Sneha Krishnan
@snehakrishnan.bsky.social
Historical / Cultural Geographer; Here to gripe about academia and talk about my cat; social reproduction feminist; writing about home, education, colonialism. Luddite who wants publicly owned computation. She/Her
There is a real prospect these reforms mean working-class kids struggling with English, maths and science are just told "you'll be good with your hands instead, then" - rather than being given more support for those subjects. And therefore risks *reducing* social mobility, rather than boosting it.
My column on how capital becomes a death cult. Faced with a choice between profit and human life, the radical right chooses profit. Then it tries to persuade us that mass death is what we want. It's the new phase of climate denial: accept your fate, earthlings. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Murderous heat, an endangered food supply, decimated landscapes: embrace the Mediterranean life | George Monbiot
As climate disaster stares us in the face, the radical right says ‘Embrace the Mediterranean life’. Embrace death, more like it, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
theguardian.com
Oh dear. Predictably, it now seems to be open season on all academics of colour, especially black academics.
People need to stop saying at least Andy Burnham will stem the rise of fascism even if he's very bad on race and immigration, civil liberties, and higher education. You know how you hollow out institutions to prime them for fascism? Be very bad on race and immigration, civil liberties, and higher ed
Yes. This. Yes, LLMs have uses and power. But if you are willing to ignore the fact that they are the tools of technofascists seeking to violently refashion our shared worlds, then I think it says a lot about you, and what you value in this world.
I’m not sure whether this is just a psychological difference or AI bros fundamentally don’t understand the nature of an artistic experience, but: I don’t want a personalised film/book/podcast. I want to see/read/hear the same one as everyone else, so I can read reviews or discuss it with my friends
This is both really good and terrifying on management consultants, the draining of our universities, and the peculiar use of supposed metrics to strip our colleagues of their jobs: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-bri...
Inside Britain's university crisis
As teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter
democracyforsale.substack.com
This is a good response from Arday, giving plausible explanations and taking responsibility for mistakes. Can't imagine what he's going through right now. As i've said he has my full solidarity regardless of any mistakes. www.thetimes.com/article/fdd5...
Jason Arday: I am not a liar, says star academic accused of plagiarism
The youngest ever black professor at Cambridge University claims allegations he is a fraud are cruel, racially motivated and do not account for his autism
thetimes.com
I wrote about why I think solidarity is important here in a bit more detail. open.substack.com/pub/neurodiv...
Jason Arday Deserves Our Solidarity
This is so regardless of any mistakes and despite the need for accountability
open.substack.com
Stuart Hall pointed out once that the left-liberal response to antiracism in the UK has been one of virtue and moral purity rather than systemic analysis and resistance. That is really showing here. This is part of a wider strategy. If you want to individualise it, you're playing their game.
Robert Chapman@drrobertchapman.bsky.social · 6d agoThe whole strategy against Arday is about finding a few times where he may have been morally imperfect (e.g. exaggerating his proficiency at football as a child) and then using this to make it seem like he is a bad person who doesn't deserve solidarity in the face of an obviously racist campaign.
Amnesty have issued an apology to JK Rowling and the rest. Adjust your expectations, and donations, accordingly www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/an-ap...
An Apology for A Growing Threat briefing, published on 8 July 2026
Amnesty International UK has made a public apology for the publication of the briefing “A growing threat: the anti-rights movement in the UK”. Click here to read it in full.
amnesty.org.uk
This is a familiar response from the 'merit' debates in India. Arday is being made into a case against 'DEI appointments'. It isn't groupthink to point out that the two men principally involved have been accused of racism in their research. That is the agenda, plagiarism is the 'objective' cover.
James Butler@piercepenniless.bsky.social · last wk.BSky reaction to the Jason Arday story puzzling to me. Yes, it's absolutely driven by the worst online racists. But the evidence of plagiarism is pretty clear, and the doctoral thesis is really ropey. That matters. What am I missing?
