Philip Luke Johnson

@phillegitimate.bsky.social

1163 Followers 1721 Following

Studying how gangs and govts do things with words. Teaching students to do things with words. Very occasionally doing things with words. Lecturer @ Flinders Uni Updates: https://philipljohnson.com/ 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

Writing on the underside of a bottle cap, which reads: “Felicitaciones eres el nuevo presidente del Peru.”
Screenshot of three results from a Google search. The top two results (from Reddit and the Independent) ask who is 'Madeline' in Lily Allen's new album. The third result is the Wikipedia page for Madeleine Albright.
A stack of old university course readers, spiral or plastic bound and with different coloured covers. The top reader is for a course called “Construction and Deconstruction.”
Photo of an open novel, showing an open page with the chapter heading “Why Does the Cat.” Right next to the page is a black and white cat gazing off at nothing.
A paperback copy of “True History of the Kelly Gang” by Peter Carey, on a table with a glass of dark lager.
Three issues of The Monthly magazine. First cover story: “Nobody likes Richard Marles (so how did he get so powerful?).” Second cover: “Who voted for Sussan Ley?” Third cover: “The sausage factory” with a photo of an Election Day sausage sandwich.
A screenshot of a Guardian headline that reads "Think you're cool? Here are the six boxes you'll have to tick." Next to the headline is the photo of a very cool-looking person wearing sunglasses.
Screenshot of transcription software. The highlighted line reads “13:10 So that’s that’s the basics of disco potstickers.”
A stack of history books: The End of the Myth; How to Hide an Empire; Haunted by Empire; Yellow Peril.
Text of an article abstract: Criminal actors are widely assumed to maintain a low profile, exerting power through coercion and clandestine networks. Scholarship addressing public action by criminal actors focuses largely on visible violence. However, an ample empirical record demonstrates that criminal actors also communicate publicly to broad audiences. To better understand this practice, this study focuses on campaigns of narco-messaging in Mexico. The study asks: how do criminal actors represent themselves when they speak publicly? How does such self-portrayal interact with other practices of criminal governance and control? I identify three patterns of self-representation: Ruler of territory, Scourge of enemies, and Guardian of people. Overall, public communication expands the repertoires of criminal actors, offering ways to modify public perceptions of better-known practices such as costly signaling through violence. Different representations are deployed strategically in the contexts of establishing regimes of governance, maintaining regimes, and fighting criminal wars.
Two books on a table: Enrigue’s You Dreamed of Empires and Herrera’s Season of the Swamp.
A shot glass of golden liquor next to a tall glass of melting ice. All on a wooden table with more tables in the background.
Jeff Vandermeer’s novel Authority, worn yellow cover featuring a creepy rabbit and a smashed phone. The book is n dark green grass.
Highlighted text in a book, which reads “I should probably also thank current NYC mayor Eric Adams for motivating me to finish the book because that way my city at least gets a good mayor in my imagination, but nah fuck him.”
Layla Martinez’s “Woodworm” on the floor, shadows in the background.
Bsky image showing that I was user number 590,247.
Terry Prachett’s “Guards! Guards!” with cover illustrated by Josh Kirby. On a desk with strong sunlight and shadows.
Cristina Rivera Garza’s book “Liliana’s Invincible Summer,” the English translation.
Copy of Cristina Rivera Garza’s Grieving on a table.
Photo of two men standing together. Mayo Zambada wears a polo short and has his arm around his interviewer, Julio Scherer Garcia.
A printed flyer that says “please don’t feed the magpie.”
Books by Marlon James and Patricia Evangelista on a tables. Coffee mug and papers in the background.
A green wheelie bin in a park. Ibises on the grass in the background.
3x Instruction manuals for assembling IKEA’s “Billy” book shelves.
A pantry with empty shelves. One small jar of vegemite sits alone on a shelf.
Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone in The Curse.
Text of abstract: Mexico, like many other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean suffering persistent violence, has sought to shift its anti-narcotics and organized crime control policies to develop more effective responses to the crime challenges the country faces. Building on research in Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, and Mexico, this essay develops an analysis of crime as embedded within political, social, and economic networks that provide criminal activity with broad cross-sectoral support. This cross-sectoral support for criminal activity, which can involve both official corruption but also social support from entrepreneurs and popular sectors, helps to sustain crime even in the face of evolving state policy. We argue that different forms of crime control policy are affected in different ways by these illicit networks. The essay identifies three forms of policy – market suppression, organizational suppression, and behavioral modification – and examines through case studies
The poster for the film Alien, showing a cracked alien egg. A badly drawn Santa hat has been added to the alien egg.
Blurry photo of meadows and clouds, seen through a dirty window.
A dopey tuxedo cat looking up at the camera.
Pan de muerto on a plate by a window.
Photo of a tiny person standing before a monumental palace at a Mayan archaeological site.
A sign, graffitied over with black paint reading “el tren no es Maya, es militar.”
A poster of president López Obrador posing in front of a prototype train.
Photo of two unfinished train tracks running into the distance.
A guy in an office, holding up a notepad. On the paper is written: Flinders University (in Australia).
Two iguanas on the grass in front of an archaeological site.
Cover of Bob Dylan's "Bringing It All Back Home," with song lyrics: "Well, I wake up in the morning, Fold my hands and pray for..." The last word has been changed to "invite codes."