iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Lise Rakner

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Chilling. “For MAGA America, ICE is an instrument for cleansing violence.” And “Failure to heed the MAGA campaign to redistribute respect is insolence punishable by death.”

For MAGA America, ICE is an instrument for cleansing violence. Visit ICE social-media accounts and you'll see, again and again, videos of armed force against unarmed individuals, against a soundtrack of pumping music. There's a montage of aggressive arrests in Minnesota of unarmed, nonwhite men, many of them thrown to the ground and cuffed, set to the 1977 hit
"Cold as Ice": "Someday you'll pay the price." A dozen heavily armed and armored agents round up a single unarmed woman in a T-shirt and two similarly defenseless men in California. In Indiana, armored agents throw handcuffs and ankle chains on a big haul of men and shove them in a cell, where they can be seen pacing, weeping, or with their heads plunged in their hands.
Rarely do these videos present a situation that couldn't be managed with a couple of plainclothes officers bearing holstered sidearms. The point is to prove that the fearsome power of the American state is being wielded by righteous MAGA hands against despised MAGA targets.

This is how we arrive at a moment when the country's highest-ranking officials are endorsing a lethal shooting on the basis of claims refuted by the evidence. Failure to heed the MAGA campaign to redistribute respect is insolence punishable by death.

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Reposted by Lise Rakner

ProPublica @propublica.org · 13/01/2026

NEW: Civilians have had apparent seizures. One had his eyes roll back. Another had ribs broken. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said a 16-year-old citizen put in a chokehold. The government won’t say if any agents have been punished.

propublica.org

We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing

Civilians have had apparent seizures. One had his eyes roll back. Another had ribs broken. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said a 16-year-old citizen put in a chokehold. The government ...

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Reposted by Lise Rakner

Department of Political Science, University of Oslo @statsvitenskap.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

📢 New article 👥 @oyvindstiansen.bsky.social, @haakongjerlw.bsky.social & @liserakner.bsky.social 🔎 The politics of litigating and adjudicating electoral disputes: Evidence from Zambia. 📖 Open access In Electoral Studies 🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.el...

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Lise Rakner @liserakner.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Listen to this great conversations between two amazing scholars if you a) want to understand what is going on in the US and b) what to DO about it! And as an extra bonus to us Europeans- yes- parliamentary systems will protect us against the tyranny of the minority. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS-n...

youtube.com

Backsliding and Resistance in the United States

YouTube video by Harvard Ash Center

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Lise Rakner @liserakner.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

I recommend following Adam Przeworswki´s diary- when this is over and the history of the demise of America´s democracy is to be written- we will need daily accounts. This is scary. adamprzeworski.substack.com/p/diary?subs...

adamprzeworski.substack.com

Diary

Week 1

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Reposted by Lise Rakner

LawTransform @lawtransform.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Starter pack for scholars in the Centre on Law & Social Transformation network (LawTransform www.lawtransform.no) and others researching the strategic use of rights, law & court for social change. #lawfare #legalmobilization. ♦️Want to be included? Let us know in comments ♦️ go.bsky.app/DBYcFVs

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Siri Gloppen @sirigloppen.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

On a day when resistance to autocratization seems particularly urgent, Lise Rakner @liserakner.bsky.social and I are pleased that our article on "Legalized resistance to autocratisation in common law Africa" is out - and open access. @lawtransform.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.com

Legalised resistance to autocratisation in common law Africa

Since the 1990s, African incumbents have engaged in forms of rule-bending that weaken democratic institutions. The democratic backsliding witnessed weaponises law through processes of autocratic la...

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Siri Gloppen @sirigloppen.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Congratulations to @jsoderstrom.bsky.social and @liserakner.bsky.social on having this very interesting article published!

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Reposted by Lise Rakner

kim yi dionne (she/her) @dadakim.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Congratulations on securing the grant and bravo for doing such important work!

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Lise Rakner @liserakner.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

This is a note of hope- Norwegian students realize that EU membership makes sense for a liberal democracy with an open economy sharing a border with Russia... go figure- smart kids! www.khrono.no/studenter-me...

khrono.no

Studenter mer EU-vennlige enn resten av befolkninga

Det er svært jevnt løp mellom nei og ja til EU blant studentene, viser ny meningsmåling. — Vi har behov for å være del av et større fellesskap enn vi er i dag, sier student og ja-mann Petter Hov Jacob...

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Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 19/11/2024

Bluesky now has over 20M people!! 🎉 We've been adding over a million users per day for the last few days. To celebrate, here are 20 fun facts about Bluesky:

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Lise Rakner @liserakner.bsky.social · 17/04/2024

When are politicians willing to liberalize abortion laws? Check out of new article in CPS- the latest from the Bergen-Berkeley gang! journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

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Governance and Local Development Institute @gldinstitute.bsky.social · 21/11/2023

GLD's Research Seminar Series introduces the research process and covers 3 stages of research: Refining a research question Selecting methodology Presenting findings. All 15 videos are free to use and available on our website with English & Arabic subtitles: gld.gu.se/en/education...

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Reposted by Lise Rakner

Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · 03/01/2024

This paper is good! And it crystallizes an idea: the type of social change whose outcome you could measure through a randomized controlled trial is almost certainly system-preserving. So, if you only study the policies that RCTs can evaluate, you'll *never* study transformative social change.

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Lawfare @lawfaremedia.org · 18/11/2023

@benjaminwittes.bsky.social talked to @rparloff.bsky.social and @annabower.bsky.social about Judge Cannon's cryptic order in the Mar-a-Lago case, the latest in the Section 3 litigation, and the release of proffer videos in Fulton County on Trump's Trials and Tribulations. Listen now:

lawfaremedia.org

The Lawfare Podcast: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations: What Is Judge Cannon up to Now?

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Reposted by Lise Rakner

Thalia Gerzso @thaliagerzso.bsky.social · 11/10/2023

Thank you CEDAR (Uni of Birmingham) for offering an opportunity to exchange on democracy in Africa. Nic, Lise and I had a great time discussing the implications of our book on democratic backsliding! @manoelgehrke.bsky.social

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Reposted by Lise Rakner

Thalia Gerzso @thaliagerzso.bsky.social · 09/11/2023

Working on political institutions and democracy in Africa? We're calling for participants for a mini-conference during the next APSA. Scholars from the continent and early-career scholars are particularly encouraged to apply. Submit your abstract by Dec. 4: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

APSA Mini-Conference 2024: Call for Papers - Institutions and Democracy in Africa

Following the introduction of multiparty electrons across many parts of Africa in the early 1990s, domestic and international analysts hoped that democracy would take root by institutionalizing horizo...

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