tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/culture-wars-8532/articlesCulture wars – The Conversation2024-02-29T00:30:44Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2245202024-02-29T00:30:44Z2024-02-29T00:30:44ZAustralian writers festivals are engulfed in controversy over the war in Gaza. How can they uphold their duty to public debate?<p>A string of controversies are engulfing Melbourne Writers’ Festival, the Perth Festival’s Writers’ Weekend, the Sydney Opera House’s All About Women and Adelaide Writers Week. There’s a high-profile resignation, calls to cancel speakers and allegations of the spread of “historically untrue” facts and of normalising violence. </p>
<p>All, in one way or another, have been generated by divisions over the war in Gaza.</p>
<p>Writers’ festivals are in a fraught position. They navigate the frontier between social media’s echo chambers of outrage and the traditional public square’s conventions, where restraint, reason and tolerance in the face of opposing views are the basis for civilised debate.</p>
<p>How is it all playing out, and what are the consequences for the public exchange of ideas?</p>
<h2>‘Historically untrue’?</h2>
<p>At <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/gaza-conflict-engulfs-melbourne-writers-%20festival-as-leaders-quit-over-program-row-20240222-p5f757.html">Melbourne Writers Festival</a>, the deputy chair of the board, Dr Leslie Reti, has resigned over a poetry session that will involve Aboriginal and Palestinian poets reading their work.</p>
<p>The session is guest-curated by Koori-Lebanese writer Mykaela Saunders. It is based on the proposition Aboriginal and Palestinian people have a shared experience of having been colonised, becoming victims of atrocities by the colonising power. </p>
<p>Melbourne Writers Festival artistic director Michaela McGuire has confirmed the dispute is centred on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/feb/27/melbourne-writers-festival-deputy-chair-resigns-aboriginal-palestinian-solidarity-poetry-event-gaza-conflict">a line of program copy that reads</a>:</p>
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<p>Aboriginal and Palestinian solidarity has a long history, a relationship that is more vital than ever in the movement to resist colonialism and speak out against atrocities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a historically contentious proposition. Dr Reti, a retired Jewish clinician, said he respected McGuire’s curatorial independence, but described the material in the draft program as “historically untrue and deeply offensive”.</p>
<p>Prominent Aboriginal scholar Professor Marcia Langton, of the University of Melbourne, has also rejected proposed similarity between the experience of Aboriginal and Palestinian people, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/gaza-conflict-engulfs-melbourne-writers-festival-as-leaders-quit-over-program-row-20240222-p5f757.html">saying</a>, “there is very little comparable in our respective situations, other than our humanity”.</p>
<p>Saunders was one of 132 Indigenous activists, artists and intellectuals who signed <a href="https://therednation.org/statement-of-indigenous-solidarity-with-palestine/">a petition released on October 27 last year</a> that claimed: “The past two weeks of horrific violence in Gaza resulted from 75 years of Israeli settler colonial dispossession”. </p>
<p>McGuire has defended her decision not to change the copy for Saunders’ event, titled Let it Bring Hope, saying “I completely support the right to self-determined programming”. </p>
<p>She <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/melbourne-mornings/melbourne-writers-festival-split-over-war-in-gaza/103512224">told ABC Radio on Monday</a>: “This entire event is about Aboriginal and Palestinian solidarity. It’s not for or about anyone who doesn’t subscribe to that, and so it doesn’t make any sense to not mention that in the event copy.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/gaza-conflict-engulfs-melbourne-writers-festival-as-leaders-quit-over-program-row-20240222-p5f757.html">Last year</a>, the Melbourne Writers Festival board decided “while writers should be free to express their views, the festival should not take a public position on the war”.</p>
<p>The Age <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/gaza-conflict-engulfs-melbourne-writers-%20festival-as-leaders-quit-over-program-row-20240222-p5f757.html">reported on Monday</a> that Fiona Menzies, the festival’s interim chief executive, also resigned over the festival’s program. But Alice Hill, chair of the board, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/feb/27/melbourne-writers-festival-deputy-chair-resigns-aboriginal-palestinian-solidarity-poetry-event-gaza-conflict">told the Guardian</a> that Menzies had resigned “for personal reasons, and would continue her relationship with the festival in a consultancy capacity”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-palestinian-authors-award-ceremony-has-been-cancelled-at-frankfurt-book-fair-this-sends-the-wrong-signals-at-the-wrong-time-215712">A Palestinian author's award ceremony has been cancelled at Frankfurt Book Fair. This sends the wrong signals at the wrong time</a>
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<h2>Normalising violence?</h2>
<p>In Perth, the argument was over the inclusion of Jewish singer-songwriter Deborah Conway in the opening night of the Perth Festival’s Writers’ Weekend last week. In <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/israel-gaza-arts-protests-deborah-conway/103231158">an interview on ABC Radio National</a>, she had questioned whether Palestinian children killed by the Israeli Defence Forces were really children. (“It depends on what you really call kids.”)</p>
<p>Conway contextualised her remarks to me this week, saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was trying to tell listeners, in the cut and thrust of a live interview situation, that when Hamas put guns in the hands of their adolescent sons to point at the enemy, Hamas steals their childhood, turns them into fighters & then turns them into casualty figures. It’s unbearably cruel. I wasn’t talking about babies or little children, nor was I defining what I think to be a child, it goes without saying that the deaths of innocents are always tragic.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In an <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfUvUWq0GLIbhstqVzFMsxguiWjawr__aTI-CeKuZQoZUfJng/viewform">open letter to the festival</a>, more than 500 writers and arts workers said that by including Conway, the festival was putting safety at risk and giving a platform to someone whose comments on the radio “seek to normalise the ongoing genocide enacted by the state of Israel against the Palestinian people”.</p>
<p>This provoked a response from Dr Nick Dyrenfurth, executive director of the John Curtin Research Centre, a left-of-centre think tank, in which he said Conway’s “crime of being Jewish” was the reason <a href="https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/festival-slammed-for-promoting-%20deborah-conway-after-palestine-comments,18359">this attempt was being made to “deplatform” her</a>.</p>
<p>In Sydney, a petition protesting against the appointment of the feminist author Clementine Ford as a co-curator of the Opera House’s <a href="https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/all-about-women">All About Women</a> festival has garnered about 6,700 signatures since it was started on 6 February. Ford has programmed three events at the festival.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.australianjewishnews.com/petition-against-%20opera-house-appearance/">petition alleges</a> Ford’s public communications since the attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023 have made “a direct and harmful” contribution to the “hateful climate” that has developed in Australia since those attacks, exemplified by a <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/australian-jews-suffer-738-per-cent-spike-in-antisemitic-abuse/news-story/33ed1f60ff568d31ce399b325bbc03a2">738% increase</a> in anti-Semitic incidents, as recorded by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.</p>
<p>Ford has not called for violence against Jewish people.</p>
<p>The MP for the Sydney seat of Vaucluse in the New South Wales Parliament, Kellie Sloane, and some Jewish community leaders have raised their concerns about Ford’s curatorship, following her involvement in <a href="https://theconversation.com/doxing-or-in-the-public-interest-free-speech-cancelling-and-the-ethics-of-the-jewish-creatives-whatsapp-group-leak-223323">the alleged “doxing”</a> of about 600 Jewish writers, artists and academics. This involved the social media sharing of personal details, including names and professions, leaked from a WhatsApp group, without their consent.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/doxing-or-in-the-public-interest-free-speech-cancelling-and-the-ethics-of-the-jewish-creatives-whatsapp-group-leak-223323">Doxing or in the public interest? Free speech, 'cancelling' and the ethics of the Jewish creatives' WhatsApp group leak</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>The president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Daniel Aghion, <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/political-and-jewish-leaders-raise-clementine-ford-%20curatorship-red-flag-after-creatives-doxxing/news-story/aae6e8abdd09fb3393711c3c3c9bb544">was reported as saying</a> it was “baffling” someone who had caused this kind of harm should be appearing at one of Australia’s “most prestigious forums”.</p>
<p>Some Jewish leaders, including Anti-Defamation Commission chairman, Dr Dvir Abramovich, want Ford <a href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/jewish-leaders-have-called-for-clementine-ford-to-be-banned-%20from-adelaide-writers-week/news-story/8252b039c71c87c80afae3fe012d03f9%20So%20far,%20none%20of%20the%20protests%20have%20resulted%20in%20any%20of%20these%20people%20being%20banned.">banned from the Adelaide Festival’s Writers’ Week</a>, which starts this weekend, on 2 March.</p>
<p>Louise Adler, director of Adelaide Writers Week, <a href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/adelaide-festival/adelaide-writers-week-2024-festival-hit-with-new-backlash-as-organisers-strongly-defend-program/news-story/c56fcae109190ffa206c55119d756b59">resisted calls to remove Ford</a> from the program, saying “I chose Clementine Ford because of her writing on contemporary Australian sexual politics and about her current book about marriage, which I thought was interesting.” She called her views on “other issues” on social media “immaterial”.</p>
<p>South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas <a href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/jewish-leaders-have-called-for-clementine-ford-to-be-banned-from-adelaide-writers-week/news-story/8252b039c71c87c80afae3fe012d03f9">declined to get involved</a>, saying he would not be a “premier that engages in censorship at arts festivals”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-calls-to-cancel-two-palestinian-writers-from-adelaide-writers-week-justified-200165">Are calls to cancel two Palestinian writers from Adelaide Writers' Week justified?</a>
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<h2>Freedom of speech challenged</h2>
<p>Each of these cases presents a challenge to freedom of speech, for different reasons and in different ways.</p>
<p>Writers’ festivals are opportunities for the public to see and hear from people who are presumed to have thought deeply about complex issues, and who have written about them. They are also forums for the writers themselves to challenge and be challenged on their points of view.</p>
<p>In a world conditioned by the emotive views and intolerant habits of social media, where those who hold opposing views are often seen as irredeemable and even illegitimate, it requires a demanding intellectual effort to adjust to the world of the public square.</p>
<p>There, by convention, opposing views are tolerated, even respected, and questions are decided by reasoned argument based on evidence – rather than emotive, sometimes insulting, rhetoric.</p>
<p>The current debates around these festivals show our society is a fair way from making this adjustment.</p>
<p>In the Melbourne case, the problem arises because of a contestable claim in the draft program that “Aboriginal and Palestinian solidarity has a long history, a relationship that is more vital than ever in the movement to resist colonialism and speak out against atrocities”.</p>
<p>Whether or not there is a long history of solidarity between Aboriginal and Palestinian people – which Professor Langton, for one, rejects – might be debated. But the wording of the draft program presents the debate as already decided in the affirmative. That might represent the view of curator Mykaela Saunders and some other First Nations people, but clearly not all of them.</p>
<p>In the Perth case, Conway’s statement questioning whether the children killed by the Israel Defence Forces are really children is, for the most part, demonstrably false, as we see nightly on the television news. This does harm. A falsehood pollutes the community’s information pool. </p>
<p>In the Sydney and Adelaide cases, Ford’s participation in the Whatsapp leak is likewise harmful. The leak violated people’s privacy and put people’s safety at risk. The harm principle sets the boundary at which the individual’s right of free speech gives way to the larger public interest in harm prevention.</p>
<p>The case in principle against Ford is particularly strong because of the obvious harm caused by the public dissemination of people’s private information. The fact that she is not programmed to speak about the war in Gaza at her events – she is speaking about her anti-marriage book in both <a href="https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/all-about-women/play-the-girl">Sydney</a> and <a href="https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/2024-writers-week/i-do-i-don-t/">Adelaide</a> – makes no difference to this point of principle. In practice, however, banning her would risk making her into a martyr. </p>
<p>None of these festivals have responded to public pressure to change their programs, speakers or even the wording of their copy. Better still, rather than banning speakers or changing programs, festivals could arrange to include challenges on these controversial actions and words. For example, someone in Ford’s position could be invited to make the case for the WhatsApp leak and be challenged on its violation of privacy principles.</p>
<p>That way, the festivals would do their job of promoting debate. A festival where the outcome is a foregone conclusion, or where the openmindedness of the organisers is in question, is just another echo chamber.</p>
<p>Against that, there is the question of public safety, which has been raised by those who wanted Conway banned in Perth and Ford in Adelaide. The exact threat to public safety is not spelt out, but the debate shows we urgently need to learn to better negotiate this frontier between social media and the world of flesh and blood.</p>
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<p><em>This article has been amended to clarify the context of Deborah Conway’s remarks during her earlier radio interview.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224520/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis Muller 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>Writers festivals navigate the fraught frontier between social media’s echo chambers of outrage and the civilised public debate of the public square. What’s the way forward in this heated atmosphere?Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2215402024-01-26T17:58:02Z2024-01-26T17:58:02ZHow cars and road infrastructure became part of the UK’s culture wars<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570950/original/file-20240123-21-23bz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/motorway-complex-road-junction-aerial-view-1198012252">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When government ministers began <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/127/public-accounts-committee/news/198260/active-travel-government-programme-offtrack-as-funding-reductions-hold-back-progress/">to defund</a> cycling and walking infrastructure in England in 2023, climate campaigners were confused. It marked a significant shift in transport policy and seemed at odds with the government’s own targets to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-cut-emissions-from-transport-ban-fossil-fuel-cars-electrify-transport-and-get-people-walking-and-cycling-154363">reduce carbon emissions</a> from road transport. </p>
