Why do great powers keep underestimating their rivals? Peter Frankopan joins Mishal Husain to discuss Ukraine, Iran, China and the changing rules of global power in this weekend's interview: bloom.bg/4vYnxTQ 📷️: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
DirkvL
@dirkvl.bsky.social
Dad. #Sociology #Interactionism #Ethnomethdology @kingsbschool dirkvl.info
The interminable discussion of the Odessey - and the blockbuster book and ticket sales - indicate quite how important and popular the HUMANITIES are. Maybe not a great idea to cut them hmmmm??
I wrote about the Nolan Odyssey for the LRB. I'll summarize some of my main points below, in case you don't feel like reading all that. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Emily Wilson · An Uncomplicated Man
As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my...
lrb.co.uk
„Forschung ist kein Selbstzweck. Forschung muss zu Wertschöpfung, Produktion und Innovation in Deutschland und in Europa führen“, so der @bundeskanzler. Die Wissenschaftsfreiheit, wie sie Art. 5 Abs. 3 GG und das Bundesverfassungsgericht verstehen, setzt einen anderen Maßstab. 🧵 1/n
This is how I had to managed concentration for the last session of the day. It wasn't the presenters - it was definitely me. But after so many hours it was tough. #icca2026
Over 40 economists write to leader of Unite the Union, rejecting her claim that Ed Miliband would destroy jobs if he becomes next UK chancellor "The net zero economy generates output worth over £100bn and employs over a million workers....these numbers will grow” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Progressive economists reject Unite leader’s criticism of Ed Miliband
Sharon Graham is urged to withdraw her claim that the energy secretary would cost jobs if he became chancellor
theguardian.com
A change in Labour leader without a change in economic thinking will produce the same results. Missions became a slogan rather than a governing architecture: correct now while there are two years left!
School meals aren't a narrow social policy or cost-minimisation exercise, but a strategic instrument for industrial strategy, public health, climate action, and innovation.
The June issue of Cultural Sociology is live! Find articles on cultural translations of social movements, Chinese hip-hop, online commodification of leisure activities and more, below. journals.sagepub.com/toc/CUS/20/2
Cultural Sociology - Volume 20, Number 2
Table of contents for Cultural Sociology, 20, 2
journals.sagepub.com
While some people of influence are currently stirring up racial conflicts, it’s important to remember where it can lead.
Auschwitz Memorial@auschwitzmemorial.bsky.social · 2mo ago13 June 1937 | A Hungarian Jewish girl, Naomi Plattner, was born. In June 1944 she was deported to #Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber. --- Children at Auschwitz 📖 Lesson: https://lekcja.auschwitz.org/dzieci_EN/ 🎧 Podcast: https://youtu.be/aYKx_zpLSqA
Great keynote on ‘The power of meaning in police-civilian interaction by @sociologistray.bsky.social at The Qualitatives/SSSI conference #sssi #policing cc @sijournal.bsky.social
I didn’t have John Oliver mentioning my research in the same sentence as #badbunny on my #bingo card. . Important monologue about how #ice is ill-prepared to be doing what they are doing. #police www.instagram.com/reel/DXkhUke...
Dr. Rashawn Ray on Instagram: "I didn’t have John Oliver mentioning my research in the same sentence as #badbunny on my #bingo card. . Important monologue about how #ice is ill-prepared to be doing w...
98 likes, 13 comments - sociologistray on April 25, 2026: "I didn’t have John Oliver mentioning my research in the same sentence as #badbunny on my #bingo card. . Important monologue about how #ice i...
instagram.com
Boris Johnson: "We didn't have a plan for what to do next because we didn't think it was our job to have a plan." And we are all paying the price for that folly.
Reminder that nuclear power is not safe in a warzone. Which means it is not safe anywhere #NoNewNuclear www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Russian drone hits building storing spent nuclear fuel near Chornobyl
Attack was ‘extremely vile’ and deliberate, says Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy
theguardian.com
Check out Hannah Pelikan, @5tuartreeves.bsky.social and colleagues’ research on autonomous robots on public streets cc @inquirer.com dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Encountering Autonomous Robots on Public Streets | Proceedings of the 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
dl.acm.org
Philadelphia Inquirer@inquirer.com · 2mo agoWe followed an Uber delivery robot for 12 hours. Are they really the revolutionary technology they have been billed to be? Here's what we learned.
Honoured to have hosted the New Developments in Ethnomethodology 2026 conference with Philippe Sormani and Clemens Eisenmann on “Hybrid Studies”. Many thanks to the nearly 40 international participants for coming to Sierre and engaging in 3 days of lively discussions. More info: t.ly/vQMXS #EMCA
Handwritten, multidimensional art by Gila Abutalebi (Köln) - gilaabutalebi.world/gallery/
gilaabutalebi.world
Eugene Halton on his meetings with Duke Ellington, Dick Fosbury and Billy Nicks magazine.nd.edu/stories/crea... #sssi
Creative Freedom | Notre Dame Magazine | University of Notre Dame
Encounters with American originals
magazine.nd.edu
A bunch of new people followed me recently so I must remind you that I wrote a biography of Henri Bergson called Herald of a Restless World. I wrote it with my HANDS and BRAIN and I'm very proud of it. John Banville called it “The most intellectually stimulating book I read this year” (last year).
