Tanja Bueltmann
@tanjabueltmann.net
Professor @ University of Strathclyde | migration and diaspora history | history of collective action | citizens' rights | commentator | immigrant | trans inclusive feminist | she•her | my views | https://tanjabueltmann.net .. more
Professor @ University of Strathclyde | migration and diaspora history | history of collective action | citizens' rights | commentator | immigrant | trans inclusive feminist | she•her | my views | https://tanjabueltmann.net
History
34%
Political science
29%
I clearly expressed that poorly: did not mean that at all—there never is such a point in my view, we can always find a point of return. Sorry about that. Deleted the thread to avoid further confusion.
a young boy wearing sunglasses and a red vest is making a funny face and says ta ta for now .
Alt: A woman wearing sunglasses and a red vest is making a funny face and says ta ta for now, wavin goodbye.
media.tenor.com
And that really is it for the moment as need to deal with other things over coming weeks/month. If you’re not bored yet and would like some more thought, check out my earlier thread if you’ve not seen that yet.
Reposted by Steve Peers, Alison Phipps, Alan Clarke , and 1 more Steve Peers, Alison Phipps, Alan Clarke, James Connelly
Tried to get this published but no luck, so might as well ‘publish’ it here so it’s not a complete waste!
➡️ Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow
#asylum #Mahmood #history #humanrights
➡️ Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow
#asylum #Mahmood #history #humanrights
Especially as we do not share the things that maybe could make a difference because maybe they are long and a bit boring or, as noted, a bit uncomfortable.
So now I have said it all, really. See you sometime.
/end to the addition
So now I have said it all, really. See you sometime.
/end to the addition
But that outrage did 0 for any action around the actual problem. So basicllay: anger and outrage do not help in the long term, esp if they become the main response to issues.
But so much of our collective activism is built on outrage—that’s also why we are where we are. Another uncomfortable truth.
But so much of our collective activism is built on outrage—that’s also why we are where we are. Another uncomfortable truth.
Of course I didn’t know whether it would work, but it did. There were very early reports of denied votes shortly after 7am or so and the # was picked up pretty much immediately. Tweets became more angry as the day went on, understandably so! It was in the news like all day. That did serve a purpose.
Outraged fuels people.
You may remember the #DeniedMyVote # on Twitter during the last UK EU election. It was my #: I posted that # in the night before anyone had even voted because I knew we would need an “outrage hook” the next day because it was obvious that 1000s would be denied their vote.
You may remember the #DeniedMyVote # on Twitter during the last UK EU election. It was my #: I posted that # in the night before anyone had even voted because I knew we would need an “outrage hook” the next day because it was obvious that 1000s would be denied their vote.
… know exactly how to do that because it’s needed sometimes and can occasionally help—this would be shared 100s of times.
That’s how I got a number of things trending on Twitter, for example. That’s not an attempt to praise myself, it’s simply telling you that I really understand how this works.
That’s how I got a number of things trending on Twitter, for example. That’s not an attempt to praise myself, it’s simply telling you that I really understand how this works.
… they can actually drown out solutions or reflection on potential solutions.
On a personal level that has always meant that time spent on ideas for enabling real change was *always* wasted time. Like the time spent on this thread, it seems.
Had I written something hooked on outrage—and I do …
On a personal level that has always meant that time spent on ideas for enabling real change was *always* wasted time. Like the time spent on this thread, it seems.
Had I written something hooked on outrage—and I do …
But - unfortunately in my view though sometimes it is needed - outrage works for dissemination.
Actual ideas that might make a difference? They do not.
That’s how it’s always been. I could give you literally 100s of examples from Brexit campaign times.
The danger of anger and outrage is that …
Actual ideas that might make a difference? They do not.
That’s how it’s always been. I could give you literally 100s of examples from Brexit campaign times.
The danger of anger and outrage is that …
Managed to forget a key point, but the thread itself - or rather the fact that’s it’s been shared only little (so far anyway) - reminded me:
The key reason anger is no good is because it only delivers outrage.
And outrage simply doesn’t do a single thing to help address actual issues.
The key reason anger is no good is because it only delivers outrage.
And outrage simply doesn’t do a single thing to help address actual issues.
... where they can influence Govt / parties will have an infinitely stronger base for enabling real change.
