Aurelien Mondon

Aurelien Mondon

@aurelmondon.com

"Leftwing professor" - in other words, researching the mainstreaming of reactionary/far-right politics Co-convenor of @reacpolrn.bsky.social Publications etc 👇🏻 https://aurelmondon.com/

15.1K followers761 following4.6K posts

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

"Illiberal democracy" is such an unhelpful term... The issue with the far right is not their illiberalism, it is their antidemocratic nature The former is useless as liberal can mean anything while calling them democratic legitimises them

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

Could it be after all that transphobes are just good old reactionaries? Maybe the fact they get on so well with other reactionaries was a giveaway... Maybe the fact that they used the exact same strategies was another... Maybe mainstream actors have once more proven they are enablers of reaction..

Samantha Brennan@samanthabrennan.bsky.social

A new survey of 1,000 American adults found that the strongest supporters of transgender sports bans are not the people who admire women most: they are the people who hold the most hostile views about women. www.helenwebberley.com/news/transge...

helenwebberley.comAre transgender sports bans really about protecting women? | Dr Helen WebberleyThe data says no. Those most hostile to women are most in favour of banning trans athletes.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Samantha Brennan
@samanthabrennan.bsky.social

A new survey of 1,000 American adults found that the strongest supporters of transgender sports bans are not the people who admire women most: they are the people who hold the most hostile views about women. www.helenwebberley.com/news/transge...

helenwebberley.comAre transgender sports bans really about protecting women? | Dr Helen WebberleyThe data says no. Those most hostile to women are most in favour of banning trans athletes.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

marilia
@maroramos.bsky.social

Replying to @aurelmondon.com

during canvassing actions on the ground, the goal was not to try to convince Bolsonaro voters to vote for Lula. they had their choice. focus was on those who had not gone voting in the 1st round or were undecided. that's the audience.

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

These elections really make clear the damage populist hype has done The idea that anything left of centre, mildly critical of the status quo and the capitalist elite could be equated to the far right is so ridiculous and yet this is what has been pushed in most of the media aided by many academics

Aurelien Mondon@aurelmondon.com

The news from Brazil and Serbia are great and show that you don't defeat the far right by copying it or trying to appeal to their supporters You do it by being uncompromising, showing the danger they pose and offering something different to the many crises people suffer from

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

The news from Brazil and Serbia are great and show that you don't defeat the far right by copying it or trying to appeal to their supporters You do it by being uncompromising, showing the danger they pose and offering something different to the many crises people suffer from

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

I'm not saying this is going to happen though and the road ahead is a arduous one but this positioning is the only way forward Populism and polarisation are absolutely key to effective messaging on the left to counter the far right and its mainstream enablers

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Adam Schwarz
@adamjschwarz.bsky.social

Lula: "We had to overcome foreign interference through digital platforms, which we will have to regulate. A crime in the digital world must be treated the same as a crime in the real world. We cannot have monstrous companies earning millions... not paying taxes... wanting to steer elections."

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Mediapart
@mediapart.fr

« Mediapart » dénonce la brutalité du service d’ordre du RN à l’encontre de ses journalistes Par @carinefouteau.bsky.social

l.mediapart.fr« Mediapart » dénonce la brutalité du service d’ordre du RN à l’encontre de ses journalistesQuatre journalistes de « Mediapart » ont été physiquement malmenés par le service d’ordre du Rassemblement national lors de son congrès à Orléans samedi. Avec les menaces proférées après nos révélations sur les écrits antisémites de Jordan Bardella, les leaders du RN ont ouvert la voie à des pratiques inacceptables en démocratie.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Laura Bassett
@lebassett.bsky.social

Bolsonaro-friendly mayors appear to be sabotaging public transport on Election Day. Buses aren’t running in Lula-friendly areas, flights and ferries mysteriously canceled. Traffic lights have gone out and people’s power cut in Salvador, indigenous people’s travel restricted

Rafa Sales Ross@rafiews.com

We are watching a coup d’état attempt unfold in real time in Brazil. I’m consumed by desperation.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Mallory Moore
@sexabolition.blog

Given the way that gender features so heavily in modern right wing ideology is not that incredible

Jo Wolff@jowolff.bsky.social

Incredible gender difference in voting intention in Brazil.

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

One of the worst things for me was that, while hearing it from the perpetrators themselves is striking, there was nothing about the scale of the horror we did not all see unfold in real time on our TV.

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

And yet, so many have chosen to ignore the obvious, much like the interviewees did. Making excuses for a genocide to happen and ultimately enabling it.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Stephanie Lamy
@stephlamy.bsky.social

So here we have far-right militia attacking protestors and when the protestors defend themselves, the police charges them... Montpellier. These images are crazy and show where France is at regarding its fascist turn.

David Hutin Photo@davidhutinphoto.bsky.social

Les militants fascistes ont attaqués des manifestants rue de la Loge sous les yeux de la police, quand les manifestants ont répliqués, la police a chargé pour les protéger et les miliciens ont frappés les gens à terre ! #Montpellier #24octobre #ViolencesPolicieres @info.gouv.fr

Aurelien Mondon reposted

@amybisinthewoods.bsky.social 🍄🍄‍🟫
@amybdogsandfungi.bsky.social

“Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp states ‘AI will undermine the influence of highly educated, often female voters and give it to working class men. We have feminine energy running our cities and our courts,’ he complained.”

futurism.comCEO of Palantir Says AI Will Seize Power Away From College-Educated WomenPalantir CEO Alex Karp said AI would disrupt "humanities trained" and "Democratic voters" who are largely women.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Max Berger
@maxberger.bsky.social

It’s never been more clear that racism is a scam perpetrated by wealthy elites to convince working people to blame someone other than the wealthy elite.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Replying to @flyingrodent.bsky.social

It’s just been one enabling act after another for years now, creating structures for abuse and harassment of individual people, that politicians and press can use to demonstratively destroy the lives of folk they fear and despise.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Again, it’s important to understand that the transgender terror did not arise organically from the public. It was imposed from above, by the world’s most hateful and poisonous media class.

