Catherine Baker
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richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker
@richmondbridge.bsky.social
2.3K followers 2.1K following 500 posts

PERFORMING QUEER NATIONS: THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST SINCE 1990 due from Manchester University Press in 2027. She/her.

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Political science 30%
Sociology 24%
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richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 3d
Plus a whole new wizard shopfronts kiosk cluttering up the main route from the long-distance platforms to the loo.

Reposted by Catherine Baker

notrightruth.bsky.social
Ruth Pearce @notrightruth.bsky.social · 4d
Some thoughts on the Levy Review:

- it's mostly but not entirely okay
- if you're in England, opt out of data collection
- it avoids confronting the biggest problems
- it ignores 15 years of health research
- there are clear examples of better practice
- move trans health to primary care already!
Some thoughts on the Levy Review
On 18 December, NHS England quietly published the report of Dr David Levy’s review of adult gender clinics. The report’s official title is the massively dry Operational and delivery rev…
ruthpearce.net

Reposted by Catherine Baker

liminalwater.bsky.social
Liminal Waterway Countercultures @liminalwater.bsky.social · 4d
If you’re excited by @danielsoar.bsky.social’s @lrb.co.uk review of Pynchon’s new novel, you’re going to want to follow our project #LiminalWater, the premise of which is that Rijeka (Fiume) is in fact the centre of the universe. chanse.org/liminalwater/

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 5d
This has indirectly made me realise that Sasha Velour’s parents, while not from Czechia/Slovakia as this sent me off to wonder, were the academic power couple in charge of the top east European studies journal (Slavic Review) when I was a PhD student/postdoc…

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 5d
I love this programme - multidirectional memory in action!

Reposted by Catherine Baker, Philip Cowley

tomgauld.bsky.social
Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 5d
“The last-minute christmas rush at the bookshop.” - my latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books
Title: The last-minute christmas rush at the bookshop. Image: diagram of a small bookshop packed with coloured dots representing people. The various colours represent the following groups: Contentedly browsing customer, Frazzled staff member, Can't find the book they want, Can't remember what they came for, Complete decision paralysis, In the queue to pay, Thinks they're in the queue but aren't, Dozed off in a comfy chair, Waiting to pounce on the comfy chair, Crying child, Crying adult, Vortex of discombobulated shoppers.

Reposted by Catherine Baker

natacha.bsky.social
Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 5d
Worked hard to get this into Guardian Oz & big props to @fiercemum.bsky.social for setting it up & Melissa Davey for publishing it. She will doubtless get loads of hassle from transphobes for it, but it needs to be out there.
Puberty Blocker bans harm trans kids, no-one should pretend they don’t.
Puberty blocker bans in Queensland and NZ risk extreme harm to trans youth, UK expert warns
Sociologist who surveyed effect of 2024 UK ban says denial of gender-affirming care has left trans and non-binary children in ‘abject misery and severe distress’
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Catherine Baker

curatorian.bsky.social
Ian Kikuchi @curatorian.bsky.social · 6d
Just parked the car and noticed that the Mini next to me has London 2012 Olympics-themed trim, an event that now feels like it occurred three ice ages ago. 💂
A close-up of car trim

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 7d
This looks much needed 👇
juergenzimmerer.bsky.social Jürgen Zimmerer @juergenzimmerer.bsky.social · 7d
It's out!🍾
I am delighted to announce the publication of our "Germany's History Wars. Contesting Memory and Identity Today"
It is Open Access!
👇 You can download it here for free.

www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 7d
Thank you, that’s going on to the background reading for the gender/sexuality topic of our Masters historiography module if it runs that way again!

Reposted by Henning Melber, Catherine Baker, Manuela Boatcă , and 1 more

juergenzimmerer.bsky.social
Jürgen Zimmerer @juergenzimmerer.bsky.social · 7d
It's out!🍾
I am delighted to announce the publication of our "Germany's History Wars. Contesting Memory and Identity Today"
It is Open Access!
👇 You can download it here for free.

www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 7d
‘The fact Tiresias House existed shows that trans women experienced violence … & needed somewhere to go. But the stories of violence held in this archive can also help understand how violence against women functions, demonstrating the shared experience of women, across the division of cis & trans
rosavcampbell.bsky.social Rosa Campbell @rosavcampbell.bsky.social · 7d
Here, for @historyworkshop.org.uk I discuss the history of a refuge for trans women.

I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.

I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.

academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
Reconsidering Violence Against Women through the History of a Refuge for Trans Women
Abstract. Both right-wing forces and gender-critical feminists currently frame cis and trans women’s needs as fundamentally different and conflicting. Viol
academic.oup.com

Reposted by Catherine Baker, Laura Kelly, Farah Mendlesohn , and 1 more

rosavcampbell.bsky.social
Rosa Campbell @rosavcampbell.bsky.social · 7d
Here, for @historyworkshop.org.uk I discuss the history of a refuge for trans women.

I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.

