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Patrick Heller

@pheller.bsky.social
120 followers 48 following 72 posts

Political Sociologist at Brown university

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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 03/08/2026
There are 7 PR people for every journalist in the US. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
chart showing 280k pr specialists to 40k 'news analysts, reporters, and journalists'
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Getting history right It Wasn’t a ‘Civil War.’ It Was the Slaveholders’ Rebellion. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The ‘Civil War’ Is a Lie. Let’s Call It the ‘Slaveholders’ Rebellion’ Again.
To face our own history, we must be honest about it.
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Modi reaches out to the cockroaches. As reported in the Wire.
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Never thought I would say this: go cockroaches! thewire.in/rights/cockr...
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
dr. thrasher, an american writer in ex(archia)(xile) @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
BREAKING: I am suing Northwestern University, a member of congress, two cabinet secretaries and the Attorney General of the United States. I explain why in @literaryhub.bsky.social lithub.com/when-we-figh...
lithub.com
When We Fight, We Win: Why I Am Suing Northwestern University—and the US Government
Yesterday, I filed a lawsuit against Northwestern University and—in his official capacity as Chairman of the US House of Representatives House Committee on Education and the Workforce—Michigan Cong…
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Trump’s assault on Brazilian democracy. So colonial www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The Guardian view on Brazil’s sovereignty: Trump turns autonomy into a trade offence | Editorial
Editorial: Donald Trump’s tariff threat recasts Brazil’s attempt to protect its democracy as unfair commercial practice – and gives Bolsonarism a Washington stage
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
www.programmablemutter.com/p/the-suprem...
programmablemutter.com
The Supreme Court is corrupting American democracy
One cannot hope to bribe or twist/ (thank God!) the U.S. chief jurist
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A name everyone should know: Umar Khalid www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
‘Humanity is a privilege’: Umar Khalid on his six years in an Indian jail without trial
Exclusive: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra Modi
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I have new article out in the Sociology of Development on the possibilities of building welfare states in the global south. Its free for now: online.ucpress.edu/socdev/artic...
online.ucpress.edu
The Democratic Social Developmental StateParameters of the Possible in the Global South
Colonial legacies and the structural constraints of global capitalism pose significant obstacles to building welfare states in the Global South. Yet the past three decades have seen significant progre...
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Benjamin H. Bradlow @bhbradlow.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Now with a link! www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/winners...
foreignaffairs.com
The Winners and Losers of the Iran Energy Shock
How the war created a new geopolitical divide.
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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Either "from the river to the sea" is a call for genocide against one nation, or it isn't. But a lot of American Jewish organizations are a lot more bothered by Palestinians saying it than by Likud saying it. I wrote about the double standard. religiondispatches.org/2026/04/30/g...
religiondispatches.org
Genocide For Me But Not For Thee?
Last week, Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, celebrated Israel’s Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut) by posting an illustrated map of Israel—which is not, in its...
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
"You wouldn't know it if you live in the USA or consume US media and politics, but the fight between EVs and ICEs is basically over. Internal combustion is on it's way out. First it'll look slow, then fast. Fleet turnover will lag sales. But ALL the growth globally is in EVs." - @jessedjenkins.com
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Jeff Colgan @jeffcolgan.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
On Iran, see the larger context. Five of the seven countries that the Trump admin has militarily attacked since Jan. 2025 are significant oil producers, even though petrostates are rare. It's not a coincidence. I explain why @goodauth.bsky.social goodauthority.org/news/is-oil-...
goodauthority.org
Is oil behind the U.S. attack on Iran?
Is oil behind the U.S. attack on Iran? To understand the Trump administration’s military targets, take a closer look at the petrostate pattern.
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Rubio: “Let me tell you, Iran is run by lunatics, religious fanatic lunatics.”
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Civil society fights back Nine Law Firms Surrendered. Four Law Firms Won. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Nine Law Firms Surrendered. Four Law Firms Won.
