Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 20hHey #sociology bluesky — this term I am playing a theme song every week before I start my class. Next week we look at Bourdieu’s _Dstinction_ and Nirmal Puwar’s _Space invaders_. What tune should I play ? 130
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 08/10/2026The BISA #CableSt90 event recording is online already! bsky.app/profile/bisa... 030
Reposted by Ben GidleyBritish and Irish Association for Jewish Studies @biajs.bsky.social · 08/10/2026British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference: 28-30 June 2027 at University of Leeds 📣 Call for Proposals on “Rethinking Pluralism and Peripheries in Jewish Studies”, deadline 1 December More info: biajs.co.uk/2026/09/09/c... 0109
Reposted by Ben GidleyDr Anna Hájková @ankahajkova.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Jsem rada ze mne Vit Pohanka k tomuto poradu take pozval plus.rozhlas.cz/zide-palesti...plus.rozhlas.czŽidé, Palestinci a česká debata: kde končí kritika Izraele a začínají předsudky?Tři roky po teroristických útocích Hamásu ze 7. října 2023 zasahují válka v Gaze a její následky také do života lidí daleko od Blízkého východu. Zaostřeno přináší židovské a palestinské pohledy na čes... 011
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I believe it was recorded so keep an eye on the @bisa-bkk.bsky.social podcast/video page: bisa.bbk.ac.uk/resources/po...bisa.bbk.ac.ukPodcasts & Videos | Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism 120
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Final picture from @bisa-bkk.bsky.social #CableSt90 discussion: the whole panel. What a great event! 141
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026And an invigorating and enjoyable third paper by @josephfinlay.bsky.social on the shift from forgetting to claiming Cable Street by the Jewish communal leadership. 142
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Fantastic paper by @liamliburd.bsky.social placing Cable Street back into history (instead of mythology), reflecting on imperialism, antisemitism and police racism. 163
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Great opening paper by Nadia Valman ( @cockneyyiddish.bsky.social) on youthfulness (and panics about it) as a key features of 1930s East End anti-fascism 143
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026My colleague @brendanmcgeever.bsky.social introducing @bisa-bkk.bsky.social’s #CableSt90 event. Really looking forward to hearing the speakers and conversation. 2113
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Another fascinating paper: 'Ordinariness, 'Mixedness' and Integration: The Lived Experiences of Working-Class Anglo-Chinese Couples in Britain, c1900-1939 By Giola Rossetti 030
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026At the @ihr.bsky.social / @ihrhistorylab.bsky.social seminar listening to @jsegerink.bsky.social Jasper Segerink on lodgers in Antwerp, with this lovely quote from Raphael Samuel on the traces of forgotten migrants 140
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The Italian anti-fascists though probably had the best music 130
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Spotlight on Vivi Lachs and the Grand Yiddish Parade. Cc @cockneyyiddish.bsky.social 140
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026A Jewish bloc of course, with the khaverim of Jargon, the @jewishsocialist.bsky.social and the Grand Yiddish Parade… 130
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The Altab Ali Trust and other Tower Hamlets veterans of the late 20th century wave of resistance to British fascism… 120
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Just realised I’ve not posted any of my photos from #CableSt90. Here we go. Starting with United Voices of the World @uvwunion.bsky.social, whose migrant worker leadership inherits the spirit of the East End’s 20th century Yiddish garment unions… 160
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026And this is happening in 3 hours at @bisa-bkk.bsky.social , in person in Bloomsbury only but I think it’ll be recorded. Superb line up of @liamliburd.bsky.social @josephfinlay.bsky.social and Nadia Valman (@cockneyyiddish.bsky.social) bisa.bbk.ac.uk/event/the-ba...bisa.bbk.ac.ukThe Battle of Cable Street ninety years on: the struggle against fascism and antisemitism, then and now | Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism 020
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026This starts in 2 hours - at senate house but also online www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...history.ac.ukHistory Lab x Migration and Mobility Seminar - PhD Research ShowcaseMigration and Mobility Seminar | History Lab 110
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Very good post by @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social on how the death of autonomous working class political institutions and have given rise to a hollow cultural populism that lets the real elites pose as anti-elitist open.substack.com/pub/jamesblo...open.substack.comEngland’s vanishing schools of democracyHow working-class political power gave way to populist performance 134
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 04/10/2026My hot take on the online Cable St controversies 1/ Stop The Hate are basically fascist so Unite are correct they should have no place in an anti-fascist space www.jewthink.org/articles/sto... 2/ declaring Zionists in general not welcome is basically antisemitic leftrenewal.org/articles-en/... 072
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Looking forward to our Psychosocial postgraduate conference today. Every year of students is special but I am deeply impressed by the sophistication and wisdom of our cohort graduating this month who have organised this event. 011
