Bret Gustafson
@bretgustafson.bsky.social
Anthropologist. Mostly Latin America. NACLAista. Check out www.nacla.org. Wrote Bolivia in the Age of Gas (Duke 2020).
Pinned
Bret Gustafson
@bretgustafson.bsky.social
· Jul 20
Not many followers yet but happy to say NACLA is now here. Please follow @nacla-report.bsky.social
Keep fighting!
Keep fighting!
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Brown University has a widget that tracks the cost of the Iran war to American consumers (as contrasted to whatever the Pentagon is spending).
Per-household cost now exceeds $600.
iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
Per-household cost now exceeds $600.
iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
August 5, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Brown University has a widget that tracks the cost of the Iran war to American consumers (as contrasted to whatever the Pentagon is spending).
Per-household cost now exceeds $600.
iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
Per-household cost now exceeds $600.
iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
The Ute Tribe is trying to buy back ancestral land in Utah, but a state lawmaker is conspiring to stop them. Instead of #LandBack, this Utah Republican wants the land to be set aside for recreational hunting.
www.hcn.org/articles/how...
www.hcn.org/articles/how...
How a Utah Republican’s quiet battle for hunting access undercut LandBack hopes - High Country News
Utah Rep. Casey Snider spent years quietly carrying out a plan to guarantee hunter access to pristine roadless country — by blocking the Ute Indian Tribe from buying it back.
www.hcn.org
July 20, 2026 at 11:11 PM
The Ute Tribe is trying to buy back ancestral land in Utah, but a state lawmaker is conspiring to stop them. Instead of #LandBack, this Utah Republican wants the land to be set aside for recreational hunting.
www.hcn.org/articles/how...
www.hcn.org/articles/how...
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Taylor Farms' parent company has given $2.2M to GOP PACs this election cycle.
That includes $1M to Trump's own PAC, just 6 days after the FDA delayed new food tracing requirements last year.
Money in politics is sickening.
That includes $1M to Trump's own PAC, just 6 days after the FDA delayed new food tracing requirements last year.
Money in politics is sickening.
July 20, 2026 at 11:22 PM
Taylor Farms' parent company has given $2.2M to GOP PACs this election cycle.
That includes $1M to Trump's own PAC, just 6 days after the FDA delayed new food tracing requirements last year.
Money in politics is sickening.
That includes $1M to Trump's own PAC, just 6 days after the FDA delayed new food tracing requirements last year.
Money in politics is sickening.
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
I was with Tom Parkin and Nikki Hill last week, bringing an overview of the dilemmas over here in Brazilian politics, as we prepare for this year's electoral dispute.
Bolsonaro vs Lula: a Brazilian president who’s a friend to Canada — or servant of Trump?
YouTube video by Left East to West
www.youtube.com
July 20, 2026 at 3:01 PM
I was with Tom Parkin and Nikki Hill last week, bringing an overview of the dilemmas over here in Brazilian politics, as we prepare for this year's electoral dispute.
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Like vinyl records, the humanities will make a comeback
July 5, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Like vinyl records, the humanities will make a comeback
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Our own Greg Magarian (Thomas and Karole Green Professor of Law at WashU) writes on "the report" for the Gateway Journalism Review
gatewayjr.org/commentary-c...
gatewayjr.org/commentary-c...
Opinion: The campus culture war comes to WashU - Gateway Journalism Review
Last year, Donald Trump proposed a “compact” for higher education that would have subordinated academic freedom to a conservative.
gatewayjr.org
June 21, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Our own Greg Magarian (Thomas and Karole Green Professor of Law at WashU) writes on "the report" for the Gateway Journalism Review
gatewayjr.org/commentary-c...
gatewayjr.org/commentary-c...
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
WashU AAUP in the news as St Louis Magazine chronicles faculty dismay toward that dismal "report"
www.stlmag.com/news/washu-f...
www.stlmag.com/news/washu-f...
WashU faculty pushes back on ‘illegitimate’ report co-commissioned with Vanderbilt
Even though class is out for the summer, Washington University faculty are abuzz with discussions of a recent report—jointly commissioned by the chancellors of WashU and Vanderbilt University—meant to...
www.stlmag.com
June 19, 2026 at 2:20 AM
WashU AAUP in the news as St Louis Magazine chronicles faculty dismay toward that dismal "report"
www.stlmag.com/news/washu-f...
www.stlmag.com/news/washu-f...
