Mike McCarthy
@itsmccarthy.bsky.social
University of California Santa Cruz Prof. Director of Community Studies. Author: The Master’s Tools (Verso) + Dismantling Solidarity (Cornell). Likes: economic democracy, critical social theory, 2x2 tables.
Pinned
Mike McCarthy
@itsmccarthy.bsky.social
· Aug 23
Love to see that @jamellebouie.net engaged with my @hammerandhope.bsky.social essay on class, identity, black politics, labor and @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social in depth today at the @nytimes.com. I’m a bit blown away. Shared below as a thread:
This piece at @lrb.co.uk by Amia Srinivasan is excellent. It speaks directly to the ways that the unconscious -- related to identity, desire, and fantasy -- relate to politics and therefore organizing. Organizers intuitively know these things, rational actor models less so.
December 19, 2025 at 5:07 PM
This piece at @lrb.co.uk by Amia Srinivasan is excellent. It speaks directly to the ways that the unconscious -- related to identity, desire, and fantasy -- relate to politics and therefore organizing. Organizers intuitively know these things, rational actor models less so.
Interesting article on the sociological approach to freedom at @sociologicaltheory.bsky.social
December 18, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Interesting article on the sociological approach to freedom at @sociologicaltheory.bsky.social
I began to wonder if the whole "black people took all our jobs" anti-woke moment had finally passed, as it doesn't characterize any data I have seen or the conversations I hear people having irl. But I decided to go back to twitter, and I see it is very much so still alive with the media class.
December 18, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I began to wonder if the whole "black people took all our jobs" anti-woke moment had finally passed, as it doesn't characterize any data I have seen or the conversations I hear people having irl. But I decided to go back to twitter, and I see it is very much so still alive with the media class.
Reposted by Mike McCarthy
In this special issue, Hammer & Hope commissioned the photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson to show us the Trump administration's arrest and deportation campaign.
hammerandhope.org/article/ice-...
hammerandhope.org/article/ice-...
December 17, 2025 at 9:13 PM
In this special issue, Hammer & Hope commissioned the photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson to show us the Trump administration's arrest and deportation campaign.
hammerandhope.org/article/ice-...
hammerandhope.org/article/ice-...
This is a really wonderful paper by Muriam Haleh Davis, laying out the key debates of the Algerian left that Fanon's work was central too. We could use more lively debates like this today, especially in the US.
December 17, 2025 at 5:14 PM
This is a really wonderful paper by Muriam Haleh Davis, laying out the key debates of the Algerian left that Fanon's work was central too. We could use more lively debates like this today, especially in the US.
Perception versus reality...social science differentiates between the two.
December 17, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Perception versus reality...social science differentiates between the two.
I feel bad for folks that went to grad school thinking they were learning truths to defend for the rest of their intellectual lives…because that is truly boring.
December 16, 2025 at 6:21 AM
I feel bad for folks that went to grad school thinking they were learning truths to defend for the rest of their intellectual lives…because that is truly boring.
Teaching a grad seminar on class, race, and ideology at UC Santa Cruz this winter. It is the first in a series on "articulations," with another on class, the state, and gender bouncing around in the back of my head unrealized. Any thoughts welcome, it's not finalized just yet...
December 15, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Teaching a grad seminar on class, race, and ideology at UC Santa Cruz this winter. It is the first in a series on "articulations," with another on class, the state, and gender bouncing around in the back of my head unrealized. Any thoughts welcome, it's not finalized just yet...
The American left desperately needs an open-access social theory journal where big ideas about capitalism, politics, history, and social change can be developed and debated. We have wonderful magazines, but but very little for deeper form public-facing theoretical work...
December 15, 2025 at 6:25 PM
The American left desperately needs an open-access social theory journal where big ideas about capitalism, politics, history, and social change can be developed and debated. We have wonderful magazines, but but very little for deeper form public-facing theoretical work...
Trump is doing what Allende never could, arming his base.
December 12, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Trump is doing what Allende never could, arming his base.
Reposted by Mike McCarthy
Took advantage of @versobooks.bsky.social's end of year sale (50% off when you order 5+ books!).
Bought books by G. Eley, A. Hanieh, A. Malm, @itsmccarthy.bsky.social, J. W. Moore, M. Neocleous, D. Sassoon, @leninology.bsky.social & @alfatau.bsky.social.
🎅 🤶 🎄 ☃️
Bought books by G. Eley, A. Hanieh, A. Malm, @itsmccarthy.bsky.social, J. W. Moore, M. Neocleous, D. Sassoon, @leninology.bsky.social & @alfatau.bsky.social.
🎅 🤶 🎄 ☃️
December 12, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Took advantage of @versobooks.bsky.social's end of year sale (50% off when you order 5+ books!).
Bought books by G. Eley, A. Hanieh, A. Malm, @itsmccarthy.bsky.social, J. W. Moore, M. Neocleous, D. Sassoon, @leninology.bsky.social & @alfatau.bsky.social.