<p>But a recent <a href="https://transportactionnetwork.org.uk/campaign/legal-action/cwis2-legal-challenge/">legal challenge</a> led by sustainable transport campaigning group Transport Action Network has shown that this ministerial decision-making was driven, in part, by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/10/shift-from-15-minute-cities-in-england-partly-due-to-conspiracy-theories">conspiracy theories</a>.</p>
<p>Urban planners have long devised schemes to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213624X22000281">discourage people</a> from using their cars for short trips. Initiatives including 15-minute cities, low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) and ultra-low emissions zones (Ulez) are designed to <a href="https://theconversation.com/cycling-is-ten-times-more-important-than-electric-cars-for-reaching-net-zero-cities-157163">promote more active forms of travel</a>. </p>
<p>The aim is to reduce traffic congestion and toxic pollution and the negative impacts both have on residents’ <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/5.16%20Congestion_report_v03.pdf">quality of life</a> and health. Less car use is also widely recognised as one of the most effective ways to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/16/12-most-effective-ways-cars-cities-europe">combat the climate crisis</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protestors with colourful banners and posters." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570945/original/file-20240123-23-qhzyhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570945/original/file-20240123-23-qhzyhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570945/original/file-20240123-23-qhzyhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570945/original/file-20240123-23-qhzyhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570945/original/file-20240123-23-qhzyhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570945/original/file-20240123-23-qhzyhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570945/original/file-20240123-23-qhzyhz.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">People protesting the Ulez expansion in Uxbridge, in 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/uxbridge-london-9-july-2023-people-2330803717">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Yet, in the wake of COVID-19, these simple measures have become entangled with anti-lockdown conspiracy theories. They have been <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-10-04/what-is-the-15-minute-cities-conspiracy-theory">misconstrued</a> as restrictions on people’s basic freedoms. According to this misinformation, the measures could lead to outright bans on car driving, residents being imprisoned in small areas and even people being prevented from leaving their homes at certain times of day. </p>
<p>These theories are <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/conservative-party-conference-15-minute-cities-mark-harper-conspiracy/">fiction, not fact</a>. But they are nonetheless born of a national context in which public transport provision is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/06/bus-neglect-national-failure-public-policy-motorists">failing</a>. For many people across the UK – particularly outside of London – <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain-2022/transport-statistics-great-britain-2022-domestic-travel">car travel</a> is not simply the preferred means of mobility: it is their only viable option.</p>
<p>In my recent book, <a href="https://lwbooks.co.uk/product/the-broken-promise-of-infrastructure">The Broken Promise of Infrastructure</a>, I show that belief in these conspiracy theories is driven, in part, by plummeting public confidence in government. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/16/uk-wasting-tens-of-billions-on-crumbling-infrastructure-and-badly-run-projects">Wasteful spending</a> and unprecedented levels of <a href="https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2023/07/10/mathew-lawrence-on-why-privatisation-has-been-a-costly-failure-in-britain">privatisation</a> have weakened Britain’s basic infrastructure through disrepair and neglect, lack of reinvestment and accountability, and endemic mismanagement. Repeated broken promises – including the failures of “levelling up” – have, in turn, eroded the population’s faith in national government. <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/trustingovernmentuk/2022">In 2022</a>, only 35% of people surveyed said they trusted government, well below the average for high-income countries.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bikes and bike shadows on a cycle path." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570943/original/file-20240123-19-a391ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570943/original/file-20240123-19-a391ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570943/original/file-20240123-19-a391ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570943/original/file-20240123-19-a391ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570943/original/file-20240123-19-a391ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570943/original/file-20240123-19-a391ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570943/original/file-20240123-19-a391ox.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">The benefits of active travel have been overshadowed by electoral strategies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/black-metal-fence-on-gray-concrete-pavement-VzeXmOkLf20">Nick Page|Unsplash</a></span>
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<h2>Political rhetoric</h2>
<p>At the Conservative party conference in September 2023, the secretary of state for transport, Mark Harper, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66990302">gave credence</a> to the evidently false notion that 15-minute cities meant “local councils can decide how often you go to the shops”.</p>
<p>A few days earlier, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/24208749/rishi-sunak-car-drivers-ltn-speed-scheme/">Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had claimed</a> in a high-profile interview with the Sun newspaper, that such policies didn’t “reflect the values of Britain”. He promised to “slam the breaks on the war on motorists”. </p>
<p>These strange rhetorical appeals to conspiracy theories are driven, in part, by crude political strategy. Amid a wave of by-election defeats in 2023, the Tories <a href="https://theconversation.com/byelection-losses-are-terrible-for-the-conservatives-but-there-are-glimmers-of-hope-209902">held on to Uxbridge</a> partly because of local opposition to the expansion of London’s Ulez. </p>
<p>In reality, the Uxbridge vote was determined as much by <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/uxbridge-south-ruislip-ulez-expansion-sadiq-khan-conservative-labour/">low turnout</a> as it was by Ulez. The electoral potential of this opposition to anti-car policies in a national contest is <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a6e5875f-666b-46d3-9cc6-b0e78302994d">ambiguous</a>, at best. Sunak has nonetheless sought to capitalise on any vote-winning policy issue he can find, even if it further damages public trust in government.</p>
<p>But there is a bigger story here, alluded to by Sunak when he <a href="https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1685582472262602752?lang=en">tweeted</a>, in July 2023, “Talking about freedom, sat in Margaret Thatcher’s old Rover… it’s why I’m reviewing anti-car schemes across the country.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1685582472262602752"}"></div></p>
<p>In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher advocated an ideological connection between the deregulation of markets and the expansion of car use. She <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/28/m25-london-orbital-margaret-thatcher-25">opened</a> the M25 motorway two days after the “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37751599">big bang</a>”, an agreement between her government and the London Stock Exchange which unleashed unprecedented deregulatory measures on finance capital. </p>
<p>The freeholds on motorway service stations were some of the first publicly owned assets that Thatcher privatised. Meanwhile, her notorious 1989 white paper, titled <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/supadu-imgix/plutopress-uk/pdfs/look-inside/LI-9781786807991.pdf">Roads for Prosperity</a>, committed to “the biggest road-building programme since the Romans”. At a cost of £6 billion, it more than doubled the road budget at the time, not shrinking but expanding state intervention. </p>
<p>Since the 2010s, successive Conservative governments have repeatedly <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967070X18308424">resurrected</a> Thatcher’s ideological obsession with cars. In 2011, the then transport secretary, Philip Hammond, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-proposes-80mph-motorway-speed-limit">argued</a> that the five minutes gained by travelling at 80mph rather than 70mph along a motorway provide a boost to the economy in the same way as a tax exemption or subsidy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A vintage photo of cars on an English motorway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570937/original/file-20240123-29-zxmqv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570937/original/file-20240123-29-zxmqv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570937/original/file-20240123-29-zxmqv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570937/original/file-20240123-29-zxmqv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570937/original/file-20240123-29-zxmqv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570937/original/file-20240123-29-zxmqv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570937/original/file-20240123-29-zxmqv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The UK government has long used car travel as a political tool.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-couple-of-cars-that-are-sitting-in-the-street-iY-h-LErD_0">Crispin Jones|Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More recently, during her successful campaign to become prime minister, Liz Truss <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/19671673/liz-truss-consider-scrapping-70mph-speed-limits-motorways/">suggested</a> doing away with the 70mph speed limit on Britain’s motorways. Once she took office, this was followed by her disastrous mini-budget, which, not coincidentally, aimed to deregulate finance and stimulate a second “big bang”. </p>
<p>The road safety experts who took Truss seriously <a href="https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/liz-truss-plan-scrap-motorway-24933673">pointed out</a> pressing dangers, from increased fatalities to rising emissions. But this response misses the populist appeal that political advocates of the free market are trying to achieve through pro-car rhetoric. </p>
<p>In connecting the individual autonomy that car travel enables to neoliberal economic policies, these advocates are wielding the feelings of freedom elicted by the <a href="https://www.matthewbcrawford.com/why-we-drive">“open road”</a>. In this way, they are spreading the idea that government intervention of any kind is an infringement on individual liberty. </p>
<p>This ignores the crucial role that government has always had in building and maintaining the country’s roads. It also deflects attention from Britain’s crumbling transport infrastructure. Instead of demanding the <a href="https://tribunemag.co.uk/2023/10/public-transport-is-a-disaster-but-it-could-be-a-panacea">state intervene</a> to fix things, this strategy deliberately casts intervention itself as the problem. </p>
<p>Most dangerously, it makes cynical use of conspiracy theories. These often take root in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/25369/chapter-abstract/192470181?redirectedFrom=fulltext">disempowered communities</a>. Turning infrastructure into a politically expedient culture war issue <a href="https://www.redpepper.org.uk/political-parties-and-ideologies/conservative-party/levelling-up-is-part-of-the-culture-war/">only serves</a> to further disempower those most in need of its improvement. </p>
<p>The car has turned from a private convenience into a public nuisance. If the government is serious about improving people’s lives, it should increase investment in affordable public transport and accessible walking and cycling infrastructure. This is what will empower communities to take back control of their neighbourhoods.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic 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>Conspiracy theories about urban planning are born of a national context in which public transport provision is failingDominic Davies, Senior Lecturer in English, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2169542023-12-12T13:23:47Z2023-12-12T13:23:47ZBefore he was House speaker, Mike Johnson represented a creationist museum in court. Here’s what that episode reveals about his politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562354/original/file-20231129-26-2k6b6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C3974%2C2633&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Speaker of the House Mike Johnson takes questions from reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Nov. 14, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CongressBudget/367308ff9b4e477ab4350033cce96fd2/photo?Query=congress%20mike%20johnson&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=304&currentItemNo=28">AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has been the subject of <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/25/mike-johnson-trump-election-gambit-00123611">considerable media attention</a> following his elevation to the post on Oct. 25, 2023. Since his appointment, news reports have highlighted the fact that he was one of the House leaders against certifying the 2020 election of Joe Biden to the presidency, and that he is known to be stridently anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+. </p>
<p>Comparing himself to Moses, in a speech at a gala on Dec. 5, 2023, Johnson suggested that <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/12/mike-johnson-christian-nationalist-lawmakers-moses.html">God cleared the way for him to be speaker of the House</a>.</p>
<p>In the words of Public Religion Research Institute President Robert Jones, Johnson is “<a href="https://www.alternet.org/christian-nationalism-2666122567/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Nov.1.2023_8.30pm">a near-textbook example</a> of white Christian nationalism – the belief that God intended America to be a new promised land for European Christians.” </p>
<p>As historian <a href="https://www.messiah.edu/info/23721/our_faculty/2371/john_fea">John Fea</a> has noted, Johnson is “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/evangelical-conservatives-cheer-one-of-their-own-as-mike-johnson-assumes-congress-most-powerful-seat">a culture warrior with deep connections to the Christian Right</a>.”</p>
<p>While it might not seem obvious, one of those connections includes his legal work on behalf of <a href="https://arkencounter.com/">Ark Encounter</a>, the massive tourist site in Kentucky run by Answers in Genesis, or AiG, and its CEO, Ken Ham. Ark Encounter and its companion site, the Creation Museum, propagate <a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/10885/righting-america-creation-museum">Young Earth Creationism, or YEC</a>, which is the notion that the Earth is but 6,000 years old and that the geological formations seen today were formed by a global flood that took place around 4,000 years ago. </p>
