All the feels... 😍

Harvard University Press@harvardpress.bsky.social · last wk.

The first truly global biography of a revolutionary thinker. How well do you know Eric Hobsbawm? Discover our conversation with biographer and historian Emile Chabal: bit.ly/3RZrUjK Coming August 18.

"Britain risks losing language skills to understand its enemies" The Times quotes @pjdelacour.bsky.social and @emile-chabal.bsky.social, directors of Scottish Council on Global Affairs www.thetimes.com/article/5df4...

Britain risks losing language skills to understand its enemies

Experts have warned Britain’s defence drive is overlooking the language and regional expertise needed to understand adversaries including Russia, China and Iran

thetimes.com

I found it impossible not to write something about the fetishisation of the ballot box and the fabulous Le Pen-Farage crossover of recent days. theconversation.com/let-the-peop...

‘Let the people judge me’: how Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage learned a potent populist tactic from Donald Trump

It’s a gamble for both leaders. But the US president showed how effective this tactic can be.

theconversation.com

📣 CEH's third digest is out now, featuring journal news, blog updates, prizewinners, and more! And our editors have again chosen an article from the last six months on which they've enjoyed working - read on to see their selections! [1/7] www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...

Contemporary European History digest, no. 3, January to June 2026 « News# « Cambridge Core Blog

In our third digest, we present our new managing editor; we highlight two recently published prize-winning articles on nude activists in communist Poland and the politics of transnational banking in t...

cambridge.org

This is a wonderful article on left-wing visions of austerity in the 1970s - anyone with an interest in the subject should read it.

Contemporary European History@conteurohistory.bsky.social · 4w ago

@emile-chabal.bsky.social chose 'The Left Wing Case for Austerity' by @micdido.bsky.social - a 'forgotten history [which] sets out an alternative future in which ideas such as ‘restraint’ or ‘austerity’ might have progressive outcomes' www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

To be taken so seriously - and to be given such praise - by a scholar whose work I admire and cite is quite an honour. I will be cherishing this review for a long time!

Adam Shatz@adamshatz.bsky.social · last mo.

"Perhaps Hobsbawm’s canonization—his “myth,” to borrow Chabal’s term—was a Western tribute to a great historian who had erected a monument to Europe at the time of its decline." Enzo Traverso on Emile Chabal's intellectual biography of Eric Hobsbawm: www.theideasletter.org/essay/the-ce...

If you're in Berlin, come say hello! I'll be talking identity politics, democracy, and the future of political mobilization in Europe (and running a workshop on the same themes the next day).

Christian Jacobs@christianjacobs.bsky.social · last mo.

I am very much looking forward to the workshop "Towards a global history of identity politics, c.1970-present" at FU Berlin next week. Do join us for the keynote by @emile-chabal.bsky.social. Check out the full program here: www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/frankreichze....

This is a terrific article, one of the best I've edited in my time on the journal!

Helen McCarthy@historianhelen.bsky.social · last mo.

Ever dreamed of a sun-soaked retirement overseas? Plenty of older Britons chased that fantasy in the late 20th century as my new article in @conteurohistory.bsky.social reveals. But retirement migration was also a space of racialisation and postcolonial anxieties. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The outsourcing of visa processing to VFS has long been a scandal in plain sight. One of many, sure, but one that brutally intervenes in the lives of "weak" passport holders when they are most vulnerable: asking a foreign state for the right to travel there. www.politico.eu/article/how-...

How a company turned visas to Europe into big business

Investigation prompts European Commission to launch “comprehensive study” into outsourcing of visa processing.

politico.eu

I edited this article; it's very good.

Michele Di Donato@micdido.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New article out on @conteurohistory.bsky.social: "The Left-Wing Case for Austerity: Planning and Consumption Restraint in 1970s Europe" www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I had some thoughts about Vincent Martigny's edited collection of essays about how to the resist the widespread nostalgia in France for the Trente Glorieuses. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/7UDYF...

Les temps nouveaux: En finir avec la nostalgie des Trente Glorieuses

Published in Modern & Contemporary France (Ahead of Print, 2026)

tandfonline.com

While scrolling the Blackwell's website, I found out that my little book on France is available for the almost absurdly cheap price of £6. Anyone who needs a primer on France that is short, sharp and (hopefully!) stimulating should go for it... blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...

France

Emile Chabal, a leading specialist of contemporary France, tells the story of a paradoxical country. From the calamitous defeat by Hitler's armies in 1940 to th

blackwells.co.uk

Let's be very clear for those in the back of the room: THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED ANYWAY AND EVERY EXPERT SAID IT. So there was no need for Labour to do a kneejerk anti-immigration swerve that was strategically dumb and morally reprehensible. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Net migration to UK falls by nearly 50% after Labour’s vow to cut numbers

Decline to 171,000 last year will encourage ministers in what is seen as a battleground issue against Reform

theguardian.com

2024: kamala is brat 2026: keir starmer is mussolini what a decade for political memes

. @emile-chabal.bsky.social and I wrote an article on this: foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/05/b...

Can't save Universities tho

UK ‘invention agency’ grants £50m of public money to US tech and venture capital firms

Exclusive: Brainchild of Dominic Cummings, Aria is aimed at funding ‘crazy’ scientific projects to benefit the UK

theguardian.com

That's it. I've checked the very last proofs of the book and it's now off to the printers. I hope it will reach Hobsbawm fans, Hobsbawm sceptics, and anyone curious about the intellectual life of the left in the 20th century! Publication: 18 Aug (US), 4 Sept (UK) www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

This is true - and @christinaboswell.bsky.social and I have written a whole book about it! It's called 'States of Ignorance' and it explains when and why European states have "ignored" irregular migration: www.cambridge.org/core/books/s... (ft. @mcslaven.bsky.social social amongst others!)

Starmer’s immigration rhetoric follows familiar pattern of bold claims but few results, expert says

Madeleine Sumption says politicians make big claims about things they only partially control to appeal to voters

theguardian.com

Some thoughts on French local elections: general dynamic confirms "quadripolar" fragmentation of French politics (see my article on this from 2022 below). It's *very* difficult to use these elections to predict 2027, but... 1/ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Between neo-liberalism and the nation: France’s political landscape in 2022

France’s 2022 electoral cycle suggests that the basic contours of French politics are in flux. This is largely because the traditional left-right spectrum proved increasingly incapable of structuri...

tandfonline.com

My former student @theozenou.bsky.social has written a great piece about the weird and wonderful world of present-day French royalism. Anyone fancy a quick Restoration...? unherd.com/2026/03/meet...

Meet France's duelling royalists

unherd.com

This was fun. Lots of speculation about the upcoming election(s) in France in 2026 and 2027, and even a little bit of solid analysis.

Modern & Contemporary France@francemodern.bsky.social · 6mo ago

New podcast: @emile-chabal.bsky.social tells @jonathanervine.bsky.social about what may be in store for French politics in 2026 and beyond: they discuss the Macron presidency, the far right, and the countdown to the 2027 Presidential Elections. @asmcf.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/2dqD...

Today I had the pleasure of recording an interview with @emile-chabal.bsky.social for the Modern & Contemporary France podcast. Emile shared his thoughts on what's in store for French politics in 2026, talking about Macron's presidency, the far right, and the 2027 Presidential Elections.

Edinburgh-based Francophone friends may like to come along to a conversation I'm having on my book and the state of France with the journalist Étienne Duval at 16:00 on 24 February at the @ifecosse.bsky.social. Venez nombreux! www.ifecosse.org.uk/events-agend...

France — A Paradoxical Nation: New Perspectives with author and historian Emile Chabal - Institut français · Écosse

France today seems to be mired in a deep social and political crisis. But how exceptional is the present wave of discontent? And how should we understand the historical roots of France’s tumultuous po...

ifecosse.org.uk

Impossible not to love this story. Historians represent!

Brent Staples@bstaples.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...

🧵CEH's second digest is out now, detailing our latest special issues, journal news, and more. And once again our six editors have each highlighted a recent article they've enjoyed - read on to see which ones they picked, and why! ⬇️⬇️⬇️ [1/7] www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...

Contemporary European History digest, no. 2, August to December 2025 « News# « Cambridge Core Blog

As we - like many other journals - transition towards digital-only publication, we have become acutely aware of how difficult it can be to find out what is happening with Contemporary European History...

cambridge.org

For some time, I've thought that the closure of universities in the UK would be a 21st century version of deindustrialisation, with the heart ripped out of communities and the collapse of entire local economic ecosystems. What a terrible (and avoidable) waste. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?

When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...

theguardian.com

This brewing rebellion addresses a major mistake by the government that @emile-chabal.bsky.social and I wrote about in @foreignpolicy.com. But raising the profile of this issue the govt has opened the way for the right parties to promote even more damaging policies. foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/05/b...

Britain Is Having the World’s Most Extreme Immigration Debate

The British discourse makes even the Trump administration look moderate.

foreignpolicy.com

We at @conteurohistory.bsky.social have just published our latest editorial digest for Jul-Dec 2025, including details of new special issues + our favourite articles. Give it a read! www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...

Contemporary European History digest, no. 2, August to December 2025 « News# « Cambridge Core Blog

As we - like many other journals - transition towards digital-only publication, we have become acutely aware of how difficult it can be to find out what is happening with Contemporary European History...

cambridge.org

I have a new article out in the Journal of Contemporary History: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... It examines Soviet humanitarianism by focusing on Soviet Red Cross hospitals in Tehran, Addis Ababa, and Phnom Penh. 📷 Soviet Red Cross hospital in Addis Ababa, ICRC Audiovisual Archives

This is so problematic. Creating big-money grants (7m EUR!) is such a travesty. Instead of funding 1 researcher, why not fund 25 with smaller grants? It would create more ideas, secure more careers, and create so much more innovative knowledge. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

ERC’s new €7m Plus Grants open to researchers at any career stage - Research Professional News

European Research Council president describes scheme as part attempt to lure US talent

researchprofessionalnews.com