Erin McDonnell
@profmcdonnell.bsky.social
Sociologist of states, orgs & development at Notre Dame. Author of Patchwork Leviathan. Loves new projects, Ghana, public servants, volleyball and capybaras, in no particular order. my views≠ND RT≠endorse
Do you work on development, democracy, or state institutions? Apply for a Kellogg visiting fellowship and hang out with me for the semester or year! Apply by October 1 kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
Visiting Fellowship Program | Kellogg Institute For International Studies
Since 1983, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies has offered visiting fellowships to promote interdisciplinary international research in a supportive community of scholars.
kellogg.nd.edu
In the holocaust why did some people rescue strangers while others were perpetrators or bystanders? "Bystanders see themselves as passive people, lacking in control and low in efficacy. The Nazi self-image is as victims who need to protect themselves and their community."...(cont)
Great to be a guest at @casbsstanford.bsky.social Stimulating conversations w interdisciplinary scholars researching orgs: what org ethnography adds, what defines a strong org, & better understanding well performing public sector orgs in low income countries.
Great time with Medici Institute, at HEC Paris this year. Fun to talk org culture and motivation in public sectors with curious orgs scholars. Convos about what org purpose is, whether it’s just “purpose washing” profit, when it matters to workers, and when/why it helps orgs to embrace a purpose
The disparity btwn what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory. Botted socials, AI, old clips, declining literacy—it’s like seeing a broken emergency response system hit by a storm.
You can act on false conspiracy theories about the government, and violate numerous laws, and that is fine. But if you suggest that government is not dysfunctional, you will get fired from DOGE:
![Lavignia left his start-up, Gumroad, to join Veteran’s Affairs. Here is the key passage:
Now that he’s there, he says he finds himself surrounded by people who “love their jobs,” who came to the government with a sense of mission driving their work. “In a sense, that makes the DOGE agenda a little bit more complicated, because if half the government took [a buyout offer], then we wouldn’t have to do much more,” he says, implying software can replace departing employees. “We’d just basically use software to plug holes. But that’s not what’s happening.”…when it comes down to it, what he’s found is a machine that largely functions, though it doesn’t make decisions as fast as a startup might. “I would say the culture shock is mostly a lot of meetings, not a lot of decisions,” he says. “But honestly, it’s kind of fine—because the government works. It’s not as inefficient as I was expecting, to be honest. I was hoping for more easy wins.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2rrp7amblhg3xoly5n5huiqv/bafkreieacmnc5aa2tjl2eajo7jphh2ljx2uyxopzl2xgzihaglmv4epvhq)
Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · last yr.Confirmation: the guy I profiled in this piece did indeed get the boot from DOGE because he said government actually was ok donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-doge-...
Sociologists: What are your favorite qualitative papers whose contribution is primarily to show HOW something works, to illustrate the mechanism of a social relationship, or illuminate a process?
Apply now: Summer 2025 interdisciplinary workshop on Public Sector Organizations Who: Grad students, postdocs, & assistant profs in social sciences When: 7/21-23 Where: Univ of Notre Dame (USA) Apps Due: 5/15 Details: tinyurl.com/PSOE2025 Apply at: tinyurl.com/effectivesta...
Summer Orgs Workshop 2025.pdf
drive.google.com
IT'S OFFICIAL. I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK! 🤯 #TheDoubleTax unpacks the cost of being a woman, why the bill runs higher for women of color, and how closing the gaps moves us ALL forward. #blacksky #booksky #econsky PRE-ORDER NOW: tinyurl.com/doubletax-or... Get Involved: tinyurl.com/doubletax-join
If "patriotism in American history" sounds like a promise to scrub uncomfortable truths from history, gild the lily, and run a propaganda machine through our education system, that's because it probably is.
Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · last yr.SCOOP: Now that Linda McMahon is confirmed/sworn in as secretary, Trump will be imminently issuing an executive order eliminating the Department of Education. I’ve obtained a draft of an email that McMahon will be sending to staff re: the EO and the department’s “final mission”. Here is a portion:
![After President Trump's inauguration last month, he has steadily signed a slate of executive orders to keep these education promises: combatting critical race theory, DEl, gender ideology extremism, and discrimination in admissions. President Trump has also been focused on eliminating wasteful bureaucracy and harmful programs in the federal government. To that end, today he signed [Executive Order XYZ, entitled "Eliminating the Department of Education,] which has given us a clear and final mission.
We are to identify which of the Department's functions, programs, and offices are not mandated by statute, and eliminate them. This reorganization will impact staff, budgets, reporting, and more —and in coming months, we will determine how it can be accomplished with minimal delay and disruption. The President further tasked us with creating a plan to reallocate and reassign functions of the Department of Education that would be more effectively managed by other agencies. This plan will offer Congress a road map toward fulfilling the expectations of the President and the American people.
The new vision—which I hope each of you will embrace going forward—can be expressed as four main convictions:
Parents are the primary decision makers in their children's education.
Students deserve to be protected from physical violence, racial discrimination, medical tyranny, and gender extremism ideology on campus.
Postsecondary education should be a path to a well-paying career aligned with workforce needs.
Taxpayer-funded education should refocus on meaningful learning: proficiency in math, reading, and core subjects, and patriotism in American history and civics.
