Felicity Callard
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felicitycallard.bsky.social
Felicity Callard
@felicitycallard.bsky.social
Geographies & histories of what we have come to call “mental health” | the university | daydreams & fantasies | Freud | Marx

Editor, History of the Human Sciences @histhum.bsky.social
Pinned
I wrote on psychic life and Palestinian resistance

– to ensure more people read Abdaljawad Omar @hamayel.bsky.social.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Jay (first author of our Sullivan Review paper) in their thread discusses one of the lesser known parts of the Review:

its offensive against established principles surrounding ethical review, research governance, and community involvement

rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The Sullivan Review & Ethics: A Thread

A key problematic of the Review is its significant consequences for ethical principles/governance. Its 2nd report recommends universities consider ‘paring back the scope and power of ethics committees’ in varied ways Read them below

doi.org/10.1111/tran.70057
February 4, 2026 at 3:45 PM
yes: I read it a year or so ago having previously prevaricated. Read most it before during and after visiting Mann family house on the extraordinary Curonian spit in Lithuania
February 4, 2026 at 2:36 PM
‘Naila Ahmed, head of campaigns at advocacy group CAGE, said: “This acquittal is a huge victory for the movement but [sic] nationally & abroad who campaigned on behalf of the defendants, & a powerful affirmation of jury independence and moral courage in the face of extraordinary political pressure’
Six Palestine Action activists have declared victory after being cleared of committing aggravated burglary over a break-in at an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site
Activists celebrate victory as all 6 cleared in Israeli arms factory trial
www.thenational.scot
February 4, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
Six Palestine Action activists have declared victory after being cleared of committing aggravated burglary over a break-in at an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site
Activists celebrate victory as all 6 cleared in Israeli arms factory trial
www.thenational.scot
February 4, 2026 at 1:14 PM
My friend told me yesterday that the mother of this student is the chief arts critic of the Observer. I checked out her (the mother’s) recent posts on X and they are full of “gender critical” [I always put that phrase in quotation marks] RTs
February 4, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
'Sasha Roseneil, the University of Sussex’s vice-chancellor, criticised the investigation at the time, arguing that the OfS had ignored or turned down nine requests by the university to meet with investigators, despite taking lengthy statements from Stock.'
February 4, 2026 at 10:24 AM
An excellent piece on how “clarity” is deployed in conservative projects more broadly and transphobic politics more specifically. Thank you @nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
I did a blog article on this kind of use of "clarity" a while back, and I still think it's one of the most insightful things I've written www.newwaysministry.org/2025/04/11/c...
February 4, 2026 at 10:23 AM
The stakes surrounding the “Sullivan Review” are high, @jaytoddgla.bsky.social and I argue in @tibg.bsky.social

rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
February 4, 2026 at 8:35 AM
If you were interested in @jaytoddgla.bsky.social’s and my critical response to the “Sullivan Review” yesterday, make sure you read @kevinguyan.bsky.social’s very recently published “Trans-exclusionary data activism in the UK”
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Trans-exclusionary data activism in the UK
In the UK, the design and management of sex and gender categories in data – including census questions, police and health records, and digital ID – has become a key focus of trans-exclusionary acti...
www.tandfonline.com
February 4, 2026 at 7:19 AM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
We're looking to capture experiences of what it means to be queer in the UK today! To do that we're collecting day diaries for 12th February. It doesn't matter what you get up to, or how you record it, we'd love to have it!🧵 (1/4) #LGBTplusHM #lgbthm26
In 1982, inspired by the work of MO the National Lesbian and Gay survey began, it sought to capture what everyday life was like for queer people living in the UK. For our latest open call we're continuing the work of NLGS and asking what does it mean to be queer every day?

#lgbtqhistory
February 3, 2026 at 5:00 PM
We would love for @jaytoddgla.bsky.social’s and my critical response to be read widely, given the Sullivan Review’s potential for far-reaching implications across the social and health sciences — and indeed well beyond the academy
New Intervention in TIBG:

'A critical response to the UK's "Sullivan Review" into sex and gender in research and data' by @jaytoddgla.bsky.social & @felicitycallard.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1111/tran...
February 3, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Many university researchers (& many social scientists) have no idea that the 'Sullivan Review' (named after its lead author, sociologist Sullivan) exists nor of its potential potency.

@jaytoddgla.bsky.social and I wanted to set the Review in context

rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
February 3, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
I'm glad Dr Todd and Prof Callard remind us right at the start of their article that the Sullivan Review was commissioned as part of the Conservative Party's "Kicking Woke Ideology Out of Science" programme. A strong and stable grounding for policy-based evidence-making.
February 3, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
Media coverage of Gaza has plummeted. So today on @thenation.com, we're doing something pretty special: we're only running pieces by people in and from Gaza.

We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
A Day for Gaza
Today, The Nation is turning over its website exclusively to stories from Gaza and its people. This is why.
www.thenation.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Wasn't necessarily expecting to get our research covered in Attitude Mag but I'm so glad @attitudemag.bsky.social has:

"We are calling upon researchers across the UK to reject the recommendations of the Sullivan Review," says Dr Jay Todd @jaytoddgla.bsky.social"
www.attitude.co.uk/news/uk-gove...
UK Government review on sex and gender slammed by professionals for wrongly portraying trans identities
Researchers have warned that the UK Government’s review on sex and gender risks harming studies relating to trans identities.
www.attitude.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Thank you for posting about our paper @paisleycurrah.com. Your writings have been central to our thinking through our critique of the Sullivan Review.
February 3, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
Mandating a binary, immutable definition of sex in research is epistemic vandalism. It doesn’t just erase trans people, it wreaks havoc on the tools of knowledge production, leading to less nuanced, less accurate, and less rigorous science.
📣 Today @felicitycallard.bsky.social and I have published the first peer-reviewed response to the 'Sullivan Review' of research and data on sex and gender.

doi.org/10.1111/tran...

The Review could threaten trans rights and inclusion, erode academic freedom, and undermine research quality.
February 3, 2026 at 1:32 PM
For US-based friends: Jay's @jaytoddgla.bsky.social & my critical response to UK 'Sullivan Review' shows its international reach:

Already used by Trump administration to secure commitment to 'sex-based language' & excise 'gender' & 'gender identity' rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
February 3, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
It's pretty clear to us that implementation of the Sullivan 'review' breaches UK GDPR obligations. EU GDPR, identical to ours, says you can't process data about the sex assigned at birth of trans people unless there is a very good reason for doing so. And we are active in this space.
📣 Today @felicitycallard.bsky.social and I have published the first peer-reviewed response to the 'Sullivan Review' of research and data on sex and gender.

doi.org/10.1111/tran...

The Review could threaten trans rights and inclusion, erode academic freedom, and undermine research quality.
February 3, 2026 at 11:21 AM
U Glasgow has covered Jay Todd's @jaytoddgla.bsky.social & my critical paper on the 'Sullivan Review' rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Many social scientists whom Jay & I talk to are (still) unaware of the Sullivan Review and its potential implications. Our paper aims to change this
Recommendations from the Sullivan Review could undermine the quality of public institutions’ research, erode academic freedom, and threaten the rights of trans and gender diverse people if widely adopted, @uofgges.bsky.social researchers have warned.

Read more here: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...
February 3, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
A must-read paper for UK and international social scientists: the Sullivan Review "(re)installs.. a hygienically patrolled division between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’, where a certain model of sex is ‘reality’, and ‘gender identity’ is cast merely as an individual's (psychological) ‘self-understanding.'"
📣 Today @felicitycallard.bsky.social and I have published the first peer-reviewed response to the 'Sullivan Review' of research and data on sex and gender.

doi.org/10.1111/tran...

The Review could threaten trans rights and inclusion, erode academic freedom, and undermine research quality.
February 3, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Reposted by Felicity Callard
📖 Must read:

Peer-reviewed critical response to the Tory commissioned, and Labour government endorsed, ‘Sullivan Review’

"we see it as endorsing practices that contravene ethical principles of autonomy, dignity, rights and welfare, particularly for trans, gender diverse and I/VSC people"
📣 Today @felicitycallard.bsky.social and I have published the first peer-reviewed response to the 'Sullivan Review' of research and data on sex and gender.

doi.org/10.1111/tran...

The Review could threaten trans rights and inclusion, erode academic freedom, and undermine research quality.
February 3, 2026 at 9:51 AM
I never post a link to the THE but the THE has covered Jay Todd's @jaytoddgla.bsky.social and my paper with the headline, 'Trans research "at risk" if data collection guidance adopted'

rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
February 3, 2026 at 9:48 AM
(Ended up serendipitously publishing 2 things very important to me almost simultaneously – one on Palestinian resistance, and one in the service of trans liberation – and I can almost feel the anxious brush of moving fingers too worried to press a like button on either)
February 3, 2026 at 9:38 AM