Manfred Elfstrom
@manfrede.bsky.social
Associate Professor at University of British Columbia. Researching China, social movements, labor, authoritarianism. Author of "Workers and Change in China." He/him. Website: https://manfredelfstrom.com
All I can say is that if the Democrats come back, they better not bail these people out this time around like Obama felt he had to do in 2009. At least not without asking for a LOT more in return. Otherwise, both bad policy & bad politics.
You pull yourself up by your boostraps. Me? I DESERVE free money from the government, and so do my rich friends bsky.app/profile/cwar...
when its definitely not a hostage situation
November 25, 2025 at 7:21 PM
All I can say is that if the Democrats come back, they better not bail these people out this time around like Obama felt he had to do in 2009. At least not without asking for a LOT more in return. Otherwise, both bad policy & bad politics.
Traveled through N. China for a few days and was impressed by both the expansion of green power since I last spent real time there--solar panels draping terraced hills and poking up out of villages, windmills along ridges--and, at the same time, the persistence incredible levels of air pollution.
November 13, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Traveled through N. China for a few days and was impressed by both the expansion of green power since I last spent real time there--solar panels draping terraced hills and poking up out of villages, windmills along ridges--and, at the same time, the persistence incredible levels of air pollution.
Reposted by Manfred Elfstrom
More from the scene
October 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
More from the scene
Recent impulse purchase
October 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Recent impulse purchase
Lucky to have gotten to hear this incredible call to action: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/l...
Cecil Roberts: “ You must continue to fight”
Podcast Episode · Labor History Today · 2025-09-21 · 34m
podcasts.apple.com
September 21, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Lucky to have gotten to hear this incredible call to action: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/l...
Send the email. www.amnesty.org/en/documents...
South Sudan: End two deportees' arbitrary detention: Nyo Myint and Enrique Arias Hierro - Amnesty International
On 4 July, Nyo Myint and Enrique Arias Hierro were deported from a US military base in Djibouti to Juba, South Sudan, as part of the United States government’s mass deportation campaign and have since...
www.amnesty.org
September 10, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Send the email. www.amnesty.org/en/documents...
Reposted by Manfred Elfstrom
Big news!
My book "Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formation" is officially available for pre-order through University of Washington Press!
Here's a brief summary of the book, contested politics, and why Taiwan matters for political science:
My book "Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formation" is officially available for pre-order through University of Washington Press!
Here's a brief summary of the book, contested politics, and why Taiwan matters for political science:
December 3, 2024 at 11:40 AM
Big news!
My book "Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formation" is officially available for pre-order through University of Washington Press!
Here's a brief summary of the book, contested politics, and why Taiwan matters for political science:
My book "Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formation" is officially available for pre-order through University of Washington Press!
Here's a brief summary of the book, contested politics, and why Taiwan matters for political science:
The anniversary of the start of the Blair Mountain uprising just passed. Here's a nice video on the incredible work done by the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum to keep that history alive. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUxq...
10 Years of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum
YouTube video by West Virginia Mine Wars Museum
www.youtube.com
August 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
The anniversary of the start of the Blair Mountain uprising just passed. Here's a nice video on the incredible work done by the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum to keep that history alive. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUxq...
Have been getting requests from my book's publisher to sign / decline an AI agreement. My instinct is to say "no" for now. But, then, I would want stuff generated about my areas of interest to draw on work like mine. Thoughts about the best course of action?
August 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Have been getting requests from my book's publisher to sign / decline an AI agreement. My instinct is to say "no" for now. But, then, I would want stuff generated about my areas of interest to draw on work like mine. Thoughts about the best course of action?
Enjoyed doing this interview with Asian Labour Review about Chinese worker activism. labourreview.org/a-question-o...
A Question of Strikes
Editor's Note: For the labour movement, strikes occupy a special place, taken often as the most direct and visible demonstration of working-class power to disrupt the operations of capital. When worke...
labourreview.org
August 11, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Enjoyed doing this interview with Asian Labour Review about Chinese worker activism. labourreview.org/a-question-o...
Not everything that was demanded. But these kinds of moves add up. South Africa's apartheid regime similarly suffered a thousand cuts by investors.
www.huffpost.com/entry/norway...
www.huffpost.com/entry/norway...
Norway's $2 Trillion Wealth Fund Ends Contracts For Israel Asset Management
After a review into the fund's links to the Israeli military, the arm of Norway's central bank said it's also divested from 11 of the country's firms.
www.huffpost.com
August 11, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Not everything that was demanded. But these kinds of moves add up. South Africa's apartheid regime similarly suffered a thousand cuts by investors.
www.huffpost.com/entry/norway...
www.huffpost.com/entry/norway...
Enjoyed doing this interview with Serhii Shliapnikov for Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal links.org.au/node/7352
China’s labour movement under fire: An interview with Manfred Elfstrom
Manfred Elfstrom discusses recent labour struggles in China and what they tell us about prospects for change under an authoritarian regime.
links.org.au
July 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Enjoyed doing this interview with Serhii Shliapnikov for Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal links.org.au/node/7352
This is just staggering. In a fair world, there would be tribunals at the end of all this and some sort of accountability. www.cnn.com/2025/07/01/p...
Rubio hails end of USAID as study says its elimination could contribute to 14 million deaths in next 5 years | CNN Politics
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the end of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Tuesday as a new analysis found that its demolition could contribute to 14 million deaths in the...
www.cnn.com
July 2, 2025 at 9:10 PM
This is just staggering. In a fair world, there would be tribunals at the end of all this and some sort of accountability. www.cnn.com/2025/07/01/p...
