Caleb Ward
@calebw.bsky.social
Social and political philosophy, feminism, social change
The Unflinching Philosophy of Audre Lorde, forthcoming 2026
Postdoc at Uni Hamburg
Photo by Frank Ward, 1999
https://www.calebward.xyz/
The Unflinching Philosophy of Audre Lorde, forthcoming 2026
Postdoc at Uni Hamburg
Photo by Frank Ward, 1999
https://www.calebward.xyz/
Pinned
What does it mean to be hot for revolution—to feel a desire to transform the world in your belly and your bones?
Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.
philpapers.org/archive/WARH...
Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.
philpapers.org/archive/WARH...
Reposted by Caleb Ward
We need to learn from past mobilization and coalition building, now more than ever.
In spring 1979, Black women & girls were found murdered one after another on Boston's south side. Mainstream press remained silent.
Black feminists, women of color, and white lesbians mobilized to stop it.
In spring 1979, Black women & girls were found murdered one after another on Boston's south side. Mainstream press remained silent.
Black feminists, women of color, and white lesbians mobilized to stop it.
“'We Cannot Live Without Our Lives': Art-Activism and the Struggle for Black Women’s Lives in Boston, 1979" is now available online in @signsjournal.org. Honored to be able to share some thoughts on the poets and activists who inspire and sustain me.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
“We Cannot Live Without Our Lives”: Art-Activism and the Struggle for Black Women’s Lives in Boston, 1979 | Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society: Vol 51, No 2
Abstract The Combahee River Collective’s political work in response to the murders of twelve Black women in Boston in 1979 is a crucial chapter in the history of Black queer socialist feminism, with i...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
February 9, 2026 at 12:34 PM
We need to learn from past mobilization and coalition building, now more than ever.
In spring 1979, Black women & girls were found murdered one after another on Boston's south side. Mainstream press remained silent.
Black feminists, women of color, and white lesbians mobilized to stop it.
In spring 1979, Black women & girls were found murdered one after another on Boston's south side. Mainstream press remained silent.
Black feminists, women of color, and white lesbians mobilized to stop it.
Reposted by Caleb Ward
respect to Lady Gaga, I too have been way over my head at a salsa club
February 9, 2026 at 1:27 AM
respect to Lady Gaga, I too have been way over my head at a salsa club
Reposted by Caleb Ward
What are you doing today if not educating yourself about Puerto Rican feminism?
This piece by Omayra Rivera Crespo on feminism in PR urbanism and the contestation of space looks fascinating
This piece by Omayra Rivera Crespo on feminism in PR urbanism and the contestation of space looks fascinating
Sites of resistance in Puerto Rico: A feminist perspective
This article explores how feminist agents in Puerto Rico are redefining public space through acts of resistance, care, and co-creation. It addresses t…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:40 PM
What are you doing today if not educating yourself about Puerto Rican feminism?
This piece by Omayra Rivera Crespo on feminism in PR urbanism and the contestation of space looks fascinating
This piece by Omayra Rivera Crespo on feminism in PR urbanism and the contestation of space looks fascinating
Also amazing that he staged that part of the show as performing as *the wedding band*—not royalty, not superstardom, but someone there hired to help a community share good times together. I love that.
I've been told that this was an actual wedding
I haven't had time to confirm that because I've been too busy shaking uncontrollably
I haven't had time to confirm that because I've been too busy shaking uncontrollably
February 9, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Also amazing that he staged that part of the show as performing as *the wedding band*—not royalty, not superstardom, but someone there hired to help a community share good times together. I love that.
We need to learn from past mobilization and coalition building, now more than ever.
In spring 1979, Black women & girls were found murdered one after another on Boston's south side. Mainstream press remained silent.
Black feminists, women of color, and white lesbians mobilized to stop it.
In spring 1979, Black women & girls were found murdered one after another on Boston's south side. Mainstream press remained silent.
Black feminists, women of color, and white lesbians mobilized to stop it.
“'We Cannot Live Without Our Lives': Art-Activism and the Struggle for Black Women’s Lives in Boston, 1979" is now available online in @signsjournal.org. Honored to be able to share some thoughts on the poets and activists who inspire and sustain me.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
“We Cannot Live Without Our Lives”: Art-Activism and the Struggle for Black Women’s Lives in Boston, 1979 | Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society: Vol 51, No 2
Abstract The Combahee River Collective’s political work in response to the murders of twelve Black women in Boston in 1979 is a crucial chapter in the history of Black queer socialist feminism, with i...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
February 9, 2026 at 12:34 PM
We need to learn from past mobilization and coalition building, now more than ever.
