Henry M J Tonks
@henrymjtonks.bsky.social
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for the Study of American Democracy, Kenyon College | Historian of Liberalism & U.S. since 1960s | PhD @bostonu.bsky.social | Politics, cinema, cities, food | All views my own
Pinned
Henry M J Tonks
@henrymjtonks.bsky.social
· Feb 25
The Rise and Fall of the New Liberals: How the Democrats Lost Their Majority - American Affairs Journal
Since the 1960s, the Democratic Party has transformed. From a party rooted since the New Deal era in both “developmental liberalism” and a version of social democratic class politics, it has grown int...
americanaffairsjournal.org
Last year’s electoral earthquake exposed the difficulty the Democratic Party faces in building a majority for an age of populism.
Read my “American Affairs” essay on liberalism’s transformation, grand ambitions constrained, and what comes next. #USPolitics americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-...
Read my “American Affairs” essay on liberalism’s transformation, grand ambitions constrained, and what comes next. #USPolitics americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-...
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
"For all his ardently laissez-faire rhetoric, Reagan undertook a range of measures that resembled “managed trade,” the concept advocated by industrial policy champions like Thurow, Reich, and Democratic congressman Richard Gephardt." - @henrymjtonks.bsky.social.
www.compactmag.com/article/what...
www.compactmag.com/article/what...
What Trump Got Right About Reagan and Tariffs
On October 16, the province of Ontario released a television ad that showed Ronald Reagan criticizing “tariffs or trade barriers of any kind” in a 1987 address.
www.compactmag.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:09 PM
"For all his ardently laissez-faire rhetoric, Reagan undertook a range of measures that resembled “managed trade,” the concept advocated by industrial policy champions like Thurow, Reich, and Democratic congressman Richard Gephardt." - @henrymjtonks.bsky.social.
www.compactmag.com/article/what...
www.compactmag.com/article/what...
Back to the ’80s?
I wrote about #tariffs, “competitiveness,” and #Reagan vs #Trump for “Compact.” #USPolitics
www.compactmag.com/article/what...
I wrote about #tariffs, “competitiveness,” and #Reagan vs #Trump for “Compact.” #USPolitics
www.compactmag.com/article/what...
What Trump Got Right About Reagan and Tariffs
On October 16, the province of Ontario released a television ad that showed Ronald Reagan criticizing “tariffs or trade barriers of any kind” in a 1987 address.
www.compactmag.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Back to the ’80s?
I wrote about #tariffs, “competitiveness,” and #Reagan vs #Trump for “Compact.” #USPolitics
www.compactmag.com/article/what...
I wrote about #tariffs, “competitiveness,” and #Reagan vs #Trump for “Compact.” #USPolitics
www.compactmag.com/article/what...
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
9/30/83: The Big Chill
Kevin Kline, Glenn Close & a party of faves
The cool kids sneer - but we're all in
More:
@raymondbenson.bsky.social: cinemaretro.com/index.php?/a...
@jennocal.bsky.social: www.popmatters.com/lawrence-kas...
@henrymjtonks.bsky.social: lareviewofbooks.org/article/you-...
Kevin Kline, Glenn Close & a party of faves
The cool kids sneer - but we're all in
More:
@raymondbenson.bsky.social: cinemaretro.com/index.php?/a...
@jennocal.bsky.social: www.popmatters.com/lawrence-kas...
@henrymjtonks.bsky.social: lareviewofbooks.org/article/you-...
September 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
9/30/83: The Big Chill
Kevin Kline, Glenn Close & a party of faves
The cool kids sneer - but we're all in
More:
@raymondbenson.bsky.social: cinemaretro.com/index.php?/a...
@jennocal.bsky.social: www.popmatters.com/lawrence-kas...
@henrymjtonks.bsky.social: lareviewofbooks.org/article/you-...
Kevin Kline, Glenn Close & a party of faves
The cool kids sneer - but we're all in
More:
@raymondbenson.bsky.social: cinemaretro.com/index.php?/a...
@jennocal.bsky.social: www.popmatters.com/lawrence-kas...
