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abizadeh.bsky.social
𝙰𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝙰𝚋𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚑
@abizadeh.bsky.social
7.8K followers 550 following 490 posts
Political philosophy prof at McGill

https://abizadeh.wixsite.com/arash
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abizadeh.bsky.social
𝙰𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝙰𝚋𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚑 @abizadeh.bsky.social · Nov 11
I often tell my advanced graduate students who are looking to get their work published that, if you're not getting multiple journal rejections, you're not doing your job right. So, to provide continuing inspiration, I've uploaded the annual update to my CV of Journal Article Rejections:
CV of Journal Article Rejections
I often tell my advanced graduate students who are looking to get their work published that, if you're not getting multiple journal rejections, you're not doing your job right. So, to provide inspirat...
abizadeh.wixsite.com
abizadeh.bsky.social
Misinformation, democratic breakdown, social identity: An excellent set of reflections from @samuel-bagg.bsky.social
The Problem is Epistemic. The Solution is Not. | Blog of the APA
Doubts about the wisdom of the masses are as old as philosophy itself. Yet interest in democracy’s “epistemic” merits has surged in the last decade—and it is no mystery why. Democracy is collapsing ar...
blog.apaonline.org
November 22, 2025 at 12:49 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
O wow: Chrystia Freeland (Prairies & St Antony’s 1991) has just been selected the next Warden of Rhodes House and CEO of the Rhodes Trust.

#canpol
November 20, 2025 at 12:15 AM
abizadeh.bsky.social
I reviewed Thomas Holden’s excellent new book, _Hobbes’s Philosophy of Religion_, in NDPR.

TLDR;: theological expressivism yes, justified theism no, rational piety yes.
Hobbes’s Philosophy of Religion
Commentators have traditionally assumed that the key interpretive question concerning Hobbes’s theology is whether he was a theist (as he proclaim...
ndpr.nd.edu
November 19, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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stefhaustein.scholcommlab.ca
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 🎤

If you’ve read this far and still need convincing, please check out our preprint arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 and this infographic: doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
10/10
The four-fold drain of scientific publishing: Money, Time, Trust, and Control.
November 13, 2025 at 8:17 PM
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stefhaustein.scholcommlab.ca
Over the past months (and at least 11 versions!), I was lucky to work with 11 amazing colleagues on a call to action to reform academic publishing.

Not another declaration, but an appeal to our powerful friends, research funders & institutions, to Stop the Drain of Scientific Publishing. 1/n
November 13, 2025 at 8:17 PM
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hansonmark.bsky.social
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
abizadeh.bsky.social
Back to the future: 1934 ad for electric car charger
October 28, 2025 at 1:20 AM
abizadeh.bsky.social
Do they DID know that smoking was bad for health in 1934
Aux fumeurs: Vous pouvez vaincre l’habitude de fumer en trois jours améliorer votre santé
October 28, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Reposted by 𝙰𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝙰𝚋𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚑
jacobtlevy.bsky.social
montrealgazette.com/news/local-n...
Quebec’s brain drain: Universities warn CAQ foreign talent cuts threaten economic future
At National Assembly immigration hearings, universities are challenging what they call myths about international students — and warning that the Legault government's attitude toward newcomers will lea...
montrealgazette.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:43 AM
abizadeh.bsky.social
“Stalin’s method of accusing a fictitious enemy of the crime he himself was about to commit”

(Yes, am reading Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism for the first time.)
October 26, 2025 at 1:17 AM
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brenttoderian.bsky.social
Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY.

There was also a 71% drop in air pollution.

Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople
Closing Central Madrid To Cars Resulted In 9.5% Boost To Retail Spending, Finds Bank Analysis
City of Madrid significantly boosted the takings of its shops and restaurants last Christmas by banning cars from the CBD, finds an analysis by Spain's second largest bank.
www.forbes.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:36 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
Interview with @manongarcia.bsky.social
On the Pelicot rape trials in France
‘These men think they’ve done nothing wrong’: the philosopher who tried to understand Gisèle Pelicot’s rapists
When 50 men went on trial in France, accused of raping a woman who had been drugged by her husband, Manon Garcia was in the courtroom – and in the prosecutors’ closing arguments. How does she make sen...
www.theguardian.com
October 13, 2025 at 1:09 PM
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yoshuabengio.bsky.social
This op-ed published in the @nytimes.com by Stephen Witt thoughtfully captures the urgency and complexity of navigating AI's risks, but also my sincere conviction that technical solutions are possible — we still have agency and an opportunity to act.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
Opinion | The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 3:55 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
Super interesting challenge to the current banking regime by Aaron James:
freeandequal.bsky.social 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 & 𝘌𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭: A Journal of Ethics and Public Affairs @freeandequal.bsky.social · Oct 8
In “Money as 𝘙𝘦𝘴 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢,” @aaronjames.bsky.social proposes a conception of money as “common credit.” Private banks‘ powers of lending (and hence money creation/allocation) must be held in trust and subject to regulations in the service of public purposes to be legitimate.