In spring 1979, Black women & girls were found murdered one after another on Boston's south side. Mainstream press remained silent.
Black feminists, women of color, and white lesbians mobilized to stop it.
In spring 1979, Black women & girls were found murdered one after another on Boston's south side. Mainstream press remained silent.
Black feminists, women of color, and white lesbians mobilized to stop it.
Starting in the cane fields...
February 9, 2026 at 1:37 AM
Starting in the cane fields...
Reposted by Caleb Ward
My friend George has a new paper out in Synthese examining the distinctive badness of epistemic injustices committed against friends: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Why committing epistemic injustice against close friends can be distinctively bad - Synthese
Synthese - There has been increasing attention given to epistemic injustice in different relational contexts. This paper adds to this literature by providing a novel argument for the claim that...
link.springer.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:26 PM
My friend George has a new paper out in Synthese examining the distinctive badness of epistemic injustices committed against friends: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
"You are waiting for someone else to speak, but the words that don’t come out of your mouth will never come out of someone else’s."
Audre Lorde (and she's right)
Audre Lorde (and she's right)
February 8, 2026 at 10:33 AM
"You are waiting for someone else to speak, but the words that don’t come out of your mouth will never come out of someone else’s."
Audre Lorde (and she's right)
Audre Lorde (and she's right)
My child is officially obsessed
February 7, 2026 at 8:15 PM
My child is officially obsessed
This thread from Surprise, AZ is uplifting and important because it shows how anyone can use whatever they have, even just their residency in a given town, as a means of leverage for what they believe
Residents are chiding the council and mayor for saying they had no idea this facility was being bought by DHS. “It was your job to know,” said a speaker who called the council “failures.” Another said they wouldn’t be making these “we can’t do anything” excuses if it was a proposed homeless shelter.
February 7, 2026 at 10:18 AM
This thread from Surprise, AZ is uplifting and important because it shows how anyone can use whatever they have, even just their residency in a given town, as a means of leverage for what they believe
The upshot:
People aren’t just hot for revolution because they eroticize change. They’re hot for revolution because change is the condition of possibility for agency over their erotic lives, ending sexual exploitation & distortion imposed on them by a society indifferent to their flourishing.✨
People aren’t just hot for revolution because they eroticize change. They’re hot for revolution because change is the condition of possibility for agency over their erotic lives, ending sexual exploitation & distortion imposed on them by a society indifferent to their flourishing.✨
What does it mean to be hot for revolution—to feel a desire to transform the world in your belly and your bones?
Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.
philpapers.org/archive/WARH...
Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.
philpapers.org/archive/WARH...
February 7, 2026 at 9:11 AM
The upshot:
People aren’t just hot for revolution because they eroticize change. They’re hot for revolution because change is the condition of possibility for agency over their erotic lives, ending sexual exploitation & distortion imposed on them by a society indifferent to their flourishing.✨
People aren’t just hot for revolution because they eroticize change. They’re hot for revolution because change is the condition of possibility for agency over their erotic lives, ending sexual exploitation & distortion imposed on them by a society indifferent to their flourishing.✨
Audre Lorde told an audience in Eugene, OR in 1984: When she sees a foot on someone's neck, her reaction is not to try to understand either person's feelings. Her reaction is to ask, "How can I help you get it off?"
February 6, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Audre Lorde told an audience in Eugene, OR in 1984: When she sees a foot on someone's neck, her reaction is not to try to understand either person's feelings. Her reaction is to ask, "How can I help you get it off?"
As Gandhi once said in a department meeting:
Hire the change you want to see in the discipline.
Hire the change you want to see in the discipline.
February 5, 2026 at 12:55 PM
As Gandhi once said in a department meeting:
Hire the change you want to see in the discipline.
Hire the change you want to see in the discipline.