@henrymjtonks.bsky.social: lareviewofbooks.org/article/you-...
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
It took Trump less than 24 hours to “turn a government shutdown into a weapon wielded against the civil servants he once praised and the opposing party he has long derided,” Toluse Olorunnipa and Jonathan Lemire report.
A Government Shutdown, Weaponized
The president is boasting about doing things to Democrats that are “bad for them and irreversible by them.”
bit.ly
October 3, 2025 at 11:15 AM
It took Trump less than 24 hours to “turn a government shutdown into a weapon wielded against the civil servants he once praised and the opposing party he has long derided,” Toluse Olorunnipa and Jonathan Lemire report.
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
Our last research article from 8.2: @henrymjtonks.bsky.social looks at Lowell, MA, as an example of how deindustrialization & urban decay in the 1970s forced policymakers to focus on public-private partnerships as mechanisms of economic regeneration
Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
September 16, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Our last research article from 8.2: @henrymjtonks.bsky.social looks at Lowell, MA, as an example of how deindustrialization & urban decay in the 1970s forced policymakers to focus on public-private partnerships as mechanisms of economic regeneration
Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
This from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social is v good. "Abundance need not be an instrument of Democratic factional competition. Instead, it has the potential to unite the liberal-left together around a vision for how to implement grand Democratic ambitions." hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/lessons-fr...
Lessons from the forgotten history of Democratic abundance
Moderates and leftists misunderstand the 1990s. That is stopping them from seeing their joint path forward.
hypertext.niskanencenter.org
July 30, 2025 at 3:36 PM
This from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social is v good. "Abundance need not be an instrument of Democratic factional competition. Instead, it has the potential to unite the liberal-left together around a vision for how to implement grand Democratic ambitions." hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/lessons-fr...
Does liberalism need an “abundance mindset”?
I ventured into the #abundance debate with an essay for @niskanencenter.bsky.social historicizing everybody’s favorite topic. #USPolitics
hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/lessons-fr...
I ventured into the #abundance debate with an essay for @niskanencenter.bsky.social historicizing everybody’s favorite topic. #USPolitics
hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/lessons-fr...
Lessons from the forgotten history of Democratic abundance
Moderates and leftists misunderstand the 1990s. That is stopping them from seeing their joint path forward.
hypertext.niskanencenter.org
July 30, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Does liberalism need an “abundance mindset”?
I ventured into the #abundance debate with an essay for @niskanencenter.bsky.social historicizing everybody’s favorite topic. #USPolitics
hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/lessons-fr...
I ventured into the #abundance debate with an essay for @niskanencenter.bsky.social historicizing everybody’s favorite topic. #USPolitics
hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/lessons-fr...
My @modamhist.bsky.social article about industrial decline, economic regeneration, and the rise of the “New Liberals” is available to read! ➡️ doi.org/10.1017/mah....
I explore Lowell National Historical Park as a microcosm of the modern Democratic Party’s complex transformation. #USHistory
I explore Lowell National Historical Park as a microcosm of the modern Democratic Party’s complex transformation. #USHistory
“‘Downtown Lowell is a Fun Place to Be’: Postindustrial Regeneration and the Making of the ‘New Liberals,’ 1974–1992” | Modern American History | Cambridge Core
“‘Downtown Lowell is a Fun Place to Be’: Postindustrial Regeneration and the Making of the ‘New Liberals,’ 1974–1992”
doi.org
June 10, 2025 at 1:32 PM
My @modamhist.bsky.social article about industrial decline, economic regeneration, and the rise of the “New Liberals” is available to read! ➡️ doi.org/10.1017/mah....
I explore Lowell National Historical Park as a microcosm of the modern Democratic Party’s complex transformation. #USHistory
I explore Lowell National Historical Park as a microcosm of the modern Democratic Party’s complex transformation. #USHistory
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
A great review of Mastery and Drift from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social!
Bill Clinton said his colleagues were “new” Democrats who thought and governed differently to the “old” party. Was this true?
I reviewed @lilygeismer.bsky.social and @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Mastery and Drift” for @clereviewbooks.bsky.social. #USPolitics www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...
