Source: The Conversation – USA – By Vivek Astvansh, Associate Professor of Quantitative Marketing and Analytics, McGill University
Hoping to win over customers, businesses from Amazon to Zoom have taken to touting their good deeds in corporate social responsibility reports.
CSR reports let companies spotlight what they’ve done for workers, consumers, communities and the environment – essentially all their goals beyond simply making a profit. Research shows that CSR statements are linked to rising sales.
As a marketing professor, I thought that raised an interesting question: When companies find success with CSR disclosures, are they bringing in new customers – or are their extra sales coming from their existing base alone?
In a recent study of several hundred Chinese companies, a colleague and I put the question to the test. We found that a CSR disclosure lowers a business’s dependence on current customers by 2.1%.
That’s welcome news for businesses. It means those additional sales are coming from new customers, who are indeed impressed by the company’s CSR efforts.
But the findings weren’t all positive.
To sell more products, companies generally need to buy more supplies. So a logical follow-up question is: Does a company’s CSR disclosure lead it to source purchases from new suppliers?
In fact, we found the opposite. Companies that released CSR disclosures seemed to scare away new suppliers. This is probably because suppliers often bear the costs when a company chooses to prioritize social responsibility.
Becoming dependent on suppliers comes at a cost to businesses. When suppliers know a company depends on them, they tend to demand payment in cash rather than credit. That can hurt a company, because it now has less cash for investments.
So while CSR reports impress customers, they appear to antagonize suppliers – and that comes at a price.
Why it matters
Prior research has shown that CSR disclosures can boost sales, but it’s long been unclear whether these additional sales are sourced from old customers or newly acquired ones. Our work brings clarity that businesses can use in making decisions.
The findings are also of interest to lawmakers, regulators and corporate responsibility advocates who are debating making CSR reports mandatory.
The U.S. doesn’t require businesses to release CSR reports, but some countries do. One is China, which in 2008 mandated that all public companies submit annual CSR reports starting in 2009. This created the conditions for the nearly natural experiment we conducted.
Interestingly, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly considered making some form of corporate social responsibility reporting mandatory. In the absence of requirements, many American corporations will continue to voluntarily report their CSR.
In other words, the need for empirical evidence on the cost and benefits of CSR disclosure is greater than ever.
First, I’m using a company’s public disclosures to measure its environmental risks and the activities it has undertaken to mitigate them. Second, I am researching how CEO incentives shape a company’s environmental disclosure, activities and spending – or the lack thereof.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Vivek Astvansh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Shannon Van Zandt, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University
Two people survey their beachfront home and business, which was destroyed in Hurricane Milton, on Manasota Key, Fla., Oct. 13, 2024.AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
In a pattern all too familiar to people affected by disasters, hurricanes Helene and Milton have disappeared from the headlines, just a few weeks after these disasters ravaged the Southeast. Although reporters have moved on, recovery is just beginning for people who were displaced.
Staffers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been on the ground since before Helene and Milton hit, positioned to help as soon as the storms passed, along with state and local responders. But many people aren’t clear about how FEMA helps or what its responsibilities are.
This FEMA video explains how to initiate claims after federally declared disasters.
Quick cash grants, then funding for repairs
FEMA works year-round helping communities prepare for disasters and training emergency management personnel to respond to these events. In the wake of declared federal disasters, it offers its Public Assistance and Individuals and Households programs.
Public Assistance Program funds are available to state and local governments and some nonprofits to help pay for things like removing debris, preventing further damage and restoring public infrastructure. Support from the Individuals and Households Program may include funds for temporary housing and for repairing or replacing primary residences, as well as provision of temporary housing units for people displaced from their homes.
FEMA launched a new form of flexible aid in March 2024 that provides quick cash payments of $750 per household for immediate needs, such as food, water, gasoline and emergency shelter. Contrary to rumors that have circulated in the wake of Helene, these payments are just a start, not the maximum support that FEMA offers.
Applicants have to file claims to receive further aid. These requests go through extensive review, such as inspections of home damage. FEMA then decides how much aid to provide, if any.
The agency will fund repairs intended to make the home safe to live in, but this work may not be enough to return the home to its pre-disaster state. Currently, the maximum FEMA aid for housing assistance is $42,500, plus an additional $42,500 for other disaster-related needs. For many, these amounts will be insufficient.
FEMA officials say the agency has enough funding to handle immediate response and recovery from both Helene and Milton. However,
until damage from both storms has been fully assessed, it is hard to know whether FEMA will need supplemental funds from Congress to support long-term recovery.
Insurance plays a key role
FEMA’s programs are intended to help with temporary housing and other needs that aren’t covered by insurance. Homeowners are expected to protect themselves against losing their dwellings by insuring their homes.
In places that are vulnerable to these hazards, homeowners may have to seek separate coverage, either from private insurers or government-backed lenders of last resort. Households that don’t purchase special coverage, either because it costs too much or they don’t think they need it, will struggle to recover.
According to FEMA, only 4% of U.S. homeowners have flood insurance, while 99% of U.S. counties have experienced flooding since 1996.
Other federal funding sources
Another federal funding source for housing repair and replacement and other personal property losses is the Small Business Administration. But, unlike FEMA grants that don’t need to be repaid, the SBA only offers low-interest loans.
The main source of funding for long-term housing recovery is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery grants. These funds must be approved by Congress following a disaster, so it can take months or years for funds to reach communities.
Awarding this money as block grants gives state and local governments more flexibility to meet the needs of affected communities. However, it also makes it easier to allocate the funds in ways that don’t address the housing needs of the people they are intended to help.
In recent years, we have seen many cases in which state or local officials have spent these funds inappropriately. For example, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour redirected most of his state’s HUD funds to economic development projects, including expanding the port of Gulfport, rather than rebuilding housing for storm survivors.
Fighting to direct funds to those who need them most often requires legal action, extending the wait for hard-hit communities that need it.
Renters have few options
Disaster recovery programs often overlook renters, even though in many areas up to half of residents may rent their homes. Renters have little control over whether their homes are rebuilt at all, much less whether they will be allowed to return to them.
Even after recent updates to its rules, FEMA still struggles to adequately meet the needs of the most vulnerable groups in society. This includes low-income and minority households, people with disabilities and those who are undocumented.
Poor households often live in homes that are in bad shape or that have gone through previous disasters without repair. In such cases, it can be hard for FEMA inspectors to determine how much damage was caused by the current disaster, which in turn can lead to claims being denied.
In response, FEMA created new rules in 2023 for demonstrating ownership. For example, FEMA has modified and expanded the types of documentation needed to prove ownership. The agency has also changed eligibility and assistance rules to make it easier to qualify for assistance.
Recent research suggests that, at least on the whole, FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program is not likely to underserve poor households. Nonetheless, as people across the Southeast take stock of losses from this year’s hurricanes, we believe it will be important to pay special attention to under-resourced households, whose needs may not be adequately addressed by federal programs.
Shannon Van Zandt receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and the National Institutes for Standards & Technology. She is a board member of Texas Housers, a non-profit that advocates for housing for low-income Texans.
Walter Gillis Peacock research has been funded by a number of agencies including the National Institute for Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Across the UK, how children are identified with special educational needs, and how they are then supported, differs according to where they live. There are broad similarities in the approaches in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. But in Scotland things are done differently.
Northern Ireland, Wales and England define children with learning needs as those who have significantly greater difficulty in learning than their peers.
Scotland takes a more distinctive approach, using the term “Additional Support Needs” (ASN). A child or young person has ASN if they are unable, without the provision of additional support, to benefit from the school education provided.
This much broader definition means that there is a wide range of reasons a learner could have ASN. These could be permanent or temporary in nature: they could be, for instance, experiencing family bereavement or bullying. Unsurprisingly, Scotland’s broader definition has meant that it has a significant proportion of learners identified with ASN – 37% in 2023.
Across a wide range of policy documentation, inclusive education in Scotland is understood broadly to encompass an extensive range of issues, such as addressing discrimination more widely – not just related to disability.
This is underpinned by a presumption of mainstreaming in Scottish law. This is the assumption that, with the exception of specific circumstances, children identified with additional support needs will be educated in mainstream schools.
Making inclusivity work
There is a broad consensus from parents, children, teachers, politicians and others that the Scottish approach to inclusive education is the correct way forward. However, there is significant divergence between policy intent and practice.
An independent 2020 review investigated how provision for additional support needs worked in practice – and found many failures.
The review showed that the needs of children and young people for additional support were not being met adequately. There were disconnects between the system’s intentions and what children and young people were actually experiencing.
The report established that not all children, young people and those who support them flourish or are equally valued within the education system. Their voices are not being heard by those who have the power to make a difference. Service providers and senior leaders in schools experience significant challenges in being able to meet needs, but this is not recognised sufficiently at a higher level.
A subsequent inquiry, concluded in 2024, found many reasons for this divergence between policy and practice. These included a lack of resources, the need for ongoing professional training for school staff and issues with school culture.
The inquiry heard that resourcing for Additional Support for Learning had decreased over time. It found that many recently built schools had not been designed to be accessible to all. It heard about the need for school leaders to have training which has equity, inclusion and social justice at its heart to effect the necessary cultural change.
Learning from practice
Across the UK and in Ireland, an issue of concern is the lack of a clear definition of what inclusive education means and entails and how it should be implemented in practice. This is reflected in the current crisis in the growing demand for specialist provision.
A recent review of special educational needs education in England by the National Audit Office has pointed out that mainstream schooling needs to be much more inclusive, that schools are not incentivised to prioritise it, and that the Department of Education should “develop a vision and long-term plan for inclusivity across mainstream education”.
In Scotland, in contrast to the other nations, greater attention has been devoted to coming to a shared understanding of what an inclusive education system constitutes. This is reflected within the National Framework for Inclusion, the third edition of which was published in 2022. This framework underpins the professional standards for teachers and informs policy more generally.
The Framework, produced under the auspices of the Scottish Universities Inclusion Group and influenced by the work of inclusive education expert Lani Florian and colleagues on inclusive pedagogy, offers a series of reflective questions to promote inclusive practice. This is indicative of a more consensual and collaborative approach towards educational policy making in general. But it is clear that more work needs to be done to make this understanding of inclusivity a widespread reality in schools.
The differences in policy approaches to additional support and learning needs mean that the profile of a child identified with special educational needs will vary depending on which country they live in. Furthermore, the variations in the education systems themselves will affect the child’s placement and the support they may receive.
Collaborative cross-nation work is essential to gain a stronger understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to meeting the additional learning needs of children and young people.
Carmel Conn has received funding from Welsh Government.
Brahm Norwich and Joan Mowat do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
After months of relentless gang violence, thousands of killings, and the unseating of a government, Haiti is faced with another heartbreaking issue which seems likely to prolong the Caribbean island nation’s woes for another generation. Testimonies collected by Amnesty International have uncovered how Haiti’s armed gangs are enlisting hundreds of children.
Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, says: “We have documented heartbreaking stories of children forced to work for gangs: from running deliveries to gathering information and performing domestic tasks under threats of violence.”
Boys as young as six are being forced to work as lookouts, made to build street barriers, trained to use machine guns, and are being ordered to participate in kidnappings and other acts of violence. Girls in the possession of gangs are subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence by older male gang members, according to Piquer.
Haiti’s 200 or so armed gangs currently control around 90% of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, and large parts of the country are ungovernable. The collapse in law and order has allowed gang leaders such as Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier to commit terrible atrocities largely unchallenged.
The involvement of children in Haiti’s gangs is not exactly new. According to Unicef, between 30% and 50% of children in Haiti are involved with armed groups in some capacity. There are several socioeconomic explanations for this.
Haiti was once the wealthiest European colony in the Americas – and staged the only ever successful slave rebellion against its French colonial masters before declaring independence in 1804. But modern Haiti is a failed state where more than half of the population now live below the World Bank’s poverty line.
According to figures published by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Haiti has the highest prevalence of food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean. One-third of the population goes hungry every day.
Impoverishment and grinding poverty has made the population desperate. With limited options for survival, many children in Haiti are drawn into criminal groups. At times, the promise of a single meal can be enough to attract a child to join a gang.
That said, the breakdown of order throughout the country has undoubtedly encouraged the gangs to increase their recruitment of children. As with most conflict zones, once indoctrinated, child soldiers make for cheap and deadly combatants.
There is also one other specific social factor that contributes to some parents turning a blind eye to their children joining the gangs. The prevalence of child recruitment by gangs can be linked to a Haitian socioeconomic practice called restaveks.
A restavek, which is Creole for “to stay with”, is a child who is given away by impoverished parents with the unwritten understanding that they will be fed, looked after and will not die of hunger. It has become a form of modern-day slavery.
The End Slavery Now project has found that “more than 300,000 children are victims of domestic slavery” in Haiti today. Many of these children regularly undergo forms of physical and sexual violence.
A set pattern
Child sex slavery and sexual abuse are familiar occurrences in societies torn by civil war. It is more likely to take place in settings where the process of governance is weak or non-existent. This situation facilitates conditions of criminal impunity, leading various actors involved in conflict to sexually exploit children.
There is an established pattern of predatory child sexual slavery in Haiti. Following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010 and the ensuing cholera epidemic, some members of the UN peacekeeping force stationed in the country were found to have been running a child sex racket.
In 2017, an investigation by the Associated Press revealed at least 134 Sri Lankan peacekeepers were involved. It has been documented that girls as young as 11 were sexually abused and impregnated by the peacekeepers, and then subsequently abandoned to raise their children alone. Impoverished and starving Haitian children fell victim to this racket in exchange for scraps of the peacekeepers’ leftover food.
According to its own admission, the UN peacekeeping force was responsible for “transactional sex” during its operations in the country.
In 2019, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, branded violence against children as a “silent emergency” of our time. Unfortunately, not much is being done to address this challenge, despite the urgency of Guterres’ statement.
There are many existential challenges facing Haiti. Some of them are homegrown, such as the prevalence of gangs and their terror techniques.
But, as it is located on a geological fault line in a region susceptible to severe storms, Haiti is particularly prone to natural disasters. A devastating earthquake in 2010 and a cholera epidemic in 2016 debilitated the country, and the knock-on effects will last decades.
To make matters worse, Haiti also suffers from a compassion deficit. A lack of real engagement from the international community has contributed to the erosion of the Haitian civil society and left the population at the mercy of gang violence.
Even the Kenyan-led policing mission tasked with restoring order is suffering from inadequate funding and equipment, which has affected its operational capacity. Only around US$400 million (£308 million) of the US$600 million that was originally pledged for the mission has materialised, with the US shouldering a disproportionate financial burden.
Preoccupied with more high-profile conflicts elsewhere, the international community appears to have little interest in the horrors that are unfolding under the tropical sun in the faraway Caribbean.
Amalendu Misra is a recipient of British Academy and Nuffield Foundation fellowships.
Medieval people have a reputation for being superstitious – and many of the supernatural phenomena found in the pages of medieval chronicles, miracle stories and romances are still alive in modern culture. Think ghosts, werewolves, demons, vampires, fairies and witches. But while (almost all) people today regard these beings as entirely fictional, many medieval people believed in them.
Christian theologians accepted the existence of the supernatural, categorising such beings broadly as “fallen angels” who viewed humanity as a battleground in their ongoing conflict with God. Their enormous power meant they could even appear as deities, including the pagan gods and goddesses – they were seen to take on a monstrous appearance mainly when claiming the souls of the damned or being defeated by a Christian leader.
The smaller and less powerful supernatural creatures known in Old and Middle English as “elves”, however, were seen to have less straightforward explanations.
Elves, fairies and sirens
Medieval elves were not usually as powerful as the glamorous beings envisioned centuries later by J.R.R. Tolkien. They merged with demons in some accounts and with fairies in others.
For the 13th-century English priest Layamon, it was elves (alven) who gave King Arthur magical gifts and who, in the form of beautiful women, carried him away to the mythical island of Avalun to heal. However, Layamon was careful to say that this was the belief of “the Britons” (Celtic people), which he was simply recording.
Fairies first appeared in French-language accounts and quickly blended with other categories of supernatural being. They were apparently more human in appearance than elves, though wings were added later.
They formed one category of the large group of tempting, supernatural female creatures who lured human men into dangerous relationships. Perhaps most famous is the fairy Melusine, who was strongly linked to water.
Melusine was half-human, half-serpent and was both beautiful and powerful. She brought prosperity and numerous sons to her human husband, but forbade him to see her at a specified time (Saturdays). When he broke his promise, Melusine’s true form was revealed, and she left forever.
It is unclear whether the chroniclers and readers who enjoyed such stories entirely believed them, but it seems likely that fairies were considered more real in the middle ages than now.
Medieval abductions and miracles
For medieval people, elves, fairies and sirens inhabited the ambiguous territory between fact and fiction. The same may be said of mysterious beings who abducted unsuspecting humans, often women, and carried them off to strange and frightening regions. Those who allegedly reported these experiences believed them to be real, although they were condemned as demonic illusions by moralists.
Being taken high above the Earth is a recurring theme in medieval writing, including tales of witches deliberately flying on the backs of animals. These abduction tales could be compared to modern accounts of alien abductions.
While tales of abduction by fairies were sometimes dismissed as delusions, stories of saints’ miracles and natural marvels were usually accepted as true. It might be tempting to compare the powers of miracle-working saints with those of modern superheroes – but miracles were considered overt demonstrations of the power of God, whereas superheroes tend to result from scientific or technological extremes.
A particularly sensational example was recorded in the Life of St Modwenna (an early Irish princess and abbess), written by the abbot Geoffrey of Burton circa 1120-1150. In his account, two tenants of Burton Abbey stirred up a violent feud between the abbot and Count Roger the Poitevin. The troublemakers died suddenly and were buried in haste, but apparently reappeared at sunset carrying their own coffins, before transforming into terrifying animals.
These revenants (spirits or animated corpses) reportedly brought death to the village – only three people were left alive. When the graves of the runaways were opened, they were found to be bloodstained but intact. A formal apology to the abbey and the saint was followed by ritual dismembering of these corpses and burning of their hearts. This apparently led to the expulsion of an evil spirit and the recovery of the surviving peasants.
Natural marvels
“Natural marvels” were medieval phenomena which were accepted as parts of God’s creation, but could not be scientifically explained. Many of the creatures found in bestiaries (medieval encyclopedias of animals both real and mythological) fitted here, such as dragons, unicorns and basilisks.
Dragons and unicorns remain popular fantasy characters today, but basilisks are less well known – although a giant one once proved a fearsome opponent for Harry Potter. Basilisks were said to be so poisonous that their scent, their fiery breath and even their gaze could kill. They were attested not only by bestiaries but by the Roman philosopher and botanist Pliny in his book Natural History (circa AD77). They were found in the province of Cyrene, in modern Libya.
A basilisk depicted in a bestiary (circa 1200-1225). British Library
Similarly, different regions of the Earth were characterised by natural marvels recorded in works such as priest and historian Gerald of Wales’s book, The History and Topography of Ireland (1185-88).
Gerald noted that some readers would find his stories “impossible or ridiculous”, but testified to their accuracy. They included strange islands where no female creature could survive and nobody could die a natural death, as well as strange creatures and humans forced to transform periodically into wolves by the power of St Natalis (an Irish monk and saint).
Medieval people believed in a wide array of supernatural beings. While today we mostly see them as the stuff of nightmarish fiction, our enthusiasm for this diversity hasn’t waned – just look at the breadth of supernatural costumes on display every Halloween.
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Anne Lawrence-Mathers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dalia Alazzeh, Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, University of the West of Scotland
The Palestinian economy has been devastated beyond recognition. Israel’s intense military operations in Gaza have led to unprecedented destruction, wiping out much of the enclave’s essential infrastructure, private property and agricultural resources.
Meanwhile, the occupied West Bank is also under severe strain. Similar patterns of destruction, alongside rising settler violence, land confiscations and expanding settlements, have left its economy buckling under the pressure of mounting public debt, unemployment and poverty.
Gaza’s economy was being suffocated even before the war. A blockade imposed by Israel in 2007 has severely restricted the import and export of goods, while fishermen were limited to a six-mile zone, crippling their ability to earn a livelihood.
The blockade caused Gaza’s GDP per capita (a measure of the wealth of a country) to shrink by 27% between 2006 and 2022, with unemployment rising to 45.3%. This gave rise to a situation where 80% of the population depended on international aid.
In addition to the economic blockade, Gaza suffered massive physical destruction due to Israeli military operations in 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, 2021 and 2022. Yet the cumulative effects of 16 years of blockade and military attacks are minor compared to the sheer destruction caused by the current war.
A report by the UN’s trade and development wing (Unctad) has revealed that in the space of just eight months, between October 2023 and May 2024, Gaza’s GDP per capita was fell by more than half. The economic situation now is almost certainly worse.
According to the report, which was released in September 2024, Gaza’s GDP dropped by 81% in the final quarter of 2023 alone. The report concluded that the war had left Gaza’s economy in “utter ruin”, warning that even if there was an immediate ceasefire and the 2007–2022 growth trend of 0.4% returns, it will take 350 years just to restore the GDP levels of 2022.
The only sectors still functioning are health and humanitarian services. All other industries, including agriculture, are at a near standstill. The destruction of between 80% and 96% of agricultural assets has led to rampant food insecurity.
The scale of destruction in Gaza is unprecedented in modern times and is happening under the world’s gaze. From October 2023 to January 2024 alone, the total cost of damage reached approximately US$18.5 billion (£14.2 billion) – equivalent to seven times Gaza’s GDP in 2022.
A separate report by the UN Development Programme, which was published in May, predicts that it will take more than 80 years to rebuild just Gaza’s housing stock if it repeats the rate of restructuring seen after Israeli military operations in 2014 and 2021. Merely clearing the debris could take up to 14 years.
The war has displaced almost all of Gaza’s population, and has thrown people into dire poverty. Unemployment surged to 80%, leaving most households without any source of income. And prices of basic commodities have increased by 250%, which is contributing to famine across the Strip.
The economic crisis has also extended to the West Bank, where GDP has fallen sharply. Military checkpoints, cement blocks and iron gates at the entrances to Palestinian towns and cities, as well as the denial of work permits for Palestinians in Israeli settlements, have resulted in more than 300,000 job losses since the start of the war.
The Unctad report reveals that the rate of unemployment in the West Bank has tripled to 32% since the start of the conflict, with labour income losses amounting to US$25.5 million. Poverty is rising rapidly.
Israeli forces have also continued to confiscate Palestinian homes and land. Over the past year alone, 24,000 acres of land in the West Bank have been seized, and over 2,000 Palestinians have been displaced.
This devastation has been exacerbated by Israel’s decision to withhold the tax revenue it collects for the Palestinian Authority, which typically accounts for between 60% and 65% of the Palestinian public budget, as well as a significant decline in international aid. Aid to Palestine has dropped drastically over the past decade or so, falling from the equivalent of US$2 billion in 2008 to just US$358 million by 2023.
The Palestinian Authority is facing a massive budget deficit, which is projected to increase by 172% in 2024 compared to the previous year. This financial strain has crippled the Palestinian government’s ability to provide essential services, pay salaries and meet the needs of a population battered by war, displacement and severe poverty.
The road to recovery
For the Palestinian economy to have any chance at recovery, several immediate steps are necessary.
First, international aid should flow into Gaza uninterrupted, and pressure must be applied to ensure that humanitarian aid – particularly food aid – reaches those in need. Data analysis by organisations working in Gaza suggests that Israel is currently blocking 83% of food aid from reaching Gaza.
Second, the destruction of homes, schools and infrastructure must cease. However, this seems improbable as Israel continues to pursue its military goal of destroying Hamas – an objective most analysts believe to be unachievable.
And third, the economic restrictions imposed on Gaza and the West Bank must be lifted. Sustainable development – and any prospect for recovery – cannot be achieved without granting the Palestinian people the right to self-determination and sovereignty over their resources.
This would require new peace agreements, an outcome that appears unlikely at present. But without these crucial interventions, the Palestinian economy will be completely devastated and the humanitarian crisis will worsen, making any future recovery within the lifetime of anyone currently living in Gaza virtually impossible to imagine.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
And yet, it is precisely because it is written in English, that climate science is largely inaccessible to the majority of people globally.
To explain this apparent contradiction, we need to look at some numbers. Nearly 90% of scientific publications globally are in English. This is a staggering dominance of just one language. But English, often called a global language, is only spoken by a minority of the world’s population.
How do we know that most people in the world don’t speak English? English the main language of society in only a handful of countries: the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The population of these countries, combined, amounts to about 400 million – a very small percentage of the world’s population.
In many other former British colonies, such as India, Nigeria or Malaysia, English exists alongside other languages. In these contexts English tends to be an elite language, used mostly by urban, middle-class, well-educated people. Elsewhere, English functions as a lingua franca, used mostly in transnational communication.
Given these diverse scenarios, it is extremely difficult to estimate the number of speakers of English with any precision. About 20 years ago, linguist David Crystal suggested that the number may be somewhere between 1 and 2 billion. Even if we take the upper limit of that extremely large range, we’re talking about only one quarter of the world’s population. This means that three out of four people in the world do not speak English.
That means at least three quarters of the world’s population do not speak the language in which the science about climate change is disseminated globally. At the same time, languages other than English are marginalised and struggle to find space in the global communication of science.
So this linguistic inequality creates an imbalance in the distribution of scientific knowledge about climate change. But it also reinforces two other types of existing inequality.
One has to do with the production of scientific knowledge in general, which is disproportionately emanating from the two main Anglophone countries: the US and the UK. Out of the top 100 scientific journals for impact and prestige, 91 are based in these two countries.
Out of 100 top scientific journals, 91 are published in the UK and the US. Sergei25/Shutterstock
The other form of inequality has to do with social injustice. Scientific literature is almost exclusively written in English. But this language is virtually unknown by most people, especially in developing countries. And so, societies who suffer more from climate change are precisely those where access to scientific literature about it is severely limited.
What is the solution? Unesco’s Open Science initiative, is attempting to tackle the problem. It aims to “make scientific research from all fields accessible to everyone for the benefits of scientists and society as a whole”. One of its objectives is to “ensure that scientific collaborations transcend the boundaries of geography, language and resources”.
Breaking language barriers
Achieving the objectives set by Open Science is no easy task. One approach is to break the barrier of English monolingualism by promoting multilingualism.
On the one hand, opportunities must be created for scientists from around the world to communicate their research and their scholarship in languages other than English.
On the other, the great technological advancement made in machine translation, especially with the advent of AI, should be put to use in order to ensure that content is available in languages other than English. This is precisely the goal of Climate Cardinals, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to “make the climate movement more accessible to those who don’t speak English” by translating information into more than 100 languages.
These kinds of concrete efforts offer hope for climate literacy and, consequently, for action to lessen the impact of climate change.
Mario Saraceni does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lucie Nield, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, Sheffield Hallam University
Weight-loss injectables don’t address the many core reasons for why weight gain and unemployment occur in the first place.oleschwander/ Shutterstock
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and health secretary Wes Streeting have recently discussed plans to trial weight-loss injections for around 250,000 people with obesity who are unemployed in a bid to get them back into work, ease pressure on the NHS and boost the economy.
Obesity is estimated to cost UK society around £35 billion annually. This is due to lower productivity and higher NHS treatment costs.
Around 26% of the English adult population (approximately 15 million) are considered obese. However, it’s not known what proportion of unemployed people are obese.
While weight-loss injections have proven to be very effective in helping people who are obese to lose weight and lower their risk of certain chronic diseases, there are many reasons why these drugs alone won’t help tackle obesity and unemployment rates in the UK.
1. Lack of capacity
The majority of UK people who are obese are likely to meet the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s eligibility criteria for weight-loss injections.
But prescribing these drugs is just one part of the equation. Eligible patients will require support from specialist services who provide guidance in making the appropriate lifestyle changes (such as to their diet) to successfully lose weight while on these drugs. This is crucial, as all of the weight-loss injection trials to date have involved a behaviour change component. This may potentially be key to the successful weight losses observed in these studies.
However, current demand for weight-loss services is already outstripping capacity. Nearly half of eligible patients in England are unable to get an appointment with a specialist team. Weight-loss injections can only be prescribed through such services currently. If the government is to roll out the proposed programme, they will need to rethink the way weight-loss services are delivered so all eligible patients can access support.
2. Won’t work for everyone
Weight-loss jabs don’t necessarily work for everyone. One study found that 9-15% of participants who took the drug tirzepatide (Mounjaro) did not lose clinically significant amounts of weight.
Weight-loss jabs may also cause intolerable side-effects for some. Trials have shown between 4-8% of participants couldn’t tolerate the side-effects, causing them to drop out of the study. Constipation, diarrhoea and nausea are some of the most commonly reported.
People with certain health conditions may be unable to use weight-loss injections – such as those with inflammatory bowel disease and pancreatitis. In such cases, weight-loss jabs may worsen symptoms or interact with the prescription drugs used to manage these conditions, increasing risk of harm.
Additionally, some people may not want to take an injection – whether that’s simply due to personal preference or even fear of needles.
3. Obesity is a complex issue
There are many complex factors that contribute to weight gain – such as opportunities for physical activity, access to healthy foods and levels of deprivation in a community. Prescribing weight-loss jabs to help people lose weight may not be effective long-term if the rest of these factors are not also addressed.
A more effective way of seeing significant, sustainable reductions in obesity levels across a population is by using a “whole systems approach”. This would address to the multiple environmental, social and economic factors that contribute to obesity.
Where whole systems approaches have been embedded in healthcare design and delivery, they have led to improvements in services and patient outcomes – including obesity-related metrics (such as patients making healthier food choices and being more active).
However, one limitation to whole systems approaches is challenges in measuring impact. This can reduce political will to implement these approaches.
4. Obesity stigma
Obesity stigma in the workplace is a huge barrier to satisfactory employment and leads to poor wellbeing and burnout.
Obesity stigma in the workplace perpetuates harmful weight-based stereotypes that overweight and obese people are lazy, unsuccessful, unintelligent and lack willpower. As a result, people with obesity are more likely to be in insecure and lower-paid jobs than those who may be considered of a healthy weight.
It’s also well-evidenced that regular exposure to stigmatising, isolating and degrading prejudices has long-term consequences on physical and mental health – and may lead to problems such as binge eating and depression.This can lead to a loss of productivity, absenteeism and loneliness.
Prescribing weight-loss jabs to help a person lose weight doesn’t address the core reasons for why they may have been absent from work or unemployed in the first place. Nor does it help to address the mental health struggles they may still harbour as a result of discrimination they might have experienced.
Current prescribing restrictions also limit some injections to a maximum of 24 months (although further trials are ongoing). This means that even if a person has successfully lost weight, they may regain that weight again when they stop using the drug. This could mean any health problems they experienced prior to losing weight (and which may have prevented them from being in employment) could reemerge.
There are better ways of getting people back into work than prescribing weight-loss jabs. Flexible working approaches, for instance, may make it easier for someone who is unemployed due to caring responsibilities or health problems to transition back into employment. Supportive policies and workplace wellbeing programmes may be a more cost-effective way of helping people to overcome barriers, improve their health and transition back into work.
Lucie Nield has received funding from The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for evaluation of children’s weight management services.
Lucie Nield sits on the Board of Trustees for Darnall Wellbeing (a local community service organisation).
Recent research on animal sleep behaviour has revealed that sleep is influenced by the animals around them. Olive baboons, for instance, sleep less as group sizes increase, while mice can synchronise their rapid eye movement (REM) cycles.
In western society, many people expect to sleep alone, if not with a romantic partner. But as with other group-living animals, human co-sleeping is common, despite some cultural and age-related variation. And in many cultures, bedsharing with a relative is considered typical.
Apart from western countries, caregiver-infant co-sleeping is common, with rates as high as 60-100% in parts of South America, Asia and Africa.
Despite its prevalence, infant co-sleeping is controversial. Some western perspectives, that value self-reliance, argue that sleeping alone promotes self-soothing when the baby wakes in the night. But evolutionary scientists argue that co-sleeping has been important to help keep infants warm and safe throughout human existence.
Many cultures do not expect babies to self-soothe when they wake in the night and see night wakings as a normal part of breastfeeding and development.
Concerns about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (Sids) have often led paediatricians to discourage bed-sharing. However, when studies control for other Sids risk factors including unsafe sleeping surfaces, Sids risk does not seem to differ statistically between co-sleeping and solitary sleeping infants.
Researchers don’t yet know whether co-sleeping causes differences in sleep or, whether co-sleeping happens because of these differences. However, experiments in the 1990s suggested that co-sleeping can encourage more sustained and frequent bouts of breastfeeding. Using sensors to measure brain activity, this research also suggested that infants’ and caregivers’ sleep may be lighter during co-sleeping. But researchers speculated that this lighter sleep may actually help protect against Sids by providing infants more opportunities to rouse from sleep and develop better control over their respiratory system.
Childhood co-sleeping past infancy is also fairly common according to worldwide surveys. A 2010 survey of over 7,000 UK families found 6% of children were constant bedsharers up to at least four years old.
Some families adopt co-sleeping in response to their child having trouble sleeping. But child-parent bedsharing in many countries, including some western countries like Sweden where children often co-sleep with parents until school age, is viewed culturally as part of a nurturing environment.
It’s normal for children to bedshare in many parts of the world. Yuri A/ Shutterstock
It is also common for siblings to share a room or even a bed. A 2021 US study found that over 36% of young children aged three to five years bedshared in some form overnight, whether with caregivers, siblings, pets or some combination. Co-sleeping decreases but is still present among older children, with up to 13.8% of co-sleeping parents in Australia, the UK and other countries reporting that their child was between five and 12 years old when they engaged in co-sleeping.
Two recent US studies using wrist-worn actigraphs (motion sensors) to track sleep indicated that kids who bedshare may have shorter sleep durations than children who sleep alone. But this shorter sleep duration is not explained by greater disruption during sleep. Instead, bedsharing children may lose sleep by going to bed later than solitary sleepers.
The benefits and downsides of co-sleeping may also differ in children with conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, mental health disorders and chronic illnesses. These children may experience heightened anxiety, sensory sensitivities and physical discomfort that make falling and staying asleep difficult. For them, co-sleeping can provide reassurance.
Adults sharing beds
According to a 2018 survey from the US National Sleep Foundation, 80-89% of adults who live with their significant other share a bed with them. Adult bedsharing has shifted over time from pre-industrial communal arrangements, including whole families and other household guests, to solo sleeping in response to hygiene concerns as germ theory became accepted.
Bedsharing couples also often get into sync with each other’s sleep stages, which can enhance that feeling of intimacy. However, it’s not all rosy. Some studies indicate that females in heterosexual relationships may struggle more with sleep quality when bedsharing, as they can be more easily disturbed by their male partner’s movements. Also, bedsharers can have less deep sleep than when sleeping alone, even though they feel like their sleep is better together.
Many questions about co-sleeping remain unanswered. For instance, we don’t fully understand the developmental effects of co-sleeping on children, or the benefits of co-sleeping for adults beyond female-male romantic partners. But, some work suggests that co-sleeping can comfort us, similar to other forms of social contact, and help to enhance physical synchrony between parents and children.
Co-sleeping doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer. But remember that western norms aren’t necessarily the ones we have evolved with. So consider factors such as sleep disorders, health and age in your decision to co-sleep, rather than what everyone else is doing.
Gina Mason receives funding from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation (grant #334-BS-24). The views expressed herein are her own, and do not represent the official views of the Academy or any other professional organization with which she is affiliated.
Goffredina Spanò does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Lisa Bitel, Dean’s Professor of Religion & Professor of History, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The Celtic festival of Samhain celebrates a time of year when the division between Earth and the otherworld collapses, allowing spirits to pass through.Matt Cardy/Getty Images
The Irish often get credit – or blame – for the bonfires, pranksters, witches, jack-o’-lanterns and beggars who wander from house to house, threatening tricks and soliciting treats.
The first professional 19th-century folklorists were the ones who created a through line from Samhain to Halloween. Oxford University’s John Rhys and James Frazer of the University of Cambridge were keen to find the origins of their national cultures.
They observed lingering customs in rural areas of Britain and Ireland and searched medieval texts for evidence that these practices and beliefs had ancient pagan roots. They mixed stories of magic and paganism with harvest festivals and whispers of human sacrifice, and you can still find echoes of their outdated theories on websites.
But the Halloween we celebrate today has more to do with the English, a ninth-century pope and America’s obsession with consumerism.
A changing of the seasons
For two millennia, Samhain, the night of Oct. 31, has marked the turn from summer to winter on the Irish calendar. It was one of four seasonal signposts in agricultural and pastoral societies.
After Samhain, people brought the animals inside as refuge from the long, cold nights of winter. Imbolc, which is on Feb. 1, marked the beginning of the lambing season, followed by spring planting. Beltaine signaled the start of mating season for humans and beasts alike on May 1, and Lughnasadh kicked off the harvest on Aug. 1.
But whatever the ancient Irish did on Oct. 31 is lost to scholars because there’s almost no evidence of their pagan traditions except legends written by churchmen around 800 A.D., about 400 years after the Irish started turning Christian. Although they wrote about the adventures of their ancestors, churchmen could only imagine the pagan ways that had disappeared.
These stories about the pagan past told of Irish kings holding annual weeklong feasts, markets and games at Samhain. The day ended early in northwestern Europe, before 5 p.m., and winter nights were long. After sundown, people went inside to eat, drink and listen to storytellers.
The stories did not link Samhain with death and horror. But they did treat Samhain as a night of magic, when the otherworld – what, in Irish, was known as the “sí” – opened its portals to mortals. One tale, “The Adventure of Nera,” warned that if you went out on Samhain Eve, you might meet dead men or warriors from the sí, or you might unknowingly wander into the otherworld.
When Nera went out on a dare, he met a thirsty corpse in search of drink and unwittingly followed warriors through a portal into the otherworld. But instead of ghosts and terror, Nera found love. He ended up marrying a “ban sídh” – pronounced “BAN-shee” – an otherworldly woman. But here’s the medieval twist to the tale: He lived happily ever after in this otherworld with his family and farm.
The Irish otherworld was no hell, either. In medieval tales, it is a sunny place in perpetual spring. Everyone who lives there is beautiful, powerful, immortal and blond. They have good teeth. The rivers flow with mead and wine, and food appears on command. No sexual act is a sin. The houses sparkle with gems and precious metals. Even the horses are perfect.
Clampdown on pagan customs
The link between Oct. 31, ghosts and devils was really the pope’s fault.
In 834, Pope Gregory IV decreed Nov. 1 the day for celebrating all Christian saints. In English, the feast day became All Hallows Day. The night before – Oct. 31 – became known as All Hallows Eve.
Some modern interpretations insist that Pope Gregory created All Hallows Day to quell pagan celebrations of Samhain. But Gregory knew nothing of ancient Irish seasonal holidays. In reality, he probably did it because everyone celebrated All Saints on different days and, like other Popes, Gregory sought to consolidate and control the liturgical calendar.
In the later Middle Ages, All Hallows Eve emerged as a popular celebration of the saints. People went to church and prayed to the saints for favors and blessings. Afterward, they went home to feast. Then, on Nov. 2, they celebrated All Souls’ Day by praying for the souls of their lost loved ones, hoping that prayers would help their dead relatives out of purgatory and into heaven.
But in the 16th century, the Protestant rulers of Britain and Ireland quashed saints’ feast days, because praying to saints seemed idolatrous. Protestant ministers did their best to eliminate popular customs of the early November holidays, such as candle-lit processions and harvest bonfires.
In the minds of ministers, these customs smacked of heathenism.
A mishmash of traditions
Our Halloween of costumed beggars and leering jack-o’-lanterns descends from this mess of traditions, storytelling and antiquarianism.
Jack-o’-lanterns are neither ancient nor Irish. One of the earliest references is an 18th-century account of an eponymous Jack, who tricked the devil one too many times and was condemned to wander the world forever.
Supposedly, Jack, or whatever the hero was called, carved a turnip and stuck a candle in it as his lantern. But the custom of carving turnips in early November probably originated in England with celebrations of All Saints’ Day and another holiday, Guy Fawkes Day on Nov. 5, with its bonfires and fireworks, and it spread from there.
As for ancient bonfires, the Irish and Britons built them to celebrate Beltaine, but not Samhain – at least, not according to the medieval tales.
In 19th-century Ireland, All Hallows Eve was a time for communal suppers, games like bobbing for apples and celebrating the magic of courtship. For instance, girls tried to peel apples in one long peel; then they examined the peels to see what letters they resembled – the initials of their future husbands’ names. Boys crept out of the gathering, despite warnings, to make mischief, taking off farm gates or stealing cabbages and hurling them at the neighbors’ doors.
Halloween with an American sheen
Across the Atlantic, these customs first appeared in the mid-19th century, when the Irish, English and many other immigrant groups brought their holidays to the U.S.
In medieval Scotland, “guisers” were people who dressed in disguise and begged for “soul cakes” on All Souls Day. These guisers probably became the costumed children who threatened – and sometimes perpetrated – mischief unless given treats. Meanwhile, carved turnips became jack-o’-lanterns, since pumpkins were plentiful in North America – and easier to carve.
Like Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter, Halloween eventually became a feast of consumerism. Companies mass-produced costumes, paper decorations and packaged candy. People in Britain and Ireland blamed the Americans for the spread of modern Halloween and its customs. British schools even tried to quash the holiday in the 1990s because of its disorderly and demonic connotations.
The only real remnant of Samhain in Halloween is the date. Nowadays, no one expects to stumble into a romance in the sí. Only those drawn to the ancient Celtic past sense the numinous opening of the otherworld at Samhain.
But who’s to say which reality prevails when the portals swing open in the dark of Oct. 31?
Lisa Bitel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The world is witnessing the consequences of climate change: long-lasting changes in temperature and rainfall, and more intense and frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, hurricanes, typhoons, flooding and drought. All make it harder for families and communities to meet their care needs.
Climate change affects care systems in various ways. First, sudden illnesses and unexpected disabilities heighten the need for care. Second, it reduces access to important inputs for care such as water, food and safe shelter. Third, it can damage physical and social care infrastructures.
It can also lead to breakdowns of traditional units of caregiving such as households and communities. And it creates new situations of need with the increase in displaced person settlements and refugee camps.
Climate change creates sudden spikes in the demand for care, and serious challenges to meeting the growing need for care. All this has immediate and long lasting effects on human well-being.
The size of the current unmet care needs throughout the world is substantial. In childcare alone, about 23% of children worldwide – nearly 350 million – need childcare but do not have it. Families in low- and lower-middle-income countries are the most in need.
Similarly, as the world’s population ages rapidly, only a small proportion of the elderly who need assistance are able to use formal care (in an institution or paid homecare). Most are cared for by family members or other unpaid caregivers. Much of this unpaid care and formal care work is provided by women and girls.
Hundreds of millions of people around the world struggle to get healthcare. Expansion of access to essential health services has slowed compared to pre-2015 . And healthcare costs still create financial hardship.
Without comprehensive public and global support for care provision and the integration of care in the climate agenda, unmet care needs will only grow and inequalities will widen.
Impact
Climate change interacts with human health in complex ways. Its impact is highly uneven across populations. It depends on geographical region, income, education, gender roles, social norms, level of development, and the institutional capacity and accessibility of health systems.
Africa is also the region most affected by droughts in 2013-22, with 64% of its land area affected by at least one month of extreme drought per year on average. It was followed by Oceania (55% of its land area) and South and Central America (53%).
Scientific evidence also points to increases in health inequalities caused by climate change. The health effects of climate change are not uniformly felt by different population groups.
There is also evidence of the disproportionate effect of climate change on the health of people living in poverty and those who belong to disadvantaged groups.
Women of lower social and economic status and with less education are more vulnerable to heat stress compared to women in wealthier households and with higher education or social status. They are exposed to pollution in the absence of clean cooking fuel, and to extreme heat as they walk to gather water and fuel, or do other work outdoors.
Lack of access to healthcare services and the means to pay for medicines make it difficult for women and men in low-income households to recover from illness, heat strokes, and air pollution-related ailments.
These adverse impacts increase the demand for caregiving and the care workload. Climate-induced health problems force family and community caregivers, particularly women, to spend more time looking after the sick and disabled, particularly frail elderly people and children.
Effect on food and water
Climate change threatens the availability of food, clean water and safe shelter. It erodes households’ and communities’ care capacity and hence societies’ ability to thrive.
The threat of chronic shortage of safe drinking water has also risen. Water scarcity is an area where structural inequalities and gender disparities are laid bare.
Care for the sick and disabled, the young and the elderly is compromised when water is scarce.
Effects on providing care
Extreme weather events disrupt physical care infrastructures. It may be hard to reach hospitals, clinics, daycare centres, nursery schools and nursing homes. Some facilities may be damaged and have to close.
Another type of care system that can break down is family networks and support provided by friends and neighbours. These informal care sharing arrangements are illustrated in a study of the three large informal settlements in Nairobi.
About half (50.5%) of the sampled households reported having had a sick member in the two weeks before the survey. The majority relied on close friends and family members living nearby for care and support.
Studies have shown that climate change eventually leads to livelihood loss and resource scarcity, which can weaken social cohesion and local safety nets in affected communities.
Heightened risks and uncertainty and imminent changes in socio-economic and political conditions can also compel individuals or entire households to migrate. Migration is caused by a host of factors, but it has increasingly been a climate-related response.
The World Bank’s Groundswell Report released in 2018, for example, projected that climate change could force 216 million people to move within their countries by 2050 to avoid the slow-onset impacts of climate change.
A possible consequence of migration is the withdrawal of care support provided by the migrating extended kin, neighbours or friends, increasing the caregiving load of people left behind.
In the case of forced displacements, the traditional social networks existing in communities are disrupted entirely.
What’s needed
There are compelling reasons to believe that meeting care needs can also help mitigate the effects of climate change. And actions to meet carbon-zero goals, prevent biodiversity loss and regenerate ecosystems can reduce the care work burden that falls heavily on families, communities and women.
This article is part of a series of articles initiated through a project led by the Southern Centre for Inequality studies, in collaboration with the International Development Research Centre and a group of feminist economists and climate scientists across the world.
Maria S. Floro does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Anthoni van Nieuwkerk, Professor of International and Diplomacy Studies, Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, University of South Africa
The last two summits of Brics countries have raised questions about the coalition’s identity and purpose. This began to come into focus at the summit hosted by South Africa in 2023, and more acutely at the recent 2024 summit in Kazan, Russia.
At both events the alliance undertook to expand its membership. In 2023, the first five Brics members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – invited Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join. All bar Saudi Arabia have now done so. The 2024 summit pledged to admit 13 more, perhaps as associates or “partner countries”.
On paper, the nine-member Brics+ strikes a powerful pose. It has a combined population of about 3.5 billion, or 45% of the world’s people. Combined, its economies are worth more than US$28.5 trillion – about 28% of the global economy. With Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE as members, Brics+ produces about 44% of the world’s crude oil.
Based on my research and policy advice to African foreign policy decision-makers, I would argue that there are three possible interpretations of the purpose of Brics+.
A club of self-interested members – a kind of global south cooperative. What I’d label as a self-help organisation.
A reforming bloc with a more ambitious goal of improving the workings of the current global order.
A disrupter, preparing to replace the western-dominated liberal world order.
Analysing the commitments that were made at the meeting in Russia, I would argue that Brics+ sees itself more as a self-interested reformer. It represents the thinking among global south leaders about the nature of global order, and the possibilities of shaping a new order. This, as the world moves away from the financially dominant, yet declining western order (in terms of moral influence) led by the US. The move is to a multipolar order in which the east plays a leading role.
However, the ability of Brics+ to exploit such possibilities is constrained by its make-up and internal inconsistencies. These include a contested identity, incongruous values and lack of resources to convert political commitments into actionable plans.
Summit outcomes
The trend towards closer trade and financial cooperation and coordination stands out as a major achievement of the Kazan summit. Other achievements pertain to global governance and counter-terrorism.
When it comes to trade and finance, the final communiqué said the following had been agreed:
adoption of local currencies in trade and financial transactions. The Kazan Declaration notes the benefits of faster, low cost, more efficient, transparent, safe and inclusive cross-border payment instruments. The guiding principle would be minimal trade barriers and non-discriminatory access.
establishment of a cross-border payment system. The declaration encourages correspondent banking networks within Brics, and enabling settlements in local currencies in line with the Brics Cross-Border Payments Initiative. This is voluntary and nonbinding and is to be discussed further.
creation of an enhanced roles for the New Development Bank, such as promoting infrastructure and sustainable development.
a proposed Brics Grain Exchange, to improve food security through enhanced trade in agricultural commodities.
All nine Brics+ countries committed themselves to the principles of the UN Charter – peace and security, human rights, the rule of law, and development – primarily as a response to the western unilateral sanctions.
The summit emphasised that dialogue and diplomacy should prevail over conflict in, among other places, the Middle East, Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan.
Faultlines and tensions
Despite the positive tone of the Kazan declaration, there are serious structural fault lines and tensions inherent in the architecture and behaviour of Brics+. These might limit its ambitions to be a meaningful change agent.
The members don’t even agree on the definition of Brics+. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa calls it a platform. Others talk of a group (Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi) or a family (Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jianan).
So what could it be?
Brics+ is state-driven – with civil society on the margins. It reminds one of the African Union, which pays lip service to citizens’ engagement in decision-making.
But it would need to cohere around shared values. What would they be?
Critics point out that Brics+ consists of democracies (South Africa, Brazil, India), a theocracy (Iran), monarchies (UAE, Saudi Arabia) and authoritarian dictatorships (China, Russia). For South Africa this creates a domestic headache. At the Kazan summit, its president declared Russia a friend and ally. At home, its coalition partner in the government of national unity, the Democratic Alliance, declared Ukraine as a friend and ally.
There are also marked differences over issues such as the reform of the United Nations. For example, at the recent UN Summit of the Future the consensus was for reform of the UN security council. But will China and Russia, as permanent security council members, agree to more seats, with veto rights, on the council?
As for violent conflict, humanitarian crises, corruption and crime, there is little from the Kazan summit that suggests agreement around action.
Unity of purpose
What about shared interests? A number of Brics+ members and the partner countries maintain close trade ties with the west, which regards Russia and Iran as enemies and China as a global threat.
Some, such as India and South Africa, use the foreign policy notions of strategic ambiguity or active non-alignment to mask the reality of trading with east, west, north and south.
The harsh truth of international relations is there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests. The Brics+ alliance will most likely cohere as a global south co-operative, with an innovative self-help agenda, but be reluctant to overturn the current global order from which it desires to benefit more equitably.
Trade-offs and compromises might be necessary to ensure “unity of purpose”. It’s not clear that this loose alliance is close to being able to achieve that.
Anthoni van Nieuwkerk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the world’s longest reigning female political leader, fled Bangladesh on 5 August 2024 for the safety of India. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of protesters descended on Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka. The crowds ransacked her official residence, occupied the nation’s parliament and burnt down her family home.
Hasina, who had ruled the country for more than 20 years in total, had been widely accused of turning autocratic and clamping down severely on any opposition to her rule.
For many, the Bangladesh revolution offers hope in the context of growing global authoritarianism. It illustrates the power of the youth to confront entrenched leaders, and the fragility of authoritarianism. It also highlights a striking feature of contemporary global politics: how central capital cities are to the political life of nations.
In our new book, Controlling the Capital: Political Dominance in the Urbanizing World, a diverse range of scholars argue that capital cities are crucial political sites. They’re where governing elites seek to assert and maintain political control, and they are also stages for political contestation.
The book is focused on sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the two fastest-urbanising regions of the world.
Authors explore the strategies and tactics used by ruling elites to politically dominate their capital cities in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The authors also consider how urban populations have engaged with these efforts. People may resist authority, but they can also cooperate with it in ways that benefit themselves – which sometimes reinforces or supports authoritarian control.
This is increasingly important in the context of two contemporary trends. First, authoritarianism is growing globally. Just 10 years ago under half of the world’s population lived under authoritarian rule; now the figure is at 71%. The second trend is the ongoing rapid urbanisation of the world’s population, with the majority of us globally now living in urban areas.
Urban unrest
Over the past year we’ve seen how capital cities are spaces for contestation.
Some pro-democracy movements draw from their own histories of struggle and the paths that have been carved by those before them. The template of Bangladesh’s 2024 revolution is ingrained in politics from the ways in which liberation was fought and how later struggles against authoritarian rule were won. The capital city has also been crucial, and students at Dhaka University were key mobilisers in such movements.
In other contexts, the link between political resistance and urban areas is a relatively new and surprising route to political change. One example is “the struggle” seen in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo and the unseating of the Rajapaksa family, who were perceived as increasingly authoritarian rulers of the country. The Colombo chapter in this volume highlights how such protests emerged in a context where urban unrest had rarely threatened those in power before.
Even where anti-authoritarian protests have proved futile time and again, urban populations rarely remain quiet.
In Kampala, Uganda, demonstrations prior to the 2021 elections resulted in a horrifying government crackdown. Inspired by events in neighbouring Kenya, protesters took to the streets once more in July 2024 to demonstrate against corruption.
The protests that erupted in Nairobi from late June 2024 against tax rises engulfed the capital city. They continued for some time, fuelled by the brutal police response. Similarly, Nigeria’s 2020 #EndSARS protests against police brutality created a powerful movement in cities such as Abuja and Lagos which shook government, and resonated across much of the continent.
In an age of social media, learning and mimicry across national borders is increasingly common. One of the defining images of Kenya’s 2024 urban uprising was of a group of men with their arms raised and crossed at the wrists – a gesture of anti-authoritarian protest that gained particular resonance several years back during neighbouring Ethiopia’s own uprising.
As urban protest seems set to continue and spread – often taking intentionally similar forms – techniques of urban authoritarian control are more varied and complex.
Strategies to dominate and control city populations can be dramatic and repressive – such as the brute force of police violence – and they can also be subtle, deeply ingrained, and sometimes difficult to discern.
Authoritarian tactics
Our book argues that authoritarian leaders are increasingly aware of the power of the urban masses. As a result, they are using a range of subtle, and not-so-subtle, tactics to entrench their domination in capital cities.
The first are policies and favours that actively build support among urban groups. These can range from inclusion in political parties to investments in social provisions or infrastructure to win support. The book’s chapter on Addis Ababa shows how the latter were particularly striking under the previous governing regime in Ethiopia.
The second are repressive interventions that aim to crush opposition. These are also diverse, and include violent crackdowns, but also surveillance and intimidation.
In practice, the two types of interventions often overlap. The line also blurs through various forms of manipulation. For instance, misinformation or the delivery of goods in exchange for performances of political loyalty, underpinned by implicit threats of coercion.
We also highlight the significance of urban geography.
Ruling elites often seek to divide city populations (for example inner-city dwellers versus the peripheries). This is evident in our book’s chapter on Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Rajapaksas tried to consolidate power by appealing to the new middle class suburbanites through “beautification” projects. But these displaced and excluded the inner-city poor.
Chapters on Harare and Kampala also show how particular peripheral areas have become central to efforts to build an urban support base by Zanu-PF and the National Resistance Movement. This often plays out through the informal parcelling out of land to supporters.
Contesting autocratic rule
Concerns about authoritarian politics are at an all-time high.
The above Google Ngram highlights the perilous rise in the use of the term “autocratization” in published work over the past decade.
Meanwhile, the contestation of autocratic rule will continue to erupt in cities, especially in rapidly urbanising parts of the world. In this context, the need to understand how autocracy and urbanisation collide could hardly be more important.
If pro-democracy forces are to have any hope of prevailing against efforts by authoritarian ruling elites to entrench their position, there is a crucial need to better understand their urban strategies and tactics.
David Jackman received funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
Tom Goodfellow is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which funded part of the research on which this book is based.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the world’s longest reigning female political leader, fled Bangladesh on 5 August 2024 for the safety of India. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of protesters descended on Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka. The crowds ransacked her official residence, occupied the nation’s parliament and burnt down her family home.
Hasina, who had ruled the country for more than 20 years in total, had been widely accused of turning autocratic and clamping down severely on any opposition to her rule.
For many, the Bangladesh revolution offers hope in the context of growing global authoritarianism. It illustrates the power of the youth to confront entrenched leaders, and the fragility of authoritarianism. It also highlights a striking feature of contemporary global politics: how central capital cities are to the political life of nations.
In our new book, Controlling the Capital: Political Dominance in the Urbanizing World, a diverse range of scholars argue that capital cities are crucial political sites. They’re where governing elites seek to assert and maintain political control, and they are also stages for political contestation.
The book is focused on sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the two fastest-urbanising regions of the world.
Authors explore the strategies and tactics used by ruling elites to politically dominate their capital cities in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The authors also consider how urban populations have engaged with these efforts. People may resist authority, but they can also cooperate with it in ways that benefit themselves – which sometimes reinforces or supports authoritarian control.
This is increasingly important in the context of two contemporary trends. First, authoritarianism is growing globally. Just 10 years ago under half of the world’s population lived under authoritarian rule; now the figure is at 71%. The second trend is the ongoing rapid urbanisation of the world’s population, with the majority of us globally now living in urban areas.
Urban unrest
Over the past year we’ve seen how capital cities are spaces for contestation.
Some pro-democracy movements draw from their own histories of struggle and the paths that have been carved by those before them. The template of Bangladesh’s 2024 revolution is ingrained in politics from the ways in which liberation was fought and how later struggles against authoritarian rule were won. The capital city has also been crucial, and students at Dhaka University were key mobilisers in such movements.
In other contexts, the link between political resistance and urban areas is a relatively new and surprising route to political change. One example is “the struggle” seen in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo and the unseating of the Rajapaksa family, who were perceived as increasingly authoritarian rulers of the country. The Colombo chapter in this volume highlights how such protests emerged in a context where urban unrest had rarely threatened those in power before.
Even where anti-authoritarian protests have proved futile time and again, urban populations rarely remain quiet.
In Kampala, Uganda, demonstrations prior to the 2021 elections resulted in a horrifying government crackdown. Inspired by events in neighbouring Kenya, protesters took to the streets once more in July 2024 to demonstrate against corruption.
The protests that erupted in Nairobi from late June 2024 against tax rises engulfed the capital city. They continued for some time, fuelled by the brutal police response. Similarly, Nigeria’s 2020 #EndSARS protests against police brutality created a powerful movement in cities such as Abuja and Lagos which shook government, and resonated across much of the continent.
In an age of social media, learning and mimicry across national borders is increasingly common. One of the defining images of Kenya’s 2024 urban uprising was of a group of men with their arms raised and crossed at the wrists – a gesture of anti-authoritarian protest that gained particular resonance several years back during neighbouring Ethiopia’s own uprising.
As urban protest seems set to continue and spread – often taking intentionally similar forms – techniques of urban authoritarian control are more varied and complex.
Strategies to dominate and control city populations can be dramatic and repressive – such as the brute force of police violence – and they can also be subtle, deeply ingrained, and sometimes difficult to discern.
Authoritarian tactics
Our book argues that authoritarian leaders are increasingly aware of the power of the urban masses. As a result, they are using a range of subtle, and not-so-subtle, tactics to entrench their domination in capital cities.
The first are policies and favours that actively build support among urban groups. These can range from inclusion in political parties to investments in social provisions or infrastructure to win support. The book’s chapter on Addis Ababa shows how the latter were particularly striking under the previous governing regime in Ethiopia.
The second are repressive interventions that aim to crush opposition. These are also diverse, and include violent crackdowns, but also surveillance and intimidation.
In practice, the two types of interventions often overlap. The line also blurs through various forms of manipulation. For instance, misinformation or the delivery of goods in exchange for performances of political loyalty, underpinned by implicit threats of coercion.
We also highlight the significance of urban geography.
Ruling elites often seek to divide city populations (for example inner-city dwellers versus the peripheries). This is evident in our book’s chapter on Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Rajapaksas tried to consolidate power by appealing to the new middle class suburbanites through “beautification” projects. But these displaced and excluded the inner-city poor.
Chapters on Harare and Kampala also show how particular peripheral areas have become central to efforts to build an urban support base by Zanu-PF and the National Resistance Movement. This often plays out through the informal parcelling out of land to supporters.
Contesting autocratic rule
Concerns about authoritarian politics are at an all-time high.
The above Google Ngram highlights the perilous rise in the use of the term “autocratization” in published work over the past decade.
Meanwhile, the contestation of autocratic rule will continue to erupt in cities, especially in rapidly urbanising parts of the world. In this context, the need to understand how autocracy and urbanisation collide could hardly be more important.
If pro-democracy forces are to have any hope of prevailing against efforts by authoritarian ruling elites to entrench their position, there is a crucial need to better understand their urban strategies and tactics.
David Jackman received funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
Tom Goodfellow is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which funded part of the research on which this book is based.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By James Horncastle, Assistant Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser University
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently accused North Korea of plans to send 10,000 soldiers to fight for Russia in Ukraine. South Korean intelligence later gave credence to Zelenskyy’s assertion, as the country’s legislators noted that North Korea has already dispatched 3,000 soldiers to Russia.
North Korea lending a helping hand to Russia is nothing new. The country has already provided Russia with significant munitions to supplement its depleted reserves. North Korean soldiers, in fact, are likely already fighting in the conflict.
North Korea’s alleged decision to send additional soldiers to fight demonstrates the inadequacy of the West’s actions. Wavering western commitment to Ukraine has not only made the situation in Ukraine worse, it’s compromised global security too.
Each side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is seeking any and all assistance from its allies. In Russia’s case, western efforts to make Russian President Vladimir Putin a pariah caused him to turn to another pariah in the international order: North Korea.
Russian-North Korean diplomatic relations are longstanding. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin initially favoured relations with South Korea over its northern counterpart. But since Putin assumed power in 2000, Russia has strengthened its ties with North Korea, albeit with a few notable exceptions.
Russia has always been the dominant partner in the relationship. North Korea, however, has leveraged Russia’s diplomatic isolation for its own benefit. This explains why it’s providing soldiers to Russia on a scale that helps address the most immediate Russian concern: lessening the burden on its population.
Russia has employed mass mobilization in the conflict, but it has sought to push this burden onto the ethnic minorities and rural population of the country.
The protracted nature of the conflict, however, means that it’s increasingly difficult for Russia to disproportionately mobilize these elements. The more Putin’s government relies on ethnic Russians from the larger cities of the country, the more it puts his position under strain. Ten thousand North Korean soldiers will help alleviate this issue in the short term.
Despite North Korea’s diplomatic connections with Russia, it remains one of the world’s most isolated countries.
North Korea’s closest relationship is with China, which is both a blessing and a curse — a blessing because China, for its own reasons, frequently provides diplomatic cover for North Korean actions; a curse because it puts North Korea at risk of becoming dependent on China, even though their objectives do not often align.
North Korea’s deepening alliance with Russia is reminiscent of its strategy during the Cold War, when it maintained strong relations with both the Soviet Union and China to prevent itself from being subsumed by either.
North Korea will also receive substantive benefits from its alliance with Russia. An endemic problem for North Korea is food shortages. During the 1990s, as many as three million people died from starvation.
North Korean participation in the Russia-Ukraine war also gives the country opportunities to access Russian military training. While western analysts have criticized Russia’s military performance in terms of training and doctrine, it still represents a substantial upgrade for North Korea. Furthermore, there is no substitute for the live experience North Korean soldiers will amass on the battlefield.
Perhaps more worrisome is potential Russian aid for North Korea’s missile program. As one of the world’s nuclear powers, North Korea has lagged in its ability to deploy nuclear weapons, with its ballistic missile tests frequently ending in malfunctions, disasters or both.
Given the pressure that North Korea has been able to exert with its missile tests alone in recent years, any improvement in its capabilities has the potential to destabilize the Asia-Pacific region.
Global consequences for western inaction
Russia’s need for North Korean support will undoubtedly improve North Korea’s military technology, as well as provide its army with valuable military experience.
North Korea has in the past — and will likely in the future — stoke instability in the Asia-Pacific region. The gains North Korea has made from its partnership with Russia will only increase its ability to pose a threat in the region.
Western states, in so doing, not only put Ukraine in a disadvantageous position, but weakened their own security as well.
James Horncastle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The country is unlikely to know who wins the battleground state of Pennsylvania on election night. That’s because of a quirk in Pennsylvania’s laws.
I am an assistant professor of political science at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where I teach and conduct research in American politics, public opinion, voting and elections. I have previously explained why Pennsylvania is crucial to both the Harris and Trump campaigns, and why Pennsylvania will likely prove pivotal in determining the presidency.
Here are five things that are important to understand about the timing of the election outcome in Pennsylvania.
The state sets the rules for voting and counting
Under the U.S. Constitution, states and the federal government share power. Some powers are exclusively reserved for the states, while other powers are exclusively under the control of the federal government, for instance signing treaties, or declaring war on a foreign nation. Under this system, known as federalism, states – not the federal government – run elections. Individual states and local jurisdictions within states determine polling locations, how citizens vote and other rules surrounding election administration.
An official Pennsylvania mail-in ballot, seen in Pittsburgh, Oct. 3, 2024. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Differences also extend to how ballots are counted and how long it takes for states to report results.
Nearly all states prohibit releasing election results until after the polls close on Election Day. However some states begin to count mail-in and early ballots as they are cast. This means that they can report the results of an election sooner on Election Day, because the work of processing and counting is already done.
Under Pennsylvania law, voters may cast ballots through the mail. Local election officials are prohibited from opening the envelopes containing mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day.
Prior to 2020, the only Pennsylvania voters permitted to vote by mail needed an excuse – for instance, serving overseas in the armed forces. The first time Pennsylvania voters were able to vote by mail without an excuse was in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a record number of voters nationwide chose to vote by mail when that option was allowed, including in Pennsylvania.
Out of the nearly 7 million total Pennsylvania voters in the 2020 presidential election, roughly 2.6 million voted by mail. Prior to 2020, local election officials never needed to count such a large number of ballots received through the mail, and news organizations could typically announce Pennsylvania’s unofficial winner quickly.
It’s impossible to definitively say how long it will take to know who won Pennsylvania. The more ballots there are to count, the longer America will need to wait.
The length of time it will take to determine the winner will also depend on how close the election turns out to be.
If the margin of victory for the winning candidate is very small – say tens of thousands of votes – then election officials will need to count enough ballots that it becomes mathematically impossible for the other candidate to catch up, regardless of how the remaining ballots voted and only then will credible news organizations announce a projected winner of each state.
If the election is within half a percentage point, Pennsylvania state law dictates that an automatic recount is required, although recounts are unlikely to change the winner of a statewide race.
But the wait may not be as long as it was in 2020
Although no one can say for certain how long it will take – anyone who says otherwise is wrong – there are indications that it might not take as long as it did in 2020.
First, it is highly likely that fewer Pennsylvanians will choose to vote by mail in 2024. A smaller proportion of voters opted to vote by mail in the 2022 midterm election than in the 2020 general election, and that trend is likely to continue in 2024. Thus far, fewer voters have requested mail-in ballots than in 2020, so that assertion is supported by the available data at this point.
Counting may also take less time because election officials have more experience counting the mail-in ballots now than in 2020. That year was the first time election officials counted so many mail-in ballots.
In the 2020 presidential election, roughly 2.6 million Pennsylvanians voted by mail. On Nov. 4, 2020, Luzerne County employees open mail-in ballots to be counted at the elections board in Wilkes-Barre. Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
One more thing to expect
According to the Associated Press, Pennsylvania will report small batches of mail-in ballots first, followed by in-person Election Day votes. After that, the remaining mail-in ballots will be tabulated and released. This process will likely result in predictable patterns in the results of the election.
We know several things because of who in Pennsylvania has requested mail-in ballots this cycle, which follows a similar pattern as in 2020. Most voters who opted to vote by mail in 2020 were Democrats, while Republicans were more likely to vote in person on Election Day.
The results will then likely change as mail-in ballots are counted, which takes time. As they are counted, you should expect to see Trump’s vote share decline and Harris’ share increase. That expectation is based on the voters who have requested mail-in ballots so far.
As of 10 a.m. on Oct. 28, 2024, data from the Pennsylvania Department of State indicated that 56% of the mail-in ballots requested at that point in Pennsylvania were from registered Democrats, about 32% from Republicans, with the remaining 13% from voters who did not register with a party or listed a third party. In 2020, over 6 in 10 mail-in ballots were requested by Democrats and about 1 in 4 by Republicans.
American elections are administered by dedicated public servants on both sides of the political aisle who are observed by representatives from both political parties as well as nonpartisan watchdog groups. Academics and journalists across the nation also closely monitor elections and would be the first to ring the alarm if there were evidence of malfeasance.
Ballot counting in Pennsylvania will take time, and ultimately election officials have said they prioritize “accuracy over speed.” We will know the results of the election in time. Until then, be patient and watch one of the world’s oldest democracies at work.
Professor Safarpour has previously published articles on election administration, including a paper published in 2022 that used data provided by the State of Pennsylvania’s Board of Elections in the 2016 election. Professor Safarpour did not consult with state election officials prior to the publication of this article and does not receive funding or support from any state government or board of elections for her research. The analysis presented here represents the best available data at the time of publication.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jialu Shan, Research Fellow at the TONOMUS Global Center for AI and Digital Transformation, International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
AI is already everywhere, ready to change the way we work and play, how we learn and how we are looked after. From hospitality to healthcare, entertainment to education, AI is transforming the world as we know it.
But it’s developing at a different pace in different parts of the world. In the west, it seems, there is a tendency to aim for perfection, with companies taking their time to refine AI systems before they are implemented.
And China’s desire to be the world leader in AI development seems to be working. Here are three important lessons the west can learn from China’s economic strategy towards AI.
1. Embrace imperfection
Many Chinese companies have adopted a “good enough” mentality towards AI, using it even when the technology is not fully developed. This brings risks, but also encourages fast learning.
For example, in 2016, Haidilao, a popular Chinese restaurant chain, introduced “Xiaomei”, an AI system which dealt with customers calling up to make reservations. While Xiaomei is not the most sophisticated AI system (it only understands questions about reservations), it was effective, managing over 50,000 customer interactions a day with a 90% accuracy rate.
It’s not perfect, but it provides a valuable service to the business, proving that AI doesn’t need to be flawless to make a big impact.
2. Make it practical
A key distinction between AI strategies in China and the west is the focus on practical, problem-solving applications. In many western industries, AI is often associated with cutting-edge technology like robot-assisted surgery, or complex predictive algorithms.
While these advances are exciting, they do not always bring immediate impact. China, by contrast, has made significant strides by applying AI to solve more basic needs.
In China, some hospitals use AI to help with routine – but very important – tasks. For instance, in April 2024, Wuhan Union Hospital introduced an AI patient service which acts as a kind of triage nurse for patients using a messaging app.
Patients are asked about their symptoms and medical history. The AI then evaluates the severity of their needs, and prioritises appointments based on urgency and the medical resources available at that time. The results are then relayed to a human doctor who makes the final decision about what happens next.
By helping to ensure that those with the most critical needs are seen first, the system plays a crucial role in improving efficiency and reducing waiting times for patients seeking medical attention. It’s not the most complex technology, but in its first month of use in the hospital’s breast clinic, it reportedly provided over 300 patients with extra consultation time – 70% of whom were patients in urgent need of surgery.
3. Learn from mistakes
China’s rapid adoption of AI hasn’t come without challenges. But failures serve as critical learning experiences.
One cautionary tale over AI implementation comes not from China, but from Japan. When Henn na Hotel in Nagasaki became the world’s first hotel staffed by robots, it received a great deal of attention for its futuristic concept.
But the reality soon fell short of expectations. Churi, the hotel’s in-room assistant robot, frequently misunderstood guest requests, leading to confusion. One guest was reportedly woken up repeatedly because a robot in his room mistakenly understood the sound of his snoring to be a question.
In contrast, many Chinese hotels have taken a more measured approach, opting for simpler yet highly effective robotic solutions. Delivery robots are now commonplace in hotel chains across the country, and while not overly complex, they are adept at navigating hallways and lifts autonomously, bringing meals to guests.
By focusing on specific, high-impact problems, Chinese companies have successfully integrated AI in ways that minimise disruption and maximise usefulness.
The Chinese restaurant chain I mentioned earlier provides another good illustration of this approach. After the success of its chatbot, Haidilao introduced “smart restaurants” equipped with robotic arms and automated food delivery systems. While innovative, the technology struggled during peak hours and lacked the personal touch many customers valued.
Instead of abandoning the project, Haidilao continued to adjust and refine its use of AI. Rather than adopting a fully automated restaurant model, it went for a hybrid approach, combining automation with human staff to enhance the dining experience.
This flexibility in the face of setbacks represents a crucial willingness to pivot and adapt when things don’t go as planned. Overall, China’s pragmatic approach to AI has enabled it to take the lead in many areas, even as the country lags behind the west in terms of technological sophistication. This is driven by a willingness to embrace AI’s imperfections, and then adapt where necessary.
Where speed and adaptability are critical, companies can’t afford to wait for perfect solutions. By embracing AI’s imperfections, focusing on practical applications and real-world feedback, Chinese companies have unlocked the economic value of AI in a way that others are being too timid to emulate.
Jialu Shan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Donald Trump and his followers have eagerly whipped up anti-immigrant sentiment throughout the US presidential campaign, as a growing number of migrants from Haiti and Venezuela arrive due to continuing crises at home.
Stories about Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, have ultimately been proven to be false. And accounts of Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment blocks in Aurora, Colorado, have been called “an incredible exaggeration” by the city’s mayor.
Progressives have rightly challenged such accounts. But the absence of an effective counter-narrative about migration cedes ground to regressive messaging that reduces the complexities of human mobility to a zero-sum game between national populations and migrant-others.
As an anthropologist conducting research with Venezuelan migrants in Chicago, two points strike me as vital to changing the terms of this debate.
The first is that among the Venezuelans I work with – most of whom hold what’s known as temporary protected status – the US isn’t a place they ultimately plan to settle. Their overwhelming focus is on earning enough money to build a life back home. The second is that to truly understand migration, we need to place migrant experiences and motivations in historical context.
Working all hours
Two days after the televised presidential debate in September where Trump made repeated references to immigrants, I shared cold beers with eight young Venezuelan men in the backyard of a rented house on Chicago’s South Side.
Each had his own story of the journey to the US, with most making the perilous walk through the Darién Gap – or la selva (“the jungle”), as they call it – before claiming asylum at the Mexico-US border.
Having eventually been granted the right to work, the men are now employed on the same assembly line in a Chicago factory. Many of them also work as delivery drivers after hours.
“I don’t have to defend myself with words or argue with people,” says Hector, a 24-year-old from San Cristóbal in western Venezuela. “I just need to show that my work is good. In that way, I’m contributing to the better image of Venezuelans.”
Guillermo, a 38-year-old from Venezuela’s third-largest city, Valencia, works 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week. When he isn’t working or resting, he’s on WhatsApp talking to friends and family, many of whom are among the estimated 8 million Venezuelans who now live abroad due to the country’s economic and political crisis.
Each week, Guillermo sends several hundred dollars home to his father, wife and daughter. He’s also been slowly working towards buying a house in his home city, a goal that motivates him amid the many hardships he’s endured abroad.
“I’m a guerrero [warrior],” he jokes as he recounts his journey since he left Venezuela in 2017. In that time, Guillermo has worked as a street vender in Colombia, a taxi driver under precarious conditions in Chile, and has crossed borders from Bolivia to Mexico on foot.
This determination to return is shared by Guillermo’s Venezuelan friends in Chicago, all of whom hope to go home despite recent allegations of electoral fraud against the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. “With Maduro, without Maduro, with whoever is there … eventually we want to return to our country,” Guillermo explains.
The reasons for Venezuela’s present situation are complex. Few would dispute the claim that Maduro has grossly mismanaged the economy. But there’s a longer backstory rooted in the deep inequalities between the global north and the global south, as well as the country’s vulnerability as a postcolonial petrostate that has repeatedly experienced cycles of boom and bust.
And then there are the sanctions that were levelled against the country by the Trump administration. According to researchers Benedicte Bull and Antulio Rosales, the sanctions have accelerated Maduro’s transformation of Venezuela into what they term “authoritarian capitalism”.
The bitter irony for the young people I work with is that all of this means they have had to travel thousands of miles to have a chance of building a better life at home. For Hector and Guillermo, the biggest difference between the US and countries like Chile or Colombia is the US dollar, the strength of which means their labour goes much further when it’s sent home in the form of remittances.
In this sense, perhaps a better way of understanding these recent arrivals to the US is that, against all the odds, they’re enacting a form of “guerrilla redistribution” in a profoundly unequal world. For progressives, the urgent political challenge is to widen the terms in which we understand what migration is and what it could be on a more just planet.
The research for this article was funded by the British Academy (SRG2324240415). The author thanks Ana Mattioli for support with interview transcriptions.
“People have forgotten what life is all about,” Robert De Niro’s character says in the film Awakenings after being revived from the shut-down state he had been in for 30 years. “They’ve forgotten what it is to be alive.”
Based on a true story told by Dr Oliver Sacks, Awakenings focuses with exquisite detail on the experiences of a few extraordinary people affected by a disease known as encephalitis lethargica, or the “sleepy sickness”. Yet far from being a rarity, this disease affected a million people worldwide during and after the first world war. Then it vanished and has remained a mystery for the past century. The question that has never been answered is: what caused it?
The disease was first described by a neurologist in Vienna in 1917. It was noted that the initial symptoms were similar to those of flu, but that’s where the similarities ended. Over the next few weeks, some would be unable to sleep at all, while others would be so drowsy they could be woken for only a few minutes to eat.
About half died in this early phase, but those who survived were even more perplexing. After recovering, often returning to work, many started to notice stiffness, slowness in their movements and even that their eyes would get stuck in certain positions. Sadly, this slowly progressed. And many were left – like De Niro’s character – in a frozen state, unable to speak or move.
But that wasn’t all. Many would develop monotonous or slurred speech. Some had changes to their mood, perceptions and personality. In a study my colleagues and I conducted, we even came across four patients who developed kleptomania (compulsive stealing) as part of their illness.
What could have caused this?
Finding the origin of a disease isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. HIV as a cause of Aids or HPV causing cervical cancer were both long journeys and were not at all obvious early on. It’s the same with encephalitis lethargica.
Given that it started suddenly and then went away, some have suggested it might be related to an infection. Spanish flu occurred around the same time, although the first cases of encephalitis lethargica were earlier. We haven’t found any influenza virus in the brains of people who were affected, so it doesn’t quite fit in a simple way.
To look at what might be going on, we spent hours reading through the meticulously preserved records of more than 600 patients who had encephalitis lethargica. We found that only 32% of them had had anything even remotely like flu in the year before their illness started. And less than 1% had an affected family member. So the flu infection story isn’t very convincing – at least on its own.
What about something in the environment? 1917 was a fairly eventful year – to say the least – with the first world war involving an enormous mobilisation of people, arms and supplies. Perhaps it was some new chemical being used. Yet our study found no link to people who worked with particular substances.
More recently, a new theory for encephalitis lethargica has been proposed. The idea is that there might be an autoimmune process involved – that is, the body’s natural defence mechanisms might have turned on itself and attacked the brain.
This happens elsewhere in the body. A reaction against cells in the pancreas causes type 1 diabetes, while antibodies to cells in the thyroid gland can trigger Graves’ disease. In the brain, the results can be devastating, and in recent years, we have recognised that multiple sclerosis also results from a problem with the immune system.
Something called autoimmune encephalitis is where certain antibodies attack nerve cells in the brain. We found that almost half of the patients diagnosed with encephalitis lethargica might have had autoimmune encephalitis, though it didn’t fit the pattern for any of the types we recognise today.
How could this explain a disease that arose out of nowhere and caused such a range of symptoms? Some patients found that their movements and thoughts were massively slowed down. Others hallucinated, had bizarre delusions or even seemed to lose their sense of right and wrong.
This is where we may have to return to the idea of an infection, either flu or something else. Some autoimmune conditions can be triggered by an infection of some kind, which may look a bit like something the body is familiar with. It’s a good disguise for the invading bug, but once your body has recognised it, there’s a risk it turns the body’s defences on itself.
Does this all really matter? Is it worth solving a pandemic where the last survivor died two decades ago? Well, sadly, encephalitis lethargica wasn’t the first neurological epidemic of its kind and – if we don’t crack it – we won’t be prepared for the next.
Jonathan Rogers has received funding from the Wellcome Trust and NIHR. He is a Council member for the British Association for Psychopharmacology, an Advisor to the Global Neuropsychiatry Group and a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Catatonia Foundation.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tara Lai Quinlan, Associate Professor in Law and Criminal Justice, University of Birmingham
Members of Chris Kaba’s family at a march on the anniversary of his death.Shutterstock
Two years after fatally shooting 24-year-old Chris Kaba in the head, the London Met Police firearms officer Martyn Blake was acquitted of Kaba’s murder.
As soon as the trial concluded, newspapers published information about Kaba that they were barred from reporting during the proceedings. Chief among the details was the news that Kaba had allegedly shot a man in both legs at a nightclub days before his own death, although he was never prosecuted for or convicted of the crime.
The post-trial publication of details of Kaba’s alleged criminal history should not affect how we view Blake’s prosecution and acquittal. But it will have implications for future cases where black men are killed by police. It will also further damage already-strained relationships between black communities and police.
Kaba was shot by Blake after police stopped the car he was driving in south London. Kaba was unarmed. Police did not know that Kaba was driving, but believed the car had been connected to a shooting the night before. Blake told the court he fired his weapon because he believed his colleagues’ lives were at risk.
The jury was not told of Kaba’s prior convictions during the trial, nor should they have been. Kaba was not on trial – Martyn Blake was. So this information did not play a role in their decision to acquit. Because Kaba was killed by Blake, Kaba’s prior convictions were not relevant in Blake’s trial. We correctly shun victim-blaming when it comes to other victims: it should be no different in this case, in which Kaba was the victim.
Had Kaba been alive and testified for the prosecution against Blake, the judge could have considered whether his prior criminal convictions were relevant to his testimony and credibility. But disclosure of a witness’s previous convictions is rightfully very narrowly construed by the courts, and would have to meet a specific legal standard.
Racial stereotypes
The research is clear that when a person of colour is killed by police and posthumous information about the victim is released to the public, it has an impact on public perceptions of blame, sympathy and empathy for the black victim and police shooter, and perpetuates racial stereotypes. And this seems to be what is occurring here.
Studies have shown for decades that black people, men in particular, are first and foremost viewed as perpetrators by police and members of the public, not as crime victims. We have seen the impact of this in the many killings of unarmed black men by police in the US, from Michael Brown to Eric Garner to George Floyd.
These stereotypes have also played a role in cases in the UK. Black men and boys are often treated by the criminal justice system and the media as somehow responsible for their own deaths. For instance, Stephen Lawrence, who was killed in 1993 by a group of white men while waiting at a London bus stop, was regarded by police for a long time as a suspect, not a victim.
Or Dea-John Reid, a 14-year-old black boy who was chased and killed by a group of white teens and adults in Birmingham in 2021. After his death, police initially doubted racism played a role in the killing, and it was suggested at the trial that Reid was involved in instigating events leading to his killing. While multiple defendants were brought to trial, only a 15-year-old boy was convicted of manslaughter for Reid’s death. Two adults, aged 36 and 39, and two other teenagers were acquitted of his murder.
Police chiefs are asking the government to make it harder for the Crown Prosecution Service to charge officers. Svet foto/Shutterstock
For decades, scholars have tracked how black men are viewed through the lens of the myth of criminality. This view, rooted in slavery and colonialism, erroneously suggests black men have a propensity for criminality. It persists today in crime figures that show minority ethnic people disproportionately represented in every stage of the criminal justice process.
Yet the reality from government offending surveys is that black and white people commit crimes at the same rates. The myth is reinforced through the criminal justice system, which focuses on some crimes (and alleged criminals) more than others through decisions around deployment of personnel and resources, and decisions to arrest, charge, prosecute and sentence in disproportionate ways.
For example, police stop and search rates for decades have been disproportionately shown to target black men. Arrest rates show similar disproportionate outcomes. These disparities are not due to a propensity for criminal offending, but rather the implicit and explicit stereotypes of the justice system.
These stereotypes mean that people of colour, and black men in particular, are not seen as deserving victims when they are the victims of crime or police wrongdoing.
Following the Blake verdict, police leaders have called for further protections for officers who use force while on duty (even if not deadly force). The government has said that officers charged in future cases will stay anonymous unless convicted.
The UK legal system already has rigorous standards for investigating, charging and convicting individuals, including police officers, of wrongdoing. Moreover, is it important to bear in mind that misconduct prosecutions in court against police officers are already very rare.
Blake was the first officer in England ever charged with murder for killing someone on duty, and therefore none have ever been convicted of murdering a member of the public while on duty. There are therefore already sufficiently robust due process protections in place for officers charged with a crime and they do not require further enhancing.
At a time when police have lost the trust of many of the communities they are meant to protect, particularly ethnic minority Britons, this sends the wrong message to the public that police can act without accountability.
“We went two steps forward in terms of building relationships and it just feels like we’ve taken a step back,” said Anthony King, who runs a youth crime reduction organisation in London, of the Blake verdict.
The persistence of negative racial stereotypes of people of colour generally, and black men in particular, continues to put black communities in a position of being overpoliced and yet underprotected. Treating Chris Kaba as a suspected criminal ahead of seeing him as a victim will only further this inequality.
Tara Lai Quinlan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Readers need to be imaginative rather than being startled by jump scares.zef art/Shutterstock
Ever since its inception with Horace Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto (1764), a delirious mixture of violent death and familial conspiracy, gothic literature has been a restless cultural form, constantly mutating and assuming new guises but always exploring the darker side of life. Sometimes, its fashions are those of the historical moment. Sometimes they are initiated by a book enjoying unprecedented commercial success.
One of these was Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs (1988). After the film adaptation scooped five Oscars in 1991, the deviant genius became the villain of choice for gothic films and novels. For a time, the violent merging of the crime thriller with the “body horror” of 1980s cinema ensured that the genre was dominated by such characters. Usually (though not always) men with high IQs, elevated artistic taste and ingenious ways of torturing and killing their fellow human beings, Hannibal Lecter and his ilk became modern icons.
In the wake of such influences, crime novels (and films) got bloodier and horror novels grew longer. John Connolly’s first novel, EveryDeadThing (1999), for example, spent 470 pages documenting the murderous activities of a serial killer who mutilated his victims in the style of Renaissance anatomical drawings.
In recent years however, there has been a reaction against these excesses. So-called “quiet horror” has become increasingly popular on both sides of the Atlantic. Perhaps taking its name from a 1965 collection of short stories by Stanley Ellin, which was literally called “quiet horror”, this is a genre that prizes suspense and subtlety over graphic bodily violence.
The novelist Selena Chambers characterises quiet horror as exploring “the unexplained, the suppressed, the supernal [otherworldly], the material, the cosmic, and the secular … everything we cannot see, or verbalise and fail to feel concretely”. As she implies, suggestion is crucial.
Readers need to be patient and imaginative, sensitive to the nuances and implications of language and willing to respond to spooky ambiguities rather than being startled by jump scares or “gross out” imagery.
Slasher movies usually treat their characters as no more than fodder for the next brutal killing. Quiet horror, by contrast, takes character development far more seriously and imbues its stories with greater psychological depth. This in turn can enhance readers’ involvement. Put simply, those who dislike “splatter fiction” are more likely to care what happens to a well-rounded, sympathetic character than a stereotypical US teenager about to be put under a steam hammer.
Women and quiet horror
Female novelists have been at the forefront of this style of writing since the Victorian period. Elizabeth Gaskell’s tales, including The Old Nurse’s Story (1852), a chilling tale of a family curse, are foundational works.
A long line of women writers have explored how the familiar, the domestic, the marital and the homely can be imbued with subtle terrors, from loneliness and isolation to paranoia, alienation, captivity and psychological trauma.
The haunted house does not need to contain a typical ghost. From Elizabeth Bowen’s The Demon Lover (1945) to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House (1959), to Sarah Waters’ The Little Stranger (2009) and beyond, the complex and fraught relationships between a dwelling and its occupants have frequently engaged women writers’ imaginations.
The continuing success of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black (1983) in its literary, theatrical and cinematic incarnations has helped ensure that quiet horror, particularly tales which recall the golden age of the ghost story a century or so ago, are once again much in vogue. This can be seen in the bestselling novels of Michelle Paver, such as Dark Matter (2010) and in anthologies such as The Haunting Season (2021).
At the same time, readers are increasingly rediscovering forgotten practitioners of the genre. One such figure is Elizabeth Walter (1927-2006). As a writer (and the editor of Collins Crime Club for 30 years from the mid-1960s) Walter recoiled from sadistic violence, cardboard characterisation and haphazard plotting.
After five collections of stories, beginning with Snowfall and Other Chilling Events (1965), she retired from writing supernatural fiction in the mid-1970s as the traits she didn’t like were becoming dominant within Anglo-American gothic. Many of her stories are set in the border country between England and Wales and draw upon folklore and a sensitivity to landscape to create creepily unnerving works such as The Sin Eater (1967) and Telling the Bees (1975).
I edited a collection of Walter’s writing titled Let a Sleeping Witch Lie (2024). Spanning the ten years from Snowfall to her final collection, Dead Woman and Other Haunting Experiences (1975), the stories within anticipate some elements of Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins novels which also involve Welsh border settings, supernatural elements, and police procedural, though they lack Rickman’s religious dimension.
There is no sense of providence at work in Walter’s borderlands, only ancient and mysterious menace. Marriages tend to be unhappy, families harbour terrible secrets, and the old ways continue to overshadow the present. Fifty years since her final collection, Walter’s work might be more relevant than ever before.
Quiet horror has never really been away, but it seems to finding a new audience, one which both looks to its past and relishes its present.
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Nick Freeman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Leda Stawnychko, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Organizational Theory, Mount Royal University
Research shows that over half of Gen Z have no interest in pursuing middle management roles, meaning they are missing out on valuable opportunities. (Shutterstock)
Known as the first truly “digital native” generation, Gen Z grew up immersed in a world of technology and social media, giving them a natural edge in navigating the modern world. But there is more to Gen Z than their digital fluency.
What truly sets them apart is their ambition, entrepreneurial spirit, financial savviness, commitment to ethical consumption and strong sense of social responsibility. For Gen Z, work is more than just a paycheck — it’s about committing to a higher purpose. They do best in people-centred organizations that value their contributions, prioritize well-being and align with their sense of mission.
Gen Z is redefining leadership by choosing to lead through expertise rather than relying on formal positions of authority. One of the most striking trends is their growing reluctance to step into middle management roles — a phenomenon being called “conscious unbossing.”
This powerful shift is catching many in the business world by surprise.
No one’s 20s and 30s look the same. You might be saving for a mortgage or just struggling to pay rent. You could be swiping dating apps, or trying to understand childcare. No matter your current challenges, our Quarter Life series has articles to share in the group chat, or just to remind you that you’re not alone.
Unlike supervisors, who primarily focus on overseeing day-to-day tasks, middle managers are responsible for both their team’s performance and the implementation of broader organizational strategies. It’s a dynamic role where strategic vision meets practical execution.
Middle managers are often the bridge between a company’s big-picture strategy and its day-to-day operations. (Shutterstock)
Middle management roles serve as a crucial stepping stone for those seeking to make a real, systemic and lasting impact, offering a platform to advocate for the values Gen Z cares deeply about, such as social responsibility, sustainability and equity.
If you are part of Gen Z and are unsure about middle management, reframing these roles to align with your values and aspirations can help you see it as a rewarding opportunity rather than a burden. This three-step framework can help you make the most of these roles while staying true to your values:
1. Use it as a vehicle to increase self-awareness
Middle management offers a unique environment to enhance self-awareness. By reflecting on how you respond to challenges, interact with others and make decisions under pressure, you can gain valuable insight into your strengths, areas for growth and leadership style.
Instead of viewing middle management as a burden or a step backward, consider how these roles can be an opportunity for growth, leadership and greater impact. (Shutterstock)
2. Think of the role as a leadership incubator
Viewing middle management as a leadership incubator can help you shift the focus toward its long-term value. These roles offer a training ground where you learn to negotiate priorities at multiple levels of the organization and give you access to important networks and development opportunities.
Middle management is about expanding your influence and creating larger ripple effects. The role offers a unique vantage point to shape organizational culture and advocate for meaningful change. You can demonstrate to older generations in the workplace that ambitious goals can be achieved without compromising personal well-being or ethical standards.
The path forward
The world is counting on you and other members of Gen Z to lead the way forward. Middle management roles offer a powerful platform to exercise meaningful influence while developing the essential skills that will prepare you for success in any path you choose.
Rather than viewing the roles as a burden, see them as opportunities to grow, inspire others and leave your legacy. Middle management allows you to connect strategy with execution, shape organizational culture and advocate for the values that matter most to you.
By embracing the challenge of middle management rather than shying away, you’ll have a chance to shape the future of your organizations and become a leader who drives positive, systemic change for a better, more sustainable world.
Self-absorbed. Arrogant. Boastful. It does not take a mental health professional to recognise these features as narcissistic. Most of us, regardless of our educational background, are confident to label someone we’ve never met as narcissistic.
Other behavioural features associated with narcissism can be similarly obvious, including a grandiose sense of self, an excessive need for attention and admiration, a lack of empathy and lashing out when criticised.
Public figures have often been subject to speculations as to whether their behaviour meets a mental health diagnosis. Ahead of the US presidential elections, Donald Trump’s mental fitness has, once again, been called into question. This time, 200 mental health professionals have signed an open letter warning the public of Trump’s “malignant narcissism”.
The letter, organised by an anti-Trump political group, argues that Trump poses “an existential threat to democracy” in the US. Citing the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the mental health professionals argue that Trump meets the diagnostic criteria for narcissistic, antisocial and paranoid personality disorder. These are “all made worse by his intense sadism, which is a symptom of malignant narcissism,” they claim.
Malignant narcissism is considered a combination of the above personality disorders, in addition to the sadistic urge to inflict pain towards others while gaining pleasure from doing so. For instance, the letter states: “According to first-hand accounts, Trump watched the violence he unleashed on January 6 for three hours on TV with ‘glee’, watching his favorite parts ‘over and over’ on ‘rewind’.”
Even though Trump has not been formally assessed by a psychologist as having any of the diagnoses put forward in the letter, it argues that it is “easy to see that Trump meets the behavioral criteria for antisocial personality disorder”.
The signatories argue that thousands of hours of media coverage of Trump’s behaviour have demonstrated a lifetime pattern of “failure to conform to social norms and laws, repeated lying, reckless disregard for the safety of others, irritability, impulsivity, irresponsibility and lack of remorse”. Other psychologists have come to similar conclusions.
The Goldwater rule
A rule set forth by the American Psychiatric Association, known as the Goldwater rule, considers it unethical to diagnose people a psychiatrist has not personally assessed.
The rule is named after Barry Goldwater, a former US senator and 1964 Republican presidential candidate who was labelled “psychotic” and “schizophrenic” by psychiatrists who responded to a survey from Fact magazine. Goldwater successfully sued the magazine for libel and won a $75,000 punitive settlement (£57,779).