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Reupping my own thread here; Jon Marks expands on the many ways the “report” is wrong from the perspective of anthropology. If there still were a blog culture I’d have expanded this thread somewhere but have yet to move to one of the platforms that people tell me would work. So for now this is it…
Anthropological research on subsistence is offered in the dangerous and authoritarian “report” on the humanities as a key example of supposed ideological weakening of scholarship. This critique begins to show how the key example cited actually proves the opposite. Let’s go into it in some depth 1/
Academic Authoritarianism in New Attack on Humanities Scholars
There is virtually no evidence offered in the report for its sweeping conclusions about the entirety of the humanities.
www.insidehighered.com
June 19, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Reupping my own thread here; Jon Marks expands on the many ways the “report” is wrong from the perspective of anthropology. If there still were a blog culture I’d have expanded this thread somewhere but have yet to move to one of the platforms that people tell me would work. So for now this is it…
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Anthropological research on subsistence is offered in the dangerous and authoritarian “report” on the humanities as a key example of supposed ideological weakening of scholarship. This critique begins to show how the key example cited actually proves the opposite. Let’s go into it in some depth 1/
Academic Authoritarianism in New Attack on Humanities Scholars
There is virtually no evidence offered in the report for its sweeping conclusions about the entirety of the humanities.
www.insidehighered.com
June 13, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Anthropological research on subsistence is offered in the dangerous and authoritarian “report” on the humanities as a key example of supposed ideological weakening of scholarship. This critique begins to show how the key example cited actually proves the opposite. Let’s go into it in some depth 1/
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
see same point and a few more made here: www.chronicle.com/article/are-...
Opinion | McCarythism Dressed Up as an Academic Report
We should not be distracted by the bogeyman of social-justice scholarship.
www.chronicle.com
June 13, 2026 at 5:09 PM
see same point and a few more made here: www.chronicle.com/article/are-...
If you're going to LASA in Paris, stop in for a drink with @nacla-report.bsky.social !!! Wed May 27
May 22, 2026 at 5:53 PM
If you're going to LASA in Paris, stop in for a drink with @nacla-report.bsky.social !!! Wed May 27
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
The spring issue JUST DROPPED and it is 🔥!
This issue examines the consolidation of a hemispheric bordering regime, tracing how border violence has moved from the margins to the center of political life across the Americas.
Guest edited by Soledad Álvarez Velasco, Dawn Marie Paley, and P.S.D.
This issue examines the consolidation of a hemispheric bordering regime, tracing how border violence has moved from the margins to the center of political life across the Americas.
Guest edited by Soledad Álvarez Velasco, Dawn Marie Paley, and P.S.D.
March 31, 2026 at 7:23 PM
The spring issue JUST DROPPED and it is 🔥!
This issue examines the consolidation of a hemispheric bordering regime, tracing how border violence has moved from the margins to the center of political life across the Americas.
Guest edited by Soledad Álvarez Velasco, Dawn Marie Paley, and P.S.D.
This issue examines the consolidation of a hemispheric bordering regime, tracing how border violence has moved from the margins to the center of political life across the Americas.
Guest edited by Soledad Álvarez Velasco, Dawn Marie Paley, and P.S.D.
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
It’s arguably less a war than it is just a string of war crimes
It seems we just bombed some residential buildings in an attempt to kill a former diplomat who was trying to facilitate negotiations.
A civilian trying to *end* hostilities, surrounded by other civilians in their homes.
We are completely lost.
A civilian trying to *end* hostilities, surrounded by other civilians in their homes.
We are completely lost.
April 2, 2026 at 12:39 AM
It’s arguably less a war than it is just a string of war crimes
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
UN votes to recognise enslavement of Africans as 'gravest crime against humanity'
The proposal was adopted with 123 votes in favour and three against - the **United States, Israel** and Argentina.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The proposal was adopted with 123 votes in favour and three against - the **United States, Israel** and Argentina.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
UN votes to recognise enslavement of Africans as 'gravest crime against humanity'
The landmark resolution calls for an apology and contributions to a reparations fund, without specifying an amount.
www.bbc.com
March 26, 2026 at 3:08 AM
UN votes to recognise enslavement of Africans as 'gravest crime against humanity'
The proposal was adopted with 123 votes in favour and three against - the **United States, Israel** and Argentina.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The proposal was adopted with 123 votes in favour and three against - the **United States, Israel** and Argentina.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Every single one of those graves is for a little girl between 7 and 12 years old. This is the reality of American imperalism.
I wrote about how the US and Israel carried out an attack on an Iranian girls school on par with the OKC bombing and US media relegated it to a back page story. No stand alone evening news segments, no front page stories, it made A11 in the NYT then everyone moved on.
Corporate Media Buries Story of US and Israel Killing 168 in Girls School Attack
No front-page stories in NYT, WSJ, WaPo. No mention on NBC and CBS Sunday Shows. No stand alone segments on Evening News shows. A death count on par with the OKC bombing is relegated to the back page.
www.columnblog.com
March 4, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Every single one of those graves is for a little girl between 7 and 12 years old. This is the reality of American imperalism.
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
"The Israeli right wing is determined to tear down every last vestige of International Humanitarian Law as it was legislated into being after WW II, and has cheapened public discourse to the point where no public officials even bother to call out these serial war crimes."
Iran is fighting a Techno-Guerrilla War, as the US and Israel fight a Conventional One
Iran is fighting a Techno-Guerrilla War, as the US and Israel fight a Conventional One
The US and Israeli decapitation strikes, killing over 40 high-ranking Iranian officials, have not had the desired effect
dlvr.it
March 5, 2026 at 1:36 AM
"The Israeli right wing is determined to tear down every last vestige of International Humanitarian Law as it was legislated into being after WW II, and has cheapened public discourse to the point where no public officials even bother to call out these serial war crimes."