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Zachary Levenson @grundrza.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
I talked with @victorerikray.bsky.social about the repression we’re facing at public universities here in Florida, where the state is attempting to impose a textbook on our intro classes, insisting that no published textbook complies with state law. Here’s Part 1. Part 2 drops next week.
groupthreat.com
What's the Matter with Florida? An Interview with Zachary Levenson
A discussion about Florida's censorship of sociology and teaching under authoritarianism
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Courtney Boen @courtneyboen.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Here, I write about the public health threat posed by ICE. Renee Good, Alex Pretti, & the dozens of others killed by ICE in recent months make this clear. But ICE also kills more slowly & covertly, by inducing chronic stress, fear, & threat. Abolish ICE. www.providencejournal.com/story/opinio...
providencejournal.com
ICE poses threat to our public health. Here's why | Opinion
Research shows that when ICE ramps up enforcement in a community, the people living there experience heightened physiological and psychological stress, the author says.
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Republican states are colonizing civil society: “Mr Creighton, the lawmaker-turned-chancellor … reckons that in Texas public universities … should be understood as “an extension of state government”. economist.com/united-state...
economist.com
Republican states are censoring universities
New laws restrict what professors can teach
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Santiago Anria @anriasantiago.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The issue examines when and how protest translates into durable policy change, with articles by Anindita Adhikari and @pheller.bsky.social (India); Giorleny Altamirano Rayo, @emosinger.bsky.social, and @kaimthaler.bsky.social (Central America) [2/3]
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Santiago Anria @anriasantiago.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Candelaria Garay (@candelariagaray.bsky.social), Jessica Rich (@jessicaajrich.bsky.social), and I co-edited a special issue of World Development on the policy consequences of social movements in the Global South. [1/3]
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Jeff Colgan @jeffcolgan.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Petro-imperialism.
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...
nytimes.com
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Jeff Colgan @jeffcolgan.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Fuck off, Bessent. 🇨🇦
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
youtube.com/shorts/ikng2...
youtube.com
Wagner Moura após ganhar Globo de Ouro: precisamos de mais filmes sobre a ditadura
YouTube video by BBC News Brasil
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Building on Robert Paxton’s classic study of fascism Michelle Goldberg gets it just right. Resistance Libs Were Right www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Resistance Libs Were Right
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Amazing to me that Donald Trump has not been asked once to comment on this insanely Neo-Nazi post from his Homeland Security department, nor asked who are the 50 to 60 *million* US citizens that his DHS say they want to ‘deport.’
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
goodauthority.org/news/trump-m...
goodauthority.org
Trump made a clear choice: return to petro-imperialism
Trump made a clear choice: return to petro-imperialism. To understand what just happened in Venezuela, look at oil politics and U.S. foreign policy.
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
American Reich x.com/dhsgov/statu...
x.com
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Can a Corporation Be Complicit in War Crimes? Sweden Is Trying to Find Out. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Can a Corporation Be Complicit in War Crimes? Sweden Is Trying to Find Out.
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Benjamin McKean @blmckean.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
“Everything is gender” theory finds more confirmation manhattan.institute/article/the-...
Manhattan
Institute
The Current GOP overwhelmingly—69% to 24%— believes that American society is "too feminine" and that more masculine thinking is needed. Men are the most likely to hold this view (78% to 17%), but women also agree by a substantial margin (58% to 31%). Support is especially high among black Republicans (77% to 19%) and Hispanic Republicans (75% to 21%).
The data also provide evidence for a broader generational and educational backlash among younger conservatives, particularly men. Although college graduates in the general population are less likely to support Trump, college-educated
Republicans are more likely than their non-college counterparts to endorse the view that society has become too feminine. Younger Republican men, who have experienced these dynamics most directly, express the strongest support: 83% of Current GOP men under 50 agree, and nearly half (46%) strongly agree.
