Michael Tesler
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tesler.bsky.social
Michael Tesler
@tesler.bsky.social
2.3K followers 260 following 42 posts
Professor of Political Science | UC-Irvine
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Reposted by Michael Tesler
bakerdphd.bsky.social
So hype that the faculty and staff of the UC system keep pushing their admin to be better
miriamposner.com Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 6d
WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)
On official UC letterhead: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA James B. Milliken President Office of the President 1111 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94607 universityofcalifornia.edu CAMPUSES Berkeley Davis Irvine UCLA Merced Riverside San Diego San Francisco Santa Barbara Santa Cruz MEDICAL CENTERS Davis Irvine UCLA San Diego San Francisco NATIONAL LABORATORIES Lawrence Berkeley Lawrence Livermore Los Alamos DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES November 18, 2025 Dear Chancellors: I'm writing with regard to the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) and the program's associated faculty hiring incentive. As you know, for more than 40 years, PPFP has provided postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service advance the academic and research missions of the University of California. Since 2003, UC campuses that hire current and former PPFP fellows into ladder-rank positions have been eligible for a hiring incentive funded by the University that provides support for newly hired fellows for five years. Since the creation of the incentive, more than $162 million has been invested by the University to support PPFP faculty hires. This commitment has enabled our campuses to successfully recruit and retain outstanding faculty across a range of disciplines. Given the myriad challenges currently facing UC - including disruptions to billions of dollars in annual federal support, as well as uncertainty around the state budget- reasonable questions were raised in recent months about whether the University could maintain the commitment to current levels of incentive funding. After considering a recommendation to sunset the incentive program due to these significant fiscal constraints, I consulted with all of you as well as faculty and campus academic administrators and systemwide Academic Senate leadership. [continued on next image] After learning more about the history and success of the program and weighing the thoughtful perspectives that have been shared, I have concluded that barring extraordinary financial setbacks, the PPFP faculty hiring incentive program will continue while the University continues to assess the program's structure as well as its long-term financial sustainability. As a result of our continuing consultation and review, there may be consideration of some changes to elements of the program including the total number of incentives supported, a number that has fluctuated significantly over the years, and how the awards are distributed among campuses. In the meantime, the University will continue to fund the PPFP faculty hiring incentive program and campuses may continue to take advantage of these incentives. We will have an opportunity to discuss any potential changes prior to adoption. As we look to the future, I will continue to engage with faculty leaders, program stakeholders, and UC community members about this important program. I especially appreciate the thoughtful perspectives shared in recent weeks by Academic Council Chair Palazoglu and Vice Chair Scott, the Council of Graduate Deans, UC faculty members, and you as our campus leaders. Sincerely, James B. Milliken President
November 19, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
miriamposner.com
WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)
On official UC letterhead: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA James B. Milliken President Office of the President 1111 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94607 universityofcalifornia.edu CAMPUSES Berkeley Davis Irvine UCLA Merced Riverside San Diego San Francisco Santa Barbara Santa Cruz MEDICAL CENTERS Davis Irvine UCLA San Diego San Francisco NATIONAL LABORATORIES Lawrence Berkeley Lawrence Livermore Los Alamos DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES November 18, 2025 Dear Chancellors: I'm writing with regard to the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) and the program's associated faculty hiring incentive. As you know, for more than 40 years, PPFP has provided postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service advance the academic and research missions of the University of California. Since 2003, UC campuses that hire current and former PPFP fellows into ladder-rank positions have been eligible for a hiring incentive funded by the University that provides support for newly hired fellows for five years. Since the creation of the incentive, more than $162 million has been invested by the University to support PPFP faculty hires. This commitment has enabled our campuses to successfully recruit and retain outstanding faculty across a range of disciplines. Given the myriad challenges currently facing UC - including disruptions to billions of dollars in annual federal support, as well as uncertainty around the state budget- reasonable questions were raised in recent months about whether the University could maintain the commitment to current levels of incentive funding. After considering a recommendation to sunset the incentive program due to these significant fiscal constraints, I consulted with all of you as well as faculty and campus academic administrators and systemwide Academic Senate leadership. [continued on next image] After learning more about the history and success of the program and weighing the thoughtful perspectives that have been shared, I have concluded that barring extraordinary financial setbacks, the PPFP faculty hiring incentive program will continue while the University continues to assess the program's structure as well as its long-term financial sustainability. As a result of our continuing consultation and review, there may be consideration of some changes to elements of the program including the total number of incentives supported, a number that has fluctuated significantly over the years, and how the awards are distributed among campuses. In the meantime, the University will continue to fund the PPFP faculty hiring incentive program and campuses may continue to take advantage of these incentives. We will have an opportunity to discuss any potential changes prior to adoption. As we look to the future, I will continue to engage with faculty leaders, program stakeholders, and UC community members about this important program. I especially appreciate the thoughtful perspectives shared in recent weeks by Academic Council Chair Palazoglu and Vice Chair Scott, the Council of Graduate Deans, UC faculty members, and you as our campus leaders. Sincerely, James B. Milliken President
November 18, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
adambonica.bsky.social
Those claiming Dems should retreat on racial justice aren't hard-headed realists, they're pushing against the electoral tide rather than leaning into it. The story of Gen Z isn't about racist backlash or red-pilled young men. It's the most racially progressive generation in American history. 🧵
Racial Resentment Among White Americans by Birth Year and Demographics This figure presents the same four-panel layout (education, gender, geography, religion) but for White Americans from birth years 1940 to 2000. Education panel: A pronounced divide shows non-college Whites with substantially higher resentment across all cohorts, increasing sharply for older birth years. College-educated Whites rise more modestly but remain distinctly lower, especially among younger cohorts. Gender panel: Male and female trendlines rise together, with women slightly higher in mid-century cohorts. Younger cohorts of both genders start lower and climb with age. Geography panel: Regional lines separate clearly: the South is highest in resentment, followed by the Midwest. The West and Northeast show lower levels, with the Northeast consistently at the bottom. All regions slope upward toward older cohorts. Religion panel: Protestants show the highest resentment, peaking among mid-century cohorts. Catholics sit in the middle. Non-affiliated Whites show the lowest resentment, especially among younger respondents, with a small rise among mid-century generations. The figure notes CES 2024 data with GAM-smoothed trendlines.
November 14, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
ebharrington.bsky.social
This is what male solidarity & collective action to oppress women looks like:

Artist Andres Serrano--successful, but nowhere near the same class as Thiel & other billionaires in the files--stating that he'll vote for Trump, despite his politics, out of *sympathy* with T's sexual assaults on women.
November 12, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
cwebbonline.com
Removing a monument honoring Black US soldiers has nothing to do with DEI. It’s erasure of history and it’s straight-up racism.
November 13, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
egojunk.bsky.social
“This suggests a role for white racial attitudes, and, indeed, we find that state-level white racial resentment predicts Black-white representational disparities.”
mattgrossmann.bsky.social Matt Grossmann @mattgrossmann.bsky.social · 13d
Racial differences in policy responsiveness are small. But policy is more responsive to whites under Republicans control, not explained by class, age, or ideology but partially by party. Republican Senators' votes also better represent white constituents.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Race, Responsiveness, and Representation in U.S. Lawmaking | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
Race, Responsiveness, and Representation in U.S. Lawmaking
www.cambridge.org
November 12, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
perrybaconjr.bsky.social
"This is an elite failure, not a popular one. The Democratic base understands what’s at stake. Grassroots activists and voters have shown they’re willing to fight. The failure lies with party leadership who mistake capitulation for pragmatism." data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-compas...
The Compassion Trap: How the Shutdown Weaponized Democratic Values Against Democracy Itself
When Opposition Parties Stop Fighting Because the Cruelty Becomes Unbearable. And Why They Shouldn't.
data4democracy.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
jamellebouie.net
“woke” is when you acknowledge that black people have contributed to the united states
gordondarroch.bsky.social Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 16d
Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
nrc.nl NRC @nrc.nl · 18d
Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders van Nederland opeens weg. ‘Past bij beleid van de regering-Trump’
November 8, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
devawo.bsky.social
No one should engage in any discourse about whether women should work. Any such utterances should be laughed out of the room. That debate is over. Full stop. No further discussion is necessary. What remains are dominative fantasies & I do not consent. The end.
November 6, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
davmicrot.bsky.social
ADL is essentially an arm of MAGA now, providing cover for violent right-wing antisemites and smearing left-wing allies as as antisemites. It is really terrible how quickly & thoroughly Jonathan Greenblatt has managed to turn such an important organization for Jews (really all of US) against us.
November 5, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
tusk81.bsky.social
“Animal welfare groups in the Tampa Bay area say that wave has had a heartbreaking ripple effect: hundreds of pets left behind when families are forced to go.” www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-a...
Tampa animal rescue overwhelmed with pets abandoned amid immigration departures
Tampa nonprofit Mercy Full Project says it’s taking in record numbers of abandoned pets linked to families leaving the U.S. from the recent immigration crackdown.
www.fox13news.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
zackbeauchamp.bsky.social
Kevin Roberts' defense of Nick Fuentes is a watershed moment: the right has officially declared open, unabashed Hitlerism to be an acceptable position in their coalition

www.vox.com/politics/466...
The GOP’s top think tank just defended an open Nazi
Reasonable people can disagree about whether Hitler was good, says the Heritage Foundation.
www.vox.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
rblaifeder.bsky.social
Really proud of the slate of books we’re publishing in politics & sociology this year. The latest - Bob William’s “Funding White Supremacy” - is out now!
cambup-polsci.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · Jun 10
Examines how US federal wealth policies over the past two centuries have contributed to the modern racial wealth gap.

