Maren Toft

My book, Streaming privilege. How television teaches us to accept inequality, is now out! Mixing elite sociology and cultural studies, I aim at unpacking our desire for luxury topics. The book is OA, so you may read it at @manchesterup.bsky.social manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526190055/

‘Polarization’ has become the master concept for diagnosing our current democratic crisis. But this is not polarization. It is the radicalization of the political right. By misdiagnosing it, we risk becoming complicit in the crisis. 🧵 Just out in Perspectives on Politics doi.org/10.1017/S153...

«Det finnes ingen plussmennesker og minusmennesker.Likevel har vi allerede akseptert noe av premisset idet vi begynner å svare med å liste opp alle norskpakistanere som har gjort landet rikere, klokere, morsommere, vakrere.Som om menneskeverd må dokumenteres med prestasjoner» @sumayali.bsky.social

From @martesaga.bsky.social and @marentoft.bsky.social 🔥🔥🔥🔥 www.uio.no/forskning/fo...

Really impressed again by the combination of deep discussions and good vibes at this year's @bjsociology.bsky.social conference, including fantastic work by @marentoft.bsky.social, @magneflemmen.bsky.social, @vladimirbortun.bsky.social, @sachahilhorst.bsky.social & @salomeietter.bsky.social

«This archive is produced to honor and commemorate teachers and researchers in higher edu murdered in Gaza during the genocide perpetrated by Israel and its patrons, esp the US. They were members of the global intellectual community, and we are all impoverished by the loss of their contributions»

www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma... Nancy Fraser on Habermas

Two more days to apply!

Det er mer interessant å forsøke å forstå hvorfor Epstein ønsket en relasjon til Mette-Marit, enn å spekulere i hennes motiver. Som min kollega Mikael Holmqvist har påpekt, har monarker en særegen «royal touch». Det er konsekrering, ikke først og fremst flørting, som er graverende @morgenbladet.no

Palantir har ingenting å gjøre i den norske staten. Denne tråden er virkelig god i å avkle galskapen. På høy tid at norske politikere spisser ører til Maja Van Der Velden www.nrk.no/norge/reager...

From June 14th to 19th 2026 the 3rd edition of the summer school on "Elites, Power and Inequality" will take place at the University of Lausanne. Program and registration here: www.unil.ch/unil/en/home... Deadline is 1st April 2026.

«If imperialism is driven by oligarchic power, then oligarchic power must be confronted. Europe should respond to Trump’s blackmail with targeted measures aimed not at American consumers, but at American billionaires.»

We are happy to announce the call for papers for the third WhoGov Mini-Conference on Political Elites! It will be held on August 20-21st, 2026 in Oslo. We welcome research on political elites broadly understood and not just papers using WhoGov. You can find the call here: bit.ly/whogovminico...

Les en farlig bok i julen. Du rekker å lese Mørkets venstre hånd før nyttår.

Me and @runestahl.bsky.social are hiring a future PhD fellow to study climate and class www.cbs.dk/om-cbs/job-o...

"'They’re spending more money than I would even tax them,' [Mamdani] said in an interview with MSNBC last week." This is the message. Make it clear that these billionaires aren't just worried about losing money. They're worried about losing the ability to exchange their money for power.

Det er ikke «apolitisk» å investere i selskaper som er uetiske. Det eneste «apolitiske» man kan gjøre er å ha etiske retningslinjer (uavhengig av strenghet) som man håndhever likt helt uavhengig av hvilke selskaper som bryter dem.

Interesting paper! When you ask people about the most important issue "facing the country," they often say immigration. But when you ask them about issues facing them personally, it doesn't crack the top 10. This indicates that voters are reacting to media narratives, not their own experience.

The rich are responsible for an outsized share of carbon emissions — the top 10% account for 48%. And the gap is growing. Since 1990, the richest 1% have increased their share of emissions by 13%, while the poorest 50% have seen theirs fall by 3%.

📣 Submit your abstract for the British Journal of Sociology Conference by Monday 20 October. There is no predetermined theme, and we invite scholars of all ranks and affiliations to submit abstracts on any aspect of sociology. Submit your abstract ➡️ www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/br...

