Benjamin H. Bradlow
@bhbradlow.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, @princeton.edu.
Visiting Researcher, Wits Southern Center for Inequality Studies.
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar.
Climate, urbanization, tech, democracy, Global South.
bradlow.princeton.edu
Visiting Researcher, Wits Southern Center for Inequality Studies.
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar.
Climate, urbanization, tech, democracy, Global South.
bradlow.princeton.edu
Pinned
The growing Brics divide between carbon and electro-states
Energy systems can shape political institutions and make some nations more vulnerable to trade wars than others
on.ft.com
My new op-ed essay in the @financialtimes.com.
on.ft.com/4kKqiTb
The growing Brics divide between carbon and electro-states
on.ft.com/4kKqiTb
The growing Brics divide between carbon and electro-states
National auto industries can die. The US is doing its best to be the latest example.
That would only be true in a world without politics. The real future is protectionism: soon Americans traveling abroad will marvel at the amazing cars out there, and wonder why theirs are so bad.
With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/c...
With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/c...
February 16, 2026 at 1:00 PM
National auto industries can die. The US is doing its best to be the latest example.
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
China's Xinhua news agency has just published this editorial cartoon in response to Trump's rejection of climate policies.
It is pretty clear that China views this as a HUGE geopolitical fumble by the US leaving the field clear for China's to win the global race to clean-tech hegemony
It is pretty clear that China views this as a HUGE geopolitical fumble by the US leaving the field clear for China's to win the global race to clean-tech hegemony
February 14, 2026 at 12:20 PM
China's Xinhua news agency has just published this editorial cartoon in response to Trump's rejection of climate policies.
It is pretty clear that China views this as a HUGE geopolitical fumble by the US leaving the field clear for China's to win the global race to clean-tech hegemony
It is pretty clear that China views this as a HUGE geopolitical fumble by the US leaving the field clear for China's to win the global race to clean-tech hegemony
I read about the AI mining prospecting firm Kobold the same week I first taught Arboleda's "Planetary Mine" in early '21, and have been following it ever since. This is a crazy story about how it is accessing stolen records on land in DRC held in a Belgian museum.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Belgian museum caught in row over millions of DR Congo records
KoBold Metals and DR Congo are pushing a Brussels museum to release records that would help map valuable metals
giftarticle.ft.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:22 PM
I read about the AI mining prospecting firm Kobold the same week I first taught Arboleda's "Planetary Mine" in early '21, and have been following it ever since. This is a crazy story about how it is accessing stolen records on land in DRC held in a Belgian museum.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
The "whole value chain" is the lynchpin of planning for industrial transformation in critical sectors. Excellent piece by @cornelban.bsky.social comparing how China and the EU diverged on EVs.
In the early days of Europe’s electric turn, the future arrived the way it often does on the old continent: as a folder. It had a title, an annex, a consultation period, and a gentle assumption that if the rules were correct and the incentives stable, reality would comply. How did this dream curdle?
On EVs, Europe Mistook Market Signals for Demand
Brussels and National Capitals Needs to Learn about Whole Value Chain Planning to Stay Relevant
geoeconomic.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:47 AM
The "whole value chain" is the lynchpin of planning for industrial transformation in critical sectors. Excellent piece by @cornelban.bsky.social comparing how China and the EU diverged on EVs.
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
prepping for week 3 of my seminar - an intro to green industrial policy. really impressed by the quality of discussion so far, w students sharing perspectives on singapore, turkey, hungary, china, and more. big thanks to @bhbradlow.bsky.social for the inspiration. dm for the full syllabus!
February 8, 2026 at 3:44 PM
prepping for week 3 of my seminar - an intro to green industrial policy. really impressed by the quality of discussion so far, w students sharing perspectives on singapore, turkey, hungary, china, and more. big thanks to @bhbradlow.bsky.social for the inspiration. dm for the full syllabus!
The Princeton Climate Change and Development Initiative just finished its inaugural workshop on the theme of "The Political Economy of Emergent Energy Transitions in the Global South."
We brought together scholars who are doing field-based empirical research across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
We brought together scholars who are doing field-based empirical research across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
February 7, 2026 at 7:19 PM
The Princeton Climate Change and Development Initiative just finished its inaugural workshop on the theme of "The Political Economy of Emergent Energy Transitions in the Global South."
We brought together scholars who are doing field-based empirical research across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
We brought together scholars who are doing field-based empirical research across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
This week at Group Threat, I spoke with @grundrza.bsky.social about Florida's censorship regime, teaching under authoritarianism, and how folks are coping (or not).
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
February 6, 2026 at 3:00 PM
This week at Group Threat, I spoke with @grundrza.bsky.social about Florida's censorship regime, teaching under authoritarianism, and how folks are coping (or not).