<p>The state of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/04/mike-johnsons-vote-whipping-strategy-two-by-two">Kentucky offers tax incentives for large tourist sites</a>. In 2014, two years before Ark Encounter opened, the state determined that the tourist site was ineligible for these tax rebates. A primary reason for rejection was that all Ark Encounter employees are required to affirm a lengthy faith statement, which, according to Tourism Secretary Bob Stewart, “<a href="https://nkytribune.com/2015/02/answers-in-genesis-to-file-discrimination-suit-against-kentucky-lawsuit-seeks-to-defend-religious-freedom/">violates the separation of church and state provisions of the Constitution</a>.” </p>
<p>As an attorney for Freedom Guard, a conservative religious legal advocacy law group, Johnson sued on behalf of Ark Encounter, arguing that in denying the tax rebates, the state was discriminating on the basis of religion. Johnson and the Ark prevailed, and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/04/mike-johnsons-vote-whipping-strategy-two-by-two">Ark Encounter received the state’s tax incentives</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/history/trollinger_bill.php">scholar of American evangelicalism</a>, I argue that Johnson’s association with Ark Encounter makes much sense, given the very strong connection between Young Earth Creationism and Christian Right politics. And this connection is old. </p>
<h2>Answers in Genesis and the Christian Right</h2>
<p>In his 2021 book, “<a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501759291/red-dynamite/">Red Dynamite</a>,” historian <a href="https://history.indiana.edu/faculty_staff/adjunctfaculty/weinberg_carl.html">Carl Weinberg</a> established that for the past century, Young Earth creationists have made the case that evolutionary science makes people behave in “an immoral, ‘beastly’ or ‘animalistic’ way,” especially when it comes to sex and violence. </p>
<p>More than this, Weinberg argues that, for Young Earth creationists, evolution has been understood as <a href="https://rightingamerica.net/red-dynamite-creationism-culture-wars-and-anticommunism-in-america-an-interview-with-carl-weinberg-a-k-a-the-perfect-post-for-labor-day/">the “backbone” of a communist philosophy</a>, a “socialist, Marxist philosophy” that <a href="https://rightingamerica.net/a-spirit-of-rebellion-the-real-politics-of-young-earth-creationism/">promotes a “spirit of rebellion”</a> in America today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562362/original/file-20231129-19-f59v7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man in a grey jacket poses with a replica dinosaur." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562362/original/file-20231129-19-f59v7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562362/original/file-20231129-19-f59v7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562362/original/file-20231129-19-f59v7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562362/original/file-20231129-19-f59v7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562362/original/file-20231129-19-f59v7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562362/original/file-20231129-19-f59v7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562362/original/file-20231129-19-f59v7l.jpg?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ken Ham, founder of the nonprofit ministry Answers in Genesis, poses with animatronic dinosaurs during a tour of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., on May 24, 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NoahsArkPark-LegalBattle/261abdf8053745ae85136fcf2b36719a/photo?Query=ken%20ham%20ark%20museum&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=19&currentItemNo=2&vs=true">AP Photo/Ed Reinke</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As rhetorical scholar <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/english/trollinger_susan.php">Susan L. Trollinger</a> and I document in our 2016 book, “<a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/10885/righting-america-creation-museum">Righting America at the Creation Museum</a>,” AiG continues this Christian Right tradition through its extensive online presence, its museum and now Ark Encounter. </p>
<p>According to Ham and AiG, “<a href="https://answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2012/01/21/public-schools-promoting-a-religion/">public schools are churches of secular humanism</a> and … most of the teachers are … imposing an anti-God worldview on generations of students.” Sexual immorality, LGBTQ+ activism and the rejection of patriarchy are, according to AiG, signs of the resultant cultural corruption. Ham claims that a once-Christian America – with Bible-believing founders who had no intention of separating church and state – has, since the 1960s, been dragged downward. In his 2012 book, “<a href="https://www.nlpg.com/lie-evolution-paperback-single">The Lie</a>,” Ham asserts that this will eventually “<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/doc/prod/etc/sample/10-2-418.pdf">result in the outlawing of Christianity</a>.” </p>
<p>In the past few years, AiG has doubled down on its culture war commitments.
For example, in March 2021 the AiG Statement of Faith – signed by all employees and volunteers – was <a href="https://answersingenesis.org/about/faith/">expanded from 29 provisions to 46 provisions</a>. This includes article 29, which requires signers to affirm that “‘social justice’ … as defined in modern terminology” is “anti-biblical and destructive to human flourishing.” Then there is article 32, which says that “gender and biological sex are equivalent and cannot be separated.”</p>
<p>Rejecting the dangers of global warming and the notion that governments should intervene to reverse this trend, AiG’s <a href="https://answersingenesis.org/culture/end-of-world-is-coming-soon-unless-it-doesnt/">Ham has asserted</a> that “zealous climate activism is a false religion with false prophets.” According to him, climate activists are misled because they begin with human reason and not the Bible, and because they hold to evolution and an ancient Earth. </p>
<p>In a similar vein, an AiG spokesperson blasted mainstream scientists and others who focused on the dangers of COVID-19, arguing that they were simply generating hysteria “<a href="http://heidistjohn.com/blog/podcasts/jesus-biologos-vaccinations-connection-991">about a virus that doesn’t kill very many people at all</a>.” AiG’s CEO <a href="https://rightingamerica.net/biologos-answers-in-genesis-and-two-wildly-different-evangelical-responses-to-the-pandemic/">lamented on his social media post</a> that “the COVID-19 situation has been weaponized in many places to use against Christians.” </p>
<h2>Mike Johnson and AiG beliefs</h2>
<p>Johnson has <a href="https://twitter.com/SawyerHackett/status/1717704597584613472">effusively praised Ark Encounter</a> as “a strategic and really creative … way to bring people to this recognition of the truth that what we read in the Bible are actual historical events.” </p>
<p>Johnson also shares with AiG’s Ham that government should not intervene when it comes to global warming, particularly given that, like Ham, he does not believe “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/climate/mike-johnson-climate-policies.html">that the climate is changing because we drive SUVs</a>.”</p>
<p>He also shares with the folks at AiG the conviction that belief in evolution results in immoral behavior. For example, <a href="https://www.meidastouch.com/:section/new-speaker-mike-johnson-blamed-the-teaching-of-evolution-for-school-shootings">Johnson has blamed school shootings</a> on the fact that “we have taught a whole generation … of Americans that there is no right and wrong. It’s all about survival of the fittest, and you evolve from primordial slime,” and so “why is that life of any sacred value?” </p>
<p>In this, Johnson is echoing AiG authors and speakers. For example, in response to the 2007 shooting in a high school in Jokela, Finland, which left nine dead, including the shooter, <a href="https://answersingenesis.org/sanctity-of-life/mass-shootings/finland-school-shootings-the-sad-evolution-connection/">Bodie Hodge, an AiG researcher and author, asserted</a>: “So long as evolutionism is forced onto children (no God, people are animals, no right and wrong, etc.) and so long as they believe it and reject accountability to their Creator, then we can expect more of these types of gross and inappropriate actions.” </p>
<p>In short, Johnson’s political commitments fit neatly into the politics of AiG and the Young Earth Creationism ecosystem. This matters politically, particularly given that a significant subset of American evangelicals <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/how-many-creationists-are-there-in-america/#:%7E:text=When%20asked%20using%20the%20two-question%20format%2C%20about%20two,their%20present%20form%20since%20the%20beginning%20of%20time.%E2%80%9D">adheres to Young Earth Creationism</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216954/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Trollinger 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 scholar of American evangelicalism explains House Speaker Mike Johnson’s connections with Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum.William Trollinger, Professor of History, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2054522023-06-02T12:39:40Z2023-06-02T12:39:40ZHow teachers can stay true to history without breaking new laws that restrict what they can teach about racism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529148/original/file-20230530-17-vjqji5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C25%2C5600%2C3697&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A growing number of states have passed laws that restrict what teachers can teach about racism.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/portrait-of-concerned-black-ethnicity-student-royalty-free-image/1279902711?phrase=social+studies+class&adppopup=true">FangXiaNuo via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to America’s latest “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-fog-of-history-wars">history war</a>,” one of the biggest consequences is that it has made many K-12 educators <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/02/14/critical-race-theory-teachers-fear-laws/">scared and confused</a> about what they can and can’t say in their classrooms.</p>
<p>Since 2021, at least <a href="https://crtforward.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/UCLA-Law_CRT-Report_Final.pdf">28 states</a> have adopted measures that restrict how teachers can teach the history of racism in the U.S. Many more states have proposals on the table. The laws have been portrayed in the media as measures that would prevent teachers from teaching “<a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/legal-challenges-to-divisive-concepts-laws-an-update/2022/10">divisive concepts</a>” or lessons that would cause “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/02/09/florida-history-discomfort/">discomfort, anguish or guilt</a>.”</p>
<p>As a historian who studies some of the most brutal aspects of American history – from <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p063459">anti-Black lynching in the South</a> after the Civil War to the <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674244702">use of torture</a> during the war on terror – I don’t believe teachers have as much to worry about as <a href="https://kappanonline.org/wexler-no-anti-crt-laws-dont-actually-outlaw-lessons-that-might-make-students-uncomfortable-russo/">many may think</a>. Some observers have posited that the wave of new education laws will have a <a href="https://theconversation.com/bans-on-critical-race-theory-could-have-a-chilling-effect-on-how-educators-teach-about-racism-163236">chilling effect</a> on how history is taught. But a close look at these laws shows that they are generally written so broadly that they can’t effectively stop teachers from teaching history in a way that’s fair, accurate and true.</p>
<h2>Weaknesses seen</h2>
<p>I’m not the first to make this point. For instance, one media critic has noted that coverage of the laws has “<a href="https://kappanonline.org/wexler-no-anti-crt-laws-dont-actually-outlaw-lessons-that-might-make-students-uncomfortable-russo/">focused more on educators’ perceptions</a> of and emotions about the legislation than on the actual language.” A law professor has argued that the mainstream media “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-public-doesnt-get-anti-crt-lawmakers-are-passing-pro-crt-laws-171356">distorts reality by mischaracterizing the laws</a>” as bans against critical race theory, or CRT. Critical race theory is a concept that holds that racism is not just something that takes place among individuals, but rather has been <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05">embedded in American law and policy</a>.</p>
<p>Some, such as law professor Jonathan Feingold, go so far as to say most of the laws actually call for <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-public-doesnt-get-anti-crt-lawmakers-are-passing-pro-crt-laws-171356">more CRT, not less</a>. I wouldn’t go that far. However, I do see a lot of leeway and loopholes in the laws. Here, I offer several examples of ways teachers can introduce difficult subjects that involve racism in the U.S. without violating the new laws that govern how teachers can discuss it.</p>
<h2>Focus on the free market</h2>
<p>In teaching about the history of American free markets, teachers would be justified to point out that slavery – and the associated industries of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/empire-of-cotton/383660/">cotton</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.5309/willmaryquar.68.3.0327">tobacco</a>, to name just two – were all <a href="https://equitablegrowth.org/new-research-shows-slaverys-central-role-in-u-s-economic-growth-leading-up-to-the-civil-war/#:%7E:text=The%20estimates%20based%20on%20this,18.7%20percent%20and%2024.3%20percent.">major components of the economy</a> before the Civil War. </p>
<p>To make this more relatable to children, teachers could discuss something that every child understands: food and hunger. Historical records reveal that <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c6966/c6966.pdf">slaveholders cut costs by underfeeding enslaved children</a>. They often did this until the children were old enough to become productive laborers. Slave owners also <a href="https://archive.org/details/adviceamongmaste0000unse">published extensive advice</a> on how to reward and punish the people they had enslaved. Teachers can point out that for all the prowess of America’s free market, before the Civil War, that free market was <a href="https://equitablegrowth.org/new-research-shows-slaverys-central-role-in-u-s-economic-growth-leading-up-to-the-civil-war/#:%7E:text=The%20estimates%20based%20on%20this,18.7%20percent%20and%2024.3%20percent.">largely dependent on the violence and forced labor</a> that slavery involved.</p>
<h2>Examining the concept of liberty</h2>
<p>Considerable debate has taken place as of late over <a href="https://fee.org/articles/forcing-children-to-pledge-allegiance-is-undesirable-and-unconstitutional-so-why-is-it-still-happening/">whether students should be required to say the Pledge of Allegiance</a> – a daily school ritual that ends with the reciting of the words “and liberty and justice for all.”</p>
<p>Since liberty has been a long-standing pillar of American society, no teacher could be faulted for having students examine if and how the nation historically has lived up to the notion that liberty had truly been secured “for all.”</p>
<p>For instance, when Patrick Henry reportedly exhorted his fellow Virginians “<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-patrick-henrys-most-famous-quote#:%7E:text=On%20March%2023%2C%201775%2C%20Patrick,%2C%20or%20give%20me%20death!%E2%80%9D">Give me liberty, or give me death!</a>” in an effort to persuade them to declare independence from Great Britain, he was himself a slaveholder. So were <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/9/10/20859458/fact-check-declaration-independence-slaves-trumbull-painting-arlen-parsa">most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence</a>, which famously describes liberty as an “inalienable” God-given right.</p>
<p>Teachers could also examine the starkly different visions of liberty that developed over time. For instance, students could compare and contrast the visions of liberty <a href="https://www.civilwarcauses.org/anderson.htm">espoused by Confederates</a> in relation to the views held by <a href="https://politicalrhetoricarchive.wcu.edu/speech/address-at-sanitary-fair-by-abraham-lincoln/">President Abraham Lincoln</a> and other Unionists.</p>
