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James Hickson

@jmchickson.bsky.social
528 followers 721 following 36 posts

Political theorist and policy researcher at the Heseltine Institute, University of Liverpool.

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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Looking forward to reading this!
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Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place @livuniheseltine.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
NEW POLICY BRIEFING: As Andy Burnham prepares to become Prime Minister, @jmchickson.bsky.social explores why the 'securonomics' agenda remains critical for UK policymaking, and why it should now be meaningfully devolved from central government. livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3194542/1/PB...
What next for securonomics? English devolution and economic resilience
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
For those who missed the brilliant public event on 'The City as a Democratic Frontier in an Authoritarian Age' at LSE Cities, I've turned my notes into a new blog post for @livuniheseltine.bsky.social www.liverpool.ac.uk/heseltine-in...
liverpool.ac.uk
Can cities save democracy? | Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place | University of Liverpool
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Burnham's speech today offers a good opportunity to reshare this paper by @jacknewman.bsky.social and I, where we argue more is needed to deliver practically on the promise of English devolution to disrupt concentrated power and renew our democracy. Is this something a Number 10 North can achieve?
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Spaces available in person and online for this public event at LSE -- part of a three day conference on The City as a Democratic Frontier in an Authoritarian Age that I am organising with @mwojciechowska.bsky.social @drjoehoover.bsky.social and @ben-rog.bsky.social www.lse.ac.uk/cities/event...
lse.ac.uk
LSE Cities Public Lecture | The City as a Democratic Frontier in an 'Authoritarian Age'
Cities are often described as inherently more progressive and cosmopolitan than nation states. But is this true, and if yes, why?
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Reading Raymond Williams' novel, The Fight for Manod (1979), and this passage feels as timely as ever...
'The whole of public policy, he said, emphatically, 'is an attempt to reconstitute a culture, a social system, an economic order, that have in fact reached their end, reached their limits of viability. And then I sit here and look at this double inevitability: that this imperial, exporting, divided order is ending, and that all its residual social forces, all its political formations, will fight to the end to reconstruct it, to re-establish it, moving deeper all the time through crisis after crisis in an impossible attempt to regain a familiar world.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
The Commentary Roundtable on The Global Politics of Precarity and Insecure Work, edited by @stellamorgana.bsky.social and I, now has a permanent home in the latest issue of @gpejournal.bsky.social (Volume 5, Issue 1). Read more here: bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...
bristoluniversitypressdigital.com
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Global Political Economy Journal @gpejournal.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
⭐Enjoy free access to our journal Editors’ highlights from recent issues. Access these articles for free until 30 April. Congrats to all featured authors! @gemmagasseau.bsky.social @jmchickson.bsky.social bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/subject/Edit...
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Ben Rogers @ben-rog.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Call for papers: We're getting used to cities standing up to populists leaders. But what explains this & what intellectual, legal & political resources can they draw on in their fight? Delighted to be working w/ @mwojciechowska.bsky.social @jmchickson.bsky.social Joe Hoover. Apply: lnkd.in/ee3dkZj6
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
May be of interest to members of @psapolthought.bsky.social
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Wonderful to end the year with news that my recent article with @jacknewman.bsky.social now has a permanent home in Vol.96 Issue 4 of @politicalquarterly.bsky.social. Read it here: doi.org/10.1111/1467...
doi.org
Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
There is an increasingly powerful argument for the decentralisation of policy making in England's highly centralised political context. In recent years, this issue has represented one of the clearest...
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Big thank you to @drjoehoover.bsky.social and @theorylab.bsky.social for inviting me to present my paper on Inequality, precarity, and domination in 'left behind' communities as part of their work in progress seminar series. Some great feedback to think about on the train back north...
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TheoryLAB @theorylab.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
TheoryLAB is excited to have @jmchickson.bsky.social presenting on "Inequality, precarity and domination in ‘left behind’ communities” at our Work in Progress Seminar Wed., 11 Nov. (4-5.30pm) at QM’s Mile End Campus. Message here or spir-theorylab@qmul.ac.uk for info or to join our mailing list.
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Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
📢 My new journal article is out today in Global Political Economy in a great collection edited by @jmchickson.bsky.social and @stellamorgana.bsky.social. I explore job insecurity across England’s mayoral combined authorities — and what this means for regional inequality and economic growth. A🧵...