Funding White Supremacy by Robert B. Williams (part of the Cambridge Studies in Stratification Economics series)

Out Now

#BookSky #USPol #PoliSci

cup.org/40RIX95
Funding White Supremacy
Cambridge Core - Sociology of Race and Ethnicity - Funding White Supremacy
cup.org
June 17, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
zackbeauchamp.bsky.social
Republican elites have recently begun panicking about rising antisemitism among the conservative base. And they're right: this is a crisis.

But it's one that is, in large part, of their own making www.vox.com/politics/466...
The GOP’s antisemitism crisis
Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, and the looming Republican civil war over Jews.
www.vox.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
zacheverson.com
Thinking a lot recently about the outrage over Lizzo playing James Madison's flute
Photos: White House East Wing Demolished For Trump’s Ballroom
The privately funded ballroom will be approximately 90,000 square feet, much larger than the White House itself.
www.forbes.com
October 25, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
laurachapin.bsky.social
We Rate Dogs has joined the frogs.
October 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
okwonga.bsky.social
It’s funny how black people are expected to reach across the aisle to voters like these, while no one ever expects them to reach across the aisle to black people. Amazing who gets to be human, and who doesn’t.
carlquintanilla.bsky.social Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · Oct 14
POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
October 14, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
leedrutman.bsky.social
There was a time when this would actually be a scandal. Now it's not even a surprise.
October 14, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
marisakabas.bsky.social
if i had a dime for every rhonda lacenzo i knew in hebrew school
tweet from The Persian Jewess ~ @persianjewess In a disgusting display, @nbcsn| creates an antisemitic caricature of a Jewish woman, and mocks concerns about Zohran Mamdani's pro-jihadist views. Meanwhile, just today Zohran Mamdani's wife posted a tribute to a Hamas terrorist on her IG Stories. it's screencap from an SNL sketch with a character named RHONDA LaCENZO
October 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
devawo.bsky.social
Could not be more well-deserved! Congratulations Hahrie! 🎉 @hahrie.bsky.social
Johns Hopkins political scientist Hahrie Han receives MacArthur genius grant
Han, who studies political organizing and collective action and who has led the university's SNF Agora Institute since 2019, among 22 individuals to receive coveted MacArthur Foundation recognition
hub.jhu.edu
October 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
jordiedavies.bsky.social
New article: "Fundamentals of Solidarity: Race-Based Caucus Organizing in Houston" is live at Urban Affairs Review. I'm grateful to the organizers who let me into their world and work so we could produce this piece. Check it out 👇
Fundamentals of Solidarity: Race-Based Caucus Organizing in Houston - Elizabeth Jordie Davies, 2025
Grassroots organizations often espouse multiracial solidarity as a value but struggle with putting this value into practice. How can organizations, especially t...
doi.org
October 7, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
mehdirhasan.bsky.social
The new season of The Peacemaker on HBO is so, so good!

The story, the action, the one-liners, the humor, the pathos. (Also it's anti-Nazi, which in this current American moment, is super approrpriate and necessary!)

Congrats to
@jamesgunn.bsky.social, John Cena, and the entire team.
October 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
povertyscholar.bsky.social
My book w/@profsorelle.bsky.social will be out in January! These ideas have brewed since I interned at Queens Legal Services 20 years ago. The book is for anyone who cares about people, justice, power & democracy. Much more to share more in the coming months!

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Uncivil Democracy
How the civil legal system undermines the political lives of marginalized communities
press.princeton.edu
September 22, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
johnsides.bsky.social
Under Biden, there was no thermostatic shift in public opinion about the size of government. The public stayed relatively liberal. Take attitudes toward the government's role in health care:
October 6, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Michael Tesler
adamserwer.bsky.social
If you’re white, your accomplishments are your own and you can resent and criticize the country all you like, but if you’re black and successful you should be grateful to white people for allowing you in their presence. bsky.app/profile/jess...
jessicacalarco.com Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · Oct 4
Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.
Tweet from the VP: Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most. Yet she oozes with contempt. My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much happier person if you showed a little gratitude
October 4, 2025 at 4:47 PM