Erin McDonnell
@profmcdonnell.bsky.social
Sociologist of states, orgs & development at Notre Dame. Author of Patchwork Leviathan. Loves new projects, Ghana, public servants, volleyball and capybaras, in no particular order. my views≠ND RT≠endorse
Do you work on development, democracy, or state institutions? Apply for a Kellogg visiting fellowship and hang out with me for the semester or year! Apply by October 1
kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
Visiting Fellowship Program | Kellogg Institute For International Studies
Since 1983, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies has offered visiting fellowships to promote interdisciplinary international research in a supportive community of scholars.
kellogg.nd.edu
September 24, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Do you work on development, democracy, or state institutions? Apply for a Kellogg visiting fellowship and hang out with me for the semester or year! Apply by October 1
kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
In the holocaust why did some people rescue strangers while others were perpetrators or bystanders? "Bystanders see themselves as passive people, lacking in control and low in efficacy. The Nazi self-image is as victims who need to protect themselves and their community."...(cont)
August 15, 2025 at 4:33 PM
In the holocaust why did some people rescue strangers while others were perpetrators or bystanders? "Bystanders see themselves as passive people, lacking in control and low in efficacy. The Nazi self-image is as victims who need to protect themselves and their community."...(cont)
Great to be a guest at @casbsstanford.bsky.social Stimulating conversations w interdisciplinary scholars researching orgs: what org ethnography adds, what defines a strong org, & better understanding well performing public sector orgs in low income countries.
July 16, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Great to be a guest at @casbsstanford.bsky.social Stimulating conversations w interdisciplinary scholars researching orgs: what org ethnography adds, what defines a strong org, & better understanding well performing public sector orgs in low income countries.
Great time with Medici Institute, at HEC Paris this year. Fun to talk org culture and motivation in public sectors with curious orgs scholars. Convos about what org purpose is, whether it’s just “purpose washing” profit, when it matters to workers, and when/why it helps orgs to embrace a purpose
June 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Great time with Medici Institute, at HEC Paris this year. Fun to talk org culture and motivation in public sectors with curious orgs scholars. Convos about what org purpose is, whether it’s just “purpose washing” profit, when it matters to workers, and when/why it helps orgs to embrace a purpose
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
The disparity btwn what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory. Botted socials, AI, old clips, declining literacy—it’s like seeing a broken emergency response system hit by a storm.
June 10, 2025 at 9:57 PM
The disparity btwn what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory. Botted socials, AI, old clips, declining literacy—it’s like seeing a broken emergency response system hit by a storm.
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
You can act on false conspiracy theories about the government, and violate numerous laws, and that is fine. But if you suggest that government is not dysfunctional, you will get fired from DOGE:
![Lavignia left his start-up, Gumroad, to join Veteran’s Affairs. Here is the key passage:
Now that he’s there, he says he finds himself surrounded by people who “love their jobs,” who came to the government with a sense of mission driving their work. “In a sense, that makes the DOGE agenda a little bit more complicated, because if half the government took [a buyout offer], then we wouldn’t have to do much more,” he says, implying software can replace departing employees. “We’d just basically use software to plug holes. But that’s not what’s happening.”…when it comes down to it, what he’s found is a machine that largely functions, though it doesn’t make decisions as fast as a startup might. “I would say the culture shock is mostly a lot of meetings, not a lot of decisions,” he says. “But honestly, it’s kind of fine—because the government works. It’s not as inefficient as I was expecting, to be honest. I was hoping for more easy wins.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2rrp7amblhg3xoly5n5huiqv/bafkreieacmnc5aa2tjl2eajo7jphh2ljx2uyxopzl2xgzihaglmv4epvhq@jpeg)
May 29, 2025 at 2:57 AM
You can act on false conspiracy theories about the government, and violate numerous laws, and that is fine. But if you suggest that government is not dysfunctional, you will get fired from DOGE:
Sociologists: What are your favorite qualitative papers whose contribution is primarily to show HOW something works, to illustrate the mechanism of a social relationship, or illuminate a process?
May 19, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Sociologists: What are your favorite qualitative papers whose contribution is primarily to show HOW something works, to illustrate the mechanism of a social relationship, or illuminate a process?
Apply now: Summer 2025 interdisciplinary workshop on Public Sector Organizations
Who: Grad students, postdocs, & assistant profs in social sciences
When: 7/21-23
Where: Univ of Notre Dame (USA)
Apps Due: 5/15
Details: tinyurl.com/PSOE2025
Apply at: tinyurl.com/effectivesta...