<h2>Paying homage to freed men in battle</h2>
<p>In an effort to encourage patriotism, the <a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/7/?Tab=BillText">“Stop Woke” law in Florida</a> – adopted in 2022 – requires teachers to educate students about the sacrifices that veterans and Medal of Honor recipients have made for democracy. This serves as a great reason to teach about <a href="https://www.cmohs.org/news-events/history/honoring-the-african-american-recipients-of-the-civil-war/">formerly enslaved men</a> – including <a href="https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/lists/black-african-american-recipients">those who were awarded the Medal of Honor</a> – who joined the Union army and helped defeat the Confederacy.</p>
<p>By studying these men and the reason they received these medals, students will learn the role that Black people themselves played in the abolition of slavery – the largest expansion of liberty in American history.</p>
<p>Given the current political climate in the U.S., there is no reason to assume more laws that govern what can be taught in public schools will not be passed. But based on how the laws are being written, there are still plenty of ways for teachers to tackle difficult subjects, such as racism in American society</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205452/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>W. Fitzhugh Brundage 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 history scholar sees leeway and loopholes in a wave of new state laws that seek to control what teachers can say about racism in America’s past.W. Fitzhugh Brundage, Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2055972023-05-18T11:32:43Z2023-05-18T11:32:43ZSouth African diamonds adorn the crown of King Charles – why they’re unlikely to be returned<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526284/original/file-20230515-25052-37h69q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">King Charles III And Queen Camilla on their coronation day.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Furlong/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar7HGBg5o3k">Opera singer Pretty Yende</a> and foreign minister <a href="https://twitter.com/DIRCO_ZA/status/1654841605726040064?lang=en">Naledi Pandor</a> were not the only South African presence at the coronation of King Charles III. Also there were the stones cut from the <a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/trails/the-crown-jewels/the-cullinan-diamond">Cullinan diamond</a>, the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found.</p>
<p>The Cullinan, named after Thomas Cullinan, the chairman of the mining company that found it in South Africa, <a href="https://www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/blog/2017/01/worlds-largest-diamond-the-cullinan/">was mined in 1905</a> and was bought by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Transvaal">Transvaal</a> colony’s government for presentation to King Edward VII in 1907. It was cut into <a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/trails/the-crown-jewels/cullinan-diamond-cleaving-of-the-second-largest-portion">nine stones</a> and another 97 fragments.</p>
<p>The largest of these, Cullinan 1, known as the Star of Africa, was set at the top of the sceptre presented to Charles during the coronation ceremony. Cullinan 2 is set in the front of the crown he wore. Other stones are in the possession of Britain’s royal family too or on display in the Tower of London.</p>
<p>The coronation has led to renewed calls for the return of the stones to South Africa. These calls are part of the growing demands by former colonial people for the return of the cultural artefacts removed from their countries by colonial powers.</p>
<p>What are the justifications for the return of the Cullinan diamonds? What are the complications? And what is the likelihood of return?</p>
<h2>The justification</h2>
<p>Prior to the coronation, there were calls for the return of the diamonds to South Africa. The Economic Freedom Fighters, the country’s third largest political party, led in <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/politics/stolen-star-of-africa-still-flaunted-by-british-11">calling for them to come home</a>. And so has African Transformation Movement’s member of parliament, <a href="https://www.voaafrica.com/a/s-africa-wants-buckingham-bling-returned/7078534.html">Vuyolwethu Zungula</a>. In similar fashion, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/05/africa/star-of-africa-diamond-intl/index.html">Mothusi Kamanga</a>, a Johannesburg lawyer and activist, promoted an online petition for the diamonds to be returned. It quickly attracted 8,000 signatures. </p>
<p>These demands fall under a much wider global <a href="https://theconversation.com/restitution-of-looted-african-art-just-continues-colonial-policies-much-more-is-at-stake-191386">conversation</a> about reparations for items forcefully appropriated as spoils of war and cultural domination. <a href="https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/africa-sees-some-artifacts-returned-seeks-many-more/6685846.html">Various items</a> have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/germany-is-returning-nigerias-looted-benin-bronzes-why-its-not-nearly-enough-165349">returned</a> to their countries of origin by European universities, museums and other bodies which had acquired them over decades past.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/patrice-lumumbas-tooth-represents-plunder-resilience-and-reparation-186241">Patrice Lumumba’s tooth represents plunder, resilience and reparation</a>
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<p>Activists view their moral case for the return of the diamonds as unanswerable, but it runs up against many complications.</p>
<h2>Complications: ‘given’ not ‘looted’</h2>
<p>Let’s go back to 1907, when <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/louis-botha">Louis Botha</a> was prime minister of the Transvaal, one of the two <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2018/06/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-orange-free-state-and-transvaal-in-southern-africa/">Boer Republics</a> which had been defeated by Britain in the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/second-anglo-boer-war-1899-1902">South African War, 1899-1902</a>, but to which <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Botha">“self-government” had now been returned</a>. Botha now suggested buying the Cullinan diamond for Edward VII as <a href="https://www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/about-diamonds/famous-diamonds/">a token</a> of the loyalty of the people of the Transvaal to the king. </p>
<p>At face value, this is odd, because Botha had served as a Boer general in the South African War, which had culminated in Boer defeat, but only after a drawn out struggle which had left South Africa devastated. </p>
<p>About 14,000 Boer troops had lost their lives, and some 28,000 Boer men, women and children died in <a href="https://theconversation.com/concentration-camps-in-the-south-african-war-here-are-the-real-facts-112006">concentration camps</a>, incarcerated by the British to stop them from helping the Boer’s guerrilla forces. Yet Botha refers to the “loyalty and attachment” of the Transvaal “people” (by which he almost certainly meant only white people). </p>
<p>After the war, Botha teamed up with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/opinion/jan-smuts-south-africa.html">Jan Smuts</a>, another former Boer general. Smuts was instrumental in arguing the case in London for the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jan-Smuts">return of self-government</a> to the former Boer republic of the Transvaal, which after its defeat had been transformed into a colony. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/benin-bronzes-what-is-the-significance-of-their-repatriation-to-nigeria-171444">Benin bronzes: What is the significance of their repatriation to Nigeria?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>White settler regimes were regarded as troublesome by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Whitehall-Palace">Whitehall</a>, which was pleased to get rid of them. But self-government was not independence. Britain remained largely in control of foreign policy, and importantly, could declare its <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/dominion-British-Commonwealth">“dominions”</a> (as these self-governing territories were termed) as at war if Britain was dragged into an armed conflict. </p>
<p>Both these former Boer generals were realists. They recognised the realities of Boer defeat and the ruin it had brought to South Africa. After the war they had come to preach a gospel of “conciliation”, whose rationale was to unite Boers and Britons into a single white nation, while repairing relations with Britain, whose aid they regarded as necessary for reconstruction. </p>
<p>They also had in mind the Transvaal as heading a drive for the making of a united South Africa – a long-held policy of Britain since the mid-19th century. In any case, Botha and Smuts regarded South Africa’s membership of the Empire and reliance on the British navy as necessary for its defence.</p>
<p>We may question why this persuaded Botha to offer a valuable diamond to the king. Perhaps it was merely gratitude for the grant of self governance. Perhaps it was one of the more spectacular acts of international brown-nosing, to secure Britain’s goodwill towards South Africa.</p>
<p>But in the present debate, it introduces the complication that legally speaking, the Cullinan diamonds were given by a forerunner government of South Africa, rather than having been “looted”.</p>
<h2>Likelihood of return</h2>
<p>Calls for the return of the diamonds, especially when not backed by any official request by the South African government, are unlikely to make any impression in London. Although King Charles has encouraged investigation into the way <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/07/king-charles-urged-take-some-responsibility-royal-slavery-links">the monarchy has benefited from slavery</a>, his enthusiasm is unlikely to extend to the physical deconstruction of the crown jewels. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-west-is-morally-bound-to-offer-reparations-for-slavery-153544">Why the West is morally bound to offer reparations for slavery</a>
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</p>
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<p>Such decisions would have to be made by the government of the day. Any thought of doing so would play into the hands of the right wing of the <a href="https://www.conservatives.com/">Conservative Party</a>, and its determination to provoke <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/19/tories-migrants-fear-immigration-culture-war">“culture wars”</a> around whiteness and nationalism.</p>
<p>More fundamentally, former colonial powers are <a href="https://theconversation.com/has-the-relationship-between-namibia-and-germany-sunk-to-a-new-low-121329">wary of issuing apologies for sins past</a>, as taking responsibility for past crimes against humanity implies legal obligations to make reparations, and this they are determined to avoid.</p>
<p>Although Africans were never consulted, British governments are likely to insist that the Cullinan diamonds were not stolen but freely given by Louis Botha. If South Africa wants the diamonds back, it is going to have to put up a very determined fight.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205597/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Southall 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>Activists view their moral case for the return of the diamonds as unanswerable, but it runs up against many complications.Roger Southall, Professor of Sociology, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2025872023-05-15T12:32:50Z2023-05-15T12:32:50ZWhy so many South Korean women are refusing to date, marry or have kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525713/original/file-20230511-36633-3ze3d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C29%2C3976%2C2628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Korean women protest against sexism and digital sex crimes, such as the making of pornography using hidden cameras.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/south-korean-women-protest-against-sexism-and-hidden-camera-news-photo/1046462564">Jean Chung/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Korea finds itself embroiled in an all-out gender war – and it keeps getting worse.</p>
<p>The animosity between Korean men and women has reached a point where some women are outright refusing to date, marry and have kids with men – a phenomenon known as <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2023/03/4b-movement-feminism-south-korea.html">the 4B movement</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2_iGT-QAAAAJ&hl=en">As a Korean feminist scholar</a> living in the U.S., I’ve followed this gender war from afar as I conducted research on contemporary Korean gender politics. </p>
<p>However, I also became embroiled in it myself after my research on Korean masculinity <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/south-korea-western-women-seeking-love-intl-hnk-dst/index.html">was published by CNN</a>. </p>
<p>The article described foreign women who traveled to Korea after becoming enamored of the idea of dating Korean men from watching Korean television dramas. I pointed out that since the tourists’ fantasies were based on fictional characters, some of them ended up disappointed with the Korean men they dated in real life. </p>
<p>The article was about racial politics and the masculine ideals. But some Korean readers thought that I was simply criticizing Korean men for not being romantic and handsome enough. One enraged Korean man commented that I was an “ugly feminist.” </p>
<p>But this was tame in comparison to what women living in South Korea have endured in recent years.</p>
<h2>Extreme misogyny and a feminist backlash</h2>
<p>Over the past couple of decades, there have been flash points in this gender war.</p>
<p>In 2010, Ilbe, <a href="https://koreaexpose.com/south-koreas-angry-young-men/">a right-wing website</a> that traffics in misogyny, started attracting users who <a href="https://www.ilbe.com/view/11200697424">peppered the forums with vulgar posts</a> about women.</p>
<p>Then in 2015, an online extremist feminist group <a href="https://koreaexpose.com/megalia-south-korean-feminism-marshals-the-power-of-the-internet/">named Megalia</a> arose. Its goal was to fight back by <a href="https://10mag.com/megalia-south-koreas-radical-feminism-community/">demeaning Korean men</a> in ways that mirrored the rhetoric on sites like Ilbe. </p>
<p>A year later, a man who had professed his hatred of women <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-south-korea-woman-killed-20160521-snap-story.html">murdered a random woman in a public bathroom</a> near a Seoul subway station. He was eventually sentenced to decades in prison, but the lines were quickly drawn. On one side were feminists, who saw misogyny as the underlying motive. On the other side were men who claimed that it was merely the isolated actions of a mentally ill man. The <a href="https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0103_201605231913446582">two groups violently clashed</a> during competing protests at the site of the murder. </p>
<h2>A backdrop of digital sex crimes</h2>
<p>However, none of these events have elicited as much public controversy as the steep rise in digital sex crimes. These are newer forms of sexual violence facilitated by technology: <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1532/revenge-pornography">revenge porn</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-upskirting-and-what-are-your-rights-to-privacy-under-the-law-158060">upskirting</a>, which refers to surreptitiously snapping photos under women’s skirts in public; and the use of hidden cameras to film women having sex or undressing.</p>
<p>In 2018, there were <a href="https://easylaw.go.kr/CSP/CnpClsMain.laf?popMenu=ov&csmSeq=1594&ccfNo=1&cciNo=1&cnpClsNo=2">2,289 reported cases</a> of digital sex crimes; in 2021, the number <a href="https://easylaw.go.kr/CSP/CnpClsMain.laf?popMenu=ov&csmSeq=1594&ccfNo=1&cciNo=1&cnpClsNo=2">snowballed to 10,353</a>.</p>
