tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/tradition-3072/articlesTradition – The Conversation2024-02-01T14:24:22Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207392024-02-01T14:24:22Z2024-02-01T14:24:22ZSlaves of God: Nigeria’s traditional Osu slavery practice was stopped, but the suffering continues<p><em>There are global efforts to fight modern slavery, but a few traditional systems still hold strong in west Africa. These include Osu, Ohu and Trokosi.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation Africa’s Godfred Akoto Boafo spoke to Michael Odijie who has <a href="https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-854">researched</a> one of the systems – Osu – and what can be done to finally put a stop to it.</em></p>
<h2>What is Osu?</h2>
<p><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2459907">Osu</a> is a traditional practice in the <a href="http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/%7Elegneref/igbo/igbo2.htm#:%7E:text=Most%20Igbo%20speakers%20are%20based,%2C%20Ebonyi%2C%20and%20Enugu%20States.">Igbo region</a>, in south-eastern Nigeria. In the past, Osu involved dedicating individuals to local deities, “transforming” them into slaves of the gods. Though such dedications no longer take place, the descendants of past Osu suffer from discrimination and social exclusion.</p>
<p>Historically, there were <a href="https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-854">several ways</a> a person could become an Osu. Some were purchased as slaves and then dedicated to local gods, either to atone for a crime committed by the purchaser or to seek assistance from the deity. An individual might attain the status of an Osu through birth if one of their parents was an Osu or through voluntarily seeking asylum, thus assuming the Osu status. For example, during the transatlantic slave trade, many chose this path: they would run to a shrine and dedicate themselves, to avoid being sold. Once dedicated as an Osu, they were generally ostracised from Igbo communities, yet simultaneously regarded with fear, seen as the slave of a deity.</p>
<p>Another common way to become an Osu was through marriage to an Osu, leading to persistent marriage discrimination even today.</p>
<p>The spread of Christianity, which occurred rapidly among the Igbos in the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/colonialism-and-christianity-in-west-africa-the-igbo-case-190019151/A803DBB4AAF24CCEEA20597B37B5E649">20th century</a>, discouraged the practice of worshipping local deities. The historical practice of Osu has ended.</p>
<p>However, a new form of discrimination has taken its place, targeting the descendants of those historically identified as Osu. </p>
<p>One of the most significant forms of modern discrimination occurs in the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-journal-of-postcolonial-literary-inquiry/article/abs/abolition-law-and-the-osu-marriage-novel/DDA6F8DDBB3D12D822EE42CC17FE165D">realm of marriage</a>. Freeborn individuals, who have no Osu lineage, are customarily prohibited from marrying someone of Osu lineage. Should they do so, both they and their offspring permanently become Osu, facing the same discrimination. This discrimination has a profound impact on the social and emotional lives of many Igbos of Osu lineage, particularly those of marriageable age. It can be challenging for them to find a spouse.</p>
<p>Another form of discrimination nowadays is social exclusion. In Igbo villages, Osu live in segregated quarters and are barred from social interactions with freeborn community members. They face barriers to accessing certain public amenities, attending community events and participating in communal decision-making processes. </p>
<p>Their descendants are also restricted from holding specific influential positions in the Igbo village power structure, such as the Okpara (the oldest man in the village) and the Onyishi.</p>
<h2>How prevalent is Osu and where is it practised?</h2>
<p>G. Ugo Nwokeji is an Igbo cultural historian who studied slavery in the Igbo region. <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-descendants-of-slaves-in-nigeria-fight-for-equality">He estimated</a> that the Osu represented 5%-10% of the Igbo population. With an ethnic population of about 30 million <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199846733/obo-9780199846733-0143.xml">Igbos</a> in Nigeria, this suggests that between 1.5 and 3 million Igbos suffer from this discrimination. </p>
<p>The vast majority of Osu are found in Imo State, which has about 5.2 million people. But they are in every other Igbo-dominated state as well: Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi and Abia.</p>
<h2>Why has it been a challenge for governments to end the Osu practice?</h2>
<p>In 1956, <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001/acref-9780195382075-e-0239">Nnamdi Azikiwe</a>, then the premier of Eastern Nigeria and later the first president of Nigeria, spearheaded the passage of a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/218649">law</a> aimed at abolishing Osu and its social disadvantages. </p>
<p>But the practice continued. No arrests were recorded. Osu is deeply rooted in tradition, making a purely legal approach insufficient.</p>
<p>One reason why eliminating discrimination has been difficult is that identifying an Osu is relatively straightforward for Igbos. They often reside in their own distinct quarters. Therefore, simply mentioning one’s village or family name can reveal one’s Osu status. This situation is a result of a combination of Igbo culture and colonial policy from the 1920s. During this period, individuals of slave origin began to assert themselves, and the British colonial response was to segregate them.</p>
<h2>What other approaches should be tried?</h2>
<p>A new abolition movement is gaining momentum in the Igbo region of Nigeria, fuelled by social media. This has enabled widespread awareness and advocacy, creating a more robust and inclusive dialogue about the Osu system.</p>
<p>One of the leading groups in this new movement is the <a href="https://ifetacsios.org.ng/">Initiative For the Eradication of Traditional and Cultural Stigmatisation in Our Society</a>, a network of campaigners led by Ogechukwu Stella Maduagwu. </p>
<p>Recognising that the Osu system is often viewed as having spiritual significance, the initiative places greater emphasis on the advice of cultural custodians, including traditional rulers. Consequently, it has developed a “model of abolition” that involves consultation with cultural figures, such as chief priests representing the deities, in Igbo villages. Using this model, the organisation successfully conducted an abolition ceremony in the <a href="https://dailypost.ng/2021/04/06/joy-celebration-as-nsukka-abolishes-osu-caste-system/">Nsukka region</a> of Enugu State.</p>
<p>Another leading campaigner is <a href="https://www.globalpeacechain.org/team_members/dr-nwaocha-ogechukwu/">Nwaocha Ogechukwu</a>, a scholar and researcher specialising in religious and cultural discrimination. He has established a platform named Marriage Without Borders to assist young people who face marriage discrimination due to being labelled as Osu. In collaboration with religious leaders, he provides counselling and support to those suffering from the adverse effects of this system.</p>
<p>A challenge for the emerging movement is its localised approach. Without a strategy that encompasses the entire Igbo region, campaigners are unable to collaborate effectively or engage in a unified, sustainable effort. This issue arises from the diverse genealogies of the Osu and the lack of a single traditional Igbo authority. </p>
<p>As a result, the movement has found it difficult to gain widespread traction. It continues to have a village-level focus.</p>
<p>We recommend that the movement align itself with broader human rights campaigns within Nigeria, across Africa and internationally. The Osu system bears resemblances to Ghana’s <a href="https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1190&context=history-in-the-making">Trokosi system</a>. The campaign to abolish <a href="https://theconversation.com/girls-in-west-africa-offered-into-sexual-slavery-as-wives-of-gods-105400">Trokosi</a> achieved notable success because its message resonated on a national level, garnering support from international activists.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220739/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael E Odijie receives funding from UCL Knowledge Exchange </span></em></p>Ending discrimination against the Osu has been difficult because identifying an Osu is relatively straightforward for Igbos.Michael E Odijie, Research associate, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2109412023-12-27T09:10:11Z2023-12-27T09:10:11ZHorse skulls and harmony singing – two winter customs which bring people in Wales together<p>Imagine you’re having a quiet evening at home when suddenly there’s a knock on the door. You open it to find a boisterous crowd carrying a horse’s skull mounted on a pole and draped in ribbons – the <em><a href="https://museum.wales/articles/1187/Christmas-Traditions-The-Mari-Lwyd">Mari Lwyd</a></em> has arrived. </p>
<p>The <em>Mari Lwyd</em>, meaning “grey (or pale) mare”, is a Christmas and new year custom in areas of south Wales dating back to the 18th century. A horse’s skull is placed on a pole and covered in a white sheet, decorated with ribbons. A person, concealed under the sheet, carries the pole and operates the horse’s jaw, making it snap. A group of stock characters accompany them including Sergeant, Merryman, Punch and Judy. </p>
<p>The procession goes from house to house and the group sing verses asking for admittance. The household is expected to respond, also in verse. And so begins a (sometimes very long) improvised poetic contest or rhyming ritual known as <em>pwnco</em> before the group is finally invited into the house and offered food and drink.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Mari Lwyd goes from door to door but would you let her in?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Several explanations have been proposed as to the origin of the custom. Some argue that its roots lie in a pre-Christian fertility <a href="http://www.folkwales.org.uk/mari.html">ritual</a>. Others have argued that the <em>Mari Lwyd</em> has associations with the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2791759">Virgin Mary</a>. </p>
<p>The custom is clearly connected to the practice of <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/art-collections/wassailing-ritual-and-revelry#">wassailing</a>, where groups of merrymakers go from one house to another asking for food and drink. It may be linked to other folk performances found elsewhere in Britain and Ireland, including the <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100300697">hobby-horse</a> tradition. </p>
<h2>Plygain</h2>
<p>Further north, a tradition celebrated in Montgomeryshire, where I was brought up, is much less colourful and firmly located within a religious context. Deriving from the Latin “pullicantio” (cock crow), the <em><a href="https://museum.wales/articles/1185/Christmas-Traditions-Plygain-Singing/">plygain</a></em> (pronounced “plug-ine”), was an early-morning service originally held on Christmas Day in parish churches and then also in nonconformist chapels, beginning in candlelight and continuing into daylight. </p>
<p>It is now mainly an evening service, although some stalwarts still adhere to the early morning tradition. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A trio singing plygain.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After a congregational hymn, a reading and a prayer, the vicar or minister will announce, “<em>Mae’r blygien yn awr yn agored</em>” (the plygain is now open). There is no programme; rather, a party of singers will get up and make their way to the chancel or the <em>sêt fawr</em> (the elder’s pew in a chapel), and sing a carol, unaccompanied and with no conductor. </p>
<p>These are often from the same family and with an ancient pedigree, their frayed carol books (usually old notebooks) having been passed down through the generations. A tuning fork is often used to pitch the tune – I’ve even seen it struck against a singer’s tooth. </p>
<p>The carols would often have been composed by local poets and sung to popular tunes of the time. They do not describe solely the birth of Christ and frequently focus on the crucifixion. Often very long, they are usually sung in three-part harmonies. </p>
<p>The <em>plygain</em> ends with the spine-chilling sound of <em><a href="http://daibach-welldigger.blogspot.com/2020/12/welsh-carols-15-carol-y-swper.html">Carol y Swper</a></em> (the Supper Carol), when all the men in the congregation come forward to sing. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Carol y Swper performed at a church in Montgomeryshire.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Revival and reinvention</h2>
<p>In the 1960s, the <a href="https://museum.wales/stfagans/">St Fagans National Museum of History</a>, or the Welsh Folk Museum as it was then known, began <a href="https://museum.wales/collections/folksongs/?action=background">collecting</a> different genres of Welsh folk songs. These included <em>plygain</em> carols and <em>Mari Lwyd</em> verses. This has helped to renew interest in both traditions. </p>
<p>The museum hosts annual <em>Mari Lwyd</em> <a href="https://museum.wales/stfagans/whatson/12104/Christmas-Traditions-The-Mari-Lwyd-Performances">performances</a>, while many a Cardiff pub-goer will likely be startled by the sudden appearance of a snapping horse’s skull. The practice has evolved over time – visits can be pre-arranged, participants will sing from song sheets, the <em>Mari</em> may even be made of cardboard. In fact, anything goes.</p>
<p>Today, the <em>Mari</em> (in various guises) is thriving, and can be found as far afield as the USA and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/welshzombiechristmashorse/">Australia</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1477386261761564672"}"></div></p>
<p>The <em>plygain</em> is still going strong in Montgomeryshire and, indeed, all over Wales and beyond. Around 50 <a href="https://plygain.org/dyddiadur.htm">services</a> are held during December and January. </p>
<p>And this tradition, too, has undergone many changes. Several collections of <em>plygain</em> songs have by now been published enabling new carollers to participate. </p>
<p>In 2020 and 2021, a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yifxPBea1f0">virtual</a> <em>plygain</em> took place during the pandemic. A bilingual <em>plygain</em> <a href="https://www.plygain.org/home.htm">website</a> has also been set up and a new carol composed specifically for women’s voices, so that women, too, have their <em>Carol y Swper</em>. </p>
<p>Purists would argue that traditions should not be revived and re-invented. But it is in the nature of traditions to change and constantly evolve – they must do so in order to survive. </p>
<p>We should continue to celebrate the modern-day versions of the <em>Mari Lwyd</em> tradition and the <em>plygain</em> because they contribute to a shared sense of identity and instil in participants a sense of belonging.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sioned Davies 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.</span></em></p>The Mari Lwyd and the plygain are two prominent Welsh traditions celebrated over Christmas and the new year.Sioned Davies, Emeritus Professor of Welsh, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168152023-12-25T21:07:30Z2023-12-25T21:07:30ZHalf-watched TV and part-heard radio: summer Test cricket is steeped in nostalgia, but these ‘traditions’ have short histories<p>As the old year passes and a new one arrives, three notable sport events occupy the languid vacation hours. Melbourne’s Boxing Day and Sydney’s New Year’s Test matches are spliced by the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.</p>
<p>Unlike the race, a set-piece seasonal spectacle notable mainly for its <a href="https://cyca.com.au/event/2023-rolex-sydney-hobart-yacht-race-official-spectator-vessel-the-jackson/">Rolex-sponsored</a> affluence, picturesque helicopter shots, and (seemingly) AI-generated reporting, the cricket stirs strong emotions.</p>
<p>Many people are seduced by the nostalgic notion that no Australian summer is complete without two metropolitan Test matches played on green fields. Much of the experience involves half-watched television and part-heard radio broadcasts.</p>
<p>But anyone who messes with these <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674559561&content=toc">national treasures</a> risks accusations of the greatest national sin – being <a href="https://www.griffithreview.com/articles/un-australian-national-identity-twenty-first-century/">un-Australian</a>.</p>
<h2>Adored matches with short histories</h2>
<p>Like many “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/invention-of-tradition/B9973971357795DC86BE856F321C34B3">traditions</a>”, the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-25/boxing-day-test-match-tradition-has-short-history-at-mcg/8135852">Boxing Day Test</a> at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is quite recent – in fact, barely 40 years old. </p>
<p>It is the product of jet travel, global year-round tour schedules and, especially, the needs of commercial television.</p>
<p>Kerry Packer grasped the lucrative potential of large, captive audiences on vacation. Acquiring the <a href="https://www.foxsports.com.au/the-sideline/the-packer-revolution/news-story/18ef12781ed1cd7c5f93f43b64e5061c">broadcast rights</a> in 1979, he set about maximising their value for Channel Nine. Before then, Boxing Day Tests in Melbourne were intermittent, with three in the 1970s even being staged in Adelaide.</p>
<p>Fairly regular Tests at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in January and February began in the late 1960s, but it was not until the late 1990s that they settled on the first week of the year. Patriotic television <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1I4anHgXnQ">advertisements</a> substantially created this misleading picture of time-honoured festive <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqWzzj_HxUY">cricket rituals</a>.</p>
<h2>An evolving game with a crowded calendar</h2>
<p>In the midst of this orgy of cricketing nostalgia and overindulgence of food and liquid, purists find the mounting threats to the five-day format unpalatable.</p>
<p>It is hard to imagine today that <a href="https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/rewind-to-1971-the-birth-of-the-one-day-international-464234">one-day cricket</a> was once regarded as the “fast food” version of the game. </p>
<p>But that was before we got the memo from, in particular, the men’s and women’s <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/if-the-ipl-rises-we-rise-how-lachlan-murdoch-was-sold-on-cricket-s-showbiz-behemoth-20230331-p5cx1l.html">Indian Premier League</a>.</p>
<p>Here, players are literally bought and sold in a sporting meat market, along with megabuck franchises. Cricket contests are shrunk to 20-over “big bashes” of barely three hours’ duration, the senses bombarded with music, dance, programmed crowd stimulation and loud advertisements.</p>
<p>This Twenty20 form of the game has mushroomed around the world, including in the <a href="https://www.playthegame.org/news/the-saudis-in-sport-ambitions-much-larger-than-sportswashing/">sportswashing</a> capitals of the Middle East. It has been joined recently by a newer, fast-paced variation called <a href="https://www.thehundred.com/">The Hundred</a> to compete with the slower, longer one-day and Test forms of the game.</p>
<p>After more than a century in the Olympic wilderness, cricket is also returning to the fold at the <a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/cricket-olympics-los-angeles-2028-inclusion-reactions-india">2028 Los Angeles Games</a>, courtesy of some heavy lobbying by India. It may well feature at the <a href="https://www.cricket.com.au/news/3732578/cricket-included-olympics-2028-los-angeles-icc-2032-brisbane">2032 Brisbane Games</a>, where its famous venue, the Gabba, will be rebuilt.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Television ads for text cricket in the 1980s were big on patriotism (and jingles).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Consequently, the global cricket calendar is becoming even more congested. A clear case is the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-22/australia-india-twenty20-hard-to-fathom-marnus-labuschagne/103138994">Twenty20 series</a> that took place in India within four days of the month-long men’s 2023 World Cup.</p>
<p>The teams that played in the one-day <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/11/19/photos-head-breaks-india-hearts-as-australia-win-sixth-world-cup-title">final</a>, Australia and India, faced off again in the Twenty20. But half the Australian team returned home, and only one of the Indian one-day team participated.</p>
<p>Such time pressures and competition variations encourage more players and coaches to specialise in different cricket formats. The money is comparatively easy in the short form of the game, while the physical and mental health toll can be reduced by <a href="https://johnmenadue.com/t20-blessing-or-curse-to-cricket/">opting out</a> of Test and even one-day cricket altogether.</p>
<h2>Suffering in the name of tradition</h2>
<p>The Australian cricketers who do play in future Melbourne and Sydney Tests may find they will move west to Adelaide or Perth, or north to Brisbane. As Cricket Australia goes to tender for its new <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/pitch-battle-why-boxing-day-new-year-s-tests-are-up-for-grabs-20230901-p5e19j.html">seven-year broadcast contract</a>, it has made clear that no venue has a guaranteed Test match.</p>
<p>Of course, such matters are being raised in a play for more cash. But with expensive new stadia to fill and state governments offering juicy inducements to snag a prestigious Test match, Australia’s two largest cities may be dismissed on these crucial days.</p>
<p>There is also the problem of the frequently sodden Sydney, with <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-11605239/Cricket-fans-call-New-Years-Test-taken-AWAY-Sydney-wet-weather.html">agitation</a> that the key New Year’s Test should be moved from one of the <a href="https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/cricket-weather-reality-check-sydney-is-as-wet-as-manchester/535863">wettest cities</a> where elite cricket is played.</p>
<p>To preserve the heritage value of the New Year’s Test, must bored, damp spectators sit in the stands? Or TV viewers be forced to watch images of a covered pitch and listen to droning fill-in commentary?</p>
<p>As the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1440783320941284">COVID pandemic</a> lockdown showed, sports like cricket now resemble continuous-process manufacturing industries, or global just-in-time operations where the “product” is assembled via intricate logistics.</p>
<p>The lines between tradition and progress constantly shift in these hyper-commercial cricketing times. One casualty may be the largely illusionary sense of continuity proffered by Australia’s Boxing Day and New Year double bill.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe 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.</span></em></p>Summer in Australia is often set to the soundtrack of a Test cricket match. That sentimentality can get in the way of seeing cricket for what it is: a hyper-commercial cash machine.David Rowe, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2142362023-10-09T13:31:59Z2023-10-09T13:31:59ZWitchcraft in Ghana: help should come before accusations begin<p>Witchcraft is generally understood to refer to a supernatural power possessed by an individual. In Ghana, particularly in the northern parts of the country, the subject continues to <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Should-witch-camps-in-Ghana-be-closed-down-1023430">spark fierce debates</a>.</p>
<p>In regions such as Northern, Savanna and North East, people accused of witchcraft are banished from their communities. In response, other communities have provided refuge for displaced people. These places of refuge have themselves <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/witch-camps-elderly-women-die-ghana-1754907">sparked controversy</a>. Critics contend that they have become centres of “abuse” and have called for their closure. </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/821110-matthew-mabefam">lecturer</a> in anthropology and development studies. I set out to understand the controversy around what are often called “witch camps” and whether they should be abolished. I conducted a year long ethnographic study in the Gnani-Tindang community in northern Ghana. Gnani-Tindang provides refuge for people accused of witchcraft who have been banished from their communities.</p>
<p>I conclude from my <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681392.2023.2232052">findings</a>
that government and NGOs aren’t proving capable of managing the problem, because they are starting at the wrong place. The focus is on witchcraft accusations, by which time people have already been stripped of their “social citizenship” and been forced to relocate. </p>
<p>Engaging with the experiences of people accused of witchcraft and their communities shows that intervening at an earlier point matters more.</p>
<h2>The background</h2>
<p>Victims of witchcraft accusations face alienation or exclusion from their communities. Exclusions can be social, physical, economic or psychological.</p>
<p>Some villages in northern Ghana have become known as places that provide refuge to people banished from their communities. These villages were not created for this purpose. Rather, they are already existing communities that have chosen to provide such refuge. </p>
<p>Banishment happens when someone accused of witchcraft is no longer welcomed in their community. They are asked to leave and never return. Not heeding such advice comes with consequences including violence, abuse, social exclusion and murder. </p>
<p>Sometimes people relocate to a village that’s offering them safety after they’ve been forced to leave their homes following direct threats. In some instances people move when they hear rumours that they risk being accused of witchcraft. </p>
<h2>What people who had been banished told me</h2>
<p>The purpose of my research inquiry was to gain insights into how individuals accused of witchcraft speak about themselves and their circumstances.</p>
<p>The experiences of those accused varied. As one told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They finally threatened that they were going to do their juju, and if I had any knowledge about the child’s sickness, I was going to die within four days. I told them they should go ahead; I was willing to die if I were the one responsible for the child’s sickness. After the ritual, I didn’t die. However, they said I could no longer stay with them in the community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another gave this account: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>After the death of my husband, the relatives accused me of witchcraft. My in-laws said I killed my husband, but I don’t know anything about it. He fell sick and died afterwards. How can I kill my husband? I was lucky I wasn’t killed. There were lots of chaos, and some of the people suggested that I should be killed. Others disagreed and suggested that I should be brought to Gnani-Tindang … It’s my husband’s people who brought me here.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We also observed that elderly people with little strength to fend for themselves were often targeted. One person, who was 80 years old, said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Look at me; I’m old and weak now. I can’t do much for myself. But I must fetch water, firewood and beg for food to eat. It is lonely here. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>Ghana’s parliament has recently <a href="https://www.songtaba.org/wp-content/uploads/Press-Release_antiWitchcraftBill-28072023.pdf">passed</a> an anti-witchcraft bill. It seeks to criminalise the practice of declaring, accusing, naming, or labelling people as witches. Making such an accusation would lead to a prison sentence.</p>
<p>But, in my view, the bill alone isn’t the solution. This is because declaring certain behaviour illegal – and therefore punishable in a court of law – doesn’t address the issue of prejudice and discrimination which often relates to people’s age, gender and economic status. In other words, the law won’t deal with the tensions that emerge when culture intersects with the reality of people who become victims of witchcraft accusations.</p>
<p>Additional steps need to be taken. </p>
<p>Firstly, attention needs to be given to the underlying social issues driving accusations of witchcraft. For example, extreme inequalities among men and women, old and young, rich and poor. Creating avenues that provide a balance in society will have an effect on witchcraft accusation and banishment. </p>
<p>Early gender-tailored education needs to be introduced by the government and development actors on the value of both boys and girls. This is particularly important in the patriarchal societies of northern Ghana. This could help address gender inequalities that lead to witchcraft accusations. Witchcraft accusation is gendered: more women than men are accused, confronted and banished. </p>
<p>There is a need to engage widely with the Ghanaian society about the dangers of witchcraft accusation and to put in mechanisms to protect those who are abused and violated as a result of such accusations. </p>
<p>Finally, there is a need to listen to the voices and experiences of those who are victims of witchcraft accusations. This will ensure that interventions aren’t detached from their reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214236/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Mabefam 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.</span></em></p>Victims of witchcraft accusations face alienation or exclusion from their communities.Matthew Mabefam, Lecturer, Development Studies, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2136322023-10-04T12:31:48Z2023-10-04T12:31:48ZWhy are some Chinese women still looking to the West for love?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551470/original/file-20231002-15-syyk7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C9%2C6116%2C4074&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In China, single women as young as 27 are considered 'leftover.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/man-and-woman-facing-each-other-on-balkony-royalty-free-image/926295480?phrase=illustration+man+looking+out+window&adppopup=true">Maciej Toporowicz/Monument via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Robert, an American truck driver in his 50s, lived in a trailer park in the Deep South. After divorcing his wife, who had cheated on him, he joined an online dating agency that connected Western men with Chinese women through translator-assisted email exchanges.</p>
<p>Robert told me he had become frustrated with American women, whom he felt were overly materialistic and had lost their “traditional family values.” (To protect the identities of my interviewees, I’ve used pseudonyms.) Yet Robert could barely afford to travel to China to meet the women with whom he exchanged emails. To save up, he often ate just a few dumplings for dinner, sometimes skipping the meal altogether. </p>
<p>Across the ocean, several Chinese women had gathered at their local dating agency, waiting to speak with their translator. Among them was Ruby, a former businesswoman in her mid-40s who had received a generous divorce settlement from her wealthy Chinese ex-husband and had retired in leisure. Next to Ruby stood another divorcee in her 40s, Daisy, who struggled to make ends meet as a department store sales clerk. </p>
<p>Despite their immense class differences, both women shared the same hope of marrying a Western man and moving abroad.</p>
<p>Commercial dating agencies like the one described here facilitate email exchanges and marriages between women from developing countries, such as Russia, Ukraine, China or Colombia, and men from economically advanced Western countries, such as the U.S., U.K., Canada or Australia. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/530647/love-in-the-time-of-algorithms-by-dan-slater/9781101608258">It’s a US$2 billion global business</a>. From 2008 to 2019, I conducted research for my book “<a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=35148">Seeking Western Men: Email-Order Brides under China’s Global Rise</a>” at three international dating agencies in China, interviewing 61 Chinese female clients.</p>
<p>I wanted to know why, despite China’s meteoric economic and cultural rise, so many women – especially those who were financially well-off – were still looking to the West for love and companionship.</p>
<h2>Options narrow with age</h2>
<p>Despite China’s staggering male-female gender imbalance – <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/china-has-nearly-35-million-more-single-men-women-1592486">where single men outnumber women by more than 30 million</a> – middle-aged divorced women still face significant struggles. </p>
<p>There’s the stereotypical Western media representation of “<a href="https://studybreaks.com/thoughts/shattering-myths-about-asian-mail-order-brides-through-screen-narratives/">mail-order brides</a>” – young women who marry older Western men to escape poverty. This dynamic persists. But contrary to this stereotype, the majority of women enrolled at the dating agencies where I conducted research were middle-aged and divorced. </p>
<p>None of them felt coerced, and they cited age discrimination in China as their No. 1 reason for seeking Western men. </p>
<p>As Ruby confided, “Here, rich men want a young girl who is 20 to show off.” </p>
<p>Although it’s no secret that divorced or widowed <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2014/11/14/four-in-ten-couples-are-saying-i-do-again/">men in many countries remarry younger women</a>, the pressure to do so is particularly acute in China, where women as young as 27 years old <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/leftover-women-9781783607891/">are stigmatized</a> as “leftover.”</p>
<p>Adding to the complexity, women with children from previous marriages – especially those with sons instead of daughters – face even more challenges in the local marriage market. Chinese women attribute this <a href="https://cardiffjournalism.co.uk/life360/for-many-chinese-men-no-house-means-no-marriage/">to societal norms</a> that expect young men to own a home or have made a down payment before tying the knot. This means that parents are expected to financially assist their sons with mortgages, and many single men don’t want to assume this financial responsibility when marrying a woman with a son. </p>
<p>Infidelity also ranks among the top concerns for women, in large part due to the country’s post-1978 <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-01/40-years-of-reform-that-transformed-china-into-a-superpower/10573468">economic reforms</a>, which spawned a new capitalist upper class. Many newly wealthy men – even those who were already married – started seeking younger, more sexualized women.</p>
<p>Ruby told me that her affluent ex-husband, who had a number of extramarital affairs, once quipped that “men are like teapots, each teapot should be matched with multiple teacups.” </p>
<p>It wasn’t just China’s newly wealthy class of men who started seeking romance outside of their marriages. Women told me of husbands who had lost their jobs and then turned to drinking, gambling and infidelity to cope with their newfound financial struggles.</p>
<p>While many female clients sought Western men as a tonic against Chinese men’s infidelity, this was hardly a concern for women who were mistresses to wealthy businessmen. </p>
<p>One former mistress, Jennifer, said, “I believe in patriarchy.” She preferred the company of rich men with multiple partners over faithful but less prosperous men. </p>
<p>As these mistresses aged, however, their wealthy paramours abandoned them for younger women. But they were unwilling to settle for lower-status, less successful men in China. After years of being out of the workforce, their lavish consumption habits were at odds with their weakened labor market prospects. </p>
<p>As a result, they turned to marriage migration as an option for escape.</p>
<h2>Spurned by the service sector</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, my interviews with sales clerks and nannies shed light on the challenges faced by middle-aged women without college degrees. Many of them had been laid off from state-owned factories in the 1990s, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2016/03/chinas-coming-mass-layoffs-past-as-prologue/">when over 30 million workers lost their jobs</a>.</p>
<p>These women struggled to find new work in China’s service sector, <a href="https://experts.illinois.edu/en/publications/mein%C3%BC-jingjichinas-beauty-economy-buying-looks-shifting-value-and">which prioritizes hiring young, good-looking women</a>. Daisy, a 43-year-old, felt fortunate to have secured a job at a luxury department store, but she feared for her future job prospects. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young female Chinese barista pours hot water as a male customer awaits his order." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551473/original/file-20231002-26-dsef6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551473/original/file-20231002-26-dsef6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551473/original/file-20231002-26-dsef6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551473/original/file-20231002-26-dsef6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551473/original/file-20231002-26-dsef6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551473/original/file-20231002-26-dsef6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551473/original/file-20231002-26-dsef6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In China’s booming service sector, young applicants get preference over older ones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/barista-is-making-coffee-in-a-new-starbucks-reserve-coffee-news-photo/992237296?adppopup=true">Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, less attractive women often had to work in less desirable positions: as nannies helping mothers take care of newborns, or street vendors who earned less than $5 per day. <a href="https://www.csis.org/blogs/new-perspectives-asia/reform-horizon-chinas-weak-social-safety-net">Without access</a> to health insurance, retirement benefits or other social safety net programs, many of these women were desperate to leave China.</p>
<p>Finally, many struggling single mothers marry Western men so their children can study overseas. </p>
<p>Some of them want their children to escape <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvm8aq/china-education-rigid-gaokao-alternative-learning-beijing-school">China’s exam-driven education system</a> that can burden students with excessive schoolwork and no playtime. Others feel that the Chinese job market favors social connections over qualification. </p>
<p>Joanne, a retail manager with dreams of sending her teenage son to the U.S. for college, pointed out, “Unlike in the U.S., a lot of good jobs in China depend on ‘hou tai’” – the Chinese term for “social background” or “lineage.” </p>
<p>“Having a degree is not enough,” she added.</p>
<h2>Mixed marriage experiences</h2>
<p>Interestingly, of the 30 women in my study who were financially secure, only 12 ended up marrying Western men. By comparison, 26 of the 31 financially struggling women married and moved abroad. </p>
<p>This is because many financially secure women were used to dating wealthy Chinese businessmen and politicians, so they often rejected their working-class Western suitors. After meeting these men face to face, they realized that they lacked the refined taste, lifestyle and sexual experience of their Chinese lovers. </p>
<p>By contrast, the financially struggling women held a different perspective. Daisy, who married a French mechanic, eventually grew to appreciate her husband for being kind and caring to her, even though she was not initially attracted to him and called him “foolish and clumsy, like someone from the peasant class.”</p>
<p>Moreover, Daisy valued the opportunity to work as a waitress and earn $1,500 per month, which enabled her to send some money home to her daughter in China.</p>
<p>Likewise, Robert, the truck driver, eventually found love with a Chinese woman. She moved into his trailer and worked as a masseuse on the side to send money back to her sons in China. </p>
<p>While some brides felt content in their new marriages, others suffered. For example, Joanne found herself in a toxic relationship with a controlling American man. Yet she stayed with her husband because her older age, limited English skills and her son’s need for financial support as a college student in the U.S. left her with few other options. </p>
<p>As Joanne’s experience shows, given the gender, age and class inequalities that continue to plague modern-day China, single Chinese women can find themselves choosing between a rock and a hard place.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monica Liu 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.</span></em></p>Their desire to pursue marriage abroad not only reveals their longing for a better life but also reveals the pervasive gender, age and class inequalities that continue to plague modern-day China.Monica Liu, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of St. ThomasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2079532023-07-27T12:26:11Z2023-07-27T12:26:11ZJust about anybody in America can officiate a wedding, thanks to the internet – and one determined preacher<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539099/original/file-20230724-12442-v5wcun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2121%2C1409&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who did the honors: clergy, a justice of the peace or just a friend? More and more weddings are performed by someone ordained online.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/happy-groom-piggybacking-bride-in-vineyard-royalty-free-image/1445187947?phrase=wedding&adppopup=true">Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Wedding season is here again, and my calendar is filling up – not just as a guest.</p>
<p>Over the past 15 years, I have officiated over 20 weddings for friends and family, plus nearly 200 more as a part-time professional wedding officiant. These weddings have ranged from simple elopements to fancy ceremonies before hundreds of guests. They have taken place at farms, beaches, mountaintops, hotels, wineries and warehouses – but never at a church. They have been secular, spiritual, religious and interfaith.</p>
<p>I became a nominal minister through the website of <a href="https://www.ulc.org/">the Universal Life Church</a>, a nondenominational church that offers free, lifelong ordination to anyone, regardless of their beliefs. <a href="https://www.universalchurch.org/about-us#:%7E:text=Since%20our%20founding%2C%20we%20have,regardless%20of%20religion%20or%20background.">More than 20 million people</a> have been ordained so far. Just type in your name, email and mailing address and you will receive confirmation of your new status as a clergyperson, able to perform any legal marriage. You can adopt any religious title you please or none at all.</p>
<p>In the U.S., many, if not most, weddings today are officiated <a href="https://www.npr.org/2010/06/27/126426016/more-couples-have-friends-perform-wedding">by a friend</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/style/noticed-need-a-minister-how-about-your-brother.html">relative of the couple</a> rather than a traditional clergyperson or civil official authorized to perform the ceremony. According to the wedding planning website The Knot, 51% of couples in 2020 <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-religion-weddings-4fcbe095c77babeb79fc2464d5af0574">had a friend or family member officiate their wedding</a>, up from 37% in 2015. Though there are multiple ways for a layperson to get ordained, the <a href="https://www.ulc.org/">Universal Life Church</a> is most popular.</p>
<p>When two friends whom I had introduced to each other asked me to officiate their wedding back in 2008, I was touched and honored. Each experience of performing a wedding for friends or family has moved me deeply. Since I’m <a href="https://www.cappscenter.ucsb.edu/people/dusty-hoesly">a scholar of religion in contemporary America</a>, they also piqued my interest in what <a href="https://www.livescience.com/56094-friends-family-officiate-weddings.html">this trend</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110458657-013">says about religion and wedding rituals today</a> – questions that sparked <a href="https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.be">my subsequent research on the ULC</a>. </p>
<h2>Mail-order ministry</h2>
<p>The Universal Life Church was founded in 1959 in Modesto, California, by <a href="http://www.ulchq.com/founder.htm">Kirby J. Hensley</a>, an itinerant minister from North Carolina who could not read or write yet created Baptist and Pentecostal congregations across America.</p>
<p>Hensley’s religious views <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/1036791669?oclcNum=1036791669">were hard to categorize</a>, and the congregations that he formed kicked him out when disagreements arose. So he wanted to found a church where anyone could believe, teach and practice whatever they wanted, free of constraints imposed by religious or government authorities. The ULC’s only doctrine is <a href="https://store.ulc.net/aboutus.asp">to “do that which is right</a>,” which each person can define for themselves.</p>
<p>Hensley offered free mail-order ordinations and soon began mass ordinations at spiritual conventions and college campuses, where he was a popular speaker. Classified ads in the magazines Rolling Stone and Fate helped grow the church’s popularity, as did a flurry of news reports.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539409/original/file-20230726-29-hdbd0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photograph shows a balding man giving a talk while wearing glasses, a suit and a polka-dot tie." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539409/original/file-20230726-29-hdbd0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539409/original/file-20230726-29-hdbd0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539409/original/file-20230726-29-hdbd0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539409/original/file-20230726-29-hdbd0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539409/original/file-20230726-29-hdbd0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539409/original/file-20230726-29-hdbd0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539409/original/file-20230726-29-hdbd0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Rev. Kirby Hensley, photographed in 1986.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-rev-kirby-hensley-has-ordained-more-than-13-million-news-photo/837081604?adppopup=true">Denver Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most people got ordained as a lark: after all, why not? Others felt a spiritual calling. Ordination also appealed to young men hoping that a ministerial credential could help them <a href="https://wrldrels.org/2016/10/08/universal-life-church/">avoid the Vietnam War draft</a>. Some became ministers, created their own churches chartered under the ULC and claimed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/20/us/irs-is-challenging-mail-order-pastors.html">income and property tax exemptions</a>. In 1995, the church began offering ordination online. </p>
<p>After Hensley’s death in 1999, his wife, Lida, took over. Since her death in 2006, their son Andre <a href="https://amp.modbee.com/living/article3118424.html">has led the church</a>, which <a href="https://www.ulchq.com/">still meets weekly</a> in a church building in Modesto, California. </p>
<p>However, most people <a href="https://getordained.org/">seeking ordination</a> online today wind up using an offshoot of the Universal Life Church, not <a href="https://www.ulchq.com/">the original website</a>. </p>
<p>In 2006, <a href="https://www.themonastery.org/">the Universal Life Church Monastery</a> based in Seattle <a href="https://www.modbee.com/living/article3118424.html">split off from the rest of the ULC</a> under the leadership of minister George Freeman. The ULC Monastery’s websites now dominate the online ordination business, claiming to receive <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2015/02/05/how-online-minister-ordination-mills-work-or-dont/">1,000 requests each day</a>.</p>
<h2>My wedding, my way</h2>
<p>The ULC is most famous for ordaining people to officiate weddings for friends and relatives. Couples want unique, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/04/more-couples-having-friends-officiate-their-weddings/586750/">customized ceremonies</a> that reflect their values and beliefs. They want their weddings performed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/fashion/weddings/a-word-from-your-officiant-for-better-or-worse.html">by someone they know</a>, trust and care about and who will deliver a ceremony tailored to them. Typically, they want a nonreligious wedding.</p>
<p>These desires reflect two key trends in the wedding industry and in American religion: <a href="https://www.corpmagazine.com/features/cover-stories/modern-weddings-are-more-personalized-than-ever-say-bridal-consultants/">personalization</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/684202">secularization</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539412/original/file-20230726-29-r5g1qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman in a teal dress uses a silver cord to bind the hands of a person in a white dress and a person in a blue suit, who face each other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539412/original/file-20230726-29-r5g1qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539412/original/file-20230726-29-r5g1qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539412/original/file-20230726-29-r5g1qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539412/original/file-20230726-29-r5g1qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539412/original/file-20230726-29-r5g1qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539412/original/file-20230726-29-r5g1qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539412/original/file-20230726-29-r5g1qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tying the knot – literally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/traditional-handfasting-ceremony-during-the-wedding-royalty-free-image/1438085024?phrase=wedding+vows&adppopup=true">Wirestock/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With 29% of Americans reporting <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/">no religious affiliation</a>, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/">up from 7% in the 1990s</a>, fewer couples identify with any religion, and far fewer belong to a congregation.</p>
<p>Most of these couples want a secular or spiritual officiant who reflects their beliefs and who will help them tailor the ceremony to their interests and values. And while these couples could have secular civil ceremonies at city hall, those are usually not personalized and the officiant is a stranger.</p>
<p>Most of the couples who use an online-ordained officiant say they and their weddings are nonreligious. However, they use the ULC’s religious status to ensure the legal validity of their marriages, showing how blurry <a href="https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.be">the line between secular and religious</a> can be in America today.</p>
<p>The ULC has transformed not only how people get married, but also who can get married. The church has authorized same-sex weddings since at least 1971, when Kirby Hensley <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/1036791669?oclcNum=1036791669">presided over a wedding of two women</a>. According to my research, Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556">2015 Supreme Court</a> case that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-day-in-court-for-jim-obergefell-the-face-of-the-historic-gay-marriage-case/2015/04/28/99a00bdc-eda5-11e4-8666-a1d756d0218e_story.html">legalized same-sex marriage nationally</a>, was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-jim-obergefell-became-the-face-of-the-supreme-court-gay-marriage-case/2015/04/06/3740433c-d958-11e4-b3f2-607bd612aeac_story.html">married</a> to his late partner John Arthur by Arthur’s aunt, who was ordained by the ULC for the occasion.</p>
<p>The church’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141219074338/http:/kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-titles/religion/11097/universal-life-church-ordained/">six-decade history</a> reflects major, long-term transformations in American society. While the ULC often serves as a religion of convenience, it has allowed many spiritual and secular people to practice what is sacred to them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207953/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dusty Hoesly 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.</span></em></p>A professor who has researched the Universal Life Church unpacks why many couples now prefer to hand-pick loved ones to perform their ceremonies.Dusty Hoesly, Postdoctoral Researcher in Religious Studies, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1956432022-12-28T21:10:22Z2022-12-28T21:10:22ZI’ve indulged over the holidays. If I’m healthy the rest of the time, does it matter?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501175/original/file-20221214-16735-eb6tdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C9%2C6221%2C4138&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">pexels/nicole michalou</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The holidays are often called the “silly season” – a time when we eat, drink and be merry. But these holiday indulgences can lead to feelings of guilt and fear that we’ve undone all the healthy habits from the rest of the year. But how much do you really need to worry about the impacts of holiday overeating?</p>
<hr>
<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-what-science-says-about-how-to-lose-weight-and-whether-you-really-need-to-122635">Trust Me, I'm An Expert: what science says about how to lose weight and whether you really need to</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Yes, weight gain can happen in the holidays</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31953670/">studies</a> that show weight gain can and does occur in the silly season. But on average it’s not as dramatic as diet culture would have us believe, coming in at about 0.7kg.</p>
<p>However, because humans are complex and varied, and nutrition science is hard, there are studies with varied findings. Some show that despite significant increases in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32203107/">overall energy intake</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27618574/">reductions in diet quality</a>, <a href="https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1300&context=etd">weight gain doesn’t occur</a>. </p>
<p>Importantly, much of this research comes from the northern hemisphere where the major holidays coincide with winter. And these studies focus on weight, not health. Weight is just a marker that’s convenient to measure, but <a href="https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-10-9">health is more complicated</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eat-your-vegetables-studies-show-plant-based-diets-are-good-for-immunity-107964">Eat your vegetables – studies show plant-based diets are good for immunity</a>
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<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501176/original/file-20221214-14385-n9bnc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Women standing around a cande-lit table, drinking wine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501176/original/file-20221214-14385-n9bnc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501176/original/file-20221214-14385-n9bnc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501176/original/file-20221214-14385-n9bnc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501176/original/file-20221214-14385-n9bnc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501176/original/file-20221214-14385-n9bnc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501176/original/file-20221214-14385-n9bnc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501176/original/file-20221214-14385-n9bnc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Food is not just fuel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">pexels/cottonbro studio</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Food is not just fuel</h2>
<p>Food isn’t just energy and nutrients. It’s a big part of our cultures and celebrations, and contributes to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J140v06n04_04?casa_token=B88qy23WbRMAAAAA:HbizzLaYk_SDbucI00WWrJ1krwp5lZFgJjDpFBs6CkbkEXHEbfVhPfbH9uUooPh0z5ay3vLkKRJ-di8">social, cultural and emotional wellbeing</a>.</p>
<p>While it’s harder to study, nourishing our souls with foods that connect us to our loved ones and our traditions is just as important as the role food plays in nourishing our bodies.</p>
<p>Holiday feasts are also an opportunity to share meals. Sharing meals <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-017-0061-4">contributes to our emotional wellbeing and happiness</a>.</p>
<h2>Say hello to homeostasis</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/homeostasis">Homeostasis</a> is a scientific term that describes how systems self-regulate. The word comes from the ancient Greek words for “similar” and “steady”. </p>
<p>In living things it means that biology can adapt to changes to keep things in their normal constant state. Essentially, our body is always making little constant biological changes to help things stay the same. This is how we regulate things like our body temperature, blood sugar, blood pressure and other systems important for survival. </p>
<p>The principles of homeostasis also apply to our <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.658997/full">eating and metabolism</a>. If we eat more for one or two holiday feast days (or even weeks) our biology works to minimise the impacts. This is also why losing weight on restrictive diets can be hard – homeostasis means as we reduce our energy intake our bodies adjust to using less energy. </p>
<p>So for most people, discrete periods of indulgence aren’t likely to be the major determinants of health outcomes. It’s more likely the patterns we follow most of the time will influence our long term health.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-youre-on-a-diet-is-half-the-problem-heres-how-to-be-a-mindful-eater-99207">Thinking you're 'on a diet' is half the problem – here's how to be a mindful eater</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>It’s about balance</h2>
<p>Biology and social norms both mean restrictive diets are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7538029/">hard to maintain long-term</a>. Some people are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296321002940">more successful</a> in maintaining a balanced diet when indulging is allowed. </p>
<p>And now science has helped you to relax a little, a few words of caution.</p>
<h2>Drink in moderation</h2>
<p>Over-consumption of alcohol can cause <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm#:%7E:text=Over%20time%2C%20excessive%20alcohol%20use,liver%20disease%2C%20and%20digestive%20problems.&text=Cancer%20of%20the%20breast%2C%20mouth,liver%2C%20colon%2C%20and%20rectum.">increased risk for chronic diseases</a>. </p>
<p>Excess alcohol consumption in the festive period increases the risk of alcohol-related harm, <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/-/media/ResourceCentre/PublicationsandResources/alcohol-misuse/Drinking-cultures-social-occasions-Factsheet_public-holiday.pdf?la=en&hash=6C43A7F27769C7016FBBC0C1AA35CA3FC74A7A0C">including accidents and violence</a>. </p>
<p>Staying hydrated by alternating with non-alcoholic beverages helps reduce how much you drink and how bad a hangover is, but it won’t eliminate the risks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501178/original/file-20221214-14534-p74buy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Wine glasses touching in 'cheers'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501178/original/file-20221214-14534-p74buy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501178/original/file-20221214-14534-p74buy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501178/original/file-20221214-14534-p74buy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501178/original/file-20221214-14534-p74buy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501178/original/file-20221214-14534-p74buy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501178/original/file-20221214-14534-p74buy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501178/original/file-20221214-14534-p74buy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drinking too much over the festive season is not without risk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">pexels/karolina grabowska</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Food safety risks</h2>
<p>Festive eating, with sharing, travelling and over-crowded fridges increases our <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/communication/holidays.html">risks of food poisoning</a>. Summer holidays also bring the added risk of heat. </p>
<p>You want to share food and joy, not germs, so remember your <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/food-poisoning-prevention">basic food safety rules</a> like hand washing, avoiding cross contamination of uncooked meats and other foods, storing food chilled, and heating thoroughly. </p>
<p>It’s also a good idea to make sure you talk to your guests or hosts about food allergens to make sure everyone has a safe holiday feast. </p>
<h2>The bottom line</h2>
<p>What we eat is a big part of determining our health, but adding a side serving of guilt to your festive feast isn’t healthy either. </p>
<p>For true healthy choices, focus on balance and moderation for the bulk of the year and for most of your choices, but social and cultural eating is part of balance.</p>
<p>Enjoying your celebration foods doesn’t need to mean throwing away all your healthy habits, but healthy eating and healthy indulgence can co-exist if we let it.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dieting-after-birth-can-make-mums-self-esteem-worse-100247">Dieting after birth can make mum's self esteem worse</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195643/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Beckett has received funding for research or consulting from Mars Foods, Nutrition Research Australia, NHMRC, ARC, AMP Foundation, Kellogg, and the University of Newcastle. She is a member of committees/working groups related to nutrition or the Australian Academy of Science, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Nutrition Society of Australia.</span></em></p>We all eat and drink a bit too much over Christmas and the holidays. But how guilty do we really need to feel about it?Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1939512022-12-26T20:51:52Z2022-12-26T20:51:52ZRituals have been crucial for humans throughout history – and we still need them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502293/original/file-20221221-16-kz3paq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=62%2C26%2C5898%2C3941&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each December, Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, among others, take over our thoughts and our wallets as we participate in ceremonies our ancestors have practised for as long as we can remember. These are all example of traditions. And in most cases, traditions are accompanied by rituals. </p>
<p>What’s the difference?</p>
<p>In scientific terms, a “tradition” refers to the passing down of customs and beliefs from one generation to the next. A “ritual”, on the other hand, is a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order, and which is often embedded in a larger symbolic system, such as religion or philosophy. </p>
<p>For example, while celebrating birthdays is a tradition, blowing out the candles on a cake is a ritual. Similarly, while getting married is a tradition, exchanging vows is a ritual. </p>
<p>New rituals can be created at any time. To become tradition they only need to be understood and replicated by a wider community. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An old photo from around 1975 shows newlyweds drinking together at their wedding." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Communities around the world have different rituals practised during weddings, often passed down through generations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And it’s not just in grand gestures that humans practise rituals; some are so embedded into our everyday lives we no longer recognise them. The very particular way someone makes their tea or coffee in the morning is a ritual they enact daily.</p>
<p>Basically, rituals are everywhere. That raises the question: why do we have them at all?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-story-of-legends-families-and-capitalism-a-candid-history-of-the-christmas-tree-196278">A story of legends, families and capitalism: a candid history of the Christmas tree</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Archaeological evidence for the earliest rituals</h2>
<p>Ritual behaviour has very deep origins in humanity. However, tracking these origins and their development is difficult as rituals often leave little or no physical traces behind for archaeologists to find.</p>
<p>Thus far, the best evidence for ancient rituals is the deliberate burial of loved ones. The oldest example is found at Mt Carmel in Israel, where some 130,000 years ago a <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/who-were-the-neanderthals.html">Neanderthal woman</a> was laid to rest by her community. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mt Carmel in Israel is the site of the oldest known human burial. A Neanderthal woman was laid to rest here some 130,000 years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Langley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Archaeologists also suggest the extensive use of coloured pigments (particularly bright red) to paint bodies, objects and rock walls points to the practice of “symbolic” behaviour, including ritual. The oldest reliable evidence for colourant use dates to between <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/686484">500,000 and 310,000 years ago</a> and comes from several archaeological sites in southern Africa.</p>
<p>Another type of evidence that is often intrinsically tied to rituals and traditions is musical instruments. Bone flutes dating back to <a href="https://www.livescience.com/20563-ancient-bone-flute.html">about 42,000 years ago</a> have been found in Western Europe. How long people have used the very first instruments – the human voice, clapping hands and stomping feet – remains unknown.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=195&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=195&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=195&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This bone flute, found at the German Palaeolithic site of Hohle Fels, is at least 42,000 years old.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jensen/University of Tubingen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-invented-music-the-search-for-stone-flutes-clay-whistles-and-the-dawn-of-song-185285">Who invented music? The search for stone flutes, clay whistles and the dawn of song</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why do we have rituals?</h2>
<p>Rituals play a very important role in human communities for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>First, rituals help reduce individual and collective anxieties, especially when we ourselves, our family, or our whole community is facing uncertain times or crisis.</p>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2019.0431">Research has shown</a> that by praying or singing together we feel connected and supported and our anxiety is reduced. This may explain why Parisians were moved to sing together as they watched their beloved Notre Dame Cathedral burn in 2019.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/323MpjYoQxE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Parisians sing together as Notre Dame burns – a spontaneous ritual to deal with an unexpected crisis.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Rituals also help reduce anxiety by allowing us to feel control over our surroundings. For instance, new parents may be anxious about protecting their baby. Rituals that welcome the infant into the family and community help them feel they’ve done everything possible – including drawing on supernatural protection – to ensure their child’s wellbeing.</p>
<p>Second, rituals bring people together to celebrate or otherwise mark important life milestones. Births, graduations, marriages and deaths are all marked by rituals and traditions across the globe. These events provide a time and place to gather and encourage people to renew their bonds with friends and family.</p>
<p>These bonds are especially important in times of bad luck, which helps explain why the incentive to maintain them has endured through human history.</p>
<p>Imagine living tens of thousands of years ago, when human communities were much smaller and often lived farther apart. If a volcano erupted, the resulting destruction could mean plant and animal resources – essential food and materials needed for survival – would not be available for months, or perhaps years. </p>
<p>You would then have to rely on the bonds you maintained with neighbouring communities through shared rituals. Such bonds would encourage the sharing of resources until circumstances improve.</p>
<p>Finally, rituals help us remember and share huge amounts of cultural information. By learning a format or pattern of behaviour through ritual, we can absorb information and recall it later more easily. </p>
<p>This approach works astonishingly well to ensure information is passed down orally over long periods. Thus far, the oldest story dated using scientific methods is the Aboriginal Gunditjmara people’s story of the Budj Bim volcano eruption, which occurred <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/aboriginal-tale-ancient-volcano-oldest-story-ever-told">37,000 years ago</a> in what is now south-western Victoria.</p>
<p>Being able to retain information about changes in the landscape, its plants, animals and people ultimately increased the likelihood that your family would not only survive – but thrive.</p>
<h2>Rituals will remain</h2>
<p>Without rituals, and the traditions in which they become embedded, it is unlikely humanity would have advanced to its current state of cultural and technological development. </p>
<p>We wouldn’t have been able to continually gather and share information, maintain bonds over extensive geographical areas, or make it through difficult periods.</p>
<p>Despite being surrounding by increasingly complex technologies, rituals today remain more important than ever. With extreme weather events and conflicts continuing to displace people all over the globe, they will act as an essential social glue that holds our communities together.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193951/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Langley is an Associate Professor of Archaeology in the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE) and the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University.</span></em></p>Rituals have been around for hundreds of thousands of years – but are they still useful today?Michelle Langley, Associate Professor of Archaeology, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1921222022-10-10T14:34:19Z2022-10-10T14:34:19ZHow parents take more risks when naming girls than boys<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488806/original/file-20221007-7785-6iydtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If there are a few girls named Noah, we're not seeing any boys called Olivia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-girl-playing-soap-bubbles-machine-409239673">bernatets photo | shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021">latest top baby names</a> in England and Wales have been published, and as usual, the list of names is divided into those given to girls (at the top are Olivia, Amelia and Isla) and those given to boys (Noah, Oliver and George are the top three here). </p>
<p>Noah has moved up three places since 2020, to replace Oliver as the most popular name for baby boys. In the boy’s top ten, however, there has not been much further movement, with only one new entry (Henry, ranked tenth and up one place compared to 2020, and replacing Jack). </p>
<p>In the girls’ top ten, by contrast, there are three new entries: Freya at number six (up six places from 2020), Florence at number eight (also up six places from 2020), and Willow at number ten (two places higher than 2020). Meanwhile, Mia slips down four places from 2020 to ninth position in 2021, and Rosie, Isabella and Sophia drop out of the top ten completely. </p>
<p>These are changes that suggest that <a href="https://theconversation.com/baby-names-why-we-all-choose-the-same-ones-185546">names</a> for boys have more <a href="https://theconversation.com/by-george-easy-names-give-off-more-positive-associations-16331">stability</a> than names for girls and that parents are less willing to make risky choices when it comes to names for boys. <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/511801">Research shows</a> that parents remain more bound by tradition in naming their sons because boys’ names retain more cultural value than girls’ do.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A couple frame a newborn baby with their hands and faces" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488805/original/file-20221007-12-lrgilw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When a gender-neutral name is seen as too often used for girls, boys’ parents stop using it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-happy-parents-holding-their-newborn-1501547591">Ternavskaia Olga Alibec | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cautious naming practices</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20120406040052/http:/www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/baby-names--england-and-wales/1996/index.html">1996</a> (when baby names data first began to be published in the UK), there were 289 two-part names given to girls (Sarah-Jane being the most popular, ranked at 502). Only 35 double-barrelled names were given to boys, with Jean-Luc the most popular, ranked at 654. </p>
<p>Jump forward to <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021">2021</a> and there are now 1,173 two-part names for girls (Ivy-Rose being the most popular, ranked at 247). Boys’ double names have also gained ground, but not nearly as much: they numbered 434 in 2021, and the highest ranking two-part boys’ name – Tommy-Lee – sat only at number 457. Double-barrelled forenames seem to be an option that parents of boys are less likely to choose.</p>
<p>There is also a notable difference in the size of the baby-name pool for boys and for girls. In 1996, the data listed 2,836 names given to boys that year, compared to 3,795 names given to girls. By 2021, those numbers had risen to 4,789 and 5,581, respectively. The greater variety of names for baby girls is another sign that parents are less cautious when naming their daughters than they are with their sons. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/511801">Research</a> suggests that forenames for boys are seen as signalling ethnic credentials or heritage more often than those for girls do. This finding helps explain why the boys’ name Muhammad <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021">ranks fifth</a> in the top names given to boys in England and Wales in 2021. </p>
<p>More generally, and despite some progress toward gender equality in many societies, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/hegemonic-masculinity">it has been argued</a> that boys and men are still seen to hold more prestige and value than girls and women. Simply put, at a cultural level, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-017-0805-4">names for baby girls matter less</a> than names for baby boys, and so parents of baby girls are less bound by convention or tradition.</p>
<h2>Gender-neutral names</h2>
<p>Interestingly, of the top three most popular baby names this year, Noah is the only one to be given to both boys and girls. Although, only 12 girls were given that name in 2021 compared to 4,525 boys. But there were no boys at all who were named Olivia, Amelia or Isla. Nor were there any girls named Oliver or George.</p>
<p>Gender-neutral names, like Jamie and Taylor, are so called because they can be given to girls and to boys – they do not clearly indicate a person’s birth-given sex category. But in the UK,
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/0027773813Z.00000000060">as in many countries</a>, it is still <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021">the cultural norm</a> to give babies a sex-specific forename. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3003767.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A0d03de24b87eb109e63b488ef110ca6b&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6562_basic_search%2Fcontrol&origin=search-results&acceptTC=1">Research</a> has shown that 97% of forenames regarded as appropriate for girls are only given to children whose sex category is female. Likewise, 97% of forenames viewed as appropriate for boys are only given to children whose sex category is male. </p>
<p>In the 2021 list of baby names, River is a strong candidate for the most popular gender-neutral name. Ranked at position 131 in the boys’ list and given to 442 boys, it was also given to 423 girls, and ranked higher, in terms of popularity, at position 119.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/nam.1993.41.4.228?src=recsys">Research</a> also shows that when otherwise gender-neutral names begin to be given “too often” to girls – as happened <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X20302448?casa_token=-jYMY-TjJ_IAAAAA:hG6SXzGl8uhA9mwuyPTQiyW8XS3r_HEfpugwKzDQooOYh5pI2aLfTG5r2HzLF0l9JNwkj0q5PtE#fig0002">with Taylor</a> in the 1990s in the US – parents of boys begin to abandon those names. This is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X20302448?casa_token=-jYMY-TjJ_IAAAAA:hG6SXzGl8uhA9mwuyPTQiyW8XS3r_HEfpugwKzDQooOYh5pI2aLfTG5r2HzLF0l9JNwkj0q5PtE#cit_18">argued</a> to be especially true for names like Ashley that have a long-e suffix. Here, the changed gender connotations of the long-e sound over time have made such names seem more suitable for girls. In other words, perceived over-use of gender-neutral names for girls can “contaminate” that name as a good option for boys: they lose their perceived neutrality and become thought of more as girls’ names. </p>
<p>Again, this stems from the lower cultural value ascribed to girls’ names as compared to boys’ names. And it represents a barrier to any significant rise in the popularity of gender-neutral names in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Pilcher 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.</span></em></p>Parents are more traditional and risk-averse in naming their sons because boys’ names continue to retain more cultural value than girls’ do.Jane Pilcher, Associate Professor of Sociology, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1758202022-02-01T13:15:23Z2022-02-01T13:15:23ZChina’s biggest holiday: The Lunar New Year and how it is celebrated<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443522/original/file-20220131-21-1cca89u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C6%2C2108%2C1400&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grandparents are teaching Chinese calligraphy to their granddaughter and how to write Chinese New Year auspicious messages.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/grandparents-practising-chinese-calligraphy-for-royalty-free-image/1267808033?adppopup=true"> AsiaVision/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Among China’s traditional holidays and celebrations, none ranks higher in importance than the Lunar New Year (農曆新年). Also known as the Spring Festival (春節), or simply Chinese New Year, it marks the beginning of the year according to the traditional <a href="http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_general_lunar.htm">lunar calendar</a>. </p>
<p>The Lunar New Year usually starts sometime between late January and mid-February. In 2022, it falls on Feb. 1. In mainland China, official celebrations last for seven days as a <a href="https://studycli.org/chinese-holidays/2022">public holiday</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://religion.ufl.edu/faculty/core/mario-poceski/">scholar of Chinese religious history and culture</a>, what fascinates me the most is how the celebrations are a reminder of the longevity and vibrancy of traditional Chinese culture. </p>
<h2>Food, gifts and celebrations</h2>
<p>At its core, the Lunar New Year is a celebration that brings the family together. Preparations start a week in advance and include cleaning and decorating the home, as well as shopping, especially for gifts and provisions, and food preparation.</p>
<p>A central event is the family dinner at the New Year’s eve. The <a href="https://chinesenewyear.net/food/">choice of dishes</a> varies, reflecting family customs and local culinary traditions. Often it includes dumplings, spring rolls, cakes, fish and pork dishes. There is also a fair amount of drinking, especially traditional wines or liquor. Many of the dishes are assigned symbolic meanings. For instance, dumplings are given the shape of gold ingots, <a href="http://en.people.cn/102759/203348/7626674.html">to invoke good fortune</a>. </p>
<p>Other customs associated with the New Year celebrations include the giving of <a href="https://www.thatsmags.com/shanghai/post/17261/explainer-why-chinese-people-give-red-envelopes">red envelopes</a> containing money, usually by elders to younger members of the family. The red color, which is also featured prominently in New Year decorations, symbolize prosperity and good fortune. </p>
<p>Traditionally, families and local communities burn firecrackers to mark the new year and ward off monsters. According to legend, the origin of the practice goes back to a story about a <a href="http://english.cctv.com/program/newshour/20100214/102277.shtml">monster called Nian</a>, who is believed to have been causing great harm to some villages. In response, the villagers are said to have started off explosions to scare off the monster, and the practice caught on. However, more recently the government has been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lunar-newyear-china-fireworks/chinas-millennium-old-fireworks-hub-grapples-with-bans-and-shifting-traditions-idUSKBN1FV10O">cracking down</a> on this traditional practice, on the grounds of it being dangerous and polluting. </p>
<h2>Year of the tiger</h2>
<p>This new year is known as the year of the tiger. In Chinese culture, the tiger is considered to be the foremost among all beasts and serves as a potent symbol of power, majesty, vigor and bravery.</p>
<p>According to the Chinese <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/shaolan_the_chinese_zodiac_explained?language=en">zodiac signs</a>, each year in the lunar cycle is associated with a particular animal. This is a 12-year cycle that repeats itself. Thus, there are 12 animals associated with each year in the cycle. These are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. </p>
<p>Among the popular myths about the origins of the Chinese zodiac, there is one about a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zd9nd6f">great race</a> initiated by the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven, in order to measure time. As the rat won the race, it came to be listed as first among the 12 animals of the zodiac. The order of the other 11 animals reflected their final position in the race. </p>
<p>Each of the 12 zodiac animals came to represent certain characteristics believed to shape the personalities of individuals born in those years. For the tiger, the positive qualities noted above can also mix with negative traits, such as a propensity to be thoughtless or overly ambitious. </p>
<h2>Origins of the lunar calendar</h2>
<p>Traditionally, the Chinese have followed their native lunar calendar, which is based on observations and measurements of astronomical phenomena. While modern <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2016/02/transition-from-the-lunar-calendar-to-the-western-calendar-under-chinese-law/">China adopted the Gregorian calendar</a> in 1912, traditional festivals such as the New Year still follow the old lunar calendar. </p>
<p>The origins of the lunar calendar may go back to the dawn of Chinese civilization, traditionally associated with the legendary Xia dynasty that ruled from 2070 to 1600 B.C. The <a href="https://www.academia.edu/69633429/The_Origin_of_Chinese_New_Year">origins of the actual New Year celebrations</a> are also not entirely clear; some scholars believe they likely go back to the rule of the Shang dynasty from 1600 to 1050 B.C. </p>
<h2>Religiosity and New Year’s gala</h2>
<p>While the New Year is generally centered around the general theme of family bonding, religious observances are also an integral part of the festivities. These include domestically oriented rituals associated with popular Chinese deities, such as the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Introducing-Chinese-Religions/Poceski/p/book/9780415434065">Kitchen God and the God of Wealth</a>. Family members also make offerings and engage in other rituals related to ancestor worship. Commonly, these include food offerings and the burning of incense at home altars. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman dressed in a festive red Chinese dress holds incense sticks, with a bowed head, as she offers them to a deity." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443532/original/file-20220131-17-ef2jy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443532/original/file-20220131-17-ef2jy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443532/original/file-20220131-17-ef2jy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443532/original/file-20220131-17-ef2jy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443532/original/file-20220131-17-ef2jy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443532/original/file-20220131-17-ef2jy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443532/original/file-20220131-17-ef2jy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Chinese woman offers incense at a temple.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/chinese-new-year-is-the-most-important-traditional-royalty-free-image/1281307813?adppopup=true">Papakon Mitsanit/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>During this period, many people go to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Introducing-Chinese-Religions/Poceski/p/book/9780415434065">Buddhist or Taoist temples</a>, as well as other places of worship. They engage in traditional forms of piety, including offering incense and praying for good luck and fortune. Large temples tend to become very busy, with long lines of worshipers often waiting for hours in order to offer their first incense of the year.</p>
<p>A modern element in ushering the New Year is watching the New Year’s Gala, a popular variety show that features singing, dancing, comedy and drama. It first aired in 1983, and ever since it has been broadcast to a countrywide audience by CCTV, the national TV broadcaster. It is the <a href="https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3121291/whats-deal-cctvs-spring-festival-gala-why-chinas-lunar-new">most watched television program</a> in the world, with an audience that can reach as high as a billion viewers.</p>
<h2>Largest human migration</h2>
<p>Over the recent decades, China has experienced drastic demographic changes, especially the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10225706.2018.1476256">migration of large rural populations</a> into big urban centers. China’s <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3135510/chinas-one-child-policy-what-was-it-and-what-impact-did-it">one-child policy</a> also brought about major changes in family structure, as most families were restricted to having only one child, which in turn made each child a center of attention and hope for the family. </p>
<p>This has had far-reaching effects on traditional customs and observances. Among the primary drivers of these developments are the significant changes in family structure and function. <a href="https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006704/chinas-left-behind-kids-repeat-their-parents-tragic-choices">Millions of rural children</a> are living with their grandparents or relatives, while their parents work in faraway cities. </p>
<p>Consequently, the Lunar New Year brings about the <a href="https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-01-19/What-is-the-world-s-largest-human-migration--Nmsd7OcJ8Y/index.html">largest human migration</a> in the world, as millions of students and migrant workers do their best to get back to their homes and families. During this period, trains, buses and planes are packed with travelers, and tickets must be booked well in advance. </p>
<p>This year’s celebrations have been impacted by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/china/china-wuhan-lockdown-two-years-mic-intl-hnk/index.html">travel restrictions</a> and other <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinese-cities-high-covid-19-alert-peak-lunar-new-year-travel-season-starts-2022-01-17/">strict measures</a> imposed by the Chinese government in its efforts to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00191-7">control the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. China is also <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/59882774">hosting the Winter Olympics</a>, which bring further restrictions to the movement of people due to a heightened emphasis on preventing incidents that might reflect negatively on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/22/world/asia/winter-olympics-china-beijing-xi-jinping.html">China’s international image</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443529/original/file-20220131-27-1rgsgb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People dancing on streets while carrying a large cutout of a dragon on the Chinese New Year." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443529/original/file-20220131-27-1rgsgb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443529/original/file-20220131-27-1rgsgb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443529/original/file-20220131-27-1rgsgb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443529/original/file-20220131-27-1rgsgb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443529/original/file-20220131-27-1rgsgb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443529/original/file-20220131-27-1rgsgb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443529/original/file-20220131-27-1rgsgb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A Chinese New Year parade.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/high-angle-view-of-dragon-dancer-on-street-during-royalty-free-image/574910351?adppopup=true">Puay Ng / EyeEm via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Celebrations outside of China</h2>
<p>The Lunar New Year is also celebrated in other parts of Asia, including <a href="https://www.vietnamonline.com/tet/vietnamese-new-year-tet.html">Vietnam</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/dining/singapore-lunar-new-year.html">Singapore</a>, as well as across the world. Usually, these celebrations have some unique features or assume local character. For instance, in Vietnam, where the festival is known as Tết, there is the preparation of various local dishes, along with the holding of parades and public performances. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>In the U.S. and Australia, where there are substantial ethnically Chinese populations in cities such as San Francisco, New York and Sydney, <a href="https://news.cgtn.com/news/78636a4e77497a6333566d54/index.html">Chinese New Year festivals</a> and <a href="https://chineseparade.com/">parades</a> are held each year. Some of them feature the traditional Dragon Dances, which highlight the communal aspect of New Year festivities. </p>
<p>Over the centuries, the coming together for the New Year celebration has remained an important part of the cultural heritage for Chinese families, connecting the past to the present, wherever they might happen to be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mario Poceski 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.</span></em></p>The Lunar New Year celebrations that start on Feb. 1 will go on for a week. It is the year of the tiger, considered in Chinese culture as the foremost among all beasts.Mario Poceski, Professor of Buddhist Studies and Chinese Religions, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1758702022-01-31T15:17:53Z2022-01-31T15:17:53ZChinese new year: your guide to everything from importance of the colour red to firework bans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443440/original/file-20220131-124991-1esb2k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C30%2C5040%2C3319&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/an-adult-giving-a-red-envelope-to-a-young-boy-7364259/">Angela Roma/Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>February 1 marks the start of the Chinese new year 2022, the <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/chinese-zodiac-tiger/">year of the tiger</a>, and celebrations will end two weeks later with the Lantern Festival (元宵节). The tiger is the third animal of the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac signs, and famous people under this sign include Queen Elizabeth II, Marilyn Monroe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise and Lady Gaga.</p>
<p>As the most traditional and celebrated holiday in Chinese culture, the lunar new year (also known as the Spring Festival (春节)) is not only a time to celebrate the beginning of spring but also an occasion for family reunion. In China, a wide range of celebration activities will be staged for two weeks: fireworks, firecrackers, festival decorations and a variety of shows. In the UK, celebrations too have been planned at home, in schools and online.</p>
<p>Family time is of utmost importance in Chinese culture. The run-up to new year’s eve is usually spent travelling, with everybody heading to their hometowns for family reunion. Houses and flats will get a deep clean in readiness for a fresh year ahead (having to sweep the floor on new year’s day is taboo and associated with sweeping good luck and wealth away).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Red Chinese Lunar New Year decorations hanging." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443437/original/file-20220131-13-jkrbzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443437/original/file-20220131-13-jkrbzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443437/original/file-20220131-13-jkrbzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443437/original/file-20220131-13-jkrbzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443437/original/file-20220131-13-jkrbzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443437/original/file-20220131-13-jkrbzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443437/original/file-20220131-13-jkrbzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spring festival decorations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/eMUMOVmW0kM">Ethan Wong/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Every family will have a long list of festival necessities to buy for Chinese new year, including lots of red decorations, new year outfits and gifts. Festival decorations will be hung up, such as red paper-cuts on windows (窗花), and spring couplets and banners on doors (春联). Guarding gods posters will be pasted on entrance gates for safeguarding. Fireworks and firecrackers will be set off to scare away evil spirits and to signal the start of a safe and prosperous new year.</p>
<p>Red is considered the colour of luck. Once the new year arrives, new red outfits are worn to visit relatives and friends, to exchange blessings and gifts. During these visits, children will get red paper envelopes filled with cash notes (红包), symbolising that bad luck is driven away and good fortune is passed on. Apart from visiting loved ones, people also visit temples to worship ancestors and pray for health, success, fortune and a better year.</p>
<h2>What do people eat?</h2>
<p>Food also plays a crucial part in these celebrations and some dishes believed to bring luck will always be prepared – what they are varies greatly across China.</p>
<p>Fish (鱼) is a must as it is often seen as an “extra” (余), symbolising abundance. Sticky rice cake (年糕) will also be a favourite, and this is because the word in Chinese sounds like “year high”, meaning higher income and promotion. Oranges (桔) are considered lucky as the word sounds like “lucky” in Chinese (吉).</p>
<p>There are however some differences depending on where you are. In northern China, people like to eat dumplings (饺子) as they are thought to resemble gold ingots. Whereas in southern China, you are more likely to have ping-pong shaped sticky rice balls with sweet fillings (汤圆) as it sounds like the word for “togetherness” (团圆). It’s also common to have a tray of sweets or a platter of bite-sized treats symbolising reunion and togetherness.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A table of sticky rice cakes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443438/original/file-20220131-118399-muvn3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443438/original/file-20220131-118399-muvn3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443438/original/file-20220131-118399-muvn3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443438/original/file-20220131-118399-muvn3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443438/original/file-20220131-118399-muvn3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443438/original/file-20220131-118399-muvn3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443438/original/file-20220131-118399-muvn3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sticky rice cakes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/jakarta-indonesia-january-18-2020-chinese-1619690485">Darren Kurnia/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>On new year’s eve, waiting for midnight, family and relatives will enjoy eating together, playing games like mahjong, and watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV. Whether at home or overseas, this tends to be a must-do for many Chinese families. </p>
<h2>Traditions are changing</h2>
<p>Like all customs and traditions, things change over time. Today, red envelopes are often sent via apps such as WeChat, a messaging app that allows people to make mobile payments. Although the reunion dinner is still important, many Chinese families now prefer to eat out rather than cook together at home. Fireworks and firecrackers are often banned in respect of the environment, and it is not unusual to hear the cacophony of firecrackers played from recordings through speakers instead.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dragon puppet being made to dance by men." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443439/original/file-20220131-125001-zn91i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443439/original/file-20220131-125001-zn91i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443439/original/file-20220131-125001-zn91i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443439/original/file-20220131-125001-zn91i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443439/original/file-20220131-125001-zn91i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443439/original/file-20220131-125001-zn91i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443439/original/file-20220131-125001-zn91i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dragon dancers at Chinese New Year celebrations in London’s China Town.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/china-town-london-february-22main-parade-254916118">Tadeusz Ibrom/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>But if some traditions have faded with time, others are still very much alive and passed on, from one generation to the next, through Chinese communities and Chinatowns worldwide. In the UK, there is a sizeable Chinese community who migrated from Hong Kong and south-east Asia in the 1950s, and from mainland China in the 1980s. Celebrations still feature red decorations, family gatherings and celebration events like parades with lively lion and dragon dances.</p>
<p>Before the pandemic, the largest celebrations in London would take place in Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Chinatown. While parades have again been cancelled this year, a rich choice of online activities has nevertheless been programmed throughout the UK. And, of course, with the Beijing Winter Olympics starting on February 4, there will be an added dimension to traditional activities. </p>
<p>But, no matter how much Chinese new year celebrations have changed over time or whether it is celebrated in China or throughout the Chinese diaspora, the heart of the Spring Festival remains the people, a strong sense of togetherness, and the idea that the year to come will be the chance for a new start that is brighter and more prosperous.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>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.</span></em></p>It’s the year of the tiger and families will gather to share in sticky rice cakes and dumplings hoping to start the lunar new year off right.Dr Jingjing Ruan, Lecturer in Mandarin Chinese, Cardiff UniversityCatherine Chabert, Reader, School of Modern Languages, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1719252021-11-22T13:28:21Z2021-11-22T13:28:21ZTalking turkey! How the Thanksgiving bird got its name (and then lent it to film flops)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432923/original/file-20211119-12581-1pzk5rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C4000%2C2628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not everyone is a fan of Turkey Day.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/free-range-bronze-turkeys-royalty-free-image/1282776886?adppopup=true">E4C via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Meleagris Gallopavo Day” is a bit of a mouthful. Which may be why this Thanksgiving, most people will opt for the less ornithologically precise “Turkey Day.”</p>
<p>And just as turkey is a versatile meat – think of those leftover options! – so too is the word “turkey,” which can refer to everything from the bird itself to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/turkey-2915">populous Eurasian country</a> to <a href="https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/worst-movies-of-all-time/">movie flops</a>.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://sasn.rutgers.edu/about-us/faculty-staff/jack-lynch">scholar who studies word origins</a>, I love “talking turkey” – not only how the bird came to be named, but also how the word has evolved over time. But let’s start with what has become the centerpiece of most Thanksgiving Day dinners.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/bird/mega/all.html">North American turkey</a> – the kind that many families will be carving up this Thanksgiving – was being <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/taming-turkey">domesticated in Mexico some 2,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<p>Europeans glimpsed their first turkeys around 1500, when Spanish explorers arrived in the Americas and brought them back to the mother country. By the 1520s, turkeys were <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/11/turkey-history-world-thanksgiving/417849/">being bred in Spain</a>, and soon the delicacy was appearing on rich people’s tables across Europe.</p>
<h2>Oh, dinde!</h2>
<p>But what to call the new import? Europeans in the New World were overwhelmed by the new plants and animals they saw, and often used familiar names for unfamiliar species. The Spanish, for instance, thought turkeys looked like peacocks, so they used the Spanish word “<a href="https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/pavo">pavos</a>.” The French called them “poules d’Indes,” or Indian chickens, later shortened to “<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dinde">dinde</a>.”</p>
<p>To the English, the newly discovered American birds looked like the guineafowl – a bird native to Africa but which was introduced into Europe by Arab and Turkish traders in the 14th and 15th centuries. </p>
<p>And it is this point in the story that the modern-day turkey gets its name.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml">Ottoman Empire</a> was then at its height. Ethnic Turks, based in Constantinople (now Istanbul), ran the empire that spanned the Near East, Middle East and North Africa. As a result, to many Europeans, anyone from “the East” was a “Turk.”</p>
<p>Because Ottomans dominated trade in the eastern Mediterranean, a lot of produce coming to Europe was seen as “Turkish.” So a precious stone from Persia was named “Turkey stone,” and the French version of that name, “pierre turquoise,” gave us the word “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turquoise">turquoise</a>.”</p>
<p>In the same way, African guineafowl, introduced by Turkish traders, became a “turkey-cock” or “turkey-hen.” Over time, this was shortened to just “turkey.”</p>
<h2>Now that’s a feast!</h2>
<p>For as long as the New World turkeys have been in Europe, they’ve been featured in celebratory meals. The English word first appears in print in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=aTJRAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Dugdale%20Origines%20Juridiciales&pg=PA131#v=onepage&q&f=false">an account of a banquet</a> hosted by politician John Prideaux in 1555: The menu included 38 red deer, 43 pheasants, 50 quince pies, 63 swans, 114 pigeons, 120 rabbits, 840 larks, 325 gallons of Bordeaux wine and “Turkies 2. rated at 4s. a piece.”</p>
<p>History’s most famous turkey dinner, though, was <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-first-thanksgiving-dinner-actually-looked-like-85714">served in Plymouth Plantation in 1621</a>, as 50 Pilgrims who survived a year of brutal hardship joined 90 Native Americans for a three-day feast. Turkey wasn’t the only dish being served. Writing in his <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/bradfords-manuscript-of-plimoth-plantation">History of Plymouth Plantation</a>, Governor William Bradford noted that Native Americans brought “codd, & bass, & other fish,” and others brought “water foule” and venison. But he was especially impressed with the “great store of wild Turkies.”</p>
<p>The bird has become so associated with harvest-time celebratory dinners that we’ve been calling Thanksgiving “Turkey Day” since at least 1870.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the word has continued to find new uses, showing up with <a href="https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/hwibi6q">dozens of meanings</a>. In 1839, the Southern Literary Messenger – a magazine edited by Edgar Allen Poe – reported on a new kind of dance, called the “turkey-trot” from its jerking motions.</p>
<p>In 1920, New York’s Department of Health reported that “Some addicts voluntarily stop taking opiates and ‘suffer it out’ … which in their slang is called taking ‘<a href="https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/5k7gmoa">cold turkey</a>.‘”</p>
<p>The turkey’s reputation for stupidity prompted other meanings. The legendary gossip columnist <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/walter-winchell-biographical-timeline/15619/#podcastsubscribe">Walter Winchell</a> told readers of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/25/opinion/click-click-gobble-gobble.html">Vanity Fair in 1927</a> about some new showbiz slang: “‘A turkey,’” he reported, “is a third rate production.” </p>
<p>Since then, movies that flop with the critics or at the box office have been called turkeys.</p>
<p>Another disparaging sense arrived in the 1950s, when turkey became a name for “a stupid, slow, inept, or otherwise worthless person.” That, in turn, probably led to the rise of the “<a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/3378674-Ohio-Players-Jive-Turkey-Part-1-Streakin-Cheek-To-Cheek">jive turkey</a>,” which first showed up in African American speech in the early 1970s, defined by slang <a href="https://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/02/24/jonathon-green-lexicographer/">lexicographer Jonathon Green</a> as “<a href="https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/kenrl3q#uv4asfq">an insincere, deceitful, dishonest person</a>.”</p>
<h2>Jive or straight talking?</h2>
<p>And what about “talk turkey”? Well, that can mean quite contradictory things.</p>
<p>One dictionary from 1859 defines it as “To talk in a silly manner, talk nonsense.” A similar meaning is attached to another turkey-related word, “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gobbledygook">gobbledygook</a>.”</p>
<p>Another definition found in the 1889 “Americanisms, Old & New” had “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OQY1AQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22when%20plain%20English%20would%22%20%22turkey%22&pg=PA543#v=onepage&q&f=false">talking turkey</a>” meaning “To use high-sounding words, when plain English would do equally well or better.”</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The most familiar meaning of “talking turkey,” in which it is a stand-in for “straight talk,” is often said to come from a once popular joke. A white man and an American Indian, the story goes, spend a day hunting together and manage to bag a turkey and a somewhat less bountiful buzzard. The devious white man proposes a “heads-I-win-tails-you-lose” division of the spoils. “I’ll take the turkey, and you the buzzard,” he says, “or, if you prefer, you take the buzzard, and I’ll take the turkey.” The frustrated American Indian replies – usually in some version of would-be comic pidgin English – “You talk all buzzard to me, and don’t talk turkey.”</p>
<p>Those who <a href="http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tal1.htm">study word histories</a> are skeptical of stories like this, since most are invented after the fact. More likely, “talk turkey” came from pleasant conversation at Thanksgiving dinner, or maybe negotiations between Native Americans and European colonists over the cost of poultry. Whatever the origin, though, when we “talk turkey,” we’re engaging in the kind of straightforward, honest speech the scheming hunter denied his hunting partner.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171925/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Lynch 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.</span></em></p>From ‘turkey trot’ to ‘going cold turkey,’ the centerpiece to many Thanksgiving dinners has lent its name to many things. But it also borrowed its name from elsewhere.Jack Lynch, Professor of English, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1654962021-09-12T08:18:12Z2021-09-12T08:18:12ZRethinking ukuthwala, the South African ‘bride abduction’ custom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420038/original/file-20210908-23-ashuvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rural Eastern Cape </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Susan Winters Cook/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just over a decade ago in South Africa, a flurry of media reports surfaced about a customary practice known as <em>ukuthwala</em>. The <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-04-forcing-the-issue/">reports</a> described a rise in <em>ukuthwala</em> characterised by the kidnapping, assault and rape of young girls by older men, forcing them into customary marriages. Girls as young as 13 and 14 in the rural areas of provinces such as Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal were affected by this violence. In some cases, the girls’ families accepted and arranged the marriages.</p>
<p><em>Ukuthwala</em> is a term in Nguni languages which has various meanings. It can refer to ways (including abduction) of making a customary marriage happen quickly. South Africa has a varied cultural make-up, and the term ‘customary’ is generally used to describe beliefs and traditions of groups that are ‘indigenous’ to the country. Customary marriages therefore are based on localised norms. As a route to customary marriage, multiple types of <em>ukuthwala</em> exist across the country, each with distinct names and elements.</p>
<p>The reports about violent <em>ukuthwala</em> cases provoked responses from different sectors of society. Government leaders organised meetings with affected communities. The <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/salrc/dpapers/dp132-UkuthwalaRevised.pdf">South African Law Reform Commission</a> did an extensive study. <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC51942">Legal scholars</a> outlined the human rights implications of the practice. The ruling political party’s Women’s League <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/ancwl-slams-ukuthwala-1796707">called</a> for <em>ukuthwala</em> to be abolished.</p>
<p>From the media and government reports, legal scholarship and case law, two general conclusions emerged during this period. The first was that non-consensual <em>ukuthwala</em> was a modern phenomenon. The second was that it was an abuse of tradition, not an authentic customary practice.</p>
<p>Through <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/deconstructing-characterizations-of-rape-marriage-and-custom-in-south-africa-revisiting-the-multisectoral-campaign-against-ukuthwala/030D12337FA12BA87D2553E0ED2AF76D">my research</a>, based on interviews with women in the Eastern Cape and examinations of historical and recent sources, I have found that both of these conclusions about <em>ukuthwala</em> are oversimplifications. The reality is far more complex. Coercive <em>ukuthwala</em> has been practised for generations, and many have held the cruel acts accompanying <em>ukuthwala</em> as part of tradition. </p>
<p>The mainstream conclusions obscure the actual nature and extent of this form of gendered violence.</p>
<h2>Misconceptions</h2>
<p>The first misconception is that violent <em>ukuthwala</em> is a new phenomenon. Part of the misunderstanding stems from the fact that before 2009 only a <a href="https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/5564/Koyana_Indomitable%282007%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">small body of academic research</a> existed, and much of it concentrated on the romantic <em>ukuthwala</em> forms, akin to elopement. There are however sources that provide rich insights into past practices of violent <em>ukuthwala</em>. The historian <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/colonizing-consent/F26822B9351AC12F6E0F0BBFAECE34D2">Elisabeth Thornberry</a>, for example, explored sexual crimes and customs in colonial-era Eastern Cape. An early legal ethnography was Jacobus van Tromp’s 1947 <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/xhosa-law-of-persons-a-treatise-on-the-legal-principles-of-family-relations-among-the-amaxhosa/oclc/1017118500?referer=di&ht=edition">work</a> on Xhosa customs. Colonial and apartheid-era court cases also provide evidence of women seeking to escape abusive marriages.</p>
<p>Most importantly, older women are repositories of historical knowledge. I conducted my research in partnership with <a href="https://www.masimanyane.org.za/">Masimanyane</a>, an Eastern Cape-based women’s rights organisation. In my interviews women related their experiences of <em>ukuthwala</em>, rape and brutality during the 1970s. Staff of Masimanyane described how older women in affected communities had asked for counselling for the traumas they suffered decades ago. </p>
<p>Collectively these sources demonstrate that coercive <em>ukuthwala</em> is not of recent origin.</p>
<p>The second simplified conclusion about violent <em>ukuthwala</em> is that it is an inauthentic expression of custom. This assertion is most evident in the legal arena. In the 2015 decision <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAWCHC/2015/31.html">Jezile vs S</a> the Western Cape High Court determined that features of traditional <em>ukuthwala</em> under customary law included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the consent of both the bride and groom</p></li>
<li><p>a “pretend” abduction of the bride</p></li>
<li><p>the strict prohibition of any sexual intercourse during the abduction.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The court labelled the forced form of <em>ukuthwala</em> as “aberrant”. In parallel, the South African Law Reform Commission <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/salrc/dpapers/dp132-ukutwala.pdf">concluded</a> that instances of forced <em>ukuthwala</em> were “illegal distortions” of the custom.</p>
<p>In my research I found that for many communities in rural parts of the Eastern Cape, coercive <em>ukuthwala</em> has been the standard according to customary practice. In my interviews with older survivors, they explained that what they endured in the <em>ukuthwala</em> process, such as abductions and rapes, was part of the custom where they lived. Their families took part in arranging the marriages and then refused to rescue them even after they were raped.</p>
<p>There is fortunately a growing body of scholarship that depicts the cultural acceptance of violent <em>ukuthwala</em>. This includes <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.1080/02587203.2017.1303902">research</a> by legal scholars Lea Mwambene and Helen Kruuse done in Jezile’s community in the Eastern Cape following the court case, as well as in-depth <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057070.2014.896720?src=recsys">explorations</a> by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23323256.2016.1248987">anthropologists</a>. </p>
<p>In sum, my findings affirm that custom cannot be understood as formulaic or benign. How people live and the traditions they invest in are infinitely diverse. There cannot be an essential form of <em>ukuthwala</em>.</p>
<h2>Culture and violence</h2>
<p>The simplified understandings of <em>ukuthwala</em> that I have outlined have particular consequences. For one, the perception of violent <em>ukuthwala</em> as ‘new’ has concealed brutality against black women through the apartheid and colonial eras. This very significant form of familial violence against women in the past remains mostly unacknowledged, and the brutality of <em>ukuthwala</em> today stands without context.</p>
<p>Connected to this is the denial of the link between culture and violence. The strict outlook on <em>ukuthwala</em> hides the very close relationship between marriage processes and rape. This is a relationship that has existed across many cultures. For example, marital rape was only <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1993-133.pdf">criminalised</a> in South Africa in the 1990s, undoing the marital rape exemption based on <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-and-comparative-law-quarterly/article/abs/rape-in-marriage-developments-in-south-african-law/525DC5CD095C77A800C118AF5EF0B613">Roman-Dutch and English laws</a>. In other words, the customary acceptance of sexual violence of ukuthwala is not unique. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, rape in marriage remains under-researched and misunderstood. My research highlights how the institution of marriage continues to diminish women’s sexual autonomy. Coercive <em>ukuthwala</em> happens because families prize marriage and the power of husbands over the individual rights of women and girls. The marriage in effect nullifies a husband’s wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Research must incorporate the voices of women of all ages, question written resources, and create more balanced accounts to inform law and policy. Without this we only have a partial understanding of <em>ukuthwala</em> and the injustices that women and girls have long been subjected to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nyasha Karimakwenda receives funding from South African The National Research Foundation SARChI Chair in Security and Justice</span></em></p>Perceptions of marriage abduction as a recent phenomenon hide the violence that has been done to women as part of culture.Nyasha Karimakwenda, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1530622021-01-19T17:07:17Z2021-01-19T17:07:17ZWhy do presidential inaugurations matter?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378435/original/file-20210112-17-dlalnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4920%2C3372&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An important ceremony: the U.S. Capitol during President Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BidenInauguration/c24f606b827343ab87fb216f6d3d9f1b/photo">AP Photo/Patrick Semansky</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As one president’s term ends and another begins, there is a ceremony. Its importance is one of symbolism rather than substance. The Constitution is clear: On Jan. 20, <a href="https://theconversation.com/president-trumps-term-ends-on-jan-20-the-constitution-is-clear-148065">there will be a transfer of power</a>. There is no mention of an inauguration.</p>
<p>By definition, ritual acts have no direct effect on the world. A ceremonial event is one that symbolically affirms something that happens by other, more direct means. In this case, the election – not the inauguration – makes the president, although an oath is required before exercising his power. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, ceremonies matter. Having spent two decades <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/culture/perennial-power-ritual">studying ritual</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=misuSsoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">I</a> can attest to that. So can the recent history of inaugurations: In 2009, Barack Obama misplaced one word when reciting the presidential oath of office. As a result, he decided to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/23/barack-obama-oath-inauguration">retake the oath</a> the next day. And in 2017, Donald Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/politics/trump-white-house-briefing-inauguration-crowd-size.html">insisted</a> that his inauguration was attended by a record-setting crowd, even as everyone’s eyes saw otherwise. He saw the size of the attendance as a measure of his legitimacy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378654/original/file-20210113-13-zbmyxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting of George Washington's first inauguration" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378654/original/file-20210113-13-zbmyxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378654/original/file-20210113-13-zbmyxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378654/original/file-20210113-13-zbmyxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378654/original/file-20210113-13-zbmyxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378654/original/file-20210113-13-zbmyxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378654/original/file-20210113-13-zbmyxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378654/original/file-20210113-13-zbmyxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The first inauguration of a president of the United States, George Washington, happened in New York City on April 30, 1789.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington%27s_Inauguration.jpg">Ramon de Elorriaga, via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ritual efficacy</h2>
<p>Throughout history, all human societies have used rituals to mark major events and transitions: personal landmarks like birthdays and weddings, group accomplishments such as graduations, and government transitions of power. Those ceremonies send signals that command our attention and strengthen the perceived importance of those moments.</p>
<p>Ritual actions involve formality, precision and repetition. A priest must wear a special garment; a prayer must be uttered word for word; and a mantra might be recited 108 times. These features make rituals appear similar to more goal-directed actions: A judge banging a gavel resembles a carpenter hammering a nail. Due to these similarities, our brains assign those acts actual power.</p>
<p>This is what my collaborators and I found in a soon-to-be-published study. We showed people videos of basketball players shooting free throws and asked them to predict the outcome of each shot. Half of those videos showed the players performing a brief ritual, such as kissing the ball or touching their shoes before shooting. The other half did not include any ritual. </p>
<p>Participants predicted that the ritualized shots would be more successful. They were not. But their minds unconsciously tied the arbitrary actions preceding those shots with their expectations for the outcome.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378659/original/file-20210113-21-h2qcdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="President Ronald Reagan is sworn in, Jan. 20, 1981." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378659/original/file-20210113-21-h2qcdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378659/original/file-20210113-21-h2qcdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378659/original/file-20210113-21-h2qcdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378659/original/file-20210113-21-h2qcdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378659/original/file-20210113-21-h2qcdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378659/original/file-20210113-21-h2qcdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378659/original/file-20210113-21-h2qcdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Ronald Reagan is sworn in, Jan. 20, 1981.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75854999">U.S. National Archives</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Special moments</h2>
<p>Collective rituals carry the weight of tradition, which gives them an aura of historical continuity and legitimacy. Even though they do change from time to time, they are often perceived as unchanged and unchangeable. </p>
<p>For instance, Thanksgiving celebrations have been modified several times, <a href="https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/thanksgiving">often by presidential decree</a>. Yet, a recent study reported that people found the mere suggestion of altering holiday traditions <a href="https://behavioralscientist.org/understanding-the-outrage-over-altering-holiday-celebrations-despite-covid-19/">morally offensive</a>. Rituals “represent group values and hence seem sacred.”</p>
<p>Public ceremonies like inaugurations are wrapped in pageantry. They involve music, banners, speeches and more – the more important the moment, the more extravagant the ceremony. When we attend a ritual loaded with splendor, it is as if a little voice inside our brain is telling us: “Pay attention, because something important and meaningful is happening.”</p>
<p>The only provision in the Constitution is that the new president must be sworn in. Thirty-five words is all that is required: “<a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript#toc-section-1--2">I do solemnly swear</a> (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”</p>
<p>When Jan. 20 falls on a Sunday, the inauguration is held on the following day. In that case, <a href="https://www.aoc.gov/what-we-do/programs-ceremonies/inauguration">the oath is administered twice</a>: privately on the Sunday, when the actual transfer of power takes place, and publicly again on Monday, for ceremonial reasons.</p>
<p>The exuberance and theatricality transforms what could be a mundane, ordinary moment into something memorable and noteworthy. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378662/original/file-20210113-15-1huxl2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The Capitol during Bill Clinton's inauguration" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378662/original/file-20210113-15-1huxl2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378662/original/file-20210113-15-1huxl2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378662/original/file-20210113-15-1huxl2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378662/original/file-20210113-15-1huxl2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378662/original/file-20210113-15-1huxl2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378662/original/file-20210113-15-1huxl2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378662/original/file-20210113-15-1huxl2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Banners and flags adorn the U.S. Capitol during Bill Clinton’s first inauguration in 1993.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2133026">U.S. National Archives</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Intuitive appeal</h2>
<p>Ceremonies speak directly to some of our basic instincts, triggering intuitions about their efficacy, symbolism and importance. Human institutions have adapted to reflect – and harness – those instincts to strengthen the perceived importance of our social institutions and the unity of civil society. </p>
<p>This is, in fact, why heads of state who are not popularly elected tend to hold more flamboyant public ceremonies than their democratically chosen counterparts. Even in countries where kings and queens are powerless, their enthronements are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/asia/japan-enthronement-emperor-intl-hnk/index.html">celebrated with far more splendor</a> than the inaugurations of elected leaders.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>But there is a flip side to this. Populist leaders, who are successful thanks to their ability to capitalize on people’s instincts, are almost always fond of ritual exuberance. For his inauguration, Donald Trump reportedly requested a military march, complete with <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-military-equipment-inauguration_n_58811f4ae4b096b4a23091f7">tanks, missile launchers and jet fighters</a>. </p>
<p>The Department of Defense <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-military-inaugural-parade/">apparently declined</a> most of these requests, out of worry that the inauguration would look like a totalitarian power display. But many of Trump’s supporters liked the idea precisely for that reason.</p>
<p>When Trump finally managed to get <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/02/politics/trump-military-parade-july-4/">tanks in the streets</a> for a July Fourth parade in 2019, one of his fans wondered: “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-48862971">If Korea can have a military parade, why can’t we?</a>”</p>
<p>Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Biden’s inauguration will be <a href="https://www.axios.com/biden-inauguration-virtual-parade-covid-pandemic-d9c6fba9-ec67-4f2b-8f76-ad19ae4e351c.html">scaled down and mostly virtual</a>. Donald Trump is not planning to attend, thereby missing the opportunity to see a smaller inauguration crowd than his own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153062/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitris Xygalatas 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.</span></em></p>Formal ceremonies and rituals can trigger psychological signals that command people’s attention and strengthen the perceived importance of those moments.Dimitris Xygalatas, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Psychological Sciences, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1495272020-12-20T21:12:48Z2020-12-20T21:12:48ZThe borrowed customs and traditions of Christmas celebrations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372195/original/file-20201201-18-1fl360e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=297%2C595%2C2738%2C1418&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruslan Kalnitsky/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not long to go now before many of us get to spread some good tidings and joy as we celebrate Christmas.</p>
<p>The main ways we understand and mark the occasion seem to be rather <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/">similar across the world</a>. It’s about time with community, family, food-sharing, gift-giving and overall merry festivities.</p>
<p>But while Christmas is ostensibly a Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus, many of the rituals and customs come from other traditions, both spiritual and secular.</p>
<h2>The first Christmas</h2>
<p>The journey of Christmas into the celebration we know and recognise today is not a straight line.</p>
<p>The first Christmas celebrations were <a href="https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/the-1st-recorded-celebration-of-christmas-11629658.html">recorded</a> in Ancient Rome in the fourth century. Christmas was placed in December, around the time of the northern <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/winter-solstice.html">winter solstice</a>.</p>
<p>It is not difficult to spot the similarities between our now long-standing <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas">Christmas</a> traditions and the Roman festival of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saturnalia-Roman-festival">Saturnalia</a>, which was also celebrated in December and co-existed with Christian belief for a period of time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/feeling-pressured-to-buy-christmas-presents-read-this-and-think-twice-before-buying-candles-150174">Feeling pressured to buy Christmas presents? Read this (and think twice before buying candles)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Saturnalia placed an emphasis on the sharing of food and drink, and spending time with loved ones as the colder winter period arrived. There is even evidence that the Romans exchanged little gifts of food to mark the occasion.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A table with food, wine and candles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some people still celebrate Saturnalia today with food and drink.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/38396036234/">Carole Raddato/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>As Christianity took greater hold in the Roman world and the old polytheistic religion was left behind, we can see the cultural imprint of Saturnalia traditions in the ways in which our well-known Christmas celebrations established themselves across the board.</p>
<h2>A Yule celebration</h2>
<p>Turning an eye to the Germanic-Scandinavian context also provides intriguing connections. In the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas">Norse religion</a>, Yule was a winter festival celebrated during the period we now roughly associate with December.</p>
<p>The beginning of Yule was marked by the arrival of the Wild Hunt, a spiritual occurrence when the Norse god Odin would ride across the sky on his eight-legged white horse.</p>
<p>While the hunt was a frightening sight to behold, it also brought excitement for families, and especially children, as Odin was known to leave little gifts at each household as he rode past.</p>
<p>Like the Roman Saturnalia, Yule was a time of drawing in for the winter months, during which copious amounts of food and drink would be consumed.</p>
<p>The Yule festivities included bringing tree branches inside the home and decorating them with food and trinkets, likely opening the way for the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees">Christmas tree</a> as we know it today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A decorated Christmas tree in a home." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The decorated Christmas tree can trace its roots back to Northern Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfsavard/3145328220/">Laura LaRose/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The influence of Yule on the festive season of Northern European countries is still evident in linguistic expression too, with “Jul” being the word for Christmas in Danish and Norwegian. The English language also maintains this connection, by referring to the Christmas period as “Yuletide”.</p>
<h2>Here comes Santa</h2>
<p>Through the idea of gift-giving, we see the obvious connections between Odin and Santa Claus, even though the latter is somewhat of a popular culture invention, as put forward by the famous poem <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas">A Visit from St Nicholas</a> (also known as The Night Before Christmas), attributed to American poet <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Clement-Clarke-Moore">Clement Clarke Moore</a> in 1837 (although <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/86071888/who-really-named-santas-reindeer-its-not-who-you-thought">debate continues</a> over <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/night-before-christmas-poem-1.4446455">who actually wrote the poem</a>).</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yeb_oH5_OJE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>The poem was very well-received and its popularity spread immediately, going well beyond the American context and reaching global fame. The poem gave us much of the staple imagery we associate with Santa today, including the first ever mention of his reindeer.</p>
<p>But even the figure of Santa Claus is evidence of the constant mixture and mingling of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33574172-christmas">traditions, customs and representations</a>.</p>
<p>Santa’s evolution <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1493195.Christmas">carries echoes</a> of not only Odin, but also historical figures such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Nicholas">Saint Nicholas of Myra</a> — a fourth-century bishop known for his charitable work — and the legendary Dutch figure of <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/11/ten-things-you-need-to-know-to-celebrate-sinterklaas/">Sinterklaas</a> that derived from it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sinterklaas has a white beard and is dressed in a red jacket, speaking with some children." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Dutch figure Sinterklaas looks a lot like Santa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/archeon/4141592110/">Hans Splinter/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Christmas down under in the summer</h2>
<p>The idea of connecting Christmas to winter festivals and drawing in customs makes the most sense in the colder months of the Northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>In the Southern hemisphere, in countries such as New Zealand and Australia, the traditional Christmas celebrations have evolved into their own specific brand, which is much more suited to the warmer summer months.</p>
<p>Christmas is an imported event in these areas and acts as a constant reminder of the spread of European colonialism in the 18th and 19th centuries.</p>
<p>Celebrating Christmas still carries the influence of European contexts, being a time for merriment, gift-giving and community spirit.</p>
<p>Even some of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45310198-christmas-food-and-feasting">traditional foods</a> of the season here are still indebted to Euro-British traditions, with <a href="https://thisnzlife.co.nz/12-tips-cooking-perfect-christmas-turkey/">turkey</a> and <a href="https://dish.co.nz/recipes/raspberry-glazed-christmas-ham">ham</a> taking centre stage.</p>
<p>All the same, as Christmas falls in the summer down under, there are also different ways to <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/kiwi-christmas">celebrate it in New Zealand</a> and <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/">other regions</a> that clearly have nothing to do with winter festivals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-choose-the-right-christmas-gift-tips-from-psychological-research-149739">How to choose the right Christmas gift: tips from psychological research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Barbecues and beach days are prominent new traditions, as borrowed practices co-exist with novel ways of adapting the event to a different context. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A plate of mini tropical fruit pavlovas with berries" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Try a pavlova, something more summery for Christmas in New Zealand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/50194313052/">Marco Verch Professional/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The wintery Christmas puddings are often exchanged for more summery pavlovas, whose fresh fruit toppings and meringue base certainly befit the warmer season to a greater extent.</p>
<p>The transition to outdoor Christmas celebrations in the Southern hemisphere is obviously locked in common sense because of the warmer weather.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, it also shows how both cultural and geographical drivers can influence the evolution of celebrating important festivals. And if you really want to experience a cold Christmas down under, there is always a mid-year Christmas in July to look forward to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorna Piatti-Farnell 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.</span></em></p>The Christmas we celebrate today around the world, whether in northern winter or southern summer, has its roots in many cultures and traditions.Lorna Piatti-Farnell, Professor of Popular Culture, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1508402020-12-20T13:29:41Z2020-12-20T13:29:41ZPandemic cooking and Jewish food rituals offer comfort in times of sickness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374876/original/file-20201214-18-dkss1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C47%2C6303%2C3895&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Preparing food is an important ritual in providing care and comfort.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From our morning routines to our cultural and religious traditions, the COVID-19 pandemic has intensely highlighted our need for rituals. Rituals, understood as “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ritual-theory-ritual-practice-9780199733620">a strategic way of acting in social situations</a>,” are performative activities that follow a prescribed sequence of actions. </p>
<p>Most scholarship understands rituals to be an inversion of regular behaviour that set an action apart from mundane activities.</p>
<p>Not all rituals are religious, but religious studies scholar Catherine M. Bell has explained how almost <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ritual-theory-ritual-practice-9780199733620">any ceremony, traditional clothing and various traditions can be considered ritual-like activities</a>. Sometimes such activities reflect a memory of an earlier tradition, such as Thanksgiving dinner. Other times, material items, such as a flag or scriptures, evoke a ritualistic context. Rituals provide connections with the past, belonging to a community and a sense of continuity. </p>
<p>When everything else is changing, engaging with activities that “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/sunday-review/pandemic-habits-routine-brain.html">we have always done</a>” can provide comfort. Rituals have become common in news media as both a casualty and something that has benefited from COVID-19. Many people miss access to their usual rituals due to <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rituals-religion-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic">the pandemic’s disruption of normal routines and traditions</a>. </p>
<p>There is also evidence that some have created new rituals, specifically in the context of their home. One interesting trend that has surfaced during this pandemic is pandemic baking. People have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/31/health/coronavirus-cooking-wellness/index.html/">turned to cooking</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/27/coronavirus-why-everyone-is-baking-their-way-through-the-pandemic.html">baking as a means of coping</a> during these trying times. </p>
<h2>Rituals of the ordinary</h2>
<p>Although ancient Jewish texts frequently refer to illnesses, seldom do the authors mention medical professionals. These texts reflect an ancient world where there were other ways to deal with illnesses. Cooking, even for the ill, can be understood as a ritual-like practice. By exploring food rituals in the context of illness, we will show how traditional and often changeless rituals provide comfort in changing social situations.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-ancient-israelites-dealt-with-epidemics-the-bible-tells-of-prophecy-and-rituals-135803">How the ancient Israelites dealt with epidemics — the Bible tells of prophecy and rituals</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Few scholars have considered the routines of ordinary people as a ritual, because they so commonly fall outside of what scholarship has deemed as ritual. Sociologist Susan Starr Sered and anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff have discussed <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=78gecnM8SKgC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=In+Secular+Ritual:+Forms+and+Meanings,+edited+by+Sally+Falk+Moore+and+Barbara+Myerhoff,&source=bl&ots=Jy4vUoP9kU&sig=ACfU3U0dIEOWLnQlrz6Hpna-nYQwv9ISLw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDzaLF5a_tAhXVaM0KHUObAeE4ChDoATADegQIARAC#v=onepage&q&f=false">mundane household rituals</a> as reflections of “<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2803263">domestic religion</a>.”</p>
<p>Sered, <a href="http://susan.sered.name/women-as-ritual-experts-the-religious-lives-of-elderly-jewish-women-in-jerusalem/">who studied elderly immigrant women in Israel</a>, argues that, within the context of a “male-oriented religion,” women established their own rituals in order to construct “a meaningful religious life.” These include nurturing and feeding their loved ones and taking responsibility for the poor and needy. Sered has termed these activities as “sacralizing,” because it allows people to relate their lives “meaningfully to God.”</p>
<p>Sered demonstrates how food preparation can be a sacred ritual because it makes the intangible aspects of culture and religion tangible. Such a connection is particularly strong in the kashrut, the Jewish system of food laws, which elevates meal preparation from being a daily mundane activity “<a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-purpose-of-kashrut/">to a religious ritual par excellence</a>.”</p>
<p>Ancient authors were aware of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Galen-on-Food-and-Diet/Grant/p/book/9780415232333">the importance of food for general well-being</a>, and the idea that food strengthens the individual is <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/food/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bible-food">outlined in various Biblical texts</a>.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2030:11-12&version=NRSV">King David’s men feed an Egyptian who has not eaten for three days</a> and the text claims that “his spirit revived.” The author does not only highlight physical well-being in this verse, but the return of his spirit (<em>ruah</em>) which makes him living suggests that food is not simply a means to satisfy a basic human need. It is possible that food was understood in more complex ways.</p>
<h2>Feeding the sick as ritual</h2>
<p>In some contexts, food may signify a household ritual as a response to sickness. An example of this occurs in <a href="http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8694-job-testament-of">the Testament of Job</a>, an early Jewish writing that expands the Biblical Book of Job and <a href="https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/tools/ask-a-scholar/authorship-of-job">envisions Job’s final days</a>. In this narrative, God gives Satan permission to inflict Job’s body with plagues. </p>
<p>The author narrates how Job’s wife Sitis cared for him during his illness by providing him bread to eat. Driven to slavery, Sitis turns to Satan, thinking he was a man, and begs for bread. Since they were poor, Sitis has nothing but her hair to offer as payment and she sells her hair to Satan to buy some bread for Job. </p>
<p>The text suggests that this episode is not simply about an awareness of the importance of eating, because after bringing the bread to Job, the text includes a lamentation. Sitis laments her misfortunes that have resulted from Job’s illness: the poverty, the loss of material possessions and her hair. Following Sitis’ lament, Job reveals the man as Satan who declares himself defeated and finally leaves Job in peace. Job then recovers from his illness.</p>
<p>Various details of the Testament of Job narrative suggest connections with rituals. Most notably, individual laments that describe the present suffering and request for help <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199228133.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199228133-e-4">may have been performed ritualistically</a>. Biblical scholar Carol Meyers has argued that in ancient Jewish texts, <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734559.001.0001/acprof-9780199734559">women are known for performing laments</a>. </p>
<p>As some laments of the Hebrew Bible specifically talk about illness, they may have been composed to address the illness in hopes that the deity would intervene and heal the sick. Such words are preserved, for instance, in Psalm 102:3-4: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bread appears in various accounts that refer to suffering. A part of ancient (<a href="https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/blogs/231936/consolation-meal-come-isaac-pollak/">and also modern</a>) burial rituals offers the so-called mourner’s bread to the mourners. In 2 Samuel 3, King David who is mourning performs a lamentation and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel+3&version=NRSV">people offer him bread</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375765/original/file-20201217-13-wfwnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A mural of King David" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375765/original/file-20201217-13-wfwnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375765/original/file-20201217-13-wfwnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375765/original/file-20201217-13-wfwnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375765/original/file-20201217-13-wfwnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375765/original/file-20201217-13-wfwnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375765/original/file-20201217-13-wfwnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375765/original/file-20201217-13-wfwnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fresco by Jesuit Benedetto da Marone (1550-1565) showing King David receiving the holy bread from Ahimelech the Priest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a similar vein, in 2 Samuel 13, the narrative of Tamar’s rape by her brother Amnon, suggests an understanding of food beyond mere sustenance. Tamar prepared cakes for Amnon, who pretended to be sick. </p>
<p>Biblical scholar Tikva Frymer Kensky explains that <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/56840/reading-the-women-of-the-bible-by-tikva-frymer-kensky/">the cakes Tamar offers Amnon are called “biryah,”</a> a word which means either a heart-shaped cake or food that “enheartens” the sick person. Hence, the cakes that Tamar prepares in 2 Samuel 13 were not meant to be offered to the sick only to have him eat “something” — <a href="https://www.academia.edu/1900708/_Was_Habbiry%E1%BA%AD_a_Healing_Ritual_Performed_by_a_Woman_in_King_Davids_House_">there was something important in the process of preparing this particular food and its appearance</a>.</p>
<p>Connection with symbolic healing power of food is particularly emphasized in 2 Kings 20:7, where the prophet Isaiah advises the sick King Hezekiah to place a fig cake on his boil. Food is suggested to heal even without being consumed. </p>
<p>In this text, the cakes, as a substance, are seen as having some kind of healing power because, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+20&version=NRSV">after following the prophet’s advice, King Hezekiah recovers</a>.</p>
<h2>Comfort in strange times</h2>
<p>Similar to ancient texts that depict rituals related to food, in our present context, food is both comfort and symbol. For instance, bread has innumerable symbolic connotations. Food and rituals related to it offer connections with others, even when it has become exceedingly difficult to connect with people. </p>
<p>By following traditions, <a href="https://thriveglobal.in/stories/reliving-grandmas-recipes/">one connects with the past</a>. And by sharing food, <a href="https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/business/dining-a-la-king-soup-conjures-magic-during-pandemic/article_476626c4-2f41-11eb-ad6e-d3c1333d2854.html">we can reach out to our communities</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150840/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hanna Tervanotko receives funding from Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Centre for Advanced Study. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katharine Fitzgerald receives funding from Mitacs Research Training Award and McMaster University. </span></em></p>Biblical texts contain many references to food, reflecting the complex symbolism in the preparation and sharing of food.Hanna Tervanotko, Assistant professor, Religious Studies, McMaster UniversityKatharine Fitzgerald, PhD student, Religious Studies, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1505922020-12-03T13:34:28Z2020-12-03T13:34:28ZIn a year of Black Lives Matter protests, Dutch wrestle (again) with the tradition of Black Pete<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372364/original/file-20201201-16-yerb6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=263%2C558%2C4764%2C2886&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An annual tradition or a national embarrassment.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NetherlandsBlackPete/5af4c4ae2bb24eebba4c6cb938fec981/photo?Query=soot%20AND%20pete&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=45&currentItemNo=42">AP Photo/Peter Dejong</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Black Lives Matter protests and social uprisings spread across U.S. cities in the summer, the civil rights icon the Rev. Jesse Jackson <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-netherlands-black/ban-racist-black-pete-jesse-jackson-writes-dutch-pm-rutte-idUSKBN23P3KU">wrote a personal letter</a> to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte over an annual tradition that many believe to be racist.</p>
<p>Every Dec. 5, people across the Netherlands paint their faces black and don afro wigs to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/05/673774297/a-dutch-holiday-tradition-protesting-a-christmas-character-in-blackface">celebrate the arrival of Black Pete</a>, the blackface servant of <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-christmas-tell-your-children-the-real-santa-claus-story-107424">St. Nicholas</a> who helps to deliver presents.</p>
<p>With conversations about racial justice, systemic racism and anti-Black prejudice <a href="https://time.com/5851855/systemic-racism-america/">gaining fresh impetus worldwide</a>, Jackson took issue with the Dutch leader’s defense of the Black Pete tradition. </p>
<p>“Your Excellency,” he wrote, “as the whole world mourns the brutal murder of George Floyd, followed by the worldwide mass protest demonstrations calling for actions to combat racism, I do not think that it was appropriate for you to explain that you understand better the sufferings of Black people … and that you do not consider Black Pete as racist.” </p>
<p>As scholars who have <a href="https://english.asu.edu/content/ayanna-thompson">researched blackface in the U.S.</a>, <a href="https://www.rug.nl/staff/c.p.a.heijes/cv?lang=en">the Netherlands</a> and worldwide, we believe the episode captures the evolving though ambivalent Dutch attitudes to Black Pete, and the need for a larger global reckoning regarding blackface performances in general. </p>
<p>In his letter, Jackson argued that the tradition of Black Pete could not “be separated from the very offensive tradition of blackface” and <a href="https://afromagazine.nl/opinie/jesse-jackson-mark-rutte-show-moral-leadership-and-ban-zwarte-piet">noted that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. recognized</a> that “there are times when it’s appropriate to be political, but sometimes it’s more important to be prophetic – to just do what’s right.”</p>
<h2>A growing controversy</h2>
<p>This year isn’t the first time that the blackface performance tradition of Black Pete has <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/05/673774297/a-dutch-holiday-tradition-protesting-a-christmas-character-in-blackface">come under international scrutiny</a>. In recent years the controversy has received growing attention outside of the Netherlands.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372367/original/file-20201201-17-1uf1ves.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372367/original/file-20201201-17-1uf1ves.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372367/original/file-20201201-17-1uf1ves.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372367/original/file-20201201-17-1uf1ves.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372367/original/file-20201201-17-1uf1ves.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372367/original/file-20201201-17-1uf1ves.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372367/original/file-20201201-17-1uf1ves.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Kick Out Black Pete campaign has grown in strength in recent years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/black-girl-is-holding-an-anti-black-pete-during-the-first-news-photo/1222900418?adppopup=true">Romy Arroyo Fernandez/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Backlash against the tradition has seen such U.S.-based companies as <a href="https://nltimes.nl/2020/08/26/amazon-also-bans-blackface-zwarte-piet-products">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://thenextweb.com/facebook/2020/08/11/facebook-is-banning-controversial-dutch-character-zwarte-piet">Facebook</a> no longer allowing the depiction of Black Pete on their sites. In the Netherlands, too, the tide seems to be turning in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. Prime Minister Rutte has indicated that <a href="https://www.parool.nl/nederland/rutte-denkt-voortaan-anders-over-zwarte-piet-dit-is-het-laatste-wat-je-wilt%7Ebe4d114a/">his views on Black Pete are changing</a>, saying he is aware of the pain these depictions and performances might cause.</p>
<p>Libraries across the Netherlands have silently started <a href="https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/bibliotheken-verwijderen-boeken-met-zwarte-piet-smaldeel-bepaalt-niet-ons-beleid%7Ea6ab9176/">removing children’s books</a> that contain illustrations of Black Pete, arguing the tradition is at odds with public decency.</p>
<p>And this year’s arrival of St. Nicholas by steamboat, traditionally a few weeks before Dec. 5, had him surrounded by so-called Soot Petes instead of Black ones. Rather than a completely blackened face, Soot Petes have a face streaked with lines of chimney ash – supposedly caused by their climbing through the sooty chimneys to deliver gifts. It is the only variation of Pete that is acceptable to <a href="https://time.com/5910949/black-pete-netherlands-zwarte-piet/">Kick Out Black Pete</a>, the Dutch activist organization founded in 2014 to end any racially offensive representation of the character.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372365/original/file-20201201-19-lqw00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372365/original/file-20201201-19-lqw00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372365/original/file-20201201-19-lqw00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372365/original/file-20201201-19-lqw00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372365/original/file-20201201-19-lqw00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372365/original/file-20201201-19-lqw00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372365/original/file-20201201-19-lqw00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Soot Pete’ performers use ash to line their face.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/november-17th-zaanstad-like-each-year-the-first-saturday-news-photo/1062760338?adppopup=true">Romy Arroyo Fernandez/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a representative <a href="https://eenvandaag.assets.avrotros.nl/user_upload/PDF/Rapportage_ZwartePiet_12nov.pdf">national poll</a> from November, opposition to replacing Black Pete with Soot Pete decreased from 66% to 43%. And only 19% thought that Black Pete would still exist in 10 years’ time.</p>
<p>However, this is only part of the story. <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/05/europe/black-pete-netherlands-intl-scli/index.html">Prime Minister Rutte</a> indicated that a ban on Black Pete should not be a task for the central government, arguing that cultural change happens on its own. And a closer look at the national poll from this year reveals that only 17% consider Black Pete to be a racist phenomenon; instead, they see it as part of their Dutch cultural history.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789401210096/B9789401210096-s010.xml">Dutch tradition</a> of the Catholic St. Nicholas dates back to the Middle Ages, while Black Pete has often been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822374565-006">associated with Indo-European traditions</a> of devilish characters with a mixture of black masks, horns, faces and clothes who would occasionally accompany a white, gray-haired man bearing gifts. While the tradition of Black Pete may not have been directly related to minstrelsy or slavery, its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2016.1193039">influence was unmistakable,</a> and in the second half of the 19th century the Dutch character of Black Pete increasingly adopted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14788810.2018.1490508">aspects of minstrelsy performances</a>, which were a popular element of the Dutch theater repertoire at the time.</p>
<p>The increasing support for Soot Pete’s replacing Black Pete stems, however, not so much from a desire to be anti-racist as with people’s “being fed up with the ongoing debate” or “wanting to restore the peace during a children’s festivity,” as respondents in the national survey testified. In a final twist, <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/10/google-to-ban-zwarte-piet-sooty-replacement-as-a-racial-stereotype/">Google</a> has taken the pressure surrounding the tradition a step further, banning Soot Pete too from its advertising a couple of weeks ago, arguing that the alternative compromise, which is still supported by Kick Out Black Pete, is also based on racial stereotypes. </p>
<h2>A global reckoning</h2>
<p>The ambivalence surrounding Black Pete’s status in the Netherlands is not an isolated Dutch issue. Rather, it mirrors an international unease about the function and significance of blackface images and performances globally. Although often addressed as a uniquely American performance tradition and problem, blackface performances were exported globally both through blackface <a href="https://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited/othello-blackface">performances of Shakespeare’s Othello</a> and through <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-blackface-111404">blackface minstrel shows</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CfmPZovc0k">2018 Dutch production of “Othello”</a> was only the second in the country’s history to feature a black actor in the lead role – the first was the American actor Ira Aldridge’s performance in 1863. The 2018 production was well received, and the media hailed the introduction of a black actor and the production’s focus on racism – <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/shakespeare-blackface-and-race/65C5F020B771EFEC2135A0B533CC232E">a first in Dutch Othellos</a>. Yet an inspiration for that performance, the 2017 book <a href="https://www.walburgpers.nl/nl/book/9789462984141/hallo-witte-mensen">“Hello White People,”</a> which criticized Dutch blackface and focused on anti-Black racism, was derided by both left- and right-wing media for exaggerating the problem and being a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/shakespeare-blackface-and-race/65C5F020B771EFEC2135A0B533CC232E">poisonous product of identity politics</a>.</p>
<p>Variations of the debate over blackface in Dutch traditions are playing out across the globe. The use of blackface by <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/3/17/8230783/japan-racism-blackface">contemporary Japanese singers on variety shows</a> has come under scrutiny in recent years. In the United States, television stars like <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-06-23/30-rock-blackface-tina-fey-episodes-nbc">Tina Fey</a>, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/06/02/jimmy-fallon-addresses-snl-blackface-controversy/3122263001/">Jimmy Fallon</a>, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-06-24/jimmy-kimmel-blackface-apology-comedy">Jimmy Kimmel</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/12/entertainment/sarah-silverman-blackface-scli-intl/index.html">Sarah Silverman</a> have all apologized for their use of blackface in the 21st century. Meanwhile, earlier this year in Russia a pro-Kremlin television show mocked Barack Obama in a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/11/30/obama-blackface-russia-kremlin-tv/">sketch featuring blackface</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>As Jesse Jackson warned, Black Pete cannot be understood in isolation from the history of blackface. Nor should Black Pete be addressed as an isolated Dutch problem. If we accept Prime Minister Rutte’s view that cultural change happens without government intervention, then the conversations about the history, significance and legacy of blackface performances need, we believe, to be more robust, more global and more sustained.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The annual Dec. 5 tradition sees performers don blackface and afro wigs. But a growing number of Dutch citizens believe it’s time to wave goodbye to Black Pete.Ayanna Thompson, Regents Professor of English, Arizona State UniversityCoen Heijes, Assistant professor, University of GroningenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1476192020-10-19T18:32:53Z2020-10-19T18:32:53ZThe history of oath ceremonies and why they matter when taking office<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364018/original/file-20201016-15-16p6muc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is sworn in Oct. 12 for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXSupremeCourtBarrett/84957f0f66364503a02770b7643b1e8f/photo?Query=Amy%20coney%20BArrett&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=2982&currentItemNo=18">Leah Millis/Pool via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/21/politics/amy-coney-barrett-supreme-court/index.html">confirmation hearings for</a> Amy Coney Barrett have <a href="https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/10/15/21517518/judge-thomas-griffith-amy-coney-barrett-catholic-faith-supreme-court-mormon-lds">drawn much</a> notice for her religious worldview.</p>
<p>Barrett’s <a href="https://peopleofpraise.org/about/who-we-are/covenant/">alleged commitment</a> to a small Christian religious group, People of Praise, has raised concerns. This <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/covenant">covenant</a> is a formal pledge to remain a member for life, following its authority structures, religious beliefs and expectations for service or charitable activities.</p>
<p>Barrett must take an oath – both governmental and judicial – swearing impartiality if she is approved for the post of a Supreme Court justice. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-amy-coney-barrett-archive-courts-social-issues-7407908faa001844bcf835bb53bb0731">Some commentators have questioned</a> this apparent permanent commitment to an ultraconservative “fringe” group and whether that might interfere with her ability to <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/amy-coney-barrett-conservative-anti-catholic-complaints.html">genuinely practice this impartiality</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">scholar of medieval Christian liturgy and ritual</a>, I believe this is a moment to understand why oaths are so important, as well as how they came to be such an important tradition. </p>
<h2>What is an oath?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/speech-act-theory-1691986">Some philosophers</a> and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8NLm78cziU4C&pg=PA319&dq=oath+ritual+act&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZp4eAmrbsAhUJd6wKHasiD0U4ChDoATAHegQICRAC#v=onepage&q=oath%20ritual%20act&f=false">anthropologists</a> define an oath as a <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/speech-acts/">ritual act</a>, or more specifically a “<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/speech-act-linguistics-1692119#:%7E:text=In%20linguistics%2C%20a%20speech%20act,or%20any%20number%20of%20declarations">speech act</a>.” </p>
<p>An oath is one kind of speech act. Taking an oath expresses a specific intention to others, using words like “I promise to” or “I swear that.” The intention when taking an oath is not limited to the moment someone articulates the words of the oath. </p>
<p>Oath-taking is also about the intention in the future to commit to act in a certain way. One example is the vows taken by couples during their wedding in front of witnesses. </p>
<p>British philosopher <a href="http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/aust.htm">John L. Austin</a> <a href="http://semantics.uchicago.edu/kennedy/classes/f09/semprag1/austin56.pdf">called oaths</a> “<a href="http://www.glottopedia.org/index.php/Performative">performative utterances.”</a> The engaged couple, for example, declare their act of marrying each other by speaking their vows to each other. They make a deliberate choice of their own free will. </p>
<h2>Roman soldiers and allegiance</h2>
<p>The ritual of taking oaths goes back centuries in Western Europe.</p>
<p>In antiquity, oaths were often demanded of religious and governmental leaders, as well as those in certain professions. In ancient Rome, oaths were also demanded of soldiers. </p>
<p>The most solemn military oath – directly invoking the Roman gods – was the “<a href="https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-5653">sacramentum</a>.” By this oath, soldiers swore allegiance to their specific general or commanding consul and, later, to the emperor. Disobedience could earn <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Conflict_in_Ancient_Greece_and_Rome_The/npNUDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=roman%20soldier%20punishment">severe punishments</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tapestry scene showing swearing oath on holy relics to William, Duke of Normandy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Bayeux_Tapestry_scene23_Harold_sacramentum_fecit_Willelmo_duci.jpg/1024px-Bayeux_Tapestry_scene23_Harold_sacramentum_fecit_Willelmo_duci.jpg">Myrabella via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On some occasions, oath-breaking was tested by resorting to divine intervention. The virgin goddess Vesta was one of the most important in Roman religion. Her priestesses, <a href="https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1099&context=his">the Vestals, or Vestal Virgins</a>, therefore took an oath of chastity for their 30-year term of service tending to the ever-burning sacred fire of Rome, Vesta’s sacred hearth, as well as other rites.</p>
<p>Vestals accused of breaking that oath were judged by the high priest of Rome. Since a priestess was a sacred person, her blood could not be shed. If found guilty, the priestess was buried alive, with a lamp and a little food, and left to the judgment of Vesta. If any condemned Vestal were innocent, it was believed that surely the <a href="https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1099&context=his">goddess would free her</a> from her living death. </p>
<h2>Oaths in the Middle Ages</h2>
<p>In medieval Europe, Christians continued to take oaths. The religious and secular worlds were closely interconnected for most of these centuries, and most oaths referred to Christian beliefs. </p>
<p>In the early Middle Ages, Christians <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Oaths_and_the_English_Reformation/Al4gAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=medieval+oaths&pg=PA31&printsec=frontcover">took oaths</a> in the name of God, often while holding a religious object like a <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/feud-fief1.asp">relic of a saint</a> or a book of the Gospels. </p>
<p>In most cases, oaths were not strictly person to person, but involved the wider community in some important way. Kings took <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/old-english-coronation-oath">coronation oaths</a>, swearing to rule justly and safeguard the people of the kingdom; lesser nobles took <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Shorter_Cambridge_Medieval_History/mcI8AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=oath+fealty+medieval&pg=PA418&printsec=frontcover">oaths of fealty</a> to greater nobles, often for protection and material advantage. </p>
<p>Religious leaders like bishops and abbots also became part of this oath-based system, since they, too, had secular jurisdiction over important tracts of land. Breaking an oath was believed to bring down the wrath of God in time, but other than that, upholding one’s personal honor and reputation within the local community was a key consideration. </p>
<p>Until the early 13th century, Christian rites would <a href="https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3387&context=mlr">accompany</a> the earlier Germanic practice of trial by ordeal. In these earlier centuries, most local people accused of a crime could be found not guilty by compurgation – that is, through oaths made by other respected members of the community <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jury_State_and_Society_in_Medieval_Engla/McDIAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=medieval+oath+compurgation&pg=PA77&printsec=frontcover">testifying to the accused’s honest character</a>. </p>
<p>In other cases, often involving strangers to the local community, the accused could be cleared only by a divine intervention. </p>
<p>After a night of fasting and prayer, the accused would undergo a physical ordeal, like carrying a heated block of iron over a set number of steps or by being thrown into a pond to sink or float. </p>
<p>If the accused did not develop blisters or was “accepted” by the water and sank, that was understood as God’s declaration of his innocence. As time went on, scholars and ordinary people increasingly <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LgTzXwdJKUoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=criticism+medieval+trials+ordeal&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipyKPpzLnsAhWBGc0KHWmaBeUQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=criticism%20medieval%20trials%20ordeal&f=false">criticized the reliability of trials</a> by ordeal. </p>
<p>By the 13th century, the procedures of the court trial were defined and adopted, both in canon law – that is, the church law – and in secular law.</p>
<h2>Why oaths matter</h2>
<p>When drafting the U.S. Constitution in 1787, the Founding Fathers rejected some of the legal practices of the British system of law. One such rejection was of the “<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/article-vi/clauses/32#:%7E:text=After%20requiring%20all%20federal%20and,as%20the%20No%20Religious%20Test">religious test</a>.” </p>
<p>In Great Britain, all office holders had to affirm the religious doctrines of the Church of England. But in the independent United States, there was to be no such religious restriction placed on federal officeholders. Preserving religious liberty was a primary concern protected by the Constitution.</p>
<p>One of the British legal practices the Founding Fathers did include in the Constitution was the swearing of oaths upon entering federal governmental service. However, these oaths were not taken to pledge loyalty to a single monarch, but to “protect and defend” the Constitution itself. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sandra Day O'Connor being sworn in as a Supreme Court justice by Chief Justice Warren Burger in September 1981.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1696015">Series: Reagan White House Photographs, 1/20/1981 - 1/20/1989 Collection: White House Photographic Collection, 1/20/1981 - 1/20/1989</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But “swearing-in ceremonies” communicate far more. Supreme Court justices <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/oath/oathsofoffice.aspx">take two oaths</a>, one judicial, and the other constitutional. The oath ceremony is still a serious performative utterance.</p>
<p>The appointees take these oaths in front of witnesses, who are themselves representative of the entire community the appointees will serve. </p>
<p>Appointees to the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/oath/oathsofoffice.aspx">commit themselves</a>, not to a partisan political agenda, and not to a cult of personality or to the judgment of popular opinion. They commit themselves to “protect and defend the Constitution” and “administer justice without respect to persons … faithfully and impartially.” </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Justices might be <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artIII_S1_2_1_3/">impeached by Congress</a> for failing in “good behavior.” But in practice, justices serve for life, until death or retirement, and are bound in good conscience to carry out their “duties” as they have sworn to do. </p>
<p>The conscience of appointees, not the preservation of their personal reputations, has been the focus of these “oaths of office” for almost 250 years. This is as true today as it was in 1787.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce 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.</span></em></p>Taking oath is an important tradition before assuming charge of a public office. It entails a commitment to the future. What is the history of oath-taking?Joanne M. Pierce, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1476582020-10-16T03:55:59Z2020-10-16T03:55:59ZDon’t cancel Halloween: some ‘spooky’ tips on how to stay COVID-safe this All Hallows’ Eve<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362360/original/file-20201008-14-1c8rdgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=152%2C50%2C3262%2C2389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/ValeryMinyaev</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With much of the world in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, there is some <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/sep/13/its-not-sensible-in-a-pandemic-cancel-halloween-officials-advise">talk</a> of <a href="https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/a33985792/is-halloween-canceled/">cancelling</a> Halloween celebrations this year.</p>
<p>It’s only natural to wonder if we should celebrate an event that, on the surface, seems frivolous and unimportant when so many people around the world are suffering and dying because of the deadly virus.</p>
<p>But it’s precisely because of the current situation that it’s essential to hold on to customs that bring the community together.</p>
<p>Halloween is a celebration of both the living and the dead. The fun and entertaining aspects — sweets, parties, carved pumpkins and over-the-top costumes and decorations — don’t take away from its importance.</p>
<p>The question is: how to celebrate Halloween and stay safe within any local rules you have to follow on social distancing and other measures as part of coronavirus prevention strategies?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young boy wearing a medical protection mask facing up against some dressed in a scary costume." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363651/original/file-20201015-23-h9wsvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363651/original/file-20201015-23-h9wsvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363651/original/file-20201015-23-h9wsvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363651/original/file-20201015-23-h9wsvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363651/original/file-20201015-23-h9wsvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363651/original/file-20201015-23-h9wsvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363651/original/file-20201015-23-h9wsvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps it’s time to create new traditions to keep the spirit of Halloween alive, without forfeiting our health. The origins and aims of Halloween may provide some good ideas on how to move forward.</p>
<h2>A brief history of Halloween</h2>
<p>Halloween has a mixed historical heritage. It’s often <a href="http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781789141580" title="Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween">claimed</a> it originated in Europe in the ancient Celtic festival of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Samhain">Samhain</a>. This was celebrated (roughly) in November, starting on the evening of October 31 — known as “the eve of Samhain”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-fun-to-be-frightened-101055">Why is it fun to be frightened?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Samhain was both a community and a spiritual event, when bonfires were lit and food offered to the spirits who had crossed over from the Otherworld for the night. </p>
<p>Carved vegetables, such as turnips, were placed outside doors to both guide and ward off evil spirits. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363841/original/file-20201016-17-w3hs1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three pumpkins carved with Halloween faces." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363841/original/file-20201016-17-w3hs1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363841/original/file-20201016-17-w3hs1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363841/original/file-20201016-17-w3hs1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363841/original/file-20201016-17-w3hs1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363841/original/file-20201016-17-w3hs1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363841/original/file-20201016-17-w3hs1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363841/original/file-20201016-17-w3hs1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Before there were Halloween pumpkins, people used to carve turnips.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/somewhereintheworldtoday/8128521330/">Flickr/Somewhere in the world today</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Masks were worn as part of the celebration: the aim was either to scare off the spirits or to honour them, depending on <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/9780195146912/Halloween-Pagan-Ritual-Party-Night-0195146913/plp" title="Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night">which source</a> you consult.</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137406644_6" title="Spectral Pumpkins: Cultural Icons and the Gothic Everyday">claim</a> that when Christianity arrived in the Celtic world in the fourth century it tried to incorporate some of the existing pagan festivals into its rituals, with an aim to perhaps become more appealing to new followers.</p>
<p>Some see the influence of Samhain on the Christian season of Hallowtide, which the church formally established in the ninth century. This incorporates All Hallows’ Eve (October 31), All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2). Hallowtide was, and still is, a time to commemorate the dead and celebrate our ongoing connection to them.</p>
<p>Across the centuries, many practices have been part of the Hallowtide celebrations, including “guising”, where children dress up in whimsical costumes and go door to door demanding offerings of foods for the departed.</p>
<p>This practice survives today and most will recognise it by its American name “trick or treating”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363876/original/file-20201016-21-1n7q6tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young children dressed on Halloween costumes gong from door to door in search of treats" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363876/original/file-20201016-21-1n7q6tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363876/original/file-20201016-21-1n7q6tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363876/original/file-20201016-21-1n7q6tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363876/original/file-20201016-21-1n7q6tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363876/original/file-20201016-21-1n7q6tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363876/original/file-20201016-21-1n7q6tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363876/original/file-20201016-21-1n7q6tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trick-or-treat is now part of the Halloween tradition for many children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Rawpixel com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether you wish to acknowledge the influence of either pagan or broad Christian belief on <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Death-Holiday-Cultural-History-Halloween-Skal/7791062365/bd" title="Death Makes A Holiday - A Cultural History of Halloween">Halloween</a>, what remains true is that on this night the boundary between this world and the next is meant to be at its thinnest. Spirits, then, can cross over to visit.</p>
<p>What better way to celebrate the occasion — even if you perceive it as completely secular — than to indulge in fancy dress, games and delicious food.</p>
<h2>Halloween traditions 2020 style</h2>
<p>This is where our cultural creativity comes in. We need to rechannel what’s at the heart of Halloween, and consider how we can still make celebrations easy and accessible — especially for children.</p>
