Can't believe I'm saying this... I'm a published academic.

We adapted this article from my master's thesis on local policy experimentation under Xi Jinping and it was an absolute labour of love:

Policy Experimentation under Pressure in Contemporary China bit.ly/3H6dJjp Months of pouring over literal thousands of local government regulations. Years talking to officials at the national, provincial & local level. And then trying to navigate a recalibration of research methods for the pandemic era. All to be able to say with some confidence that:

8 British politics things we're still struggling with going into 2023:

1. Political apathy
Far too many people don't trust our government (with good reason) and don't bother engaging with politics "because there's no point". Authoritarian regimes love political apathy. 2. Empathy deficit
The right-wing media has dedicated years (and who knows how many ££s) convincing the public that ALL receivers of "benefits" are scroungers, when only ~4% of ALL welfare expenditures are overpaid due to fraud or error. Too many of us enjoy punching down.

Liz Truss may be a human 404 error (@rachelparris's words, not mine) with the shelf life of a lettuce (you can thank @TheEconomist for that one), but how and why she came to power speaks to a broader issue of women in positions of leadership.

Welcome to the "glass cliff"

🧵 Women & people of the global majority/working class are often only considered for leadership as a last resort, situations where failure is so likely that no self-respecting straight white man would be willing to risk his comfort/reputation trying to succeed against all odds.

2⃣

As #QueenElizabeth's body makes its way to #Edinburgh, I found myself thinking of @kamilashamsie:

"When the rich live in gilded palaces and the poor die of starvation, that isn't savagery. When Parliament is corrupt and resists reform, that isn't savagery..." "When laws are passed to prevent Englishmen from gathering together to speak their mind, or to publish their thoughts, that isn't savagery..."

For those who criticise "tactical voting" and the campaign to replace FPTP with a properly representative system (1 vote = 1 vote regardless of where you live) because neither tactical voting nor #ProportionalRepresentation will fix our democracy... You're right 🧵

https://twitter.com/JoshFwd/status/1560963654887133185

Because these are only the first steps towards reforming and democratising our political system. They're not the entire solution, not by a long shot.

But we won't get to the solution(s) without biting the bullet & playing according to the rules of our current electoral system 2️⃣

A lot of new followers makes me think I should introduce myself and my work.

So, hey, I'm Abbey. I'm writing a PhD on policymaking and protest under authoritarianism.

I chose my topic because I care about human rights, especially labour rights.

🧵 2️⃣You can find me on TikTok, sharing free educational resources and the first few chapters of (IMO) important non-fiction books (which you can usually find on Google Books for free).

tiktok.com/@openbookshelf

Do you know who the rich are?

I spent a lot of time at university resenting my classmates and even friends for not having to work and being able to do afford unpaid internships.

It took ten years for me to learn that they're not even close to being rich.

🧵1/

#TaxTheRich The rich see a £250K a year job as "chickenfeed".

If you don't need it, babes, give it back.

#TaxTheRich

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