iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I’m so happy to share that I’ve been awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship at @uniofbath.bsky.social to study how the mental load—the invisible work of anticipating, planning and organizing family life—shapes parents’ political participation. 🤯 www.bath.ac.uk/announcement...

bath.ac.uk

Two University of Bath researchers awarded UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships

They will investigate how the hidden mental load of domestic life shapes political participation and how online behaviour can contribute to violent extremism.

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Wtaf is this question my university just asked me about my project?

Does the project involve any work that could be interpreted as promoting DEIA, climate change research, or non-compliant to any Presidential Executive Orders?

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British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

From July 2026 - Thinly Veiled: The Use of Femonationalist Speech in European Parliaments - cup.org/4fPucuL - @jmfernandes86.bsky.social, Bonnie M. Meguid & @anacweeks.bsky.social #OpenAccess

BJPolS abstract summarizing a study on femonationalism, focusing on the use of gendered rhetoric in anti-immigration policies across Western European countries from 2009 to 2024.

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Instituto Juan Linz @institute-juanlinz.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

🚨 Madrid people, mark your calendars: the permanent seminar of the Instituto Juan Linz is back! We have a great series of speakers from across the social sciences this year. First talk this Friday with @llschenoni.bsky.social Here is the program for this Fall:

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It was great to talk to Rose Hirst @thespinoff.bsky.social about whether apps can help us outsource the mental load. Spoiler... I am a skeptic, and Rose's experience didn't change my mind !

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IPR @uniofbathipr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

How can the conditions of local politics enable women to continue representing their communities? Ana Catalano Weeks at @uniofbath.bsky.social and Anna Helgøy find that family-friendly working practices can increase women’s willingness to stand for office again.

blogs.bath.ac.uk

Being a councillor is still a difficult career for women – why this matters for democracy

Women remain underrepresented in local government, but getting more women elected is only part of the challenge. New research by Ana Catalano Weeks and Anna Helgøy finds that family-friendly workin…

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Great talking to Grace Dean for this feature re gender gap in mental load. The article links to my research with @leahruppanner.bsky.social, @helenkowalewska.bsky.social, & @annanhelgoy.bsky.social 😀 The connection to current uk paternity leave debate is v important ! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Why more women carry the 'mental load' - and how couples can share it

Planning, organising and remembering household tasks often fall disproportionately to mothers - here are some tips to help.

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Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

At a moment when gender and sexuality is central to understanding contemporary American politics, Harvard decides to . . . defund its Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program.

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

@annanhelgoy.bsky.social & I wrote about our recent article with Lou Timlin for @theconversation.com Our research shows that family-friendly policies such as remote working and care reimbursement increase women councillors' willingness to run for office again. theconversation.com/being-a-coun...

theconversation.com

Being a councillor is still a difficult career for women – why this matters for democracy

The fixes could be cheap and easy, though.

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

It's back-to-school time, and with it, time for the mental load to ramp up! For the 1st time my 3 kids are all in different schools... I’m already dreading all the school apps. 🫣 Our research w/ 3,000 US parents finds moms handle 71% of the load. What are you doing to share or reduce it??

Chart showing how mothers and fathers in a sample of 3,000 US parents report responsibility for 21 cognitive household tasks. Mothers report being primarily responsible for cleaning, scheduling, childcare, social relationships, and food-related mental load. Fathers report greater primary responsibility for home maintenance, while financial tasks are more evenly divided. Examples of large gender gaps include keeping track of the family calendar, planning family events, scheduling appointments, researching children’s purchases, coordinating playdates, and tracking groceries. Source: Weeks & Ruppanner, Journal of Marriage and Family.