Truly perplexed by the photos of people on beaches and boardwalks watching wildfires in the not-so-distance.
These headlines were next to each other on The Guardian's website. We're just going to be pragmatic and let the country burn down?
If we weren't already sure that the TERF-racist venn diagram is a circle, Kathleen Stock has some pretty horrendous things to say in a thing published yesterday about our colleague Jason Arday, who's being targeted by the right-wing press.
'The home secretary has failed to adequately explain why she singled out specific countries when she introduced a “brake” on student visas earlier this year, the High Court has heard.' Case brought by 7 prospective students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan. Judgement due mid-August.
Visa brake based on ‘arbitrary metrics’, High Court hears
Lawyers acting for students blocked from UK universities contest supposed link between study visas and asylum claims
timeshighereducation.com
#OtD 29 Jul 1996 four women anti-war activists were acquitted in Liverpool, UK of all charges related to extensively damaging a fighter jet. They were found not guilty on the basis of preventing a greater crime: the genocidal occupation of East Timor stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1010...
Jason is the youngest Black professor in Cambridge’s history. Rightwing newspapers are trying to smear him with fake accusations of plagiarism. We can't let them. Stand up to their hate and division by adding your name. goodlawproject.org/s/3ec4c0
Stand up to hate and division by adding your name.
Jason is the youngest Black professor in Cambridge’s history. Rightwing newspapers are trying to smear him with fake accusations of plagiarism. We can't let them.
goodlawproject.org
Mostly I’m enjoying this because it’s about a world in which women who loved women built lives centred on their excitement about books, paid each other’s rent, kissed a lot, and weren’t fussed about making profits. No wonder queers (not normie gays) are so scary to the AI bros
Where in the in-tray is the financial crisis of universities? Asking for some friends. 2/2
'The 24 planned hyperscale data centre developments in Scotland would require one and a half times Scotland's peak electricity demand, campaigners say.' Cooler temperatures make Scotland a desirable location (for the developers) for the hyperscale facilities.
Scottish data centre boom spurs backlash
Communities fear they will squeeze access to electricity and water, spoil rural areas and boost tech giant profits with limited local job creation
ft.com
The editor in chief of The Economist referring here to the AfD’s leader as a “perfectly thoughtful person“ instead of what she truly is - a driver and enabler of German fascism - is a huge part of the problem.
Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 2w agoAt one point she notes that AfD, the German political party that Musk supports, has "real neo-Nazis." Musk literally just shrugs.
One thing you can absolutely guarantee in life. When Labour ministers talk about difficult choices, it's never the rich and powerful that will be taking a hit.
The “paper of record” running hit pieces on anti-imperialist academics. I do wish I were surprised rather than exhausted.
Ashok Kumar 🇵🇸@comrade-kumar.bsky.social · last wk.The Times hit piece, highlights. Come at me.
In many ways I think the Times is the most sinister newspaper in Britain, in part because it's agenda is much more insidious. It's seen as the serious 'paper of record', with editorial prestige. The prosecution of various marginalised groups in its pages has done a lot for elite radicalisation
As a journal editor, this is mainly why my job now takes me triple the time. Please don’t have AI do your research. Or your editing. To quote Gaga, I want your ugly, I want your disease. I don’t want your polished slop with zero craft.
Catherine Fletcher@catherinefletcher.info · last wk.Publisher in this piece says “If an author has used AI to help support their research for a nonfiction book, that’s fine. But… that means that we now need together to apply another layer of human research to make sure that the facts are actually true.” So it’s not fine really, is it?
'Workers at one of the world’s leading art and design museums are balloting for “heatwave” strike action. The ballot at V&A is taking place because of concerns about soaring temperatures and access to drinking water, along with pay and conditions.'
V&A workers hold ballot to strike over pay and heatwave conditions
Union calls for museum to become accredited London living wage employer and let staff carry water during shifts
theguardian.com
