Mike McCarthy
@itsmccarthy.bsky.social
University of California Santa Cruz Prof. Director of Community Studies. Author: The Master’s Tools (Verso) + Dismantling Solidarity (Cornell). Likes: economic democracy, critical social theory, 2x2 tables.
Thoughts on governance and compromise
November 25, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Thoughts on governance and compromise
Thinking Alan Dershowitz is mainstream is beyond self parody.
November 25, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Thinking Alan Dershowitz is mainstream is beyond self parody.
Nobody on the right goes: "OK, but is he really a communist? Here is a historical comparison suggesting otherwise."
November 21, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Nobody on the right goes: "OK, but is he really a communist? Here is a historical comparison suggesting otherwise."
A good reason why it is a bad idea to treat educational attainment as a proxy for economic class, even if it does generate important cultural distinctions and divisions.
November 18, 2025 at 6:02 PM
A good reason why it is a bad idea to treat educational attainment as a proxy for economic class, even if it does generate important cultural distinctions and divisions.
Even better, what if we have 100 year mortgages where our future progeny pay back the bank in labor hours.
November 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Even better, what if we have 100 year mortgages where our future progeny pay back the bank in labor hours.
Same Saturday night Max Weber. We definitely live in an age of high political vanity. As Weber suggests, what comes of it is violence.
November 16, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Same Saturday night Max Weber. We definitely live in an age of high political vanity. As Weber suggests, what comes of it is violence.
Democratizing finance by turning everyone into a venture capitalist.
November 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Democratizing finance by turning everyone into a venture capitalist.
Authors find increase in cultural protest (left: war, enviro, + right: anti-immigrant, anti-EU, and both: Covid pro and anti-containment measures) across Europe and diminishing economic protests, which are typically led by unions. Where is European labor these days?
November 9, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Authors find increase in cultural protest (left: war, enviro, + right: anti-immigrant, anti-EU, and both: Covid pro and anti-containment measures) across Europe and diminishing economic protests, which are typically led by unions. Where is European labor these days?
Billionaires, so passé!
November 7, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Billionaires, so passé!
Let's see what happens after he makes a bunch of parents miss their kid's soccer game this weekend.
November 6, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Let's see what happens after he makes a bunch of parents miss their kid's soccer game this weekend.
I'll be teaching this whole debate in my grad seminar on class analysis next quarter. Genuinely excited to dig into this!
November 5, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I'll be teaching this whole debate in my grad seminar on class analysis next quarter. Genuinely excited to dig into this!
“Unbridled desire to work”…they really want your soul don’t they? Your labor, it seems, is not enough.
October 27, 2025 at 4:55 PM
“Unbridled desire to work”…they really want your soul don’t they? Your labor, it seems, is not enough.
Politics as a vocation
October 25, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Politics as a vocation
Here is @christophsorg.bsky.social giving a brilliant talk on economic planning.
October 24, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Here is @christophsorg.bsky.social giving a brilliant talk on economic planning.
From @cominsitu.bsky.social's "Class as Moral Injury"
October 23, 2025 at 4:06 PM
From @cominsitu.bsky.social's "Class as Moral Injury"
Capitalism can’t help but undermine its own conditions for existence.
Source: New York Times
Source: New York Times
October 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Capitalism can’t help but undermine its own conditions for existence.
Source: New York Times
Source: New York Times
Today is the deadline to submit to the Reconstructing Critical Social Theory workshop, which will be held April 23-24 in Santa Cruz, California. Get those abstracts in!
October 15, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Today is the deadline to submit to the Reconstructing Critical Social Theory workshop, which will be held April 23-24 in Santa Cruz, California. Get those abstracts in!
Imagine a similar story where democratic investment banks are instead reporting on the quarterly results of their social investment programs.
It’s not sci fi. China’s massive investments into steel mills and infrastructure come directly from state banks not private capital. Now add democracy.
It’s not sci fi. China’s massive investments into steel mills and infrastructure come directly from state banks not private capital. Now add democracy.
October 14, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Imagine a similar story where democratic investment banks are instead reporting on the quarterly results of their social investment programs.
It’s not sci fi. China’s massive investments into steel mills and infrastructure come directly from state banks not private capital. Now add democracy.
It’s not sci fi. China’s massive investments into steel mills and infrastructure come directly from state banks not private capital. Now add democracy.
I’ll be giving a little seminar on how to think about class politics at John’s Hopkins University tomorrow.
October 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I’ll be giving a little seminar on how to think about class politics at John’s Hopkins University tomorrow.
Aching for a crisis
October 14, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Aching for a crisis
Will be at @redemmas.org with Ho-fung Hung this Wednesday. In Baltimore? Come on down!
October 13, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Will be at @redemmas.org with Ho-fung Hung this Wednesday. In Baltimore? Come on down!
Mamdani isn’t doing simple economic populism…there is no such thing as simple economic populism, it only exists on paper…political discourse is always aimed at stitching together a coalition by appealing to a mix of interests, shared morality, and fantasies about what the world might be.
October 11, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Mamdani isn’t doing simple economic populism…there is no such thing as simple economic populism, it only exists on paper…political discourse is always aimed at stitching together a coalition by appealing to a mix of interests, shared morality, and fantasies about what the world might be.
A graphical summary of Nicos Poulantzas argument about the rise of totalitarianism in Italy and Germany in his book Fascism & Dictatorship. The graphic is from Dylan Riley's brilliant forward to the book. It is hauntingly familiar, and almost echoes in our own time.
October 1, 2025 at 2:49 AM
A graphical summary of Nicos Poulantzas argument about the rise of totalitarianism in Italy and Germany in his book Fascism & Dictatorship. The graphic is from Dylan Riley's brilliant forward to the book. It is hauntingly familiar, and almost echoes in our own time.
Excellent reporting from at @inthesetimes.com that draws from some of my work. The labor movement still hasn’t got its head around the way the institutions of capitalism have changed between the 1930s and today. If the workplace needed democracy then, today pooled assets do as well.
September 29, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Excellent reporting from at @inthesetimes.com that draws from some of my work. The labor movement still hasn’t got its head around the way the institutions of capitalism have changed between the 1930s and today. If the workplace needed democracy then, today pooled assets do as well.