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
🚨New piece in Politics & Society! w/ @maxkiefel.bsky.social @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social
Internationalizing Industrial Policy: How China and the United States Use State Capacity to Secure Critical Minerals for Electric Vehicles 🇨🇳 🇺🇸
doi.org/10.1177/0032...
Internationalizing Industrial Policy: How China and the United States Use State Capacity to Secure Critical Minerals for Electric Vehicles 🇨🇳 🇺🇸
doi.org/10.1177/0032...
February 5, 2026 at 1:26 PM
🚨New piece in Politics & Society! w/ @maxkiefel.bsky.social @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social
Internationalizing Industrial Policy: How China and the United States Use State Capacity to Secure Critical Minerals for Electric Vehicles 🇨🇳 🇺🇸
doi.org/10.1177/0032...
Internationalizing Industrial Policy: How China and the United States Use State Capacity to Secure Critical Minerals for Electric Vehicles 🇨🇳 🇺🇸
doi.org/10.1177/0032...
Just accepted for publication at Socio-Economic Review, my new paper co-authored with brilliant Princeton undergraduate Aishwarya Swamidurai!
The "power to pollute" and "post-neoliberal" climate
finance
The "power to pollute" and "post-neoliberal" climate
finance
February 4, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Just accepted for publication at Socio-Economic Review, my new paper co-authored with brilliant Princeton undergraduate Aishwarya Swamidurai!
The "power to pollute" and "post-neoliberal" climate
finance
The "power to pollute" and "post-neoliberal" climate
finance
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
New op-ed out in @prospectmagazine.co.uk with @jhasselbalch.bsky.social: "Green growth versus degrowth is a false choice: The growth split in the climate movement only benefits the far right"
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
Green growth versus degrowth is a false choice
The growth split in the climate movement only benefits the far right
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 5:17 PM
New op-ed out in @prospectmagazine.co.uk with @jhasselbalch.bsky.social: "Green growth versus degrowth is a false choice: The growth split in the climate movement only benefits the far right"
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
TACO does not go far enough in capturing the dysfunction of Trump's threats to the rest of the world. Everything he says about his interactions with others is unreliable for assessing what will happen. In this sense, he might as well be ignored.
"Just saying, but $500 billion is about Rs 45.5 lakh crore.
As per Budget 2026, the govt plans to spend about Rs 53.5 lakh crore in total. That's on literally everything.
Mr. Trump is saying India has committed about 85% of its total budget on goods from America." - Sharad Raghavan, econ editor
As per Budget 2026, the govt plans to spend about Rs 53.5 lakh crore in total. That's on literally everything.
Mr. Trump is saying India has committed about 85% of its total budget on goods from America." - Sharad Raghavan, econ editor
February 3, 2026 at 4:44 PM
TACO does not go far enough in capturing the dysfunction of Trump's threats to the rest of the world. Everything he says about his interactions with others is unreliable for assessing what will happen. In this sense, he might as well be ignored.
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
‘An Indigenous campaigner against illegal fishing was recently approached by two men who invoked the killings of Phillips and Pereira: “Wise up or the same thing will happen to you.”’
@alexclapp.bsky.social on the journalist Dom Phillips’s investigations in the Amazon.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@alexclapp.bsky.social on the journalist Dom Phillips’s investigations in the Amazon.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Alexander Clapp · Diary: In the Amazon
As the journalist Dom Phillips came to see it, the deforestation of the Amazon was the work of a stupendously profitable...
www.lrb.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 3:45 PM
‘An Indigenous campaigner against illegal fishing was recently approached by two men who invoked the killings of Phillips and Pereira: “Wise up or the same thing will happen to you.”’
@alexclapp.bsky.social on the journalist Dom Phillips’s investigations in the Amazon.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@alexclapp.bsky.social on the journalist Dom Phillips’s investigations in the Amazon.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
I doubt it - not least because it covers a lot of very recent messages (as opposed to documents held back under the 30 year rule) and written by people who felt secure in the expectation that the correspondence would remain private.
February 3, 2026 at 3:51 PM
I doubt it - not least because it covers a lot of very recent messages (as opposed to documents held back under the 30 year rule) and written by people who felt secure in the expectation that the correspondence would remain private.
I don't see myself doing this, but I'll just put it out there as a sociology dissertation idea: an investigation of elite behavior as observed in the Epstein Files.
February 3, 2026 at 3:33 PM
I don't see myself doing this, but I'll just put it out there as a sociology dissertation idea: an investigation of elite behavior as observed in the Epstein Files.
2026 is my year of writing book #2.
February 2, 2026 at 5:55 PM
2026 is my year of writing book #2.
Can petrostates nurture manufacturing in the twenty-first century?
The US is running a very dangerous experiment to find out.
The US is running a very dangerous experiment to find out.
