Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
@paalhal.bsky.social
Associate prof, Library and information science, OsloMet + postdoc in sociology. Interested in social theory, digital media and culture, taste, sociology of literature and WW2. Also, chair of the Norwegian Sociological Association
Pinned
How do writers respond to authoritarian developments? Are they the famous metaphorical canaries in the coal mine? In this new article we research the case of the response of writers to the German occupation of Norway, 1940–45. Historical sociology meets sociology of literature! OA, link in next
Looking forward to welcoming Les Back at our national sociology conference this weekend! “Conflict and resistance” turned out even more topical than we imagined when we started organizing, unfortunately in many respect’s.
Looking forward to speaking at the Norsk sosiologforening on Friday, trying to make sense of the dark times we’re living through. sosiologen.no/foreningen/f...
Vinterseminaret 2026 – Program, påmelding og praktisk informasjon - Sosiologen
Den 6.-8. februar 2026 blir det et stort utvalg gruppesesjoner, keynotes om "rase" og polarisering og foredrag om krigene og konfliktene som splitter oss.
sosiologen.no
February 4, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Looking forward to welcoming Les Back at our national sociology conference this weekend! “Conflict and resistance” turned out even more topical than we imagined when we started organizing, unfortunately in many respect’s.
AI Slop Matters, but in what way?
New paper on Why Slop Matters w/ great group of co authors (@hoytlong.bsky.social @eduede.bsky.social @ari-holtzman.bsky.social + others not on Bluesky) from ACM AI Letters. We try to move the debate re: AI Slop past normative, neg claims & towards parsing its social uses. dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Why Slop Matters | ACM AI Letters
AI-generated “slop” is often seen as digital pollution. We argue that this dismissal
of the topic risks missing important aspects of AI Slop which deserve rigorous study.
AI Slop serves a social funct...
dl.acm.org
February 4, 2026 at 8:16 PM
AI Slop Matters, but in what way?
Discussed this movie yesterday with Jan Grue, an astonishing movie in many regards! Do you have suggestions for further movie to show as a part of Sociolpgical screenings? Hit me!
February 4, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Discussed this movie yesterday with Jan Grue, an astonishing movie in many regards! Do you have suggestions for further movie to show as a part of Sociolpgical screenings? Hit me!
Upcoming Tuesday at Vega cinema in Oslo I’ll discuss Peter Greenaways The Cook, The Theif, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) with Jan Grue after the screening. Come for a stunning movie, stay for the striking parallels to today’s political climate
January 30, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Upcoming Tuesday at Vega cinema in Oslo I’ll discuss Peter Greenaways The Cook, The Theif, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) with Jan Grue after the screening. Come for a stunning movie, stay for the striking parallels to today’s political climate
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
Tiktok 🇺🇸 turns out to be Trump aligned state platform. In no time.
www.independent.co.uk/tech/tiktok-...
www.independent.co.uk/tech/tiktok-...
TikTok users in the US can’t write ‘Epstein’ or see anti-Trump videos
Alleged censorship comes after investors loyal to Trump take over social media platform
www.independent.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Tiktok 🇺🇸 turns out to be Trump aligned state platform. In no time.
www.independent.co.uk/tech/tiktok-...
www.independent.co.uk/tech/tiktok-...
Last week we started with deep reading seminars at OsloMet, also known as “shut up and read”. 50 students showed up to read Jacques Ferrandez’ graphic novel version of Camus’ The stranger in its full length. Next up in February: Kamel Daoud’s The Mersault Case. Exited to follow the «experiment»!
January 19, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Last week we started with deep reading seminars at OsloMet, also known as “shut up and read”. 50 students showed up to read Jacques Ferrandez’ graphic novel version of Camus’ The stranger in its full length. Next up in February: Kamel Daoud’s The Mersault Case. Exited to follow the «experiment»!
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
A spokesperson for T&F said “Researchers should be free to communicate their work in the journal that best suits their research, and proposing to cap [open access] funding threatens that freedom to publish."
