Matt Donoghue
@drdonoghue.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Social Policy, UCD
Works at the intersection of politics, sociology, political economy, via social/public policy. Into ideas.
Ireland, UK & Europe
#SocialCitizenship #Resilience #WelfareState #Ideology #Discourse #Cohesion
Works at the intersection of politics, sociology, political economy, via social/public policy. Into ideas.
Ireland, UK & Europe
#SocialCitizenship #Resilience #WelfareState #Ideology #Discourse #Cohesion
Pinned
Matt Donoghue
@drdonoghue.bsky.social
· Dec 19
I don't think I actually introduced myself to new followers. Or made the most of @altmetric.bsky.social now being on BSky. So, here's a thread letting you know about me and some things I've done.
I'm an Assistant Prof. in Social Policy. My background is political science. Follow the thread for more
I'm an Assistant Prof. in Social Policy. My background is political science. Follow the thread for more
There is a difference, but there can be a significant amount of overlap, and the differences can sometimes be context dependent.
(not as catchy, but true)
(not as catchy, but true)
There isn’t a difference.
We all like to rag on the BBC but just because the Labour Party has been using a phrase for decades doesn't mean its not vague without a clearly defined meaning. Have you met the Labour Party!?!
If don't believe me, explain the definitional difference between Democratic Socialism & Social Democracy
If don't believe me, explain the definitional difference between Democratic Socialism & Social Democracy
November 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
There is a difference, but there can be a significant amount of overlap, and the differences can sometimes be context dependent.
(not as catchy, but true)
(not as catchy, but true)
Exactly. Unlimited (or continuous) growth is a damaging myth. It justifies all sorts of resource extraction and market fundamentalism. There have been no breaks or barriers because to now these have all been based on politics (i.e. agreements and fictions). Climate collapse is the first physical one
Today feels like a good day to remind everyone that there is literally no empirical evidence that economic growth will just continue if the world heats up to, say, 3°C by 2100.
Continued growth is just *assumed* in every economic model of the relationship between temperatures and growth.
🧵
Continued growth is just *assumed* in every economic model of the relationship between temperatures and growth.
🧵
November 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Exactly. Unlimited (or continuous) growth is a damaging myth. It justifies all sorts of resource extraction and market fundamentalism. There have been no breaks or barriers because to now these have all been based on politics (i.e. agreements and fictions). Climate collapse is the first physical one
It's been a while since I've been able to say an article has been submitted for review, but thanks to the ideas, efforts and research of @inigoaldama.bsky.social - that I've been privileged to support - we submitted an article for review today. Now just to cross fingers for straightforward reviews!
November 5, 2025 at 4:06 PM
It's been a while since I've been able to say an article has been submitted for review, but thanks to the ideas, efforts and research of @inigoaldama.bsky.social - that I've been privileged to support - we submitted an article for review today. Now just to cross fingers for straightforward reviews!
Reposted by Matt Donoghue
Further proof that AI stands for Actually Indians
So the $20,000 humanoid robot housekeeper actually just webcams your house to a random person in a call center with an Xbox controller www.wsj.com/tech/persona... @joannastern.bsky.social
I Tried the Robot That’s Coming to Live With You. It’s Still Part Human.
1X’s Neo wants to be your housekeeper. First, it needs to be controlled by a human in your home. Cool with you?
www.wsj.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Further proof that AI stands for Actually Indians
There's an old and probably not very fashionable maxim that goes along the lines of: when capitalism's survival is threatened, the system is more likely to slide into fascism than it is to transcend capitalism. (1/2)
Elon Musk: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die" 29th October 2025. 2 million views in its first hour.
October 29, 2025 at 11:46 AM
There's an old and probably not very fashionable maxim that goes along the lines of: when capitalism's survival is threatened, the system is more likely to slide into fascism than it is to transcend capitalism. (1/2)
I assume they get AI to read for them
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read.
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read Tolkien, as they certainly don’t understand it.
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
October 29, 2025 at 10:07 AM
I assume they get AI to read for them
Reposted by Matt Donoghue
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read.
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read Tolkien, as they certainly don’t understand it.
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
Elon Musk: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die" 29th October 2025. 2 million views in its first hour.
October 29, 2025 at 9:56 AM
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read.
