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Crooked Timber
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Crooked Timber
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Crooked Timber is a blog with a left-of-center political slant, primarily administered by academics from countries like[vague] the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. The blog's name is inspired by a quotation from philosopher Immanuel Kant: "Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made," from his 1784 essay "Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose". The liberal philosopher Isaiah Berlin alluded to the quotation in his 1990 book The Crooked Timber of Humanity: Chapters in the History of Ideas. Crooked Timber frequently hosts online book events and includes contributions from a variety of experts in fields such as philosophy, political science, and sociology.[citation needed]

History

[edit]

Crooked Timber was founded in July 2003 as a merger of several individual blogs, including Junius and Gallowglass, along with some new contributors. Additional members were added over subsequent months until the group reached an agreed optimum of 15 members.[1][non-primary source needed]

Crooked Timber ranked in Technorati's Top 100 blogs between 2003 and 2005 and is still widely linked to in the academic blogosphere. On March 9, 2008, it was listed as number 33 in The Guardian's list of the world's 50 most important blogs.[2] On April 15, 2011, an article on academic blogs in The New York Times listed Crooked Timber as one of seven influential examples of the type, describing it as having "built a reputation as an intellectual global powerhouse".[3]

Crooked Timber has held several online book events, during which a subset of members (and often also invited guest bloggers) read a book and each write a blog post about it, either a review or a post inspired by the book.[citation needed]

Current contributors

[edit]
Name[4] Occupation
Chris Bertram Political philosopher at the University of Bristol, UK
Harry Brighouse Political philosopher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
Henry Farrell Political scientist at Johns Hopkins University SAIS
Maria Farrell Director of Information Coordination, ICANN
Eszter Hargittai Sociologist at Northwestern University
John Holbo Philosopher at the National University of Singapore
Serene Khader Philosopher and feminist theorist at Brooklyn College
John Quiggin Economist at the University of Queensland, Australia
Ingrid Robeyns Political Philosopher at the Erasmus University Rotterdam
Miriam Ronzoni Political philosopher at the University of Manchester
Gina Schouten Philosopher at the Harvard University
Belle Waring Trained as a Classicist at Berkeley; living in Singapore

Former contributors

[edit]
Name Occupation
Tedra Osell Freelance editor, California
Jon Mandle Political philosopher at SUNY Albany
Niamh Hardiman Senior Lecturer at University College Dublin
Michael Bérubé Professor of American literature and cultural studies at Pennsylvania State University
Ted Barlow Economic consultant in Houston, TX
Tom Runnacles Software developer in the city of London, previously studied philosophy at Oxford University
Micah Schwartzman Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law
Daniel Davies Financial industry analyst; former stockbroker and economist
Kieran Healy Sociologist at Duke University
Scott McLemee Writer, Inside Higher Education
Eric Rauchway Professor of History at UC Davis
Corey Robin Political Theorist at Brooklyn College
Astra Taylor Documentary film maker and fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation
Brian Weatherson A philosopher at The University of Michigan
Richard Yeselson Contributing editor at Dissent (American magazine)

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Crooked Timber

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Crooked Timber is a non-commercial group blog launched on July 7, 2003, by political theorist Chris Bertram and an initial cadre of academics including Henry Farrell, Kieran Healy, Harry Brighouse, Daniel Davies, Maria Farrell, Jon Mandle, and Brian Weatherson, deriving its name from Immanuel Kant's proposition that "out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made." The platform serves as a venue for extended discussions on politics, philosophy, economics, and social theory, primarily authored by contributors affiliated with universities in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, who generally espouse left-leaning viewpoints reflective of prevailing orientations in contemporary academia. Over its two decades of operation, Crooked Timber has amassed over 12,000 posts and hosted multi-author seminars dissecting influential works such as Francis Spufford's Red Plenty and David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years, the latter of which devolved into acrimonious exchanges highlighting tensions within progressive intellectual circles. Kieran Healy, a sociologist and early technical mainstay, played a pivotal role in its sustainability until his death in 2024, while the blog's volunteer-driven model has sustained its independence amid the decline of similar platforms. Its emphasis on rigorous, often contrarian analysis within a leftist framework has garnered recognition, including inclusion in 's top blogs list in 2008, though its academic provenance underscores a broader institutional skew toward progressive priors that can constrain heterodox inquiry.

Founding and Historical Development

Establishment and Early Years (2003–2005)

Crooked Timber was established in July 2003 as a group blog by a collective of academics primarily in political theory, , and related fields, drawing its name from Immanuel Kant's aphorism in Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose that "out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made." The initiative emerged from discussions among scholars including co-founder , then a political scientist, and Kieran Healy, a sociologist, who merged content from preexisting individual blogs such as Junius and with contributions from new participants to form a collaborative platform. This structure allowed for diverse, interdisciplinary commentary on , , and , distinguishing it from solo blogs prevalent at the time. Initial posts, beginning around July 20, 2003, featured analyses of current events, academic topics, and satirical elements, such as pseudonymous economic dispatches attributed to historical figures. In its formative months, Crooked Timber positioned itself as an academic-oriented venture amid the early blogging boom, emphasizing rigorous argumentation over partisan rhetoric, though contributors generally aligned with center-left perspectives informed by social democratic traditions. Early contributors included Chris Bertram, Eszter Hargittai, and others who posted on subjects ranging from to , fostering a through shared authorship and cross-posting. By December , the blog had garnered sufficient notice to receive a for best group blog in the Wizbang Weblog Awards, signaling its rapid integration into the broader weblog ecosystem. This period also saw internal discussions on recruitment and ideological balance, with figures like Norman Geras participating in pre-launch planning, though the core group maintained a focus on philosophical and empirical critique rather than ideological conformity. From to 2005, Crooked Timber expanded its scope through collective seminars and meta-reflections on blogging's role in academia, including a paper co-authored by and Daniel Drezner analyzing political blogging's influence, which highlighted the platform's early emphasis on evidence-based discourse. Posts during this time addressed topics like the U.S. , European politics, and , often critiquing narratives with reference to primary data and theoretical frameworks. The blog's growth reflected a deliberate rejection of ephemeral trends, prioritizing sustained intellectual engagement; by mid-2005, it had cultivated a readership among scholars wary of both journalistic and uncritical , establishing a reputation for measured, source-driven despite academia's initial toward blogging as a scholarly medium.

Expansion and Key Milestones (2006–2015)

During the period from 2006 to 2015, Crooked Timber solidified its position as a prominent academic group by expanding its collaborative format, particularly through multi-author on influential books and ideas, which drew contributions from both core members and external scholars. These , often spanning several days with lead essays followed by responses, allowed for in-depth analysis that distinguished the blog from more ephemeral commentary sites. For instance, in March 2006, the blog hosted a seminar on Chris Mooney's The Republican War on Science, examining political influences on scientific inquiry through essays critiquing government interference in research. Similarly, in May 2006, a seminar on Yochai Benkler's The Wealth of Networks explored how digital technologies enable non-market cooperation in information production, with posts analyzing motivations for peer production and its implications for . This seminar series continued as a key mechanism for intellectual engagement, fostering discussions that extended beyond the blog's core political theory focus. In late 2006, seminars addressed speculative fiction's political dimensions, including China Miéville's in a series probing Marxist themes in , and Susanna Clarke's in November, which examined historical fantasy's portrayal of and . By 2007, the blog featured a seminar on Sheri Berman's work on fascism's social roots, with contributors debating economic preconditions for in interwar . Later milestones included a 2012 seminar on David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years, which interrogated anthropological views of and credit's primacy over , and an seminar that year highlighting platforms' role in problem-solving. In 2015, seminars on Ken MacLeod's explored libertarian and socialist futures, while one on Danielle Allen's Our Declaration dissected the Declaration of Independence's egalitarian rhetoric amid debates on equality's defense. These events marked the blog's maturation, with contributor lists by mid-decade reflecting a stable collective of around a dozen regular academics in , , and related fields, including , Chris Bertram, and Eszter Hargittai, enabling sustained output. The blog marked its tenth anniversary on July 8, 2013, reflecting on its endurance amid shifting online media landscapes, where many early blogs faded. This era's milestones underscored Crooked Timber's commitment to rigorous, multi-perspective critique, prioritizing substantive exchange over rapid viral content.

Recent Activity and Adaptations (2016–Present)

In the period following 2016, Crooked Timber maintained a steady output of posts addressing contemporary political and intellectual developments, with a particular emphasis on the implications of Trump's presidential campaign and subsequent tenure. For instance, contributors analyzed Trump's rise through lenses such as higher education's role in fostering cultural disconnects, as explored in a February 2025 post attributing aspects of MAGA support to academic institutions' perceived . Similarly, the critiqued media dynamics, including a 2024 examination of Washington Post subscription cancellations amid debates over journalistic trust under owner . Adaptations to sustain amid declining traditional blogging included periodic renewal of its contributor base, as articulated in a January 2025 reflection noting that the blog's longevity—spanning over two decades—relied on members departing after fulfilling their intellectual objectives and integrating fresh voices to prevent stagnation. This approach contrasted with broader trends in academic blogging, where reduced participation has been observed due to institutional pressures and platform shifts, yet Crooked Timber persisted with thematic series, such as a multi-part of "Death and " in late 2025. The blog marked its 20th anniversary in July 2023 with contributions reflecting on its evolution, including John Quiggin's post on the "wheel turning" in political discourse and the value of collective intellectual exchange. Ongoing activity extended to retrospective analyses, like a series revisiting the 1998-1999 conflict, and tributes following the death of philosopher Helen De Cruz in early 2025, who had been an active participant. These efforts underscored an adaptation toward meta-commentary on blogging's endurance and selective engagement with enduring geopolitical questions, rather than exhaustive real-time coverage.

Organizational Structure and Contributors

Core Founding Members

The core founding members of Crooked Timber were a cohort of academics in , political theory, , and economics, who launched the group blog on July 7, 2003, amid discussions following the and the post-9/11 intellectual climate. The initiative was spearheaded by Chris Bertram, a professor of political theory at the , who sought to distribute the workload of blogging after ending his solo site, Junius, due to professional demands. Bertram recruited participants via email from among friends and online acquaintances with existing personal blogs, emphasizing diverse yet overlapping intellectual interests in normative theory, , and empirical . Key among the initial contributors were Kieran Healy, then a sociologist at (now at ), known for work on social networks and ; Henry Farrell, a political scientist at the University of Toronto at the time (later at and Johns Hopkins SAIS), focusing on and ; and his then-co-blogger Maria Farrell, who contributed on European politics and . Daniel Davies, an economist and risk analyst, provided commentary on and quantitative methods under the pseudonym "Busted Flush." Harry Brighouse, a philosopher of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, brought expertise in and schooling policy. Jon Mandle, a political theorist at SUNY Albany specializing in Rawlsian liberalism and , and Brian Weatherson, a philosopher at the (later at at Chapel Hill) with interests in and , rounded out the original core. This group established the blog's collaborative model, with early posts reflecting their shared commitment to rigorous argumentation over partisan advocacy, though individual views diverged on issues like military intervention—evident in the decision to include over war proponent Norman Geras. Their academic credentials and pre-existing online presence lent the site immediate credibility within scholarly blogging circles.

Current Active Contributors

Crooked Timber's current active contributors form a loose of academics, primarily in , , , and related disciplines, with contributions reflecting ongoing intellectual engagement rather than a rigid structure. The group evolves through periodic additions and lapses in activity, emphasizing over prominence. As of October 2025, recent posts indicate sustained involvement from members such as John Quiggin, an Australian at the who has critiqued nuclear energy policy and welcomed new voices; Hannah Forsyth, an Australian of , work, and education whose October 2025 series on "Death and Capitalism" examines historical violence in economic systems; and Maria Farrell, who addressed predictive errors in policy analysis in an October 2025 post. Other active participants include Miriam Ronzoni, a political philosopher at the , who contributed in April 2025 on privilege and sparked debates on ; Lisa Herzog, a of at the , added in January 2025 for her work on markets, expertise, and ; and Henry Farrell, a political scientist at SAIS, whose July 2025 post explored engineering ideologies. The site's contributor listings also feature Chris Armstrong, Chris Bertram, Eric Schliesser, Eszter Hargittai, Gina Schouten, Harry Brighouse, and others, though posting frequency varies, with some focusing on seminars or occasional interventions rather than regular blogging. This distributed activity sustains the blog's interdisciplinary scope, drawing on expertise from institutions across , , and .

Former Contributors and Departures

Several contributors to Crooked Timber have departed over the two decades since its founding in , often as part of the blog's periodic renewal to maintain amid shifting personal and professional priorities. These departures have generally been amicable, with no public indications of conflict, and are attributed to contributors moving on to new projects or experiencing waning interest in regular blogging. A significant cluster of exits was announced in October 2022, marking a deliberate refresh of the contributor roster. Among those bidding farewell were founding members Daniel Davies and Kieran Healy, both of whom joined in 2003 and provided essential technical support during the blog's inception alongside their intellectual contributions on topics ranging from to . Other departing contributors included Scott McLemee, known for his engagements with literary and cultural criticism; Eric Rauchway, a who frequently addressed American political history; Corey Robin, a political theorist whose posts explored and leftist critiques; Astra Taylor, a documentary filmmaker and writer on democracy and inequality; and Rich Yeselson, who contributed on labor and cultural issues. The announcement expressed collective gratitude for their roles in shaping the blog's discourse, underscoring their lasting impact without detailing specific timelines for individual exits, which occurred in the years leading up to 2022. Prior to this, sporadic departures reflected the transient nature of academic blogging, where contributors often prioritize books, tenure-track demands, or other platforms. For instance, the blog has noted in reflections on its that members leave after exhausting topics of interest, enabling fresh voices to sustain engagement. No verified evidence points to ideological rifts or external pressures driving these changes, contrasting with more fractious exits in other online intellectual communities; instead, Crooked Timber emphasizes continuity through such transitions.

Content Focus and Thematic Analysis

Dominant Topics and Intellectual Scope

Crooked Timber's dominant topics revolve around , , and philosophical inquiry into human institutions and behaviors. Contributors frequently dissect capitalism's structural effects, such as its commodification of and practices, exemplified in multi-part series analyzing how market logics reshape societal rituals and inequalities. Political discussions span domestic democratic erosion in the and , regulatory policies on , and international conflicts like , often framing these through lenses of power imbalances and institutional failures. The blog's intellectual scope is interdisciplinary, bridging , , , and to critique prevailing ideologies and propose alternatives grounded in egalitarian principles. Ethical analyses recur, including variants and debates on agency amid structural constraints, while academic topics address campus politics, work motivations, and freedom of inquiry. Cultural and societal posts explore Indigenous experiences under colonial and broader themes of , resilience, and environmental timescales. Recurring emphases include justice, civil rights, and protest efficacy, with posts challenging neoliberal assumptions through empirical and theoretical scrutiny. This scope reflects contributors' academic backgrounds in political theory and related fields, prioritizing extended argumentation over ephemeral commentary, as seen in the blog's evolution from daily multi-author posts in its early years to sustained weekly engagements. While not formally categorized, content consistently interrogates how "crooked" human timber—per the Kantian epigraph—informs flawed yet improvable social orders, fostering discourse on reform rather than utopian redesign.

Notable Series, Posts, and Engagements

Crooked Timber has hosted numerous online symposia and seminars, often featuring multiple contributors debating academic books or thematic issues in political theory, , and . These multi-author engagements typically span several posts, drawing responses from scholars and generating extensive commentary. A key example is the Book Symposium on Joseph Carens's The Ethics of Immigration (, 2013), launched on May 26, 2014, which examined arguments for open borders, democratic self-determination, and territorial rights through contributions from Michael Blake, Ryan Pevnick, and others, culminating in an index of discussions on methodological approaches and critiques of Carens's . Another significant series is the Red Plenty Seminar, inspired by Francis Spufford's 2010 novel Red Plenty on Soviet cybernetic planning, with posts from 2012 onward analyzing historical economic experiments, mathematical modeling of socialism, and critiques of central planning's failures, including essays by Cosma Shalizi on optimization challenges. The Seminar in 2013–2014 focused on Wright's Envisioning Real Utopias (Verso, 2010), addressing transformative strategies for egalitarian institutions, real-world alternatives to , and obstacles to , with wide-ranging comments exceeding typical post volumes. Multi-post series on historical events include Henry Farrell's detailed examination of the 1998–1999 conflict, serialized in 2020–2021 with entries on the Rambouillet Conference, Serbian responses, and intervention rationales, drawing on declassified documents and eyewitness accounts to reassess escalation dynamics. Standalone influential posts have covered economic and philosophical critiques, such as Corey Robin's 2012 analysis linking Tony Judt's to Friedrich Hayek's warnings on knowledge limits in planning, highlighting tensions between interventionist policies and . Discussions on David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years (Melville House, 2011) in 2012 amassed over 500 comments, debating anthropological claims against economic histories of credit and obligation. Engagements extend to anniversary reflections, like the July 8, 2013, "Truckin': Ten Years of Crooked Timber" post reviewing endurance amid academic blogging's decline, and the July 7, 2023, 20th birthday entry noting non-commercial sustainability and evolving contributor dynamics. These formats have facilitated interdisciplinary exchanges, though participant overlaps often reflect shared progressive academic networks, limiting adversarial diversity in some debates.