<p>Remember that Halloween is all about the sharing of food, community celebrations, the appreciation of each other and, above all, a layer of spiritual awareness that keeps us connected to our dearly departed.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363652/original/file-20201015-17-cahrj6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cartoon pumpkin with a sad face and a sign saying 'no treats'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363652/original/file-20201015-17-cahrj6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363652/original/file-20201015-17-cahrj6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363652/original/file-20201015-17-cahrj6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363652/original/file-20201015-17-cahrj6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363652/original/file-20201015-17-cahrj6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363652/original/file-20201015-17-cahrj6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363652/original/file-20201015-17-cahrj6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If we think about the event in these terms then we can reshape and re-invent our traditions to fit our changed world.</p>
<p>For example, rather than taking our children from door to door to collect sweets, take a leaf from the “Easter egg hunt” and organise a “Halloween treats hunt” at home instead.</p>
<p>This still places an emphasis on finding and collecting food, which is what children tend to be most interested in. The treats don’t have to be sugar-filled and can be adapted to meet the health sensibilities of each home. </p>
<p>A Halloween hunt done in costume provides a good photo/video opportunity for families. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363823/original/file-20201015-19-hd3grh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cartoon house with witch's hat and Halloween face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363823/original/file-20201015-19-hd3grh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363823/original/file-20201015-19-hd3grh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363823/original/file-20201015-19-hd3grh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363823/original/file-20201015-19-hd3grh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363823/original/file-20201015-19-hd3grh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363823/original/file-20201015-19-hd3grh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363823/original/file-20201015-19-hd3grh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you can’t imagine not being out in the streets, a useful alternative is to take socially distanced COVID-safe Halloween walks. That way children can still see their friends’ costumes, and show off their own. </p>
<p>If houses are decorated to match the Halloween spirit, inside and out — whenever possible, both physically and financially — this could add an extra touch to the experience of Halloween.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/create-new-halloween-rituals-with-healthy-eating-and-playful-living-125898">Create new Halloween rituals with healthy eating and playful living</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Countdown to Halloween</h2>
<p>Similar to the 12 days of Christmas, set up a Halloween countdown. The “13 days of Halloween” has an irresistible sound to it. It provides an opportunity to do something a little bit special each day, whether baking Halloween cookies, crafting your own masks, or watching an (age-appropriate) <a href="https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/g2661/halloween-movies/">spooky movie</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xFCrR3Uw6Mk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Spooky!</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Carving a pumpkin will, of course, be an unmissable part of the countdown.</p>
<p>While Halloween might be different this year, by embracing new traditions we show the resilience of the event, as well as our own, during difficult times. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362362/original/file-20201008-16-1a1w3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Halloween pumpkin wearing a surgical mask" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362362/original/file-20201008-16-1a1w3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362362/original/file-20201008-16-1a1w3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362362/original/file-20201008-16-1a1w3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362362/original/file-20201008-16-1a1w3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362362/original/file-20201008-16-1a1w3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362362/original/file-20201008-16-1a1w3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362362/original/file-20201008-16-1a1w3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Follow any local guidelines to stay safe such as wearing a mask.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/DavidCarpio</span></span>
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</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147658/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorna Piatti-Farnell 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.</span></em></p>You can still enjoy some of the fun of Halloween celebrations this year, and stay safe. It helps to look back at the origins of some of the spooky traditions.Lorna Piatti-Farnell, Professor of Popular Culture, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1285322019-12-12T16:52:57Z2019-12-12T16:52:57ZThe amazing growth of the Christmas tree<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306401/original/file-20191211-95130-17tgvuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1500%2C943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not sure if you're paying the right price for your tree? The Hotelling equation modified by Faustmann can help.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aleksandra Suzi/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A few hundred years ago, who would have dreamed that the humble Christmas tree would one day be an immense global success? Certainly not Martin Luther, who is said to have decorated a tree with candles to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Nor Prince Albert, who several centuries later set up the first Christmas tree in Windsor Castle. Who would have guessed that fir trees would be grown in Denmark especially for the export market, that others would be shipped by helicopter in Oregon, or that factories in China would produce plastic replicas?</p>
<p>So, let’s climb on the sleigh and take a ride around this seasonal item, so emblematic of the growth of market economics and world trade, for an informed choice between natural or artificial, locally or globally sourced.</p>
<h2>O Tannenbaum</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303954/original/file-20191127-112517-fz3g2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303954/original/file-20191127-112517-fz3g2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303954/original/file-20191127-112517-fz3g2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303954/original/file-20191127-112517-fz3g2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303954/original/file-20191127-112517-fz3g2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303954/original/file-20191127-112517-fz3g2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303954/original/file-20191127-112517-fz3g2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303954/original/file-20191127-112517-fz3g2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children admire the royal Christmas tree, December 1848.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.webstermuseum.org/christmas.php">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/trees.shtml">Legend has it</a> that Martin Luther was strolling in the woods on Christmas Eve when he glimpsed stars twinkling among the branches of a fir tree. He cut down a sapling, took it home, decorated it with candles and told his son that it reminded him of how Christ descended from heaven to live among mortals on Earth. Since then, the trees around which revelers danced in medieval town squares in Germany have been brought indoors. Other Protestant countries followed suit, and the holiday evergreen was first featured in British homes in the 19th century, when gained popularity thanks to Queen Victoria’s Saxon husband, Prince Albert.</p>
<p>The Protestant origins of decorated fir trees at Yuletide draws on other influences too, much as the invention of Father Christmas. A range of ancient figures and beliefs converged to form Santa Claus, long accepted by the Catholic church – but not after some resistance. For example, on December 23, 1951, in Dijon, France, a red-jacketed mannequin was burned outside the city’s cathedral on the grounds that Saint Nick was a pagan character that did not exist in real life. (This incendiary statement prompted anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss to pen <a href="http://www.seuil.com/ouvrage/le-pere-noel-supplicie-claude-levi-strauss/9782021335279">“The torture of Santa Claus”</a>, a witty and thoughtful essay.)</p>
<p>Regardless of whether you see Christmas trees as a symbol of the <a href="https://www.contrepoints.org/2017/12/28/192471-capitalisme-et-sapin-de-noel">winter solstice</a> or the Nativity, the odds are good that you’ll be buying one this year. On Christmas night you will find them in <a href="https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2017/12/the-measure-of-christmas-festive-facts-and-figures/">90% of UK homes</a>, <a href="https://www.christmastreeassociation.org/seventy-seven-percent-of-us-households-will-celebrate-this-holiday-season-with-a-christmas-tree/">77% of US households</a> and nearly <a href="https://www.tns-sofres.com/publications/les-achats-de-sapins-de-noel-en-2018">25% of those in France</a> – they even has a measure of popularity in Australia, where Christmas occurs during the summer vacation.</p>
<h2>A Danish Nordmann for Sweden’s Ikea</h2>
<p>Interestingly, most Christmas trees in Europe hail from the realm of Denmark. Why? Because the country grows them on a massive scale, making it the EU’s leading producer. But before going any further, we should explain that these trees are no longer harvested in forests but farmed. So fear not, you will do no damage to a real forest by purchasing a natural Christmas tree.</p>
<p>Indeed, it is precisely because they no longer grow in forests that Christmas trees come from neither Norway nor Sweden, despite these countries’ abundant timber resources. Two figures may help clear things up: Denmark produces about 10 million Christmas trees a year, with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree_production">domestic market only absorbing 10%</a>. The potential of farming firs appeared in the 1990s when the country joined the European Union, with its system of farm subsidies. </p>
<p>Danish farmers were quick to adopt the Nordmann fir (<em>Abies nordmanniana</em>). While it was more expensive than the spruce (<em>Picea abies</em>) and doesn’t fill the room with a delicate smell of honey and resin, it sports bluish cones and a long-lasting foliage with a silvery underside. Little seen in modern homes in the 1960s, the Nordmann has gradually taken over.</p>
<p>If you’re European and buy your tree at the Swedish retailer Ikea, the <a href="http://www.eisenia.coop/actualites/sapin-de-noel/">world’s biggest purchaser and seller of Christmas trees</a>, it will be Danish. The company goes so far as to make them a loss leader: You will pay only 29 euros for the tree itself, along with baubles of various sizes and prices that you had absolutely no intention of buying but which will somehow land in your cart. You will receive a 20-euro voucher, to be spent on your next visit (before the end of February), but that will almost certainly be spent on another bunch of goodies of various sizes and prices…</p>
<h2>Size and price</h2>
<p>The advantage with Ikea, though, is that it only sells one size of Christmas tree, 2 meters (roughly 6 feet) tall. So you don’t need to dither about getting a smaller, cheaper one, or a bigger, more expensive beast. </p>
<p>The theoretical relation between the size and price of a Christmas tree involves extremely complex equations. Were I to say that you should use a Hotelling-Faustmann type model you could be scarcely any the wiser, so perhaps I should offer some explanation. Harold Hotelling was a leading American economist and statistician, who established that the price of a natural resource should increase at the same pace as interest rates. The intuitive assumption is that the resource owner must choose between exploiting it today or tomorrow. If tomorrow’s price is lower than the amount they would earn from selling it today and putting the money in the bank, then they would obviously opt to sell it straight away. So the difference in price between a ten-year old Nordmann fir, that stands 0.6 feet taller, and a nine-year-old tree depends on the rate of interest.</p>
<p>This is where Martin Faustmann, a German forester, comes in. He pointed out that trees can be replanted once they have been cut down, something that’s clearly not the case for coal or oil. If a farmer sells their firs after ten years rather than nine, they lose one year’s growth on the saplings they would have planted on the same plot of land. If this sparks your curiosity and you like equations, take a look at the article in the <em>American Journal of Agricultural Economics</em>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1245083">“A Hotelling-Faustmann Explanation of the Structure of Christmas Tree Prices”</a>. (US economists are marvelous because they publish papers on all sorts of subjects.)</p>
<h2>Oregon, helicopters and Mexican trucks</h2>
<p>It will come as no surprise that the United States both produces and consumes the most Christmas trees. For instance, the <a href="https://www.noblemountain.com">Noble Mountain Tree Farm</a> grows the Noble fir (<em>Abies procera</em>), the Douglas fir (<em>Pseudotsuga menziesii</em>) and the Scots pine (<em>Pinus sylvestris</em>) on almost 2,000 hectares. Once felled, they are removed by helicopter, loaded onto trucks or refrigerated containers, and shipped to the rest of the United States, to Central America and even to places as far afield such as Doha, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303961/original/file-20191127-112489-1sojapb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303961/original/file-20191127-112489-1sojapb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303961/original/file-20191127-112489-1sojapb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303961/original/file-20191127-112489-1sojapb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303961/original/file-20191127-112489-1sojapb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303961/original/file-20191127-112489-1sojapb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303961/original/file-20191127-112489-1sojapb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303961/original/file-20191127-112489-1sojapb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helicopter hoisting of firs in transport trucks in Oregon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.noblemountain.com/logistics.htm">Noble Mountain Tree Farm</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, you are less likely to know that Oregon-grown Christmas trees have become entangled in a trade dispute between the United States and Mexico. It started with a long argument about allowing <a href="http://www2.southeastern.edu/orgs/econjournal/index_files/JIGES%20JUNE%202011%20NAFTA%20and%20the%20U.S.-Mexican%20Trucking%20Dispute.pdf">Mexican trucks onto US highways</a>. Under the North American Free Trade Association they were set to gain access to the road network in 2000.</p>
<p>For reasons that are more or less convincing (safety issues with vehicles, inexperienced truckers, trafficking of drugs and illegal immigrants, among others), the federal authorities dragged their feet and its trading partner finally lost patience. In 2009 the Mexican government imposed several billion dollars’ worth of import surtaxes on about 100 categories of goods, including Christmas trees. But why, you may wonder, did they bother with the little firs? It was all the fault of <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2011/10/post_61.html">two Congressmen from Oregon</a>. So there is a certain logic behind the targeting of retaliatory measures.</p>
<h2>Chinese manufacturing</h2>
<p>Christmas trees are also caught up in the trade war opposing the United States and China. To be exact, it has more to do with fairy lights and other seasonal decorations than it does with fir trees. The PRC does not grow them, nor does it celebrate Christmas. What’s more, the Chinese New Year is symbolized by an animal and the dominant colour is red, not green. (Next in line is the year of the rat, which starts on February 5.) But China does manufacture and export plastic Christmas trees and all the associated trimmings. Indeed it by far the world’s largest producer.</p>
<p>As soon as the conflict erupted, Washington slapped 10% extra duty on imports of Christmas decorations, but did not touch PVC or polyurethane trees. Don’t ask me to explain this difference in treatment, as I haven’t a clue. Nor could I say why the surcharge on trimmings was lifted last summer. Perhaps Donald Trump was upset by the idea that kids at home would find their trees a little bare…</p>
<p>Of course, there is only the faintest connection between nursery tales and Chinese factories churning out Christmas decorations: no elves with pointed ears nor mischievous imps assisting Santa Claus. Rather, assembly-line workers and automated machines slicing PVC into countless synthetic pine needles. Manufacturing is not located somewhere north of the Polar Circle, but 300 kilometres southwest of Shanghai, in a city called Yiwu. Almost 1,000 firms making Christmas goods are based there. They account for 60% of global output of plastic fir trees and Christmas lights, gilded stars and those <a href="https://www.icontainers.com/us/2018/12/18/is-your-christmas-made-in-china/">inevitable baubles</a>. </p>
<p>If you would like to see the fan belts and choppers of this workshop of the Nativity world in action, then watch the <em>National Geographic</em> video, <a href="https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/i-didnt-know-that/00000144-0a29-d3cb-a96c-7b2db4c20000">“I Did Not Know That: How Christmas Trees Are Made”</a>. (It’s probably better to put the little ones to bed first, though.)</p>
<iframe src="https://assets.ngeo.com/modules-video/latest/assets/ngsEmbeddedVideo.html?guid=3353cf75-8c4f-4d3d-987c-cd9cc2e1bf5b" seamless="seamless" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" width="100%" height="365" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<h2>The pros and cons of natural or artificial trees</h2>
<p>In the United States, the volume of fake Christmas tree sales is close to that of the real thing, and rising steadily. Its attractive price – use it two years running and you start saving – is apparently not the reason for this trend. Indeed a dip in demand only <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ajae/article-abstract/75/3/730/48090">marginally benefits their natural rival</a>. Instead, their success in the United States seems a matter of convenience: no early-December shopping run, no needles to vacuum after the holidays.</p>
<p>In contrast, in France the market share of artificial trees is pretty steady, stuck at about 20%. Which is just as well for local growers, as Danish and other imports only account for a fifth of overall volume. The French seem attached to their <a href="https://www.tns-sofres.com/publications/les-achats-de-sapins-de-noel-en-2018">home-grown Christmas trees</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303966/original/file-20191127-112489-1g77dbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303966/original/file-20191127-112489-1g77dbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303966/original/file-20191127-112489-1g77dbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303966/original/file-20191127-112489-1g77dbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303966/original/file-20191127-112489-1g77dbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303966/original/file-20191127-112489-1g77dbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303966/original/file-20191127-112489-1g77dbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303966/original/file-20191127-112489-1g77dbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the United States, more and more fake Christmas trees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yeexin Richelle/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But which tree is “greener”, natural or artificial? At first glance a real tree seems a better bet: photosynthesis drives plant growth, capturing carbon dioxide. The synthetic alternative causes emissions, through oil extraction and PVC production, both of which consume large amounts of energy. But two key parameters may wipe out this advantage: the years the artificial tree is used and how far it is shipped (transportion also producing emissions).</p>
<p>The longer you keep your plastic tree, the less it will matter that it was made in China or that you bought it miles from your home. But the further your natural Christmas tree travelled, the worse its carbon budget will be. This ecological contest depends on other factors too, such as end-of-life processing (landfill or recycling) and environmental damage other than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions (in particular, the impact of pesticides and biodiversity). The results of the life-cycle analysis of the two commodities vary depending on the relevant parameters and values. For instance, the tipping point regarding re-use may be <a href="https://8nht63gnxqz2c2hp22a6qjv6-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ACTA_2018_LCA_Study.pdf">5 years</a> or <a href="https://ellipsos.ca/lca-christmas-tree-natural-vs-artificial/">20 years</a>, depending on the sources. In short, it’s hard to tell.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I would advise you to opt for a natural fir tree, on the condition that you don’t just trash it, but take it to the nearest recycling centre. If in doubt, get a locally sourced tree or better yet, an <a href="https://www.plantezcheznous.com/professionnel-jardin/france-sapin-bio-producteurs-sapins-noel-bio/">organic one</a>.</p>
<p>Whatever happens, don’t make the same mistake as the envious little tree in the <a href="http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/FirTree.shtml">Hans-Christian Andersen story</a>, unable to appreciate living in the present. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Out in the woods stood a nice little Fir Tree. The place he had was a very good one: the sun shone on him: as to fresh air, there was enough of that, and round him grew many large-sized comrades, pines as well as firs. But the little Fir wanted so very much to be a grown-up tree…”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And with this thought we wish you a very happy Christmas, with or without a tree decked with Chinese-made decorations.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>François Lévêque recently published “Competition’s New Clothes” (“Les vêtements neufs de la concurrence”), Éditions Odile Jacob.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128532/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>François Lévêque ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>A Protestant tradition with pagan roots, the Christmas tree is now a global phenomenon. It also reveals much about market economics, so let’s climb on the sleigh and take a ride around this holiday item…François Lévêque, Professeur d’économie, Mines Paris - PSLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1219452019-08-26T14:16:07Z2019-08-26T14:16:07ZHow a rural community hopes to retain spiritual life undermined by western ways<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288350/original/file-20190816-192254-13gl0no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C149%2C613%2C261&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lily Heisi/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around the world, the introduction of western ways of life has changed indigenous communities. This has often happened by decreasing or by limiting their access to the resources they need. It’s been deliberate as well as unintentional, often with negative results </p>
<p>AmaBomvane of the Eastern Cape in South Africa provide an example of the impact such disruption can have. The traditional spiritual beliefs of this community underpin their entire way of life, and when “modern” interventions disrupted their spiritual practices, they began to suffer harm.</p>
<p>AmaBomvane aren’t the only community to have been affected in this way. Many indigenous communities around the world experience globalisation as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00443.x">a loss of spiritual connectedness</a>. They include the Cree of the Whapmagoostui in northeastern Canada, the Anishinaabe (Ojibwa), also in North America, the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, and various indigenous communities in Hawaii, Australia, <a href="http://www.umanitoba.ca/institutes/natural_resources/canadaresearchchair/Gwichin%20berry%20harvesting%20from%20northern%20Canada.pdf">the Pacific islands and New Zealand</a>.</p>
<p>For my PhD, <a href="http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/105990">I studied</a> the understanding and practice of indigenous spirituality and its influence on well-being. I also explored the impact of the imposition of western, individualist values on Bomvanaland, a deeply rural area of Elliotdale, in the former Transkei region of South Africa. And I examined what enables the AmaBomvane to survive despite these challenges. </p>
<h2>AmaBomvane</h2>
<p>AmaBomvane’s beliefs traditionally inform their very existence. During my research I found that they understood spirituality to be about relationships. The main determinant of their community’s well-being was the management of strife in these relationships. </p>
<p>Their belief system is informed by <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-meaning-of-ubuntu-43307"><em>ubuntu</em></a> (humaness), a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-archbishop-tutus-ubuntu-credo-teaches-the-world-about-justice-and-harmony-84730">southern African ethic</a> grounded in the belief that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A person is a person through other persons.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To amaBomvane, relationships exist between three dimensions: humans (living and dead), nature and the divine. All three areas are in a complex balance.</p>
<p>As they explained their beliefs to me, it became clear that amaBomvane did not see physical death as an end to life. They believe in the continued presence of family members (ancestors). Their core values are kindness, empathy and support for the collective. A person’s humanity depends on how they treat other people.</p>
<p>This beneficence is extended to the land and animals as well. AmaBomvane believe that humans exist in a reciprocal relationship with all of nature. When people harm the earth and the animals, they harm themselves. There is no separation.</p>
<p>AmaBomvane grew various plants for food and for treating illnesses. They also grew grain for making a local brew, which was used in maintaining their relationship with their ancestors and with God. </p>
<p>Their animals supported them to achieve and maintain their relationship to the divine through sacrifices. They protected and cared for their animals, which in turn nourished them physically and spiritually.</p>
<p>The land, too, was cared for and responded in kind. The land received the bodies of people’s ancestors and carried their cattle enclosures, which remained very spiritual spaces. Land also yielded the crops used for food and for making the beer for ancestral veneration. </p>
<p>The ancestors are spirit beings who are believed to liaise between God and family members, relaying messages to support well-being or admonishment for wrongdoing and disobedience. This is at the centre of amaBomvane belief system. Ancestors are believed to provide protection, guidance, advice, good health, and even punishment. </p>
<p>To enjoy well-being and thrive, people must maintain this relationship with the divine, others and the world around them.</p>
<p>AmaBomvane sustain the relationship through a collective expression of their spirituality. This occurs through songs, dance and various familial and communal rites of passage. They hold ceremonies that strengthen their identity and support their connection to each dimension of the relationship.</p>
<p>All these activities contributed to cultural continuity, supporting their well-being.</p>
<p>But, this cultural continuity has been systematically disrupted – historically by the entrance of colonial powers and contemporarily by globalisation and urbanisation.</p>
<h2>Disrupted way of life</h2>
<p>AmaBomvane identified three distinct ways in which their socio-cultural and spiritual wellbeing was disrupted. These were western spirituality, healthcare and education introduced by the colonial powers into their context. Their indigenous spiritual knowledges were demonised and marginalised. Lands were seized, causing forced migration and disrupting their access to spiritual resources, connection to one another and shared identity. </p>
<p>These disruptions continue. The ongoing socio-cultural, political and globalised approaches to “bringing communities into the 21st century” – like the poor engagement and collaboration between traditional healers and western healthcare practitioners – continue to create problems for amaBomvane. They assert that currently, some developmental agencies and businesses have cordoned off land for private use within their villages. </p>
<p>AmaBomvane made it clear that the global development agenda had contributed to division because it sees people as individuals rather than primarily as members of a collective.</p>
<p>They also believed that although it seeks greater good, the way in which human rights have been introduced into their context without incorporating their own moral belief systems has been more detrimental than beneficial to their community. An example that they cited was that children had become disobedient towards their parents and elders, contributing to broken relationships.</p>
<p>And the disruption of their traditional way of life, coupled with the lack of alternative ways of making a living, had led many amaBomvane, especially young people, to seek opportunities elsewhere.</p>
<p>This had negatively affected the practice of their spirituality. Community members were confused about their spirituality, combining both indigenous and western spiritual practices. Youth migration had also robbed the area of the young people needed to farm the land. Alcohol and drug abuse among the youth had also brought new social problems.</p>
<h2>Shared humanity</h2>
<p>There is no easy answer to amaBomvane’s dilemma. But they have proposed a way forward. They argued that those coming into their spaces must seek collaboration, not domination. </p>
<p>This collaboration must be led and infused by their indigenous value system of <em>ubuntu</em>. The community assert that if people recognise their shared humanity, the outcomes would be beneficial to the well-being of all – human, land, animals, and the divine.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121945/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Chioma Ohajunwa is a lecturer at the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch.
Dr Chioma Ohajunwa received funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) Grant Holder Linked Bursary for this study </span></em></p>The Bomvana say the global development agenda has created division because it sees people as individuals rather than primarily as members of a collective.Chioma Ohajunwa, Lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1168392019-06-06T12:34:50Z2019-06-06T12:34:50ZHow to build a business that lasts more than 200 years – lessons from Japan’s shinise companies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278321/original/file-20190606-97994-q3n8qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gaid Kornsilapa / Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Japan is home to a number of the world’s oldest companies. There is even a specific Japanese term for companies that have survived for more than a century, retained ownership within the same family and continued plying the same trade for the duration. They are called “shinise” firms. </p>
<p>Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, holds the highest proportion of these century-old firms. They operate in traditional sectors such as sake brewing, sweet making and arts and crafts. The Gekkeikan sake company, for example, is nearly 400 years old and has been run by 14 consecutive generations of the Okura family. Sasaya Iori, meanwhile, is now in its 303rd year of making and selling sweets.</p>
<p>Colleagues and I interviewed the people who run these shinise firms and many others <a href="http://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/-(b76db112-0e82-48f2-9f35-68e23a9b700c).html">to understand their relationship with the local community</a>. We found that a key part of their success was maintaining high social standing in the city amid a changing business environment characterised by loss of traditional values and practices, changing consumer tastes due to Japan’s Westernisation, and increasing competition from larger and internationally operating firms. </p>
<p>Their high social standing partly comes through the traditional emphasis of these firms. As well as producing and selling traditional Japanese crafts, they embody and reproduce local community values. In doing so, the shinise firms are like custodians that protect local traditions. And, culturally, there is a love of tradition in Japan that gives these firms a cachet with consumers and the local community.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278323/original/file-20190606-98041-19118qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278323/original/file-20190606-98041-19118qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278323/original/file-20190606-98041-19118qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278323/original/file-20190606-98041-19118qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278323/original/file-20190606-98041-19118qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278323/original/file-20190606-98041-19118qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278323/original/file-20190606-98041-19118qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gekkeikan has been brewing sake in Kyoto since 1637.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pack-Shot / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shinise firms are also very much embedded in the communities where they are based. As well as maintaining family ownership and the quality of products, many of our interviewees emphasised their commitment to the welfare of the community. For example, according to a representative from Kyoto’s local government we spoke to, most of the owner-managers of shinise firms do something to help the local community, such as supporting the city’s famous Gion festival. </p>
<h2>Long-term focus</h2>
<p>One of the reasons that shinise firms last so long is that they put a strong emphasis on longevity and tradition. This is reflected in the way the firms are organised, as the president of Unsoudou, a 128-year-old company producing wood block prints and art books, told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Usually, in a firm, the CEO holds the position for two to four years, and he has the mission to satisfy the expectation of shareholders in that short period. We do not publicly list our stocks. Our way of doing is the opposite of this. We do not want to make profit in the short term.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Shinise firms are also cautious about swerving from their original focus and constantly balance opportunities to innovate with maintaining tradition. As the Unsoudou president said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am grateful to my ancestors, because we are doing business with what they left us. I feel very strongly about this … If there is a business opportunity, I do not reject it. However, I do not think exploiting this opportunity is always the best option, because it is just a small part of a long history. What is important is to create a business that can live for a long time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While the sizes of the shinise firms vary, many of them prioritise sticking to their existing commitments over seeking short-term profit or rapid growth. If they grew, they did so while maintaining these commitments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278328/original/file-20190606-98045-hlx5dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278328/original/file-20190606-98045-hlx5dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278328/original/file-20190606-98045-hlx5dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278328/original/file-20190606-98045-hlx5dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278328/original/file-20190606-98045-hlx5dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278328/original/file-20190606-98045-hlx5dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278328/original/file-20190606-98045-hlx5dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Traditional Japanese sweets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-japanese-sweets-japan-1026496237?src=B_kBEuMrgDfnPqbufad2Zg-1-23&studio=1">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Through these commitments, shinise firms performed a cultural function in preventing cultural erosion at the local community level. In exchange, they are endorsed with high social standing by the local community which brings them a lot of custom in the face of market pressures.</p>
<h2>The dark side of success</h2>
<p>We also found there to be a dark side to the success of these age-old shinise firms. At least half of the 17 companies we interviewed spoke of hardships in maintaining their high social status. They experienced peer pressure not to innovate (and solely focus on maintaining tradition) and had to make personal sacrifices to maintain their family and business continuity. </p>
<p>As the vice president of Shioyoshiken, a sweets company established in 1884, told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In a shinise, the firm is the same as the family. We need to sacrifice our own will and our own feelings and what we want to do … Inheriting and continuing the household is very important … We do not continue the business because we particularly like that industry. The fact that our family makes sweets is a coincidence. What is important is to continue the household as it is.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Innovations were sometimes discouraged by either the earlier family generation who were keen on maintaining the tradition, or peer shinise firms who cared about maintaining the tradition of the industry as a whole. Ultimately, we found that these businesses achieve such a long life through long-term sacrifice at both the personal and organisational level.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116839/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research article mentioned in this article was published in Organization Studies and co-authored with Professor Davide Ravasi at the UCL School of Management, University College London and Dr Evelyn Micelotta at the Anderson School of Management, University of New Mexico, USA.</span></em></p>Centuries-old shinise businesses have withstood Westernisation, changing tastes and increasing competition.Innan Sasaki, Lecturer in Strategic Management, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1080962019-04-24T10:31:46Z2019-04-24T10:31:46ZPersonalities are like traditions – unique patterns of behaviour that build over a lifetime of improvisation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265177/original/file-20190321-93051-3n3vdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Like a finely tuned jazz musician.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-jazz-musician-playing-saxophone-390620935">Africa Studio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The question of whether personality is the result of nature or nurture has plagued researchers – and the general public – for decades. What we do know is that we are all unique, each with a distinctive pattern of speech, gesture, movement and thought. And when it comes to our personality, our past thoughts and actions influence our future thoughts and actions. In short, our personalities are traditions. If this is the case, then, can we change them? The answer is yes, but the process might be difficult. </p>
<p>Our personalities, like most ways in our minds vary, are a complex mix of nature and nurture. Nature certainly matters: studies of twins, separated from birth, show that <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/blueprint">our genes can shape our lives</a>. Most tellingly, identical twins raised separately have more similar personalities than fraternal twins, who share only half their genes. But nurture matters too: identical twins raised separately – or indeed raised together – are very different people. Nature and nurture can, of course, interact in complex ways: for example, a child naturally interested in music (nature) may be more likely to be given, or persist with, music lessons (part of nurture). Similarly, an initially shy or friendly child will shape how people treat them: nature will, again, shape nurture. </p>
<p>It is remarkable just how different we all are. Meeting a colleague recently after 20 years, I had a strange and powerful sense of <a href="https://theconversation.com/human-voices-are-unique-but-our-study-shows-were-not-that-good-at-recognising-them-79520">familiarity and recognition</a>. But I had entirely forgotten the subtly distinctive patterns of intonation, the quizzical smile, the leaning of the head to one side. Conversation began to break out, just as it always had. We were, it seemed, the same people as before, picking up as if after a couple of days, not a couple of decades.</p>
<p>Such experiences remind us that it is the details that makes each person we encounter “feel” distinctive. Yet we tend to think of ourselves, and our personalities, in far more general terms: people are gregarious or quiet; relaxed or anxious; generous or selfish; brave or timid. We may try to pin down such traits more precisely, using any of the vast array of personality tests developed over more than a century of “psychometric” research – for example, the widely used OCEAN model, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits">with its scales</a> for Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270004/original/file-20190418-28103-16ri1yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270004/original/file-20190418-28103-16ri1yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270004/original/file-20190418-28103-16ri1yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270004/original/file-20190418-28103-16ri1yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270004/original/file-20190418-28103-16ri1yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270004/original/file-20190418-28103-16ri1yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270004/original/file-20190418-28103-16ri1yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What are you like??!!!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/four-temperaments-protopsychological-theory-that-suggests-586660991?src=7yM-3a4lu5MHoBCyOug9jA-1-7">Trueffelpix/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But these abstract descriptions don’t seem to match up with our everyday experience of the uniqueness of other people. After all, an impersonator can instantly conjure up a celebrity or politician by a distinctive phrase, tone of voice or facial expression. But an abstract list of personality traits would surely bring no one in particular to mind.</p>
<p>I think our intuition that it is details, not generalities, that make each of us special is on precisely the right track. To see how this might be the case, consider the analogy of tradition – whether in cooking, music, art or any other aspect of life. We know, within perhaps less than a second, the difference between traditional jazz, Bach, disco or hip-hop. It is the particularities that strike us – specific combinations of notes, harmonies and instrumentation. Describing musical traditions in terms of abstract traits (fast versus slow; rhythmical versus fluid; dynamic versus serene) is possible, but not very helpful.</p>
<p>Musical, and other, traditions arise from the specific, not the general. Each new piece of music is a recombination and variation of snippets of previous pieces; each new dish is an amalgam of previous dishes; each new art work draws on the canon of prior art works, and so on. And the resulting traditions are rich, complex, contradictory, and with boundaries blurring into neighbouring traditions. Musicologists, food writers and art historians can, in retrospect, come up with insightful descriptions and helpful taxonomies. But, to switch for a moment to literature, if you want to know what “metaphysical poetry” is, no amount of learned discussion will substitute for hearing a few lines of <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/andrew-marvell">Andrew Marvell</a> or <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-donne">John Donne</a>.</p>
<p>I suggest that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/01/revolution-in-our-sense-of-self-sunday-essay">people are traditions, too</a>: traditions of thoughts, actions and reactions, patterns of movements, and tone of voice. Each new thought and action is a recombination and variation of what we have thought and done before – and, to an extent, borrowing from what we have observed others say and do. Over a lifetime, our patterns of thoughts and behaviour become entrenched – it is our unique history, our unique habits and patterns, that make us special.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270005/original/file-20190418-28116-95nnf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270005/original/file-20190418-28116-95nnf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270005/original/file-20190418-28116-95nnf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270005/original/file-20190418-28116-95nnf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270005/original/file-20190418-28116-95nnf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270005/original/file-20190418-28116-95nnf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270005/original/file-20190418-28116-95nnf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Personalities are like traditions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/indian-traditional-bharatanatyam-dance-604482206?src=sB0DIMPjHbJGH7xGhLHXUQ-1-40">Reddees/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If this is right, how should we answer the question: what sort of person am I? This is an impossible question, like defining impressionism, flamenco or nouvelle cuisine. We know others, and ourselves, from experiencing examples, not contemplating abstractions.</p>
<p>So, from this viewpoint, our personalities are stable, not because we have unchanging “deep” traits (extrovert, anxious, risk-taker, and so on), but because we draw on, and often entrench, our own unique “history” of thoughts and action. We are <a href="https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=music_facpub">like jazz musicians</a> – our distinctive style is built up, snippet by snippet, layer by layer, through a lifetime of improvisation.</p>
<h2>Can you change?</h2>
<p>Changing aspects of our personalities (if we want to) will, most likely, be slow and difficult. But, like jazz musicians learning their craft, we can change, improve and gradually – and with effort – substitute new habits of thought for old. Indeed, this is the strategy of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which asks people to record, challenge and actively modify their behaviours and thoughts. </p>
<p>In addressing, for example, a fear of snakes, no amount of willpower is likely to be effective, still less a general injunction to “be braver” or “pull ourselves together”. What does work is helping <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-some-people-anxiety-and-phobias-are-taken-to-extremes-19672">develop new reactions to</a> – and thoughts about – snakes, to overwrite the old, unhelpful reactions and thoughts, for example, <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/Systematic-Desensitisation.html">by gradual exposure</a> to pictures of snakes, rubber snakes and, ultimately, snakes themselves, in safe conditions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-some-people-anxiety-and-phobias-are-taken-to-extremes-19672">For some people, anxiety and phobias are taken to extremes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-53132-001">recent study</a> indicated that the same is true for more everyday personality traits. The authors found that the degree of wanting or intending to be more outgoing, for example, did not predict increased extroversion over time. But if people set goals (for example by prepare topics of conversation, saying hello to a stranger and so on), it turns out that self-reported personality change can be predicted by success in achieving these goals. If you want to change some aspect of your personality, then, you need to practice new behaviours and thoughts.</p>
<p>So, as with any tradition, each of us can adjust and evolve – and while we are shaped by our past, we are also authors of our future. But tradition runs deep and each of us has our own patterns of thought, speech, gesture and movement that makes us unique – immediately recognisable even when decades have passed. Rather than being troubled by our quirks and idiosyncrasies as “imperfections” from our ideal self, perhaps we should simply rejoice in our own uniqueness, and humanity’s limitless variety.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Chater receives funding from the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>We often spend time thinking about how we can change ourselves rather than rejoicing in what makes us truly unique.Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1143882019-04-04T20:15:10Z2019-04-04T20:15:10Z‘Made in Van Phuc’: How place identity can help artisans survive in a globalised world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266879/original/file-20190401-177171-1ints7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3264%2C1817&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artisan is working with a silk weaving loom in her workshop</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The identity of luxury goods firms is often anchored in the creativity and skill of the artisans behind the objects. A case in point is Hermès, where workers spend years learning to work with precious materials such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/hermes-behind-the-scenes-of-the-frenchluxury-gem-80551">leather and silk</a>. This approach allows such companies to distinguish themselves and compete in a marketplace flooded with goods that cost less but don’t have an identity strongly connected to craft, tradition and place.</p>
<p>This approach isn’t the unique domain of just a few firms, of course – it can be extended to those that are currently less known and in more peripheral places. An eloquent example is the Vietnamese town of Van Phuc, in the Ha Dong (Hanoi) district, which has specialised in silk weaving since the 13th century. Establishing a strong place identity – how meanings attached to a locality can affect locals’ sense of self – was essential for their craftsmen to stand out from the crowd.</p>
<h2>Ancient traditions, “new” competitors</h2>
<p>Located approximately 10km from the centre of Hanoi, Van Phuc is considered the <a href="http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers12-06/010055064.pdf">oldest and best-known silk-producing village in Vietnam</a>. During our research team’s initial fieldwork, we found that in boutiques where Van Phuc silk products were sold, there were similar goods made in China. Based on the products’ variety and price, distinguishing between the two was relatively easy, and because of the craft methods used by Van Phuc’s artisans, their offerings are often much more expensive than similar ones from China.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeWtFQNl9Wg&t=102s">report</a> on Van Phuc made by the national television broadcaster of Vietnam, a storekeeper in the village stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I sold a lot of Chinese silk products, compared to Van Phuc ones, because they are cheaper and there are a wide range of products.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An experienced silk weaving artisan added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Van Phuc’s silk patterns are not as diverse as Chinese ones because our products are made manually. Therefore our patterns are still very ‘naive’. There is something unmistakable.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>According to a local shop owner and artisan, the price of natural silk is around 1,700,000 dong per kilogram (approximately 73 US dollars) while the price of a kilogram of polyester yarn is about 50,000 to 60,000 dong per kilogram (2 to 3 dollars).</p>
<p>Van Phuc’s products are not only made of natural silk, but they also have traditional patterns created during a sophisticated weaving process. By comparison, foreign-made goods have printed patterns and made by polyester or polyester silk fabrics. The savoir-faire of each creation has been improved for one generation to another, guaranteeing high quality.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266682/original/file-20190331-71006-1u9keu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266682/original/file-20190331-71006-1u9keu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266682/original/file-20190331-71006-1u9keu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266682/original/file-20190331-71006-1u9keu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266682/original/file-20190331-71006-1u9keu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266682/original/file-20190331-71006-1u9keu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266682/original/file-20190331-71006-1u9keu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266682/original/file-20190331-71006-1u9keu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Several Van Phuc’s silk products with traditional patterns in a retail shop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Still, appreciating handmade craft items and being able to pay for them is not easy for all consumers. Despite its strong place identity and the quality and creativity of its products, Van Phuc is at risk of losing ground.</p>
<p>In the village, silk fabrics and other silk products are directly sold at home-based workshops of craftsmen or retail stores, among which some are owned by artisans. Nevertheless, due to urbanisation, more and more craftsmen do not have enough space for silk weaving tools to produce their own products. The traditional silk workshops are at risk of disappearing, to be replaced by imported products from China sold at retail outlets.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266683/original/file-20190331-177181-17tyovx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266683/original/file-20190331-177181-17tyovx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266683/original/file-20190331-177181-17tyovx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266683/original/file-20190331-177181-17tyovx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266683/original/file-20190331-177181-17tyovx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266683/original/file-20190331-177181-17tyovx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266683/original/file-20190331-177181-17tyovx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266683/original/file-20190331-177181-17tyovx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Numerous retail shops in Van Phuc.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the moment, Van Phuc silk products still have a stable customer base. They are often bought by <a href="http://ven.vn/van-phucs-silk-targets-world-market-24231.html">foreign tourists</a> who seek out unique Vietnamese products, or by Vietnamese who prefer to use high-quality domestic goods. Residents of Vietnam often go to Van Phuc workshops directly and choose the products they like instead of buying at eye-catching retail outlets in the village.</p>
<h2>Place and identity</h2>
<p>The story of craft products threatened by mass-produced goods is not a new one, and can appear everywhere. How to arrive at a long-term solution is the real question. In the case of Hermès, its identity is tightly linked to a place – it is not just “Hermès”, but <a href="https://theconversation.com/hermes-behind-the-scenes-of-the-french-luxury-gem-80551">“Hermès Paris”.</a> Here, the associated “memories, ideas, feelings, attitudes, values, preferences, meanings, and conceptions of behaviour and experience” play a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494483800218">huge role</a>. Indeed, the feeling of belonging to Paris, and French elegance in general, is a significant part of what attract clients to the goods.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267158/original/file-20190402-177181-179cow3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267158/original/file-20190402-177181-179cow3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267158/original/file-20190402-177181-179cow3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267158/original/file-20190402-177181-179cow3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267158/original/file-20190402-177181-179cow3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267158/original/file-20190402-177181-179cow3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267158/original/file-20190402-177181-179cow3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267158/original/file-20190402-177181-179cow3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Silk cloth with ‘Vạn Phúc silk’ woven into its edge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nld.com.vn/ban-doc/ve-dau-ao-lua-ha-dong-20130324014420373.htm">Thế Anh</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1470593112467268">place branding cannot be carried out for every geographic locality</a> – there’s only one Paris in the world, after all – Van Phuc’s artisans have recently perceived the importance of place identity, and on their products now feature the words “Van Phuc silk” or “Ha Dong silk”. This allows local artisans to distinguish themselves, affirm the high quality of Van Phuc’s traditional silk products, and gain or regain the confidence of Vietnamese consumers. This initial step also allows producers to “shine a light” on local products among numerous foreign ones, in particular after one of the biggest silk brands in Vietnam was found to be selling <a href="https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20171213/vietnams-khaisilk-found-selling-products-with-zero-silk/43126.html">“silk” products with no silk at all</a>.</p>
<p>In the long term, if Van Phuc’s reputation can be expanded to a wider geographic scale – not just domestically but also internationally – their products will surely have a place (identity) in the market.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Many major luxury goods firms have long made place a key part of their identity, and a visit to a traditional silk-weaving centre in Vietnam shows that the approach could work for small firms too.Hung M. Nguyen, Postdoctoral researcher (ORCILAB project, ANR-17-CE10-0013-01), Grenoble École de Management (GEM)Marcos Barros, Associate professor, Grenoble École de Management (GEM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1036982018-10-10T15:23:36Z2018-10-10T15:23:36ZFacebook and feuds – the impact of social media on traditional tribal justice in Jordan<p>There is a saying among Jordan’s Bedouin tribesmen that “prison is loss”. Victims of violence in rural Jordan have told me that they do not want the perpetrator to face prison – but rather the truces, blood money payments, feasts and reconciliations of traditional Bedouin justice. They tell me that while Bedouin justice can bring revenge, it also brings restitution, and ultimately, new relationships.</p>
<p>From a certain Bedouin perspective then, concepts of the state, “civilization” and “modernity” are not technical or humanitarian advances. Instead they are considered as mere decadence – at odds with a wholly rational and principled tradition.</p>
<p>Of course, these sentiments are not completely consistent with developments on the ground. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is, if anything, a net exporter of cutting-edge expertise in policing and security. It produces highly sought after <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/08/iraq-jordan-security-anbar-tarbil.html">trainers</a> and <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/jordan">peacekeepers</a> who work around the globe. </p>
<p>Indeed, Jordan’s security services are <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/jordan-special-forces-training-center-kasotc-tour-2018-3?r=US&IR=T">well-equipped</a> and <a href="http://faculty.nps.edu/ambaylou/Baylouny%20military%20welfare.pdf">relatively well-remunerated</a>. So for many well-educated urbanites, the existence of tribes and a parallel system of justice is a source of embarrassment – if not outrage.</p>
<p>Yet when it comes to some of the most serious crimes – murder, rape, and the breaking of tribal truces (crimes known respectively as “blood”, “honour”, and “cutting the face”) – many people in Jordan <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/seeking-justice-tribal-dispute-resolution-and-societal-transformation-in-jordan/193AFB8691431643C90BD69482F1ECFF">prefer the old oral code</a>, known as “customs and traditions”. A recent survey found that only <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/05/28/do-jordans-tribes-challenge-or-strengthen-the-state/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6cc34b595a30">12% of Jordanians</a> thought that murders should be handled exclusively by the formal court system without recourse to tribal custom. </p>
<p>And it seems as if the two systems can indeed work side by side. Security professionals are often effusive about the role that tribes and their “customs and traditions” play in strengthening Jordan’s peace and stability. One senior officer told me enthusiastically that his work with tribal leaders was merely an extension of <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/commp.pdf">community policing</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://archive.org/details/20274301MassadColonialEffectsTheMakingOfNationalIdentityInJordan">Historians</a> and <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Qfn96G60emMC&source=gbs_book_other_versions">anthropologists</a> have long argued that “customs and traditions” can be quite malleable and adaptable after centuries of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41858340?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">accommodation</a>. For instance, elders spoke of attempts to limit the number of people banished following a homicide to three generations rather than five after the arrival of cars led to an increase in unintentional homicides. And, in a new twist, social media is increasingly part of the architecture of Bedouin justice – a process I have recently <a href="https://www.berghahnjournals.com/abstract/journals/jla/2/1/jla020104.xml?">written about</a>.</p>
<p>By far the biggest concern among people I spoke to was that social media is upending generational and gendered hierarchies. There is a widely held fear that “tribal” discourse is slipping out of formal meeting spaces (and the hands of the senior men who control them) and into the online world – allowing anyone to express their opinions freely and anonymously. The older generation complained bitterly about online attempts to humiliate elders and disrupt existing lines of hierarchy within families. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239489/original/file-20181005-72127-12lv9xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239489/original/file-20181005-72127-12lv9xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239489/original/file-20181005-72127-12lv9xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239489/original/file-20181005-72127-12lv9xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239489/original/file-20181005-72127-12lv9xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239489/original/file-20181005-72127-12lv9xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239489/original/file-20181005-72127-12lv9xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A goat hair tent in downtown Amman is used as a backdrop for reconciliations that are then posted online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Geoffrey Hughes</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, these same tools also offer a critical platform to women and younger men. Indeed, the senior men I spoke to were most concerned with young men whipping up fresh conflict on social media over “old blood” (supposedly long settled homicides). The consequences of these new online interventions, many of which I have seen first hand, include physical injury, property destruction and even death.</p>
<p>With its inherent tendency to do away with physical distance, social media further exacerbates conflicts by working against one of the most basic principles of Bedouin justice. This is the idea that the opposing sides should be separated – and out of contact – during an initial period (often associated with what is termed “boiling blood”) until cooler heads can prevail. This usually involves the banishment of the perpetrator’s whole family from their homes. </p>
<p>The determined reporting of local journalists such as <a href="https://www.7iber.com/author/dana-gibreel/">Dana Gibreel</a> has revealed that Jordan’s security apparatus has increasingly allowed or enabled <a href="http://www.7iber.com/2013/03/tribal-jalwa/">the mass-banishment of alleged criminals’ families</a> in the name of public order since 2011.</p>
<p>Such practices raise troubling questions about the line between preventative security measures and collective punishment. <a href="http://www.hayatcenter.org/publications/the-tribal-evacuation-costum-jalwah-and-violation-of-human-rights-in-jordan/">Activists point out</a> that such banishments interfere with the rights of family members to education, employment – and even the right to vote.</p>
<h2>Connecting people</h2>
<p>But a new generation of Jordanian tribal leaders is making the most of the opportunities that social media can bring. They use it to show off their successful work in reconciliation and advertise their services all the more widely. </p>
<p>Even if increased publicity has the potential to backfire by inflaming tensions and upsetting fragile truces, that’s not always the case. One such “Facebook sheikh” claimed that people from as far away as Saudi Arabia were learning about tribal disagreements and offering to contribute to blood money payments to earn religious merit and reanimate old bonds of kinship. </p>
<p>For its part, the Jordanian government has <a href="https://www.7iber.com/2016/06/interview-with-sayel-abu-tayeh/">long denied that it encourages tribal justice</a> in any official capacity. Many commentators both from <a href="https://jordaniandissent.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/tribalism-in-jordan-and-its-importance/">inside</a> and <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2018/07/16/tribes-and-tribalism-in-a-neo-liberal-jordan/">outside</a> Jordan would disagree, pointing to the obvious ways in which tribal law promotes social control by strengthening hierarchies of gender, generation, class and lineage. </p>
<p>However, Bedouin justice also offers avenues for upending those hierarchies and revealing the weakness of supposedly powerful leaders – most dramatically in cases of “cutting the face” where their truces are flagrantly violated. In this way, social media feuds are no rupture with tradition at all. They are better seen as a modern continuation of a dynamism that accompanies “tradition” in many of its contemporary guises.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103698/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoffrey Hughes does not consult with or own shares in any company or organisation that would benefit from this article. His research was made possible by the generous support of the University of Michigan, London School of Economics and Political Science, the US National Endowment for the Humanities, the US National Science Foundation and the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan. The views expressed, however, are his alone.</span></em></p>The old ways of doing things still matter – it’s just that some of it now takes place online.Geoffrey Hughes, Lecturer in Anthropology, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.