I reviewed @lilygeismer.bsky.social and @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Mastery and Drift” for @clereviewbooks.bsky.social. #USPolitics www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...
Thinking like a Technocrat: On Brent Cebul and Lily Geismer's "Mastery and Drift" — Cleveland Review of Books
This reconfiguration of liberalism has created a new Democratic coalition that is capacious yet precarious.
www.clereviewofbooks.com
June 4, 2025 at 6:13 PM
A great review of Mastery and Drift from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social!
Bill Clinton said his colleagues were “new” Democrats who thought and governed differently to the “old” party. Was this true?
I reviewed @lilygeismer.bsky.social and @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Mastery and Drift” for @clereviewbooks.bsky.social. #USPolitics www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...
I reviewed @lilygeismer.bsky.social and @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Mastery and Drift” for @clereviewbooks.bsky.social. #USPolitics www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...
Thinking like a Technocrat: On Brent Cebul and Lily Geismer's "Mastery and Drift" — Cleveland Review of Books
This reconfiguration of liberalism has created a new Democratic coalition that is capacious yet precarious.
www.clereviewofbooks.com
May 22, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Bill Clinton said his colleagues were “new” Democrats who thought and governed differently to the “old” party. Was this true?
I reviewed @lilygeismer.bsky.social and @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Mastery and Drift” for @clereviewbooks.bsky.social. #USPolitics www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...
I reviewed @lilygeismer.bsky.social and @brentcebul.bsky.social’s “Mastery and Drift” for @clereviewbooks.bsky.social. #USPolitics www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
A very sharp paragraph from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social that pairs nicely with the Catalist report. www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...
May 20, 2025 at 3:14 PM
A very sharp paragraph from @henrymjtonks.bsky.social that pairs nicely with the Catalist report. www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/bren...
Last year’s electoral earthquake exposed the difficulty the Democratic Party faces in building a majority for an age of populism.
Read my “American Affairs” essay on liberalism’s transformation, grand ambitions constrained, and what comes next. #USPolitics americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-...
Read my “American Affairs” essay on liberalism’s transformation, grand ambitions constrained, and what comes next. #USPolitics americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-...
The Rise and Fall of the New Liberals: How the Democrats Lost Their Majority - American Affairs Journal
Since the 1960s, the Democratic Party has transformed. From a party rooted since the New Deal era in both “developmental liberalism” and a version of social democratic class politics, it has grown int...
americanaffairsjournal.org
February 25, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Last year’s electoral earthquake exposed the difficulty the Democratic Party faces in building a majority for an age of populism.
Read my “American Affairs” essay on liberalism’s transformation, grand ambitions constrained, and what comes next. #USPolitics americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-...
Read my “American Affairs” essay on liberalism’s transformation, grand ambitions constrained, and what comes next. #USPolitics americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-...
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
@lilygeismer.bsky.social and I are thrilled that our new project, Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals since the 1960s, is published today. When we began this work a few years ago, we had no idea how sadly relevant exploring the evolution . . . (1/10)
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Mastery and Drift
A revelatory look at modern liberalism’s historical evolution and enduring impact on contemporary politics and society. Since the 1960s, American liberalism and the Democratic Party have been rema...
press.uchicago.edu
February 11, 2025 at 11:46 AM
@lilygeismer.bsky.social and I are thrilled that our new project, Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals since the 1960s, is published today. When we began this work a few years ago, we had no idea how sadly relevant exploring the evolution . . . (1/10)
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
“What’s past is prologue.” – Roger Stone
To understand 2025, go back to the #Nineties. Read my review of @lioneltrolling.bsky.social’s “When the Clock Broke” and @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social and Judith Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure” to learn why. #USPolitics www.phenomenalworld.org/reviews/back...
To understand 2025, go back to the #Nineties. Read my review of @lioneltrolling.bsky.social’s “When the Clock Broke” and @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social and Judith Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure” to learn why. #USPolitics www.phenomenalworld.org/reviews/back...
Back to the ‘90s | Henry Tonks
On Ganz’s “When the Clock Broke” and Lichtenstein and Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure”
www.phenomenalworld.org
February 4, 2025 at 7:25 PM
“What’s past is prologue.” – Roger Stone
To understand 2025, go back to the #Nineties. Read my review of @lioneltrolling.bsky.social’s “When the Clock Broke” and @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social and Judith Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure” to learn why. #USPolitics www.phenomenalworld.org/reviews/back...
To understand 2025, go back to the #Nineties. Read my review of @lioneltrolling.bsky.social’s “When the Clock Broke” and @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social and Judith Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure” to learn why. #USPolitics www.phenomenalworld.org/reviews/back...
Reposted by Henry M J Tonks
Brilliant book review by @henrymjtonks.bsky.social .
The Whole Equation: Can “Neoliberalism” Explain Everything?, reviewing
The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America by Mehrsa Baradaran • W.W. Norton • 2024 • 464 pages • $32.50
The Whole Equation: Can “Neoliberalism” Explain Everything?, reviewing
The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America by Mehrsa Baradaran • W.W. Norton • 2024 • 464 pages • $32.50
January 19, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Brilliant book review by @henrymjtonks.bsky.social .
The Whole Equation: Can “Neoliberalism” Explain Everything?, reviewing
The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America by Mehrsa Baradaran • W.W. Norton • 2024 • 464 pages • $32.50
The Whole Equation: Can “Neoliberalism” Explain Everything?, reviewing
The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America by Mehrsa Baradaran • W.W. Norton • 2024 • 464 pages • $32.50
“It can be understood too, but only dimly and in flashes.”
For @lpeblog.bsky.social, I wrote about @mehrsab.bsky.social’s “The Quiet Coup” and what we talk about when we talk about #neoliberalism. @lpeproject.bsky.social lpeproject.org/blog/can-neo...
For @lpeblog.bsky.social, I wrote about @mehrsab.bsky.social’s “The Quiet Coup” and what we talk about when we talk about #neoliberalism. @lpeproject.bsky.social lpeproject.org/blog/can-neo...
The Whole Equation: Can “Neoliberalism” Explain Everything?
In The Quiet Coup, Mehrsa Baradaran takes the conversation about neoliberalism beyond the realm of economics, focusing instead on legal revolutions, the conservative reaction to the Civil Rights…
lpeproject.org
December 20, 2024 at 1:13 PM
“It can be understood too, but only dimly and in flashes.”
For @lpeblog.bsky.social, I wrote about @mehrsab.bsky.social’s “The Quiet Coup” and what we talk about when we talk about #neoliberalism. @lpeproject.bsky.social lpeproject.org/blog/can-neo...
For @lpeblog.bsky.social, I wrote about @mehrsab.bsky.social’s “The Quiet Coup” and what we talk about when we talk about #neoliberalism. @lpeproject.bsky.social lpeproject.org/blog/can-neo...
I’ve put together a thread of pieces I’ve written about American history and political culture over the past couple of years. Please take a look and read below! ⬇️
For @time-magazine.bsky.social, I wrote about the Democratic Party’s class realignment. #2024Election time.com/7173651/demo...
For @time-magazine.bsky.social, I wrote about the Democratic Party’s class realignment. #2024Election time.com/7173651/demo...
The Democratic Party Realignment That Empowered Trump
Since the 1970s, the Democratic Party has realigned—a shift that might have cost Kamala Harris the White House.
time.com
December 2, 2024 at 4:12 PM
I’ve put together a thread of pieces I’ve written about American history and political culture over the past couple of years. Please take a look and read below! ⬇️
For @time-magazine.bsky.social, I wrote about the Democratic Party’s class realignment. #2024Election time.com/7173651/demo...
For @time-magazine.bsky.social, I wrote about the Democratic Party’s class realignment. #2024Election time.com/7173651/demo...
Hello, brave new world! 🙏🏼 Pleased to be here on Bluesky.
🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
November 30, 2024 at 11:57 PM
Hello, brave new world! 🙏🏼 Pleased to be here on Bluesky.
🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