Mark Igra
@markigra.bsky.social
Started sciences.social. Sociology PhD candidate at the University of Washington, studying altruism and morality. Former software guy.
Accountability for those with power has been under attack for decades, largely due to an already-unaccountable Supreme Court. Like pneumonia for people with leukemia, Trump is an acute & possibly mortal problem, but the broader condition must also be treated.
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/ice-m...
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/ice-m...
ICE Masks, Billionaires and the Politics of Anti-Accountability
Masks have become the central symbol of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement...
talkingpointsmemo.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Accountability for those with power has been under attack for decades, largely due to an already-unaccountable Supreme Court. Like pneumonia for people with leukemia, Trump is an acute & possibly mortal problem, but the broader condition must also be treated.
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/ice-m...
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/ice-m...
Reposted by Mark Igra
“Abolish” or “defund” aren't within grasp in 2026. But where are:
- End qualified immunity
- Rewrite use-of-force so this crap isn't ruled “within policy”
- Overturn July 8 mandatory detention memo
- Reinstate TPS
- Open up detention centers, enforce humane conditions
He doesn’t even *ask* for it.
- End qualified immunity
- Rewrite use-of-force so this crap isn't ruled “within policy”
- Overturn July 8 mandatory detention memo
- Reinstate TPS
- Open up detention centers, enforce humane conditions
He doesn’t even *ask* for it.
Chuck Schumer just announced demands on DHS to avoid shutdown:
1. End roving patrols, tighten rules on warrants
2. Enforce accountability & unified code of conduct for agents
3. No more masks & require bodycams
There are *already* standards on much of this.
The issue is DHS isn't following them!
1. End roving patrols, tighten rules on warrants
2. Enforce accountability & unified code of conduct for agents
3. No more masks & require bodycams
There are *already* standards on much of this.
The issue is DHS isn't following them!
January 28, 2026 at 10:09 PM
“Abolish” or “defund” aren't within grasp in 2026. But where are:
- End qualified immunity
- Rewrite use-of-force so this crap isn't ruled “within policy”
- Overturn July 8 mandatory detention memo
- Reinstate TPS
- Open up detention centers, enforce humane conditions
He doesn’t even *ask* for it.
- End qualified immunity
- Rewrite use-of-force so this crap isn't ruled “within policy”
- Overturn July 8 mandatory detention memo
- Reinstate TPS
- Open up detention centers, enforce humane conditions
He doesn’t even *ask* for it.
Reposted by Mark Igra
ICE Agents Still in Hospital After Being Shot Repeatedly by iPhones: tinyurl.com/36ud2nxf
January 27, 2026 at 3:38 AM
ICE Agents Still in Hospital After Being Shot Repeatedly by iPhones: tinyurl.com/36ud2nxf
Reposted by Mark Igra
just a reminder of the official Baseball Prospectus position on this stuff
January 27, 2026 at 12:31 AM
just a reminder of the official Baseball Prospectus position on this stuff
Reposted by Mark Igra
Say it louder. Lower federal courts have done what they can despite their limited review when it comes immigration law. Then SCOTUS steps in.
(SCOTUS sanctioned deporting people to 3rd countries where they can be arbitrarily detained on U.S. dime and deported to torture in their home countries. )
(SCOTUS sanctioned deporting people to 3rd countries where they can be arbitrarily detained on U.S. dime and deported to torture in their home countries. )
The testing ground for Bovino’s Operation At Large was Los Angeles. A California judge initially prohibited ICE/CBP’s most flagrant constitutional violations. SCOTUS overruled her 6–3, handing Bovino a blank check to inflict unspeakable brutality on Chicago and Minneapolis. The 6 bear so much blame.
BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
January 27, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Say it louder. Lower federal courts have done what they can despite their limited review when it comes immigration law. Then SCOTUS steps in.
(SCOTUS sanctioned deporting people to 3rd countries where they can be arbitrarily detained on U.S. dime and deported to torture in their home countries. )
(SCOTUS sanctioned deporting people to 3rd countries where they can be arbitrarily detained on U.S. dime and deported to torture in their home countries. )
Reposted by Mark Igra
tfw you finally figure out your argument and it’s the same argument you’ve been making for a decade
January 27, 2026 at 3:11 AM
tfw you finally figure out your argument and it’s the same argument you’ve been making for a decade
Reposted by Mark Igra
In 1994 I took an anthropology class called "Cultures of Terror." It was about power and violence in authoritarian regimes.
I think about that class daily.
Here are some of the lessons that have kept me grounded because they help sense of the US right now.
I think about that class daily.
Here are some of the lessons that have kept me grounded because they help sense of the US right now.
January 25, 2026 at 9:51 PM
In 1994 I took an anthropology class called "Cultures of Terror." It was about power and violence in authoritarian regimes.
I think about that class daily.
Here are some of the lessons that have kept me grounded because they help sense of the US right now.
I think about that class daily.
Here are some of the lessons that have kept me grounded because they help sense of the US right now.
Reposted by Mark Igra
Reposted by Mark Igra
"Every established order tends to produce the naturalization of its own arbitrariness."
✒ French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher #PierreBordieu passed away #OTD 23 January 2002. #Anthropology #Philosophy #Sociology
✒ French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher #PierreBordieu passed away #OTD 23 January 2002. #Anthropology #Philosophy #Sociology
January 23, 2026 at 5:55 AM
"Every established order tends to produce the naturalization of its own arbitrariness."
✒ French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher #PierreBordieu passed away #OTD 23 January 2002. #Anthropology #Philosophy #Sociology
✒ French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher #PierreBordieu passed away #OTD 23 January 2002. #Anthropology #Philosophy #Sociology
January 22, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Mark Igra
July 2024, @adamserwer.bsky.social being prescient:
A president unbound by the law is shackled only by the dictates of his own conscience, and a president without a conscience faces no restraint at all. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
January 2026:
A president unbound by the law is shackled only by the dictates of his own conscience, and a president without a conscience faces no restraint at all. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
January 2026:
January 22, 2026 at 5:14 AM
July 2024, @adamserwer.bsky.social being prescient:
A president unbound by the law is shackled only by the dictates of his own conscience, and a president without a conscience faces no restraint at all. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
January 2026:
A president unbound by the law is shackled only by the dictates of his own conscience, and a president without a conscience faces no restraint at all. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
January 2026:
Reposted by Mark Igra
"Terrible things are happening outside ... poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared." — Anne Frank (Jan 13, 1943)
January 13, 2026 at 6:33 PM
"Terrible things are happening outside ... poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared." — Anne Frank (Jan 13, 1943)
I read this as “When Married FLING separately it will save you taxes” and was curious what the deductions were.
January 21, 2026 at 9:19 PM
I read this as “When Married FLING separately it will save you taxes” and was curious what the deductions were.
My mom got mail from @publiccitizen.bsky.social asking for $ to support a campaign to overturn Supreme Court's pro-crime Trump v. US decision via constitutional amendment. Good idea. BUT their website shows no sign of that campaign. Is anyone spearheading this, not just asking for $ from old ladies?
January 20, 2026 at 9:53 PM
My mom got mail from @publiccitizen.bsky.social asking for $ to support a campaign to overturn Supreme Court's pro-crime Trump v. US decision via constitutional amendment. Good idea. BUT their website shows no sign of that campaign. Is anyone spearheading this, not just asking for $ from old ladies?
Reposted by Mark Igra
Your quarterly reminder that top econ journals are often full of sociology. In the latest issue of QJE: peer influence, educational inequality, ideals and beliefs, racial violence, collective action, and the impact of ideas. academic.oup.com/qje/issue/14...
Volume 141 Issue 1 | The Quarterly Journal of Economics | Oxford Academic
The official journal of the President and Fellows of Harvard University. The oldest professional journal of economics in the English language, it covers all aspects of the field.
academic.oup.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Your quarterly reminder that top econ journals are often full of sociology. In the latest issue of QJE: peer influence, educational inequality, ideals and beliefs, racial violence, collective action, and the impact of ideas. academic.oup.com/qje/issue/14...
Reposted by Mark Igra
Orwell WISHES he thought of "The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency."
January 18, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Orwell WISHES he thought of "The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency."
Reposted by Mark Igra
I’m seeing posts from people (outside of MN) about how US citizens should carry their passports.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
January 16, 2026 at 12:17 AM
I’m seeing posts from people (outside of MN) about how US citizens should carry their passports.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
Reposted by Mark Igra
THREAD of offers of guest lectures (via Zoom) for Minneapolis-area classes so faculty can offer their students a top-quality education while dealing with other crises
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Finally, a note to the many professors in my networks: One other specific, small thing you can do from outside of Minneapolis is reach out to colleagues who are heavily affected (because of their own or their family's risk, or because they're very busy protecting neighbors) and offer a guest lecture
January 15, 2026 at 7:43 PM
THREAD of offers of guest lectures (via Zoom) for Minneapolis-area classes so faculty can offer their students a top-quality education while dealing with other crises
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Reposted by Mark Igra
“The citizens and commentators shouting from the sidelines that Congress must act, fix itself, and reclaim its intended role are not wrong.
But they miss that the Court has made doing so nearly impossible.”
But they miss that the Court has made doing so nearly impossible.”
How the Supreme Court Broke Congress
In the name of protecting the balance of powers, the Court is radically refashioning that balance.
www.theatlantic.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:16 PM
“The citizens and commentators shouting from the sidelines that Congress must act, fix itself, and reclaim its intended role are not wrong.
But they miss that the Court has made doing so nearly impossible.”
But they miss that the Court has made doing so nearly impossible.”
This from M. Gessen is scary and smart. From their interview with Ezra Klein. (Gift Link) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/o...
January 12, 2026 at 7:14 AM
This from M. Gessen is scary and smart. From their interview with Ezra Klein. (Gift Link) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/o...
I’m sure @dieworkwear.bsky.social would know what to say about the fit of this suit. I wonder if those shoulder pads are inflatable like old Reeboks.
January 11, 2026 at 7:16 PM
I’m sure @dieworkwear.bsky.social would know what to say about the fit of this suit. I wonder if those shoulder pads are inflatable like old Reeboks.
Reposted by Mark Igra
Even though everyone is now familiar with "wag the dog" they still wag the dog because press like this is still willing to play their part.
decided to go smell the rotten milk in the back of the Washington Post fridge... I don't even know what to say about this
January 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Even though everyone is now familiar with "wag the dog" they still wag the dog because press like this is still willing to play their part.
Reposted by Mark Igra
Sept 1 1939: The Führer announces that Poland is a clear danger to the nation, and that "In order to put an end to this lunacy I have no other choice than to meet force with force. Since 5:45 a.m. we have been returning fire, and from now on bombs will be met by bombs."
January 3, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Sept 1 1939: The Führer announces that Poland is a clear danger to the nation, and that "In order to put an end to this lunacy I have no other choice than to meet force with force. Since 5:45 a.m. we have been returning fire, and from now on bombs will be met by bombs."