politics, and the Fate of Environmental Internationalism in the 1970s
On April 10, 1974, Algerian President Houari Boumédiène addressed a special session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. His purpose was ambitious:
academic.oup.com
Nils Gilman@nilsgilman.bsky.social · last yr.QOTD: "The entire ecology of the planet is not arranged in national compartments; and whoever interferes seriously with it anywhere is doing something that is almost invariably of serious concern to the international community at larger." - George Kennan, 1970 www.foreignaffairs.com/world/preven...
Our introduction, w/ @smueller.bsky.social, about the planetary age in environmental and international history is online! Check out the Forum articles by Perrin Selcer, Andrea Westermann, Liesbeth van de Grift & @smacekura.bsky.social Let's begin the debate about the visions of the one planet 🌍
Visions of the One Planet: The Planetary Age in International and Environmental History
“We know that you don’t have the power to stop a transaction, but for goodness’ sake, we are all on the same planet.”- Congressional Representative John Co
academic.oup.com
ICYMI, I wrote about for-profit contractors (like Musk himself) and the United States' byzantine contracting system: the real source of waste and fraud
David A. Graham@dgraham.bsky.social · last yr."In 1946, the government employed about 2.5 million workers and ran a budget of $628 billion; in 2023, it had only half a million more workers, but its budget stood at $4.6 trillion. How does the government disburse this colossal budget? Through contracting." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
"In 1946, the government employed about 2.5 million workers and ran a budget of $628 billion; in 2023, it had only half a million more workers, but its budget stood at $4.6 trillion. How does the government disburse this colossal budget? Through contracting." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Government Waste DOGE Should Be Cutting
The problem that really needs fixing is not the public employees but the private contractors—and Elon Musk is one of them.
theatlantic.com
@smacekura.bsky.social's great chapter on US foreign policy contracting informs his piece @theatlantic.com: Clinton's "reinventing government" program cut 400k direct federal hires "as it expanded the shadow government of contractor workers by nearly 300,000." 🗃️ www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Government Waste DOGE Should Be Cutting
The problem that really needs fixing is not the public employees but the private contractors—and Elon Musk is one of them.
theatlantic.com
Brent Cebul@brentcebul.bsky.social · last yr.For the historians in our midst 🗃️, here's an excerpt from @gabrielwinant.bsky.social's conclusion of sorts that considers what was lost and gained in the handoff from social to institutional political historical analysis - and the promise of uniting them. www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-...
I wrote about another problem with DOGE: real fraud lies more with for-profit contractors than government agencies. We need a more robust civil service, not more privatization of public affairs: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
DOGE Won’t Deliver Government Efficiency
The problem of waste that really needs fixing is not the public employees but the private contractors—and Elon Musk is one of them.
theatlantic.com
@lilygeismer.bsky.social and I are thrilled that our new project, Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals since the 1960s, is published today. When we began this work a few years ago, we had no idea how sadly relevant exploring the evolution . . . (1/10) press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Mastery and Drift
A revelatory look at modern liberalism’s historical evolution and enduring impact on contemporary politics and society. Since the 1960s, American liberalism and the Democratic Party have been rema...
press.uchicago.edu
Liberalism's crisis has been long in the making. Read what some smart historians and I have to say about it. You can get a 30% discount with code UCPNEW if you avoid the big bad site and order directly from UChicago Press. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Mastery and Drift
A revelatory look at modern liberalism’s historical evolution and enduring impact on contemporary politics and society. Since the 1960s, American liberalism and the Democratic Party have been rema...
press.uchicago.edu
It's alive! My book now has a webpage on the University of California Press @ucpress.bsky.social website: www.ucpress.edu/books/in-the... Will be available open access in April 2025!
In the Global Vanguard by James Lin - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
ucpress.edu