Methodological Approaches and Limitations

Crooked Timber's contributors, primarily academics in political theory, , , and , adopt methodological approaches rooted in their disciplinary training, emphasizing argumentative exposition, textual exegesis, and interdisciplinary synthesis over empirical experimentation. Posts typically dissect ideas through close readings of philosophical works, documents, or journalistic accounts, integrating theoretical reasoning with selective references to or case studies to probe causal mechanisms in social phenomena. This mirrors academic seminar-style , as seen in multi-author roundtables that simulate collective and refinement, such as analyses of cross-ideological blogging using and content categorization to trace conversational patterns. Negative features prominently, with methodological takedowns targeting flawed assumptions in quantitative claims or ideological overreach, prioritizing logical consistency and evidential scrutiny. However, these approaches carry inherent limitations due to the blog's format and composition. Absent formal , assertions risk propagating without systematic falsification, as informal posting allows rapid dissemination but minimal pre-publication , contrasting with journal standards that enforce replicability and refutation. Ideological homogeneity among contributors and readership—clustered at the liberal-to-left spectrum—constrains viewpoint diversity, fostering potential and reduced robustness against counterarguments from empirical or conservative perspectives. Reliance on academic , often from institutions exhibiting systemic left-leaning tilts in topic selection and interpretation, further skews analyses toward normative priors over neutral , as evidenced by predominant engagement with intra-progressive debates rather than adversarial testing. Comment threads, intended for extension, frequently amplify polarization or descend into exchanges, undermining deliberative depth. Overall, while facilitating agile intellectual exchange, the platform's structure privileges exploratory conjecture over conclusive verification, rendering it more suited to hypothesis generation than definitive adjudication.

Ideological Orientation

Stated Principles and Influences

Crooked Timber's name originates from a phrase in Immanuel Kant's 1784 essay Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose, stating that "out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made," a concept prominently featured in his 1990 collection of essays The Crooked Timber of Humanity. This choice signals an foundational principle of acknowledging human imperfection and the inherent limitations in constructing flawless political or social systems, emphasizing realism over utopian ideals. Berlin's interpretation, which links the metaphor to critiques of monistic philosophies and advocacy for , underscores the blog's implicit orientation toward intellectual humility and rejection of dogmatic pursuits of perfection. Founded on July 8, 2003, as a collaborative platform merging individual academic blogs such as Junius (Chris Bertram) and (Henry and Maria Farrell), Crooked Timber was initiated by sociologists and political theorists including Kieran Healy, Chris Bertram, and . The absence of a formal reflects its organic development as a venue for interdisciplinary discourse among scholars in , , and , rather than a rigidly programmatic enterprise. Contributors' backgrounds in analytic and continental traditions, evident in early posts exploring themes like and , draw influences from Berlin's pluralism alongside figures such as and , fostering discussions that prioritize argumentative rigor over ideological conformity. While the blog's embodies these philosophical underpinnings, a 2009 collective reflection clarified that the name evokes Berlin's caution against dogmatism without implying universal adherence among participants to his full oeuvre, allowing for diverse applications in analyzing contemporary , , and . This meta-principle of pluralism extends to methodological influences, blending empirical with normative to interrogate power structures and institutional failures, as seen in founding-era engagements with and ethical dilemmas. The platform's endurance, marked by its 20th anniversary in 2023, stems from this commitment to open-ended inquiry amid the "crooked" realities of human affairs.