Who: Grad students, postdocs, & assistant profs in social sciences
When: 7/21-23
Where: Univ of Notre Dame (USA)
Apps Due: 5/15
Details: tinyurl.com/PSOE2025
Apply at: tinyurl.com/effectivesta...
Summer Orgs Workshop 2025.pdf
drive.google.com
April 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Apply now: Summer 2025 interdisciplinary workshop on Public Sector Organizations
Who: Grad students, postdocs, & assistant profs in social sciences
When: 7/21-23
Where: Univ of Notre Dame (USA)
Apps Due: 5/15
Details: tinyurl.com/PSOE2025
Apply at: tinyurl.com/effectivesta...
Who: Grad students, postdocs, & assistant profs in social sciences
When: 7/21-23
Where: Univ of Notre Dame (USA)
Apps Due: 5/15
Details: tinyurl.com/PSOE2025
Apply at: tinyurl.com/effectivesta...
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
IT'S OFFICIAL. I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK! 🤯
#TheDoubleTax unpacks the cost of being a woman, why the bill runs higher for women of color, and how closing the gaps moves us ALL forward. #blacksky #booksky #econsky
PRE-ORDER NOW: tinyurl.com/doubletax-or...
Get Involved: tinyurl.com/doubletax-join
#TheDoubleTax unpacks the cost of being a woman, why the bill runs higher for women of color, and how closing the gaps moves us ALL forward. #blacksky #booksky #econsky
PRE-ORDER NOW: tinyurl.com/doubletax-or...
Get Involved: tinyurl.com/doubletax-join
March 11, 2025 at 3:31 PM
IT'S OFFICIAL. I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK! 🤯
#TheDoubleTax unpacks the cost of being a woman, why the bill runs higher for women of color, and how closing the gaps moves us ALL forward. #blacksky #booksky #econsky
PRE-ORDER NOW: tinyurl.com/doubletax-or...
Get Involved: tinyurl.com/doubletax-join
#TheDoubleTax unpacks the cost of being a woman, why the bill runs higher for women of color, and how closing the gaps moves us ALL forward. #blacksky #booksky #econsky
PRE-ORDER NOW: tinyurl.com/doubletax-or...
Get Involved: tinyurl.com/doubletax-join
If "patriotism in American history" sounds like a promise to scrub uncomfortable truths from history, gild the lily, and run a propaganda machine through our education system, that's because it probably is.
SCOOP: Now that Linda McMahon is confirmed/sworn in as secretary, Trump will be imminently issuing an executive order eliminating the Department of Education.
I’ve obtained a draft of an email that McMahon will be sending to staff re: the EO and the department’s “final mission”.
Here is a portion:
I’ve obtained a draft of an email that McMahon will be sending to staff re: the EO and the department’s “final mission”.
Here is a portion:
![After President Trump's inauguration last month, he has steadily signed a slate of executive orders to keep these education promises: combatting critical race theory, DEl, gender ideology extremism, and discrimination in admissions. President Trump has also been focused on eliminating wasteful bureaucracy and harmful programs in the federal government. To that end, today he signed [Executive Order XYZ, entitled "Eliminating the Department of Education,] which has given us a clear and final mission.
We are to identify which of the Department's functions, programs, and offices are not mandated by statute, and eliminate them. This reorganization will impact staff, budgets, reporting, and more —and in coming months, we will determine how it can be accomplished with minimal delay and disruption. The President further tasked us with creating a plan to reallocate and reassign functions of the Department of Education that would be more effectively managed by other agencies. This plan will offer Congress a road map toward fulfilling the expectations of the President and the American people.
The new vision—which I hope each of you will embrace going forward—can be expressed as four main convictions:
Parents are the primary decision makers in their children's education.
Students deserve to be protected from physical violence, racial discrimination, medical tyranny, and gender extremism ideology on campus.
Postsecondary education should be a path to a well-paying career aligned with workforce needs.
Taxpayer-funded education should refocus on meaningful learning: proficiency in math, reading, and core subjects, and patriotism in American history and civics.
