Martin Myers
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martinmyers.bsky.social
Martin Myers
@martinmyers.bsky.social
88 followers 98 following 84 posts
Sociologist of education, writer, researcher, poet.
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martinmyers.bsky.social
Martin Myers @martinmyers.bsky.social · Mar 17
Reposted by Martin Myers
nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social
Nottinghamshire MPs have written to @uniofnottingham.bsky.social, urging the university to reconsider proposed course suspensions and potential closures, which would significantly impact staff, students, and our wider city and county.
November 24, 2025 at 1:23 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Cool 1972 Panther paperback cover.
Nabokov short stores in pulp edition.
£1 #charityshop bargain
November 25, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Martin Myers
martinmyers.bsky.social
How Shabana Mahmood uses her ethnicity & origin story to justify white supremacy...I can think of similar examples within academia. Can you?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Shabana Mahmood is an avatar of open Britain – that’s what makes her fable about immigration so seductive | Nesrine Malik
‘She is the daughter of immigrants,’ supporters of her cruel asylum policies say. ‘How can she be wrong?’ Let me put them straight, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
How Shabana Mahmood uses her ethnicity & origin story to justify white supremacy...I can think of similar examples within academia. Can you?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Shabana Mahmood is an avatar of open Britain – that’s what makes her fable about immigration so seductive | Nesrine Malik
‘She is the daughter of immigrants,’ supporters of her cruel asylum policies say. ‘How can she be wrong?’ Let me put them straight, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Lots to get irritated by in Shabana Mahmood article. I’m mostly disturbed by the emphasis on support for Ukrainians as evidence of British tolerance. Whiteness as a key characteristic of refugee status? Undermines Mahmood’s claim about people who ‘look like me’

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Dark forces are stirring up anger in the UK. My asylum reforms are our chance to stop them | Shabana Mahmood
I know some of these measures will face opposition. But a country without secure borders is less safe for those who look like me, says Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Martin Myers
ucu.org.uk
“We were absolutely gobsmacked.”

48 courses axed, music, languages, mental health care, childcare.
No consultation. No vision.

This is why we’re voting YES, to stop the destruction of our universities.
#WeAreTheUniversity #VoteYES
@uonucu.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 9:50 AM
martinmyers.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Terry Eagleton on Andrew 'surplus to the needs of humanity' Windsor:

"Andrew doesn’t know very much. No doubt he has some knowledge of ships, horses and dubious commercial dealing, but like almost all of the rest of his family, he’s probably never read a book."

unherd.com/2025/11/the-...
Andrew: the half-buffoon prince
unherd.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Martin Myers
qmucu.bsky.social
More of that blogpost on protected conversations in slide form: qmucu.org/2024/08/30/m...

⭐ACAS guidance: acas.org.uk/sites/defaul...
⭐Unite information sheet: learnwithunite.org/assets/Uploa...
WHAT? A protected conversation is a conversation usually about negotiating the termination of employment by settlement agreement. It is an ‘off the record’ conversation. Whatever is said by either party in a protected conversation cannot normally be referred to as evidence in an unfair dismissal claim. Your decision needs to be respected. The employer cannot terminate the employment without having a valid reason and following statutory policies. RISK? Existing law & practice of protected conversations most often benefit the employer. An employee might feel disempowered & uncertain in a conversation about settlement agreements. When a protected conversation is offered in lieu of transparent processes there is no EDI assessment. Protected conversations can be used to avoid longer HR processes or in place of open, collective consultation. EMPLOYEE POWER When invited to a meeting with HR or a line manager, ask for an agenda. You can always speak to colleagues, and email ucu-coordinator@qmul.ac.uk to ask a rep for advice. You can ask if you can be accompanied by a colleague or your union rep. If you do not feel prepared to have the conversation you can end the meeting. Take notes, and clarify the status of the conversation in relation to any future settlement agreement. LEGAL PROTECTION The conversation can lose protected status... ...if there has been “improper behaviour” (e.g. bullying, harassment and discrimination) by the employer or employee during the protected conversation. ... if an employer threatens an employee to take an agreement. ... if the settlement offered is discriminatory (e.g. because of a protected characteristic such as age, or disability)
September 4, 2024 at 12:36 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Darker times ahead
www.bbc.com/news/article...
University of Nottingham students fight 'insane' cull of courses
Traitors composer Sam Watts is among those against plans to cut University of Nottingham courses.
www.bbc.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:40 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
This is ridiculous. Sky journo interviewing suspect before and during arrest. Performative policing. Performative news coverage.
November 7, 2025 at 1:16 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Counter-terror police investigate claim UK university halted research after Chinese pressure
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Counter-terror police investigate claim UK university halted research after Chinese pressure
Sheffield Hallam University ordered professor to cease human rights study into Uyghurs forced labour in China
www.theguardian.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:50 AM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Raising a glass to Dave Ball tonight 🍷
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
Dave Ball, synth-pop hitmaker as one half of Soft Cell, dies aged 66
Synth player and producer had huge success with Tainted Love and other Soft Cell hits, and later returned to UK Top 10 with dance project the Grid
www.theguardian.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:53 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Pursued by the ghost of Gene Hackman
October 17, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Martin Myers
uonucu.bsky.social
Strike action is BACK ON this week and we have plenty of events to show solidarity and learn from each other:

RALLIES will be held on Tues and Thurs at 12:40, starting in the Trent Courtyard.

We also have 3 TEACH OUTS during the week: uonucu.org/teachouts/

See you there!
TEACHOUTS Lecturers are on strike. Come learn. Upcoming teachouts: What is Chaos: Martin Richter, 10am 14/10/25, Mrs B’s catering cafe Exposing Empire: War, Capital & Palestine: Victor Kattan & Andreas Bieler, 6pm 14/10/25, Coates Road Auditorium The social construction of mental illness: Ella Guerin, 12pm 20/10/25, Online
October 13, 2025 at 9:02 AM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Samuel Beckett went into hiding following the news he won the Nobel prize. Tracked down by Swedish journalists he agreed to give an interview only if they did not ask any questions 🤣
Congrats to László Krasznahorkai. Well deserved!

share.google/qp00nYfAhrfQ...
share.google
October 13, 2025 at 9:19 AM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Brooding over Jambinai’s performance last night. Absolutely stunning. Reminds me of Th’ Faith Healers, MBV, JAMC, Mahler all wrapped into one. A new happy noisy place for sure 😎
youtu.be/fWvUzkAXOMw?...
Jambinai - "Time of Extinction", live @ OFF-Fest 2015
YouTube video by skopjejazzfest
youtu.be
October 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Jambinai & London Contemporary Orchestra at the Barbican
Overwhelming and massively noisy.
October 5, 2025 at 10:12 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Keir Starmer's narrative that Farage and Reform are 'not racist' just pursuing racist policies underline the Labour Party's longstanding, ingrained racism (and willingness to appeal to racist voters).
October 1, 2025 at 9:20 AM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Worth noting a lot of funded research in my field i.e. sociology of education/reproduction of race & class inequality seems funded on the basis it produces knowledge that sits comfortably with the status quo. Unfunded research is often the only option to challenge conformity.
lopa.bsky.social LopaLeach @lopa.bsky.social · Sep 28
Excellent points ! Hope "shrink and shape" people are listening. @astromikemerri.bsky.social @stuartreeves.bsky.social
September 28, 2025 at 5:35 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Leigh Bowery @tatemodern.bsky.social is terrific. The fashion and Freud paintings all obviously stunning. But its the archive of memorabilia and random odd stuff, mountains of it, that really stand out
August 5, 2025 at 10:49 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
UK academics studying topics sensitive to China face harassment, survey finds
Exclusive: university staff report being pressured to change teaching and are told that Chinese surveillance is rife
www.theguardian.com
August 4, 2025 at 8:43 AM
martinmyers.bsky.social
The Man from Mar A Lago
July 29, 2025 at 2:30 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
Horace Andy still cutting the mustard
July 26, 2025 at 9:10 PM
martinmyers.bsky.social
This calls into question Harvard's scholarship and credentials as a serious university.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Revealed: Harvard publisher cancels entire journal issue on Palestine shortly before publication
As Harvard’s feud with Trump escalated, so did tensions over an ‘education and Palestine’ issue of a prestigious journal. Scholars blame the ‘Palestine exception’ to academic freedom
www.theguardian.com
July 23, 2025 at 7:39 PM