Bold move to set prices high and then complain about freedom when people can't pay.
Bold move to set prices high and then complain about freedom when people can't pay.
Rising Publication Costs Strain Researchers
Open access publishing has led to researchers paying thousands of dollars to publish their work, limiting funds for research and leaving scientists with hard choices.
www.the-scientist.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:23 AM
A spokesperson for T&F said “Researchers should be free to communicate their work in the journal that best suits their research, and proposing to cap [open access] funding threatens that freedom to publish."
Bold move to set prices high and then complain about freedom when people can't pay.
Bold move to set prices high and then complain about freedom when people can't pay.
«We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.» 👏👏👏
January 2, 2026 at 12:08 AM
«We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.» 👏👏👏
1. Krasznahorkai covers, first: Denmark, nice, pretty close to the English paperbacks
December 2, 2025 at 1:55 PM
1. Krasznahorkai covers, first: Denmark, nice, pretty close to the English paperbacks
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
💥 Viktor Orbán faces a possible ousting in April 2026 — and whether he manages to cling to power or not, his regime and its global allure as a model for autocrats worldwide are crumbling. Read the sharpest analysis available.
The Era of Orbánism as an Exportable Model May Be Ending - VSquare.org
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán’s once-admired “illiberal model” is faltering — plagued by economic crisis, voter frustration, and collapsing governance. With the 2026 election looming, his future — and the global appeal of his system — is at stake as his government faces its biggest political test.
vsquare.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:30 PM
💥 Viktor Orbán faces a possible ousting in April 2026 — and whether he manages to cling to power or not, his regime and its global allure as a model for autocrats worldwide are crumbling. Read the sharpest analysis available.
Trist leder av Mari Skurdal i dag. Bernhard Ellefsen har forsøkt å tenke originalt og konstruktivt om norsk kulturpolitikk og blir møtt med det korte og slappe “tilsvaret”. Hvilke prioriteringer vil Skurdal gjøre for å gjenreise kulturpolitikken?
November 1, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Trist leder av Mari Skurdal i dag. Bernhard Ellefsen har forsøkt å tenke originalt og konstruktivt om norsk kulturpolitikk og blir møtt med det korte og slappe “tilsvaret”. Hvilke prioriteringer vil Skurdal gjøre for å gjenreise kulturpolitikken?
It’s going to be an interest in election last year
💥Viktor Orbán and his rival Péter Magyar both called supporters to the streets of Budapest to mark the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution.
Political scientist Andrea Szabó and her students used scientific methods to count the crowds: Orbán drew about 93K, Magyar 168K ppl: www.facebook.com/andrea.szabo...
Political scientist Andrea Szabó and her students used scientific methods to count the crowds: Orbán drew about 93K, Magyar 168K ppl: www.facebook.com/andrea.szabo...
October 25, 2025 at 11:05 AM
It’s going to be an interest in election last year
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
📸 There's a story behind this breathtaking shot of Hungary’s opposition rally marking the 1956 revolution: Orbán’s government banned drones to try conceal the crowd’s size. Yet a passenger on a landing plane caught the scene in Budapest from above — the photo hit Reddit and went viral instantly.
October 24, 2025 at 6:49 PM
📸 There's a story behind this breathtaking shot of Hungary’s opposition rally marking the 1956 revolution: Orbán’s government banned drones to try conceal the crowd’s size. Yet a passenger on a landing plane caught the scene in Budapest from above — the photo hit Reddit and went viral instantly.
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
“Understand a people’s culture exposes their normalness without reducing their particularity.”
Clifford Geertz
Clifford Geertz
October 13, 2025 at 2:04 PM
“Understand a people’s culture exposes their normalness without reducing their particularity.”
Clifford Geertz
Clifford Geertz
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
I’m happy to see the awful Venezuelan regime being criticized but if “this is an award for an entire movement” (as the committee said), why give it to one specific person? And one with dubious friends and positions? Nobel Prize has been given to groups and movements before. Peace offer to Trump?
BREAKING: Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 reut.rs/42uh3Aw
October 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
I’m happy to see the awful Venezuelan regime being criticized but if “this is an award for an entire movement” (as the committee said), why give it to one specific person? And one with dubious friends and positions? Nobel Prize has been given to groups and movements before. Peace offer to Trump?
Krasznahorkai!!!! Great award, most deserved!!
telex.hu/kult/2025/10...
telex.hu/kult/2025/10...
Krasznahorkai László kapta az irodalmi Nobel-díjat
Az indokolás szerint látnoki erejű műveiért részesült az elismerésben, amelyek az apokaliptikus terror közepette is képesek megerősíteni a művészet erejét. Kertész Imre 2002-es sikere után nyerte újra...
telex.hu
October 9, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Krasznahorkai!!!! Great award, most deserved!!
telex.hu/kult/2025/10...
telex.hu/kult/2025/10...
Oh no, may I no longer use the em dash? Afraid I’ve been sending wrong signals for a while now: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/m...
With the Em Dash, A.I. Embraces a Fading Tradition
www.nytimes.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Oh no, may I no longer use the em dash? Afraid I’ve been sending wrong signals for a while now: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/m...
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
i love ta-nehisi coates so much
September 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM
i love ta-nehisi coates so much
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
Today translators, tomorrow... We need to prioritize human-to-human connection.
“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com
September 26, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Today translators, tomorrow... We need to prioritize human-to-human connection.
“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
The dangers of AI slop: “AI content can push our emotional buttons easily, re-affirming or amplifying existing beliefs with generated imagery. Practically every social media study since 2012 has found that the secret to virality is in making you emotional . . . .”
No, that wasn’t Angela Rayner dancing and rapping: you’ll need to understand AI slopaganda | Marcus Beard
The qualms about using AI imagery and deepfakes in politics are breaking down. It will soon just be part of the political language we all use, says digital, disinformation and AI specialist Marcus Bea...
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The dangers of AI slop: “AI content can push our emotional buttons easily, re-affirming or amplifying existing beliefs with generated imagery. Practically every social media study since 2012 has found that the secret to virality is in making you emotional . . . .”
Spurt i 2009 om Ungarere lever under bedre, verre eller samme forhold som under kommunismen, oppga 72 prosent verre forhold. Selv russerne har et mer positivt syn på regimeendringene etter 1990 enn ungarerne. Les min bokanmeldelse av Tibor Valuchs nye bok (2025) tidsskriftet-nof.no/index.php/no...
Contemporary Hungarian Society. Social Changes in Hungary from Late State Socialism
| Nordisk Østforum
tidsskriftet-nof.no
September 8, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Spurt i 2009 om Ungarere lever under bedre, verre eller samme forhold som under kommunismen, oppga 72 prosent verre forhold. Selv russerne har et mer positivt syn på regimeendringene etter 1990 enn ungarerne. Les min bokanmeldelse av Tibor Valuchs nye bok (2025) tidsskriftet-nof.no/index.php/no...
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
this is one of the things where they’re clearly doing it to trigger the libs, but the triggering thing is “the government should be allowed to kill people for no reason”, and if you’re not gonna ‘take the bait’ on that, why even have a politics?
Yale Law School never beating the “they don’t teach law at Yale” allegations
September 7, 2025 at 1:22 AM
this is one of the things where they’re clearly doing it to trigger the libs, but the triggering thing is “the government should be allowed to kill people for no reason”, and if you’re not gonna ‘take the bait’ on that, why even have a politics?
Currently enjoying being a part of the group «man with an unpublished book manuscript about World War II», but a bit hesitant to having the group «man with rejected book manuscript about World War II» as a possible future
September 6, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Currently enjoying being a part of the group «man with an unpublished book manuscript about World War II», but a bit hesitant to having the group «man with rejected book manuscript about World War II» as a possible future