A paper on Simmel and Ethnomethodology as non-dualist approaches to foundational issues of subjectivity/objectivity, practice, and social order. With Chiara Bassetti, Erik Boström, Ken Liberman, @jakubmlynar.bsky.social and @dirkvl.bsky.social #EMCA #Sociology link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Simmel and Ethnomethodology: Foundational Sociological Issues from a Nondualist Perspective - The American Sociologist
Georg Simmel, despite being a founding father of sociology, is often excluded from the list of the discipline’s principal founders. This neglect of Simmel’s work was perpetuated in ethnomethodology ev...
link.springer.com
Called it in 2018: www.vice.com/en/article/d...
Delivery Robots Will Rely on Human Kindness and Labor
If robots are going to invade public spaces, they will be subject to vandalism and pranking.
vice.com
Ted Pavlic (he/him/his)@tedpavlic.bsky.social · 3mo agoIn one narrative, the presence of robots in the world could increase pro-social behavior among humans. In another vision, they'll just give humans more opportunities to practice being jerks.
e-Special Issue - Painting / Knowledge (Affect, Body, Gesture): Christian Heath and Dirk vom Lehn, 'Configuring Reception: (Dis-)Regarding the ‘Spectator’ in Museums and Galleries' - addresses the conduct and interaction of visitors to museums and galleries. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
New Article: “Simmel and Ethnomethodology: Foundational Sociological Issues from a Nondualist Perspective” by Chiara Bassetti, Erik Boström, Kenneth Liberman, Jakub Mlynář, Robin James Smith & Dirk vom Lehn doi.org/10.1007/s121... #Ethnomethodology #interactionism #Garfinkel #Simmel #sociology
Simmel and Ethnomethodology: Foundational Sociological Issues from a Nondualist Perspective - The American Sociologist
Georg Simmel, despite being a founding father of sociology, is often excluded from the list of the discipline’s principal founders. This neglect of Simmel’s work was perpetuated in ethnomethodology even though, like ethnomethodology, Simmel’s work concerns the minute organization of everyday interaction. It can, therefore, be of considerable importance for ethnomethodological inquiries. A group of ethnomethodologists devoted two years to reviewing Simmel’s corpus to identify and reveal resources that are useful for contemporary sociologists at large. What we discovered exceeded our expectations, and this article discusses some of these conceptual tools and theoretical resources, including praxis as the object of sociological investigations, objectivation practices, membership as degrees of commonness-and-strangeness, and the individual-“unity” relationship. We also review connections between Simmel, Husserl, Garfinkel and other scholars. Both Simmel and Garfinkel were relentless in their refusal to replace the dynamic character of social life with static theoretical constructs. We argue that thinking through their theories together fruitfully impedes sociologists in pursuing dualistic reasoning and re-orients them towards phenomena and issues of great sociological import that have remained largely overlooked, or have receded from view, in current sociology. We conclude that Simmel’s notion of “purely sociological” forms is perfectly consonant with the motivating interest of ethnomethodological researchers, who might employ his conceptual insights to address the lived objectivity of social phenomena empirically. At the same time, this also shows how ethnomethodology is concerned with foundational sociological issues. And, finally, it illuminates Simmel’s textured heritage beyond set, traditional readings of sociological thought and its history.
doi.org
Prior to the local elections, I outlined the best metrics to use in assessing the results, as well as produced some benchmarks for the parties. So, how did it all pan out? Here's my hopefully firm and fair assessment, with some extra analysis and lots of charts thrown in.
2026 local elections: the assessment
An analysis of the 2026 local elections, with lots of lovely charts.
dylandifford.substack.com
Really interesting interview of Amitav Ghosh by Mishal Husain podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
Why India Has Lost Its Way: Writer Amitav Ghosh on the New World Order, Politics and Past Lives
Podcast Episode · The Mishal Husain Show · 1 May · 34min
podcasts.apple.com
New Article in Symbolic Interaction: @sethabrutyn.bsky.social (Seth Abrutyn) "An Outline of a Theory of Play" - doi.org/10.1002/symb...
Madrid closed its central business district to cars for the first time during the 2018 Christmas period. The result was a 9.5% increase in retail spending on Madrid’s main shopping street, the Gran Vía. Plus there was a 71% drop in air pollution. Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #UrbanTruth
Closing Central Madrid To Cars Resulted In 9.5% Boost To Retail Spending, Finds Bank Analysis
City of Madrid significantly boosted the takings of its shops and restaurants last Christmas by banning cars from the CBD, finds an analysis by Spain's second largest bank.
forbes.com
Das bpb-Projekt »Deutschlands Radikale Rechte 1945-2025« wagt einen lange fälligen Überblick der verschiedenen Entwicklungen am rechten Rand und ist mit einer Menge Material angereichert. Es kostet trotz Coffee Table Format nur 7,50 €. Martin Langebach und sein Team haben hervorragend gearbeitet!