The 200 signatures on the open letter about Trump believe they can justify overriding this ethical duty on the grounds that the public should be warned about Trump’s behaviour.
However, it can be argued that clinicians do not need to render a diagnosis to warn us that a public figure poses a risk to our safety. Media coverage about Trump’s danger is abound and people can draw their own conclusions without the need to put a label on it.
This is because speculative diagnoses can do more harm than good. The casual use of mental health terminology can quickly become pejorative, as the press has demonstrated in relation to Trump but also other celebrities.
Speculative diagnoses about Trump’s mental illness on social media have ranged from obsessive–compulsive disorder to delusional disorder, with little consideration that these conditions are merely conjecture. And more importantly, they shame and belittle people who are, in fact, diagnosed with these conditions.
Accuracy
But how accurately can a mental health professional diagnose someone who isn’t their patient? Would you trust a diagnosis from a doctor you had never met? Probably not.
That said, there are some benefits to external perspectives when it comes to psychiatric evaluations. Studies show that other people (spouses, close friends, neighbours) often provide a more reliable assessment of someone’s personality than self-assessments, especially in relation to narcissistic features.
Research using self-report measures show that narcissistic people tend to distort their responses to enhance themselves. For studies of personality, self-reported answers along with a psychologist’s evaluation and assessments by friends and family would give the best insight.
Social media offers yet another layer. A study in 2015 showed that a computer model could more accurately assess someone’s personality based on their Facebook posts than their closest friends – or even a spouse. And for Trump, there are thousands of social media posts to draw on.
But regardless of how accurate these observations may be, making public speculations about someone’s mental health and labelling them with a personality disorder diagnosis at a distance is unethical and, at worst, may have legal implications.
Ava Green does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Albert Van Wijngaarden, Phd Candidate, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
Muratart / shutterstock
Solar geoengineering research is advancing fast, after a recent flurry of funding announcements. Yet these technologies are still speculative and have many critics, and we worry their concerns won’t be heard. If geoengineering is essentially allowed to self-regulate, with no effective global governance, future research could easily take us down a dangerous path.
Solar geoengineering refers to proposals to reduce global warming by reflecting a portion of sunlight back into space before it reaches the Earth’s surface. In its best-known form, this means using high-flying aircraft to inject tiny reflective particles into the upper atmosphere.
This so-called “stratospheric aerosol injection” hasn’t actually happened yet, beyond a few very small experiments with balloons. Yet for a long time, such ideas remained fringe and too controversial to even consider – and for some academics they still are.
The academic discussion was highly polarised from the start. Opponents, mainly governance scholars and social scientists, stood firmly entrenched against assumed proponents, mainly natural scientists and engineers. Both sides had their champions, arguments, assumptions, key publications and meetings, generally working on the topic without proper engagement with the other side.
The authors of these articles are all academic experts. Yet they come from different disciplines and use different arguments.
A public and private funding boom
Though the two camps have not resolved their arguments, geoengineering research funding is suddenly booming. There are major philanthropic pledges of US$50 million (£38 million) and US$30 million from the Simons and Quadrature Climate foundations, which are vying for the title of biggest donor with the £10.5 million and £56.8 million of the UK government’s UKRI and Advanced Research and Innovation Agency programs.
The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blocked so much sunlight the world temporarily cooled by a few tenths of a degree. Solar geoengineering works on a similar principle. Dave Harlow / USGS
Support is certainly not unanimous. Many prominent scholars have signed up to a call for a moratorium, for instance. And at a recent UN Environment Assembly session in Kenya many climate-vulnerable nations mobilised against calls for further research into what they see as a highly risky technology that would enable big emitters to carry on emitting.
However, many powerful interests are seemingly in favour of more research, while the 1.5°C global warming target is moving ever further out of sight. In the near future, we can therefore expect further research, perhaps including including small-scale outdoor experiments.
As PhD students working on geoengineering, situated somewhere between both camps, we have found this polarisation deeply unproductive and difficult to deal with. Our own research sometimes feels like wandering through a minefield of opinions and perspectives. Yet we can also see the valuable concerns and hopes of both sides.
That’s why we believe that upcoming research projects must factor in the concerns of opponents, and not represent only supporters of geoengineering or those who have not been explicitly against it. Excluding critical voices would directly impact the scientific process, for one thing.
But this exclusion is especially worrying as there are currently no governance structures for solar geoengineering. If efforts to develop such governance only involve supportive researchers, they could lack the critical capacity to prevent risks or undesired effects. Disasters in the financial sector and the chemical industry warn us of the perils of self-regulation without critical voices.
Learn from the critics
There are other critiques that ought to be factored into any major research project. They include concerns that simply researching the technology will create a slippery slope towards it being deployed, or worries that geoengineering ignores the social and political dynamics behind climate change and addresses only its outcomes. There are also major governance concerns over issues such as the role of the military (could geoengineering be deployed for security reasons in contested regions like the Arctic?), or the concentration of research at influential institutions in the US and Europe.
Over time, geoengineering researchers have become more aware of such arguments and some are explicitly trying to include them in their work. The American Geophysical Union has recently published an ethical framework for geoengineering, which should provide valuable guidance for any research project. But without active dialogue with critical scholars, their arguments will likely only echo faintly in the pro-research space.
In practice, more engagement between the two camps would come with many difficulties. For advocates, it can be tempting to avoid such debates and exclude those who disagree with the very foundations on which their research is built. On the flip side, some scholars who have already explicitly argued against the continuation of solar geoengineering research would nevertheless have to participate in it.
The practical implications will therefore need to be carefully worked out. However, a more productive dialogue might still shape a future that can be acceptable to all sides.
Albert Van Wijngaarden receives PhD funding from Gates Cambridge. He is involved in UArctic’s Frozen Arctic Conservation project, and was an advisory board member of Ocean Vision’s Sea Ice Roadmap.
Adrian Hindes is also an analyst for Civilization Research Institute which does work pertaining to global catastrophic risks, including those related to emerging technologies such as solar geoengineering.
Chloe Colomer receives PhD funding from the UK Research Institute (UKRI) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) with the grants EP/R513143/1 and EP/T517793/1.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Chloe Duckworth, Reader in Archaeological Science & Public Engagement, Newcastle University
There is clearly giddy excitement in the shaky footage showing hands scrabbling in the soil in the Chew Valley in south-west England. A close-up shot captures someone pulling silver coin after silver coin from the churned earth as a woman laughs “there’s pennies everywhere.” The video accompanied news reports in 2019 of the monumental find by seven detectorists of a hoard of silver coins dating from the time of the Norman conquest in the 11th century.
The hoard has just been purchased for a whopping £4.3 million by the South West Heritage Trust. While this might be the largest amount ever paid for such a discovery, as an archaeological scientist I can tell you that much of its historical value was lost the moment it was pulled from the ground.
Such stories of amateur finds are easy to get behind. Detectorists are the underdogs – amateurs who are driven by their passion for the past to spend their free time diligently searching for hidden treasures.
The nation’s love of such stories was seized upon in Mackenzie Crook’s gently hilarious television show, Detectorists (2014). As reflected in the series, however, metal detecting has a fraught relationship with archaeology.
The videos showing the detectorists scrambling excitedly in the dirt.
While both involve digging up remains of the past, the two groups have different opinions on what is most important when it comes to such finds. For archaeologists, the finds themselves are often less important than the context in which they were discovered – the opposite is true for detectorists.
The detectorists in the Chew Valley were acting within the law. They first sought permission from the landowner, and ensured the find was reported to the authorities. However, as the video of the discovery shows, the coins were dug out haphazardly.
Archaeologists would have gone about this in a different way, following a scientific process of excavation and recording. This is because once excavated the contextual information is destroyed forever.
For instance, when speaking about the Chew Valley Hoard on Radio 4’s PM programme, Professor Michael Lewis, head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (a voluntary government-run programme that records small finds of archaeological interest by members of the public), struggled to answer any specific questions about the circumstances in which the hoard had originally been interred. This is because of the way it had been dug up.
To dig or not to dig?
Archaeology today employs a unique system of excavation, a sort of reverse engineering of the sequence of past events. This comes complete with intensive recording, sampling of soils and other processes designed to minimise the loss of information.
In the case of hoards – deliberately buried caches of valuables from a time before banks and safes – this method of recovery can preserve information about the date of burial and whether the items were deposited in a single episode or over time. It can also help ascertain what organic materials were originally present and even provide insights into the meaning of the objects for those who deposited them.
We saw this sort of process able to take place in 2014 after detectorists found the Galloway Hoard – more than 100 gold, silver, glass, crystal, stone and earthen objects from the Viking age. These amateurs contacted the relevant authorities before digging it up, which meant it was possible, through expert recovery, to reconstruct the precious textiles and other containers in which the objects were originally buried.
Many countries, including Greece, strictly outlaw the use of metal detectors for treasure hunting, although many people continue to do so in secret. In the UK, the hope is that by legalising reporting and offering purchase of treasure, the finds can at least be preserved for research and for public viewing.
However, there isn’t anything in this approach to stop the unscientific method of recovery, which will continue to rob us of much more that we might have known. This leaves the question of whether such finds should even be dug up at all.
Archaeology is a relatively young discipline, but the surviving remains of the distant past are a finite resource. Land development, climate change, mechanised agriculture, population growth, war, looting and desecration are threats facing archaeological sites the world over.
In recent years professional archaeologists have responded by excavating the bare minimum. We might dig ahead of construction works and large infrastructure projects such as HS2. Sometimes we excavate because a site is threatened by coastal erosion or other environmental changes. When we dig purely for the sake of research, or as part of a community project, we focus on partial recovery, prioritising survey, geophysics and “test-pitting” (a sort of archaeological keyhole surgery).
In all cases we must also ensure that there is enough money to cover the conservation and protection of the things we dig up, and, crucially, publish the reports of their excavation, with all its insight into the context of the finds.
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Chloe Duckworth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The British Library’s breathtaking new exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, brings to life the experiences, stories and voices of women from the distant past.
The show covers the period from 1100 to 1500, and a range of mainly western countries and cultures. Many of the women featured are from the elite ranks of society: queens, princesses, noblewomen and nuns.
On first entering the gallery, visitors encounter a striking late 13th-century carved stone figure of Eleanor of Castile, who was queen of England from 1274 until her death in 1290. It’s one of a series of 12 memorials commissioned by her bereft husband, Edward I, to mark the sites where her body was temporarily set down on its funeral procession from Lincolnshire to Westminster.
Also on display near the entrance are examples of the work of Hildegard of Bingen and Christine de Pizan. Hildegard was a German abbess, mystic, composer and scholar, and de Pizan was the first professional woman writer in France.
Both were exceptional, highly educated and privileged women, but the exhibition doesn’t limit itself only to the most famous medieval women.
These lovely illuminated manuscripts contrast with the next item, a much more mundane – if touching – missive from a woman named Alice Crane. Crane is only known to historians because she corresponded with her friend Margaret Paston during the 15th century. Paston was a Norfolk gentry woman and prolific letter writer. This is one of the few letters we have from the time that testifies to friendship between women. Alice writes: “Thanking you for the great cheer that I had of you when I was last with you with all my heart.”
This first part of the exhibition is titled “Private Lives” and explores topics such as cosmetics and perfume and women’s medicines and healthcare. Visitors are introduced to women medical practitioners and wet-nurses and find out about education and domestic piety.
There are displays about pregnancy and pregnancy loss, love and marriage, adultery and divorce and property ownership and inheritance. Margery Brews’s Valentine letter (believed to be the oldest example of a Valentine’s day note) and Gwerful Mechain’s poem in praise of the “cunt” are both displayed – and recited.
One of the most striking items on display is a birthing girdle – a parchment covered in prayers and illustrations that was believed to have talismanic properties. Birthing girdles were intended to protect both mother and baby during labour.
The public lives of medieval women
Powerful women visually dominate the second part, “Public Lives”. It includes an arresting portrait of Henry VIII’s grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, founder of two Cambridge University colleges, and the skull of a lion thought to have been owned by the Margaret of Anjou, leader of the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses.
Military conflict is an important theme – there is a book chronicling the history of Shajar al-Durr, Sultana of Egypt, who defeated a crusader army. Nevertheless, several documents provide insight into lives less known.
There’s the chancery bill of Maria Moriana, whose name suggests she was a woman of colour. A record of a debt owed to the Jewish businesswoman Licoricia of Winchester who was subsequently murdered in what was very likely a hate crime is displayed. As is a Venetian contract for the sale of an enslaved Russian called Marta. And the record of the interrogation of Eleanor Rykener – a sex worker we would likely recognise today as a trans woman.
Books produced or sold by women scribes, notaries, printers and booksellers lead the visitor into the main display of manuscripts of works by women writers, from Marie de France, a secular poet in the court of Henry II, to Juliana Berners, the probable author of a treatise on hunting, fishing and heraldry.
“Spiritual Lives” introduces nuns, mystics and heretics. There are records relating to Joan of Arc, the peasant French military leader of the hundred years war, who was captured and executed by the English. A letter bearing Joan’s signature is exhibited for the first time outside her mother country (in the land of her persecutors, to boot).
Here visitors also encounter the manuscripts of The Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich and The Book of Margery Kempe. These are two of the earliest works by women to have been written in English and have been brought to life by the artist Tasha Marks in an arresting scent installation. Julian’s satanic torments are conjured up by the stink of sulphur. Kempe’s scent of angels is evoked by notes of honey, strawberry and caramel.
The curators have done an extraordinary job in making this material accessible to a wide audience. Information panels provide context and correctives. They reveal that the gender pay gap was around 25% at the end of the 15th century, and that only around 1% of women became nuns.
There are interactive displays that can tell you if you would have grounds for medieval divorce, or if you’d have been vulnerable to witchcraft charges (warning: don’t keep a box of stolen penises).
The exhibition draws attention to the sheer diversity of the lives and experiences of medieval women in England and beyond, from the quotidian to the sublime. Providing abundant evidence of their learning and scholarship, skills and ingenuity and creativity and artistry, it is, quite simply, unmissable.
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Diane Watt has received funding from the AHRC, British Academy and Leverhulme Trust.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Njabulo Chipangura, Anthropologist and Curator of Living Cultures at Manchester Museum, University of Manchester
Dahomey, a new documentary film from the award-winning French director Mati Diop, follows the unconditional restitution process of 26 cultural heritage objects in 2021. The items were looted by French troops during an invasion and subsequent colonial occupation of the kingdom of Dahomey, now the present-day Republic of Benin, in November 1892.
Prior to its return, the collection was kept in the basement at Quai Branly Museum in Paris. Stored under lock and key, they existed as static and lifeless anthropological objects, that only served as war “trophies” and representations of the cultures of the vanquished and colonised. They had once been exhibited under the classification of “devil, idol, fetish, kaffir, charm, evil spirit and amulet” objects.
Dahomey is timely. It comes as debates rage on the urgent necessity of repatriating the African cultural heritage objects that were appropriated by French, British, Germans, Portuguese, Spanish and Belgian forces during 18th and 19th century colonial conquest and expansion projects.
In her film, Diop has managed to restore the agency of the objects at the heart of the Dahomey restitution case by transforming them into living cultures. She gives a literal voice, for example, to object number 26 – a human-sized wooden statue that is an allegorical portrait of King Ghezo, depicting him as half bird, half man. The real King Ghezo ruled Dahomey from 1818 until 1958. In the documentary, the statue recounts his “loss of life” when he was dislocated from his place of birth by French troops in 1892.
Just as King Ghezo was depicted as his symbol – half man, half-bird – two other royal statues that feature prominently in the documentary are also kings of Dahomey sculpted as their symbols: King Béhanzin who ruled from 1890 to 1894 is a shark-man and King Glele who ruled from 1858 until 1889 is a lion-man. Each of these kings reigned over Dahomey and resided at Abomey, which was the kingdom’s capital.
I see the choice to give voice to these objects as a call for museums to rehumanise collections that were acquired as a result of colonial violence. This would mean taking a proactive approach to acknowledge how both objects and ancestors from the colonised country were dehumanised by different colonial collecting practices, from looting to grave robbing.
