James McDougall
@jamesrmcd.bsky.social
Teaches history, writes stuff, is in theatres whenever possible.
Reposted by James McDougall
October 2025 Arab Barometer Palestinian opinion survey finds “widespread frustration with existing leadership. Fatah’s support has eroded sharply, Hamas has largely maintained its base, and political alienation has become the dominant stance.”
www.arabbarometer.org/media-news/p...
www.arabbarometer.org/media-news/p...
Press Release: Two Years of War on Gaza Reshape Palestinian Priorities, Politics, and Social Norms – Arab Barometer
www.arabbarometer.org
January 28, 2026 at 6:53 PM
October 2025 Arab Barometer Palestinian opinion survey finds “widespread frustration with existing leadership. Fatah’s support has eroded sharply, Hamas has largely maintained its base, and political alienation has become the dominant stance.”
www.arabbarometer.org/media-news/p...
www.arabbarometer.org/media-news/p...
🫣☺️🙏
"There is simply no better book on Islam in history." —Eugene Rogan, author of "The Arabs"
"Worlds of Islam" by James McDougall (@jamesrmcd.bsky.social) is available today: bit.ly/4sG1O2G
"Worlds of Islam" by James McDougall (@jamesrmcd.bsky.social) is available today: bit.ly/4sG1O2G
January 28, 2026 at 7:40 PM
🫣☺️🙏
Reposted by James McDougall
I am very pleased to share the conversation I had with @jamesrmcd.bsky.social about a global history of Islam. Hope everyone enjoys! open.substack.com/pub/convergi...
#466 - A Global History of Islam: A Dialogue with James McDougall
Listen now | In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with James McDougall about a global history of Islam.
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:57 PM
I am very pleased to share the conversation I had with @jamesrmcd.bsky.social about a global history of Islam. Hope everyone enjoys! open.substack.com/pub/convergi...
Had a great chat to @xavierbonilla.bsky.social about Islam in global history and you can hear it now!
I am very pleased to share the conversation I had with @jamesrmcd.bsky.social about a global history of Islam. Hope everyone enjoys! open.substack.com/pub/convergi...
#466 - A Global History of Islam: A Dialogue with James McDougall
Listen now | In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with James McDougall about a global history of Islam.
open.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Had a great chat to @xavierbonilla.bsky.social about Islam in global history and you can hear it now!
What a nice thing to say. (New book out today.)
"There is simply no better book on Islam in history." —Eugene Rogan, author of "The Arabs"
"Worlds of Islam" by James McDougall (@jamesrmcd.bsky.social) is available today: bit.ly/4sG1O2G
"Worlds of Islam" by James McDougall (@jamesrmcd.bsky.social) is available today: bit.ly/4sG1O2G
January 20, 2026 at 8:35 PM
What a nice thing to say. (New book out today.)
Reposted by James McDougall
In any other context, requiring a high-productivity sector to offshore the production of its highest value-added exports would be seen as the economic illiteracy it so obviously is...
www.ft.com/content/a23c...
www.ft.com/content/a23c...
UK drops target for international student recruitment
Government to encourage education providers to open campuses overseas as it focuses on reducing migration
www.ft.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:01 AM
In any other context, requiring a high-productivity sector to offshore the production of its highest value-added exports would be seen as the economic illiteracy it so obviously is...
www.ft.com/content/a23c...
www.ft.com/content/a23c...
Hey Bluesky ppl in the US! The nice folks at @basicbooksgroup.bsky.social are offering 20% off my new book : use code WORLDS20 valid through 26 Feb. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james...
Worlds of Islam
A sweeping global history of Islam, tracing the 1,400-year evolution of a diverse community of faith and its place in the modern world “Anyone who wants to...
www.hachettebookgroup.com
January 16, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Hey Bluesky ppl in the US! The nice folks at @basicbooksgroup.bsky.social are offering 20% off my new book : use code WORLDS20 valid through 26 Feb. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james...
Reposted by James McDougall
Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
December 15, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Literally everybody take note. 👇
Workers can regulate AI with strong contract language. Full stop.