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
The bulldozed demolition of MGNREGA - www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead... For the best experience read this on The Hindu App. bit.ly/THNewsApp
thehindu.com
The bulldozed demolition of MGNREGA
The government of the day has worked to bulldoze MGNREGA’s abolition without any discussion, consultation, or respect for parliamentary processes or Centre-State relations
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
The repeal of India's "Right to Work" program (the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) which was the world's largest ever anti-poverty program, is just the most recent example of what I called "retrenchment populism" in my 2020 article "The Age of Reaction."
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
The Indian government wants to repeal its most effective poverty reducing program ever. Government tables Bill to replace MGNREGA amid protests - www.thehindu.com/news/nationa... For the best experience read this on The Hindu App. bit.ly/THNewsApp
thehindu.com
Government tables Bill to replace MGNREGA amid protests
Government introduces VB-G RAM G Bill to replace MGNREGA, facing opposition protests over concerns of weakened employment rights for the poor.
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Gabriel Zucman @gabrielzucman.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
A lot of the “eurosclerosis” discourse is based on comparing GDP in nominal US$ in Europe vs US Yesterday, the US ambassador to the EU compared Europe’s GDP per capita to that of Mississippi This makes little sense, because it ignores the higher cost of living in the US
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Reposted by Patrick Heller
Subscribe to Radio Free America (link in bio) @kleinman.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Passing out while your underlings are sucking up to you is a neat illustration of what unitary executive theory gets us.
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
A party with an actual theory of contemporary capitalism and what to do: see interview with Fernando Haddad, Brazil's Finance Minister www.phenomenalworld.org/interviews/b...
phenomenalworld.org
Brazil and the World System
An interview with Brazil's Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad
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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
💡 @timmonsroberts.bsky.social makes 3 points at the @caadcoalition.bsky.social & @ucs.org presser #COP30: 1 Disinformation is everywhere 2 Those w/ structural power deploy disinformation to maintain status quo. 3 Solutions exist & they're urgent. More info @cssn.org & cssn.org/news-researc...
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Mamdani’s rallying cry for civil society: “To get to any of us, you have to go through all of us”
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
The sweep in election outcomes from public utilities in Georgia to the ref in California, governors, and Mamdani points to 2 clear conclusions: republicans don’t turn out when trump’s not on the card and dems are super angry and mobilized. New wave in the making.
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
How a Fringe Movement of Gun Nuts, Backwoodsmen and Free Marketers Paved the Way for Autocracy www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | How a Fringe Movement of Gun Nuts, Backwoodsmen and Free Marketers Paved the Way for Autocracy
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Trump’s patronage machine laid bare and why the taxpayer pays the price. They’re Small, Yellow and Round — and Show How Trump’s Tariffs Don’t Work www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | They’re Small, Yellow and Round — and Show How Trump’s Tariffs Don’t Work
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Lula: Brazilian Democracy and Sovereignty Are Non-Negotiable www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Lula: Brazilian Democracy and Sovereignty Are Non-Negotiable
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
The rule of law www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
theguardian.com
Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years for plotting military coup in Brazil
Former president sought to ‘annihilate’ country’s democracy after losing 2022 election
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
My conversation with Pranab Bardhan in his great substack on the state of democracy in Brazil, India and South Africa
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
How social media influencers are pushing disinformation on climate change www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Joe Rogan claims study shows Earth cooling – but report’s authors say he’s wrong
Scientists say ‘old-school denier nonsense’ isn’t helpful as podcaster repeatedly airs false claim on his show
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
www.foreignaffairs.com/germany/hitl...
foreignaffairs.com
Warnings From Weimar
Why bargaining with authoritarians fails.
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Timmons Roberts @timmonsroberts.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
My lab's been attacked by an anti-wind group and their lawyers. They threatened the science funding of my whole university, to shut me and my undergraduate research assistants up. NYT just covered it. 1/n www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...
nytimes.com
Law Firm Pressures Brown University to Erase Research on Anti-Wind Groups
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump | Rashid Khalidi
The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible
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Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Juan Crow Is Back With a Vengeance www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Juan Crow Is Back With a Vengeance
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