any variation of "most people in (the world|the united states|europe|region of choice) are economically worse off now than they were in (the 80s|the 70s|the 60s|premodernity|start date of choice)" is a big one
honestly, anything to do with economics that's popular among leftists, really
honestly, anything to do with economics that's popular among leftists, really
October 4, 2026 at 11:03 PM
any variation of "most people in (the world|the united states|europe|region of choice) are economically worse off now than they were in (the 80s|the 70s|the 60s|premodernity|start date of choice)" is a big one
honestly, anything to do with economics that's popular among leftists, really
honestly, anything to do with economics that's popular among leftists, really
A year ago I would have glibly said Arnulf, but now I'm thinking it would be something about "dynasty" as a way of understanding global premodernity, or maybe the crises of the 8th century in China, Europe, and the Middle East
*Neither of these are fully-formed ideas, don't come for me
*Neither of these are fully-formed ideas, don't come for me
October 4, 2026 at 12:37 AM
A year ago I would have glibly said Arnulf, but now I'm thinking it would be something about "dynasty" as a way of understanding global premodernity, or maybe the crises of the 8th century in China, Europe, and the Middle East
*Neither of these are fully-formed ideas, don't come for me
*Neither of these are fully-formed ideas, don't come for me
I personally think that “yes, it’s possible to change your gender” is a more effective argument for queer inclusion in society than “the concept of sex is a myth and the fact that getting fucked in the ass meant people saw you as like a woman means trans ppl were accepted in premodernity”
September 24, 2026 at 3:52 PM
I personally think that “yes, it’s possible to change your gender” is a more effective argument for queer inclusion in society than “the concept of sex is a myth and the fact that getting fucked in the ass meant people saw you as like a woman means trans ppl were accepted in premodernity”
the fantasy of premodernity is primarily defined by freedom from advertisement
the cyberpunk genre is primarily defined by the heavy presence of advertisement
September 6, 2026 at 3:29 PM
the fantasy of premodernity is primarily defined by freedom from advertisement
"They were often less convinced than caricatures of a magical premodernity suppose, and we are much more open to magic than stereotypes of secularism allow."
Yes! Never been convinced by the whole "disenchantment" thing, it's too much "We are so smart now, our ancestors were primitive and ignorant"
Yes! Never been convinced by the whole "disenchantment" thing, it's too much "We are so smart now, our ancestors were primitive and ignorant"
If magic never really “declined”, what actually happened to it? Really pleased to see this new forum in ‘Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft’ that extends my claims about doubts to suggest other terms, such as “counter-probabilistic wishing” and “wonder”. williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2026/09/03/w... 🗃️
Who doubts doubt?
Magic never went away. There is now a widespread – though far from universal – sense among historians that what Max Weber called ‘the disenchantment of the world’ and Keith Thomas…
williamgpooley.wordpress.com
September 3, 2026 at 12:43 PM
"They were often less convinced than caricatures of a magical premodernity suppose, and we are much more open to magic than stereotypes of secularism allow."
Yes! Never been convinced by the whole "disenchantment" thing, it's too much "We are so smart now, our ancestors were primitive and ignorant"
Yes! Never been convinced by the whole "disenchantment" thing, it's too much "We are so smart now, our ancestors were primitive and ignorant"
I think there are certain aspects of premodernity he sees as genuinely valuable and worth mourning. But esp. when read in light of later chapters and his other writings, Taylor doesn't long to nostalgically "RETVRN" so much as to recover/discover modalities of enchantment for a (post)modern world.
August 5, 2026 at 4:52 PM
I think there are certain aspects of premodernity he sees as genuinely valuable and worth mourning. But esp. when read in light of later chapters and his other writings, Taylor doesn't long to nostalgically "RETVRN" so much as to recover/discover modalities of enchantment for a (post)modern world.
fyi Neil doesn't understand averages. the average lifespan in premodernity was so low because of an enormous infant mortality rate
July 25, 2026 at 2:24 PM
fyi Neil doesn't understand averages. the average lifespan in premodernity was so low because of an enormous infant mortality rate
Liked the essay! Given you mention the global middle ages, is there a difference between global antiquity and the global middle ages? Or is it all global premodernity? Probably too much for this format, but figured I'd ask...
