Geoffrey Hughes
@geofffhughes.bsky.social
Teacher, Ethnographer, Arabist; Author of Affection and Mercy (2021) and Social Media Tribes: Jordan's Bedouin and the Margins of the state (2026) ♥️🇯🇴♥️🇵🇸 (he/هو)
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lLU0JwkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lLU0JwkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Pinned
![Title page of a book manuscript:
Social Media Tribes
Jordan’s Bedouin and the Margins of the State
Geoffrey F. Hughes
University of Texas Press
[logo]
Austin](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mg4zwpzbpzxnsvha5xosquni/bafkreihjvqtjjecmqbbilhqt7bp7v476nkzankcz7zebs3krjw7jwhy33a@jpeg)
Colonial apologia madlibs
November 29, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Colonial apologia madlibs
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
This is entirely true. I will add I'm less pessimistic/alarmist than many people - I think the worst effects are temporary.
We're used to being surrounded by trustworthy photo and video, but that's so new. In the past people developed networks of trust and/or lived with uncertainty. We will adapt.
We're used to being surrounded by trustworthy photo and video, but that's so new. In the past people developed networks of trust and/or lived with uncertainty. We will adapt.
one insidious thing about gen AI is it's not just causing us to mistrust dodgy images, it's also making us mistrust images that look perfectly normal. this is gaslighting in a very literal sense bc the technology is undermining the trust we have in our own ability to perceive reality!
November 28, 2025 at 9:05 PM
This is entirely true. I will add I'm less pessimistic/alarmist than many people - I think the worst effects are temporary.
We're used to being surrounded by trustworthy photo and video, but that's so new. In the past people developed networks of trust and/or lived with uncertainty. We will adapt.
We're used to being surrounded by trustworthy photo and video, but that's so new. In the past people developed networks of trust and/or lived with uncertainty. We will adapt.
What could be more American than a random shooting?
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM
What could be more American than a random shooting?
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
“Without a true reckoning of what happened in Afghanistan, it became clear the US could easily deploy the same failed tactics in some new country against some new threat.” Very disturbing report on tactics, including night raids, whose main goal was to terrorize Afghan civilians.
Hate to be posting this on a holiday, but there's been renewed interest in the CIA-backed Zero Units in Afghanistan. Here's a good summary of @propublica.org's 2022 reporting on the units and just some of the civilian casualties they were responsible for:
What We Know About U.S.-Backed Zero Units in Afghanistan
Deadly night raids. Faulty U.S. intelligence. A “classified” war loophole. Reporter Lynzy Billing’s investigation offers an unprecedented insight into the civilian casualties of Afghanistan’s Zero Uni...
www.propublica.org
November 28, 2025 at 11:42 AM
“Without a true reckoning of what happened in Afghanistan, it became clear the US could easily deploy the same failed tactics in some new country against some new threat.” Very disturbing report on tactics, including night raids, whose main goal was to terrorize Afghan civilians.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
A year on from the ceasefire in Lebanon, near daily attacks continue, while others worry about another intensification similar to last year’s.
I report from Beirut on the fear in Lebanon and how people are responding to the current moment.
www.aljazeera.com/features/202...
I report from Beirut on the fear in Lebanon and how people are responding to the current moment.
www.aljazeera.com/features/202...
Beirut attacks leaves Lebanon worried and waiting for another Israeli war
Israel has repeatedly struck Lebanon since a ceasefire last year, but Sunday's Beirut attack was an escalation.
www.aljazeera.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:03 AM
A year on from the ceasefire in Lebanon, near daily attacks continue, while others worry about another intensification similar to last year’s.
I report from Beirut on the fear in Lebanon and how people are responding to the current moment.
www.aljazeera.com/features/202...
I report from Beirut on the fear in Lebanon and how people are responding to the current moment.
www.aljazeera.com/features/202...
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
In the place where I grew up, monolingualism in children is often interpreted as a sign of parental abuse or neglect.
Every time this goes around I'm surprised by how many monolingual English speakers think this is more embarrassing for the French philosopher lecturing in a foreign language than it is for all the dumb hicks in the room who couldn't work backwards from how French sounds and use context cues.
This path leads to chaos.
November 27, 2025 at 1:36 PM
In the place where I grew up, monolingualism in children is often interpreted as a sign of parental abuse or neglect.
I wrote a book a few years back about the "crisis of marriage" in the Middle East, which left me completely unsurprised when talk of a "male loneliness epidemic" hit.
As is often the case, one great place to glimpse the future is in the postcolonies...
As is often the case, one great place to glimpse the future is in the postcolonies...
November 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
I wrote a book a few years back about the "crisis of marriage" in the Middle East, which left me completely unsurprised when talk of a "male loneliness epidemic" hit.
As is often the case, one great place to glimpse the future is in the postcolonies...
As is often the case, one great place to glimpse the future is in the postcolonies...
God help me, I'm gonna actually defend "AI" a bit here: this stuff is like tracer dye revealing how corrupt and decrepit so many of our institutional processes already were long before this garbage came along.
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
November 27, 2025 at 10:54 AM
God help me, I'm gonna actually defend "AI" a bit here: this stuff is like tracer dye revealing how corrupt and decrepit so many of our institutional processes already were long before this garbage came along.