Reposted by Caleb Ward
With fellow philosophers Daniel James and Morgan Thompson, we were awarded the Charles Mills Prize for our work on the ongoing lack of accounting for, and eliminating of, structural racism. We have great respect for Mills’s work, and receiving a prize in his name is deeply meaningful and an honour
We are pleased to announce the winner of The Charles Mills Prize "Who Counts in Official Statistics? Ethical-Epistemic Issues in German Migration & the Collection of Racial or Ethnic Data”
Daniel James, Morgan Thompson & Tereza Hendl
#philsky
Read it here 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Daniel James, Morgan Thompson & Tereza Hendl
#philsky
Read it here 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Who Counts in Official Statistics? Ethical‐Epistemic Issues in German Migration and the Collection of Racial or Ethnic Data
In European countries (excluding the UK and Ireland), official statistics do not use racial or ethnic categories, but instead rely on proxies to collect data about discrimination. In the German micro...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:05 AM
With fellow philosophers Daniel James and Morgan Thompson, we were awarded the Charles Mills Prize for our work on the ongoing lack of accounting for, and eliminating of, structural racism. We have great respect for Mills’s work, and receiving a prize in his name is deeply meaningful and an honour
What does it mean to be hot for revolution—to feel a desire to transform the world in your belly and your bones?
Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.
philpapers.org/archive/WARH...
Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.
philpapers.org/archive/WARH...
February 4, 2026 at 11:55 AM
What does it mean to be hot for revolution—to feel a desire to transform the world in your belly and your bones?
Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.
philpapers.org/archive/WARH...
Here's my latest, on how erotic desire feeds political agency. I draw on AIDS activism, disability justice & other movements against sexual oppression.
philpapers.org/archive/WARH...
This! And prisons also *manufacture* sexual abuse by creating extremely dangerous environments for prisoners, where agency over what happens to their bodies by guards and other prisoners is systematically undermined
The other thing rarely talked about is how our prisons house exponentially more victims of sexual violence than perpetrators. Not just women’s prisons. All prisons. An exceptionally high number of male prisoners were victims of child sex abuse.
February 4, 2026 at 11:04 AM
This! And prisons also *manufacture* sexual abuse by creating extremely dangerous environments for prisoners, where agency over what happens to their bodies by guards and other prisoners is systematically undermined
This tragedy is going to become a big story. Coast guard ramming a migrant vessel, whether by policy or recklessness, amounts to summary execution of migrants
Fifteen migrants die after boat collides with Greek coast guard vessel off Chios, coast guard says reut.rs/4kgTHWp
Fifteen migrants die after boat collides with Greek coast guard vessel off Chios, coast guard says
Fifteen migrants died after their boat collided with a coast guard vessel, capsized and sank off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea late on Tuesday, the Greek coast guard said, in one of Greece's worst shipwrecks in years.
reut.rs
February 4, 2026 at 10:43 AM
This tragedy is going to become a big story. Coast guard ramming a migrant vessel, whether by policy or recklessness, amounts to summary execution of migrants
Archivists are HEROES
In 2024, we were awarded a Modern Endangered Archives Program grant (UCLA) to preserve the archive of the Federación Provincial de Rondas Campesinas de Chota, a historic peasant organisation in Peru. Here, I outline the work we have undertaken so far and explain why preserving this archive matters.
PhD Student, Sandra Rodríguez Castañeda, discusses a project of archival recovery in northern Peru
Read the blog: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/americas-blo...
#Peru #archives #research #phd #PhDLife #fieldwork
Read the blog: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/americas-blo...
#Peru #archives #research #phd #PhDLife #fieldwork
February 2, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Archivists are HEROES
One time I broke down in a camper van in Punxsutawney and the first thing someone said when we got out the car was to ask my friend if she was wearing a “groundhog hat”. One track mind those folks
❄️ Six more weeks of Winter it is! Phil the groundhog has predicted winter is not yet over during the Groundhog Day festivities in Pennsylvania on February 2, 2026. See Phil's weather-forecasting skills: reut.rs/4anQGQV
February 2, 2026 at 2:52 PM
One time I broke down in a camper van in Punxsutawney and the first thing someone said when we got out the car was to ask my friend if she was wearing a “groundhog hat”. One track mind those folks
Reposted by Caleb Ward
Everyone likes "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house", but Audre Lorde also says:
Even when they are dangerous
examine the heart of those machines you hate
before you discard them
and never mourn the lack of their power
lest you be condemned to relive them.