Reposted by Matt Donoghue
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
I have so many documents to code, but I just can't seem to concentrate on it for more than a few minutes, before I click away, do something else, and get back to it.
(which is exactly why I'm writing this post...)
Any tips? Anything that works well for you?
(which is exactly why I'm writing this post...)
Any tips? Anything that works well for you?
October 17, 2025 at 10:16 AM
I have so many documents to code, but I just can't seem to concentrate on it for more than a few minutes, before I click away, do something else, and get back to it.
(which is exactly why I'm writing this post...)
Any tips? Anything that works well for you?
(which is exactly why I'm writing this post...)
Any tips? Anything that works well for you?
I've updated my professional profile. Give it a read when you have a moment, and if anyone is interested in potential collaborations or might be looking for a PhD supervisor in my areas of interest, let me know.
people.ucd.ie/matthew.dono...
people.ucd.ie/matthew.dono...
Discovery
people.ucd.ie
October 17, 2025 at 9:25 AM
I've updated my professional profile. Give it a read when you have a moment, and if anyone is interested in potential collaborations or might be looking for a PhD supervisor in my areas of interest, let me know.
people.ucd.ie/matthew.dono...
people.ucd.ie/matthew.dono...
One the one hand, these things are incoherent if we believe in a particular kind of enlightenment liberalism. On the other hand, I expect this juxtaposition is in fact very coherent based on Jenrick's personal politics.
Jenrick is absurdly incoherent on principles of free expression because he wants immediate arrests for "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) while turning up to court to defend shouting "Fuck Islam" while burning a Quran
www.theguardian.com/politics/art...
www.theguardian.com/politics/art...
Robert Jenrick criticised for saying people shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ should be arrested
Tory leadership candidate’s comments around far-right protests described as nasty, divisive and ignorant
www.theguardian.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:18 PM
One the one hand, these things are incoherent if we believe in a particular kind of enlightenment liberalism. On the other hand, I expect this juxtaposition is in fact very coherent based on Jenrick's personal politics.
That's my podcast title sorted, then.
October 10, 2025 at 10:28 AM
That's my podcast title sorted, then.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I did some of my PhD fieldwork in Handsworth in the late 00s-early 10s. Felt pretty integrated to me, despite high levels of deprivation. The residents weren't particularly enamoured with the government, mind.
I did some of my PhD fieldwork in Handsworth in the late 00s-early 10s. Felt pretty integrated to me, despite high levels of deprivation. The residents weren't particularly enamoured with the government, mind.
Robert Jenrick accused of fuelling ‘toxic nationalism’ with Birmingham claims
Shadow justice secretary stands by comments made in March amid criticism including from a Tory colleague
www.theguardian.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:13 PM
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I did some of my PhD fieldwork in Handsworth in the late 00s-early 10s. Felt pretty integrated to me, despite high levels of deprivation. The residents weren't particularly enamoured with the government, mind.
I did some of my PhD fieldwork in Handsworth in the late 00s-early 10s. Felt pretty integrated to me, despite high levels of deprivation. The residents weren't particularly enamoured with the government, mind.
I have decided that the coffee bag (like a teabag but with coffee) is the perfect example of innovation under capitalism. It's nice and it's convenient, but we don't *really* need it.
October 1, 2025 at 11:23 AM
I have decided that the coffee bag (like a teabag but with coffee) is the perfect example of innovation under capitalism. It's nice and it's convenient, but we don't *really* need it.
Many people in the west are going to have to get over the fact that some people are smarter than them, and in fact need to rely on their expertise, knowledge and experience to make the appropriate choices.
Like doctors.
Like doctors.
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Many people in the west are going to have to get over the fact that some people are smarter than them, and in fact need to rely on their expertise, knowledge and experience to make the appropriate choices.
Like doctors.
Like doctors.
Reposted by Matt Donoghue
Rather than a dogmatic adherence to the line that benefit levels satisfy a formal statistical calculation of Existenzminimum, ergo there is no poverty… maybe the task is to examine how and why current social security levels fall short of ensuring the human right to an adequate standard of living.
September 19, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Rather than a dogmatic adherence to the line that benefit levels satisfy a formal statistical calculation of Existenzminimum, ergo there is no poverty… maybe the task is to examine how and why current social security levels fall short of ensuring the human right to an adequate standard of living.
