Maria Abreu

@mariaabreu

Prof. of Economic Geography and Fellow of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. My work is on labour markets, migration, planning, and regional policy. I also love photography and baking, and have a crazy cocker spaniel called Fonzie.

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Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y mariaabreu.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jul 10

The poor dog is fed up with the heat, and doesn’t understand why he can’t go outside to cool down.

Brown cocker spaniel, sitting on a mat in front of garden door. He is panting and looking fed up.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jun 1

I’ve been meaning to read this book, and the news yesterday really annoyed me, so I have bought it.

Hand holding a copy of Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· May 30

Fonzie is annoyed with me because it’s too hot.

Brown cocker spaniel lying stretched out on a sofa, legs in the air, and body contorted so he can stare at me.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· May 17

I did the new findmypolitcs.com test thingy, and I’m happy with the company I’m keeping. I thought the test not too dissimilar to political compass. Surprised at the few environment questions.

List of three names and “similarity index” in terms of political views: Jacinda Arden (97% similar), Gandhi (92% similar), Pedro Sanchez (91% similar).

List of three names and “similarity index” in terms of political views: Nelson Mandela (91% similar), Martin Luther King (90% similar), Justin Trudeau (89% similar)

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Mar 27

Yes! This was him exhausted after the walk.

Brown cocker spaniel lying outstretched, legs in the air, over a towel on a sofa. His eyes are half closed and he looks relaxed.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Mar 26

Let’s have a quick look at the markets…

Snapshot from the FT markets data page showing a 1.06% drop in the FTSE 100 and a nearly 4% rise in the price of Brent crude to 106.28 dollars a barrel.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Mar 26

Stop working, take me for a walk, it’s lovely outside!

Brown cocker spaniel, dragging a big messy rope toy in his mouth, front feet on his human companion’s lap. His face is pointing towards the door. Home office clutter in the background.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Feb 19

I walked past Buckingham Palace this evening and the world’s media appears to be camped outside.

Nighttime photo of a lawn, with a large number of individual reporters standing on a semi-circular path talking into microphones, illuminated by outdoor film lights, and each being filmed by a separate camera operator.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Feb 14

The sunny patch is back.

Brown cocker spaniel sitting in a sunny patch on a colourful living room carpet. His eyes are half-closed and he’s forgotten to drop a felt soft toy.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jan 29

He’s finally settled down.

Close up of brown cocker spaniel, lying upside down on the sofa, having his chest scratched.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jan 29

He’s not giving up.

Brown cocker spaniel trying to draw my attention to his smelly old felt ball, which he has deposited on the sofa next to me. He wants me to throw it.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jan 29

Trying to read a (very dense) chapter for the reading group tomorrow, but the dog has other ideas.

Brown cocker spaniel standing in front of a sofa, looking expectantly at the viewer. He has deposited a dirty old felt ball on the sofa and is hoping someone will throw it for the 1000th time.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jan 19

Fonzie in the place that he loves best (Ilkley Moor).

Brown cocker spaniel, standing on a lichen-covered rock in the moor, looking back towards the path.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jan 14

Green notebook with colour-coordinated green mechanical pencil attached using colour-coordinated loop accessory.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Dec 21

A friend has gifted the dog a Christmas jumper, and now he won’t allow anyone near it to take it off.

Brown cocker spaniel in a cozy red Christmas jumper. He’s lying on the sofa looking determined. He won’t let anyone touch his jumper in case we try to take it off.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Dec 20

The dog is having a long overdue trim, but he’s *not* happy.

Cocker spaniel in the middle of a grooming session, bits of trimmed fur visible on the floor. Someone is holding his back leg up to trim the fur on his foot. He looks really cross.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Nov 22

The dog has had enough of the rain and is refusing to budge.

Cocker spaniel sitting on a front porch, pulling back on an extended lead, refusing to move. He is wearing a harness with a light on, it is getting dark, and everything looks wet.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Oct 12

Fonzie is master of the side-eye.

Brown cocker spaniel, lying curled up on a beige sofa, his head raised but away from the viewer, looking at the viewer sideways with suspicion.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Sep 29

I’m sorry, there’s no space for you.

Brown cocker spaniel stretched out on a sofa, eyes open with look that says don’t even think about it.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Sep 10

The garden courgette crop is getting out of hand. There are only so many courgette pancakes a person can eat.

Two very large courgettes on kitchen counter.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Aug 13

I’ve been tidying up my home office for the first time in many years, and keep finding books tucked into all sorts of nooks and crannies, including under the bookshelves and behind the printer. As a result I have discovered that I own several copies of a few (favourite) books.

Snapshot of bookshelf with three copies of Amartya Sen’s “Development as Freedom”.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jul 19

Here is ours, still pride of place in our kitchen:

A hand holding a box of “Yorkshire The” with kitchen seen in the background. It is a special Tour de France design with a yellow vertical band through the middle of the front of the box, and three cyclist silhouettes over the usual Yorkshire Tea label.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jul 17

One minute, let’s go!

Brown cocker spaniel standing by open door, holding a toy chicken in his mouth, looking cross.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jul 17

It is 20 min to dinner, and we are on high alert!

Brown cocker spaniel, lying on a rug with paw on his favourite chicken toy, looking expectantly at the camera. His ears are pointing forwards and he is on a high alert, waiting for any sign of movement from the human.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jul 1

My dog Fonzie and his best friend Otto, on their way to a walk.

Two brown cocker spaniels in the boot of a car, one is sniffing the other’s nose. They are almost identical, except for Fonzie’s slightly shorter fur.

Two brown cocker spaniels, sitting in the boot of a car, looking expectable at the photographer. They are about to go for a walk.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· Jun 19

I’ve hidden his ball because he’s too hot and I’m tired of throwing it, but he’s still looking.

Brown cocker spaniel standing on the living room carpet with his tongue hanging out, looking reproachfully at the viewer.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· May 23

His conclusion:

Summing up
• The left-right class cleavage is a very complex and fragile historical construction: one needs to put together very different lower-class voters into the same coalition, irrespective of geography, sector, origins, religion, gender, etc., which requires a very powerful unifying ideology and platform
• This was made possible thanks to powerful socialist/working-class movements in the 20th century, and this will also require powerful collective organizations and mobilizations in the 21st century if we are to escape from the « brahmin left » vs « merchant right » battle of elites between liberals and nationalists and to continue the historical movement toward equality

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· May 23

Similar story here: Le Pen vote across different geographies.

Graph showing increasing support for Le Pen in rural areas / small towns vs cities.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· May 23

And even more interesting, the relative vote for the tight vs the left across types of geographical areas. It shows a dramatic turn in recent years (vote for the right drops in cities and rises in rural areas and small towns).

Graph showing changes over time in how cities vs rural areas / small towns vote over time. Cities increasing voting left and rural areas / small towns for the right.

Maria Abreu@mariaabreu· May 23

Very interesting graph, showing that turnout in poor and rich municipalities was historically very similar, but has diverged massively in recent elections (poorer municipalities have much lower turnout).