iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Anything that reduces the power of Piedone and his ilk would be a massive benefit for the quality of Bucharest.

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Never a dull day in Romanian politics.

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Looking at the numbers, they'd need around 10% of the final 30k or so votes. I just can't see them getting it. Think we're watching the CDU fail to cross the threshold in Merkel's old state.

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

It's a revolutionary idea, I know!

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Do we think Merz considered the possibility they wouldn't cross the threshold before going so early with the statement?

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Conspiracy theories pose a significant risk to public health, as shown in the pandemic, but also to the health of democracy. I'm not yet sure much of the political sphere has grasped either how widespread they are or where they are emerging from.

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The shift from even a decade ago is so stark. Many of my classmates went travelling in groups or alone; many of their younger siblings or cousins get tracked via Life360 when they're off to school or to the cinema, mere miles away. How are you supposed to develop independence in such conditions?

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

SSEES has been a fantastic place to spend the last few years, first for MA then PhD - something to be said about being surrounded by incredibly passionate people, from the staff to the undergrads I taught.

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Very, very pleased to announce that I have today passed my Viva with minor corrections! Looking forward to implementing the changes proposed by my examiners and discovering what comes!

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Supporting a Championship side, it's easy to look at some of the refereeing and think maybe VAR isn't so bad after all. Then a decision like that comes along where common sense and eyes are seemingly disregarded alongside the rules and I'm quite happy we don't have it. Dreadful for the fans.

We also have growing research that COVID vaccine sceptics do not necessarily map neatly onto prior vaccine sceptics, which further complicates the picture. Even six years on from the pandemic reaching Europe, much more research is needed to understand what followed.

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It continues to astound me how similar the lines you hear from Piers Corbyn or Diana Sosoaca are to those of Del Bigtree, Andrew Wakefield, or figures within the German BSW. A focus on supply risks obscuring the international, the underlying distrust, and often poor political choices from 'elites'.

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There's also a risk of conflating MAHA and the broader anti-vax movement, much of which is a product of the MMR scandals and Wakefield, with Facebook a common meeting place for like minds - including long before Trump's Ebola tweets or RFK Jr becoming HHS. It is also far more international!

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Broadly, I agree with Eliot here, albeit I think the answer is more nuanced still. We know anti-vax movements skew right, but in certain contexts, shouldn't that be expected for those distrustful of authority? Hofstadter's Paranoid Style comes to mind here - the American left is not going to appeal.

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Finally, on Thursday, I will chair a fascinating panel looking at how leadership styles and authority interact in personalized politics - the paper on Merz may prompt a few extra questions after yesterday's election!

Performing Power: Leadership Style, Charisma, and Authority in Personalized Politics
Code: P397

Thursday 11:15 - 13:00 CEST (10/09/2026) · Building: Institute of the Middle and Far East, Floor: 1, Room: 1.05

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On Wednesday, I will step into the paper presenter chair to discuss media responses to the use of militant democracy in Romania and Moldova, alongside a fantastic panel on the challenges faced by our current democratic order - who threatens it and how do we defend it?

Who Watches the Watchmen? Media Framing of Militant Democracy in Romania and Moldova
Wednesday 09:00 - 10:45 CEST (09/09/2026) · Building: Faculty of International and Political Studies, Floor: 2, Room: 201

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First, on Tuesday at 9am I will be co-chairing a fantastic panel on how narratives, collective memory, and conspiratorial worldviews shape political attitudes, mobilisation, and radicalisation in Central and Eastern Europe - it is quite the mix of papers, but each contributes to a great panel.

Narratives, Memory, and Political Radicalisation
Tuesday 09:00 CEST
Faculty of International and Political Studies Floor 2 Room 202

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Fantastic to return to Krakow for a week of panels, conversations, and talks. Looking forward to catching up with old friends and hopefully future colleagues and collaborators! #ecprgc26

Every time groups like these are described as having legitimate concerns or grassroots; every time these groups remain free from arrest or proscription, this will get worse. The response from the state thus far has been frankly negligent.

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This was not spontaneous, nor unknown actors. Patriot Platform had been posting publicly regarding numbers, its names and faces are often storied on the UK far right. Groups like Patriotic Alternative and White Vanguard remain free from proscription. The lack of arrests is a green light.

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The phrase legitimate concerns has become a trope - how are Tice and Farage coming out more strongly against the actions in Dover than Burnham or Mahmood? There is much to be said also about the failure of police and intelligence. Numbers like that are not easy to build nor organise.

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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

The story of British politics over the last few years can be characterised by an obsessive focus on the far right's polling, whilst never confronting its social manifestations. The riots after Southport, the pogroms in NI, now Dover and Portsmouth. This is not going away.

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Ngl, I am increasingly cranky about what seems to be a complete lack of rigour, curiosity, depth of thought across many domains of public life in Britain today. What is going on with far right disorder raises really fundamental questions for the state and society, but nobody seems interested.

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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The "legitimate concerns" framing also normalises networks and individuals who are often from the more violent and socially dysfunctional fringes of many communities

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

It has all the hallmarks of yet another CDU lurch to the right against all conceivable logic, academic and otherwise.

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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

In the 90s S-A saw the best result of a far-right party in Germany before the AfD. 13% for the DVU in 1998. S-A should not be the basis for sweeping conclusion about the electoral sociology of the AfD. The consequences might be far-reaching but your reporting will contribute to these consequences.

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Oktoberfest events in London were always the bane of my healthcare shifts, so I agree entirely! Fantastic for showing people they need to slow down.

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Of simple public health measures about drinking, this may be one of my favourites thus far. Free breathalyser, available for public use at Brussels Beer Festival, allowing for a quick and easy way to estimate your blood alcohol level. A reminder that good interventions don't have to be complex.

Public Breathalyser at Brussels Beer Festival

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The reference to nationalism has not gone through well with those who supported him, whilst the voters who would consider themselves nationalist or sovereigntist continue to distrust Dan and regard this as just another political ploy. Who would have seen it coming? Clearly not Nicușor Dan. Again.

Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Meanwhile, the president elected in opposition to AUR and on a seemingly pro-European stance called for a "naționalism sănătos" - a healthy nationalism - whilst at an Orthodox event. Needless to say, Dan has not really convinced anyone of this.

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Nearly four months on, still no government. Yet again, an example of AUR, SOS, and PSD collaborating: this time on parliamentary appointments. PSD increasingly not discounting the possibility of further support from AUR, whilst George Simion of AUR continues calling for new elections.

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Jakub Jaraczewski @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

🇭🇺🇪🇺 Pretty safe to say that we won't be hearing any more from the "Democracy Interference Observatory" that MCC Brussels set up to "monitor Brussels-backed attempts to interfere in European democracy" after my organisation sued X over access to data ahead of the Hungarian elections.

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Gabriela Greilinger @gabrielagreilinger.com · 28/08/2026

There is this narrative that far-right actors, when in power, will do certain things, but "through legal means". When they say they will act in line with the rule of law, that means they will change the law in specific ways beforehand to suit their interests. Ortbán is a prime example here too. 1/

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Notes from Poland @notesfrompoland.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The split in Poland’s main opposition party is a serious self-inflicted wound which complicates the right’s path back to power. While it provides a boost for the Tusk government, effective cooperation could lead to a comeback, writes @aleksszczerbiak.bsky.social notesfrompoland.com/2026/08/21/h...

notesfrompoland.com

How will the Law and Justice split affect Polish politics?

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

In my new article in the European Politics and Society Journal, I focus on a specific aspect of Orbán’s illiberal project: Tusványos. I suggest articulation of the nation can build upon and take emphasis from the location it is performed, using Transylvania as a case. Now available Open Access:

tandfonline.com

Tusványos and nation-building: Orbán’s populist performance in Transylvania

This article analyses how Viktor Orbán’s annual speeches at the Tusványos summer school in Transylvania construct a transnational Hungarian political community through populist performance. While s...

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Jack Dean @jackddean.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

It has been a constant issue in Romania and very common in Turkey too, but as you suggest, these are places where having academic qualifications can carry political prestige! Even when they have been caught, there's a view that they all do it. For a UK politician there's no incentive comparatively.

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Cristina Maza @cmaza.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

A Russian plot to kill a Ukrainian-American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted by Poland before it could be carried out, Poland's PM said, marking the first time in decades that a Western leader has publicly accused Moscow of plotting to kill a U.S. citizen. www.cbsnews.com/news/russian...

cbsnews.com

Russian plot to kill American citizen thwarted by Poland, prime minister says: "First situation of its kind"

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the suspect was allegedly recruited by Russia's secret services.

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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I can strongly recommend a holiday in Poland. And if you're in Gdansk (brilliant city), visit the European Solidarity Museum - a fascinating museum of the Solidarity movement and its role in the end of European communist regimes, which also shows solidarity with Ukraine.

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Writer attacked by mob who mistook her van for mythical 'black ambulance'

www.euronews.com/2018/07/09/w... This was a similar incident from 2018, and there's a number of references to similar conspiracies in Czechoslovakia and its successor states. Interested to find out where else it has spread to.

euronews.com

Often, they include music from popular horror movies, alongside suggestions that they've seen attempted kidnappings or that the video is from someone actively running from such a vehicle. This is not a new conspiracy, nor a Romanian exclusive urban legend - which aids its traction online.

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One of the main Tiktok videos in this case uses a sound from 2022, but videos relating to "ambulanță neagră care fură copii" (black ambulance that steals children) date back further, into 2020 and 2021. These videos, this genre even, feature many of what you see in similar conspiracies.

Several political figures including Arafat and Miruța have come out to condemn the actions, with calls for greater action from social media companies. On that front, without wider EU level action I think we're unlikely to see changes.

Romania has been no stranger to health conspiracies, but the use of AI to produce/edit images has supercharged this, with real world consequences. In this case, a member of ambulance staff has needed surgery on an eye injury, and the patient has allegedly suffered a panic attack.