Patrick Heller
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Patrick Heller
@pheller.bsky.social
97 followers 47 following 51 posts

Political Sociologist at Brown university

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Patrick Heller is an American sociologist and the director of the development research program at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University.

Source: Wikipedia
Political science 46%
Economics 28%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 5d
Mamdani’s rallying cry for civil society: “To get to any of us, you have to go through all of us”
Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 5d
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.
Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 15d
How a Fringe Movement of Gun Nuts, Backwoodsmen and Free Marketers Paved the Way for Autocracy www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/o...
Opinion | How a Fringe Movement of Gun Nuts, Backwoodsmen and Free Marketers Paved the Way for Autocracy
www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 20d
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...
Opinion | They’re Small, Yellow and Round — and Show How Trump’s Tariffs Don’t Work
www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Sep 15
Lula: Brazilian Democracy and Sovereignty Are Non-Negotiable www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o...
Opinion | Lula: Brazilian Democracy and Sovereignty Are Non-Negotiable
www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Sep 11
The rule of law
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years for plotting military coup in Brazil
Former president sought to ‘annihilate’ country’s democracy after losing 2022 election
www.theguardian.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Sep 9
pranabbardhan.substack.com/p/a-conversa...
A Conversation on Brazil, India and South Africa
This conversation is with a political sociologist, Patrick Heller, on comparative political-economy features of the three countries
pranabbardhan.substack.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Sep 9
My conversation with Pranab Bardhan in his great substack on the state of democracy in Brazil, India and South Africa
Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Sep 4
How social media influencers are pushing disinformation on climate change
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
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
www.theguardian.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Aug 29
www.foreignaffairs.com/germany/hitl...
Warnings From Weimar
Why bargaining with authoritarians fails.
www.foreignaffairs.com

Reposted by Katharine Hayhoe, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Glen P. Peters , and 42 more

timmonsroberts.bsky.social
Timmons Roberts @timmonsroberts.bsky.social · Aug 25
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...
Law Firm Pressures Brown University to Erase Research on Anti-Wind Groups
www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Aug 1
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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
www.theguardian.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jul 29
Juan Crow Is Back With a Vengeance www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/o...
Opinion | Juan Crow Is Back With a Vengeance
www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jul 15
Brilliant summary of the democratic crisis in US
When It Comes to Undermining America, We Have a Winner www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...
Opinion | When It Comes to Undermining America, We Have a Winner
www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jul 15
Bartov has long warned this was heading towards genocide.
I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...
Opinion | I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.
www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jul 12
3) Agro business: hits the right's most powerful constituency the hardest 4) Democracy: reminding us that that the judiciary should be independent 5) Coups: reminding us that they are illegal and that plotters should be prosecuted
Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jul 12
Five reasons why Trump's attack on Brazil is just so mindlessly stupid: 1) Nationalism: it backfired and Lula is now the defender of Brazilian sovereignty2) Treason: exposes Bolsonaro and his gang as agents of a foreign government
Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jul 9
The latest rationale for Trump tariffs: propping up would be dictators who organize failed coups.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...
Trump announces 50% tariff on Brazil, citing what he claims is a ‘witch-hunt’ against Bolsonaro – live updates
US president slaps tariff on Brazil and complains about treatment of Brazil’s former president, who is facing trial over an alleged coup attempt
www.theguardian.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jun 26
Saying it out loud. Larry Summers on US universities: “98 percent of students are curious and open minded. The problem is much more with faculty in humanities and the less quantitative social sciences and with the noncommercial professions like public health, divinity and education”
Opinion | ‘Are We Past Peak Harvard?’: 3 Writers Mull Higher Education’s Woes
www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jun 26
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
This Isn’t Negotiation. It’s Authoritarian Extortion. | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
Defending democracy requires sacrifice. There are moments when we must pay a price to ensure the long-term survival of our basic freedoms. This is one of those moments.
www.thecrimson.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jun 26
Mamdani won by organizing the working class and winning back low income voters that centrist dems have lost to Trump
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Zohran Mamdani has unleashed a political earthquake | Ben Davis
Mamdani’s popularity represents the total collapse of a Democratic party establishment
www.theguardian.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jun 24
Best assessment of US bombing of Iran www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Opinion | JD Vance Said the Iran Strikes Set Their Nuclear Program Back ‘Substantially.’ He’s Wrong.
The strikes probably only delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions — and reinvigorated them.
www.politico.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jun 6
thewire.in/politics/ash...
Ashoka University Can't Call Its Refusal to Stand Up to BJP's Bullying 'Institutional Neutrality'
From Ali Khan Mahmudabad to Sabyasachi Das, a common thread emerges: a discernible threat from Hindutva elements and the Ashoka administration's apparent inability or unwillingness to confront it.
thewire.in

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · May 28
scroll.in/article/1082...
Harsh Mander: The message from the persecution of Ali Khan Mahmudabad
Freedom of speech and conscience are under grave threat in Modi’s India for all citizens. But these freedoms are completely erased for the Indian Muslim.
scroll.in

Reposted by Edward Witten, Adam S. Posen, Ron Boschma , and 19 more

drodrik.bsky.social
Dani Rodrik @drodrik.bsky.social · May 22
Three things made the US a rich and powerful nation: the rule of law, its science & innovation system, and openness to foreign talent. Remarkable how Trump has taken a sledgehammer to all three. No enemy of this country could do more.
Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · May 22
Coincidence? Just as the Brazilian supreme prepares to put Bolsonaro on trial for an attempted coup, Rubio announces the White House is looking into sanctions against the judge who has led the investigation. www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2025/0...
www1.folha.uol.com.br

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · May 21
Le Monde editorial on latest statements by Israeli govt: "the facts as well as the statements only reinforce the possibility of a qualification of genocide by international justice" - www.lemonde.fr/idees/articl...
Le gouvernement israélien ne doit plus bénéficier de la moindre impunité
ÉDITORIAL. Dire clairement que ce qui est en cours à Gaza est inacceptable est nécessaire. Mais cela doit s’accompagner du constat que de nombreux alliés d’Israël n’ont plus rien en commun avec la co...
www.lemonde.fr

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · May 16
Behind AI: the humans, the power
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
The Day Grok Told Everyone About ‘White Genocide’
What in the world just happened with Elon Musk’s chatbot?
www.theatlantic.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · May 1
A significant development in India politics: government agrees to enumerate castes in census. This goes against its own ideological line of denying the significance of caste. More an electoral calculation than an ideological shift.
thewire.in/politics/mod...
Modi’s Somersault on Caste Census is a U-turn Fraught with Long-Term Challenges for the RSS-BJP
It underlines caste’s enduring power in politics and the limits of majoritarian identity politics when confronted with demands for social justice.
thewire.in

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Apr 29
congrats Ben. this is amazing