Every time this goes around I'm surprised by how many monolingual English speakers think this is more embarrassing for the French philosopher lecturing in a foreign language than it is for all the dumb hicks in the room who couldn't work backwards from how French sounds and use context cues.
November 27, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Every time this goes around I'm surprised by how many monolingual English speakers think this is more embarrassing for the French philosopher lecturing in a foreign language than it is for all the dumb hicks in the room who couldn't work backwards from how French sounds and use context cues.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
the invasion of Afghanistan is among the most horrific recent chapters of the long history of elite impunity in the US. this coda is grim but fitting - the govt practically explicitly affirming that it should only be Afghans who live with the consequences amid fading public memory of the atrocity
November 27, 2025 at 3:58 AM
the invasion of Afghanistan is among the most horrific recent chapters of the long history of elite impunity in the US. this coda is grim but fitting - the govt practically explicitly affirming that it should only be Afghans who live with the consequences amid fading public memory of the atrocity
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
the cottage industry of misinfo studies post-2016 was very worried about under-resourced information environments, where lack of literacy and access to high quality news drove conspiracism. meanwhile, the most well-resourced people on the planet were getting pilled on channer content
November 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM
the cottage industry of misinfo studies post-2016 was very worried about under-resourced information environments, where lack of literacy and access to high quality news drove conspiracism. meanwhile, the most well-resourced people on the planet were getting pilled on channer content
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
A recording of my lecture is now available here. In the missing first 5m, Professor Berry tells the potted history of my rise from 2Cs and a D at A Level, to a Desmond from Nottingham Trent, then from Wollongong (MA) to toil at Aberystwyth, to finally graduating with a PhD from Loughborough in 2008.
November 26, 2025 at 11:04 AM
A recording of my lecture is now available here. In the missing first 5m, Professor Berry tells the potted history of my rise from 2Cs and a D at A Level, to a Desmond from Nottingham Trent, then from Wollongong (MA) to toil at Aberystwyth, to finally graduating with a PhD from Loughborough in 2008.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
This being named a NYT Notable Book of 2025 seems to prove it's thesis
November 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
This being named a NYT Notable Book of 2025 seems to prove it's thesis
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Dave watched this government Education Committee meeting so you didn’t have to. But you do have to read his summary (if you have any interest in the future of HE)
"A system built on specialisation, efficiency", that right there is the death knell for the current university system in the UK, if (big if) government pushes it through. They actively don't want HE to grow, they will intervene, apparently, to help it shrink.
per this morning's education committee.
per this morning's education committee.
November 25, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Dave watched this government Education Committee meeting so you didn’t have to. But you do have to read his summary (if you have any interest in the future of HE)
Regular reminder that the New York Times Jerusalem Bureau chief's house is built on top of a stolen Palestinian home...
Zohran Mamdani chastised a Manhattan synagogue that hosted an event promoting migration to Israel and settlements in occupied territories. His stance further tested his strained relationship with pro-Israel Jews in New York.
Mamdani Response to Protest Inflames Tensions with Jewish Leaders
The mayor-elect chastised a synagogue that hosted an event promoting migration to Israel and settlements in occupied territories. His stance further tested his strained relationship with pro-Israel Jews.
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Regular reminder that the New York Times Jerusalem Bureau chief's house is built on top of a stolen Palestinian home...
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
What I love about this quote is that she unwittingly admits that her agenda is about scolding and policing public discourse, the kind of thing that she is projecting onto "wokeness' and "the left"
"elevate charismatic figures such as Alan Dershowitz"
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November 25, 2025 at 9:28 AM
What I love about this quote is that she unwittingly admits that her agenda is about scolding and policing public discourse, the kind of thing that she is projecting onto "wokeness' and "the left"
The way this is written is peak New York Times: they're using the law enforcement exonerative to describe how universities and the institutional democratic party came together to violently beat pro-justice and anti-genocide protesters to a pulp.
I think @brendannyhan.bsky.social is exactly right in this piece, but I’d go one step further here. Elites very explicitly told young people to sit down and shut up. Society punished them for standing up for their beliefs, and targeted and vilified the organizers. Now we need need them.
November 24, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The way this is written is peak New York Times: they're using the law enforcement exonerative to describe how universities and the institutional democratic party came together to violently beat pro-justice and anti-genocide protesters to a pulp.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
this had me at women do not like ugly men
You may have gotten the impression that I hated the del Toro Frankenstein and your impression would be correct. Here's my review
www.dailysabah.com/arts/reviews...
www.dailysabah.com/arts/reviews...
Del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ drains life out of Shelley’s masterpiece
Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ is very loosely inspired by the classic novel and offers fireworks instead of a story
www.dailysabah.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:51 AM
this had me at women do not like ugly men
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Read Male Fantasies.
November 24, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Read Male Fantasies.
It's because the scammers are more savvy and sensitive to the platform's actual incentive structure than the governments, civil society groups, and legacy journalists who are still over there posting like it's 2019. The scammers have to be! Their meal ticket depends on it!
One fascinating and yet expected thing is that none of the big foreign accounts pretending to be American are left of center, or even anti-Trump. Not a single one. Says something about the economics and geopolitics of political grifting
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
November 24, 2025 at 6:51 AM
It's because the scammers are more savvy and sensitive to the platform's actual incentive structure than the governments, civil society groups, and legacy journalists who are still over there posting like it's 2019. The scammers have to be! Their meal ticket depends on it!