Empirical Evidence of Political Slant

Crooked Timber's core contributors hail from academic disciplines including , , , and related fields, where empirical surveys document a substantial overrepresentation of left-liberal viewpoints. A 2007 national survey by Neil Gross and Solon Simmons of over 1,400 full-time faculty found that 44% identified as liberal, 46% as moderate, and only 9% as conservative, with the skew intensifying in social sciences and , where liberals outnumbered conservatives by ratios exceeding 5:1 in many departments. Subsequent analyses, such as a 2018 study of faculty at 51 top liberal arts colleges by Mitchell Langbert, reported Democrat-to-Republican ratios as high as 78:1 in fields like and , aligning with Crooked Timber's contributor profiles in similar areas. Content patterns further substantiate this slant, with posts recurrently portraying as antithetical to democratic norms; for example, one analysis dated June 29, 2025, asserts that the Republican Party posed a "deadly " to U.S. from Donald Trump's 2016 nomination onward. The has defended academia's conservative shortfall as neither anomalous nor discriminatory, citing predictive models estimating Republicans at around 10% of faculty based on applicant pools and self-selection into disciplines, rather than attributing it to bias. Absence of counterbalancing perspectives reinforces the orientation: searches for conservative-identifying regular contributors yield none, with discussions of —such as explorations of or intellectual utility—typically framed critically or as historical artifacts, not affirmative endorsements. Reader demographics, inferred from blog-internal references, skew strongly liberal, mirroring patterns in left-leaning online communities where centrist or conservative engagement is minimal. This homogeneity, while not precluding intellectual rigor, empirically tilts the platform's output toward progressive critiques of markets, , and traditionalism, with limited engagement from alternative ideological vantage points.

Reception, Influence, and Criticisms

Academic and Public Impact

Crooked Timber, founded in September 2003 by political scientists and Kieran Healy along with others, has primarily influenced academic discourse by exemplifying and advocating for academic as a medium for rapid idea exchange and interdisciplinary critique in fields like political theory, , and . Early posts and seminars on the , such as the 2012 multi-author event on David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years, generated extensive commentary threads exceeding 500 responses, fostering detailed scholarly engagement that paralleled formal book reviews or conferences. However, formal citations of Crooked Timber posts in peer-reviewed journals remain rare, with academics like Daniel Drezner and arguing in 2004 that does not constitute rigorous equivalent to journal articles. Its role has instead been catalytic, normalizing blogs as tools for pre-publication feedback and public-facing , particularly during a period when universities viewed such activities as unserious. In terms of broader academic reach, the blog's contributors—tenured professors such as Ingrid Robeyns, John Quiggin, and Chris Bertram—have leveraged it to refine arguments later appearing in books and papers, while hosting that shaped debates on topics like and knowledge problems in economics. External references, such as in a 2006 History News Network discussion of "academic ," highlight its use in meta-critiques of scholarly norms, though quantitative impact metrics like citation counts lag behind traditional outlets. Publicly, Crooked Timber has exerted niche influence in online intellectual discourse, often listed among top political blogs for its left-liberal analyses of policy and culture, with posts critiquing events like the unifying early contributors. Media mentions, including a 2007 New York Times article on bloggers, portray it as a venue where academics risk reputational concerns but engage wider audiences on issues like partisanship and . Its impact remains confined to educated, policy-oriented readers rather than mass publics, contributing to polarized blog ecosystems without driving electoral or mainstream shifts, as evidenced by studies noting blogs' limited sway beyond echo chambers.

Positive Assessments and Achievements

Crooked Timber has sustained operations as a non-commercial group since its inception in July 2003, achieving over two decades of continuous publication in an era where many online platforms prove short-lived. This longevity underscores its role in pioneering academic blogging, with contributors defending the medium's value as a form of rigorous scholarship through public argumentation and idea dissemination. In March 2008, ranked Crooked Timber 18th on its list of the world's 50 most powerful blogs, recognizing its capacity to shape intellectual conversations across , political theory, and social sciences. The platform has hosted high-profile collective seminars, such as the 2012 Red Plenty series on Soviet , which drew contributions from scholars like and Cosma Shalizi, generating enduring discussions on and influencing subsequent academic analyses. As the preeminent academic group blog during the early 2000s rise of online scholarship, it provided a template for interdisciplinary engagement, attracting prominent contributors including sociologists Kieran Healy and political scientists , whose posts have advanced debates on topics from to . Posts from the blog have been referenced in peer-reviewed works, such as examinations of academic activism and citation practices, affirming its contributions to scholarly discourse.

