Dr Alex Cruikshanks
@alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Historian of the former Yugoslavia and ethnic partitionism. X-Men opinion-haver. Did a PhD on diplomacy in the Bosnian War. Host of The History of Yugoslavia podcast.
"experts say the global rise of far-right ideology is fuelling transphobia"
Hmm, maybe you should've listened to those experts earlier rather than pretending it was actually some sort of pseudo-feminist crusade?
Hmm, maybe you should've listened to those experts earlier rather than pretending it was actually some sort of pseudo-feminist crusade?
‘She narrowly escaped three bullets’: Pakistan’s trans community shaken by attacks and killings
‘She narrowly escaped three bullets’: Pakistan’s trans community shaken by attacks and killings
A wave of violence has left transgender people afraid to go out, as experts say the global rise of far-right ideology is fuelling transphobia
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:39 PM
"experts say the global rise of far-right ideology is fuelling transphobia"
Hmm, maybe you should've listened to those experts earlier rather than pretending it was actually some sort of pseudo-feminist crusade?
Hmm, maybe you should've listened to those experts earlier rather than pretending it was actually some sort of pseudo-feminist crusade?
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
Download it also to read how Maja Gergoric and I argue that abortion is the core Croatian anti-gender issue and how it was used in the institutionalization of Croatian anti-gender movement!
Download it today 4 free: Anti-Gender Mobilizations in the Post-Yugoslav Space. Hidden Connection, ed. by Roman Kuhar & Adriana Zaharijevic!
Bragging rights: endorsements by Judith Butler, @ericfassin.bsky.social, Ruth Wodak & @kslootmaeckers.bsky.social :)
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Bragging rights: endorsements by Judith Butler, @ericfassin.bsky.social, Ruth Wodak & @kslootmaeckers.bsky.social :)
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Anti-Gender Mobilizations in the Post-Yugoslav Space
This open access book advances knowledge of anti-gender mobilizations and offers helpful insights for academics, researchers, and policymakers alike.
link.springer.com
January 27, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Download it also to read how Maja Gergoric and I argue that abortion is the core Croatian anti-gender issue and how it was used in the institutionalization of Croatian anti-gender movement!
I honestly think a sizable amount of this is just the typical "old people don't understand computers" trope.
I and many others predicted this long ago. VPNs now headed for UK age gating. Amendment 94a is also massive, given its potential scope. reclaimthenet.org/uk-house-of-...
UK House of Lords Votes to Extend Age Verification to VPNs
The vote marks a stunning turn, pulling VPNs and private platforms into an age-check regime once unthinkable in a democracy.
reclaimthenet.org
January 27, 2026 at 12:11 PM
I honestly think a sizable amount of this is just the typical "old people don't understand computers" trope.
Better films about famous Slovenes are available:
January 27, 2026 at 5:05 AM
Better films about famous Slovenes are available:
Yeah, most of the other Rising leaders like Pearse, Clarke and Plunkett were romantic liberal nationalists from middle-class backgrounds whose political awakenings had been as Gaelic revival activists. Connolly grew up dirt poor in the Edinburgh slums and came into politics as a trade unionist.
Nobody liked Connolly; the other organizers of the Easter Rising only let him in on it because they were worried he was going to start his own rebellion with his tiny Citizen Army and it would interfere with their plans. He was a dedicated communist intellectual, which the others weren't.
January 26, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Yeah, most of the other Rising leaders like Pearse, Clarke and Plunkett were romantic liberal nationalists from middle-class backgrounds whose political awakenings had been as Gaelic revival activists. Connolly grew up dirt poor in the Edinburgh slums and came into politics as a trade unionist.
The location of Hernan Cortes' grave was formally a classified secret in independent Mexico for over a century to stop it being destroyed. When it was finally declassified in 1946, there were calls for the bones to be physically crushed and disposed of in a public ceremony.
The thing I find genuinely funny about "the Spanish conquistador in me" is how that all did not actually work out very well for Spain in the long run.
January 26, 2026 at 4:40 PM
The location of Hernan Cortes' grave was formally a classified secret in independent Mexico for over a century to stop it being destroyed. When it was finally declassified in 1946, there were calls for the bones to be physically crushed and disposed of in a public ceremony.
We need a true diversity of thought, understanding that other Batman villains may be at the root of people's views too.
I think you'll find Ellie, that at this difficult time it's reckless to be comparing views different to yours as being the work of The Joker.....
January 26, 2026 at 12:52 PM
We need a true diversity of thought, understanding that other Batman villains may be at the root of people's views too.
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
Waiting for the headline "Nigel Farage to form new party" in about 6 months time, and on and on it goes
🚨 BREAKING: Suella Braverman has defected to Reform UK
January 26, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Waiting for the headline "Nigel Farage to form new party" in about 6 months time, and on and on it goes
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
Getting closer and closer to the experiment of recreating the 2019-24 Tories sans Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt.
January 26, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Getting closer and closer to the experiment of recreating the 2019-24 Tories sans Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt.
Yup, classic case of useful idiots who provided a convenient cover story for the mass of hardcore reactionary gutter bigots.
Self-described "left-wing radical feminists" like Jane Clare Jones handed them this on a silver platter. They're responsible not just in making transphobia a major part of contemporary fascism in a big way, but of providing a "feminist" framework for reactionary politics per se.
January 26, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Yup, classic case of useful idiots who provided a convenient cover story for the mass of hardcore reactionary gutter bigots.
OK, it ran out today, so probably going to be buying EU5 at some point in the coming week or two...
Eh, I still have two months left on my EU4 DLC subscription so I guess I'll let that run out before I think about buying EU5...
January 26, 2026 at 2:11 AM
OK, it ran out today, so probably going to be buying EU5 at some point in the coming week or two...
Reminds me of Matt Walsh telling that story about how he refused to stay with his wife and baby in hospital the night she gave birth because the hospital wouldn't provide him a bed of his own and he didn't want to sleep in a chair.
I know tons of great dads who genuinely do half or more of the parenting, but I also know guys who can't even be trusted to take care of the kids by themselves on a school night, and which category these fucking chuds belong to is pretty obvious.
January 26, 2026 at 1:55 AM
Reminds me of Matt Walsh telling that story about how he refused to stay with his wife and baby in hospital the night she gave birth because the hospital wouldn't provide him a bed of his own and he didn't want to sleep in a chair.
There's a general reasons why RWers have no experience of and thus struggle to comprehend grassroots organising. One is just geography: mass organising is harder in sparser peopled areas. Another is ideological antipathy to bottom-up mobilisation
But the biggest is... what would they organise for?
But the biggest is... what would they organise for?
these guys are LARPing like siege commanders talking about "supply lines"
rightoids literally cannot comprehend the idea of a community caring for their own; these people live in Minneapolis their supply line is a five minute drive to the grocery store
rightoids literally cannot comprehend the idea of a community caring for their own; these people live in Minneapolis their supply line is a five minute drive to the grocery store
January 26, 2026 at 1:28 AM
There's a general reasons why RWers have no experience of and thus struggle to comprehend grassroots organising. One is just geography: mass organising is harder in sparser peopled areas. Another is ideological antipathy to bottom-up mobilisation
But the biggest is... what would they organise for?
But the biggest is... what would they organise for?
It's becoming an increasingly common theme that transphobia serves as a permission structure for violent misogynist men to fantasise about (if not worse) beating up any woman they don't like.
January 25, 2026 at 7:57 PM
It's becoming an increasingly common theme that transphobia serves as a permission structure for violent misogynist men to fantasise about (if not worse) beating up any woman they don't like.
The missing context here is that Tony was clearly just asked how long each of his next three holidays are going to be.
January 25, 2026 at 6:18 PM
The missing context here is that Tony was clearly just asked how long each of his next three holidays are going to be.
"I don't hate trans people, I'm just concerned about women's sport. Even though I never mention it outside the context of trans participants. Unrelatedly I oppose puberty blockers, social transition, using preferred names and pronouns, etc but that these all hurt trans people is just a coincidence."
January 25, 2026 at 6:07 PM
"I don't hate trans people, I'm just concerned about women's sport. Even though I never mention it outside the context of trans participants. Unrelatedly I oppose puberty blockers, social transition, using preferred names and pronouns, etc but that these all hurt trans people is just a coincidence."
Curious choice to only mention one of the letter's eight authors, wonder why that might be...
January 25, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Curious choice to only mention one of the letter's eight authors, wonder why that might be...
Frankly, it's actually striking how *un*-suppressive Europe has been to the far-right. It's at most been a (far from universal) tacit agreement among other parties not to ally with them. Even in Germany, which probably goes furthest in thos regard, the AfD do not struggle for media coverage.
There's a lot to pick apart here, but this line, from an American, is especially galling.
I teach at a law school. And unlike many of my colleagues south of the border, I can do that without a government apparatchik picking through my syllabus in search of wrongthink.
Land of the free it ain't.
I teach at a law school. And unlike many of my colleagues south of the border, I can do that without a government apparatchik picking through my syllabus in search of wrongthink.
Land of the free it ain't.
January 25, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Frankly, it's actually striking how *un*-suppressive Europe has been to the far-right. It's at most been a (far from universal) tacit agreement among other parties not to ally with them. Even in Germany, which probably goes furthest in thos regard, the AfD do not struggle for media coverage.
It's very revealing that they genuinely don't know how to do something like this.
(mobilise a protest, not rent a gas mask)
(mobilise a protest, not rent a gas mask)
Bondi: "It's extremely organized. The signs they have are all matching, they're well written. And look at what's happening today. How did these people go out & get gas masks? These protesters. Would you know how to walk out on the street and buy a gas mask? Think about that. We're not gonna have it"
January 24, 2026 at 8:38 PM
It's very revealing that they genuinely don't know how to do something like this.
(mobilise a protest, not rent a gas mask)
(mobilise a protest, not rent a gas mask)
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
I have spent my entire adult life being lectured by Republican politicians and conservative legal movement types about how important it is to preserve the sacred constitutional right to self-defense of *specifically this person* and then secret police murdered him in the street
Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara says that the victim was a 37-year-old white man and US citizen with no criminal record and that he was a legally permitted gun owner.
January 24, 2026 at 6:29 PM
I have spent my entire adult life being lectured by Republican politicians and conservative legal movement types about how important it is to preserve the sacred constitutional right to self-defense of *specifically this person* and then secret police murdered him in the street
Also from a purely military perspective, an armed insurgency is a fucking dumb idea in a pretty culturally homogenous, infrastructurally developed and (in macro terms) high employment country. Nowhere to hide, no major source of recruits.
The thing about the “acktually armed resistance is the only way to revolution” reply guys is that the ones who aren’t feds have no plans for armed revolution: they just want an excuse to stay at home and jerk off while feeling morally superior to the people doing the actual work or resistance.
January 24, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Also from a purely military perspective, an armed insurgency is a fucking dumb idea in a pretty culturally homogenous, infrastructurally developed and (in macro terms) high employment country. Nowhere to hide, no major source of recruits.
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
It is truly incredible to watch elected officials take the quiet/weak/cowardly path like they have a secret rejoinder of “well, what would you do in this situation, don’t judge” in their back pocket when they need it. Meanwhile thousands and thousands of _their own voters_ are risking life, for love
Personally I've moved so far past anger at most Dem politicians in this moment beyond a couple local exceptions. Disdain & contempt are the closest terms. Just fundamental inability to rise to the moment while refusing to get out of the way for someone who might.
January 24, 2026 at 4:21 PM
It is truly incredible to watch elected officials take the quiet/weak/cowardly path like they have a secret rejoinder of “well, what would you do in this situation, don’t judge” in their back pocket when they need it. Meanwhile thousands and thousands of _their own voters_ are risking life, for love
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
Every person who goes into the streets to observe or respond to ICE knows, in some part of their brain, there’s a likelihood that they’ll be killed by masked federal paramilitaries. And yet they do it anyway. But it doesn’t make it any less shocking or heartrending when a good neighbor is martyred.
January 24, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Every person who goes into the streets to observe or respond to ICE knows, in some part of their brain, there’s a likelihood that they’ll be killed by masked federal paramilitaries. And yet they do it anyway. But it doesn’t make it any less shocking or heartrending when a good neighbor is martyred.
Of course, only raving antisemites like the AJC would ever say "Jewish Americans".
January 24, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Of course, only raving antisemites like the AJC would ever say "Jewish Americans".
Ooh, forgot to give my thoughts on this after watching!
So basically yeah, it's as great as it was sold to me, very emotional and hard-hitting. Just a couple of thoughts that really stood out to me:
So basically yeah, it's as great as it was sold to me, very emotional and hard-hitting. Just a couple of thoughts that really stood out to me:
This is on tonight on Channel 4. Strongly encourage people to watch. Can't speak to what it's like myself yet, but have heard from folks who have seen it that it's a really insightful and emotional exploration of intersex people's lives.
The Secret of Me - Official Trailer
YouTube video by Rogan Productions
youtu.be
January 24, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Ooh, forgot to give my thoughts on this after watching!
So basically yeah, it's as great as it was sold to me, very emotional and hard-hitting. Just a couple of thoughts that really stood out to me:
So basically yeah, it's as great as it was sold to me, very emotional and hard-hitting. Just a couple of thoughts that really stood out to me: