Mark Doidge
@markdoidge.bsky.social
Sociologist at Loughborough University researching sport, environmental sustainability, antiracism & refugees. Member @fanseurope, trustee @britsoci
Pinned
Mark Doidge
@markdoidge.bsky.social
· Oct 17
One of the hardest things to do in academia is to try new skills and make yourself uncomfortable. We tried new creative methodologies with football fans and, for me at least, fear of looking stupid was a big thing.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
The right & far-right can only succeed by saying that Britain is broken. The inference is the fault of “migrants!”. They don’t want us to ask about Austerity, Brexit or neoliberalism as that will impact on their narrative & their continued wealth extraction.
We hear way too much about angry Britain, blue-red Britain. What about the Britain of Save the Children, Oxfam, the RSPCA, the RNLI, popular environmentalism, the Britain of London's absolute triumph since its 80s nadir, its civic universities, the Britain of volunteering, giving, hoping?
February 16, 2026 at 10:58 AM
The right & far-right can only succeed by saying that Britain is broken. The inference is the fault of “migrants!”. They don’t want us to ask about Austerity, Brexit or neoliberalism as that will impact on their narrative & their continued wealth extraction.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
We hear way too much about angry Britain, blue-red Britain. What about the Britain of Save the Children, Oxfam, the RSPCA, the RNLI, popular environmentalism, the Britain of London's absolute triumph since its 80s nadir, its civic universities, the Britain of volunteering, giving, hoping?
February 16, 2026 at 10:52 AM
We hear way too much about angry Britain, blue-red Britain. What about the Britain of Save the Children, Oxfam, the RSPCA, the RNLI, popular environmentalism, the Britain of London's absolute triumph since its 80s nadir, its civic universities, the Britain of volunteering, giving, hoping?
The areas of the country where people are most angry about migration are the areas where there is limited migration. The idea that it will get less salient as these areas get more economically depressed & the media, Tories/Reform/Labour keep talking about immigration & deportations, is a pipe dream.
We have already moved on from restricting future migration to proposing mass expulsions of people already here, so it seems optimistic to think reducing numbers will improve the standard of our political debate. All that’s likely to happen is the demands of the far right get ever more extreme
February 16, 2026 at 10:16 AM
The areas of the country where people are most angry about migration are the areas where there is limited migration. The idea that it will get less salient as these areas get more economically depressed & the media, Tories/Reform/Labour keep talking about immigration & deportations, is a pipe dream.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
We have already moved on from restricting future migration to proposing mass expulsions of people already here, so it seems optimistic to think reducing numbers will improve the standard of our political debate. All that’s likely to happen is the demands of the far right get ever more extreme
February 15, 2026 at 10:01 AM
We have already moved on from restricting future migration to proposing mass expulsions of people already here, so it seems optimistic to think reducing numbers will improve the standard of our political debate. All that’s likely to happen is the demands of the far right get ever more extreme
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Reform's candidate Matthew Goodwin challenged for calling it "insane" to prosecute a man for "start the slaughter. Violence & murder is the only way now. Start off burning every migrant hotel then head to MPs’ houses & Parliament, we need to take over by FORCE’
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
February 16, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Reform's candidate Matthew Goodwin challenged for calling it "insane" to prosecute a man for "start the slaughter. Violence & murder is the only way now. Start off burning every migrant hotel then head to MPs’ houses & Parliament, we need to take over by FORCE’
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
It is 2026 and people are still asking the question “are floods becoming worse due to climate change?”
At this point the only audience for this type of question is either those in a long term coma or those who will simply not listen to any science.
At this point the only audience for this type of question is either those in a long term coma or those who will simply not listen to any science.
Guest post: Are UK floods becoming worse due to climate change? | Jamie Hannaford @ukceh.bsky.social #CBarchive
Read here:
Read here:
Guest post: Are UK floods becoming worse due to climate change? - Carbon Brief
Once again, lives have been turned upside down by flooding across large parts of the UK, following the exceptional rainfall brought by storms Ciara and Dennis.
buff.ly
February 16, 2026 at 6:09 AM
It is 2026 and people are still asking the question “are floods becoming worse due to climate change?”
