Merike Blofield
merikeblofield.bsky.social
Merike Blofield
@merikeblofield.bsky.social
Professor of Political Science | global health, social, family & gender policy, Latin America | University of Hamburg | Finnish-Canadian, spent 25 years in the US and South America. Latin Americanist at heart.
Reposted by Merike Blofield
December 20, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Some Head Start early childhood programs are being told by the federal government to remove a list of nearly 200 words and phrases from their funding applications or face denial.

The words include "accessible," "belong," "Black," "disability," "female," "minority," "trauma," "tribal" and "women."
Head Start centers told to avoid 'disability,' 'women' and more in funding requests
New court documents reveal a list of nearly 200 words or phrases the Trump administration told Head Start programs it does not want to see in their funding requests.
www.npr.org
December 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Fantastic news
Eileen Higgins blows it out in Miami, wins 59%-40%!!!! In the last 2 years Dems have flipped Florida’s two largest cities, Jacksonville and Miami. Great work everyone!
www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/eileen-hig...
Eileen Higgins Blows It Out In Miami, Wins 59%-40%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great work everyone!
www.hopiumchronicles.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
From the @wsj.com chief foreign correspondent
December 7, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Well done! A Massachusetts church displayed an “ICE was here” sign in its Nativity scene.
December 4, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Nailed. It.
This is the kind of man you want leading your country.
December 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
If the Venezuelan sailors were enemy combatants, then the 2nd strike is a war crime.

If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.

It’s that simple.
November 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
🚨 LSE Assistant Professor in Political Science 🚨

We’re hiring a tenure-track assistant professor - any area of empirical political science - to join our wonderful Government Dept @lsegovernment.bsky.social

Any questions, please reach out to me

📣 Please share! 📣

jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...
November 25, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Paterson NJ is ~65% Hispanic,
~20% Black, ~10% white.

I’m sure that’s not at all a coincidence.

Democracy literally dies in bomb threats.
November 4, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
So many own goals.
Once again: higher ed is one of our most successful exports. We export more higher ed to China than soybeans. And yet Trump and the mini-Trumps are deliberately destroying the quality of our product
October 30, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Thank you, Chicago.
October 25, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
When idiot Ron Schneider was born in 1963, the infant mortality rate was 29/1,000. It is now close to 5/1,000. So, no, children were NOT healthier when he was a kid. And he was, clearly, dropped on his head.
October 24, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Prêmio @alacipcp.bsky.social Melhor tese de doutorado em Ciência Politica.

Vamos divulgar???
October 5, 2025 at 2:22 AM
In what universe is this ok?
My god.

“Watson said she saw agents dragging residents, including kids, out of the building without any clothes on and into U-Haul vans. Kids were separated from their mothers…’It was heartbreaking to watch…seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.’”
Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'
The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.
chicago.suntimes.com
October 3, 2025 at 11:02 AM
I am excited for this challenge @GIGA, where our goal is to produce policy-relevant social scientific research for the benefit of society. This mission is esp. important now & I look forward to working w//colleagues in & outside GIGA @redpolitologas.bsky.social
www.giga-hamburg.de/en/press/mer...
September 15, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Important to remember that everyone involved in renaming the DoD to the Department of War is afraid to take the subway.
September 5, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
When I worked in the Michigan Senate Repubs would let us know they had a family member w a particular medical problem, bc they would vote w their caucus on nearly everything but the rare times they voted w Dems it was on amendments about a particular medical problem

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/o...
August 21, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
And every year they crown the "Tax King" and the "Tax Queen", i.e. the man and woman that paid the most taxes in Iceland that year.
August 19, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Two months after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, in June 2022, Idaho’s trigger ban outlawing most abortions—one of the strictest nationwide—took effect.

According to a new peer-reviewed paper study, Idaho lost more than a third of its OBs—94 of 268 total—afterwards.
Idaho lost one in three obstetricians after its abortion ban
New research confirms: Crackdowns on reproductive rights have harmful ripple effects across local health care.
www.motherjones.com
August 6, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
After a five-day halt due to a lack of supplies, our team at WCK’s Deir al-Balah Field Kitchen has resumed limited hot meal service in Gaza. #ChefsForGaza (1/3)
World Central Kitchen | WCK Resumes Limited Hot Meal Service in Gaza After 5-Day Pause
After a five day pause, limited cooking operations resumed today at World Central Kitchen's Deir al-Balah Field Kitchen in Gaza.  This marks the second time in 2025 our hot meal program has been force...
wck.org
July 25, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
Die Politikwissenschaft an der Universität Hamburg droht eine Professur für Internationale Beziehungen zu verlieren. Bitte teilt und unterschreibt den Protestbrief auf uhh-ib-erhalten.de
July 9, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
STAGGERING: This new study of 133 countries is the first to estimate the impact of all USAID’s work. In 2 decades, it has saved *92M* lives. Current cuts, if not reversed, are forecast to cost up to *14M* lives thru 2030. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
July 1, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Merike Blofield
This is a travesty & a nightmare. The US was a founder of @gavi.org. It lowers global vaccine costs, has vaccinated 1B children, & averted 19M deaths. This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children's lives a year - and RFK Jr will be personally responsible.
www.politico.com/news/2025/06...
RFK Jr. says US won’t donate to global vaccine effort
Kennedy ripped into Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a video address at its pledging summit.
www.politico.com
June 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM