S.E.MacRae
@semacrae.bsky.social
Digital sociology ECR researching the interplay between education, politics and the digital. Own views, she/her.
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S.E.MacRae
@semacrae.bsky.social
· May 13
Introduction to special section: the political life of education online | Naomi Barnes
Just published online!
A special collection for Critical Studies in Education titled "The political life of education online" edited by myself, Keith Heggart and Dr Sheena MacRae. https://l...
www.linkedin.com
I have recently been one of the editors led by @drnomyn.bsky.social with Keith Heggart of a special collection for Critical Studies in Education titled "The political life of education online". Naomi has written a great post here about the project and the other papers 1/7
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
🎉 Delighted by the level of interest in my research article Trans-exclusionary Data Activism in the UK.
Since publishing last week, it's had over 3,000 views!
doi.org/10.1080/0958...
Since publishing last week, it's had over 3,000 views!
doi.org/10.1080/0958...
January 30, 2026 at 10:42 AM
🎉 Delighted by the level of interest in my research article Trans-exclusionary Data Activism in the UK.
Since publishing last week, it's had over 3,000 views!
doi.org/10.1080/0958...
Since publishing last week, it's had over 3,000 views!
doi.org/10.1080/0958...
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Going to add several successive UK govts to this list. Post-Brexit, the UK's reliance on US regulatory stability creates massive ongoing vulnerabilities.
I am so tired of all the things that we said would happen, and were routinely ignored or dismissed by tech bros and neoliberals for saying would happen, continuing to happen, in exactly the way that we said they would happen.
Seems like one of those issues that should greatly concern everyone regardless of their politics.
January 30, 2026 at 7:44 AM
Going to add several successive UK govts to this list. Post-Brexit, the UK's reliance on US regulatory stability creates massive ongoing vulnerabilities.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
No. No. No. Stop this.
We want to make sure tutoring isn't the preserve of a lucky few, but accessible to every child who needs it.
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Poorest pupils to be given AI tutors
Bridget Phillipson says tuition would no longer be the preserve of ‘the lucky few’
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 2:42 PM
No. No. No. Stop this.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
People who enjoy this (and are maybe a bit surprised) should REALLY look into the history of knitting/sewing and resistance. I think they might also enjoy that!
Staff at a Twin Cities yarn store put together a pattern for a red knit “Melt the ICE” hat inspired by the Norwegian resistance.
They thought they would attract 10 people to a weekly knit-along.
They’ve sold 70,000 copies, raising more than $250k for immigrant aid groups.
They thought they would attract 10 people to a weekly knit-along.
They’ve sold 70,000 copies, raising more than $250k for immigrant aid groups.
‘Rage knitting’ against the machine: the hobbyists putting anti-ICE messages into crafts
Makers take a stand through ‘Melt the ICE’ red knit caps and sparkly nails – all while raising funds for those affected by immigration raids
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:44 PM
People who enjoy this (and are maybe a bit surprised) should REALLY look into the history of knitting/sewing and resistance. I think they might also enjoy that!
‘AI is the future of music’ they said, ‘it democratises the creative process’ they said, ‘think of the possibilities’ they said.
85% of AI music tracks are “played by bots rather than humans in order to siphon off royalties” - replacing listeners as well as creators…
Deezer says up to 85% of its AI-music streams are now fraudulent
Deezer says it is now receiving more than 60,000 fully-AI tracks every day, and that’s 39% of total uploads.
Deezer says it is now receiving more than 60,000 fully-AI tracks every day, and that’s 39% of total uploads.
January 29, 2026 at 12:43 PM
‘AI is the future of music’ they said, ‘it democratises the creative process’ they said, ‘think of the possibilities’ they said.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
How is it even possible for you to frame this as a question? It's not like there's any mystery to it.
How did British Muslims become ‘the problem’? – podcast
How did British Muslims become ‘the problem’? – podcast
Miqdaad Versi, Shaista Aziz, Aamna Mohdin and Nosheen Iqbal on the rise of the far right and growing Islamophobia in the UK
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2026 at 11:09 AM
How is it even possible for you to frame this as a question? It's not like there's any mystery to it.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Another morning, another article mentioning the "hard right"...
This may seem trivial but the use of terms that euphemise far-right politics and deflect from the threat they pose matters a lot
See @gsamaras.bsky.social 's brilliant article on the "hard right"
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
This may seem trivial but the use of terms that euphemise far-right politics and deflect from the threat they pose matters a lot
See @gsamaras.bsky.social 's brilliant article on the "hard right"
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Misuse, mislabelling, and the broken path of the ‘hard-right’: Challenging nonscientific political discourse | European Political Science | Cambridge Core
Misuse, mislabelling, and the broken path of the ‘hard-right’: Challenging nonscientific political discourse
www.cambridge.org
January 29, 2026 at 8:13 AM
Another morning, another article mentioning the "hard right"...
