Patrick Heller

@pheller.bsky.social

Political Sociologist at Brown university

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

Reposted by Patrick Heller

Zachary Levenson @grundrza.bsky.social · 2d

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.

What's the Matter with Florida? An Interview with Zachary Levenson

A discussion about Florida's censorship of sociology and teaching under authoritarianism

groupthreat.com

Reposted by Patrick Heller

Courtney Boen @courtneyboen.bsky.social · 9d

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...

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.

www.providencejournal.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 9d

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...

Republican states are censoring universities

New laws restrict what professors can teach

economist.com

Reposted by Patrick Heller

Santiago Anria @anriasantiago.bsky.social · 10d

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]

Reposted by Patrick Heller

Santiago Anria @anriasantiago.bsky.social · 10d

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]

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12d

Marco Rubio: "The oil proceeds are being deposited into an account that ultimately will become a US Treasury blocked account here in the US. We will say 'this is what this money can be spent on.' They will submit to us a budget request -- 'we want to use the money on these things.'"

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 13d

This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...

www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 14d

This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...

Opinion | This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Naomi Klein, Charles W. Smith, Alan Richardson , and 9 more Naomi Klein, Charles W. Smith, Alan Richardson, Jacob T. Levy, Tom Griffin, Bessma Momani, Patrick Heller, Christina Pagel, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Juliet Johnson, Jonathan Goldman, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17d

Bessent pushes Albertan independence from Canada: "Albertans are very independent people. There's a rumor they may have a referendum on whether they want to stay in Canada or not. People are talking. People want sovereignty. They want what the US has got."

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 26d

youtube.com/shorts/ikng2...

Wagner Moura após ganhar Globo de Ouro: precisamos de mais filmes sobre a ditadura

YouTube video by BBC News Brasil

youtube.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · 27d

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...

Opinion | The Resistance Libs Were Right

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by John Foot, Patrick Heller, Blair Fix

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · Jan 10

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.’

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jan 6

goodauthority.org/news/trump-m...

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.

goodauthority.org

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Jan 1

American Reich
x.com/dhsgov/statu...

x.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Dec 31

Can a Corporation Be Complicit in War Crimes? Sweden Is Trying to Find Out. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/o...

Opinion | Can a Corporation Be Complicit in War Crimes? Sweden Is Trying to Find Out.

www.nytimes.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Dec 22

The bulldozed demolition of MGNREGA - www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead... For the best experience read this on The Hindu App. bit.ly/THNewsApp

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

www.thehindu.com

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Dec 20

Rights-based welfare is being replaced by neo-patrimonial patronage.

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Dec 20

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."

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Dec 17

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

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.

www.thehindu.com

Reposted by Michael Rosholm, Patrick Heller

Gabriel Zucman @gabrielzucman.bsky.social · Dec 12

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

Reposted by Alan Richardson, Patrick Heller

Benjamin McKean @blmckean.bsky.social · Dec 4

“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.

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Stephen M. Walt, Cas Mudde , and 25 more Anne Applebaum, Stephen M. Walt, Cas Mudde, Elizabeth Saunders, Will Jennings, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers, Christopher Wright, Andrew Scott, Tim Bale, Mark D. White, Rosemary A. Joyce, David Rothschild, W. Andy Knight, Gerald Friedman, Michael D. McDonald, James Goodwin, Jason Lyall, Patrick Heller, Mark Rice, Lisa Diedrich, Henry Jones, Vaughan S. Roberts, Christina Pagel, Olivier Mannoni, Aviel Roshwald, Colin Woodard, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Dec 2

Trump dozes while Marco Rubio speaks to him directly next to him. Just insane optics.

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Nov 29

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...

Brazil and the World System

An interview with Brazil's Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad

www.phenomenalworld.org

Reposted by Patrick Heller

Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · Nov 12

💡 @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...

Patrick Heller @pheller.bsky.social · Nov 6

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 · Nov 6

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 · Oct 26

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 · Oct 21

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...