King Ghezo’s journey
Dahmoey follows the statue of King Ghezo as he journeys back home from France’s Jacques Chirac Museum of Branly Quay to the Republic of Benin. He wonders what his new life will be like in the country he was ripped from 129 years ago.
Upon the collection’s arrival in Benin, there was pomp and jubilation in the modern capital city of Cotonou, but the critical question remained – who now owns this heritage? Is it the state, the community or direct descendants of King Ghezo?
The staging of the return was well-choreographed, and its politicisation clearly visible. The 26 objects lay in state, heavily guarded and protected as national heroes. However, in Diop’s film, King Ghezo reflects that he felt like a foreigner, far removed and detached from the country he imagined when he was still an ethnographic museum object in Paris.
This crisis of belonging and identity can be interpreted as a consequence of how African museums were established during the colonial period. Their history mirrored the colonial practices of ordering, categorisation and classification of objects of the western museums where King Ghezo was imprisoned for more than a century. African museums are by products of colonisation and are, in many ways, still exclusionary and elitist.
Therefore, placing King Ghezo in a museum in Benin can end up reinforcing ideals similar to colonial classifications. Instead, King Ghezo needs to have his life restored by giving agency to community ways of doing and knowing, and to the heritage management systems established in Benin long before colonisation.
Repatriation debates
The film also shows students at the University of Abomey-Calavi in the south of Benin debating the repatriation. Many express dissatisfaction in view of the fact that only 26 objects were returned out of the 7,000 which were looted by the French at Abomey in 1892.
Many students dismiss the return as a non-event, without any historical significance. They see it, instead, as a charade for political mileage by the president of the Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon. Listening to the students made me reflect on the political nature of restitution, and how most European museums still hold power and authority in setting the conditions for or against returning.
These 26 objects were returned to Benin unconditionally, meaning France no longer has any claims to ownership. In conditional repatriation, however, European museums decide which objects should be given back to their countries of origin, and in most cases within the premises of short to long-term loans
For example, in June 2024, the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology conditionally returned 39 objects to Uganda on three-year negotiated loan deal. Ownership of these objects is still in the hands of Cambridge University. On the contrary Manchester Museum, where I work, unconditionally returned 174 objects to the Anindilyakwa people of Groote Eylandt in northern Australia in September 2023.
As a practical decolonial strategy, unconditional repatriation means that museums must not prescribe conditions of caring for cultural heritage objects to communities of origin upon their return. This is part of the process of giving communities agency to use their own heritage objects in ways that they deem necessary.
The 26 objects at the heart of Dahomey were not made to be imprisoned in museum storage. They still have potency and can be viewed by communities as living beings which they can use, touch, smell and taste. Although these “objects” may appear stagnant within ethnographic classifications in museums, they have individual biographies and carry with them important meanings connected to their ritual and cultural functions located in societies of origin.
One student succinctly captures this sentiment in the film by recounting how she cried for 15 minutes on seeing the returned sculpture of King Ghezo, who she considered her ancestor. In the end, the restitution of cultural heritage objects by European museums back to Africa must not regarded as loss but rather as a means towards building practical relationships of care with their communities of origin.
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Njabulo Chipangura does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Michael Arntfield, Associate Professor of Criminology & English Literature, Western University
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has recommended that a judge resentence Lyle and Erik Menendez almost three decades after the brothers were sentenced to life without parole for murdering their parents.
The brothers were convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder for the 1989 killings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. If a judge approves the recommendation, it would make them eligible for immediate parole. Gascón said he believed the brothers have “paid their debt to society.” If a parole board agrees, they could soon be released from prison.
These extraordinary developments come in the wake of two true crime productions on Netflix: the scripted limited series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and the documentary, The Menendez Brothers. Both revivify the defence strategy used in the brothers’ 1994 and 1996 trials that they murdered their parents as a form of self-defence following years of alleged sexual abuse by their father.
In these two productions, we see the moral conundrum of so-called “true crime” on full display. That is, whose definition of “true” should viewers rely on when assessing the veracity of a narrative?
More often than not, there are two kinds of truth. There’s what really happened, and the narrative of what happened. This is a reality that I’ve noted as a criminologist and forensic historian and a police detective before that.
As a form of historical revisionism, true crime has shown both the willingness and ability to change official narratives, for better or worse.
In a press conference, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón outlined the reasons he is recommending the Menendez brothers be resentenced.
True crime and the Menendez case
The true crime genre has taken off in recent decades, with countless podcasts, documentaries and TV series produced recounting gruesome and often unsolved murders. The genre has garnered criticism for focusing on, and sometimes, exploiting the real suffering of victims and their families.
The 2022 season of the Netflix Monster series, which told the story of Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, was widely derided as being exploitative and mired in controversy.
However, the second instalment, focusing on the Menendez brothers, has become an overnight cause celebre and a bandwagon clarion call to have the evidence in the case reviewed and the brothers’ life sentence reconsidered, if not jettisoned altogether.
The productions have renewed interest in this infamous case for those old enough to remember while, at the same time, introducing a new generation to the sordid details of the proceedings.
These details include, most notably, the controversial and ultimately failed defence strategy of depicting the murders as a form of self-defence following years of alleged sexual abuse the boys endured at the hands of their father, patriarchal record mogul Jose Menendez.
Following mistrials for both brothers in 1994, Lyle and Erik were convicted of the murders in 1996 and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
A trailer for the Netflix true crime documentary ‘The Menendez Brothers.’
But now, in the wake of these same series and Gascón’s announcement, the case has been re-opened. “Significant new evidence” has been cited in the form of a potential additional victim of abuse by Jose Menendez. In addition, a letter from Erik to a cousin about the alleged sexual abuse of his father has been disclosed lending credence to the original defence position.
We might wonder if this evidence would have merited such attention, and the district attorney’s intervention, were it not for the cultural influence of the Netflix productions.
What we can say for certain is that this is not the first instance of true crime directly influencing the criminal justice system. HBO’s Paradise Lost trilogy of documentaries, along with the 2012 film West of Memphis, are generally credited with enabling the release of the wrongfully convicted West Memphis Three.
The first season of the Serial podcast in 2014 also led to the 2022 release of Adnan Syed after serving 20 years in prison for the 1999 murder of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee. That same conviction was reinstated in 2023 as part of an ongoing saga driven by intense public interest.
That interest is what differentiates the current iteration of true crime from its antecedents: it aims to transcend passive viewers and listeners to promote direct action, advocacy and public participation.
The four waves of true crime
While the term “true crime” may be comparatively new, as a cultural phenomenon it certainly is not. The Mystery Writers of America has issued awards for Best Fact Crime books since 1948. True crime in one form or another has arguably existed since the 1850s and was pioneered by Charles Dickens.
Yet it is still unclear what societal forces drive this trendy, cyclical interest in semi-true retellings or thinly fictionalized treatments of criminality. However, in my book, How to Solve a Cold Case…And Everything Else You Wanted to Know About Catching Killers, I argue that, true crime as we now know it can be delineated into four distinct eras, or waves:
The Second Wave, between 1965-1975, was also primarily literary. Its most notable works included Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted serial killer Charles Manson.
In the third wave in the 1980s, true crime stories started to become multimedia, with Ann Rule’s book The Stranger Beside Me about serial killer Ted Bundy, and the semi-interactive NBC docuseries Unsolved Mysteries.
A trailer for the Netflix show ‘MONSTERS: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.’
The fourth and current wave began in 2010. The hallmarks of this wave are unfolding before us in the Menendez case. The current wave is immersive, participatory and accessible. Amateur sleuths, advocates, pundits and activists proliferate with each new feature. Podcasts beget further podcasts.
Viewers and listeners are also keenly self-aware and facetiously self-deprecating. True crime is consistently discussed in the context of — and perhaps even designed to promote — what can only be characterized immoderate consumption. Some true crime fans are, for instance, self-described “junkies” and “addicts” who “binge” content. And yet, depending on the case, these same “junkies” are newly empowered and qualified to demand action.
The legal and ethical questions that arise are what cases make their way into this ecosystem and whose story are they to tell? How is a series on Dahmer a bridge too far when, two years later, another same series created by the same producers can alter the course of California legal history?
These are, of course, unanswerable questions. In the meantime, however, the Menendez brothers’ saga is a cautionary tale about how the invisible hand of the true crime market will select certain crimes over others — and prioritize certain victims and offenders alike over other — based on criteria we still don’t fully understand.
Michael Arntfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Movie monsters have captivated audiences since the days of early cinema. They evoke fascination and terror, allowing audiences to confront their fears from the safety of the movie theatre or living room.
Arguably one of the most enduring and captivating of these monsters is Freddy Krueger, the villain of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series who celebrates his 40th screen birthday this November.
Memorably played by Robert Englund, Freddy quickly became a cultural icon of the 1980s and 1990s. Beyond his burned face and iconic bladed glove, Freddy’s dark humour and acidic personality set him apart from other silent, faceless killers of the era, such as Michael Myers in Halloween or Jason Vorhees in Friday the 13th.
Written and directed by horror maven Wes Craven, 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street garnered positive reviews for its innovative concept: Freddy stalked and attacked his victims in their dreams, making him inescapable and allowing him to tap into their deepest fears. The series (seven films plus a 2010 remake and Freddy vs. Jason spin offs) blended supernatural horror and surrealism with a dark and twisted sense of humour.
Scary … but funny
Humour was key to Freddy’s “popularity”. Both sinister and strangely charismatic, Freddy’s psychological torture of his adolescent victims often oscillated between terrifying and amusing.
Aspiring actress Jennifer drifts off to sleep while watching a talk show on TV. In her dream, the host of the talk show suddenly transforms into Freddy, who attacks his guest before the TV blinks out. When Jennifer timidly approaches the TV set, Freddy’s head and clawed hands emerge from the device, snatching her while delivering an iconic one-liner: “This is it, Jennifer – your big break in TV!”
Freddy turns his victims’ fears or aspirations – their dreams – against them.
He described a childhood experience of seeing a strange mumbling man walking past his childhood home. The man stopped, he said, and looked directly at him “with a sick sense of malice”. This deeply unsettling experience helped shape Freddy’s menacing presence.
In the film, Krueger’s origin story reveals him as a child murderer who was apprehended but released due to a technicality in his arrest. Seeking justice, the parents of his victims take matters into their own hands, and form a vigilante mob. They corner him in his boiler room and burn him alive. But Freddy’s spirit survives to haunt and kill the children of his executioners.
Film critic and essayist Robin Wood argued horror films often bring to the surface elements society has repressed. These fears, desires, or cultural taboos are not openly acknowledged.
But movie monsters act as manifestations of what society suppresses, such as sexuality, violence or deviant behaviour. American academic Gary Heba argues Freddy is:
an example of America’s political unconscious violently unleashed upon itself, manifesting everything that is unspeakable and repressed in the master narrative (perversion, child abuse and murder, vigilantism, the breakdown of rationality, order, and the family, among others), but still always present in the collective unconscious of the dominant culture.
Actor Robert Englund calls Freddy Krueger ‘the gift that keeps on giving’.
Since then, the landscape of horror has shifted, with fewer singular monsters emerging. The diversification of horror sub-genres (zombie virus horror, anyone?), the rise of psychological horror (Hereditary), and an emphasis on human-driven terror (Wolf Creek) or supernatural forces all contribute to this shift.
While modern horror continues to thrive, few characters have achieved the same iconic status as Freddy – although some would argue Art the Clown from the recent Terrifier franchise and the reinvigorated Pennywise from IT could join this exclusive group.
‘Five, six, grab your crucifix.’ A 2010 Nightmare on Elm St reboot failed to fire.
Happy Halloween!
Despite a failed reboot in 2010, the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street is strong, having influenced numerous filmmakers with its skilful mix of surrealism and slasher horror.
However, it’s the orchestrator of the titular nightmares whose legacy is perhaps the strongest.
With each Halloween, new fans choose Freddy for their costume. All it takes is a tattered striped sweater, a brown fedora hat, and a glove with sharp, finger-lengthening blades. Don’t forget makeup to re-create Krueger’s grisly facial burns. Sweet dreams!
Adam Daniel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Do you own any memorabilia depicting Elvis, Princess Diana, David Bowie, Prince or Michael Jackson? Perhaps a beloved t-shirt, a favourite mug, a special keyring or a novelty plate? You might not know it, but you are participating in something known as “necro-branding”.
Necro-branding is where the image of a celebrity is sold to the public, perhaps by their estate or by their fans, long after the celebrity has died.
These necro-branded items act almost like talismans, helping us preserve the past and remind us of an era long gone.
Necro-branding is also shaping up to be a multibillion-dollar industry. Even the stars of today – such as Taylor Swift – will inevitably one day become the necro-brands of tomorrow.
And with the astonishingly rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), we can expect celebrities’ images to be “reincarnated” even more in the future, and their legacies extended far beyond death.
Necro-branding is everywhere
As colleagues and I argued in our recent paper in the journal Celebrity Studies, the quintessential necro-branded celebrity is Elvis Presley.
From Elvis impersonators to countless items of Elvis memorabilia, the Elvis brand has only increased after the star’s death. Elvis-themed postage stamps issued by the US Postal Service reportedly became the top-selling commemorative postage stamps of all time. He’s also appeared on stamps issued by countries all around the world, such as the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.
At the time of his death, Elvis was worth an estimated US$5 million dollars ($40 million in today’s terms), but by 2022, it was estimated that Elvis Presley Enterprises has a net worth of between $400 million and $500 million. The use of his image on merchandise and memorabilia contributes to the continuation of his legacy.
And it’s not just necro-branding marketed to older fans; younger generations are also a target with Elvis marketing.
Think, for example, of the stratospherically successful early-2000s dance track version of A Little Less Conversation, by Dutch musician Junkie XL. Or, for instance, of the way Elvis tracks are woven throughout the Disney animated movie Lilo and Stitch.
Of course, Elvis is not the only necro-branded celebrity. David Bowie, Prince, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Johnny Cash are other obvious examples, with countless pieces of merchandise bearing their images. Their brand value has increased once the star has passed away.
Deceased royals – such as Princess Diana and, more recently, Queen Elizabeth – are another obvious example, especially because living royals already enjoy such massive brand values.
Necro-branding works because of the deep connection fans feel with celebrities. One study of fans of NBA basketballer Kobe Bryant found that as fans’ grief and shock waned, other stronger emotional responses, such as love, actually increased.
Another 2024 study analysing fans of Johnny Cash and John Lennon suggested that fans acted “religiously” in honouring the memories of these beloved musicians.
Marilyn Monroe is another heavily necro-branded celebrity. As we argue in our recent paper
Her brand has shown strong durability in terms of earnings and is now licensed to the same management group that owns the bulk of the Elvis brand, Authentic Brands Group (ABG). Monroe often made the top ten list of earners in the Dead Celebrities List from 2001 to 2008.
Necro-branding and AI
AI already plays a pivotal role in branding of celebrities, alive and dead, and will no doubt be used more in future to extend the marketability of today’s celebrities.
Think, for instance, of the way some of the recordings from the past are imperfect. Elvis footage from the 1970s often has good sound quality, but the actual video footage reflects the technology of the time.
While this can be partially rectified with remastering, future AI-powered technology will allow entire reproductions of shows, with all imperfections removed.
Perhaps, many decades from now, an AI-generated version of Taylor Swift will be performing for fans of that era. Whole personas can be altered to meet the demands of different generations of fans, maintaining their legacy indefinitely.
Brand new songs can be performed by a necro-celebrity who never actually sang them, or songs from other entertainers (dead or alive) can be performed by the avatar of a dead singer.
AI has already been used to create a version of the song Barbie Girl sung in the “voice” of Johnny Cash, alongside a medley of other pop hits.
A whole new frontier
Even if you’re new to the term, you’re already part of the necro-branding market. And there is more to come once AI advances and consumers can no longer distinguish between fake and real.
The lines will become blurry, as the branding of necro-celebrities become a whole new frontier for marketing and AI develops ever faster and better.
Joanne Soviner, a year 12 student at North Sydney Girls High School, contributed to this article.
Chris Baumann does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