<p>In 2019, there were two major incidents that involved digital sex crimes. </p>
<p>In one, a number of male K-pop stars were indicted for filming and circulating videos of women in group chatrooms <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50596943">without their consent</a>.</p>
<p>A few months later, Koreans were shocked to learn about what became known as the “<a href="https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/tv/a40018199/what-is-nth-room-true-story-cyber-hell-destroy-the-nth-chatroom-netflix/">Nth Room Incident</a>,” during which hundreds of perpetrators – mostly men – committed digital sex crimes on dozens of women and minors. </p>
<p>They tended to target poorer women – sex workers, or women who wanted to make a few bucks by sharing anonymous nude photos of themselves. The perpetrators either hacked into their social media accounts or approached these women and offered them money, but asked for their personal information so they could transmit the funds. Once they obtained this information, they blackmailed the women by threatening to reveal their sex work and their nudes to their friends and family. </p>
<p>Since <a href="https://koreaexpose.com/sex-workers-speaking-out-koreas-shadowy-underbelly/">sex work</a> and <a href="https://easylaw.go.kr/CSP/CnpClsMain.laf?popMenu=ov&csmSeq=901&ccfNo=2&cciNo=1&cnpClsNo=1">posting nude images of yourself online</a> are illegal in Korea, the women, fearing arrest or being ostracized by friends and family, complied with the perpetrators’ demands to send even more compromising images of themselves. The men would then swap these images in chatrooms. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protester holds sign that reads 'Korea is from top to bottom the rape cartel itself.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525716/original/file-20230511-19-rpy9jv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525716/original/file-20230511-19-rpy9jv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525716/original/file-20230511-19-rpy9jv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525716/original/file-20230511-19-rpy9jv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525716/original/file-20230511-19-rpy9jv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525716/original/file-20230511-19-rpy9jv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525716/original/file-20230511-19-rpy9jv.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">Protests erupted in Seoul in July 2019 after women were drugged and sexually abused at a popular nightclub partly owned by the K-Pop star Seungri.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/feminists-chant-slogans-as-they-hold-signs-that-read-korea-news-photo/1157943309?adppopup=true">Jean Chung/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And yet a 2019 <a href="http://www.mogef.go.kr/kor/skin/doc.html?fn=4ee3d24743c343d9ad7df17a5211eb0c.pdf&rs=/rsfiles/202305/">survey conducted by the Korean government</a> found that large swaths of the population blamed women for these sex crimes: 52% said that they believed sexual violence occurs because women wear revealing clothes, while 37% thought if women experienced sexual assault while drunk, they are partly to blame for their victimization. </p>
<p>In other words, a significant percentage of the Korean population believes that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2021.1901602">female sexuality is the problem</a> – not the sexual violence.</p>
<h2>Government policy lays the groundwork</h2>
<p>Digital sex crimes are too widespread to lay the blame at the feet of a handful of bad actors. </p>
<p>To me, part of the problem stems from the long history of “gendered citizenship.” </p>
<p>Korean feminist scholar <a href="https://www.vassar.edu/faculty/semoon">Seungsook Moon</a> has written about the ways in which <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/militarized-modernity-and-gendered-citizenship-in-south-korea">the government created one track for men and another for women</a> as the country sought to modernize in the second half of the 20th century:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Men were mobilized for mandatory military service and then, as conscripts, utilized as workers and researchers in the industrializing economy. Women were consigned to lesser factory jobs, and their roles as members of the modern nation were defined largely in terms of biological reproduction and household management.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although these policies are no longer officially carried out, the underlying attitudes about gender roles remain embedded in Korean life and culture. Women who veer from being mothers and housewives expose themselves to public and private backlash. </p>
<p>The government has created gender quotas in certain industries to try to unravel this system of gendered citizenship.</p>
<p>For instance, some government jobs have <a href="https://www.womennews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=234654">minimum gender quotas</a> for new hires, and the government <a href="https://www.seoulfn.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=483074">encourages the private sector to implement similar policies</a>. In historically male-dominant industries, such as construction, there are quotas for female hires, while in historically female-dominant industries, such as education, <a href="https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20190222011034">there are male quotas</a>. </p>
<p>In some ways, this has only made things worse. Each gender feels as if the other is receiving special treatment due to these affirmative action policies. Resentment festers. </p>
<h2>‘The generation that has given up’</h2>
<p>Today, the sense of competition between young men and women is exacerbated by the <a href="https://keia.org/the-peninsula/low-youth-employment-in-korea-part-1the-golden-ticket-syndrome/">soaring cost of living</a> and rampant unemployment. </p>
<p>Called the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-po_generation">N-Po Generation</a>,” which roughly translates as “the generation that has given up,” many young South Koreans don’t think they can achieve certain milestones that previous generations took for granted: marriage, having kids, finding a job, owning a home and even friendships.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women in purple jackets hand out stickers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525955/original/file-20230512-15-g1trvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525955/original/file-20230512-15-g1trvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525955/original/file-20230512-15-g1trvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525955/original/file-20230512-15-g1trvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525955/original/file-20230512-15-g1trvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525955/original/file-20230512-15-g1trvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525955/original/file-20230512-15-g1trvp.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of South Korea’s Women’s Party campaign ahead of the 2020 election. Though the party didn’t win any races, it marked the first time a feminist party sought seats in the National Assembly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photo-taken-on-april-9-2020-shows-womens-party-news-photo/1209572028?adppopup=true">Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although all genders find themselves discouraged, the act of “giving up” has caused more problems for women. Men see women who forgo marriage and having kids as selfish. And when they then try to compete against men for jobs, some men become incensed. </p>
<p>Many of the men who have become radicalized commit digital sex crimes to take revenge on women who, in their view, have abandoned their duties.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the competitive dynamic created by the Korean government’s embrace of gendered citizenship has stoked the virulent gender war between Korean men and women, with digital sex crimes used as ammunition.</p>
<p>The 4B movement, whereby Korean women forego heterosexual dating, marriage, and childbirth, represents a radical escalation of the gender war by seeking to create an online and offline world devoid of men. Rather than engaging in altercations, these women are refusing to interact with men, period. </p>
<h2>Digital sex crimes are a global problem</h2>
<p>To be sure, digital sex crimes are not unique to Korea. </p>
<p>When I teach my college class on digital sex crimes in the U.S., I’m surprised by how many of my students admit that they’ve been victims of digital sex crimes, or knew of it happening at their high schools. And at the National Women’s Studies Association’s <a href="https://gwss.washington.edu/2022-nwsa-conference">annual conference in 2022</a>, I watched feminist activists and scholars from all over the world present their findings about digital sex crimes back home.</p>
<p>Since each country has its own cultural context for the rise in digital sex crimes, there isn’t a single solution to solve the problems. But in South Korea, continuing to unravel the system of gendered citizenship could be part of the solution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Min Joo Lee 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 South Korean government’s embrace of gendered citizenship has fueled the virulent gender war between men and women, with digital sex crimes used as ammunition.Min Joo Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2009892023-03-26T12:51:08Z2023-03-26T12:51:08ZHow can we maximize woke’s potential while minimizing the culture war’s divisiveness?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516511/original/file-20230320-2155-az4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C0%2C8682%2C3377&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The word 'woke' has become a politically potent term used to define and discredit a host of social issues.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent collapse of <a href="https://theconversation.com/silicon-valley-bank-biggest-us-lender-to-fail-since-2008-financial-crisis-a-finance-expert-explains-the-impact-201626">Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-mulls-credit-suisse-takeover-amid-us-bank-fallout-what-you-need-know-2023-03-19/">other major banks</a> has raised fears about <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-03-16/fears-of-a-repeat-of-the-2008-financial-crisis-haunt-governments">a potential 2008-style banking crisis</a>. While this <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-watch-live-stream-today-2023-03-13/">seems unlikely</a>, like so many events these days, SVB’s failure has also been caught in the sticky rhetorical web of the culture war. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/home-depot-co-founder-torches-woke-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-warns-recession-here-already">Right-wing media outlets</a> and pundits have blamed SVB’s collapse on its <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11848705/Woke-head-risk-assessment-Silicon-Valley-Bank-accused-prioritizing-diversity-issues.html">so-called woke practices</a>.</p>
<p>In other news, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vivek-ramaswamy-antiwoke-entrepreneur-challenging-trump-for-president-gop-2023-2">Vivek Ramaswamy</a>, author of the anti-woke book <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/12/19/the-ceo-of-anti-woke-inc"><em>Woke, Inc.</em></a>, recently became the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/13/anti-woke-ramaswamy-2024-election-00082414">latest entrant in the U.S. Republican Party’s presidential primary</a>. The entry of Vivek Ramaswamy and <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3866">other potential candidates</a> indicates that battles over wokeness <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article273310700.html">will likely spill over into the next U.S. presidential election</a>.</p>
<h2>Old term meets new movements</h2>
<p>The term woke is not new, and its history is lengthy and tragic.</p>
<p>The idea was first popularized by legendary folk singer <a href="https://www.leadbelly.org/leadbelly.html">Lead Belly</a> in his 1938 song <a href="https://20thcenturyhistorysongbook.com/song-book/race-relations/the-scottsboro-boys/"><em>Scottsboro Boys</em></a>. It alludes to <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/scottsboro-boys">nine black teenagers who were falsely accused of raping two white women</a> in Alabama in 1931. In relation to the song, Lead Belly warned, “<a href="https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/lifestyle/2022/04/14/wokeness-how-meaning-woke-evolved-and-where-its-going-next/7287343001/">I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there — best stay woke, keep their eyes open</a>.”</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Scottsboro Boys’ by American musician Lead Belly.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://language-and-innovation.com/about/">Linguist Tony Thorne</a> suggests that Black Americans started using the term in the 1940s to “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/woke-meaning-word-history-b1790787.html">mean becoming woken up or sensitized to issues of justice</a>.”</p>
<p>From this, wokeness initially focused on raising awareness among Black Americans of important issues impacting their community. But over time, its use expanded to encompass other social justice concerns, often in new and sometimes highly inconsistent ways.</p>
<p>In the wake of 2013’s <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/">Black Lives Matter movement</a>, woke’s meaning quickly expanded. Part of this has to do with its social media origins. The movement subsequently became diffuse <a href="https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-7472-3.ch002">due to its unique organizational structure and social media use</a>. </p>
<p>A term that was once focused on the challenges facing Black Americans within a complex political landscape expanded rapidly. Now it is used as a <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy">shorthand for a host of progressive ideas</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, woke quickly became a broad rallying cry for social justice.</p>
<p>However, the swift spread of the term among advocates and allies was not universally welcomed. Instead, woke continued to wildly transition in opposition to the rapid expansion of social justice movements.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tug of war between two hands with words 'WOKE' on left-hand and 'ANTI-WOKE' on right" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513950/original/file-20230307-14-rcopdl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Woke’ has become a rallying cry for many progressive causes. But it has also triggered anti-woke reactionism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">zijunnyc/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Waking the anti-woke</h2>
<p>Right-wing politicians routinely rail against perceptions of wokeness. For example, Canadian opposition leader <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/12/canada-conservative-leader-poilievre-00056205">Pierre Poilievre</a> has characterized himself as “<a href="https://xtramagazine.com/power/politics/pierre-poilievre-brand-populism-236084">anti-woke</a>.”</p>
<p>In 2022, former U.S. president Donald Trump criticized banks, believing they had “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-banks-woke-penalised-b2197367.html">gone woke</a>” and should be penalized. As such, SVB and <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11860445/Signature-Bank-boss-hosted-company-seminar-gender-neutral-pronouns-prior-bank-failure.html">Signature Bank</a> are not the first banks to be caught up in the widespread hysteria over wokeness. </p>
<p>Congressman Matt Gaetz said that the <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/04/05/argument-over-woke-ism-in-the-military-erupts-in-house-hearing/">U.S. military is too focused on wokeism</a>. And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has repeatedly made headlines over his government’s <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/23/ron-desantis-defends-fla-rejection-of-woke-black-history-course/">ban on teaching certain subjects deemed woke</a> and his rejection of <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/27/disney-ex-ceo-chapek-called-desantis-over-dont-say-gay-book.html">corporate social advocacy</a>.</p>