I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.

academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
Reconsidering Violence Against Women through the History of a Refuge for Trans Women
Abstract. Both right-wing forces and gender-critical feminists currently frame cis and trans women’s needs as fundamentally different and conflicting. Viol
academic.oup.com

Reposted by Catherine Baker

tacc.org.uk
TACC @tacc.org.uk · 7d
The BMA has published an updated policy position on the rights of transgender and non-binary people in healthcare settings.

www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-s...
Policy position on the rights of transgender and non-binary people in healthcare settings
Our policy position is centred around the need to advocate for equitable access to healthcare, create safe and inclusive workplaces for trans and non-binary people working in healthcare settings, and ...
www.bma.org.uk

Reposted by Catherine Baker, Fabián Muniesa

newrepublic.com
The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 8d
They're Cassandras who smelled the fascism all over Trump. trib.al/p6YSRah

From janitors and Wall Street bankers, to lawyers and food delivery drivers. Much has been made of the cross-class nature of Trump’s strongest support. That the same is true of his strongest opposition is far less discussed.

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 8d
‘The idea of a permanent state of emergency does not reflect a reality whereby Europe genuinely cannot cope with new arrivals. Rather, it reflects the fact that there are simply too many who profit from manufacturing a sense of crisis’

Reposted by Catherine Baker

jamcjo.bsky.social
Jamie Johnson @jamcjo.bsky.social · 8d
www.theguardian.com/world/commen...
Ten years of fortress Europe has served only cruelty, profiteers and racists. The next decade is up to us | Maurice Stierl
The hard right and far right are the political winners from the migration ‘crisis’, but only because centrist parties keep legitimising them, says migration and border researcher Maurice Stierl
www.theguardian.com

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 9d
Severina, as in Croatia’s #Eurovision 2006 representative and all-round post-Yugoslav pop megastar, has been speaking up for this.
Severina in My Voice My Choice campaign video

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 9d
‘Vuletic said the seven-decade history of #Eurovision was one of ongoing adaptation: “changes to the rules, trying to address emerging problems... and not being able to anticipate future ones”’ uk.news.yahoo.com/eurovision-f...
uk.news.yahoo.com

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 9d
Anti-gender politics watchers won’t be surprised this is CitizenGO:

Spun out from 🇪🇸 in 2013, opposing abortion and supporting 🇷🇺’s then-new anti-LGBTQ+ laws

Drove anti-trans bus around 🇪🇸 and 🇺🇸 in 2017

Interfering in 🇰🇪 reproductive/LGBTQ+ rights

Now funding lawfare in 🇬🇧

Reposted by Catherine Baker

senthorun.bsky.social
Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · 9d
“Imagine a way of interacting which flowed from our shared vulnerability and shared strength and shared need to be protected by each other. Maybe we need to learn how to brace ourselves for that, my loves.”

Powerful piece by Jordy Silverstein on solidarity to fight antisemitism and other racisms.
Yes, this is what Australia is - Overland literary journal
Imagine though the possibility of a response which was not horrid. Which did not demand more violence be piled up. Which led us to other ways of being together, other horizons of possible futures. Ima...
overland.org.au

Reposted by Catherine Baker, Lesley A. Hall

goodlawproject.org
Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 9d
The legal challenge to the NHS’s clinical trial of puberty blockers is funded by a pressure group backed by Russian oligarchs and linked to the far right. goodlaw.social/1jop
From Russia to the far right: the shadowy forces challenging the NHS puberty blockers trial | Good Law Project
CitizenGO is backed by Russian oligarchs and linked to the far right. Good Law Project’s undercover investigation shows that it’s ramping up its work in the UK.
goodlaw.social

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 9d
The Angel of Mons for the British Nineties…?

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 9d
We’re very likely to put that on our Masters historiography module next year! (Would have been on this year’s if it had been out earlier…)

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 9d
Are we sure there’s not any small print allowing RTP to assign another singer to the winning song?

The amount of calls for an alternative solidarity event across the continent is interesting…

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 9d
Some of the Norse monster crew must have turned up in the @louiestowell.bsky.social Loki books by now…

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 10d
My mum had an old paperback of The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren I used to read when I was off sick from school, which may well be why I’m a popular culture researcher now.

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 10d
In which Father Christmas, Wonder Woman, Kojak, and Uncle Billy have all been remarkably careless.

Iona and Peter Opie (of ‘Lore and Language of Schoolchildren’ fame) would be proud.

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe, Jon Green, Catherine Baker , and 5 more

loreandordure.com
Kate Watson @loreandordure.com · 10d
For your collective delectation this holiday season:
Quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever written (and definitely the most ridiculous graph I've ever made!)

loreandordure.com/2025/12/16/j...
Jingle Bells (Batman Smells): an incomplete festive folk-rhyme taxonomy
Gather round the fire, everyone, and let me tell you a story. It has everything you could want in a Christmas blockbuster: superheroes and villains, a car crash, children singing, a mystery to solv…
loreandordure.com

richmondbridge.bsky.social
Catherine Baker @richmondbridge.bsky.social · 10d
‘This, @robinmoirawhite.bsky.social said, is unacceptable: “It shouldn’t be, should it, that [the] position in UK [law] is determined by which billionaire is going to fund your litigation? That has to be wrong in a civil society”’