As we move to reduce the Department's middleman role in education, these four convictions must guide us toward conscientious and pragmatic action. The elimination of bureaucracy should free us, not limit us, in our pursuit of these goals
Removing red tape and bureaucratic barriers will empower parents to make th](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ejihld4sywvvqwe67cdkn4jq/bafkreictcxubqhd7foyjwbms62bj3cxmfyepqk2ms3l6ctabsa6fvpm5ju@jpeg)
March 4, 2025 at 3:21 PM
If "patriotism in American history" sounds like a promise to scrub uncomfortable truths from history, gild the lily, and run a propaganda machine through our education system, that's because it probably is.
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
**JOB ALERT** Notre Dame's new Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship. $75k/year, $15k research expenses, open area, & up to 2 years. Come work with great Sociology colleagues in a resource rich environment.
apply.interfolio.com/164239
apply.interfolio.com/164239
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
March 4, 2025 at 2:08 PM
**JOB ALERT** Notre Dame's new Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship. $75k/year, $15k research expenses, open area, & up to 2 years. Come work with great Sociology colleagues in a resource rich environment.
apply.interfolio.com/164239
apply.interfolio.com/164239
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
All probationary federal employees at NOAA’s EMC that’s responsible for keeping all US weather model systems running have been fired with 1 hours notice. And that includes me and colleagues. We will not go quietly because we care about the NOAA mission to protect the public.
February 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
All probationary federal employees at NOAA’s EMC that’s responsible for keeping all US weather model systems running have been fired with 1 hours notice. And that includes me and colleagues. We will not go quietly because we care about the NOAA mission to protect the public.
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
NEW: Public health teams are being gutted, imperiling efforts to safeguard organ donation and prevent maternal and infant death. Many workers expressed fear at what would happen to the work they left behind.
They Worked to Prevent Death. The Trump Administration Fired Them.
Public health teams are being gutted, imperiling efforts to safeguard organ donation and prevent maternal and infant death. Many workers expressed fear at what would happen to the work they left behind.
www.propublica.org
February 22, 2025 at 10:15 AM
NEW: Public health teams are being gutted, imperiling efforts to safeguard organ donation and prevent maternal and infant death. Many workers expressed fear at what would happen to the work they left behind.
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
“Hitler systematically disabled and then dismantled his country’s democratic structures and processes in less than two months’ time—specifically, one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours, and 40 minutes,” Timothy W. Ryback writes in a step-by-step account:
How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days
He used the constitution to shatter the constitution.
www.theatlantic.com
February 19, 2025 at 9:07 PM
“Hitler systematically disabled and then dismantled his country’s democratic structures and processes in less than two months’ time—specifically, one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours, and 40 minutes,” Timothy W. Ryback writes in a step-by-step account:
Corporations realizing that Black people, and their allies, dont want to shop with spineless corporations removing workplace protections. If you dont stand for something when its hard, you dont stand for it at all.
Costco & Trader Joes can have all my money. finance.yahoo.com/news/target-...
Costco & Trader Joes can have all my money. finance.yahoo.com/news/target-...
Target drops DEI initiatives and learns there are harsh consequences
The retailer is being sued after removing its diversity programs after President Donald Trump was elected.
finance.yahoo.com
February 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Corporations realizing that Black people, and their allies, dont want to shop with spineless corporations removing workplace protections. If you dont stand for something when its hard, you dont stand for it at all.
Costco & Trader Joes can have all my money. finance.yahoo.com/news/target-...
Costco & Trader Joes can have all my money. finance.yahoo.com/news/target-...
Public servants are GD super heroes. They get shat on & mocked but when we really need them, they still come through for us.
working thru the weekend to process requests to change gender on birth certificates in Washington, so people's gov ID can = their birth cert, can = their gender identity
working thru the weekend to process requests to change gender on birth certificates in Washington, so people's gov ID can = their birth cert, can = their gender identity
A team of more than a dozen people worked through a weekend to clear the department’s backlog of more than 500 requests. We’re speeding up government and centering the people.
February 13, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Public servants are GD super heroes. They get shat on & mocked but when we really need them, they still come through for us.
working thru the weekend to process requests to change gender on birth certificates in Washington, so people's gov ID can = their birth cert, can = their gender identity
working thru the weekend to process requests to change gender on birth certificates in Washington, so people's gov ID can = their birth cert, can = their gender identity
Honestly its like a freefall where you think you are nearing rock bottom and then you get to "sacking people who fight white supremacist terrorist groups" and discover a whole near level
In the past weeks, the Trump administration has purged federal law enforcement agencies of prosecutors and investigators who’d been pursuing white supremacist groups that had been listed among the most dangerous threats to national security.
