William Clare Roberts 🇵🇸

@marxinhell.bsky.social

11842 Followers 1631 Following

Political theorist in Montreal, via Custer, Lubbock, New Underwood, Rapid City, Northfield, State College, and WashPa. Free Palestine.

This is where I find myself in a slightly awkward position. I don't unequivocally love the university either - and not only because it is not what it used to be. I don't buy the idea of a lost 'golden age' (although I can say from personal experience that things were far better even one decade ago than they are now). Nor can I take seriously the image of academics in general - either now or in some hallowed past - as noble truth-seekers chipping away at the coalface of enquiry, or brave truth-speakers to power. Much of what academics do is pointless or worse - pretentious or pernicious (or both). I'm far from confident, much of the time, that what I do has much positive value to anybody. So, why save the university? One reason is simply that there are numerous exceptions to every rule. A lot of academic work might be bad and useless, but even I don't think that all of it is bad and useless all of the time. That might sound a feeble defence, but it's actually not at all. Most films might not be good. Most scientific experiments might not work. Most people you meet will not become your friends. But making or seeing no films (or cutting funding for independent film-making), conducting no experiments or meeting no people, is a sure way to guarantee that none of the good that comes of these things (even if only exceptionally) ever happens. There is a huge - technically infinite - difference between something and nothing.
Screen shot of the cover of Ethel Cain's album Preacher's Daughter Preacher's Daughter is the debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter and record producer Ethel Cain. It was released on May 12, 2022, through her independent record label Daughters of Cain. The album was entirely written and...
Jacob Levy, wearing a dark suit and silver tie, holding a glass of red wine, and looking pained and/or confused while Will Roberts speaks and gesticulates.
An owl in a tree.
Title card to the movie Heathers.
The Lin Centre’s Research Group on Global Justice (RGGJ) and Critical Social Theory at McGill invite you to a conference on: Palestine and Global Justice: Revisiting the Terms of Political Theory April 24-25, McGill University Palestine and Global Justice: Revisiting the Terms of Political Theory examines how Israel’s genocide in Gaza has exposed both the political stakes of Palestine—self-determination, occupation, solidarity, and international law—and the limits of core political and legal categories such as global justice, human rights, war, colonialism, and resistance. The conference asks whether existing conceptual and normative frameworks remain adequate after Gaza and seeks to rethink the key terms of political theory in light of the ongoing crisis. Invited speakers include: Nasser Abourahme Esmat Elhalaby Samera Esmeir Murad Idris Nadim Khoury Darryl Li Nicola Perugini Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian Maya Wind Pre-registration required: https://forms.gle/PssC14EwgEGh9pf56 Co-sponsored by the Groupe de recherche en philosophie politique, the McGill Refugee Research Group, and the Critical Media Lab
Donald Trump ordered the launch of the war on Iran last Friday afternoon while on board Air Force One, as the presidential plane made its descent towards Corpus Christi, Texas. Trump was on his way to the port city to give a speech titled American Energy Dominance and had spent the three-hour flight chatting to Texas Republican politicians including the state's two hawkish senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, about his options in Iran.
Some loser's profile information
"The brand new agents are idiots," an experienced ICE agent assigned to homeland security investigations told me. This same sentiment was echoed by virtually everyone I talked to, with several conveying the view that Pretti's death was the fault of some skittish young recruit who panicked when he heard the word "gun" (if that's what happened).
Shannon Watson is the founder and executive director of Majority in the Middle (majoritymiddle.org).
This moment requires us to give businesses the space to acknowledge that complexity. Minnesota companies are trying to strike the right tone. They are trying to communicate clearly without inflaming tensions. They are trying to support their employees without becoming political actors. They are trying to respond to community concerns without creating new risks. These are not easy calculations, and they should not be treated as if they are.