#poliphil #PolTheory
Money as <em>Res Publica</em>
Our current monetary system is a public-private banking hybrid dominated by private interest, often at the expense of public purpose. This article proposes a conception of money as a “common credit” r...
doi.org
October 8, 2025 at 7:07 PM
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thebeaverton.com
US Ambassador threatens to tariff, annex, and bomb Canada if anti-American sentiment doesn't improve
US Ambassador threatens to tariff, annex, and bomb Canada if anti-American sentiment doesn't improve
OTTAWA - U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has vowed to improve anti-American sentiment he sees in Canada, no matter how many illegal tariffs, forced annexations, or literal bombs it takes to do it.
www.thebeaverton.com
September 19, 2025 at 4:13 PM
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jandutkiewicz.bsky.social
Institutional food policy matters. When it comes to addressing food insecurity, school lunches matter most. But I would be remiss not to note mine and my co-authors' article from Lancet Planetary Health arguing that universities should lead on food sustainability.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Universities should lead on the plant-based dietary transition
As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change1 and the EAT–Lancet Commission2 have pointed out in recent reports, substantial reductions in demand for animal-based foods are vital for achieving cli...
www.thelancet.com
September 19, 2025 at 7:13 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
“My standing piece of advice for those who live in North America who pine to see the best-practice streets of dozens of places in Europe or want to educate colleagues/friends what’s possible: just go to Montreal. It’s much closer. They really have it all.”
Montreal Makes People Feel Welcome With Safe Streets, Happy Places & Green Spaces — Streetfilms
My standing piece of advice for those who live in North America who pine to see the best-practice streets of dozens of places in Europe or want to educate colleague/friends what’s possible: just go to...
www.streetfilms.org
September 16, 2025 at 8:58 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
I’m thrilled that my paper “Elicitory Structural Power and Agential Power” has been accepted for publication at 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. It’s taken over 5y of rejections, so I’m especially pleased.

#poliphil #PolTheory #socialphil
Article: Elicitory Structural Power and Agential Power
Arash Abizadeh. "Elicitory Structural Power and Agential Power: An Outline and Defense." Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, forthcoming.Abstract: Many theorists assume that social power operates...
abizadeh.wixsite.com
September 8, 2025 at 1:22 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
An Albertan Tale: “They never picked their noses or had bowel movements or zits.”
Margaret Atwood releases short story critiquing book bans in Canada
Author quipped she wrote ‘suitable’ piece after Alberta school ban included her novel The Handmaid’s Tale
www.theguardian.com
September 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
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bikewaysto.bsky.social
"bike lanes are still used as political scapegoats. But to what end? ...To deflect attention from real government failures – or from the inconvenient truth that bike lanes do not increase traffic congestion?"

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: The premiers are using bike lanes as a political scapegoat
Safe cycling infrastructure saves lives, but sadly, many politicians are ignoring the facts
www.theglobeandmail.com
August 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
Ontario premier says he was elected by the people of Ontario to remove bike lanes in Toronto put in by the city council elected by the people of Toronto.
Ontario court strikes down Ford government's plan to remove Toronto bike lanes | CBC News
An Ontario court has deemed the province's plan to remove three major Toronto bike lanes unconstitutional. In response, the premier told CBC News: "I believe, and the people of Ontario believe, that t...
www.cbc.ca
July 31, 2025 at 6:23 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
Shopkeepers in Montreal ordered to greet clients with “Goeiedag, Bonjour” instead of “Bonjour-Hi.”

The truth is in my neighbourhood we actually just say the ambiguous “Allô”
Complaint upheld against Belgian ticket inspector who said ‘bonjour’ in Flanders
Ilyass Alba also said ‘goeiedag’ on train in Dutch-speaking region but he breached country’s strict language rules
www.theguardian.com
July 16, 2025 at 4:01 PM
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olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
"Jonathan Caravello...was reportedly “piled on by multiple agents all at once” as “he tried to help a man in a wheelchair” who was having difficulty moving after...[ICE] agents threw canisters of tear gas"

our colleague is still missing as of the last info I got

dailynous.com/2025/07/12/p...
Philosophy Professor Reportedly Assaulted & Abducted During ICE Raid on Farm - Daily Nous
Jonathan Caravello, a lecturer in philosophy at California State University Channel Islands, was reportedly "piled on by multiple agents all at once" as "he tried to help a man in a wheelchair" who wa...
dailynous.com
July 12, 2025 at 3:45 PM
abizadeh.bsky.social
The Digital Tax capitulation has longterm consequences. One is to reduce Cdn bargaining power. Reminder to gov about bargaining power:

If A is trying to get B to do X, A can either:

threaten: “if you don’t do X, we impose big tariffs”

Or:

make an offer: "if you do X, we scratch your back”

/1
June 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
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abizadeh.bsky.social
Not only has the language evolved from “based on” to “based off of,” we now have “spaced off” for “spaced out.”

So ‘out’ and ‘on’ are out, ‘off’ is in.

Or rather: ‘Out’ and ‘on’ are off, ‘off’ is on.
January 3, 2025 at 2:38 PM