At this point the only audience for this type of question is either those in a long term coma or those who will simply not listen to any science.
At this point the only audience for this type of question is either those in a long term coma or those who will simply not listen to any science.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Enjoy getting WAY down into this piece and discovering the govt casually briefing about abandoning Net Zero to pay for more guns.
UK considering significant increase to defence spending www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK considering significant increase to defence spending www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK government considering increase in defence spending
The prime minister is considering meeting a 3% defence-spending target five years earlier than planned, the BBC learns.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 16, 2026 at 7:23 AM
Enjoy getting WAY down into this piece and discovering the govt casually briefing about abandoning Net Zero to pay for more guns.
UK considering significant increase to defence spending www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK considering significant increase to defence spending www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Wonder how many people notice that "broken Britain with a public sector that doesn't deliver" just helped us get three winter Olympic medals?
Once more for the slow crowd, a bit more delivery means nothing if everybody "knows" everything is broken. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...
Once more for the slow crowd, a bit more delivery means nothing if everybody "knows" everything is broken. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...
GB chiefs hail greatest Winter Olympics day after super Sunday delivers two golds
Team GB chiefs have hailed Britain’s greatest day at a Winter Olympics after celebrating two gold medals in the mixed snowboard cross and mixed skeleton
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2026 at 7:39 AM
Wonder how many people notice that "broken Britain with a public sector that doesn't deliver" just helped us get three winter Olympic medals?
Once more for the slow crowd, a bit more delivery means nothing if everybody "knows" everything is broken. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...
Once more for the slow crowd, a bit more delivery means nothing if everybody "knows" everything is broken. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
1/3 What Musk is really referring to here is, of course “race” - that construct that served to define the hierarchies of wealth & power structured by modern colonialism. Like other far right racists though, he uses the word “culture” as a seemingly less pernicious synonym.
February 15, 2026 at 3:14 PM
1/3 What Musk is really referring to here is, of course “race” - that construct that served to define the hierarchies of wealth & power structured by modern colonialism. Like other far right racists though, he uses the word “culture” as a seemingly less pernicious synonym.
It’s almost as if the super rich have zero morals on anything other than their own money 🙄
Emails Show Epstein Scheming That Environmental Destruction Could Solve “Overpopulation” | Article by Joe Wilkins (@joeonhere.bsky.social) for @futurism.com: futurism.com/science-ener...
Emails Show Epstein Scheming That Environmental Destruction Could Solve "Overpopulation"
Recently spotted emails from 2016 show Jeffrey Epstein suggesting that climate change could be the answer to "overpopulation."
futurism.com
February 15, 2026 at 5:25 PM
It’s almost as if the super rich have zero morals on anything other than their own money 🙄
Reposted by Mark Doidge
This isn't a purely philosophical or semantic argument about what "British" means.
Once you accept different tiers of British citizenship you gain a way to formally discriminate.
USSR documents famously had a "5th line" denoting ethnicity. Stalin's nationalist repressions used this as their basis.
Once you accept different tiers of British citizenship you gain a way to formally discriminate.
USSR documents famously had a "5th line" denoting ethnicity. Stalin's nationalist repressions used this as their basis.
It *literally* does.
Thats what it is. A document which says youre British.
Thats what it is. A document which says youre British.
February 15, 2026 at 2:01 PM
This isn't a purely philosophical or semantic argument about what "British" means.
Once you accept different tiers of British citizenship you gain a way to formally discriminate.
USSR documents famously had a "5th line" denoting ethnicity. Stalin's nationalist repressions used this as their basis.
Once you accept different tiers of British citizenship you gain a way to formally discriminate.