Reposted by Ben GidleyNeil Abrams @readthedetox.com · 24/09/2026The folks over at leftrenewal.org have been kind enough to republish my latest essay on genocide denial in Israel and Serbia. They’ve built a great outlet there, and I encourage you all to subscribe. leftrenewal.org/articles-en/...leftrenewal.orgIsrael, Serbia, and Genocide Denial, by Neil A. Abrams – 16 September 2026 – Left Renewal Blog 051
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Thank you Katharina Hadassah Wendl for this nice write up of July’s @biajs.bsky.social conference at Birkbeck. (Among Bsky folks featured are @ankahajkova.bsky.social @dmf101.bsky.social and @sgollance.bsky.social.) 073
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026A #LeftRenewal original: @tobiashubinette.bsky.social analyses the far right conspiracy theory discourse about the migrant vote in the recent Swedish elections leftrenewal.org/articles-en/...leftrenewal.orgA Commentary on the Swedish Post-Election Debate and Far-Right “Imported Voting Livestock” Discourse, by Tobias Hübinette — 18 September 2026 – Left Renewal Blog 044
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 17/09/2026This is a very nice piece of UK (well, London really) radical history www.redpepper.org.uk/culture-medi...redpepper.org.ukFive ‘quiet’ women who shaped Britain's politics - Red PepperWomen who have driven social change are often sidelined in movement histories. Esther Freeman highlights five capital rebels you should know 041
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Fascinating analysis by @samgeall.bsky.social on China’s escape from fossil fuel dependency and Europe’s risk of dependency on China if we mismanage green transition www.chathamhouse.org/2026/09/chin... (also highly relevant if you’ve been wading through the new series of Vigil)chathamhouse.orgChina is weathering the Hormuz energy crisis. But copying its model comes with risksChina absorbed the shock by drawing on stockpiles and a decade of electrification. Europe needs electrification for security, but it needs to decide which parts of the system it is willing to buy from... 122
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Claude McKay: Born on this day in 1890 liminalwater.uni-graz.at/en/blog/blog... @liminalwater.bsky.social 021
Reposted by Ben GidleyBISA at Birkbeck @bisa-bkk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Join us on 6 Oct for a panel discussion on ‘The Battle of Cable Street ninety years on: the struggle against fascism and antisemitism, then and now’ with Nadia Valman, Liam Liburd (@liamliburd.bsky.social) and Joseph Finlay (@josephfinlay.bsky.social). Book here: bit.ly/4xoQuJC 086
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Lots of exciting new content on #LeftRenewal, with a particular focus on #Iran, but also material on caste in #India, #Israel/#Palestine, #LGBT rights in #SouthAfrica, and authoritarianism in #Mexico leftrenewal.org 052
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 07/09/2026The story of the 9 to 5 movement in the US, from Yiddish garment workers to Dolly Parton forward.com/opinion/5386...forward.comBrave Jewish women inspired me to start the 9-5 movementBefore working women's activism was a movement, Yiddish-speaking women led the charge for worker's rights 041
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 04/09/2026A Nation That Hunts Its Women: A Night in Chongqing, and the Country It Reveals, by Chu Yang Misogynistic violence and pop culture in china - a wild read and amazing storytelling leftrenewal.org/articles-en/...leftrenewal.orgA Nation That Hunts Its Women: A Night in Chongqing, and the Country It Reveals, by Chu Yang – 19 August 2026 – Left Renewal Blog 042
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Excellent post by @will-davies.bsky.social on left paranoia and the need for a sociological imagination willd10.substack.com/p/on-left-pa...willd10.substack.comOn Left paranoiasociology or barbarism 062
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026We have published a lot of material at #LeftRenewal about #Iran recently, almost exclusively by Iranian leftists — check it out! leftrenewal.org/tag/iran-en/ cc @greensforiranianhr.bsky.social @iranluttes.bsky.socialleftrenewal.orgIran (en) – Left Renewal Blog 063
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Powerful response to the “controversy” re the Guardian open letter by Alberto Toscano et al (which sadly a couple of big name signatories have un-signed under pressure from online campists). Mokhtareizadeh shows how those attacking the letter for speaking over Iranians have in fact erased Iranians. 2137
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 24/08/20266 October: amazing hybrid seminar organised by @ihrhistorylab.bsky.social and @ihr.bsky.social Migration & Mobility group. Port cities, convict letters, mixed couples, Victorian Muslims and more Sign up: forms.gle/tUCt9uWatCYK... 0118
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 16/08/202613 Aug was anniversary of the Battle of Lewisham. Sister Midnight FM gave a half day to it, now on Soundcloud & Mixcloud. @transpontine.bsky.social & I did an hr telling the story, playing some of the music of the day, interviews we did in 2007, & audio from battle on.soundcloud.com/YsL9ol6NsXot...soundcloud.comLewisham 77 w/ Neil Gordon - Transpontine [13.08.26]A South East London based community run radio station, brought to you by Sister Midnight. ➡️ More info, tune in: https://radio.sistermidnight.org/ ➡️ Support us by becoming a member on Patreon 0126
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 13/08/202649th anniversary of the battle of Lewisham today, when Southeast London turned back the fascist National Front. Tune into Sister Midnight FM at 2 pm today to hear me and @transpontine.bsky.social talk about it and play some of the music of the time radio.sistermidnight.org 1124
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Done. Banana Bottom is v good. Quite different from the others. 010
Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Lovely post by my @liminalwater.bsky.social colleague @raquelcarvalheira.bsky.social 010