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Liam Shields

@liamshields.bsky.social
2.2K followers 530 following 463 posts

Political philosopher, thinking about childrearing, education equality, & distributive justice Senior Lecturer in Political Theory @UoMPolitics Former post-doc @stanfordethics www.liamshields.com edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-j…

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Reposted by Liam Shields
Jonathan Benson @j-benson.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
My new book Navigating Democracy is open for pre-order and is 25% off at Waterstones! It's a short guide to the key questions facing democracy - polarisation, populism, misinformation & more - combined with 50 beautiful illustrations. Sale ends Friday 🚨 www.waterstones.com/book/navigat...
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Had an amazing time in Braga at the meetings in ethics and political philosophy. Met some old friends and made some new ones. I spoke about grandparents and other nonparents who play a significant role in raising children, arguing for protection and support for their relationships.
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Sabina Leonelli @sabinaleonelli.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I am heartbroken by University of Exeter’s decision to endanger the majority of staff in philosophy and qualitative social science, including #Egenis @exeterspspa.bsky.social No warning, no consultations, just an email dropped into inboxes announcing redundancy. c.org/zKbPJFDwBq #philsci #sts #hps
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Martin Justin @martinjustin.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Submissions for the 2026 Philosophy Students' Symposium in Maribor are still open! The topic this year is AI in philosophy, broadly construed.
philevents.org
Philosophy Students’ Symposium 2026
The topic this year is AI and philosophy, broadly construed.The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming our society, scientific practices, and our understanding of t...
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Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics @bermaninstitute.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
At-home brain implant gives man with motor neuron disease his daily life back. The device has helped a man with motor neuron disease communicate and control his computer for nearly two years. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
At-home brain implant gives man with motor neuron disease his daily life back
The device has helped a man with motor neuron disease communicate and control his computer for nearly two years.
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Brian Kogelmann @bkogel89.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Here is an academic reform we should all be able to agree on: works cited should not count against word limits for journal articles. I say this as I work on a paper with a 2k works cited page, which will price me out of many phil journals.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
We keep babyifying ever older people (16 and 17 year olds getting tech curfews, the woo-woo stuff around sentencing under-25s). Think it’s an underappreciated (and mostly bad) consequence of being an ageing democracy:
ft.com
Why childhood is getting longer
Technology, demography and culture are all pushing society to extend how long people are considered young for
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇
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Jonathan Floyd @jonathanfloyd.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
After a marvellous lecture yesterday from @tmbejan.bsky.social on equality (before egalitarianism) we had this morning a fascinating talk on Locke (before liberalism) to our usual talk-and-bake group. Both occasions marked by rich insight & conversation and for that we are very grateful indeed 😁
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Amy Taggart 🍎 @amytaggart.eurosky.social · 02/06/2026
rte.ie
Call for public to assist in nationwide hedgehog count
Hedgehog Conservation Ireland and researchers at University of Galway and Oxford are calling on people to take part in the inaugural Great Big All-Ireland Hedgehog Count.
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Karen Benjamin Guzzo @karenguzzo.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Congratulations to @leticiamarteleto.bsky.social, Sneha Kumar, Luiz Gustavo Fernandes Sereno, & Alexandre Gori Maia for winning this year's ASA Sociology of Population section's Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship in Population Award! journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
American Sociological Review paper titled "Who Can Have a Baby? Social Norms and the Right to Reproduce" by 
Letícia J. Marteleto, Sneha Kumar, Luiz Gustavo Fernandes Serenoa, and Alexandre Gori Maia 
Abstract
Childbearing norms and discourse influence social interactions and policy priorities, reflecting and reinforcing social stratification. We propose a theoretical framework that systematically explains stratification and discrimination in childbearing norms. The theory of socially sanctioned reproduction (TSSR) emphasizes how childbearing and reproductive norms are shaped by individual and intersectional attributes of both evaluators and those evaluated, underscoring multidimensionality and intersectionality in childbearing norms. We empirically examine this theory through paired conjoint survey experiments with a population-based sample of women ages 18 to 34 in Pernambuco, Brazil—a highly unequal, multiracial context. In our novel application, respondents assessed profiles of hypothetical married women with randomly varying attributes and reported whether they were well-suited for childbearing. Findings show how intersectional attributes and in-group/out-group dynamics, principally along race and SES lines, define childbearing norms. Black women receive less approval if in low- versus high-SES positions, whereas White women receive similar levels of approval regardless of SES. We find that these discriminatory patterns are shaped by the social attributes of evaluators themselves, suggesting othering and group attachment processes. Our theoretical and empirical frameworks can be extended to study norms in other highly contested areas of reproductive and family life.
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I've just updated my website. Don't worry, it still has a picture of me eating food on every page. Feedback appreciated. liamshields.com
liamshields.com
Liam Shields
Visit the post for more.
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Cycled to Northwich this morning. I love them morning and cycling. I don't love getting flies in my eye. 71km feels like my limit for now. So this is where I should be. Next stop Greenbank
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Jonathan Floyd @jonathanfloyd.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Had a marvellous time at Brave New World in Manchester last week, thanks to hosting from @yonghaohuang.bsky.social, Anthony McMullin, @liamshields.bsky.social @jamespattison.bsky.social & others. As usual took the chance to ask a few questions of the audience, and thus gather a bit more data...
