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Thomas Prosser

@prossertj.bsky.social
4.7K followers 470 following 1.2K posts

Professor of European political economy, Cardiff University. Essayist. Dislikes partisans, likes paradoxes. Author of two books with Manchester University Press.

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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Today at EPOP, I'm presenting a paper which examines the relationship between public sector entry and political behaviour. We find mixed evidence for the bureau vote model's prediction that public sector employment makes people more left-wing and likely to turnout to vote.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Today at ECPR, I'm presenting a paper on the relationship between third sector employment and political values using British Election Study data. Coherent results are, alas, a work in progress...
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Coming from such a prestigious journal, this pro-AI editorial policy seems pretty significant. In the social sciences, are most journals moving/likely to move in this direction?
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Jane Green @profjanegreen.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This is work by me, Geoffrey Evans, Zack Grant, Justin Robinson. We show The Economic Insecurity Trap. Published today by @jrf-uk.bsky.social. Thanks to @benzaranko.bsky.social for seeing the importance of household experiences of economic insecurity. NEW REPORT: www.jrf.org.uk/public-attit...
jrf.org.uk
The economic insecurity trap
Financial insecurity is self-reinforcing. Setbacks mean reduced planning and saving, and increasing unemployment, income loss and housing costs. Financial vulnerability is persistent and widespread an...
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
So is Arday's memoir still going to be published tomorrow? *If* it contains false claims on topics such as autism and brain tumours, publication would be the height of irresponsibility; these are serious matters which affect vulnerable people.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I’m more worried about UK academia than ever. On the one hand, the Arday affair is indicative of certain fields with egregious problems and little potential for self-reform. On the other, conservative plans for reform tend to be destructive and shallow. Our future may be grim.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Over on X, the movement to restore academic integrity to British universities is extremely sophisticated...
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
What a mess in UK higher education. However poor Arday's conduct, I hope that he manages to rebuild his life. Meanwhile, a future right-wing attack on universities, which will not distinguish between worthy and unworthy parts of the sector, feels much closer.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
In recent years, a disturbingly high proportion of high-profile academics have shown themselves to be unserious and/or unsuitable people. Unfortunately, (social) media selects for such people and, when flaws become apparent, the image of regular academics declines unjustly.
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Joe Phillips @polpsychjoe.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
In some major professional news, tomorrow I will be starting as Assistant Professor in Political Science at Trinity College Dublin! 🇮🇪 Super excited about this opportunity, and huge thanks to everyone who made this possible.
Me at Trinity College Dublin.Me in front of a sign that says “Dublin, meet Joe (the guy they told you not to worry about).” Photo courtesy of @andrejcvetic.bsky.social
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Nick Huntington-Klein @nickchk.com · 30/07/2026
One of my empirical-work econ takes is that I think academia should be *more* open to publishing work based on best-we-can-do weak data, as long as there's really no other way to address the question and that work is very clear about what it can and can't actually say.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Is there some kind of paid/professional service available which replicates the results of your paper prior to journal submission? Given the increasing importance of replication, it seems preferable to relying on the generosity of colleagues!
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Chris Prosser @caprosser.com · 29/07/2026
It’s not out for another six months or so, but *Electoral Realignment: How Brexit Reshaped British Voting Behaviour*, my book with Ed Fieldhouse, @profjanegreen.bsky.social , Geoff Evans, @jack-bailey.co.uk and @jonmellon.bsky.social, is up on the OUP website! global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Cover of *Electoral Realignment: How Brexit Reshaped British Voting Behaviour*
By Edward Fieldhouse, Jane Green, Christopher Prosser, Geoffrey Evans, Jack Bailey, and Jonathan Mellon
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Just met an American, in the cafe at the university, who has learned Welsh to a fluent level. It's always wonderful to see
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Congratulations to Substack; the site has embedded Pangram (an effective AI detector) into its system. Can't academic journals do something similar?!?
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
As difficult as conditions in universities are becoming, the assertion that academics are proletariats remains ill-advised.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
If Argentina win this, will they be the worst world champions ever?!?
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
On the subject of the 1990s, this is also making me think of Marseille v Red Star Belgrade!
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This evokes the 1990 final. A limited Argentinian team, defending the trophy with an ageing superstar, playing negative and dirty football against a better team.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Been working with Claude Code for 4-5 months now. Notwithstanding impressive efficiency gains, I'm far from convinced it's going to revolutionize academic publishing. From what I can see, there are too many bottlenecks, e.g. the need to check code, co-authors, journal reviewers...
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
As an institutional theorist, I'm not surprised that Tuchel's tournament performance resembled Southgate's; structures matter more than the decisions of agents! Relatedly, I suspect that Burnham's premiership will follow a similar trajectory to Starmer's.
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Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The idea of staff who are well paid, have substantial autonomy, high cultural capital, are effectively impossible to sack, and hard to performance manage, is a complete anathema to those who now view the future via the lens of geopolitical turbulence and balance sheets.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Very sorry to hear this - solidarity
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I was 13 when the last Chinese imperial eunuch died.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Look how popular this post is. A specific problem for many Bluesky apologists is that, unlike many X apologists, they assert that wider behaviour on a social network implicates other users.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Time for some real football 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿💪⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
How much can you trust the Stata code that Claude Code produces? Is there any literature on this?
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Well done England! Ref had quite a good game, no?!?
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
The climate's influence on this match is making it (almost) as interesting as a cricket match...
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
I've stayed up but am already struggling 🥴🥴😭
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Anyone know much about this case? Not sure the examples in the article are sufficient to justify a UK ban... www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
MPs seek to end UK broadcast of Russian ‘soft power’ cartoon Masha and the Bear
Cross-party group writes to ministers of concerns children’s show contains unsubtle ‘propaganda content’
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Wtf is that noise outside my office window?!? 🤬 Why it's Lewis Capaldi doing a soundcheck for his gig in Blackweir fields tonight 😎😎😎
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Is there likely to be a major press article which excoriates Stokes? If not, it speaks very poorly of the British cricket press.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
I'm desperate for New Zealand to get Stokes out
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Incredibly inappropriate from Stokes - don't think I've ever seen such selfishness from an England cricketer. And with Woakes and Broad in the commentary box, you're unlikely to hear a word of criticism on Sky.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
'It is clear, however, that... [student] confidence will be impaired if there is suspicion on the part of the student that... university teachers in general are a repressed and intimidated class who dare not speak with that candor and courage which youth always demands.'- AAUP, 1915
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Dr Emily Jones @jonesemily.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Hot day, hot book 🔥 It's here, in the flesh! my new book, The Disraeli Myth, in all its glory. Princeton have done such an amazing job on this.
Photo of a physical copy of The Disraeli Myth book
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UCU Commons @ucucommons.org · 23/06/2026
Despicable: Uni of Exeter putting over 500 staff at risk of compulsory redundancy. Thoughts are with all Exeter branch comrades. #UCU #UKHE
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Now is a time when university degrees need to be *less* about acquiring ‘skills’ than ever. Abstract thought, flexibility, problem-solving and so forth are much more important. That means *less* vocational education, not more.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Solidarity with @phoebebovy.bsky.social. Her essay on female straightness is reasonable and interesting yet she’s suffering a pile-on. Unfortunately, there are lots of mean people on this site.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
So he's gone. I'll never be convinced Starmer was that bad a PM and favour the 'sticky wicket' hypothesis. Several very different PMs have failed and I suspect that Burnham will do too!
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Likes/reposts appreciated if you find this interesting :-)
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
🚨🚨NEW🚨🚨 Ten years ago, I campaigned in Cardiff for the ill-fated and chaotic Remain campaign. Was it a waste of time? www.thepathnottaken.net/p/my-brexit-...
thepathnottaken.net
My Brexit, ten years on
This week marks the tenth anniversary of the UK’s vote to leave to EU.
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Or mute them, if there's a diplomatic reason for not unfollowing 😝
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 18/06/2026
A damning 97%. That's how many University of Lincoln staff who voted have lost confidence in senior management, after the university cut a third of its workforce and refused to rule out more compulsory redundancies. www.ucu.org.uk/article/1454...
ucu.org.uk
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Nuffield College Library @nuffieldlibrary.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
This week's new books! Find them all on the new books display in the First Floor Lobby #NewBooks
A stack of new books added to Nuffield College Library.
They are:

Waarom een echte liberaal geen VVD stemt by Simon van Teutem
Introduction to the laws of statistical sampling by Bernard Grofman
Empathonomics by Debarshi Roy
Missing voices in economics edited by Veronika Dolar and Teresa Perry
The new immigration challenge by Fathali M. Moghaddam, Margaret J. Hendricks and Raimundo Salas-Schweikart
Believing in light after darkness by Molly Fee
The new political sociology by Thomas Janoski
Housing inequality in the 21st century by Steve Iafrati and Lee Gregory
Contemporary security analysis and Copenhagen peace research edited by Stefano Guzzini and Dietrich Jung
Storm at the Capitol by Mary Clare Jalonick
Beyond woke and anti-woke by Thomas Prosser and Edmund King
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Proud to have signed this letter in support of Michael Foran, the Oxford academic who had his lectures disrupted by activists. Universities *must* be able to host debates about sensitive topics. johnarmstrongmaths.com/openletters/...
johnarmstrongmaths.com
Dear Vice Chancellor,
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Thomas Prosser @prossertj.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
This looks bad - universities *must* be able to host difficult debates about sensitive topics. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06...
telegraph.co.uk
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value plus discounted @akhilrao.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
increasingly skeptical on the value of causal inference without mechanisms or clear ways to reproduce the effects, particularly for thinking about the future. I think I'd trade a lot of identification for more credible insights into mechanisms and plausible bounds in realistic novel settings
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