This may seem trivial but the use of terms that euphemise far-right politics and deflect from the threat they pose matters a lot
See @gsamaras.bsky.social 's brilliant article on the "hard right"
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
This may seem trivial but the use of terms that euphemise far-right politics and deflect from the threat they pose matters a lot
See @gsamaras.bsky.social 's brilliant article on the "hard right"
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
This argument from reeves is as stupid and mendacious as that time some MAGALoon tried to explain that insurance was bad because people who don't claim pay for those who do.
Fucking incredible. From a Labour Chancellor.
*Kinnock Voice*
A LABOUR CHANCELLOR
Fucking incredible. From a Labour Chancellor.
*Kinnock Voice*
A LABOUR CHANCELLOR
Rachel Reeves, "It is not right that people who don't go to uni are having to bear all the costs for others to do so"
Oli Dugmore, "If Reeves wants to make the argument that you shouldn't be paying for things that you don't use, there will be a lot of pensioners who don't get a pension"
Oli Dugmore, "If Reeves wants to make the argument that you shouldn't be paying for things that you don't use, there will be a lot of pensioners who don't get a pension"
January 29, 2026 at 7:34 AM
This argument from reeves is as stupid and mendacious as that time some MAGALoon tried to explain that insurance was bad because people who don't claim pay for those who do.
Fucking incredible. From a Labour Chancellor.
*Kinnock Voice*
A LABOUR CHANCELLOR
Fucking incredible. From a Labour Chancellor.
*Kinnock Voice*
A LABOUR CHANCELLOR
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
I am hearing that RFK Jr.’s minions are going to go after HPV vaccines. I’ve got problems with these people and now you’re going to hear about them, first from a personal perspective and then from a professional one.
It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
January 28, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I am hearing that RFK Jr.’s minions are going to go after HPV vaccines. I’ve got problems with these people and now you’re going to hear about them, first from a personal perspective and then from a professional one.
It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Reminder that RFK jr made nearly a million dollars from lawsuits over the HPV vaccine in the year before he was confirmed, and only said he’d divest from those suits after pressure from the senate.
January 28, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Reminder that RFK jr made nearly a million dollars from lawsuits over the HPV vaccine in the year before he was confirmed, and only said he’d divest from those suits after pressure from the senate.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
There is money for "education" if and only if that money is being directly funneled to corporations. Anything involving actual learning, however, well there's no magic money tree
BREAKING: Free AI training will be offered to every adult in the UK, with short courses to teach people how to use simple AI tools effectively in the workplace.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall tells #BBCBreakfast about the scheme
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall tells #BBCBreakfast about the scheme
January 28, 2026 at 9:40 AM
There is money for "education" if and only if that money is being directly funneled to corporations. Anything involving actual learning, however, well there's no magic money tree
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Sigh. This is why my Theory module guide specifies "Theory and Society (up to 2024)" in the recommended journals.
This Theory & Society piece is quite something. A pious scientistic prescription tailor-made for appropriation by reactionary watchdogs that takes the total piss by citing Rufo to advance an argument in favour of "academic integrity, not partisan retaliation"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose: how to reverse the closing of the sociological imagination - Theory and Society
Academic sociology has been stifled by ideological capture. To restore its credibility, I advocate for the kind of external intervention once undertaken in Denmark. In 1986, the Danish government clos...
link.springer.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:24 AM
Sigh. This is why my Theory module guide specifies "Theory and Society (up to 2024)" in the recommended journals.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
This Theory & Society piece is quite something. A pious scientistic prescription tailor-made for appropriation by reactionary watchdogs that takes the total piss by citing Rufo to advance an argument in favour of "academic integrity, not partisan retaliation"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose: how to reverse the closing of the sociological imagination - Theory and Society
Academic sociology has been stifled by ideological capture. To restore its credibility, I advocate for the kind of external intervention once undertaken in Denmark. In 1986, the Danish government clos...
link.springer.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:19 AM
This Theory & Society piece is quite something. A pious scientistic prescription tailor-made for appropriation by reactionary watchdogs that takes the total piss by citing Rufo to advance an argument in favour of "academic integrity, not partisan retaliation"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Manchester so much to answer for.