USSR documents famously had a "5th line" denoting ethnicity. Stalin's nationalist repressions used this as their basis.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
That there was a major riot at Birmingham City v Leeds United on the final day of the season in 1985 - in which a 15 year old supporter was killed when a wall collapsed - was overshadowed by the Valley Parade fire in Bradford killing 56 people the same day.
February 15, 2026 at 1:15 PM
That there was a major riot at Birmingham City v Leeds United on the final day of the season in 1985 - in which a 15 year old supporter was killed when a wall collapsed - was overshadowed by the Valley Parade fire in Bradford killing 56 people the same day.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Pretending the rise of the far right and the focus on issues such as immigration or trans people comes from the "legitimate concerns" of "the people" is not just factually wrong, it's a deeply political point
Refusing to see this as primarily top down processes is to protect the status quo
1/
Refusing to see this as primarily top down processes is to protect the status quo
1/
February 15, 2026 at 9:45 AM
Pretending the rise of the far right and the focus on issues such as immigration or trans people comes from the "legitimate concerns" of "the people" is not just factually wrong, it's a deeply political point
Refusing to see this as primarily top down processes is to protect the status quo
1/
Refusing to see this as primarily top down processes is to protect the status quo
1/
Reposted by Mark Doidge
‘Military service is one of the strongest predictors for becoming a mass shooter in the US.’
@lalehkhalili.bsky.social on the symbiosis of drugs and war.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@lalehkhalili.bsky.social on the symbiosis of drugs and war.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Laleh Khalili · Guns, Money and Opium
There is an undeniable symmetry between surges in drug use in the US and the country’s covert operations overseas. The...
www.lrb.co.uk
February 14, 2026 at 5:10 PM
‘Military service is one of the strongest predictors for becoming a mass shooter in the US.’
@lalehkhalili.bsky.social on the symbiosis of drugs and war.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@lalehkhalili.bsky.social on the symbiosis of drugs and war.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Ethiopia has bases in which Abu Dhabi pays for RSF fighters (some Ethiopian) to train and to be shipped to Sudan to commit genocide.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Ethiopia Revokes Reuters Journalists’ Accreditation After Expose
Ethiopia has canceled accreditation for three Reuters journalists, days after the news agency reported that rebel fighters from neighboring Sudan were training at a secret military camp in the Horn of...
www.bloomberg.com
February 15, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Ethiopia has bases in which Abu Dhabi pays for RSF fighters (some Ethiopian) to train and to be shipped to Sudan to commit genocide.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Manchester Mill find the small group of Reform activists includes several with v overt prejudices. They fairly note that Goodwin can't be expected to vet them all in advance. To date, the site report he is not willing to criticise ant of it once revealed either
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
'I wouldn't touch a Jewish woman': Meet the Reform team in Gorton and Denton
Members of Reform's campaign team shared racist content online and aligned themselves with far-right groups
manchestermill.co.uk
February 15, 2026 at 10:41 AM
Manchester Mill find the small group of Reform activists includes several with v overt prejudices. They fairly note that Goodwin can't be expected to vet them all in advance. To date, the site report he is not willing to criticise ant of it once revealed either
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Imagine being so "patriotic" that you protest the Royal National Lifeboat Institute for saving lives.
Racist morons fuelled by hate.
Racist morons fuelled by hate.
February 15, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Imagine being so "patriotic" that you protest the Royal National Lifeboat Institute for saving lives.
Racist morons fuelled by hate.
Racist morons fuelled by hate.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Comic actor Totò takes on champions Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, and other lions of the Italian cycling world in Totò al giro d'Italia
Happy #BicycleBirthday, Totò!
February 15 (1898-1967)
Happy #BicycleBirthday, Totò!
February 15 (1898-1967)
February 15, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Comic actor Totò takes on champions Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, and other lions of the Italian cycling world in Totò al giro d'Italia
Happy #BicycleBirthday, Totò!
February 15 (1898-1967)
Happy #BicycleBirthday, Totò!
February 15 (1898-1967)
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Nearly 10,000 *online* and *open access* collections of radical, labour and anti-colonial historical documents are now listed.