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WuTangIsForTheChildren @wutangforchildren.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Buckingham Palace band playing 9 to 5 for Dolly Parton

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Wissensnetzwerk Rechtsextremismusforschung @wi-rex.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Exploring legislative speeches from 5 West. Europ. countries from 2009-2024, @jmfernandes86.bsky.social, Bonnie M. Meguid & @anacweeks.bsky.social show that the use of femonationalist rhetoric by far right parties increases the more other parties accomodate to far right anti-immigration positions:

doi.org

Thinly Veiled: The Use of Femonationalist Speech in European Parliaments | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge Core

Thinly Veiled: The Use of Femonationalist Speech in European Parliaments - Volume 56

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Daniel Devine @danjdevine.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

If journal editorial is of interest to you - replace me at @jeppjournal.bsky.social as Associate Editor. I've loved working with JEPP. The team, papers, and reviewers have been awesome. Happy to answer questions if you have any. editorresources.taylorandfrancis.com/editor_recru...

editorresources.taylorandfrancis.com

Associate Editor needed for Journal of European Public Policy

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Have you read @malugatto.bsky.social's insightful book, Resistance to Gender Quotas in Latin America? Malu's book advances a novel theory of male resistance shaped by political ambition and electoral vulnerability. Check out my full review in @jwpp.bsky.social: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

🆕 in @bjpols.bsky.social: "Thinly Veiled: The Use of Femonationalist Speech in European Parliaments" We describe the ⬆️ of femonationalist speech over time & across party families in Europe We find the far right use it esp when other parties converge on their anti-immigration position Open access!

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

🚨New paper out in JEPP @jeppjournal.bsky.social 🎉 Women are underrepresented in local politics, and the problem isn't only their election but retention. In a survey experiment with 500+ English councillors, we find that family-friendly council policies increase women's static ambition. 🧵

The picture shows the article abstract: Women’s representation in European local governments remains stagnant at around one-third of councillors. One explanation for this longstanding gender gap relates to structural barriers blocking the supply of women candidates, including working practices which are not compatible with caring responsibilities. Yet, so far we do not know whether measures governments can implement to remedy this, including reimbursing care expenses and remote working, increase women’s political ambition. To answer this question, the study uses a survey experiment fielded to local councillors in England (N = 534). The survey manipulates exposure to a bundled set of family-friendly policies in a hypothetical council to identify the causal effect of such policies on static political ambition (councillors’ willingness to run for their current level of office), and explores heterogeneous effects by gender. The introduction of family-friendly policies significantly increases women’s, but not men’s, willingness to run for office again. Analysis of open-ended survey responses further reveals that women councillors more frequently brought up the difficulty of balancing care and work with a political role, while men were less likely to mention this. Overall, the study contributes new evidence about the important role that family policies might play in closing gender gaps in political ambition.

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

New article, written before I became a father and was thus unable to conceive of a future when this paper would be out in the world

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Indeed Seoltangi @icareyesido.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Japan: oh no what shall we do about the low birth rates Also Japan: how dare she take 4 months off to have a baby BBC News - A mayor in Japan announced her maternity leave - and got the whole country talking www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

A mayor in Japan announced her maternity leave - and got the whole country talking

In the face of criticism, Shoko Kawata, 35, says she loves her job and is proud to be taking time off to have a baby.

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AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 25/06/2026

🇸🇪 🇪🇺 Swedish minister brings baby to EU talks Sweden's environment minister Romina Pourmokhtari brought her three-month-old baby to an EU meeting, in a barrier-breaking move she said showed it was possible to be both "a present minister and a present mother".

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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

“The dismantling of USAID, according to models from Boston University epidemiologist Brooke Nichols, “has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children,” Gawande wrote.” hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-s...

hsph.harvard.edu

USAID shutdown has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The Trump administration’s decision to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths from infectious diseases and malnutrition, accord...

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Coleen Murphy @ctmurphy1.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

one anecdote: I was searching for a link to one of my old papers on Google, and the automated Gemini summary attributed all of my lab's work to my husband

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Rossella Merullo @rossmer.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Just arrived in Belfast for EPSS!⚡ So much going on and so many great papers to catch up on. This Saturday 9:00 AM I'm presenting my paper with @anacweeks.bsky.social on Women's Leadership in the Rad Right!. Come find us at the panel "The Strategic Use of Gender and Sexuality by the Radical Right"

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Jack Bailey @jack-bailey.co.uk · 03/06/2026

Last year, we shared a paper showing that Labour's accommodation of the radical right did not work. We now have a new version of the paper online: osf.io/preprints/so...

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Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

“Over half reported having reviewed or adjusted key words in research proposals, and almost half said they’d reframed research topics. [43%] had also cautioned students or collaborators to be careful what they say publicly and more than a third had abandoned plans on one or more research topics.”

theconversation.com

Self-censorship, more stress, tougher recruiting – we asked US researchers how the Trump administration’s science policies have affected them

What do US researchers make of all the Trump administration science-related policy changes? A survey of 280 academic scientists asked them.

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

The US government has a new website for moms that is peddling pro-natal, trad-wife propaganda: “the only mention of working motherhood on the homepage links to a warning that “workplace exposures, conditions, and tasks can affect workers’ sexual and reproductive health.” See @jessicacalarco.com👇

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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Reform mobilising non-voters looks to be a big story from this year’s locals. As so often, non-voters are the “dark matter” of politics - rarely discussed but so numerous they even mobilising a small slice can have big effects. Particularly in low turnout local elections.

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Tiffany Barnes @tiffanydbarnes.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Voters are ~4X as likely to be able to vote for a David as for a Sarah… there are 516 Davids, 453 Johns, 385 Pauls & 137 Sarahs among the candidates. “…our needs & experiences are not going to be represented by an endless supply of Davids and Johns” -Penny East www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.com

Nearly twice as many men as women standing in May elections in UK

Exclusive: women ‘massively underrepresented’ in next week’s local and devolved elections, campaigners say

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Journal of Marriage and Family @jmfncfr.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

NPR spotlighted JMF author @leahruppanner.bsky.social in a Q&A about her new book & mentioned a JMF article she coauthored: tinyurl.com/mvr85uz7 The JMF article, authored by @anacweeks.bsky.social & Dr. Ruppanner, explored gender distribution of parents' cognitive labor tasks: tinyurl.com/mcfn9s3s

tinyurl.com

Want to lighten your mental load? First, let go of these gender myths

"Men can't see the mess." "Women are better at chores." These myths position women to take on more emotional thinking, says researcher Leah Ruppanner. She shares what works to reclaim your headspace.

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

@leahruppanner.bsky.social’s fantastic new book Drained is out and covered by NPR life kit (including our research on US parents!). Run don’t walk to get her mental load audit & practical advice !! www.npr.org/2026/04/21/n...

npr.org

Want to lighten your mental load? First, let go of these gender myths

"Men can't see the mess." "Women are better at chores." These myths position women to take on more emotional thinking, says researcher Leah Ruppanner. She shares what works to reclaim your headspace.

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

If you are headed to the first-ever meeting of EPSS in Belfast, bookmark this schedule & come check out all the excellent research on gender, sexuality, and politics! @turnbulldugarte.com & I had a v tough job narrowing it down… from engagement and ambition to polarization, backlash and more 👇

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Carlos Ruz-Fuenzalida @carlosruzf.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Tres textos claves que ayer recomendé a mis estudiantes, que a mi juicio son aportes relevantes en la discusion pública. De las autoras @anacweeks.bsky.social @luciadammert.bsky.social Pamela Figueroa y @ceciliarikap.bsky.social

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Sara Chatfield @poliscisara.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

The Rothermere American Institute at Oxford is recruiting for the Churchill Associate Professor of United States Politics, looking especially for a colleague with expertise in American political development. The application deadline is May 6. See the job listing here: www.rai.ox.ac.uk/vacancies

rai.ox.ac.uk

Jobs and Vacancies

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

We are hiring ! Very happy to talk to anyone interested ⬇️⬇️⬇️

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South European Society & Politics @sespjournal.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

📢 in our #NewIssue (30.4) The study by @anacweeks.bsky.social, @pcaravantes.bsky.social Espírito-Santo, @elombardo.bsky.social Stratigaki & Gul examines backsliding on #GenderEquality as an indicator of democratic decay 🔓#OpenAccess 👇https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13608746.2024.2412746

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Keonhi Son @keonhison.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

📢NEW PUBLICATION: Do you think work-family challenges are limited to advanced economies, where many women work in the formal sector? Our review article disagrees (w @aysegulkayaoglu.bsky.social ). doi.org/10.1016/j.wo...

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Next Mon (23rd) I’m presenting new research on “Femonationalist Politics” at the Gender Working Group, EUI. 🙏 for the invite! www.eui.eu/events?id=58... We find femonationalist rhetoric makes nativist parties seem ⬆️ socially acceptable & ⬇️ extreme, though effects on overall support are modest.

eui.eu

Femonationalist politics

This session of the Gender Working Group features a presentation by Ana Catalano Weeks, Associate Professor at the University of Bath

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Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Where do parents find the time to parent? Less sleep, work and screens. Amazing chart feat. in @alphaville.ft.com Further Reading. homeeconomics.substack.com/p/where-do-p...

Difference in time use between working parents of small children vs working non parents. Areas above zero are activities parents do more of; areas below are what they give up.

Compiled by analyzing the Census Bureau’s American Time Use Survey.

Analysis and chart by Aziz Sunderji, https://homeeconomics.substack.com/p/where-do-parents-find-the-time

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Ana Catalano Weeks @anacweeks.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

“I am delighted to conditionally accept your article for publication in The Journal of Politics.” 🥳 We find that gender quota laws for legislatures also increase the share of women in cabinets. w @gventurini.bsky.social @tiffanydbarnes.bsky.social dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...

Gender Quota Laws and Women in Cabinets
36 Pages
Posted: 16 Dec 2024
Last revised: 11 Feb 2026
Tiffany Barnes
University of Texas at Austin

Giulia Venturini
University of Strathclyde

Ana Weeks
University of Bath

Date Written: December 06, 2024

Abstract
Do legislative gender quotas increase women’s presence in cabinets? Women remain underrepresented in political leadership worldwide. As a remedy, over 80 countries have adopted gender quotas, requiring parties to nominate or elect a minimum share of women. But can quotas have effects beyond the positions they directly target? We argue that quotas increase the presence of women in executive cabinets by expanding the pool of experienced female legislators. Using a global dataset (168 countries) from 1990 to 2021, we find gender quotas increase the share of women ministers by 15 percent relative to the average baseline–including increases in both high- and lowprestige portfolios. Consistent with a supply-side mechanism, effects are largest in parliamentary democracies—where ministers are often selected from parliament—and in countries that experienced the greatest increases in women’s legislative representation post-quota. The findings suggest quotas can generate meaningful spillover effects at the highest levels of government.

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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 26/01/2026

Wow! This read-along of the NYT moment-by-moment leading to the murder of Alex Pretti should shake everyone awake. He was a Good Samaritan. Agents fired at least ten shots in roughly five seconds. DHS and Pam Bondi claim Pretti approached them armed and intent on a “massacre.”

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LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @longtimehistory.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

ICE detain yet another minor child—chase him down his own street and tackle him to pavement. "I am legal! I am legal!" he cries over and over in Spanish. Agent pins the boy down in snow—he desperately tries to keep his exposed hands from freezing at -25°F wind chill temperature. Minneapolis, MN

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Minnesota: "School officials say the [5-year-old] child was used as bait. They say [ICE] agents made little Liam knock on the door to ask to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home."

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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

So all colleges and universities will bring back the DEI stuff they cut when obeying in advance right...............................................................................................................................................right?

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Vicente Valentim @valentimvicente.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Portugal is having a presidential election tomorrow (Sunday). It is a fairly unusual one, which is representative of how much the political landscape has changed in the country. Here is some quick context about it, in case that is of interest: 1/9

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