Unionized journalists just proved this at POLITICO. @pen-guild.bsky.social
Unionized journalists just proved this at POLITICO. @pen-guild.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Literally everybody take note. 👇
I can confirm that this is an extremely wonderful job, #MiddleEast #historians please do apply 😁 www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/vacancies
Vacancies
www.trinity.ox.ac.uk
November 21, 2025 at 2:58 PM
I can confirm that this is an extremely wonderful job, #MiddleEast #historians please do apply 😁 www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/vacancies
Reposted by James McDougall
Today, the popular view prevails that Muslims have never been part of European history. It is an environment in which populist right-wing polemics critical of Muslim migration can reach a receptive a mass audience. By David Motadel
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
Islam is part of European history
Historians’ dismissal of the continent’s Muslim legacy is helping to feed contemporary divisions
www.newstatesman.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Today, the popular view prevails that Muslims have never been part of European history. It is an environment in which populist right-wing polemics critical of Muslim migration can reach a receptive a mass audience. By David Motadel
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
Reposted by James McDougall
Le colloque censuré, et maintenu, visible en ligne.
Prise de parole d'Henry Laurens à l'instant.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sSU...
Prise de parole d'Henry Laurens à l'instant.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sSU...
Colloque : la Palestine et l'Europe, poids du passé et dynamiques contemporaines
YouTube video by CAREP Paris
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Le colloque censuré, et maintenu, visible en ligne.
Prise de parole d'Henry Laurens à l'instant.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sSU...
Prise de parole d'Henry Laurens à l'instant.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sSU...
Reposted by James McDougall
"History has already shown us how this story unfolds. Fascism is not built only in the camps and cells. It is built in the shrug, the silence, the insistence that life can go on as if nothing has changed"
Frederick Joseph"A Thought on Normalcy in Fascism" frederickjoseph.substack.com/p/normal-tim...
Frederick Joseph"A Thought on Normalcy in Fascism" frederickjoseph.substack.com/p/normal-tim...
Normal Times in Dire Times
Fascism does not break normal life, it feeds on it.
frederickjoseph.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"History has already shown us how this story unfolds. Fascism is not built only in the camps and cells. It is built in the shrug, the silence, the insistence that life can go on as if nothing has changed"
Frederick Joseph"A Thought on Normalcy in Fascism" frederickjoseph.substack.com/p/normal-tim...
Frederick Joseph"A Thought on Normalcy in Fascism" frederickjoseph.substack.com/p/normal-tim...
Exactly this. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
We must act now: without a written constitution, Reform UK will have carte blanche to toxify our nation | Goerge Monbiot
It means breaking with hundreds of years of tradition, but it can’t wait. As hard-right figures spread division and laud autocrats, a fail-safe is vital, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Exactly this. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by James McDougall
Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
September 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
Reposted by James McDougall
Still waiting for it to trickle down...
October 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Still waiting for it to trickle down...
Reposted by James McDougall
Am of the opinion we should just respond to the current flag epidemic by flying a wider range of random national flags from lamp posts, roundabouts etc until the situation gets ridiculous and they give up.
October 2, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Am of the opinion we should just respond to the current flag epidemic by flying a wider range of random national flags from lamp posts, roundabouts etc until the situation gets ridiculous and they give up.
Reposted by James McDougall
the other half of this that I've never really gotten over: this all but explicitly amounts to valorizing being "asleep". people are really out here wielding "I have no idea what's going on, historically speaking" as a credential
This is, after all, the original and authentic meaning of "stay woke." In fact, the perversion of "woke" into an epithet is perhaps the defining metaphor of our moment: Historical victims are not only being revictimized, but also mocked for never forgetting this is always a possibility in the US.
September 28, 2025 at 7:28 PM
the other half of this that I've never really gotten over: this all but explicitly amounts to valorizing being "asleep". people are really out here wielding "I have no idea what's going on, historically speaking" as a credential
Reposted by James McDougall
Fantastic piece, I hope it’s widely read
This is a masterful and subtle discussion of the idea of "settler colonialism" by Aziz Rana in the fall @dissentmag.bsky.social - both in the ways that it can be misused, and the reasons that it remains a meaningful concept www.dissentmagazine.org/article/whos...