July 20, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Liked the essay! Given you mention the global middle ages, is there a difference between global antiquity and the global middle ages? Or is it all global premodernity? Probably too much for this format, but figured I'd ask...
like there is no such thing as a pastoralist fantasy in premodernity when there was only pastoralist actuality and guess what it sucked shit
The frustrating thing is that the counter argument is right there: concretely frame it in terms of tradeoffs. How many deaths is your pastoralist fantasy worth, exactly? Please be specific. But you need someone to actually make that argument.
July 16, 2026 at 7:21 PM
like there is no such thing as a pastoralist fantasy in premodernity when there was only pastoralist actuality and guess what it sucked shit
That's a welcome change. I go because I'm an SIHS officer, but there are rarely panels for me.
And yes, what I'm suggesting would take a lot of organization. I just think it's a long-term survival necessity. Making the case for premodernity and building community solidarity are crucial.
And yes, what I'm suggesting would take a lot of organization. I just think it's a long-term survival necessity. Making the case for premodernity and building community solidarity are crucial.
July 14, 2026 at 2:42 PM
That's a welcome change. I go because I'm an SIHS officer, but there are rarely panels for me.
And yes, what I'm suggesting would take a lot of organization. I just think it's a long-term survival necessity. Making the case for premodernity and building community solidarity are crucial.
And yes, what I'm suggesting would take a lot of organization. I just think it's a long-term survival necessity. Making the case for premodernity and building community solidarity are crucial.
this all the rage nazi meme is fractally wrong but one major error is that criminal punishment as bloody spectacle was largely a means to compensate for state weakness and the fact that most crime premodernity happened outside the state's purview and went unpunished
if you add those two together with the anti-immigrant ones, you get this story:
1. white europeans bread out the low-iq "crime genes" by executing 2% of their population/ a generation
2. this self-eugenics made europe & then american & african white colonial states great
1. white europeans bread out the low-iq "crime genes" by executing 2% of their population/ a generation
2. this self-eugenics made europe & then american & african white colonial states great
July 12, 2026 at 5:14 PM
this all the rage nazi meme is fractally wrong but one major error is that criminal punishment as bloody spectacle was largely a means to compensate for state weakness and the fact that most crime premodernity happened outside the state's purview and went unpunished
i think this is exactly right. marx sort of had this idea that the premodern world had already been swept away, and the big question was what would come after capitalism. i tend to think that we are still living in the shock wave between premodernity and modernity...as i write about at ye length
Book Proposal Draft: Feminism Is Transhumanism Is Modernity | Samantha Hancox-Li
Little something different this month. If you read me at Liberal Currents at all, you know that gender and political economy have been on m
www.patreon.com
July 2, 2026 at 6:32 PM
i think this is exactly right. marx sort of had this idea that the premodern world had already been swept away, and the big question was what would come after capitalism. i tend to think that we are still living in the shock wave between premodernity and modernity...as i write about at ye length
Harboring a casual disdain for premodernity is how we end up with a nation full of people so committed to progress and innovation as abstractions that just using those words is enough to defend any proposition without debate.
July 2, 2026 at 12:21 PM
Harboring a casual disdain for premodernity is how we end up with a nation full of people so committed to progress and innovation as abstractions that just using those words is enough to defend any proposition without debate.
Interesting! And agree, pen and paper vs keyboard is a totally different experience for me as a writer. You might find things to chew on in this special postmedieval on technique link.springer.com/journal/4128...
postmedieval
postmedieval is a journal focusing on the premodernity and its ongoing reverberations.Publishes four times a year with some issues being themed and ...
link.springer.com
June 21, 2026 at 12:51 PM
Interesting! And agree, pen and paper vs keyboard is a totally different experience for me as a writer. You might find things to chew on in this special postmedieval on technique link.springer.com/journal/4128...
