Author Archives: Pengfei Liu

Reactionary Bricolage: Curtis Yarvin and Postliberalism

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Rosenberg, J. (2026). Reactionary Bricolage: Curtis Yarvin and Postliberalism. Theory, Culture & Society, 0(0).

As the authoritarian right advances in the United States, developing an accurate understanding of the constituent elements of its worldview is a task of great urgency. Toward this end, I assess the writings of Curtis Yarvin, one of the US right’s most influential intellectuals. Yarvin’s novelty consists in his syncretic blend of non-liberal, non-democratic social theory with a computational understanding of society. Considering this work offers valuable insights into ascendant anti-democratic and computational styles of thought. In light of Yarvin’s influence on powerful figures in the Trump administration, this is by no means an academic exercise, but one with very high political stakes. Simply put, Curtis Yarvin may have something important to tell us not just about where we are, but also about where we are headed.

“Choppy Waters”: Navigating Political Generational Conflict in Social Movement Organizations

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Seigler, C. P., Velasco, K., & Paxton, P. (2025). “Choppy Waters”: Navigating Political Generational Conflict in Social Movement Organizations. American Sociological Review, 90(6), 1092-1122.

Social movements are composed of distinct political generations. Yet empirical work documenting distinct generations is limited, and work detailing the conflict and problems created by generational turnover exceedingly rare. Based on interviews with 39 leaders of LGBTQ+ organizations, supplemented with longitudinal administrative text data from 1,840 LGBTQ+ organizational mission statements, we demonstrate political generational change, and conflict, in the U.S. LGBTQ+ movement. The prior “Legacy” generation is confronted by an “Emergent” generation with different understandings of sexuality/gender, intersectionality, and organizational strategies. These conflictual differences produce material and emotional consequences as the “Legacy” generation takes their resources away and members of both generations feel erased from the movement’s collective identity. Leaders navigate these “choppy waters” by taking either a harsh approach, which seeks to dismiss whichever generation is viewed as hindering their organization’s work, or an inclusive approach that views generational tension as an opportunity to grow and strengthen their organization and the larger movement. We highlight how the observed conflict between political generations prompts a serious re-evaluation of the “unity through diversity” mantra associated with this movement. Ultimately, political generations are a critical link to understanding transformation and change in social movements with clear implications for collective identity, resource mobilization, and other core social movement processes.

Resisting Democratic Backsliding From Within the State: Environmental Politics in Bolsonaro’s Brazil

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Dias, V. M., and M. G.Schapiro. 2026. “Resisting Democratic Backsliding From Within the State: Environmental Politics in Bolsonaro’s Brazil.” Policy Studies Journal1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.70101.

This article explores how polycentric governance systems can facilitate resistance to democratic erosion from within the state, bridging two lines of research: polycentricity and democratic backsliding. Such resistance materializes through three key mechanisms within polycentric arrangements: decentralized political discretion, bureaucratic autonomy, and institutional capacity. In conducting a critical event analysis of environmental politics in Brazil, we analyze the actions of the Brazilian Central Bank, the Supreme Court, and a consortium of Amazonian governors. Although these entities do not have specific environmental mandates, their varying degrees of discretion, autonomy, and capacity enabled them to resist antidemocratic measures targeting environmental policies while fragmenting authoritarian presidential power. By examining how the combination of these three elements influenced the levels of resistance to democratic backsliding in Brazil, our findings illuminate both the challenges and promises of polycentric governance systems in promoting democratic deliberation in policy-making within democracies under threat.

Race, Reform, and Recalls: The Movement Against “Progressive” Prosecutors

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Goldberg, A. (2025). Race, Reform, and Recalls: The Movement Against “Progressive” Prosecutors. The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 1–36. doi:10.1017/rep.2025.10043

Local prosecutors in the United States have significant discretion in the criminal legal system and have traditionally wielded their power in a way that contributes to mass incarceration. Since 2016, however, “progressive” prosecutors have been elected in growing numbers on pledges to mitigate the racialized harms of mass incarceration. While scholars tie progressive prosecutors’ elections to the Movement for Black Lives (BLM), less is known about countermovement efforts—including recalls, impeachments, and suspensions, examples of extra-electoral challenges—opposing these prosecutors. To address this gap, I constructed an original database of all local prosecutors in 2012 and/or 2022 in the country’s 300 most populous jurisdictions. Findings reveal that extra-electoral challenges disproportionately target women of color, disproportionately occur in Republican-controlled states, and have nearly tripled over the last decade. I argue that extra-electoral challenges constitute a novel movement repertoire used by the political right to challenge racial justice efforts following BLM.

Hug fans or follow celebrities? How nationalism is reinforced on Chinese social media

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Ji Yeon Hong et al. ,Hug fans or follow celebrities? How nationalism is reinforced on Chinese social media.Sci. Adv.11,eadu8241(2025).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adu8241

How nationalism spreads and is reinforced has long been debated. This study examines how nationalistic messages and sentiments propagate on Chinese social media, focusing on interactions between celebrities and fans. We analyzed more than 8 million Weibo microblogs and comments, classified their content using machine-learning techniques, and examined the dynamics between celebrities and fans. Contrary to conventional wisdom, our findings reveal that fans exert a stronger influence on celebrities than vice versa in spreading nationalism. Fans often shape the nationalist narratives that celebrities amplify, with those aligned with specific political leanings (e.g., within the state-conformist camp) having a greater influence. These results highlight the critical role of grassroots online communities in shaping nationalism in nondemocratic contexts, offering insights into the dynamic interactions between the masses and influential figures in reinforcing nationalist ideologies and sentiments.