Who’s Afraid of “Settler Colonialism”? - Dissent Magazine
If we dismiss concepts because of particular examples of misuse, we encourage the repression of discomforting histories and ideas.
www.dissentmagazine.org
September 28, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Fantastic piece, I hope it’s widely read
Reposted by James McDougall
The wounded knee thing is really Trumpism distilled to its essence. It’s not enough to be able crush people who can’t fully defend themselves, it’s not enough to actually crush them, you also have to love and admire those who do the crushing otherwise the Trumpists’ delicate feelings are injured
September 26, 2025 at 12:43 PM
The wounded knee thing is really Trumpism distilled to its essence. It’s not enough to be able crush people who can’t fully defend themselves, it’s not enough to actually crush them, you also have to love and admire those who do the crushing otherwise the Trumpists’ delicate feelings are injured
Reposted by James McDougall
Only an administration intent on committing war crimes in the present and future would stoop to calling Wounded Knee a "battle" rather than what it truly was: a massacre of over 250 Lakotas, mainly women, children, and the elderly. 1/
September 26, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Only an administration intent on committing war crimes in the present and future would stoop to calling Wounded Knee a "battle" rather than what it truly was: a massacre of over 250 Lakotas, mainly women, children, and the elderly. 1/
This. 👇
Ok. They’ve pissed me off.
I’m back to tell you 3 things about ID cards:
1. Migrants ALREADY HAVE biometric ID cards & govts have been trying to digitise them for years w repeated fuckups & failures causing complete chaos - they don’t work, you do not want that system for you.
I’m back to tell you 3 things about ID cards:
1. Migrants ALREADY HAVE biometric ID cards & govts have been trying to digitise them for years w repeated fuckups & failures causing complete chaos - they don’t work, you do not want that system for you.
September 26, 2025 at 8:36 AM
This. 👇
Your occasional reminder that it was imperially minded British politicians trying to influence America & ignoring Palestinians’ political rights that started this whole thing off in the 1st place.
Is Trump’s new Palestine plan a breakthrough or diplomatic mirage?
Washington’s roadmap aligns surprisingly closely with a UN-backed plan – but key differences could prove unworkable
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Your occasional reminder that it was imperially minded British politicians trying to influence America & ignoring Palestinians’ political rights that started this whole thing off in the 1st place.
Reposted by James McDougall
Speaking of voices under attack…can we be just as loud about Black journalists and comedians who are silenced, even by our so-called liberal outlets.
• Joy Reid
• Don Lemon
• Melissa Harris-Perry
• Tiffany Cross
• Jemele Hill
• Marc Lamont Hill
• Karen Attiah
• Amber Ruffin
• Joy Reid
• Don Lemon
• Melissa Harris-Perry
• Tiffany Cross
• Jemele Hill
• Marc Lamont Hill
• Karen Attiah
• Amber Ruffin
September 25, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Speaking of voices under attack…can we be just as loud about Black journalists and comedians who are silenced, even by our so-called liberal outlets.
• Joy Reid
• Don Lemon
• Melissa Harris-Perry
• Tiffany Cross
• Jemele Hill
• Marc Lamont Hill
• Karen Attiah
• Amber Ruffin
• Joy Reid
• Don Lemon
• Melissa Harris-Perry
• Tiffany Cross
• Jemele Hill
• Marc Lamont Hill
• Karen Attiah
• Amber Ruffin
This isn’t getting as much attention as it should. Orgs like Medical Aid for Palestinians running essential, life-saving clinical services in Gaza face having to suspend their work. Deliberate, cynical move by Isr govt, pls listen to the Israeli historians of medicine who are calling it out.
Important analysis by my Hebrew U colleagues Liat Kozma and Lee Mordechai: "Israel is no longer aiming simply to limit the operations of groups that provide aid, report Israel’s violations of international law, and refuse to be co-opted, but to banish them."
www.972mag.com/israel-ultim...
www.972mag.com/israel-ultim...
Israel’s cruel ultimatum to humanitarian groups in Gaza
Under the guise of re-registration, Israel seeks to force all international NGOs to comply with the GHF model, turning aid into a vehicle for ethnic cleansing.
www.972mag.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:15 AM
This isn’t getting as much attention as it should. Orgs like Medical Aid for Palestinians running essential, life-saving clinical services in Gaza face having to suspend their work. Deliberate, cynical move by Isr govt, pls listen to the Israeli historians of medicine who are calling it out.