Even when they are dangerous
examine the heart of those machines you hate
before you discard them
and never mourn the lack of their power
lest you be condemned to relive them.
November 29, 2023 at 1:10 PM
Everyone likes "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house", but Audre Lorde also says:
Even when they are dangerous
examine the heart of those machines you hate
before you discard them
and never mourn the lack of their power
lest you be condemned to relive them.
Even when they are dangerous
examine the heart of those machines you hate
before you discard them
and never mourn the lack of their power
lest you be condemned to relive them.
Reposted by Caleb Ward
In 1992, Cicih Sukaesih led fellow Indonesian factory workers in a strike, part of a movement that led Nike to create its first code of conduct.
She's proud of the example she set. But she described her work as incomplete, as problems remain, including chronically low wages.
With @oregonian.com
She's proud of the example she set. But she described her work as incomplete, as problems remain, including chronically low wages.
With @oregonian.com
She Was a Key Voice of the 1990s Labor Movement in Nike’s Indonesia Factories. Today She Relies on Donations From Abroad.
In 1992, Cicih Sukaesih led fellow Indonesian factory workers in a strike, part of a movement that led Nike to create its first code of conduct. She reflects on her achievements and what’s happened si...
www.propublica.org
January 31, 2026 at 7:00 PM
In 1992, Cicih Sukaesih led fellow Indonesian factory workers in a strike, part of a movement that led Nike to create its first code of conduct.
She's proud of the example she set. But she described her work as incomplete, as problems remain, including chronically low wages.
With @oregonian.com
She's proud of the example she set. But she described her work as incomplete, as problems remain, including chronically low wages.
With @oregonian.com
Headline from 1926 🫠
January 31, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Headline from 1926 🫠
Five classes I took in college:
The single class that radicalized me most was Latin American Politics. Nothing more powerful than learning the history of your own country’s imperialism
My other classes had unsexy names like
Ancient Political Theory
Modern Political Theory
Harmony & Counterpoint 5
The single class that radicalized me most was Latin American Politics. Nothing more powerful than learning the history of your own country’s imperialism
My other classes had unsexy names like
Ancient Political Theory
Modern Political Theory
Harmony & Counterpoint 5
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college.
Race, Class, & Gender
Sociology of Death & Dying
Philosophy of Space & Time
Contending Perspectives in Economics
Inequality, Equity, & Employment
Race, Class, & Gender
Sociology of Death & Dying
Philosophy of Space & Time
Contending Perspectives in Economics
Inequality, Equity, & Employment
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college.
African-American Culture & The Korean War
7 Lamps of Literature
Poets of The Interregnum
Physics For Artists
Mark Twain
African-American Culture & The Korean War
7 Lamps of Literature
Poets of The Interregnum
Physics For Artists
Mark Twain
January 31, 2026 at 8:05 AM
Five classes I took in college:
The single class that radicalized me most was Latin American Politics. Nothing more powerful than learning the history of your own country’s imperialism
My other classes had unsexy names like
Ancient Political Theory
Modern Political Theory
Harmony & Counterpoint 5
The single class that radicalized me most was Latin American Politics. Nothing more powerful than learning the history of your own country’s imperialism
My other classes had unsexy names like
Ancient Political Theory
Modern Political Theory
Harmony & Counterpoint 5
Also a chronic mistake among academics hoping their work can be useful on the ground: we either focus on how ppl lack agency or just redefine agency to be whatever it is ppl are doing under constrained circumstances. Thats not gonna cut it!
CAN WE ALL CAPS THIS
"A chronic mistake organizers make is basically organizing people around their lack of agency."
"A chronic mistake organizers make is basically organizing people around their lack of agency."
A discussion about why Minnesota was so ready to reject ICE/CBP:
"Number one is the rigorous focus on agency-oriented organizing practice, a north star of building multiracial, democratic governing power. We have a majoritarian orientation — we want progressive and popular power."
"Number one is the rigorous focus on agency-oriented organizing practice, a north star of building multiracial, democratic governing power. We have a majoritarian orientation — we want progressive and popular power."
January 29, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Also a chronic mistake among academics hoping their work can be useful on the ground: we either focus on how ppl lack agency or just redefine agency to be whatever it is ppl are doing under constrained circumstances. Thats not gonna cut it!