🎅 🤶 🎄 ☃️
Bought books by G. Eley, A. Hanieh, A. Malm, @itsmccarthy.bsky.social, J. W. Moore, M. Neocleous, D. Sassoon, @leninology.bsky.social & @alfatau.bsky.social.
🎅 🤶 🎄 ☃️
The ancient Greeks had a machine for democracy, the kleroterion, today democracies are dominated by the tech of financial markets. My conversation about capitalism, class analysis, and democratic theory - first published in the Swedish magazine Röda Rummet, now in English at @versobooks.bsky.social
December 11, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The ancient Greeks had a machine for democracy, the kleroterion, today democracies are dominated by the tech of financial markets. My conversation about capitalism, class analysis, and democratic theory - first published in the Swedish magazine Röda Rummet, now in English at @versobooks.bsky.social
Congratulations to Dr. James Sirigotis, who defended his dissertation Resilient Optionality: (Infra)structures of Climate, Feeling, and Finance at UC Santa Cruz. Sirigotis offers a comprehensive account of how capitalism now mirrors the logic of financial options, a truly brilliant work.
December 8, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Congratulations to Dr. James Sirigotis, who defended his dissertation Resilient Optionality: (Infra)structures of Climate, Feeling, and Finance at UC Santa Cruz. Sirigotis offers a comprehensive account of how capitalism now mirrors the logic of financial options, a truly brilliant work.
I only met Asad Haider at a conference once, somewhat briefly. But seeing the devastation of my colleagues and comrades here at UC Santa Cruz, who knew him deeply, is an undeniable demonstration of his political and personal character and the impact he had on his friends.
December 6, 2025 at 2:24 AM
I only met Asad Haider at a conference once, somewhat briefly. But seeing the devastation of my colleagues and comrades here at UC Santa Cruz, who knew him deeply, is an undeniable demonstration of his political and personal character and the impact he had on his friends.
There is a massive need for an interdisciplinary English-language journal for critical social theory that unpaywalled, non-dogmatic, and explicitly takes a neither woke nor anti-woke editorial line.
December 2, 2025 at 4:42 AM
There is a massive need for an interdisciplinary English-language journal for critical social theory that unpaywalled, non-dogmatic, and explicitly takes a neither woke nor anti-woke editorial line.
Liberalism in theory is all about individual rights and civil liberties. But why is actually-existing liberalism so often statist and deeply distrustful of the demos? Has anyone adequately explained this gap between theory and practice?
December 1, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Liberalism in theory is all about individual rights and civil liberties. But why is actually-existing liberalism so often statist and deeply distrustful of the demos? Has anyone adequately explained this gap between theory and practice?
Revisiting this excellent review of the new literature on old financial markets. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a longer view.
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Revisiting this excellent review of the new literature on old financial markets. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a longer view.
It is thrilling to see these democratic processes increasingly put in place. I argue for something very similar in my recent book.
November 28, 2025 at 11:51 PM
It is thrilling to see these democratic processes increasingly put in place. I argue for something very similar in my recent book.
Thoughts on governance and compromise
November 25, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Thoughts on governance and compromise
This by @runestahl.bsky.social is great. Left populism's embrace of some culturally conservative positions like anti-immigration has been an utter failure. It's not just morally a dead end, its an electoral one as well -- see also Sahra Wagenknecht in Germany.
jacobin.com/2025/11/denm...
jacobin.com/2025/11/denm...
In Denmark, Social Democracy Is Failing
Around Europe, old labor parties have alienated their base by forming grand coalitions with center-right forces. In Denmark, Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats have pursued this same strategy with t...
jacobin.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:49 PM
This by @runestahl.bsky.social is great. Left populism's embrace of some culturally conservative positions like anti-immigration has been an utter failure. It's not just morally a dead end, its an electoral one as well -- see also Sahra Wagenknecht in Germany.
jacobin.com/2025/11/denm...
jacobin.com/2025/11/denm...
Thinking Alan Dershowitz is mainstream is beyond self parody.
November 25, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Thinking Alan Dershowitz is mainstream is beyond self parody.
Nobody on the right goes: "OK, but is he really a communist? Here is a historical comparison suggesting otherwise."
November 21, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Nobody on the right goes: "OK, but is he really a communist? Here is a historical comparison suggesting otherwise."
Reposted by Mike McCarthy
Normalize admitting you don’t know what some shit means!
completely outside of politics, this is so charming
November 21, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Normalize admitting you don’t know what some shit means!
Reposted by Mike McCarthy
This outstanding essay by @itsmccarthy.bsky.social in Hammer and Hope captures a frustration that I have long felt with a certain strand of left opinion-makers. hammerandhope.org/article/iden...
November 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
This outstanding essay by @itsmccarthy.bsky.social in Hammer and Hope captures a frustration that I have long felt with a certain strand of left opinion-makers. hammerandhope.org/article/iden...