Emile Chabal (@emile-chabal.bsky.social)

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 8:33 PM

@jacobinmag.bsky.social really leaning into Hobsbawm Fall with a *second* throughtful review of my book. Where
@eriklinstrum.bsky.social probed my "demystification",
@iciaurriz.bsky.social focuses on another key theme: Hobsbawm's multiple renewals in face of defeat.

jacobin.com/2026/10/hobs...

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 2:03 PM

Last call for my London gigs on Monday, 17:30 @ihr.bsky.social and Tuesday, 19:00 @housmansbookshop.bsky.social! Come along and say hello :)

Sign up here:

www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
housmans.com/event/book-l...

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 11:21 AM

Possible, yes, though I haven't heard of that being a causal trigger. The current protests seem more "systemic" to me.

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 3:28 PM

Sounds interesting. Yes, def echoes of eg. 1986 Loi Devaquet protests or 2006 anti-CPE, although this time it seems more spontaneous and less structure.

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 10:42 AM

The Inourtimeification of Radio 4..?

@drmatthewsweet.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 8:39 AMReposted by @emile-chabal.bsky.social

Sorry to inform to you that Free Thinking has been axed. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

@mattbinder.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 11:09 PMReposted by @emile-chabal.bsky.social

the tech industry is about to invent books

Andrew Yeung
@andruyeung
X.com
We created gyms because modern day work no
longer required physical activity. Without exercise,
our muscles atrophy.
I predict we'll need gyms for our brains too, once Al
starts doing our knowledge work.
10:53 PM • 10/4/26 • 1.3M Views

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 8:34 PM

Yes! We can exchange our passion plays... Apparently, I'm coming down for a joint French-British IHR seminar on 8 Feb, so hope we can meet then. It's been way too long.

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 5:33 PM

Amazing! So well deserved as well...

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 10:20 AM

Thanks :)

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 10:19 AM

A pleasure!

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 9:41 AM

That sounds wonderful! So happy if my scattered thoughts can help you in class!

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 9:40 AM

A similar, earlier piece by Olivier Filleule and Fabien Jobard makes a similar point: laviedesidees.fr/Un-splendide...

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 9:40 AM

Agreed, altho I think Fr is unusual at a European level in combining technological militarisation with a strong resistance to de-escalation strategies now widely deployed elsewhere in Europe. There's a history to this - Luca Provenzano has written about it eg. here: booksandideas.net/La-police-pa...

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 9:32 AM

PPPS. Hard not to agree with critics of the militarisation of the Fr police when reading abt the use of "grenades", incl the one that blew off a 15-yr old's hand on Mon. Telling that similar grenades are used in Latin America where the police are famously gentle...

www.lemonde.fr/societe/arti...

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 2:54 PM

Thanks! I realise lots of the sources referenced are in French (not sure if you're proficient), but I always prefer to give ppl interesting material, even if not in English.

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 2:53 PM

Thanks!

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 2:52 PM

Thank you for the generous review!

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 2:30 PM

Yes, it's what Hobsbawm would have called "collective bargaining by riot". Whereas other West/North European countries developed more stable forms of collective bargaining after 1945, France didn't. Herrick Chapman good on this in 'France's Long Reconstruction'. So pressure always comes from below.

@emile-chabal.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 2:28 PM

The French police *always* think everything is a riot!