Reposted by Matt Donoghue
Germany’s chancellor: “No one in our country falls into poverty because they become unemployed.” („Niemand fällt in unserem Land in die Armut, weil er arbeitslos wird.”)
Lived experience of unemployment benefits strongly suggests otherwise.
Screengrabs via @sanktionsfrei.bsky.social
Lived experience of unemployment benefits strongly suggests otherwise.
Screengrabs via @sanktionsfrei.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Germany’s chancellor: “No one in our country falls into poverty because they become unemployed.” („Niemand fällt in unserem Land in die Armut, weil er arbeitslos wird.”)
Lived experience of unemployment benefits strongly suggests otherwise.
Screengrabs via @sanktionsfrei.bsky.social
Lived experience of unemployment benefits strongly suggests otherwise.
Screengrabs via @sanktionsfrei.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Donoghue
The man had many insights into life that I enjoy!
September 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The man had many insights into life that I enjoy!
Just to say, if those Jimmy Kimmel remarks were *that* offensive, media outlets around the world would not be airing them. Yet, they are.
September 18, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Just to say, if those Jimmy Kimmel remarks were *that* offensive, media outlets around the world would not be airing them. Yet, they are.
Reposted by Matt Donoghue
This is basically the takeaway for my qualitative methods class today: All data must be interpreted. And all data are qualitative unless and until they're interpreted quantitatively.
You will never be able to make "data driven" decisions until you realize just how much your decisions are driven by emotions: fear of missing out, defensiveness of your favorite idea, apprehension over something unusual.
That's because there's no such thing as "the data" - only interpretations.
That's because there's no such thing as "the data" - only interpretations.
September 9, 2025 at 1:05 PM
This is basically the takeaway for my qualitative methods class today: All data must be interpreted. And all data are qualitative unless and until they're interpreted quantitatively.
www.brusselstimes.com/1732122/unem...
Can anyone point me to any more information/sources/analysis of these Belgian welfare reforms? I assume this is focused on social assistance not insurance...
Can anyone point me to any more information/sources/analysis of these Belgian welfare reforms? I assume this is focused on social assistance not insurance...
Unemployment warning letters to be sent out soon
28,800 jobseekers to lose unemployment benefits as Belgium's reforms take effect.
www.brusselstimes.com
September 7, 2025 at 11:38 AM
www.brusselstimes.com/1732122/unem...
Can anyone point me to any more information/sources/analysis of these Belgian welfare reforms? I assume this is focused on social assistance not insurance...
Can anyone point me to any more information/sources/analysis of these Belgian welfare reforms? I assume this is focused on social assistance not insurance...
Labour strategists would do well to look at this data.
Labour's next biggest losses are to left-liberal parties (Liberal Democrats and Greens).
Reform's growth in support has mostly come from the Conservatives and non-voting (much less from Labour).
These reflect patterns of party-bloc voting that we saw in the 2024 UK GE: tinyurl.com/y5pv7thw
Reform's growth in support has mostly come from the Conservatives and non-voting (much less from Labour).
These reflect patterns of party-bloc voting that we saw in the 2024 UK GE: tinyurl.com/y5pv7thw
September 3, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Labour strategists would do well to look at this data.
I've just had to double check that I know what necessary and sufficient conditions are, and if I associated them with the correct Mill's method. Time for bed I think.
September 2, 2025 at 9:00 PM
I've just had to double check that I know what necessary and sufficient conditions are, and if I associated them with the correct Mill's method. Time for bed I think.
I'm back teaching some comparative social policy this year. Starting with the question of why compare. So of course we have to look at health spending and outcomes...
September 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I'm back teaching some comparative social policy this year. Starting with the question of why compare. So of course we have to look at health spending and outcomes...
Reposted by Matt Donoghue
Fellow ‘Bluesky Elders’ will remember that the site was set up to pivot away from quote-tweets and dunks, but unfortunately I’ve found the perfect image to quote-tweet dunk someone with.
September 2, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Fellow ‘Bluesky Elders’ will remember that the site was set up to pivot away from quote-tweets and dunks, but unfortunately I’ve found the perfect image to quote-tweet dunk someone with.