<p>Business executives like Ramaswamy have criticized <a href="https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/capitalisnt-is-woke-capitalism-threat-democracy">woke capitalism</a> and Elon Musk has recently criticized ChatGPT which <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/02/28/elon-musk-to-develop-ai-rival-to-woke-chatgpt-report/">he believes has gone woke</a>.</p>
<p>Comedian <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-maher-shares-definition-of-woke-during-jake-tapper-cnn-interview">Bill Maher</a> frequently <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2023/02/28/bill-maher-jake-tapper-woke-liberal-lead-contd-vpx.cnn">complains</a> about woke’s impact.</p>
<p>Personalities like Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson believe it <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/05/18/joe-rogan-straight-white-men-silenced-by-woke-culture/">silences speech</a> and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/jordan-peterson-warns-western-countries-woke-totalitarian-social-credit-system-highly-probable">cancels speakers</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-we-cancel-cancel-culture-164666">Can we cancel 'cancel culture?'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The label woke is now frequently deployed <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/6/24/what-is-woke-culture-and-why-has-it-become-so-toxic">in opposition to a variety of social movements</a>, including fights for <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/caterinabulgarella/2022/10/12/with-the-anti-woke-backlash-against-women-escalating-efforts-to-increase-diversity-must-accelerate/?sh=253173851eeb">gender equality</a>, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90852536/the-republican-backlash-to-so-called-woke-capitalism-may-be-tanking-a-key-climate-proposal">climate change</a> and <a href="https://www.sageusa.org/news-posts/anti-woke-bills-could-affect-lgbtq-sensitivity-training-for-eldercare-advocates-worry/">LGBTQ+ rights</a>, among others.</p>
<p>Like pebbles dropped into a pond, the waves of conflict over wokeness ripple ever outward. But how can we maximize woke’s liberating potential while minimizing divisiveness?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2871%2C1413&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="'Woke' black text with a blue eye in the middle as the letter 'o'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2871%2C1413&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513493/original/file-20230305-2482-ox3ggy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Open-ended terms like ‘woke’ can evolve over time to symbolize more than their creators could have ever imagined.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dinosossi/52726860798">dinosossi/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Post-woke future</h2>
<p>For some, the idea of being woke means to “<a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2022/03/28/how-woke-became-weaponized-in-the-culture-wars/">be awake to social oppression</a>.” But for others, <a href="https://www.aspenideas.org/podcasts/when-the-woke-playbook-kills-free-speech">wokeness limits speech</a> and threatens the prevailing order.</p>
<p>The result? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/20/anti-woke-race-america-history">Vicious public quarrels</a>. We are trapped in a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/">digital Tower of Babel built for the social media age</a> seemingly without escape.</p>
<p>Open-ended terms like woke can evolve over time to symbolize more than their creators could have ever imagined. Words used ambiguously and in excess can eventually become meaningless. They can even experience <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/very-actually-and-other-examples-of-semantic-bleaching">semantic bleaching</a>. This is when words lose their meaning through repeated and varied usage.</p>
<p>The state of play is so topsy-turvy you could argue that even anti-woke politicians can be woke. Think <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9409586/pierre-poilievre-vows-different-approach-to-reconciliation-after-speech-to-frontier-centre/">Poilievre advocating for drinking water for Indigenous communities</a>. Or <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/01/trump-republicans-first-step-act-00029104">Trump’s criminal justice reforms</a>.</p>
<p>When one term is interpreted antithetically, even adopted by its avowed adversaries, it increasingly becomes meaningless.</p>
<p>We should resist easy labels like wokeness that simplify or disregard complex and legitimate issues. Unclear terms confuse instead of clarify, alienating those we wish to include in conversation. Society suffers and divisions harden. And marginalized individuals often suffer the most severe consequences through no fault of their own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dino Sossi 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 word ‘woke’ has increasingly become caught up in the rhetoric of the culture war. But debates around wokeness and what it means are drawing attention away from the real issues.Dino Sossi, Adjunct Assistant Professor, OCAD UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2016232023-03-16T12:30:57Z2023-03-16T12:30:57ZTennessee’s drag ban rehashes old culture war narratives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515517/original/file-20230315-26-vndw56.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C10%2C3484%2C2315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A drag queen reads to a group of parents and kids at a library in Los Angeles in July 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protest-against-the-drag-queen-story-hour-event-at-welling-news-photo/1411832510?phrase=drag story hour&adppopup=true">Guy Smallman/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tennessee recently <a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/HA0011.pdf">passed legislation</a> that bans drag from being performed in public spaces, as well as in the view of children. Although Tennessee is the first state to enact such a ban, it is unlikely to be the last, as others with conservative legislatures are <a href="https://apnews.com/article/drag-queens-tennessee-bill-legislation-3ed2ddd0e8231819ade5d0c8b9f4c30a">currently considering similar action</a>. Some states proposing bans have <a href="https://time.com/6260421/tennessee-limiting-drag-shows-status-of-anti-drag-bills-u-s/">explicitly targeted Drag Story Hour</a>, which involves drag performers reading books to children in public spaces such as libraries. </p>
<p>So why does the American public suddenly need to be protected from drag? </p>
<p>The answer to this question has deep roots in modern U.S. history. </p>
<p>Tennessee’s ban on drag is not an isolated event. Rather, it is only the latest volley in the broader culture war between American conservatives and progressives to define the values of the country. </p>
<h2>A centurylong war</h2>
<p>In 1991, sociologist <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KTiTxl-rY9AC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=hunter+culture+wars&ots=JugnjdouL-&sig=kjjT85c8xRa2dA78R71MPjWaJYY#v=onepage&q=hunter%20culture%20wars&f=false">James Davison Hunter</a> alerted Americans that the nation was in the midst of a perpetual culture war that would “continue to have reverberations not only within public policy but within the lives of ordinary Americans everywhere.” </p>
<p>Examples of early culture war battles include the 1925 <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/scopes-trial">Scopes Monkey Trial</a>, in which a Tennessee high school science teacher was prosecuted for violating anti-evolution laws, and the 1962 <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/engel-v-vitale/">Supreme Court ruling</a> that deemed school-sponsored prayer unconstitutional. </p>
<p>Culture war conflict came to a head in the 1980s and 1990s, with Senate hearings over the perceived dangers of <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dee-snider-on-pmrc-hearing-i-was-a-public-enemy-71205/">heavy metal music</a> and obscenity in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/05/10/pop-culture-takes-the-rap-as-congress-battles-violence/96d62842-7f04-415e-8a40-e21e17e80750/">rap music</a>.</p>
<p>Social scientists largely thought the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IByIDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP8&dq=hartman+a+war+for+the+soul+of+america&ots=wjK0iJJIc7&sig=gIobLQ_e0OfU-LMrWo77TSZ0p_0#v=onepage&q=hartman%20a%20war%20for%20the%20soul%20of%20america&f=false">culture wars had receded</a> at the turn of the 21st century. Then former President Donald Trump’s battle cry to “Make America Great Again” rallied troops back into action.</p>
<p>As Hunter noted in his monumental tome, culture war disputes <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IByIDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP8&dq=hartman+A+War+for+the+Soul+of+America:+A+History+of+the+Culture+Wars&ots=wjK0gGLQ38&sig=WCz2um1_8hAYro0UDcTjYpQz5Ms#v=onepage&q=hartman%20A%20War%20for%20the%20Soul%20of%20America%3A%20A%20History%20of%20the%20Culture%20Wars&f=false">usually intensify during times of upheaval</a>, such as changes in the country’s demographics and shifts in the distribution of political power. These shifts lead people to wonder exactly whose values, languages, religions and opportunities are respected or promoted by the government, law and popular culture.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, cultural conflict tends to emerge within institutions that have practical implications for Americans’ lives: family, public schools, popular media, public art and law. </p>
<h2>Ripe conditions for a new battle</h2>
<p>The first Drag Story Hour <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/12/first-edition-drag-queen-story-hour">took place in 2015</a>. It was organized by author and queer activist Michelle Tea and the San Francisco-based literacy nonprofit RADAR Productions. The <a href="https://www.dragstoryhour.org/about">official mission</a> of Drag Story Hour is to celebrate “reading through the glamorous art of drag” and create “diverse, accessible, and culturally-inclusive family programming where kids can express their authentic selves.”</p>
<p>Because these performances take place in public spaces and in front of children, they hit upon a couple of important culture war triggers. </p>
<p>First, public performances can spark cultural conflict because they can signify exactly whose values are prioritized over others. Second, art and performances that reach audiences of children are often perceived as a threat to the family as an institution. </p>
<p>For example, in the 1980s, some activists and politicians viewed profane music as a threat to the family. This led to the introduction of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/2015/10/09/oral-history-tipper-gores-war-explicit-rock-lyrics-dee-snider-373103.html">parental advisory labels</a> to identify music deemed inappropriate for children.</p>
<h2>‘When librarians were nice Christian ladies’</h2>
<p>As social scientists who study gender and culture, we recently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23294965211050019">analyzed reactions to Drag Story Hour</a> that were posted on social media forums. </p>
<p>In our analysis, we found that many grievances centered on institutions and values crucial to the culture wars. </p>
<p>We found that conservatives reminisced about a time when their values were dominant in American society and rehashed old culture war narratives about “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Threatened_Children/8VIg9STL-wUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=best+threatened+children&printsec=frontcover">threatened children</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of protesters hold signs with text reading 'groomer.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515519/original/file-20230315-22-4l4pl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515519/original/file-20230315-22-4l4pl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515519/original/file-20230315-22-4l4pl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515519/original/file-20230315-22-4l4pl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515519/original/file-20230315-22-4l4pl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515519/original/file-20230315-22-4l4pl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515519/original/file-20230315-22-4l4pl1.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">Many opponents of Drag Story Hour claim that the events endanger kids by ‘grooming’ them to be sexually exploited.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protest-against-the-drag-queen-story-hour-event-at-welling-news-photo/1411832510?phrase=drag%20story%20hour&adppopup=true">Guy Smallman/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>They specifically expressed nostalgia for a time when American culture was anchored by conservative values, and progressive views existed on the periphery of public life. As one forum member lamented, “When I was a kid, the librarians were nice Christian ladies and there was an American flag outside. My current public library [has] scary levels of liberal posters and talks.”</p>
<p>Some conservatives also used rhetoric reminiscent of the “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Satanic_Panic.html?id=abJqF8csPrQC">Satanic Panic</a>” of the 1980s and 1990s by claiming that drag performers were satanic pedophiles who sought to recruit, groom and sexually abuse children. Others argued that parents who take their children to Drag Story Hour should be jailed or lose their parental rights.</p>
<h2>The safety of children as political fodder</h2>
<p>In our view, it’s no accident that Tennessee’s ban on drag specifically targets drag performed in front of children. </p>
<p>Emphasizing threats to children is a well-established strategy for conveying the decline of American culture and values. As sociologists Joel Best and Kathleen Bogle have noted, adults often <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Kids_Gone_Wild/91YTCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=best+bogle+kids+gone+wild&printsec=frontcover">project their anxieties and fears</a> concerning a perceived disintegration of traditional norms onto younger generations, whom they believe need to be shielded.</p>
<p>In the 1970s, anti-gay activist Anita Bryant launched her “Save our Children” campaign. Claiming that gays and lesbians were “recruiting children” to their cause, <a href="https://theconversation.com/anti-transgender-bills-are-latest-version-of-conservatives-longtime-strategy-to-rally-their-base-158296">she successfully pressed voters to oppose</a> anti-discrimination statutes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of woman speaking at a microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515542/original/file-20230315-2388-69ahd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515542/original/file-20230315-2388-69ahd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515542/original/file-20230315-2388-69ahd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515542/original/file-20230315-2388-69ahd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515542/original/file-20230315-2388-69ahd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515542/original/file-20230315-2388-69ahd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515542/original/file-20230315-2388-69ahd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In today’s opposition to Drag Story Hour, there are echoes of the rhetoric of anti-gay activist Anita Bryant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/anita-bryant-is-near-tears-as-several-hundred-demonstrators-news-photo/515123282?phrase=anita%20bryant&adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>And in the 1980s, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.00169.x">fears over changing family structures</a>, such as rising divorce rates and an influx of working mothers, fueled a moral panic that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-modern-witch-hunt/2015/07/31/057effd8-2f1a-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html">day care staffers were ritualistically abusing children</a>.</p>
