Pamela Oliver
@pamelaoliver.bsky.social
Professor Emerita of Sociology, U Wisconsin - Madison. she/her/they
I research social movements & protest, especially Black; I do advocacy around criminal legal system. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7643-1008
I research social movements & protest, especially Black; I do advocacy around criminal legal system. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7643-1008
Pinned
Pamela Oliver
@pamelaoliver.bsky.social
· Nov 11
About me. My current research is about US Black protests in the 1990s and 2000s, filling in the middle between the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter. I have also done a lot of quantitative analysis of & advocacy around racial disparities in imprisonment.
Reposted by Pamela Oliver
This piece is great.
"Like so many other bits of Times coverage, the whole of the piece is structured as an orchestrated encounter. Some people say this; however, others say this. It’s so offhand you can think you’re gazing through a pane of glass."
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:40 PM
This piece is great.
I think I know a lot of people who may be interested in this web event.
Rev. Jason W. Coulter is one of many pastor-activists in Evanston, IL, and will speak to us about what resistance looks like there in this era. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 11th, beginning at 6:30 pm, via Zoom.
Learn more and register at: www.wichurches.org/events/resis...
Learn more and register at: www.wichurches.org/events/resis...
Resistance on the Ground in Evanston — Wisconsin Council of Churches
The next presenter in our Taking a Faithful Stand series with be Rev. Jason W. Coulter. Pastor Jason is one of many pastor-activists in Evanston, IL, and will speak to us about what resistance looks l...
www.wichurches.org
November 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I think I know a lot of people who may be interested in this web event.
This was a great talk by Cedric de Leon about Black to about movement and you can watch the video on the Havens Wright Center website havenswrightcenter.wisc.edu
Madison, Wisconsin! This Thurs Oct 30, 12pm CT I am speaking on my new book, Freedom Train, at the Havens Wright Center for Social Justice @uwmadison.bsky.social. Learn how Black workers desegregated American unions! Click below to register @ucpress.bsky.social
www.tickettailor.com/events/haven...
www.tickettailor.com/events/haven...
November 5, 2025 at 1:06 AM
This was a great talk by Cedric de Leon about Black to about movement and you can watch the video on the Havens Wright Center website havenswrightcenter.wisc.edu
How relying on competing and incomplete narratives in news sources & failure to treat media coverage itself as an event distorts understanding of collective action processes in the Jena Six protests of 2007. Preprint of forthcoming book chapter. #commsky #contentiousky 1/3
OSF
osf.io
November 3, 2025 at 3:09 PM
How relying on competing and incomplete narratives in news sources & failure to treat media coverage itself as an event distorts understanding of collective action processes in the Jena Six protests of 2007. Preprint of forthcoming book chapter. #commsky #contentiousky 1/3
#contentiousky David S. Meyer's posts about social movements are always instructive. This one is about the call for nuclear testing. David is a long time veteran of the peace movement including the nuclear freeze movement.
Unintentionally, Donald Trump has fed citizen anxiety about America's expensive new nuclear buildup. New nuclear tests are a political test politicsoutdoors.com/2025/11/02/n... via @davidsmeyer1
New nuclear tests are a political test
Donald Trump announced that the United States would start testing its nuclear arsenal again–after foregoing nuclear weapons testing since 1992, when the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union fe…
politicsoutdoors.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:36 AM
#contentiousky David S. Meyer's posts about social movements are always instructive. This one is about the call for nuclear testing. David is a long time veteran of the peace movement including the nuclear freeze movement.
And now we are learning that at least 95% of all subcultural groups have the practice of calling older adults you are close to "aunt" or "uncle". In my experience, the only groups that don't are those that have eliminated the respect codes for age (where children call adults by first name)
October 28, 2025 at 5:03 PM
And now we are learning that at least 95% of all subcultural groups have the practice of calling older adults you are close to "aunt" or "uncle". In my experience, the only groups that don't are those that have eliminated the respect codes for age (where children call adults by first name)
#AcademicSky Phooey I can't remember enough details to find this again. It's a cool article (blog post?) about how an incorrect fact moves through citations to citations that includes identifying the original & having the original author wade in with apology. Anybody remember this? 1/
October 26, 2025 at 11:36 PM
#AcademicSky Phooey I can't remember enough details to find this again. It's a cool article (blog post?) about how an incorrect fact moves through citations to citations that includes identifying the original & having the original author wade in with apology. Anybody remember this? 1/
I'm listening to the audio version of Undivided by @hahrie.bsky.social for the second time today and being even more impressed than I was the first time about how good it is on multiple levels. I've recommended it to non-academic friends who also loved it. (Audio narrator is good too.) 1/2
i got so absorbed in reading @hahrie.bsky.social's new book, Undivided, that I completely forgot the other things I'm supposed to do this morning. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669326...