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 22/10/2025
Surveillance and propaganda reign supreme in the fictional world of “1984”—for which generations have found real-life parallels, again and again. The new film “Orwell: 2+2=5” argues that noting such similarities isn’t enough, writes Shirley Li:
bit.ly
It’s Not Enough to Read Orwell
A new film argues that, in an era of rising authoritarianism, audiences have become too numb to the speculative force of “1984.”
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Contributions for this collection come from @timchristiaens.bsky.social Laila Mourad Yujing Tan, @crystalennis.bsky.social & Shivant Jhagroe Elia El-Khazen Gianluca Iazzolino @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Building on our workshop last year on The Global Politics of Precarity and Insecure Work, @stellamorgana.bsky.social and I are delighted to share a collection of 6 original commentary articles on this theme in @gpejournal.bsky.social Read the full introduction here: doi.org/10.1332/2635...
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 10/09/2025
What is the endgame in this toxic immigration debate: is it friends and neighbours thrown out of the country? | Jonthan Liew
theguardian.com
What is the endgame in this toxic immigration debate: is it friends and neighbours thrown out of the country? | Jonthan Liew
The notion of remigration was abstract, but the right is dragging it towards respectability. If the goal is homogeneous whiteness, they should say it, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew
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Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
I’ve been frustrated to see so much of the ongoing story about asylum seekers and the protests against them covered without hearing from those seeking asylum and now being met with hostility and hatred I set out to speak to those directly affected to find out about the impact this is having 👇
liverpoolecho.co.uk
We escaped war and torture but now we feel unsafe in Britain
Special report: Amid protests and rising aggression towards asylum seekers across the country, we spoke to those being targeted
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Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
@jacknewman.bsky.social and @jmchickson.bsky.social discuss the tensions and ambiguity at the heart of the devolution agenda "Although the what of English devolution appears to be settled for now, the why remains much more volatile."
politicalquarterly.org.uk
Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
The government’s devolution bill is justified along economic growth lines. This risks the devolution agenda as a whole if it doesn't materalise.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Nice to be back in Manchester today for the MANCEPT workshops, where I presented on radical municipalism and republican political theory as part of the workshop on The City as a Normative Political Space: Institutions, Relations, and Republicanism.
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Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
"Although the what of English devolution appears to be settled for now, the why remains much more volatile." @jacknewman.bsky.social and @jmchickson.bsky.social discuss the tensions and ambiguity at the heart of the devolution agenda
politicalquarterly.org.uk
Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
The government’s devolution bill is justified along economic growth lines. This risks the devolution agenda as a whole if it doesn't materalise.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Congrats Bruno! Well deserved.
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Alex Walker @alwalker.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
My take on the hefty English devolution & community empowerment bill that was introduced earlier this month. One of several reforms the govt is quietly getting on with, it marks a shift towards a more coherent, standardised framework and places English devolution on a firmer constitutional footing.
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Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Localism, Levelling up, and Taking Back Control: tensions in the ambiguous justification of English devolution @jmchickson.bsky.social @jacknewman.bsky.social #Englishdevolution #politicaldecentralisation #takingbackcontrol #levellingup #localism onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place @livuniheseltine.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
New article in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social by @jmchickson.bsky.social and @jacknewman.bsky.social - a timely intervention following the recent publication of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
There is an increasingly powerful argument for the decentralisation of policy making in England's highly centralised political context. In recent years, this issue has represented one of the clearest....
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1111/1467...
doi.org
Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
There is an increasingly powerful argument for the decentralisation of policy making in England's highly centralised political context. In recent years, this issue has represented one of the clearest...
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Failure to live up to the full promise of devolution — by radically enhancing local democracies and disrupting centralised power — risks creating inherent instability (& lack of trust) throughout the devolution project, even as govt seeks to deliver continuity and momentum with it's Devolution Bill
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
More than this, whilst Conservative and Labour governments have both deployed multiple rhetorical justifications for devolution in England, it is their concern for policy efficacy — and increasing economic performance — that has most demonstrably shaped the actual delivery of devolution policy.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
However, we argue that policymakers have so far failed to acknowledge the tensions between these different justifications, or the extent to which they create different expectations for how English devolution will look, feel, and function in practice.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
In the article, we trace three normative arguments that have been used by recent governments to build the case for devolution in England: that devolution enhances democracy; that it promotes policy efficacy and government efficiency; and that it disrupts concentrations of power.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
NEW: @jacknewman.bsky.social and I have just published our new article 'Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution' open access in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social. Read the article here: doi.org/10.1111/1467...
doi.org
Localism, Levelling Up and Taking Back Control: Tensions in the Ambiguous Justification of English Devolution
There is an increasingly powerful argument for the decentralisation of policy making in England's highly centralised political context. In recent years, this issue has represented one of the clearest...