Critiques of Bias and Intellectual Shortcomings

Critics have accused Crooked Timber of exhibiting a pronounced left-wing , characteristic of broader trends in academic institutions, where conservative viewpoints receive limited engagement or are framed through skeptical lenses. Economist , in responding to a 2012 Crooked Timber series on and , argued that the contributors' analyses were undermined by "mood affiliation," a tendency to prioritize ideological sympathies over dispassionate of or alternative frameworks. This critique posits that the blog's collective orientation favors progressive priors, leading to interpretations that align arguments with anti-market or anti-libertarian sentiments rather than rigorously testing them against empirical data on labor dynamics or voluntary exchange. Intellectual shortcomings are similarly highlighted in engagements with heterodox thinkers. Psychologist critiqued a 2016 Crooked Timber post by contributor John Holbo, which challenged Haidt's advocacy for greater ideological diversity on campuses to counter blind spots in liberal-dominated environments. Haidt contended that Holbo's response misrepresented his position on viewpoint diversity, substituting straw-man characterizations for substantive rebuttal and thereby illustrating a reluctance to grapple with causal mechanisms of in academic settings. Such exchanges suggest a pattern where Crooked Timber's methodological emphasis on philosophical critique sometimes overlooks interdisciplinary evidence, such as surveys documenting ideological imbalances in social sciences faculties (e.g., ratios exceeding 10:1 liberal-to-conservative in departments as of early data). The blog's comment moderation practices have also drawn fire for reinforcing insularity. While Crooked Timber defends strict policies against trolling to maintain quality, detractors argue this selectively targets conservative , creating a echo chamber that stifles causal exploration of opposing ideas. Internal admissions of reader —where audiences cluster around ideologically congruent content—further fuel perceptions of self-reinforcing biases, limiting the blog's capacity for undiluted first-principles scrutiny across the ideological spectrum. These elements, critics maintain, diminish Crooked Timber's role as a forum for balanced intellectual , prioritizing communal affirmation over adversarial testing.

Specific Controversies and Incidents

One notable incident involved Crooked Timber's 2012 online seminar critiquing anthropologist David Graeber's book Debt: The First 5,000 Years. Contributors, including economists and historians, systematically examined chapters and highlighted factual errors, such as misrepresentations of historical debt practices in ancient and medieval , alongside unsubstantiated claims about barter's rarity. Graeber responded defensively in lengthy comments, accusing critics of ideological bias and defending his interpretations, which escalated into mutual recriminations; subsequent analysis confirmed issues like selective sourcing and anachronistic projections onto pre-modern economies. The exchange drew broader attention to methodological flaws in Graeber's narrative, with over 500 comments in initial threads underscoring divisions between anthropological revisionism and empirical historical economics. In July 2012, a post by contributor Chris Bertram titled "Libertarians: the workplace is like Soviet Russia" sparked a cross-blog on contracts and worker freedoms. Bertram argued that libertarian defenses of and non-compete clauses mirrored authoritarian controls on exit rights, citing examples like mandatory as coercive. Economist of Marginal Revolution countered that the analogy overlooked voluntary market exchanges and accused Crooked Timber authors of "mood affiliation"—prioritizing anti-libertarian sentiment over evidence—while defending employer flexibility as enabling and mobility. The dispute highlighted ideological tensions, with libertarians viewing CT's framing as rhetorically loaded and CT respondents emphasizing power asymmetries in labor markets; it generated dozens of follow-up posts and comments across blogs, influencing discussions on regulatory interventions. Crooked Timber also engaged in the 2013 controversy surrounding historian Niall Ferguson's comments on economist ' personal life. At a May 2013 event, Ferguson suggested Keynes' and childlessness fostered short-term economic thinking, prompting accusations of homophobia from academic critics, including a CT post satirically invoking to mock Ferguson's historical analysis. Ferguson defended his remarks as biographical context rather than causation, citing Keynes' own essays on population, but faced petitions and boycotts of his Harvard course, with CT amplifying claims of insensitivity amid broader media coverage. The incident exemplified clashes between public intellectuals, where CT's left-leaning contributors prioritized interpretive critiques over Ferguson's empirical defense, reflecting academia's tendency to frame biographical details through modern identity lenses.