Undivided by Hahrie Han: 9780593318867 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
The inspiring story of evangelicals in Cincinnati struggling to bridge racial divides in their own church, their community, and across the nation In 2016, even as Ohio helped deliver victory to presi...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:22 PM
I'm listening to the audio version of Undivided by @hahrie.bsky.social for the second time today and being even more impressed than I was the first time about how good it is on multiple levels. I've recommended it to non-academic friends who also loved it. (Audio narrator is good too.) 1/2
Hoping to post a pre-print version of something I wrote and in reviewing the MS remembering why I was so frustrated with editors with their own theoretical agenda inserting things I did not say and did/do not agree with into a text with my name on it.
October 20, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Hoping to post a pre-print version of something I wrote and in reviewing the MS remembering why I was so frustrated with editors with their own theoretical agenda inserting things I did not say and did/do not agree with into a text with my name on it.
I am remembering how the Tea Party protests in the Obama administration (2009-2010) were covered and thinking about how that coverage compares to the No Kings protests. #contentiousky
October 19, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I am remembering how the Tea Party protests in the Obama administration (2009-2010) were covered and thinking about how that coverage compares to the No Kings protests. #contentiousky
I think this is a gift link to a great article quoting top social movement scholars about the impact and meaning of large scale peaceful protests like "No Kings." The point is to demonstrate numbers and geographic scope of people who oppose Trump/Republican policies & build involvement.
October 17, 2025 at 12:45 PM
I think this is a gift link to a great article quoting top social movement scholars about the impact and meaning of large scale peaceful protests like "No Kings." The point is to demonstrate numbers and geographic scope of people who oppose Trump/Republican policies & build involvement.
Today is the 30th anniversary of the Million Man March. A couple of years ago I wrote two blog posts about the organizing for the March. (This draws on our larger project.) This is the first that argues the march was about coalitional unity. www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc/racepoli...
Organizing the Million Man March – Race, Politics, Justice
www.ssc.wisc.edu
October 16, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Today is the 30th anniversary of the Million Man March. A couple of years ago I wrote two blog posts about the organizing for the March. (This draws on our larger project.) This is the first that argues the march was about coalitional unity. www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc/racepoli...
New in the past couple weeks my gmail has been losing messages, especially replies to my outgoing messages when the message was sent to multiple people. E.g. in one case, someone else could see the reply my initial message but it was just not in my inbox. Ideas about where to look for solutions?
October 13, 2025 at 7:24 PM
New in the past couple weeks my gmail has been losing messages, especially replies to my outgoing messages when the message was sent to multiple people. E.g. in one case, someone else could see the reply my initial message but it was just not in my inbox. Ideas about where to look for solutions?
#AcademicSky #commsky #BlackSky Sincere Q'n. Where are reviewers coming from if they question the representativeness of a sample of 37 Black newspapers but not a sample of 3 mainstream newswires in the same paper? & complain about failure to analyze diversity of the former but not the latter? 1/2
October 7, 2025 at 5:26 PM
#AcademicSky #commsky #BlackSky Sincere Q'n. Where are reviewers coming from if they question the representativeness of a sample of 37 Black newspapers but not a sample of 3 mainstream newswires in the same paper? & complain about failure to analyze diversity of the former but not the latter? 1/2
Reposted by Pamela Oliver
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.
It's especially for journalists covering this story!
Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
It's especially for journalists covering this story!
Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
October 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.
It's especially for journalists covering this story!
Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
It's especially for journalists covering this story!
Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Reposted by Pamela Oliver
How is this legal? Invading people's homes while they're sleeping & forcing them outdoors, naked? Kids, too? abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...
#IceGestapo #TrumpIsUnfitForOffice #TrumpsGovernmentShutdown
#IceGestapo #TrumpIsUnfitForOffice #TrumpsGovernmentShutdown
ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground
ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.
abc7chicago.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:57 PM
How is this legal? Invading people's homes while they're sleeping & forcing them outdoors, naked? Kids, too? abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...
#IceGestapo #TrumpIsUnfitForOffice #TrumpsGovernmentShutdown
#IceGestapo #TrumpIsUnfitForOffice #TrumpsGovernmentShutdown
I've long found Sarah Taber to be one of the most interesting accounts on the Internet. I had actually not heard of Ballerina farms before this video, but a fascinating discussion of business models in farming as well as a clear discussion of what does and does not make beef worth more.