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Spanish PM Sánchez responds to Trump:
"Spain is against this disaster... Govts are here to improve people's lives... It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are unable to fulfill that mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure, and in the process, fill the pockets of a few."
"Spain is against this disaster... Govts are here to improve people's lives... It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are unable to fulfill that mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure, and in the process, fill the pockets of a few."
March 4, 2026 at 11:24 AM
Spanish PM Sánchez responds to Trump:
"Spain is against this disaster... Govts are here to improve people's lives... It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are unable to fulfill that mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure, and in the process, fill the pockets of a few."
"Spain is against this disaster... Govts are here to improve people's lives... It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are unable to fulfill that mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure, and in the process, fill the pockets of a few."
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
“Our vision for a fully-funded public education, where a professor can write and teach freely, and can challenge every vapid, cruel argument federal and state governments make, sustains us. It’s what we’re fighting for.”
—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
The Right Expands Its Campaign to Censor College Professors
PEN America called 2025 ‘a year of catastrophe for higher education,’ but professors are fighting back against censorship.
progressive.org
March 4, 2026 at 4:58 PM
“Our vision for a fully-funded public education, where a professor can write and teach freely, and can challenge every vapid, cruel argument federal and state governments make, sustains us. It’s what we’re fighting for.”
—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Targeted with death threats, violence, and bogus legal charges, the Ch’orti’ people in Guatemala are still fighting to permanently close a mining project that has polluted their lands.
Read their story at nacla.org
nacla.org/guatemalan-i...
Read their story at nacla.org
nacla.org/guatemalan-i...
A Guatemalan Indigenous Council Struggles Against a Mine
Targeted with two deaths and legal charges, Ch’orti’ people are fighting to permanently close a mining project that has polluted their lands.
nacla.org
March 3, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Targeted with death threats, violence, and bogus legal charges, the Ch’orti’ people in Guatemala are still fighting to permanently close a mining project that has polluted their lands.
Read their story at nacla.org
nacla.org/guatemalan-i...
Read their story at nacla.org
nacla.org/guatemalan-i...
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
We are deeply saddened to learn about the death of historian Vicente Rafael, author of five books & many articles with DUP. Here is our remembrance.
Farewell to Vicente Rafael
We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Vicente Rafael on February 21, 2026, at the age of 70. Vince was the author of five books with Duke University Press, a contributor to several edited…
buff.ly
February 24, 2026 at 5:15 PM
We are deeply saddened to learn about the death of historian Vicente Rafael, author of five books & many articles with DUP. Here is our remembrance.
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Other key records posted today include cables from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, which in the immediate aftermath of the massacre named the military as responsible. nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...
The Long Shadow of Dos Erres
Washington, D.C., February 24, 2026 - After a decade-long investigation and a trial lasting more than five weeks, a federal court in Ottawa has ruled to revoke the Canadian citizenship of a Guatemalan...
nsarchive.gwu.edu
February 24, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Other key records posted today include cables from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, which in the immediate aftermath of the massacre named the military as responsible. nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
“Abolishing gender programs & the lessons they have taught, will, Trump & his acolytes hope, undermine our ability not just to condemn, but also to critically analyze the policies & practices they want to impose.”
Must Read by Joan Scott, member of the AAUP’s Committee on Academic Freedom.
Must Read by Joan Scott, member of the AAUP’s Committee on Academic Freedom.
Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 5:06 PM
“Abolishing gender programs & the lessons they have taught, will, Trump & his acolytes hope, undermine our ability not just to condemn, but also to critically analyze the policies & practices they want to impose.”
Must Read by Joan Scott, member of the AAUP’s Committee on Academic Freedom.
Must Read by Joan Scott, member of the AAUP’s Committee on Academic Freedom.
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Must-read:
Joan Scott on why the attack on gender studies by powerful patriarchal men is not a coincidence, but an attempt to silence critique and analysis of their abusive behavior. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2026 at 12:03 AM
Must-read:
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
Meu artigo do mês para o @intercept.com.br aborda as mentiras sobre o desenvolvimento que são usadas pelo lobby empresarial na sanha por privatizar serviços, explorar recursos e destruir a natureza em nome dk crescimento econômico.
As mentiras por trás do discurso de desenvolvimento de empresários e políticos | Intercept Brasil
De Daniel Vorcaro à Cargill, Sabrina Fernandes analisa como o estado atua como balcão de negócios para empresários enquanto vende a destruição de biomas como crescimento econômico.
www.intercept.com.br
February 12, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Meu artigo do mês para o @intercept.com.br aborda as mentiras sobre o desenvolvimento que são usadas pelo lobby empresarial na sanha por privatizar serviços, explorar recursos e destruir a natureza em nome dk crescimento econômico.
Reposted by Bret Gustafson
If Bad Bunny can cover the history of Puerto Rico, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, hemispheric consciousness, as well as contemporary life and politics in under 14 minutes, you can do your 15- or 20-minute conference presentation with time to spare.
February 9, 2026 at 11:56 PM
If Bad Bunny can cover the history of Puerto Rico, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, hemispheric consciousness, as well as contemporary life and politics in under 14 minutes, you can do your 15- or 20-minute conference presentation with time to spare.