By @hannahallam.bsky.social
By @hannahallam.bsky.social
Trump’s Pardons and Purges Revive Old Question: Who Counts as a Terrorist?
The president’s sweeping clemency for Capitol rioters and his administration’s ongoing removal of career national security specialists foretell a permissive new climate for extremist movements, say…
propub.li
February 13, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Honestly its like a freefall where you think you are nearing rock bottom and then you get to "sacking people who fight white supremacist terrorist groups" and discover a whole near level
This is how kleptocracy works, and why it is such a dangerous, slippery slope to get away from elite government officials (and whatever Musk is) from putting financial interests in a blind trust
Tesla, whose chief executive, Elon Musk, has been advising President Trump on how to cut government spending, is likely to receive a lucrative contract to supply armored versions of its Cybertruck pickup to the State Department, according to public documents.
State Dept. Plans $400 Million Purchase of Armored Tesla Cybertrucks
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2025 at 3:09 AM
This is how kleptocracy works, and why it is such a dangerous, slippery slope to get away from elite government officials (and whatever Musk is) from putting financial interests in a blind trust
Research African governance? We seek contributions to an interdisciplinary edited volume addressing institutional performance and democratic citizenship beyond traditional notions of voting--deliberation, small publics, public sector accountability etc.
Apply 2/15
drive.google.com/file/d/11nRF...
Apply 2/15
drive.google.com/file/d/11nRF...
AGIL_CALL FOR PAPERS_LKD.pdf
drive.google.com
February 11, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Research African governance? We seek contributions to an interdisciplinary edited volume addressing institutional performance and democratic citizenship beyond traditional notions of voting--deliberation, small publics, public sector accountability etc.
Apply 2/15
drive.google.com/file/d/11nRF...
Apply 2/15
drive.google.com/file/d/11nRF...
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
Reposted by Erin McDonnell
The DEI caused the plane crash narrative is a distraction. The tariffs are a distraction. Whatever insane nonsense Trump spews that the media will chase like cats chasing a laser light is a distraction. The only story that counts right now is the wholesale hijacking of control of the US government.
February 3, 2025 at 6:17 AM
The DEI caused the plane crash narrative is a distraction. The tariffs are a distraction. Whatever insane nonsense Trump spews that the media will chase like cats chasing a laser light is a distraction. The only story that counts right now is the wholesale hijacking of control of the US government.
I have studied African governments for over 20yrs. Abolishing term limits is the slippery slope to personalistic quasi authoritarian rule.
This should be a hard line for all Americans, including conservatives who value the constitution
ogles.house.gov/media/press-...
This should be a hard line for all Americans, including conservatives who value the constitution
ogles.house.gov/media/press-...
Rep. Ogles Proposes Amending the 22nd Amendment to Allow Trump to Serve a Third Term
WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Andy Ogles introduced a House Joint Resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States to allow a President to be elected for up to but no more than three terms. Th...
ogles.house.gov
January 25, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I have studied African governments for over 20yrs. Abolishing term limits is the slippery slope to personalistic quasi authoritarian rule.
This should be a hard line for all Americans, including conservatives who value the constitution
ogles.house.gov/media/press-...
This should be a hard line for all Americans, including conservatives who value the constitution
ogles.house.gov/media/press-...
Merry Christmas & happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate.
Give yourself some grace & rest this season. If the season felt too short, it’s bc it was.
Thanksgiving 11/28 is the latest it falls, cutting up to 6 days from the season.
Our grades were due 12/23, so work lurked later than usual too.
Give yourself some grace & rest this season. If the season felt too short, it’s bc it was.
Thanksgiving 11/28 is the latest it falls, cutting up to 6 days from the season.
Our grades were due 12/23, so work lurked later than usual too.
December 25, 2024 at 11:44 PM
Merry Christmas & happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate.
Give yourself some grace & rest this season. If the season felt too short, it’s bc it was.
Thanksgiving 11/28 is the latest it falls, cutting up to 6 days from the season.
Our grades were due 12/23, so work lurked later than usual too.
Give yourself some grace & rest this season. If the season felt too short, it’s bc it was.
Thanksgiving 11/28 is the latest it falls, cutting up to 6 days from the season.
Our grades were due 12/23, so work lurked later than usual too.
I have to admit I got a belly laugh out of this one
December 17, 2024 at 9:18 PM
I have to admit I got a belly laugh out of this one