IT'S FINALLY POSTED. If you've ever wondered
-what the Ballerina Farm dynasty is up to
-if their meat is worth the $11/lb+ pricetag
-how the trad hype stacks up against the real live Mormon women of the 1800s
I got you covered
youtu.be/yLZUWoDq9QA
-what the Ballerina Farm dynasty is up to
-if their meat is worth the $11/lb+ pricetag
-how the trad hype stacks up against the real live Mormon women of the 1800s
I got you covered
youtu.be/yLZUWoDq9QA
Ballerina Farm: A Small Farmer, Mom, & Onetime Mormon's Thoughts
YouTube video by Farm to Taber
youtu.be
September 28, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I've long found Sarah Taber to be one of the most interesting accounts on the Internet. I had actually not heard of Ballerina farms before this video, but a fascinating discussion of business models in farming as well as a clear discussion of what does and does not make beef worth more.
Does anybody know why the RSS feeds from some journals include abstracts and others do not even though the pubs have abstracts.(I'm pulling RSS feeds via Zotero). I asked one journal & they just said they couldn't do abstracts. But why? #Librarians Librarians ?
September 23, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Does anybody know why the RSS feeds from some journals include abstracts and others do not even though the pubs have abstracts.(I'm pulling RSS feeds via Zotero). I asked one journal & they just said they couldn't do abstracts. But why? #Librarians Librarians ?
As a colleague recently remarked, if AI-written publications are going to be treated as "real" or "real publications," then the entire system of ranking and rewarding people on the basis of publications is simply done.
Glad to be getting more attention to our work on redundant publications!!
@nature.com #metascience #academicsky
@nature.com #metascience #academicsky
Journals infiltrated with ‘copycat’ papers that can be written by AI
Tools such as ChatGPT can be used to generate almost-identical research papers that pass standard plagiarism checks. Hundreds are thought to have been published.
www.nature.com
September 23, 2025 at 7:29 PM
As a colleague recently remarked, if AI-written publications are going to be treated as "real" or "real publications," then the entire system of ranking and rewarding people on the basis of publications is simply done.
#AcademicSky I'm going to try to produce a "video abstract" for a piece about the 2007 Jena 6 protest. There are relevant video recordings on the Internet. Can people point me to copyright rules about whether & how extracts from such recordings can be used without fees?
September 23, 2025 at 2:09 PM
#AcademicSky I'm going to try to produce a "video abstract" for a piece about the 2007 Jena 6 protest. There are relevant video recordings on the Internet. Can people point me to copyright rules about whether & how extracts from such recordings can be used without fees?
Reposted by Pamela Oliver
Fascism only works if it has a social base. I wrote a book about efforts across the country to organize predominantly white communities away from this base. How? By showing them their shared stake in fighting for racial and economic justice. The book is out Jan 2026. @surj.org
White Flank: Organizing White People for Racial Justice
Organizing White People for Racial Justice
bookshop.org
September 21, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Fascism only works if it has a social base. I wrote a book about efforts across the country to organize predominantly white communities away from this base. How? By showing them their shared stake in fighting for racial and economic justice. The book is out Jan 2026. @surj.org
Reposted by Pamela Oliver
My stalker is back. So, if you follow me or @louiseseamster.bsky.social and you get a creepy or suspicious follow, please block and report the account.
It’s pretty exhausting to rehash this history. But here’s a primer on the nearly decade long stalking: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
It’s pretty exhausting to rehash this history. But here’s a primer on the nearly decade long stalking: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Inbox: Part 3, Vivian
Podcast Episode · The 11th · 08/11/2021 · 31m
podcasts.apple.com
September 21, 2025 at 6:37 PM
My stalker is back. So, if you follow me or @louiseseamster.bsky.social and you get a creepy or suspicious follow, please block and report the account.
It’s pretty exhausting to rehash this history. But here’s a primer on the nearly decade long stalking: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
It’s pretty exhausting to rehash this history. But here’s a primer on the nearly decade long stalking: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
#AcademicSky I have not logged in to my Academia site in years. Do I need to hurry about deleting my account to avoid the new terms of service?
September 20, 2025 at 1:25 AM
#AcademicSky I have not logged in to my Academia site in years. Do I need to hurry about deleting my account to avoid the new terms of service?
In the category of often unhelpful autoreplies for keeping track of which letters of reference are done and not done are those from Interfolio that give the name of the candidate but not the job and those from employers that do not name the candidate.
September 18, 2025 at 5:55 PM
In the category of often unhelpful autoreplies for keeping track of which letters of reference are done and not done are those from Interfolio that give the name of the candidate but not the job and those from employers that do not name the candidate.
I'm not saying the reviews are all wrong, but in what social science world is a quantitative analysis with n>1000 articles drawn from 3 sources of type A and 37 sources of type B a "case study"??? Is it because all of the articles are about the same general topic? Is everything a case study?
September 15, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I'm not saying the reviews are all wrong, but in what social science world is a quantitative analysis with n>1000 articles drawn from 3 sources of type A and 37 sources of type B a "case study"??? Is it because all of the articles are about the same general topic? Is everything a case study?