There is a reason populists rely on sowing division by pitting communities against each other. Undermining the effectiveness of that is where we all can make a difference.
Please try.
/end
There is a reason populists rely on sowing division by pitting communities against each other. Undermining the effectiveness of that is where we all can make a difference.
Please try.
/end
The time to stop that full stop was actually a decade ago, I am sorry to say. But as with climate breakdown, the longer we wait the worse it *will* get.
So find your community; find the mechanism for you to build more strenght in it. And then those with more relative privilege and in positions ...
So find your community; find the mechanism for you to build more strenght in it. And then those with more relative privilege and in positions ...
There are no easy answers here at all, recognising that helps. But at no point before has it been so clear that we are really heading to a very dark place in which the rights of most of us will be limited, prospects diminished, and communities pit against each other in ways we have not seen before.
But it's not just a numbers question, it is also a persistence question. No movement has ever been successful through sporadic opposition. All of it needs to become more vocal - and in the ways that really set out the risks - and essentially constant so it is harder to just ignore.
Because in many ways this isn't actually about immigration: it's about that constant overload of awful that seems never-ending, trapping far too many in cycles of despair. We can play a role in breaking some of that up. But more of us need to choose to do so.
... this focus on our communities is currently the most viable route. That's partly a scale point: think of all of us as agents in community - there would be so many if we all did just a little bit more for community-building. For that you don't even have to mention immigration once.
... break it down for us: we cannot change the general direction on our own - that knowledge is one reason why all of it is so overwhelming. But we all can do things in our communities. And that really does not need much. I know this sounds a bit like pink fluffy clouds, but I am certain that ...
... make a more active difference. As some have argued in the context of climate breakdown, this could start with something as small as talking to your neighbours more. As a historian of collective action I certainly know that community is the key to change. What that focus also helps with is ...
The best hope lies in our agency. We can see that in the growing support for the Greens, for example. But on its own that won't be enough. So as I return to social media hiatus for a number of reasons, I hope that this thread will at least inspire some of you to use energies in a way that might ...
But this will again be dismissed as shrill by too many. Honestly, I'd wish nothing more than to just be that nutty professor who makes shrill statements - I want nothing more than to be wrong. But no indicators in our historical and current knowledge suggests that to me.
The thing is: you don't actually need to understand these life worlds at all. All you need to understand is this:
Stripping rights from one specific group today can only enable a system that endangers all our rights tomorrow.
Because when first they come for one group that is never where it ends.
Stripping rights from one specific group today can only enable a system that endangers all our rights tomorrow.
Because when first they come for one group that is never where it ends.
... others. If people cannot relate to a community, they're quite happy not to fight for them. Refugees are the target currently, but so is the trans community, for instance. All communities easily cast as 'others' because their life worlds are very removed from the experiences of most.
But they don't. That's partly because of the overload I spoke of before, but also partly because - and here's another uncomfortable reality for you - too many of us simply do not care about the rights of others. And populist actors know that. It's why they always begin we communities 'alien' to ...
... attack on rights for more people to see that. This is where the roots of my anger lie: our historical and current data-driven knowledge tells us this is the trajectory.
But it really does not have to be. We can choose to reject it. But that requires many, many more people to understand this.
But it really does not have to be. We can choose to reject it. But that requires many, many more people to understand this.
But these proposals are not just a bit awful and inhumane. Apart from 100% being far right policies, they will generate tools for any future Govt that could be used to control any of us. This is not some kind of drill. But it currently looks like it really will take a massive wider ...
But more critically because we need more to take a stand overall. That stand doesn't come in the genuinely timid responses I have seen to Govt proposals. All of them are way too calm and measured for what is at stake here. Of course there is a line around appropriateness here, I understand that.
But this is a key factor nevertheless: what are those of us with relative privilege doing in the real world to take a stand? It cannot be just the same people over and over again. That's actually generally not good (maybe their ideas are sh*t - and I am more than happy to look in a mirror here).
What any of us can do will always be limited, but there is collective strength and that strength has always been real. But one thing is clear: no thread on Bluesky is ever going to cut it. There are different reasons why I have not been very active here and the main one is not related to this point.
Many people are afraid. We are all, in my view anyway, in some kind of pandemic PTSD. The whole world is basically on fire. There is complete overload in the human system, I think. Another reason why populism is so effective in this moment. Another reason why community is the best focus.