As we move to reduce the Department's middleman role in education, these four convictions must guide us toward conscientious and pragmatic action. The elimination of bureaucracy should free us, not limit us, in our pursuit of these goals
Removing red tape and bureaucratic barriers will empower parents to make th](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ejihld4sywvvqwe67cdkn4jq/bafkreictcxubqhd7foyjwbms62bj3cxmfyepqk2ms3l6ctabsa6fvpm5ju)
**JOB ALERT** Notre Dame's new Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship. $75k/year, $15k research expenses, open area, & up to 2 years. Come work with great Sociology colleagues in a resource rich environment. apply.interfolio.com/164239
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
All probationary federal employees at NOAA’s EMC that’s responsible for keeping all US weather model systems running have been fired with 1 hours notice. And that includes me and colleagues. We will not go quietly because we care about the NOAA mission to protect the public.
NEW: Public health teams are being gutted, imperiling efforts to safeguard organ donation and prevent maternal and infant death. Many workers expressed fear at what would happen to the work they left behind.
They Worked to Prevent Death. The Trump Administration Fired Them.
Public health teams are being gutted, imperiling efforts to safeguard organ donation and prevent maternal and infant death. Many workers expressed fear at what would happen to the work they left behind.
propublica.org
“Hitler systematically disabled and then dismantled his country’s democratic structures and processes in less than two months’ time—specifically, one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours, and 40 minutes,” Timothy W. Ryback writes in a step-by-step account:
How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days
He used the constitution to shatter the constitution.
theatlantic.com
Corporations realizing that Black people, and their allies, dont want to shop with spineless corporations removing workplace protections. If you dont stand for something when its hard, you dont stand for it at all. Costco & Trader Joes can have all my money. finance.yahoo.com/news/target-...
Target drops DEI initiatives and learns there are harsh consequences
The retailer is being sued after removing its diversity programs after President Donald Trump was elected.
finance.yahoo.com
Public servants are GD super heroes. They get shat on & mocked but when we really need them, they still come through for us. working thru the weekend to process requests to change gender on birth certificates in Washington, so people's gov ID can = their birth cert, can = their gender identity
Gov. Bob Ferguson@governorferguson.bsky.social · last yr.A team of more than a dozen people worked through a weekend to clear the department’s backlog of more than 500 requests. We’re speeding up government and centering the people.
Honestly its like a freefall where you think you are nearing rock bottom and then you get to "sacking people who fight white supremacist terrorist groups" and discover a whole near level
ProPublica@propublica.org · last yr.In the past weeks, the Trump administration has purged federal law enforcement agencies of prosecutors and investigators who’d been pursuing white supremacist groups that had been listed among the most dangerous threats to national security. By @hannahallam.bsky.social
This is how kleptocracy works, and why it is such a dangerous, slippery slope to get away from elite government officials (and whatever Musk is) from putting financial interests in a blind trust
The New York Times@nytimes.com · last yr.Tesla, whose chief executive, Elon Musk, has been advising President Trump on how to cut government spending, is likely to receive a lucrative contract to supply armored versions of its Cybertruck pickup to the State Department, according to public documents.
Research African governance? We seek contributions to an interdisciplinary edited volume addressing institutional performance and democratic citizenship beyond traditional notions of voting--deliberation, small publics, public sector accountability etc. Apply 2/15 drive.google.com/file/d/11nRF...
AGIL_CALL FOR PAPERS_LKD.pdf
drive.google.com
The DEI caused the plane crash narrative is a distraction. The tariffs are a distraction. Whatever insane nonsense Trump spews that the media will chase like cats chasing a laser light is a distraction. The only story that counts right now is the wholesale hijacking of control of the US government.
I have studied African governments for over 20yrs. Abolishing term limits is the slippery slope to personalistic quasi authoritarian rule. This should be a hard line for all Americans, including conservatives who value the constitution ogles.house.gov/media/press-...
Rep. Ogles Proposes Amending the 22nd Amendment to Allow Trump to Serve a Third Term
WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Andy Ogles introduced a House Joint Resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States to allow a President to be elected for up to but no more than three terms. Th...
ogles.house.gov
Merry Christmas & happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate. Give yourself some grace & rest this season. If the season felt too short, it’s bc it was. Thanksgiving 11/28 is the latest it falls, cutting up to 6 days from the season. Our grades were due 12/23, so work lurked later than usual too.
I have to admit I got a belly laugh out of this one
Dammit Doug Smith@dammitdougsmith.bsky.social · 2y ago
OMG I feel so seen. As anyone who knows me knows, spreadsheets are my love language www.geeksoutfit.com/products/ohh...
Geeksoutfit Ohh...This Calls for a Spreadsheet Ugly Christmas Sweater f
Discover Ohh...This Calls for a Spreadsheet Ugly Christmas Sweater up to 20% off Sale at Geeksoutfit. Designed geeky t shirts & nerdy t shirts will help you Feel Comfortable and Stylish.Free Shipping ...
geeksoutfit.com
Let me tell you a story – one of the more haunting I’ve seen in 20 years of journalism. It’s about greed, death and denial. It took two years to unravel one doctor’s myth, a hospital’s complicity in creating it, and a documented trail of suspicious deaths…🧵
A horrifying story of a Montana oncologist accused of giving chemo to patients who didn’t have cancer (and died as a result), among other things. Incredible reporting by @propublica.org, a social autopsy of how organizational structures, social pressure, & financial incentives create malfeasance.
I always knew we shared a love of public sector research. Turns out we have the same breakfast preferences too.
Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 2y agopie is breakfast
Grateful for farmworkers around the world, whose work feeds us all.
United Farm Workers@ufw.bsky.social · 2y agoAcross the country, people are starting meal preparations and traveling to be with friends and family. Tell us your favorite dish on the Thanksgiving table, and we’ll share our knowledge about the work behind the ingredients. #WeFeedYou