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
You can read the full blog here: blog.apaonline.org/2025/06/11/t...
blog.apaonline.org
The Republican Moment: Reviving Freedom and Democracy in an Authoritarian Age
Across the globe, authoritarianism is in the ascendancy. As Freedom House have reported, over the last two decades many repressive regimes across the world have increased their domestic power, and amp...
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Crucially, republicanism also demonstrates why we now need a deeper & more demanding democratic model; grounded on a more active model of citizenship as well as public institutions that can simultaneously constrain, diffuse, and channel power in order to neutralise sources of domination in society
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
In an age of resurgent authoritarianism - in politics and throughout society - reviving such republican insights within popular political discourse can help us to reveal both the increasing ubiquity of domination in contemporary life and the corrosive effect this has on our democracies.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
For republicans, domination typically describes the capacity of those with social, economic or political power to interfere arbitrarily in the lives of others. Even if this power is never actually exercised, living in its shadow makes it impossible to enjoy a life of meaningful freedom or equality.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Republicanism helps us to highlight the common thread that connects the autocratic aspirations of populist leaders, the disproportionate influence of the global '1%', and the overbearing forms of management associated with the modern workplace: domination
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
In a new blog for the @apaphilosophy.bsky.social, I explore how republican political philosophy can help us to illuminate the expansion of unchecked, arbitrary power in contemporary politics, and articulate why this poses such a threat to freedom and democracy blog.apaonline.org/2025/06/11/t...
blog.apaonline.org
The Republican Moment: Reviving Freedom and Democracy in an Authoritarian Age
Across the globe, authoritarianism is in the ascendancy. As Freedom House have reported, over the last two decades many repressive regimes across the world have increased their domestic power, and amp...
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PSA Political Thought Specialist Group @psapolthought.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
If any members have any ideas for applications for this funding, please get in touch with the group convenors by 20 June 👇
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
This sounds great Tom. Is there any registration to attend? I'd love to come along.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Delighted to share that @mwojciechowska.bsky.social and I have published our article, Why go local? Developing the research agenda for “local political theory”, in the European Journal of Political Theory. It's available open access here: doi.org/10.1177/1474...
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Thanks to all those (on Bluesky) that have helped inspire and inform the development of this article: @jonathanfloyd.bsky.social @jowolff.bsky.social @apoama.bsky.social @psapolthought.bsky.social @lisamherzog.bsky.social @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social @enzoreds.bsky.social @martinoneill.bsky.social
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
More substantively, we argue that greater focus on the local dimension can help to make normative theorising more nuanced, and more reflective of our complex, multidimensional political world. The local is not just a microcosm of global or national politics, but a distinct context in its own right.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
In the article, we seek to bring sharper definition to the growing theoretical interest in the local dimension of politics; demonstrating the extent to which the local represents a distinct object of analysis, object of normative concern, and object of application for normative research.
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Delighted to share that @mwojciechowska.bsky.social and I have published our article, Why go local? Developing the research agenda for “local political theory”, in the European Journal of Political Theory. It's available open access here: doi.org/10.1177/1474...
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Brilliant panel led by @ariannagiovannini.bsky.social on the role of academia in shaping policy, particularly at the subregional level in England. Lots of valuable experience, insight, and advice from Patrick Diamond, Peter Murphy, @louisereardon.bsky.social, and @rileyresearch.bsky.social #PSA2025
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Think my train back to Liverpool isn't until 4ish, so hopefully!
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James Hickson @jmchickson.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Great to be in Birmingham for @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social conference. I'll be presenting a paper, written with Hannah McHugh, on 'Republican citizenship in an era of economic globalisation' on Wednesday as part of a @psapolthought.bsky.social panel on the politics of marginality & cosmopolitanism
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Morgan Jones @morganj0nes.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
I'm in LabourList, writing about Project Chainsaw, Scottish DOGE, and Labour talking about making Britain great again, all of which does nothing but signal desperation and a clanging lack of ideological self confidence. labourlist.org/2025/03/labo...
labourlist.org
‘Labour should drop the chainsaw rhetoric and stop trying to impress journalists' - LabourList
Morgan Jones argues that Labour does not need to riff on Milei and Musk.
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