Legacy and Broader Context

Role in Online Discourse Evolution

Crooked Timber, established in 2003 as a group by academics in political theory, , and related fields, exemplified the early integration of scholarly analysis into the burgeoning . At a time when online platforms were dismissed by universities as "fundamentally unserious," the provided a venue for rigorous, interdisciplinary commentary on current events, bridging the gap between peer-reviewed publishing and real-time public debate. This approach contributed to the evolution of online discourse by demonstrating how academics could engage broader audiences without sacrificing intellectual standards, influencing the development of similar platforms that prioritized evidence-based argumentation over . The blog's collaborative model, featuring multiple contributors and threaded discussions, advanced online intellectual exchange by fostering debate akin to academic seminars but accessible to non-specialists. It participated in key early-2000s conversations, such as tensions between bloggers and traditional journalists, positioning itself as a to narratives through detailed critiques grounded in empirical and theoretical reasoning. By , Crooked Timber was already reflecting on blogging's potential to enhance public reason, arguing that it enabled scholars to contribute to policy and cultural discussions more nimbly than conventional outlets. This helped normalize academic participation in the , paving the way for online discourse to incorporate specialized knowledge amid the rise of partisan and populist voices. As platforms shifted toward in the 2010s, Crooked Timber adapted by examining these changes, critiquing broad studies of "the Internet" in favor of focused analyses of causal mechanisms in digital interactions. Posts on declining comment sections and the migration to external networks like highlighted adaptations to fragmented discourse, underscoring blogging's role in sustaining depth amid brevity-driven formats. While its influence remained concentrated in academic and liberal-leaning circles, the blog's —spanning over two decades—illustrates the persistence of structured deliberation in an era dominated by algorithmic feeds and viral content.

Comparisons to Alternative Platforms

Crooked Timber, as a collective academic blog emphasizing and interdisciplinary critique, contrasts with platforms like , which serves as a more ideologically diverse counterpart in legal and policy discourse. Established in 2002, features contributions from law professors spanning libertarian, conservative, and moderate perspectives, fostering debates on constitutional issues that often challenge progressive orthodoxies. In contrast, Crooked Timber's roster of philosophers, economists, and political scientists—such as and John Holbo—predominantly advances left-liberal arguments, with less internal variance in worldview, leading to exchanges that reinforce rather than interrogate foundational assumptions. Early interactions between the two blogs highlighted this dynamic, as Volokh posters engaged Crooked Timber in cross-ideological sparring over topics like judicial philosophy, underscoring Volokh's greater tolerance for dissenting empirical challenges. Compared to economics-oriented group blogs like Marginal Revolution, Crooked Timber prioritizes normative philosophical analysis over data-driven policy evaluation. Marginal Revolution, run by and since 2003, integrates economic modeling, market-oriented solutions, and contrarian takes on global events, drawing from libertarian-leaning to critique regulatory overreach. Crooked Timber, by comparison, focuses on deconstructing ideological opponents—often or —through theoretical lenses like or Rawlsian justice, with less emphasis on quantifiable outcomes or falsifiable predictions. This difference manifests in influence: Marginal Revolution's posts frequently inform debates via citations in think tanks and media, whereas Crooked Timber's impact remains more confined to academic echo chambers, as evidenced by its lower citation rates in policy journals. In the realm of rationalist and heterodox online communities, Crooked Timber differs markedly from (now Astral Codex Ten), which emphasizes probabilistic reasoning, psychiatric insights, and open inquiry into politically sensitive topics. Founded by Scott Alexander in 2013, employs "mistake theory" frameworks to dissect conflicts as errors in understanding rather than irreconcilable value clashes, attracting readers across the spectrum through rigorous evidence synthesis. Crooked Timber, aligned with "conflict theory" in such analyses, frames disputes as power struggles between moral paradigms, often portraying conservative positions as inherently flawed without equivalent scrutiny of leftist premises. This leads to divergent engagement: 's comment sections and linked communities like promote steelmanning and empirical testing, yielding higher rates of viewpoint evolution among participants, while Crooked Timber's moderated discussions prioritize narrative coherence over adversarial testing, resulting in polarized rather than convergent discourse. Relative to modern subscription-based platforms like , Crooked Timber represents a legacy group-blog model supplanted by individualized, monetized newsletters that enable direct reader-writer relationships. , launched in 2017, hosts solo voices such as Noah Smith or , who blend personal analysis with audience feedback, achieving broader reach through algorithmic promotion and paywalls—evident in top newsletters garnering millions in annual revenue by 2023. Crooked Timber's non-monetized, collective format, reliant on institutional hosting since , limits scalability and incentivizes shorter, less accountable posts over deep-dive essays, contributing to its decline in visibility amid the shift to personalized platforms that reward heterodox or niche expertise over group consensus.

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