"In so much of epic fantasy, we get stories that employ the mere trappings of premodernity—swords and spears, kings and queens, castles and longships, wizards and dragons—with hardly any of its enchantment."🪐📚
#fantasy #booksky #writing #writingcommunity
andrewlivecchi.substack.com/p/the-porous...
#fantasy #booksky #writing #writingcommunity
andrewlivecchi.substack.com/p/the-porous...
The Porous Self: Recovering Enchantment in Epic Fantasy
A manifesto for fantasy authors
andrewlivecchi.substack.com
June 18, 2026 at 5:59 PM
"In so much of epic fantasy, we get stories that employ the mere trappings of premodernity—swords and spears, kings and queens, castles and longships, wizards and dragons—with hardly any of its enchantment."🪐📚
#fantasy #booksky #writing #writingcommunity
andrewlivecchi.substack.com/p/the-porous...
#fantasy #booksky #writing #writingcommunity
andrewlivecchi.substack.com/p/the-porous...
A reminder that the LACMA now has over 22,000 images for reuse in the public domain—out of which, over 3,000 are from premodernity. Open access! collections.lacma.org/search?publi... (side note, I love this late antique Sassanian pear-shaped 🍐 bottle from modern Iran! I am sure Augustine would too…)
June 13, 2026 at 5:21 PM
A reminder that the LACMA now has over 22,000 images for reuse in the public domain—out of which, over 3,000 are from premodernity. Open access! collections.lacma.org/search?publi... (side note, I love this late antique Sassanian pear-shaped 🍐 bottle from modern Iran! I am sure Augustine would too…)
The hostess gets praised in song for her hard work every day, because premodernity was really hard work for women
June 13, 2026 at 9:00 AM
The hostess gets praised in song for her hard work every day, because premodernity was really hard work for women
Certain conservative commentators make Tolkien out to be this reactionary holdout for premodernity. And God knows, he didn't love many things about modernity. But he was seriously, creatively grappling with it, and he's smack in the middle of a robust Catholic tradition of doing just that.
Reading Pope Leo XIV's encylical, it strikes me that J.R.R. Tolkien's lifetime spans the development of modern Catholic social teaching. "Rerum Novarum" came out the year before he was born (1891) and Vatican 2 took up much of his final decade. He was a modern Catholic, engaged with modernity.
June 2, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Certain conservative commentators make Tolkien out to be this reactionary holdout for premodernity. And God knows, he didn't love many things about modernity. But he was seriously, creatively grappling with it, and he's smack in the middle of a robust Catholic tradition of doing just that.
the issue is temporarily #openaccess, head over to our website to read contributions by @leonieboettiger.bsky.social (@mpiwg.bsky.social), @drcourt.bsky.social, @nicosiamarissa.bsky.social, @georginaemw.bsky.social among others:
postmedieval
postmedieval is a journal focusing on the premodernity and its ongoing reverberations.Publishes four times a year with some issues being themed and ...
link.springer.com
May 23, 2026 at 2:11 PM
the issue is temporarily #openaccess, head over to our website to read contributions by @leonieboettiger.bsky.social (@mpiwg.bsky.social), @drcourt.bsky.social, @nicosiamarissa.bsky.social, @georginaemw.bsky.social among others:
that and all the ambient local violence. i keep emphasizing this. premodernity was full of SA, Child Abuse, and DV all the goddamn time. the police, if they exist at all, will not and cannot solve crimes. theres no treatment infrastructure for mental illness, anger issues, or alcoholism.
May 20, 2026 at 10:52 PM
that and all the ambient local violence. i keep emphasizing this. premodernity was full of SA, Child Abuse, and DV all the goddamn time. the police, if they exist at all, will not and cannot solve crimes. theres no treatment infrastructure for mental illness, anger issues, or alcoholism.
the issue is #openaccess for the next two weeks—read it here: link.springer.com/journal/4128...
postmedieval
postmedieval is a journal focusing on the premodernity and its ongoing reverberations.Publishes four times a year with some issues being themed and ...
link.springer.com
May 19, 2026 at 8:41 PM
the issue is #openaccess for the next two weeks—read it here: link.springer.com/journal/4128...