<p>Almost half a century later, fears regarding advancements in LGBTQ+ rights have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-dont-say-gay-law-signed-56aee61f075a12663f25990c7b31624d">produced legislation restricting discussions of gender identity</a> in schools and stoked claims that drag performers are satanists who terrorize children.</p>
<p>The deployment of these well-worn narratives is unlikely to end with legislation such as Tennessee’s drag ban. Rather, it will continue as long as conservatives and progressives battle to define American values.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201623/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>Emphasizing threats to children is a well-worn refrain among those worried about the decline of American culture and values.Heather Hensman Kettrey, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Clemson UniversityAlyssa J. Davis, PhD Student in Sociology, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1990652023-02-12T13:19:53Z2023-02-12T13:19:53ZWhy populism has an enduring and ominous appeal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509037/original/file-20230208-2401-c7sy0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5615%2C3732&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro, storm the National Congress building in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X14536652">Max Weber</a>, the founder of modern sociology, once argued that charismatic politicians are seen by their followers as saviours and heroes.</p>
<p>But they are just as likely to be charlatans and swindlers.</p>
<p>Whether you blame social media or inequality, contemporary citizens seem to want political <a href="https://journalistsresource.org/politics-and-government/horse-race-reporting-election/">horse races</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051010-111659">big personalities</a> — at least that’s the conventional wisdom. Engage your disgruntled followers with big ideas on TikTok! </p>
<p>It would be bad enough if culture war clashes were just so much entertainment. But politicians that include former British prime minister <a href="https://michaelignatieff.ca/article/2022/democracy-versus-democracy-the-populist-challenge-to-liberal-democracy/">Boris Johnson</a> in the U.K. and American Sen. <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3760382-hawley-cruz-rubio-emerge-as-champions-of-gop-populism-amid-trumps-decline/">Josh Hawley</a> appeal to the working classes — the masses of people without much money who turn out to vote. </p>
<p>Their alpha male leadership styles are built on audacious attacks on <a href="https://michaelignatieff.ca/article/2022/democracy-versus-democracy-the-populist-challenge-to-liberal-democracy/">the legitimacy</a> of free, open and equitable societies.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-hard-core-trump-supporters-ignore-his-lies-144650">Why hard-core Trump supporters ignore his lies</a>
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<p>The public watches in amazement as these leaders espouse terrible beliefs about immigrants, refugees and sexual minorities that only bigots used to say in private. </p>
<p>As we examine in our book <em><a href="https://ecwpress.com/products/has-populism-won">Has Populism Won? The War On Liberal Democracy</a></em>, these populist shock-and-awe tactics are a brazen attempt to personalize authority under the cliché of “power to the people.” They also cause citizens to lose sight of what’s important as they bicker over the newest scandal. </p>
<h2>Conspiracy theories, lies</h2>
<p>Polarization is not a side effect of populism, but rather its <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/10/01/how-to-understand-global-spread-of-political-polarization-pub-79893">mainspring</a>. </p>
<p>Populists know that in highly polarized societies, a photo finish is still a win. So candidates <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-hell-fight-like-hell-to-hold-on-to-presidency">fight like hell</a>, using every tool at their disposal to win — conspiracy theories, outright lies and of course, obscene amounts of money. </p>
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<p>Disenchanted voters support populists because conservatives have thrown off the shackles of modern <a href="https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2023/01/the-shill-of-the-people/">political messaging</a>. Extremism cuts through the noise of the news cycle and connects with the base. </p>
<p>Pierre Poilievre, Canada’s newly elected Conservative leader, is an example. He’s <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8959365/canada-day-convoy-james-topp-far-right-pierre-poilievre/">riding the wave of the so-called Freedom Convoy, anti-vaxxers and the far-right wing of his party</a> and following the template that has worked so well for populist governments across the globe. </p>
<p>But his free speech persona, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2019.1599570">like every other authoritarian</a>, is carefully constructed.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1623420038244929536"}"></div></p>
<p>Italy’s <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/italys-election-giorgia-meloni-far-right-favorite-for-prime-minister-appeals-to-disgruntled-voters/a-63184990">Giorgia Meloni</a> is an instructive example of this careful construction. </p>
<p>Voters were seduced by her charisma. That’s because the crucial element in creating a a popular far-right movement is constantly reminding citizens that they are the tribe of the true nation — and Meloni has mastered the discipline of a communications maestro. </p>
<p>Collective wrath is a proxy for belonging to the tribe and that feeling of belonging became the basis for her authoritarian fantasy of the popular will. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/giorgia-melonis-win-in-italy-proves-even-a-seemingly-successful-government-can-fall-victim-to-populism-191278">Giorgia Meloni's win in Italy proves even a seemingly successful government can fall victim to populism</a>
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<h2>Anger is a prime motivator</h2>
<p>Despite his defeat, voters turned out in large numbers to vote for <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/2020-election-numbers">Donald Trump in 2020</a> and barely rejected <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/30/brazil-election-lula-da-silva-narrowly-defeats-jair-bolsonaro">Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro in 2022</a>.</p>
<p>Do high-profile losses mean the worst is over? No, because the <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2020/03/11/populism-jeopardizes-democracies-around-world/">contempt for democracy at the heart of populism</a> has not yet been defeated. Today <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/2232411">populism is still growing</a>, metastasizing and reaching into every corner of modern politics. It is coming from many directions at once. </p>
<p>At first it was easy to write off populism’s appeal to ignorance. Now the key elements radicalizing voters are crystal-clear: <a href="https://www.piie.com/commentary/speeches-papers/backlash-against-globalization">anger against hyper-globalization, a reserve army of economic losers, ideological true believers</a>, charismatic leaders weaponizing the big lie and the ultimate prize, money and organization to win the commanding heights of political office.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-freedom-convoy-protesters-are-a-textbook-case-of-aggrieved-entitlement-176791">The 'freedom convoy' protesters are a textbook case of 'aggrieved entitlement'</a>
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<p>Social psychologists have shown that anger is a <a href="https://isr.umich.edu/news-events/insights-newsletter/article/anger-motivates-people-to-vote-u-m-study-shows/">prime motivator</a> in politics. In times of peril, the most vulnerable pin their hopes on the authoritarian leader with emotionally charged messaging and grandiose promises. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509015/original/file-20230208-17-egr76l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man with a white beard and glasses gestures as he speaks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509015/original/file-20230208-17-egr76l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509015/original/file-20230208-17-egr76l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509015/original/file-20230208-17-egr76l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509015/original/file-20230208-17-egr76l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509015/original/file-20230208-17-egr76l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509015/original/file-20230208-17-egr76l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509015/original/file-20230208-17-egr76l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&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">Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media in New Delhi in November 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Of course, the anger is a distraction from the true work of the populist — disinformation. In a post-truth age, the populist is a narcissist like India’s Narendra Modi, <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/04/modi-india-personality-cult-democracy/">who uses sly innuendo and outright chicanery to consolidate power</a>. </p>
<p>Many reasonable people in advanced democracies tolerate populist temper tantrums because <a href="https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.6565">anger and bullshit</a> are better than apathy, aren’t they? </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bullshit-is-everywhere-heres-how-to-deal-with-it-at-work-135661">Bullshit is everywhere. Here's how to deal with it at work</a>
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<p>Populist turmoil, however, can’t be measured in units of patriotism. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54484-7_64">Patriotism requires genuine care</a> for one’s country and all the people in it. </p>
<p>In the hands of masters of manipulation, anger coarsens discourse, diminishes the possibility of compromise and normalizes extreme rhetoric. Even so, anger in politics isn’t always a power move. </p>
<p>Outrage can motivate people to speak up and utter uncomfortable truths. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2021.2009578">Compassionate anger</a> can be a powerful force for justice, as we witnessed in the Black Lives Matter movement. How can we tell the difference between rage farming and righteous anger? It’s difficult but doable.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People carry a Black Lives Matter flag as they walk along a downtown street at night." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509042/original/file-20230208-30-ypgkhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509042/original/file-20230208-30-ypgkhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509042/original/file-20230208-30-ypgkhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509042/original/file-20230208-30-ypgkhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509042/original/file-20230208-30-ypgkhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509042/original/file-20230208-30-ypgkhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509042/original/file-20230208-30-ypgkhe.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 this Nov. 4, 2020, photo, protesters representing Black Lives Matter and Protect the Results march in Seattle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The cynicism of contempt</h2>
<p>The difference between political success and failure in such a polarized society is always a matter of voter turnout. </p>
<p>In the United States, the Republicans bet that dialling up the anger to an 11 would squeeze a few more votes from an exhausted electorate, but they didn’t deliver <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/us/politics/trump-republicans-2024-nikki-haley.html">a red tsunami — this time</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-u-s-voters-reduced-the-red-wave-to-a-pink-splash-in-the-midterm-elections-why-didnt-polls-predict-it-194507">Young U.S. voters reduced the 'Red Wave' to a 'Pink Splash' in the midterm elections — why didn't polls predict it?</a>
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<p>Is it fair to decry the normalization of strong emotions in politics as a conservative problem? Don’t both sides use intense feeling for political gain? They do. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00987-4">Emotional messaging is too potent a tool in modern democracy</a> to be ignored by any party that wants to win power. But today, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/may/26/negativity-bias-why-conservatives-are-more-swayed-by-threats-than-liberals">conservatives lean hard on strong negative emotions</a> and eschew hope — and their outrage <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/13/populism-post-truth-politics-brazil-protest-00077721">too often carries a distinct threat of vindictive violence.</a> </p>
<p>When analyzing affective political messaging, we always need to figure out if the anger we’re witnessing is calculated to prolong endless wars of polarization or whether it seeks to reconcile division and rebuild community. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Two black women press their heads together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509028/original/file-20230208-2415-oak7ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509028/original/file-20230208-2415-oak7ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509028/original/file-20230208-2415-oak7ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509028/original/file-20230208-2415-oak7ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509028/original/file-20230208-2415-oak7ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509028/original/file-20230208-2415-oak7ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509028/original/file-20230208-2415-oak7ni.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">
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<span class="caption">RowVaughn Wells, left, mother of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, is comforted by Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, D-Texas, on Capitol Hill on Feb. 7, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Cliff Owen)</span></span>
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<p>For example, Black mothers in Memphis are demanding the police stop killing <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/27/us/rowvaughn-wells-tyre-nichols-mother-interview/index.html">their sons</a>. Their demands are grounded in reality, and more than anything else they want a future of peace and safety for their children.</p>
<p>Today populism is defined by rhetorical violence and the authoritarian supposed strongmen. <a href="https://diamond-democracy.stanford.edu/speaking/speeches/when-does-populism-become-threat-democracy">Democracies die and civil wars start</a> with right-wing leaders who use their anger to degrade democracy and tighten their grip on power. </p>
<p>Make no mistake. We are far beyond the stop-gap measures of small-step reform or pragmatic centrist liberalism. What lies beyond the careful compromises of the post-Second World War order? We’re about to find out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199065/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>Populism has been unleashed. We’re beyond the stop-gap measures of small-step reform or pragmatic centrist liberalism. What’s next? We’re about to find out.Daniel Drache, Professor emeritus, Department of Politics, York University, CanadaMarc D. Froese, Professor of Political Science and Founding Director, International Studies Program, Burman UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1939082022-11-07T21:32:53Z2022-11-07T21:32:53ZWhat are ‘furries?’ Debunking myths about kids identifying as animals, and litter boxes in schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493678/original/file-20221106-15-3r3p8l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C25%2C1883%2C904&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Furries attending the annual Pittsburgh Anthrocon. Much harmful misinformation has been spread about furries in recent years. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Furscience)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/what-are--furries--debunking-myths-about-kids-identifying-as-animals--and-litter-boxes-in-schools" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>From <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63434895">abortion</a> to <a href="https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/">book bans</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-shouldnt-be-afraid-of-critical-race-theory-podcast-183973">critical race theory</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/u-s-anti-trans-laws-wont-save-womens-sports-185267">transgender rights</a>, much political rhetoric in the run-up to the mid-term elections in the United States has centered around “<a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/culture-war">culture war</a>” issues.</p>