The children are always ours, every single one of them

New book hitting the shelves today "Climate & Class: How to Keep the Climate Fight from Becoming a Culture War", with @chellersgaard.bsky.social and Andreas Mulvad.

“Fascism” isn’t a slur for politics we don’t like. It’s a precise word with precise meaning. And in the face of what’s happening right now in America, it’s the most honest one we have. I’ll lay it out as plainly as I can. 🧵

We're hiring in wonderful Copenhagen 🇩🇰 Two or more open rank sociology professorships (tt assistant, associate with tenure, or full prof with tenure). You'll join a leading sociology department in Europe with many core fields represented! #sociology More 👇 jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...

This is a fantastic project. So well deserved!

The International Association of Genocide Scholars has passed a resolution stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide. Read the resolution here genocidescholars.org/wp-content/u...

In Norway we see ourselves as ethically virtuous – so why is our oil wealth enabling genocide? | Sindre Bangstad

Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all: “If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.” Israel just killed him.

Following an exchange with @marcoalbertini.bsky.social on the @isa-rc28.bsky.social letter to the @isa-sociology.org exec committee, I’m reposting my position on requests to review for the Israel Science Foundation.

It is also very problematic to read statements saying that the ISS suspension has “real” personal & professional consequences for our colleagues, while Palestinian sociologists and academics (many murdered, suffering from starvation, with universities demolished) are ignored, not even mentioned [4]

Free Palestine.

Israeli army has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking aid since late May - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-army-has-killed-more-1000-palestinians-seeking-aid-late-may

“Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die” - AFP. International media is barred from entering Gaza by Israel. The only ones who have borne witness are local reporters, 185 of whom are now dead. The last remaining, like all Gazans, are being systematically starved.

🔥🔥"Very few of the economic elite have a background in the humanities or social sciences. This is most common in the UK and Switzerland, with around 20 per cent. Johs Hjellbrekke U. Bergen @marentoft.bsky.social and PhD student Marte Lund Saga at the U. of Oslo" www.forskning.no/sosiologi-ok...

Til alle som lurer på hva de kan gjøre for å demme opp mot orbanifisering og trumpifisering her hjemme: Et lite, men viktig bidrag er å abonnere på Filter Nyheter.

First draft of a new book sent to the publisher. (And already noticed two typos in the table of contents!)

Revisiting this beauty in these dire and desperate times

Finally got my copy yesterday and jumped straight into it Brilliant book as expected and so necessary at a time when reactionaries aim to divide us, cosplaying as defenders of women's rights and the liberal centre conveniently laps it up Order yours here: www.ebb-magazine.com/books/p/fasc...

Excited to have signed a contract w/LSE Press (RGS-IBG Book Series):"Alienation and agency: Labour geographies in the age of failing climate mitigation". My book is on oil workers but I will argue that alienation is a useful term for human geography. What does a geography of alienation mean to you?

Formue blir stadig mer skjevfordelt og betydningen av klassebakgrunn for hvem det er som eier mest øker. Snakket med NRK om formuesulikhet og bl.a. arbeidene til @norawaitkus.bsky.social & @fabianpfeffer.bsky.social og min forskning med Hansen @unioslo-svfak.bsky.social www.nrk.no/norge/de-rik...

Important piece by the magnificent @martesaga.bsky.social and the first empirical publication of our WEB-project ✨ www.sv.uio.no/iss/english/... @unioslo-svfak.bsky.social

Thanks a lot to @simonkuper.bsky.social & the @financialtimes.com for this close reading of our research article on the economic elites of 16 countries, and for jump-starting the public discussion about it! The paper @bjsociology.bsky.social is avaisble here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Pleased to see that Michael Burawoy's important article 'Why and how should sociologists speak out on Palestine?' has been posthumously published by @sociologicalreview.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

New👇post summarizes main arguments from our Sociology paper (w. @mikesavagelse.bsky.social, @marentoft.bsky.social): how different strands of #class analysis can be easily mobilized to study #wealth and #asset inequalities in its various forms & shapes.💰🏰💸 Original paper: doi.org/10.1177/0038...