Barry Eidlin
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eidlin.bsky.social
Barry Eidlin
@eidlin.bsky.social
Former organizer, current Associate Professor of Sociology at McGill University. Author, Labor and the Class Idea in the US and Canada (Cambridge University Press, 2018)
Got off the overnight flight to Paris, cleared customs with the family, got the train into town, checked into our hotel, changed, put the finishing touches on my talk, then made my way to École normale supérieure for my presentation. 1/
November 26, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Academic Conference Fashion Report, #SSHA2025 Edition, Day 3: I had to cut the conference shorter than usual because I also managed to schedule my family’s first visit to Montreal in 5 years for the same weekend (my life these days), so today called for a conference-to-airport outfit. 🧵 1/
November 24, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Academic Conference Fashion Report, #SSHA2025 Edition, Day 2: today was about both the best and worst of conference life. 🧵 1/
November 22, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Academic Conference Fashion Report, #SSHA2025 Edition, Day 1: I was up at an ungodly hour to catch my 6:00 am flight to Chicago for this year’s Social Science History Association meeting, my favourite conference of the year. 🧵 1/
November 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I planned to teach Jo Freeman’s article on “The Tyranny of Structurelessness” in my social movements class this week, before students voted to strike for Palestine. So it made sense to include it in the students’ strike school.

If you’re on campus, come by Leacock 210 at 1:00 pm to listen in!
November 19, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Great moments in cultural appropriation (with @eeidlin.bsky.social )
November 19, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Seeing your actual article in print never gets old. I’m excited that after almost eight years, my paper with Emanuel Guay, “Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Political Mobilization and Policy Reform in Québec,” is now out in Volume 96 of Labour/Le Travail. 🧵 1/
November 17, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Looks like the STM drivers got a tentative agreement hours before they were about to hit the picket lines and shut down Montreal transit for the weekend. This is how strike threats are supposed to work, providing the leverage necessary to get the employer to reach a negotiated settlement. 1/
November 15, 2025 at 12:59 AM
For Halloween this year, I’m the Honmoon from K-Pop Demon Hunters. But as I told my students in class this morning, not just any Honmoon — the Golden Honmoon. 1/
October 31, 2025 at 2:59 PM
POV: you’re about to testify before the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications about why government back-to-work orders are a bad idea. 1/
October 30, 2025 at 7:21 PM
We showed up for the No Kings rally in Pasadena today. The kids were feeling grumpy, but thanks to the diffusion of creative Portland protest tactics, they did at least have fun chatting up the many inflatable animals on hand for the protest. #NoKings #NoICE #ICEOutOfLA #NoTrumpNoKKKNoFascistUSA
October 19, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Tens of thousands of students across Montreal universities and CÉGEPs staged a one-day strike for Palestine today, based on authorization votes taken in general assemblies and online referenda. 1/
October 7, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I’m all for people wearing what they want at conferences. Were I to try pulling off such a look, I’d take a cue from our Kiwi colleagues, who know a thing or two about wearing shorts in more professional settings. This Wellington civil servant ca. 1973 would be on my mood board.
October 6, 2025 at 11:31 AM
So! So! So! Solidarité! Avec! Avec! Avec la Palestine!

Huge march for Palestine in Montreal today 🇵🇸

Manifestation énorme pour la Palestine à Montréal aujourd’hui 🇵🇸

#AllEyesOnGaza #FreePalestine #PalestineWillBeFree #BoycottIsrael
October 4, 2025 at 8:39 PM
We had our first inter-union rally of the academic year today, bringing together students, faculty, and staff from across campus to speak out against austerity and cutbacks. 1/
October 1, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I’m excited to be part of this round table discussion happening at @lawmcgill.bsky.social on November 10! It will feature a great panel of labour experts including @thelawofwork.bsky.social , @sibelataogul.bsky.social , Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau, and me. 1/ 🧵
October 1, 2025 at 8:22 PM
It is also well-timed for our inter-union rally against campus austerity tomorrow at noon, when we we gather in front of the entry to campus and make loud noises together to express our views. See you there! 6/end
October 1, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Absent a compelling case, the Quebec Superior Court denied McGill’s request for a permanent injunction.

Pointedly, the court noted that an injunction is not “meant to be a message broadcasted to the whole community to signify that certain acts will not be tolerated” 4/
October 1, 2025 at 4:18 AM
McGill administrators did not make a convincing case, providing little evidence for imminent danger requiring injunctive relief aside from the Deputy Provost’s vibes that “something” might happen.

The judge was not amused. 3/
October 1, 2025 at 4:18 AM
‼️BREAKING‼️
Quebec court blocks McGill administration attempt to restrict campus protests.

Following months of student protests calling for action against the genocide in Gaza, McGill administration sought an injunction that would radically curtail many forms of protest 1/
October 1, 2025 at 4:18 AM
This book was published in 1985. Forty years later, you’d only need to update the cover art and change a few words on the back, but the basic themes and concerns would be the same. A useful reminder amidst all the AI hype and fears of a jobless future. 1/
September 30, 2025 at 10:27 PM
(We can set aside for now the fact that there is a long history of male left organizers and worker militants looking fly AF while building revolutions, strikes, and other world-changing activities—not that I hold a candle to any of them) 5/
September 16, 2025 at 12:03 AM
While the Academic Conference Fashion Report has taken on a life of its own as a moment of levity amidst the conference chaos, its origins are a bit darker. 1/ 🧵
September 16, 2025 at 12:03 AM
The first rule of expert labour commentary: never pass up an opportunity to make a Spinal Tap reference #canlab #spinaltap #labour #strike #bcgeustrike2025 #bcgeu
September 12, 2025 at 1:52 AM
TFW a student meekly approaches you after class and, with great hesitance, asks if it would possibly be OK to write their research paper on a question related to the Knights of Labor.

Yes, yes, you may.

[NOTE: This is before I have made any mention of the Knights in class]

#ProfessorGoals
September 10, 2025 at 3:18 AM