Reform announces Matthew Goodwin as candidate for Gorton and Denton by-election
A press conference was held on Tuesday
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Manchester so much to answer for.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Calling transphobia a 'gateway drug' to the far right undersells it. It's pure accelerant. Grimly fascinating to guess what crankery becomes any famous transphobe's secondary obsession, cos they all have one: 15 minute cities are fascism! Grok noncing is cool! ICE are good! We should kill all dogs!
January 27, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Calling transphobia a 'gateway drug' to the far right undersells it. It's pure accelerant. Grimly fascinating to guess what crankery becomes any famous transphobe's secondary obsession, cos they all have one: 15 minute cities are fascism! Grok noncing is cool! ICE are good! We should kill all dogs!
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Exactly right.
Bovino's leaving? Great, get Noem to resign.
Noem resigns? Great, defund and dismantle ICE.
Go after Stephen Miller too. Bring charges against ICE thugs at the state and local level. Lawsuits. New state laws restricting them.
Every possible angle.
Bovino's leaving? Great, get Noem to resign.
Noem resigns? Great, defund and dismantle ICE.
Go after Stephen Miller too. Bring charges against ICE thugs at the state and local level. Lawsuits. New state laws restricting them.
Every possible angle.
They are wounded and flailing. Press the advantage.
January 27, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Exactly right.
Bovino's leaving? Great, get Noem to resign.
Noem resigns? Great, defund and dismantle ICE.
Go after Stephen Miller too. Bring charges against ICE thugs at the state and local level. Lawsuits. New state laws restricting them.
Every possible angle.
Bovino's leaving? Great, get Noem to resign.
Noem resigns? Great, defund and dismantle ICE.
Go after Stephen Miller too. Bring charges against ICE thugs at the state and local level. Lawsuits. New state laws restricting them.
Every possible angle.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
A lot of self described Christians seem to be banking on there not actually being a hell.
January 25, 2026 at 12:55 AM
A lot of self described Christians seem to be banking on there not actually being a hell.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.
January 25, 2026 at 12:28 PM
A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.
Very interesting 🧵👇
The most recent episode of Fallout (S2EP6) really hammers home the perpetual '50s ideology of the nuclear technocracy by using a Time and Motion-style production line as the ideal form of management
January 25, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Very interesting 🧵👇
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Any institution that is given a legal right to use lethal force and that has only ever operated to protect a segment of the population is inherently dangerous and unjust. The fact that we have such institutions in so many places is horrendous and we should be doing more to challenge their existence.
January 25, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Any institution that is given a legal right to use lethal force and that has only ever operated to protect a segment of the population is inherently dangerous and unjust. The fact that we have such institutions in so many places is horrendous and we should be doing more to challenge their existence.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Remember that the legal standard for deadly force is whether the agent reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.
That is the only question that matters. And that standard is plainly not met by what we see in the video.
That is the only question that matters. And that standard is plainly not met by what we see in the video.
January 25, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Remember that the legal standard for deadly force is whether the agent reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.
That is the only question that matters. And that standard is plainly not met by what we see in the video.
That is the only question that matters. And that standard is plainly not met by what we see in the video.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
The 'sharply contradictory narratives' of truth and lies.
BBC having a totally normal one again, granting respectability and credence to their sworn enemies.
January 24, 2026 at 10:54 PM
The 'sharply contradictory narratives' of truth and lies.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
Also, news organisations, the citizenship of someone summarily executed on the streets is irrelevant to your reporting.
January 24, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Also, news organisations, the citizenship of someone summarily executed on the streets is irrelevant to your reporting.
Reposted by S.E.MacRae
"What stayed with Amundson most, she said, was not the adrenaline of the moment but the realization that came while she was holding the agent’s head in her hands and keeping his airway open.
“I was hit so hard with the fact that this man would not do this for me,” she said.'"
“I was hit so hard with the fact that this man would not do this for me,” she said.'"
Two women trained as first responders were abducted by three ICE agents. One of the agents starts seizing. The other two don’t know what to do. The women jump into action and save the agent’s life, only to be re-handcuffed and processed.
www.startribune.com/detained-by-...
www.startribune.com/detained-by-...
Detained by ICE, two women became first responders during agent’s seizure
The women say they guided agents through the emergency, later raising concerns about medical protocols, weapons safety and accountability.
www.startribune.com
January 24, 2026 at 1:36 PM
"What stayed with Amundson most, she said, was not the adrenaline of the moment but the realization that came while she was holding the agent’s head in her hands and keeping his airway open.
“I was hit so hard with the fact that this man would not do this for me,” she said.'"
“I was hit so hard with the fact that this man would not do this for me,” she said.'"