But always looking for more!
If you know of any collections not listed, please get in touch.
#history #archives
hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...
But always looking for more!
If you know of any collections not listed, please get in touch.
#history #archives
hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...
radical online collections and archives
I am very interested in the growing amount of radical literature from around the world that is being scanned and digitised. As there are so many and from many different places, I thought it would b…
hatfulofhistory.com
February 15, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Nearly 10,000 *online* and *open access* collections of radical, labour and anti-colonial historical documents are now listed.
But always looking for more!
If you know of any collections not listed, please get in touch.
#history #archives
hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...
But always looking for more!
If you know of any collections not listed, please get in touch.
#history #archives
hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Worth a read…
Even if the quote’s not 100% accurate, it’s a useful warning for our times, as Gramsci was there at the first rise of f*scism.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Even if the quote’s not 100% accurate, it’s a useful warning for our times, as Gramsci was there at the first rise of f*scism.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
‘The time of monsters’: everyone is quoting Gramsci – but what did he actually say?
Line handily sums up people’s bewilderment at state of world, but it isn’t quite what the Marxist thinker wrote
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Worth a read…
Even if the quote’s not 100% accurate, it’s a useful warning for our times, as Gramsci was there at the first rise of f*scism.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Even if the quote’s not 100% accurate, it’s a useful warning for our times, as Gramsci was there at the first rise of f*scism.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Just checking, it's now ok to flee your homeland, because you're afraid for your safety, and seek refuge in another Country?
Glad we've cleared that up. Let's hear no more about immigration and refugees then.
Glad we've cleared that up. Let's hear no more about immigration and refugees then.
February 14, 2026 at 7:55 AM
Just checking, it's now ok to flee your homeland, because you're afraid for your safety, and seek refuge in another Country?
Glad we've cleared that up. Let's hear no more about immigration and refugees then.
Glad we've cleared that up. Let's hear no more about immigration and refugees then.
Reposted by Mark Doidge
Latest in the series of “literally every poll question you can think of shows how dumb and fatally flawed the strategy that the McSweeneyites have pursued is”.
2024 Reform UK voters are also less likely to describe themselves as anti-Russia (48%) than other voters (66-79%)
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
February 14, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Latest in the series of “literally every poll question you can think of shows how dumb and fatally flawed the strategy that the McSweeneyites have pursued is”.
Sport is good for you 🙄
A 16 year old San Antonio kid was essentially killed by a football coaching staff during an offseason workout.
Players were subjected to punishment drills and repeatedly noted the distress of their teammate, to no avail.
After he collapsed, the rest of the team was compelled to continue the drill.
Players were subjected to punishment drills and repeatedly noted the distress of their teammate, to no avail.
After he collapsed, the rest of the team was compelled to continue the drill.
February 13, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Sport is good for you 🙄
Reposted by Mark Doidge
The IOC has banned the courageous & principled Ukrainian Olympian Vladyslav Heraskevych for his “helmet of memory” commemorating Ukraine’s war dead.
Meanwhile the IOC is selling a $42 "Heritage T-shirt" commemorating the 1936 Olympics, known as the Nazi Games. shop3.olympics.com/en/olympic-g...
Meanwhile the IOC is selling a $42 "Heritage T-shirt" commemorating the 1936 Olympics, known as the Nazi Games. shop3.olympics.com/en/olympic-g...
February 13, 2026 at 1:13 PM
The IOC has banned the courageous & principled Ukrainian Olympian Vladyslav Heraskevych for his “helmet of memory” commemorating Ukraine’s war dead.
Meanwhile the IOC is selling a $42 "Heritage T-shirt" commemorating the 1936 Olympics, known as the Nazi Games. shop3.olympics.com/en/olympic-g...
Meanwhile the IOC is selling a $42 "Heritage T-shirt" commemorating the 1936 Olympics, known as the Nazi Games. shop3.olympics.com/en/olympic-g...