Julia Simon

Very much looking forward to our panel "US Politics in Europe" organized by @mikecowburn.bsky.social!

Politologin über Trumps Rede: "Eine gefährliche Normalisierung" US-Expertin über Trumps State-of-the-Union-Rede: Image polieren statt Probleme lösen

Über die gestrige SOTU und die fortschreitende Normalisierung habe ich heute im SRF
H ttps://https://lnkd.in/dNp-MF2m

und in einem (stark gekürzt) auf web.de veröffentlichten Interview gesprochen:
web.de/magazine/pol...

..bei einer Veranstaltung, deren Formalität, Ritualität und Geschichtsträchtigkeit massiv zur Normalisierung der Trump47-Regierung beiträgt, die einzige sichtbare Erinnerung daran dar, wie sich die Dinge in den letzten 13 Monaten verschoben haben.

Er wurde umgehend aus dem Saal entfernt.

“BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES” – Al Green stellte mit dieser Aufschrift auf einem Protestplakat..

This article brings to fore long-standing intricacies and dilemmas in Brazil’s and China’s international positioning. It reveals the complex discursive repertoires shaping the Brazilian and Chinese sense of Self in the world, in the Global South, and, more particularly, in relation to Africa. It engages with the concept of “liminality” to highlight how constructing South–South relationships and invoking Southern identities have been ambiguous, indeterminate—thus liminal—endeavors in these countries’ international affairs. By dissecting their diplomatic and corporate narratives towards Africa, our analysis demonstrates, notwithstanding tensions and contradictions, how Brazilian and Chinese actors have creatively acted upon this liminality to pursue foreign policy goals and economic projects. In doing so, the article stresses the floating, ambiguous nature of powerful constructs such as “South” (and “West”), and binary oppositions between them. It concludes by discussing how a liminality perspective allows us to understand the unfixed and multifaceted nature of roles and identities in international relations.

Our second monthly pick for February is "Liminally Positioned in the South: Reinterpreting Brazilian and Chinese Relations with Africa" by @janahoenke.bsky.social, @eric-cezne.bsky.social, and Yifan Mia Yang. Do give it a read!

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🎉Leviathan-Schwerpunktheft Konservatismus in der Krise II jetzt OA 🎉 mit meinem Beitrag zu konservativem Anti-Intellektualismus und autokratischen Projekten in der US-Bildungspolitik: lnkd.in/eZJ7mNaK
Vielen Dank an die Gastherausgeber:innen @tbiebricher.bsky.social & @juliareuschenbach.bsky.social!

I am absolutely thrilled that I will be joining the phenomenal team @globalsociety.bsky.social as an Associate Editor soon!

Warum ist das kein großes Thema der Presse?

Muss Atlantische Akademie Rheinland-Pfalz Mitarbeiter kündigen? Die Atlantische Akademie Rheinland-Pfalz, mit Sitz in Kaiserslautern, bekommt den Geldhahn zugedreht. Das sieht zumindest ein Gesetzentwurf des Bundes vor. Das gleiche blüht auch den restlichen zehn A...

Entlang des Entwurfs des Bundeshaushaltsgesetzes 2025 sollen die Deutsch-Amerikanischen Zentren um 45 Prozent gekürzt werden. Das trifft die transatlantische Bildungsarbeit ins Mark und gefährdet wichtige Demokratieförderung in der breiten Gesellschaft in Deutschland.

www.swr.de/swraktuell/r...

Rule of law backsliding across regime types: a comparative analysis of the role of party cohesion in shaping backsliding dynamics - Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft The rule of law around the world has increasingly been eroded by elected governments seeking to expand their power. A traditional mechanism against rule of law backsliding is the horizontal and vertic...

Marko Kukec, Matthew Stenberg & my new paper proposes to expand our perspective on democratic backsliding to include backsliding dynamics related to party cohesion. We study 6 cases across various regime types+forms of territorial state organization. Available OA: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The Populist Far Right and Europe’s Young Voters: Comparing the TikTok Campaigns of Fidesz and the Rassemblement National in the 2024 European Parliamentary Elections Far-right populist parties have continued to gain relevance in the most recent European Parliament elections. This chapter focuses on the underresearched nexus between these parties and young people i...

📢 Publication alert: Robert Csehi's and my chapter on the TikTok Campaigns of Fidesz and the Rassemblement National in the 2024 EP Elections in “The 2024 European Parliament Elections” edited by Michael Kaeding, Alexander Hoppe, and Manuel Müller is now out (OA): link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Screenshot of the CfP: Key details: Abstract submission deadline: March 15, 2025 Abstract length: 250-300 words Full manuscript due: June 30, 2025 Article length: 8,000-10,000 words Projected publication: 2026 The special issue welcomes contributions from various fields, including political science, history, sociology, cultural studies, literary studies, and media studies. Topics may include institutional erosion, historical parallels, sociocultural drivers of ethno-nationalism, media ecosystems, cultural narratives, religious-political intersections, and strategies to strengthen democratic resilience. As this is a peer-reviewed publication, it presents an excellent opportunity to contribute to the scholarly discourse on this critical topic. Submit your abstract and a brief CV to clammert@zedat.fu-berlin.de by March 15, 20251.

CfP! 💥 "Long Live the King! Authoritarian Right-Wing Populism and Democratic Backsliding in the United States." This peer-reviewed publication aims to critically examine recent political developments in the U.S. through interdisciplinary lenses! @jusimon.bsky.social @profausberlin.bsky.social

It’s amazing to find out at this late date how much the rule of law depended on people simply deciding, on a voluntary, daily basis, not to break the law.

Supreme Court strikes down EPA rules on discharge of water pollution The justices found the EPA cannot impose generic prohibitions against violating water quality standards.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down rules regulating the discharge of water pollution, narrowing the landmark Clean Water Act in an unusual case that featured sewage and an effort by one of the nation’s greenest cities to take on the Environmental Protection Agency.

As #ISA2025 continues, this is your reminder that Global Society has an open call for special issue proposals. These can relate to any area of global and international studies, and interdisciplinary scholarship is welcomed. Drop us an email or click the link below for details.

The Great Emboldening Jeff Bezos is stepping over the redline—and he’s not alone.

Welcome to the Great Emboldening, where ideas and actions that might have been unthinkable, objectionable, or reputationally risky in the past are now on the table, @cwarzel.bsky.social writes.

This is great, thank you! I was such a pleasure working with @globalsociety.bsky.social and the scholars who contributed these highly insightful research papers

If everyone used footnotes instead of endnotes

This is a terrific contribution to our 2025 @globalsociety.bsky.social special issue "Authoritarian Governmentality and Counter-Conduct from the Local to the Global". Thanks again to Simin and Abigail for being part of the project!

As a political scientist who studies countries that managed to stop the slide into authoritarianism, I can assure you that ***refraining from provoking the authoritarian*** is not how it works.

Without further ado, I will now go tear out another chunk of hair.

What a nice surprise!