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Continue to think the core problem with “ban the under 16s from social media” is it treats “online harms” as similar to a bottle of Grey Goose when they are far more akin to bathtub moonshine:
ft.com
Perhaps we should all be banned from social media
Focusing only on under-16s obscures the lack of internet safeguards for everyone else
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Wild times. Sociology jealous of the public voice of …… Philosophy. www.socialeurope.eu/sociology-is...
socialeurope.eu
Sociology Is Surrendering Its Public Voice to Philosophy
As modernity falters, sociology cannot diagnose the society it once helped define — and philosophy has taken its place.
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.
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S. Matthew Liao @smatthewliao.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
What does privacy mean in an age where your phone knows your heart rate, your search history, and your 3am thoughts? My new paper introduces the Personal Agential Realm (PAR). Open access so do check it out! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Understanding privacy: The personal agential realm theory and its implications
The digital revolution has expanded the ways personal information can be collected, shared, and exploited, yet existing privacy theories often struggl…
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 11/05/2026
So boring! Fun ways I can think of: 1) PM from the Lords 2) PM from outside Parliament 3) Act of Parliament creating a new constituency where only Burnham is allowed to stand. 4) Act of Parliament that, for the purposes of the constitution, Andy Burnham and Keir Starmer swap identities.
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Nice cycle to plumley this morning
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Just had a lovely birthday breakfast. 41 not out
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
This might be my favourite dessert
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Samantha Brennan @samanthabrennan.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Starting Tomorrow: the ETHICS/PEASoup Blog Discussion on on “Justice for Girls: On the Provision of Abortion as Adequate Care” a free article by Alyssa Izatt and Kimberley Brownlee at doi.org/10.1086/739648, with a précis by Japa Pallikkathayil, peasoupblog.com/2026/04/anno...
doi.org
Justice for Girls: On the Provision of Abortion as Adequate Care* | Ethics: Vol 136, No 3
When the US Supreme Court rejected the constitutional right to abortion care, several US states enacted bans. This legal change exposed critical moral questions about pregnancy in childhood: What do a...
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Social Market Foundation @smfthinktank.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Drivers are wanting to make the switch to EVs, but can't afford to.🚗 Social leasing has prooved popular in Europe, driving forward decarbonisation alongside affordability. That's why we've signed @transenvuk.bsky.social's joint letter to Government, calling for a UK rollout. buff.ly/oe0UqWg
transportenvironment.org
Joint letter: Urgent need to introduce social leasing of electric…
Civil society, industry and trade unions are united in urging the Government to act — to introduce a social leasing scheme for battery electric vehicles…
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 15/04/2026
My hometown of Halifax still has the 11+. Locals have to compete with kids from *miles* out of town, whose parents would otherwise send them to private school in Leeds, Bradford or elsewhere. They've all had tonnes of tutoring, too, as that's much cheaper than the fees potentially avoided.
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
BBC News leading all its bulletins on demands by former Government advisor Lord Robertson for more defence spending, without at any point mentioning his current paid senior role for US defence lobbyists
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
"Every now and again, someone is nice enough to invite me to go and look at a half-finished construction scheme, so I can marvel at the cleverness of a modern engineering project..." A day out on HS2.
jonn.substack.com
How do you build a new high speed railway, anyway?
A day out on HS2.
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
As someone who teaches college aged Americans about US History, I can say that the history of anti-Catholicism is something very few have learned anything about, and it always comes as quite a surprise. Most students, even religious ones, barely know the difference between Catholics and Protestants.
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BIAP – Barcelona Institute of Analytic Philosophy @biap.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Choosing whether—and whom—to marry is a bit like choosing between a bowl of cereal or a chocolate doughnut for breakfast. How? 💍❓🍩 Join us with Prof. Ruth Chang at the BIAP Distinguished Lectures to explore these questions and more! 🤔💭 ✨ Sneak peek on TED: t.ly/ylR6E 🗓️Schedule and info: t.ly/r8_jI
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
New — I wrote about how journalists proudly using AI to help them write their stories obscures the deeply human process that makes journalism a societal necessity, and one that feeds the soul of those who create it. Hope you’ll give it a read. I promise I wrote the whole thing.
thehandbasket.co
Refusing to accept big tech's AI-poisoned 'future of journalism'
Humans, however flawed, are
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
I'm 40 years old, I'm making the best chips and roast potatoes I've ever made, and I feel like I'm only going to get better.
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Practicing meditation is a way of steeling yourself against the strongest commercial forces in the world today that want you to slavishly respond to stimuli and notifications In the future the ability to control your attention will be a superpower I used waking up as my introduction to meditation
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Interesting
bbc.co.uk
Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial
A woman has been awarded $6m in a verdict that could have implications for hundreds of other cases in the US.
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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson presents findings from new research on students' use of AI – and argues the sector is punishing precisely the disposition it should be cultivating buff.ly/Pf6O5Zn
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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Another university getting rid of things you could only ever do at a university and replacing them with stuff a 13-year-old can do on a phone
Post from Andrew A.N. Deloucas
@aandeloucas.com:

In line with discussion about the job market, the latest majors being closed at Syracuse University:

Nine majors "sunsetting":
• Classical civilization
• Classics (Greek and Latin)
• Digital humanities
• Fine arts
• German
• Latino-Latin American studies
• Middle Eastern studies
• Modern Jewish studies
• Russian
ALTThe First University in the Nation to Build a Center Dedicated to the Creator Economy
Syracuse University is creating something that doesn't exist anywhere else in higher education.
The Center for the Creator Economy is the first academic center of its kind on a U.S. college campus. Led jointly by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Martin).
Whitman School of Management, the center reinforces Syracuse University's commitment to bold, forward-looking academic leadership.
By aligning strengths in entrepreneurship, media, communications, athletics and digital infrastructure, the University is charting how higher education can prepare students for the 21st-century economy.
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
I've never felt more like singing the blues, when Everton win and Liverpool lose, oh Everton you've got me singing the blues.
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
I do love roasted vegetables and I was quite pleased with how these turned out
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Cycled to Altrincham this morning. I remember getting off the train here to go to the ice rink. A simpler time
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Rosaleen Duffy @rosaleenduffy.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
🐦‍⬛ 🐕‍🦺🐄🐴 Our Multispecies Mutualisms post doc roles are now also on jobs.ac.uk 🐦‍⬛ 🐕‍🦺🐄🐴 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQS438/4...
jobs.ac.uk
Jobs | Job Search | Job Vacancies on jobs.ac.uk
Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...
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Elise Woodard @elisewoodard.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
If you're an early career researcher (postdoc or advanced postgrad) based in/around London, you might be interested in this workshop on April 20-21! philosophy.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
philosophy.sas.ac.uk
Early Career Research Network in Philosophy | London 20-21 April 2026
The SAS Institute of Philosophy (University of London) will host the third annual Early Career Network Workshop at the Senate House in London, on 20-21 April 2026
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
As a grad student I compiled a complete bibliography on my niche topic. It took a lot of time but it was a valued resource. Nowadays an LLM can find articles on the topic & identify the most influential. It's impressive, saves time, but it makes up about 10%. Eg All of the below are false.
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Anglosphere agony vs Nordic nirvana. (PS Can't believe I'd never seen this graph before, so grateful to @stephenkb.bsky.social for sharing in his fab morning newsletter (www.ft.com/inside-polit...)
Graph of average annual fees for BA/BSc or equivalent courses in the OECD showing England as the most expensive and Nordics the least
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
📚 Weekend Reads — Philosophy & Ideas (Edition 83) ✍️ Hardeep Matharu and Peter Jukes The Chancellor of Manchester University has co-authored a new report, ‘Class Ceiling’, examining working-class participation in the creative industries across Greater Manchester.
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Nazir Afzal: ‘Class Discrimination Isn’t a Complex Mystery – It’s a Structural Issue Quietly Enforced, Politely Denied, Endlessly Deferred’
The Chancellor of Manchester University has co-authored a new report, ‘Class Ceiling’, examining working-class participation in the creative industries across Greater Manchester.
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Chris Clarke @warringfictions.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
10/ Thanks a lot for reading. The full article is here: parables.substack.com/p/the-two-de... May be of interest to @sundersays.bsky.social @benansell.bsky.social @emmaburnell.bsky.social @christabelcoops.bsky.social @anandmenon.bsky.social
parables.substack.com
The Two Deprivations
Are poorer constituencies going green of turquoise?
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Liam Shields @liamshields.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
It's so great to get out on the bike now the weather has improved, for a gentle ride as I get back to it. no nice pics of the countryside sadly.
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
If true this is an amazing breakthrough in an area that has been very difficult. And will have vulture capitalism that profits from both over-indulgence and addiction very worried.
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Duncan Bell @duncanbell.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
NEW BOOK! I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line academic.oup.com/book/62279
academic.oup.com
Utopia
Abstract. Ideal societies, better worlds, more just and peaceful ways of living: these have long been the stuff of human beings’ social dreaming. In this c
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Indeed. It's also bleakly funny seeing people go 'this is harmful for teenagers' (a sentiment with a fairly limited evidence base) who have obviously cooked their brains online to the point that they cannot grasp the really simple 'we should probably ban the problematic parts of this for everyone'.
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Roland Pierik @roleo.eurosky.social · 14/02/2026
I really like @catherinedevries.bsky.social on academic writing. Here she suggests writing one sentence that begins: “I am writing this because…” Keep going until you reach something that feels slightly risky to admit. That’s usually the real one. catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/you-dont-n...
catherineeunicedevries.substack.com
You Don’t Need a Writing Routine. You Need a Reason for Writing
The Long Carve #1: Choosing an Idea Worth Living With
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