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Ben Gidley

@bengidley.bsky.social
2.5K followers 1.2K following 1.1K posts

Sociologist, dad, attenuated Jew, nervous anti-fascist, rootless cosmopolitan, drum and bass fan, out of practice salsa dancer, asphalt botaniser, glutton, insomniac, hearing impaired, union member, living in London

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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 18h
Very good
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 20h
Hey #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 ?
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The BISA #CableSt90 event recording is online already! bsky.app/profile/bisa...
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Reposted by Ben Gidley
British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies @biajs.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
British 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...
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Reposted by Ben Gidley
Dr Anna Hájková @ankahajkova.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Jsem rada ze mne Vit Pohanka k tomuto poradu take pozval plus.rozhlas.cz/zide-palesti...
plus.rozhlas.cz
Židé, 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...
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I 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.uk
Podcasts & Videos | Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Final picture from @bisa-bkk.bsky.social #CableSt90 discussion: the whole panel. What a great event!
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
And an invigorating and enjoyable third paper by @josephfinlay.bsky.social on the shift from forgetting to claiming Cable Street by the Jewish communal leadership.
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Fantastic paper by @liamliburd.bsky.social placing Cable Street back into history (instead of mythology), reflecting on imperialism, antisemitism and police racism.
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Great opening paper by Nadia Valman ( @cockneyyiddish.bsky.social) on youthfulness (and panics about it) as a key features of 1930s East End anti-fascism
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
My colleague @brendanmcgeever.bsky.social introducing @bisa-bkk.bsky.social’s #CableSt90 event. Really looking forward to hearing the speakers and conversation.
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Another fascinating paper: 'Ordinariness, 'Mixedness' and Integration: The Lived Experiences of Working-Class Anglo-Chinese Couples in Britain, c1900-1939 By Giola Rossetti
'Ordinariness, 'Mixedness' and Integration: The Lived Experiences of Working-Class Anglo-Chinese Couples in Britain, c1900-1939
Giola Rossetti
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
At 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
"Migrating classes' have left remarkably few traces of their existence in the places which once served them as town lairs. No railway hotels mark the terminal point of their journeyings. No imposing clubs stand as memorials to the seasons they spent in town. The back-street lodging houses where many
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Decent representation from my union, @ucu.org.uk
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
With no disrespect to the FBU brass band
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The Italian anti-fascists though probably had the best music
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Spotlight on Vivi Lachs and the Grand Yiddish Parade. Cc @cockneyyiddish.bsky.social
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
A Jewish bloc of course, with the khaverim of Jargon, the @jewishsocialist.bsky.social and the Grand Yiddish Parade…
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The Altab Ali Trust and other Tower Hamlets veterans of the late 20th century wave of resistance to British fascism…
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Just 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…
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
And 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.uk
The Battle of Cable Street ninety years on: the struggle against fascism and antisemitism, then and now | Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This starts in 2 hours - at senate house but also online www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
history.ac.uk
History Lab x Migration and Mobility Seminar - PhD Research Showcase
Migration and Mobility Seminar | History Lab
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Very 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.com
England’s vanishing schools of democracy
How working-class political power gave way to populist performance
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
My 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/...
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
TOMORROW:
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Looking 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.
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Reposted by Ben Gidley
Neil Abrams @readthedetox.com · 24/09/2026
The 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.org
Israel, Serbia, and Genocide Denial, by Neil A. Abrams – 16 September 2026 – Left Renewal Blog
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Thank 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.)
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A #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.org
A Commentary on the Swedish Post-Election Debate and Far-Right “Imported Voting Livestock” Discourse, by Tobias Hübinette — 18 September 2026 – Left Renewal Blog
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is a very nice piece of UK (well, London really) radical history www.redpepper.org.uk/culture-medi...
redpepper.org.uk
Five ‘quiet’ women who shaped Britain's politics - Red Pepper
Women who have driven social change are often sidelined in movement histories. Esther Freeman highlights five capital rebels you should know
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Yeah it’s totally preposterous
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Fascinating 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.org
China is weathering the Hormuz energy crisis. But copying its model comes with risks
China 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...
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Claude McKay: Born on this day in 1890 liminalwater.uni-graz.at/en/blog/blog... @liminalwater.bsky.social
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Reposted by Ben Gidley
BISA at Birkbeck @bisa-bkk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Join 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
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Lots 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
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Welcome this very special journal to this site:
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The story of the 9 to 5 movement in the US, from Yiddish garment workers to Dolly Parton forward.com/opinion/5386...
forward.com
Brave Jewish women inspired me to start the 9-5 movement
Before working women's activism was a movement, Yiddish-speaking women led the charge for worker's rights
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A 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.org
A Nation That Hunts Its Women: A Night in Chongqing, and the Country It Reveals, by Chu Yang – 19 August 2026 – Left Renewal Blog
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Excellent 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.com
On Left paranoia
sociology or barbarism
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
This is excellent
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
We 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.social
leftrenewal.org
Iran (en) – Left Renewal Blog
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Powerful 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.
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
6 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...
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
❤️
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
13 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.com
Lewisham 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
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
49th 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
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Done. Banana Bottom is v good. Quite different from the others.
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
My summer holiday reading this year #LiminalWater
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Lovely post by my @liminalwater.bsky.social colleague @raquelcarvalheira.bsky.social
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Ben Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Peckham evening
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