Leicester Gazette@leicestergazette.leicester.news

Two University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ move* * * This story was published by **The Leicester Gazette** : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and **sign up for free**. * * * Astrophysics student Samuel Carlier and History student Emmeline Hague-Wright were shocked to find that their LGBTQ+ pride pins had been edited out of their University Challenge appearance earlier this year. The episode, initially scheduled for BBC Two on 24 August, was delayed twice before airing on 7 September 2026. The pins showed the progressive LGBTQ+ pride flag, the bisexual pride flag and a rainbow feather. Speaking to the Leicester Gazette, Sam said: “Living in a liberal democracy and having the state broadcaster tell you ‘we’re editing how you look’, seems very Orwellian.” Sam described the choice to remove the pins before broadcast as “weird” and “absurd”. He said: “[Censoring] that seemed weird. If I had worn a rainbow shirt, would they have censored that? If the idea is to keep things impartial, where is that line in the sand?” A side by-side image of Sam wearing the pin and with it having been digitally removed. Photograph: supplied Sam contacted the BBC to try to understand why his pins had been edited out. He told the Gazette: “The BBC people said they’d ring me, and I chased them, they just said go to the complaints website and file a complaint there, that’s what I did.” Since then, Sam hasn’t had a response from the BBC as to why his pins were removed. After the episode had aired, Sam noted that his shirt ‘melted’ into itself occasionally, as a result of the editing. Photograph: supplied ## Students believe the decision was made following online transphobia Emmeline was also shocked when she found out that the feather pin she wore was due to be removed from the episode she was in. It was understood by Emmeline that there was online transphobia in response to previous episode of University Challenge, and she had been contacted by the BBC, anticipating support from the broadcaster. When the BBC contacted her, instead of an offer of support, she was told her pin was going to be removed. “At first it was mostly confusion,” she said. “I heard that they had received a lot of nastiness online from people and I thought they were going to call me to say ‘we have support services if needed,’ and that wasn't what I got at all.” Instead, Emmeline was notified that the episodes were going to be delayed. “It was out of left field, I was confused for a while,” she said. “This entire delay has been because of a feather and two badges on a teammate that were basically impossible [for viewers] to see.” Emmeline had expressed her frustrations with the repeated delays from the BBC, spanning from mid-July to early-September. She said: “We were announced on the website and then delayed again, and then announced on the website a second time, and delayed even further. Speaking about the removal, she said: “It takes a lot of time” she said. “Making it [the edit] look good would be even more expensive and time-consuming. It seems like drastically a lot of effort.” ## Join the conversation Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. __Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__ ## Wider criticism on LGBTQ+ support The pins Sam wore during the episode. Photograph: supplied According to leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK, two in five LGBTQ+ students will hide their identities at university for fear of discrimination. Stonewall has reported that more than 36 per cent of trans students have received hostile conduct from university staff due to their gender identity. Reflecting on the digital removal of the pins, Sam spoke about how disheartening the choice was. He said: “There was maybe like a span of eight years where someone could be uncontroversially out in the open queer – now that’s gone again.” he said. The BBC has also been widely criticised for ‘an attack on the LGBTQ+ community’ by pulling its involvement with the popular show, RuPaul's Drag Race. The broadcaster pulled its involvement in September following “significant financial pressures” as the reason for axing their involvement. The criticism follows another recent controversial edit by the BBC. On its hit show, Strictly Come Dancing, a decision was made to edit out ‘Protect the Dolls’ from contestant Bethany Antonia’s T-shirt. It’s a slogan which has become widely used to support the rights of trans women. The BBC defended their decision, saying the changes were made to meet editorial guidelines. It comes as the LGBTQ+ community has faced challenges amid an increasingly less tolerant political climate. ## What the BBC had to say When we asked them about editing out the pins worn by Leicester’s University Challenge team, a BBC spokesperson said: “In line with our editorial guidelines, we advise that no badges, flags, and emblems or symbols are worn or visible during filming, along with clothing with obvious branding or slogans. If such items are not removed for any reason then a decision is made between the programme makers and the BBC regarding any edits to the programme.” The BBC said the delays to the episode were unrelated to the decision to edit out the pins. A spokesperson for ITV Studios said: “University Challenge is an entertainment quiz show and is made in accordance with the BBC Editorial Guidelines requirements for impartiality.” The University of Leicester refused to comment on the matter. * * * **Before you go…** We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget. Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.** The app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community. * * *

Aurelien Mondon reposted

elia ayoub
@ayoub.bsky.social

It is entirely manufactured by a fairly small number of rich people shado-mag.com/articles/opi...

flyingrodent@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Again, it’s important to understand that the transgender terror did not arise organically from the public. It was imposed from above, by the world’s most hateful and poisonous media class.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Dr. William Horne
@wihorne.bsky.social

What unrestrained AI seems to offer more than anything—even the surveillance & targeting systems that are already in use to horrible effect—is the destruction of democratic processes & the erasure of responsibility for harm of any kind. A world of total elite impunity.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

KetAnthropic JoshAI
@ketanjoshi.co

This is genuinely some of the most worrying news I have seen in the past few years, in terms of the ongoing effort to hold the AI industry accountable on climate Me losing work because the org I'm pitching to is funded by Anthropic is far more of a threat than actual competition from generative AI

John Kostyack@kostyack.bsky.social

Having worked for and with NGOs and foundations for most my career, I can't even begin to grapple with what NGO advocacy would look like if most philanthropic support was coming from Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and their ilk.

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Laleh Khalili
@lalehkhalili.bsky.social

Such a fucking scam. David Bell's report explicitly says that Anti-Israel attitudes have intensified, NOT anti-Jewish attitudes, but they want to push through IHRA anyway. This is sooooo fucked up. (H/t Nate Bear on twitter)

Aurelien Mondon reposted

David Wearing
@davidwearing.bsky.social

Remember the centrists doing their little victory dance around this? Turns out that decades of indulging "legitimate concerns", punctuated by occasional bouts of tutting at the overt far right, does more to strengthen the far right than weaken it. Who could have guessed? (Many of us).

Josh Self@josh.politics.co.uk

#Onthisday 2009. Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party (BNP), appeared as a panellist on Question Time The BBC's decision to invite Griffin was immensely controversial. His appearance drew a record audience of eight million viewers Full story: www.politics.co.uk/history/bnp-...

politics.co.ukBNP leader Nick Griffin appears on BBC Question Time (2009)On 22 October 2009, Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, appeared as a panellist on the BBC’s flagship debate programme, Question Time.
Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

The role of the free speech moral panic in mainstreaming far-right politics has been massively underestimated It was always clear these free speech warriors were bad faith reactionaries and yet they have been indulged by mainstream actors and media bylinetimes.com/2026/10/23/t...

bylinetimes.comThree Labour Peers Spoke at a Festival Sponsored by a Reform Mega-Donor - And Which Hosted a Far-Right BookshopLabour MP Phil Brickell says “no respectable person” should be associated with the event and accuses his colleagues of "legitimising" Reform's billionaire crypto donor
Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

Macron is an arsonist who has been lighting fires for ten years while pretending he is the best person to prevent them You cannot constantly embolden the far right and then pretend you care when the far right does what the far right does

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

Once again, either senior journalists are utterly incompetent or they are complicit in the mainstreaming of far right politics Anyone who paid attention to the FSU would have known it was a front for laundering far-right politics from the start

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

To be fair, many academics hyping "populism" and other euphemistic ways to talk about the far right and racism have played a part in this That doesn't excuse the media that should have done their job but made it easier for them not to do it

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

Honestly... "The Free Speech Union (FSU) is reeling from internal grievances involving allegations of racism, workplace discrimination and sexually inappropriate remarks by senior members of staff, the Guardian can reveal" "Revealing" the obvious ten years too late

Aurelien Mondon reposted

George Monbiot
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social

Sure, we should, if we can (many cannot). But as I keep pointing out, the government itself is making no provision at all. No stockpiles, no back-up, no alternative sources. It's individuating the response to a collective problem, and that never ends well. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.comEvery Briton should stockpile water and food supplies, government advisesBe Ready campaign aims to prepare UK for impact of climate crisis, technological dependency and threats by hostile state

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Dr. Aaron Thierry
@thierryaaron.bsky.social

"Opening any new North Sea oil and gas fields is incompatible with achieving the Paris Climate Agreement goals of limiting warming to 1.5°C or holding warming to “well below 2°C” relative to preindustrial" #Jackdaw #Rosebank

ucl.ac.ukNew oil and gas fields incompatible with Paris climate goalsOpening any new North Sea oil and gas fields is incompatible with achieving the Paris Climate Agreement goals of limiting warming to 1.5°C or holding warming to “well below 2°C” relative to preindustr

Aurelien Mondon reposted

Disability News Service
@johnpring.bsky.social

Three leading social media companies have failed to act over animations that are spreading hate and lies about disabled people who receive benefits at an “alarming” rate. #PIP #Instagram #Facebook #TikTok www.disabilitynewsservice.com/instagram-fa...

disabilitynewsservice.comInstagram, Facebook and TikTok fail to act on animations spreading hate and lies about PIP claimantsThree leading social media companies have failed to act over animations that are spreading hate and lies about disabled people who receive benefits at an “alarming” rate. The animations – focusing …
Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

The French elite love to claim the memory of the Revolution, the Rights of Man (sic), the resistance to Nazi occupation and other progressive moments in French history, but they are very quick to show they would have been on the authoritarian side whenever memory becomes action in the present

Aurelien Mondon reposted

David Wearing
@davidwearing.bsky.social

Replying to @aurelmondon.com

Anyone who hasn't acquired a sense of perspective about this planetary emergency by the year of our lord twenty-twenty-six is never going to tbh. Depressing.