"It’s the single biggest capital allocation mistake in the history of the automotive industry"
Ford will take a $19.5 billion loss on its EV plants.
GM will take a $7.6 billion loss.
Others such as Honda & Volvo have all warned investors of similar losses.
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/01/e...
Ford will take a $19.5 billion loss on its EV plants.
GM will take a $7.6 billion loss.
Others such as Honda & Volvo have all warned investors of similar losses.
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/01/e...
How the EV pullback is affecting factories and jobs in the South
Automakers, suppliers and battery makers were funneling hundreds of billions of dollars into EV-related manufacturing in the U.S. Now it's all in question.
www.cnbc.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Can petrostates nurture manufacturing in the twenty-first century?
The US is running a very dangerous experiment to find out.
The US is running a very dangerous experiment to find out.
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
Excited to announce the publication of my new book – Chinese Global Environmentalism – later this month!
The environment was once one of China's greatest weaknesses. It is now becoming a pillar of China’s global power.
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
The environment was once one of China's greatest weaknesses. It is now becoming a pillar of China’s global power.
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
February 2, 2026 at 12:49 AM
Excited to announce the publication of my new book – Chinese Global Environmentalism – later this month!
The environment was once one of China's greatest weaknesses. It is now becoming a pillar of China’s global power.
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
The environment was once one of China's greatest weaknesses. It is now becoming a pillar of China’s global power.
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Pre-ordered!
what do we talk about when we talk about energy? my answer features (among many others) adorno, bogdanov, and the austrian communist wilhelm frank, who experimented with national exergy balances in the 1950s. out april 2026.
January 29, 2026 at 2:01 AM
Pre-ordered!
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
One thing the EU is doing that even Biden-era US would not do wrt the Global South: including technological / knowledge partnerships as part of trade agreements. The mercantilist impulse has been shared across the Biden and Trump teams.
5/ "This could be the start of something big. Combine the EU and India, add Brazil and Indonesia, throw in Nigeria, Argentina, Japan and South Korea. Drive a common agenda (trade, tech, climate, security) through the whole thing. And you get the beginnings of a new geopolitical pole"-@JeremyCliffe
January 27, 2026 at 6:24 PM
One thing the EU is doing that even Biden-era US would not do wrt the Global South: including technological / knowledge partnerships as part of trade agreements. The mercantilist impulse has been shared across the Biden and Trump teams.
Reposted by Benjamin H. Bradlow
AAUP President Todd Wolfson on the killing of Alex Pretti:
"This moment demands a unified, bold, and powerful response from the labor movement. We are uniting across sectors to organize, mobilize, and wield our full collective power to confront ICE."
Full statement:
"This moment demands a unified, bold, and powerful response from the labor movement. We are uniting across sectors to organize, mobilize, and wield our full collective power to confront ICE."
Full statement:
AAUP President on the Killing of Alex Pretti: “This Moment Demands A Powerful Response from the Labor Movement”
AAUP President Todd Wolfson issued the following statement in response to the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, January 24.
www.aaup.org
January 25, 2026 at 9:42 PM
AAUP President Todd Wolfson on the killing of Alex Pretti:
"This moment demands a unified, bold, and powerful response from the labor movement. We are uniting across sectors to organize, mobilize, and wield our full collective power to confront ICE."
Full statement:
"This moment demands a unified, bold, and powerful response from the labor movement. We are uniting across sectors to organize, mobilize, and wield our full collective power to confront ICE."
Full statement:
The animating issue in The Secret Agent is public research in a regional Brazilian university into electric vehicles and lithium ion battery technology. Why is nobody talking about this?!
January 25, 2026 at 9:10 PM
The animating issue in The Secret Agent is public research in a regional Brazilian university into electric vehicles and lithium ion battery technology. Why is nobody talking about this?!
Grateful to Nancy Odendaal for her thoughtful review of URBAN POWER alongside excellent recent titles by Philip Harrison & Alison Todes and Claire Benit-Gbaffou in the Journal of the American Planning Association.
doi.org/10.1080/0194...
doi.org/10.1080/0194...
Spatial Governance in South Africa and Beyond
Published in Journal of the American Planning Association (Ahead of Print, 2026)
doi.org
January 23, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Grateful to Nancy Odendaal for her thoughtful review of URBAN POWER alongside excellent recent titles by Philip Harrison & Alison Todes and Claire Benit-Gbaffou in the Journal of the American Planning Association.
doi.org/10.1080/0194...
doi.org/10.1080/0194...
Got a new journal article on climate finance, (post)neoliberalism and South Africa's Just Energy Transition Partnership making its way into the world soon. More to come!
January 22, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Got a new journal article on climate finance, (post)neoliberalism and South Africa's Just Energy Transition Partnership making its way into the world soon. More to come!