I said (paraphrasing): A lot of people would have wanted to move here and could have been productive and happy and sent money back to their families and built a global care network. Instead, we're going to lock them out and force women inside the wall to produce more children. Not how I would do it.

Philip N Cohen@philipncohen.com · 4mo ago

That's me on Population Balance's @popnbalance.bsky.social Overshoot podcast, "Falling Birthrates are Not a Crisis," with Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware:

📢 Excited to announce the 8th Joint Doctoral Conference at Tilburg University! 🎓🌍 📅 26–27 Nov 2026 🗓 Submission deadline: May 1st 2026 PhD candidates: present your research, get feedback, and connect internationally! 💡🤝🗣️ More info 👉 www.tilburguniversity.edu/current/even...

Eighth Joint Doctoral Conference | Tilburg University

The Eighth Joint Doctoral Conference invites PhD candidates in sociology to come together for enriching academic dialogue and collaboration. This two-day conference is organised by PhD candidates from...

tilburguniversity.edu

De nieuwe kabinetsplannen leiden tot grotere ongelijkheid. Hier even een grafiekje van de gini-coefficient van netto-huishoudsinkomens (bron: LIS). Voor degenen die denken dat we in een nieuwe neoliberale 'Paarse' tijd belanden, de jaren van de Paarse kabinetten uitgelicht.

"There is, of course, some risk of corroding the very foundations of our university’s mission. But institutional survival requires adaptation. Our graduates must become “AI-resilient and future-ready members of the workforce”… whatever that means."

Eric Gordy@ericgordy.bsky.social · 6mo ago

“Some have asked why we don’t simply focus on helping students learn things. We appreciate the sentiment.” www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...

Nothing says romance like a well-documented dataset. @gesis.org gets it. #AcademicsInLove

Impressive. US Embassy Copenhagen. One Danish flag per Danish soldier that died in Afghanistan, fighting alongside US soldiers. 📸 h/t @onkelmikkel.bsky.social

Join us in Turku, Finland for the 3rd @invest-flagship.bsky.social conference; May 6-8, 2026. This year's topic is "Building equal societies: from scientific findings to societal transformation" with excizing and timely keynotes by Prof. Harden @kph3k.bsky.social and Prof. Cohen @philipncohen.com

Reading for an R&R. From an article on changes in climate change worry during COVID: "The results of the multilevel models showed that COVID-19 fear reinforces climate change concerns which contradicts the finite pool of worry theory.” Who worries about a finite number of issues?! Especially now!

Interesting court decision: marriage annulled because the officiant used ChatGPT for the vows Dutch law (1:67(1) BW) requires fiancées recognize one another as spouse and accept the duties of marriage The ChatGPT vows, that they 'stand beside' and 'choose' one another were considered insufficient

Lydia van Rooijen@lydienee.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Opmerkelijke uitspraak: huwelijk ongeldig omdat de speech is geschreven door ChatGPT, waardoor niet de verplichte wettelijke verklaring is afgelegd. uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=E...

Utrecht University abolishes its English language bachelor's program in economics and replaces it with a Dutch one. They told staff (~30% international) the week before Christmas. Layoffs seem likely now. Unwarranted lobotomy is the only word I can find for it... dub.uu.nl/en/news/econ...

Economics programme in shock after sudden cancellation of English-taught track

The Bachelor's programme in Economics & Business Economics will only be offered in Dutch from 2029 onwards, the Executive Board announced on Tuesday. The news came as a complete surprise to the econom...

dub.uu.nl

Where does one even begin to comment?!? 🤯

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 8mo ago

China to hike tax on condoms in attempt to boost falling birth rate

8000 mensen protesteerden vandaag tegen de bezuinigingen op het hoger onderwijs en de verdere afbraak van de publieke sector. Nederland wordt echt een land van private rijkdom en publieke armoede.

While coalition talks are in full swing, higher education is already putting pressure on the government to be. During a strike, lecturers and students are demanding that parties involved in forming the coalition – with D66 leading – scrap the budget cuts. www.folia.nl/en/actueel/1...

Strikers on Dam Square call on Rob Jetten to save higher education

folia.nl

Stop de sloop! Vanmiddag stond ik met duizenden op de Dam om te protesteren tegen de desastreuze onderwijsbezuinigingen, nota bene doorgezet door een demissionair, ultraminoritair rompkabinet. Lees hierover ook dit opinieartikel in NRC van afgelopen donderdag 4 december: lnkd.in/ety2QdZe

#Vacancy for an Assistant Professor position at the #Sociology department of @tilburg-university.bsky.social: tiu.nu/23054 (Universitair Docent in de Sociologie van Sociaal Beleid) Deadline: 14 December Questions? Contact the HoD, Tim Reeskens (and yes, C1 level in Dutch is a prerequisite...)

🚨 #Hiring! 3yr #postdoc w/survey methodology experience to join the ERC-project SINGLE for its next stage of designing & launching a comparative multidisciplinary singlehood #survey in EU. Research area is open! Application deadline: 12-Jan-2026 (12PM CET). Barcelona-based. 👉🏻 shorturl.at/CmY0F

I have donated to Wikipedia occasionally, and will do it again in the future. Support free and factual information on the internet!

Joshua Holland@joshuaholland.bsky.social · 2y ago

I’ve never donated to Wikipedia before but I set up a small monthly donation as a fuck you to the world’s richest psychopath.

#Yellowstone really didn't have consultants with any academia experience... 😬

The increase in science funding applications from 2023 to 2025 across programs is huge. And most likely the competition will increase unless investments are made in science and research (which have repeatedly shown to pay off later for society at large). www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Is academic research becoming too competitive? Nature examines the data

Applications for European research grants increased in 2025. Scientists say they’re feeling the competition.

nature.com

What happens when abortion access becomes restricted even without a law officially passing? With Francesco Billari and @aksoyundan.bsky.social, we investigated how incidence of abortion, miscarriage and stillbirth changed under the anti-abortion campaign in Turkey.

Als een imam zoiets zegt, is hij een haatbaard. Als Henri uit Rotterdam het zegt, is het fatsoen. nos.nl/nieuwsuur/co...

CDA-leider Bontenbal: religieus onderwijs mag botsen met grondrecht van gelijkheid

Dat religieuze scholen homoseksuele relaties afwijzen, is volgens CDA-leider Henri Bontenbal nu eenmaal een gevolg van de vrijheid van onderwijs. Daar wil hij niet aan tornen. "Een andere mening doet ...

nos.nl

Alarmerend: Fvd (33), PVV (30), JA21 (14), SGP (13) en BBB (13) hebben de meeste plannen die in strijd zijn met de beginselen van rechtsstatelijkheid. 3 partijen doen geen enkel voorstel dat strijdig is met de rechtsstaat GroenLinks/PvdA, Volt en PartijvdDieren www.volkskrant.nl/politiek/par...

Partijen zoeken in hun programma’s ‘steeds vaker de grenzen van de rechtsstaat op’, ziet de Orde van Advocaten

Twaalf van de vijftien politieke partijen doen voorstellen in hun verkiezingsprogramma’s die tegen de rechtsstaat in gaan. Forum voor Democratie (33), PVV (30), JA21 (14), SGP (13) en BBB (13) hebben ...

volkskrant.nl

Research using Administrative Data is rarely replicated. So we are going to do it at scale and increase the rigour and transparency. Want to learn more about the data and the research it supports whilst also advancing Open Science? Why not sign up?

ODISSEI@odissei.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🔬 Join the CBS Replication Games! ODISSEI & @i4replication.bsky.social are bringing researchers together to reproduce findings from 6 economics papers published in top journals since 2020 using @cbsstatistiek.bsky.social microdata. Apply by Nov 30: edu.nl/yhk7q

Before Dutch elections, most parties let the financial and economic consequences of their plans by @cpbnl.bsky.social. Here the spending on education, relative to the basic trajectory (which, I assume, already includes last year’s budget cuts). There is only one party that wants to cut even more.

On 'The Politicization’ of Fertility to Achieve Non-Demographic Objectives', written in 1997: "The use of fertility (& population growth) related arguments to justify policies on matters which cannot be proved to be related to fertility without intervening assumptions is at least as old as Malthus"

The ‘Politicization’ of Fertility to Achieve Non-Demographic Objectives

Published in Population Studies: A Journal of Demography (Vol. 51, No. 1, 1997)

tandfonline.com

👉Systematic review finds same-sex & different-sex parents show similar mental health, parenting stress & relationship quality. Same-sex parents face more stress related to discrimination and less family help. @yuxuanjin.bsky.social @denimazrekaj.bsky.social 🔗 genus.springeropen.com/articles/10....

At the Department of Political Science (University of Amsterdam, @uva-fmg.bsky.social), we are looking for a new Assistant Professor to join our team. Interested? You can find all details and apply here: werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies....

Vacancy — Assistant Professor in Political Science

The Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam invites applications for one and possibly two tenure-track Assistant Professor (Universitair Docent) positions in Political Science w...

werkenbij.uva.nl

Laten we het extreem-rechtse geweld van gisteren niet politiseren.

Not fluent in Dutch but I think they spelled "fascists" wrong...

NOS@nieuws.nos.nl · 11mo ago

Hooligans zaten achter rellen in Den Haag, politiek keurt geweld massaal af