This is great, extremely valuable research.
Based on crowd-sourced records of No Kings Day event turnout, and extrapolating for the cities where we don't have data yet, it looks like roughly 4-6 million people protested Trump across the U.S. yesterday. That's nearly 2% of the U.S. pop!
Mobilized anti-Trump resistance is exceeding 2017 levels
Mobilized anti-Trump resistance is exceeding 2017 levels
"No Kings Day" protests turn out millions
Our unofficial estimate is that around 4 million people attended a protest event yesterday. Anti-Trump resistance is outpacing 2017.
www.gelliottmorris.com
June 17, 2025 at 10:34 PM
This is great, extremely valuable research.
Yes. Exactly what I was thinking. The assumption seems to be that this will all play into Trump’s hands. But we have evidence from the past that this need not be the case—and, in fact, that images of police overreaction can backfire for the White House, at least outside of its hardcore supporters.
The mainstream/centrist punditocracy seems to exist in an alternate universe around discussing protests where 1) BLM happened while Joe Biden was President and 2) it resulted in an electoral wipeout for Dems
June 10, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Yes. Exactly what I was thinking. The assumption seems to be that this will all play into Trump’s hands. But we have evidence from the past that this need not be the case—and, in fact, that images of police overreaction can backfire for the White House, at least outside of its hardcore supporters.
Trump seems to be having his 1971 Lin Biao moment with Musk. Hopefully, with the same blow to support among core supporters to follow…
June 6, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Trump seems to be having his 1971 Lin Biao moment with Musk. Hopefully, with the same blow to support among core supporters to follow…
Proud to be a signatory of this letter. medium.com/@lawasia/pet...
Petition Against Visa Restrictions on Chinese Students
Introduction
medium.com
June 6, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Proud to be a signatory of this letter. medium.com/@lawasia/pet...
Reposted by Manfred Elfstrom
600 election victories. I’ve been trying to let that sink in all day. Workers have chosen the union SIX HUNDRED times in the last 3.5 years. That’s about one election win every other day. Truly incredible.
🚨BREAKING: We just surpassed 600 UNION ELECTION VICTORIES!
CONGRATULATIONS to Starbucks partners who won their unions in a NEAR UNANIMOUS LANDSLIDE!!
✊Albuquerque, NM - Coors Bypass & 7 Bar L - [15-0]
✊Moon Township, PA - Moon Township - [13-0]
✊Richmond, VA - North Robinson Rd - [10-1]
CONGRATULATIONS to Starbucks partners who won their unions in a NEAR UNANIMOUS LANDSLIDE!!
✊Albuquerque, NM - Coors Bypass & 7 Bar L - [15-0]
✊Moon Township, PA - Moon Township - [13-0]
✊Richmond, VA - North Robinson Rd - [10-1]
June 5, 2025 at 1:24 AM
600 election victories. I’ve been trying to let that sink in all day. Workers have chosen the union SIX HUNDRED times in the last 3.5 years. That’s about one election win every other day. Truly incredible.
I do think public pressure has made a difference here in Canada to date—under Trudeau and now under Carney. People should keep applying it. nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
Tell Carney to Sanction Israel
It’s time for Canada to act. Send an urgent message demanding that Prime Minister Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand follow through with their threat of sanctions, and impose an arms emba...
nwmd.social
June 4, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I do think public pressure has made a difference here in Canada to date—under Trudeau and now under Carney. People should keep applying it. nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
Jason Isbell! In the Okanagan! Obligatory grainy documentation!
May 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Jason Isbell! In the Okanagan! Obligatory grainy documentation!
Kelowna still being counted…
April 29, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Kelowna still being counted…
When Carter passed, I wasn’t sure how to respond meaningfully. This piece captures the context in which I briefly intersected with his post-presidential work: the Carter Center China program. Its director (and my boss for a year) Yawei Liu has great insights. pekinghotel.substack.com/p/jimmy-cart...
Jimmy Carter, the Unlikely Champion of China’s Village Elections — with Liu Yawei
The Carter Center’s Senior China Advisor talks about the late U.S. President’s relationship with Deng Xiaoping, how China invited him to observe elections, and how the country ultimately shut him out.
pekinghotel.substack.com
March 29, 2025 at 9:22 PM
When Carter passed, I wasn’t sure how to respond meaningfully. This piece captures the context in which I briefly intersected with his post-presidential work: the Carter Center China program. Its director (and my boss for a year) Yawei Liu has great insights. pekinghotel.substack.com/p/jimmy-cart...
Xiaojun Li and I have a new article in @scidjournal.bsky.social. China's economic growth has slowed. We use a survey experiment to examine the effects of state media messaging on who and what people blame for their difficulties. #chinasky #china 🧵 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Propaganda and Blame Attribution during Economic Downturns: Evidence from China - Studies in Comparative International Development
Amidst sluggish growth, Chinese authorities have sought to spin the narrative about their economy. But does “soft” propaganda—positive messaging, selective presentation of facts, redirection of anger—...
link.springer.com
March 20, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Xiaojun Li and I have a new article in @scidjournal.bsky.social. China's economic growth has slowed. We use a survey experiment to examine the effects of state media messaging on who and what people blame for their difficulties. #chinasky #china 🧵 link.springer.com/article/10.1...