<p>One of the most recent examples involves a relatively unknown community.</p>
<p>It feels like everyone has an opinion, or heard a rumour, about kids <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/urban-myth-litter-boxes-schools-became-gop-talking-point-rcna51439">dressing up as animals</a>, calling themselves furries and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-furries-school-idUSL1N2YN1O2">demanding litter boxes</a>. Harmful misinformation about furries is running rampant on social media and even being promoted to some school boards.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319483144_Say_it_ain't_so_Addressing_and_dispelling_misconceptions_about_furries">misunderstanding furries</a> was mainstream long before it became political. Prior to the litter box rumours, furries were seen as sexual deviants — an idea that was reinforced by popular media that emphasized the sensational over facts.</p>
<p>If your knowledge of furries comes mostly from television or social media, then what you’ve heard about furries is probably wrong. It’s not your fault — the misinformation is pervasive. I’m not a furry, and I once held erroneous views of furries, too. However, after years of research, information is now available to help correct the record.</p>
<p>I’m a co-founder of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, <a href="https://furscience.com">also known as Furscience</a>. We’re a small group of interdisciplinary professors who have studied furries and other <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343530033_A_furry_a_brony_and_an_anime_fan_walk_into_a_bar_A_psychology-based_interfandom_comparison">fan groups</a> for more than 15 years. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493902/original/file-20221107-23-nmnjlv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person wearing a furry costume that resembles a brown dog." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493902/original/file-20221107-23-nmnjlv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493902/original/file-20221107-23-nmnjlv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493902/original/file-20221107-23-nmnjlv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493902/original/file-20221107-23-nmnjlv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493902/original/file-20221107-23-nmnjlv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493902/original/file-20221107-23-nmnjlv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493902/original/file-20221107-23-nmnjlv.jpeg?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>
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<span class="caption">Fursonas can be a safe, functional way for furries to explore who they are as people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Furscience)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The basics: What’s a furry?</h2>
<p>Have you heard of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cosplay">cosplay</a>, where people costume as characters? They might dress up as a storm trooper or superhero and attend a comic book convention to have fun with friends. Furries do a similar thing, but with a twist. </p>
<p><a href="https://furscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fur-Science-Final-pdf-for-Website_2017_10_18.pdf">Furries</a> are people who have an interest in anthropomorphism, which specifically refers to giving human characteristics to animals. In its most distilled form, furries are a group of people who formed a community — <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fandom">or fandom</a> — because they have a common interest in anthropomorphic media, friendships and social inclusion. </p>
<h2>What’s a Fursona?</h2>
<p>About <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343530029_Psychology_and_fursonas_in_the_furry_fandom">95 per cent of furries</a> develop their own <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2019.1676245">unique avatar-like character</a> called a <em>fursona</em>. The product of <a href="https://furscience.com/research-findings/fursonas/3-4-fursona-origin/">deep reflection</a>, fursonas can represent <a href="https://furscience.com/research-findings/fursonas/3-12-fursona-as-ideal-self/">idealized versions of the self</a> that are imbued with positive characteristics, like being sociable, funny and less anxious. </p>
<p>Fursonas can be a safe, functional way for furries to explore who they are as people, including their gender identity and sexual orientation. Research also indicates that a fursona can help facilitate interactions with others and result in more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlv020">social confidence</a>.</p>
<h2>Fursuits</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493905/original/file-20221107-16-ft18fk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person wearing a furry costume." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493905/original/file-20221107-16-ft18fk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493905/original/file-20221107-16-ft18fk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493905/original/file-20221107-16-ft18fk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493905/original/file-20221107-16-ft18fk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493905/original/file-20221107-16-ft18fk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493905/original/file-20221107-16-ft18fk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493905/original/file-20221107-16-ft18fk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For many furries, the fandom is a way to build social connections with others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many people think that furries dress up as animals. Some believe they dress that way all the time. But that’s not quite right. </p>
<p>Furries don’t identify <em>as</em> animals; they identify <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319483229_Furries_therians_and_otherkin_oh_my_What_do_all_those_words_mean_anyway"><em>with</em> animals</a>. In the same way that cosplayers typically don’t believe they are actually Spiderman, furries don’t think they are their fursonas. </p>
<p>Having a fursona doesn’t mean that a furry owns a fursuit (a mascot-like outfit), and only <a href="https://furscience.com/research-findings/fandom-participation/2-8-fursuits/">15 to 25 per cent of furries</a> have them. While many furries have no interest in acquiring a fursuit at all, they can also be prohibitively expensive. Some fursuits are phenomenally engineered with fans, cooling packs and LED lights built into them. </p>
<p>Fursuits are usually worn on special occasions — a parade, meet-up or convention. Another 50 per cent of furries own furry paraphernalia — a furry T-shirt, ears, collar or tail — that communicates their furry interests to others. </p>
<p>Have you met sports fans who wear their team’s jersey at a special event, such as a game, or a music fan who wears their favourite band’s branded T-shirt? Most people wouldn’t wear this kind of fan paraphernalia to work or a job interview, and some wouldn’t wear it at all. That’s the case for furries, too. </p>
<h2>What about those litter boxes?</h2>
<p>Is it possible that somewhere <em>someone</em> has asked for a litter box? Anything is possible and I can’t disprove a negative. But are litter boxes an integral part of the furry fandom? We’ve never observed litter boxes at any of the dozens of furry conventions we’ve attended internationally. </p>
<p>I have seen <a href="https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/furry-friends-pittsburgh-restaurants-welcome-anthrocon-furries-with-specials-signs-and-long-straws/Content?oid=9244633">dog bowls and giant straws</a> used to feed furries at a restaurant, but this was an inside joke between a small local business and <a href="https://www.anthrocon.org">Anthrocon</a> — an annual furry convention held in Pittsburgh which brings <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/furries-are-back-anthrocon-kicks-off-downtown-pittsburgh/AX652WAFWBFUPOHPK2EH3W5LRY/">millions of dollars</a> to the local economy and raises thousands of dollars for animal-related charities.</p>
<p>Many of the litter box rumours also fixate on cats. However, most furries’ fursonas are <a href="https://furscience.com/research-findings/fursonas/3-1-species-popularity/">wild and mythical animals</a>, such as foxes, wolves and unicorns or hybrid species, such as a kangaroo-dragon. These are not the kinds of species that would use litter boxes, anyway.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493906/original/file-20221107-23-mm8jj7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people in furrey costumes take a photo together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493906/original/file-20221107-23-mm8jj7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493906/original/file-20221107-23-mm8jj7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493906/original/file-20221107-23-mm8jj7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493906/original/file-20221107-23-mm8jj7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493906/original/file-20221107-23-mm8jj7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493906/original/file-20221107-23-mm8jj7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493906/original/file-20221107-23-mm8jj7.jpeg?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 inclusive nature of the furry fandom means that, for many furries, it’s a safe place where they can be their most authentic selves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Do furries have sex?</h2>
<p>Yes. People have sex and furries are people.</p>
<h2>Do they do it in their fursuits?</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2068180">For the most part, they do not</a>. Remember, fursuits are prohibitively expensive, custom made, hard to clean, hot and bulky. It would be like trying to have sex wearing a winter coat inside a spacesuit. </p>
<p>As my colleague, Courtney Plante, says: “For most folks, dehydration, lack of feeling or seeing anything, overheating and clumsiness are not conducive to sexual arousal. For most people — furries included — these aren’t exactly conditions that put them in the mood.”</p>
<h2>Do furries go to conventions for sex?</h2>
<p>Well, all kinds of people go to conferences; sometimes they have sex there. It’s the same for furries. Humans can find intimate connections when they gather, but it’s not usually the reason they engaged in the activity. </p>
<p>While sex can certainly be a part of the furry fandom, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2068180">the majority of furries are motivated by reasons of social belonging, not sexual motivations</a>. In other words, if you removed all the sexual content, there would still be a furry fandom.</p>
<h2>Is furry an orientation?</h2>
<p>It’s not. It’s a fandom. However, it’s worth noting there are many marginalized statuses within the furry community. Depending on the study, we find more than <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279850253_By_the_numbers_Comparing_furries_and_related_fandoms">70 per cent</a> of furries identify as LGBTQ+ and more than 25 per cent are <a href="https://furscience.com/research-findings/demographics/1-3-sex-and-gender/">gender-identity</a> diverse. </p>
<p><a href="https://furscience.com/research-findings/disclosure-stigma-bullying/10-3-bullying/">Furries are bullied</a> at almost twice the rates of non-furries, and our forthcoming research indicates that four to 15 per cent are on the autism spectrum.</p>
<p>Despite these risk factors and some who <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlv020">fear ostracism</a> for their interests, furries’ well-being, self-esteem, <a href="https://furscience.com/research-findings/wellness-dysfunction/11-1-wellness/">life satisfaction</a>, relationship quality and happiness are the same as <a href="https://furscience.com/research-findings/wellness-dysfunction/11-2-psychological-conditions/">non-furries</a>. </p>
<h2>The bottom line</h2>
<p>Furries are a fandom, like anime, Star Trek or football. They enjoy bonding with like-minded others over things they have in common. </p>
<p>The fandom provides a social network for its members, and furries can benefit tremendously from these friendships. The inclusive nature of the furry fandom means that, for many furries, it’s a safe place where they can be their most authentic selves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193908/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon E. Roberts receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is a co-founder of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project/Furscience.
</span></em></p>Contrary to the misinformation about them, furries are similar to other groups that use fandom as a way of building community.Sharon E. Roberts, Associate professor, Social Development Studies, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1895082022-08-30T15:06:03Z2022-08-30T15:06:03ZGlasgow’s relaunched Burrell Collection may be unique and much-loved, but how does it fit into the cultural landscape today?<p>After closing for extensive renovations in 2016, the <a href="https://burrellcollection.com/">Burrell museum</a>, home to one of the greatest personal art collections ever bequeathed to the public, reopened in March 2022. Now, as its first major exhibition opens, it’s hard to avoid the fact that in those six years the political and cultural landscape in Britain has radically changed.</p>
<p>There is much greater focus on issues of provenance, gender and ethnicity, especially in the context of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-africa-to-peckham-how-we-decolonise-culture-by-rehumanising-people-126860">decolonising public spaces</a> – which is basically about ridding these places of the inherent racism that is a direct result of Britain’s imperial endeavours.</p>
<p>The new exhibition looks in detail at the lives of its benefactors, <a href="https://burrellcollection.com/the-collection-the-gift-to-glasgow-and-the-charity-that-cares-for-it/">Sir William and Lady Constance Burrell</a>, through the curation of more than 100 pieces taken from their collection. The Burrells’ Legacy: A Great Gift to Glasgow (which runs till April 16 2023), contains rarely seen works of art including two entirely new additions, a beautifully rendered painting called The Mallard Rising (see main image above) by Joseph Crawhall, and an exquisite bronze sculpture called l'Implorante by little-known French sculptor Camille Claudel (see final image below). </p>
<p>Burrell, the Glasgow-born shipping magnate was one of the UK’s most prolific philanthropists who gifted his collection of 6,000 works of art to his home city in 1944. He continued to develop his collection, aiming for it to be more globally representative, and amassed a total of 9,000 works spanning three continents and 6,000 years, before his death in 1958. </p>
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<h2>Art and empire</h2>
<p>His business success was founded at a time when Victorian Glasgow was the workshop of the world and the second city of the British empire. Burrell was one of a class of industrial elites who used their wealth to increase their social prominence by amassing extraordinary collections of art and antiquities.</p>
<p>So how does this much-loved and unique collection sit within the cultural landscape today? Set against a backdrop of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, historical monuments and collections are facing public scrutiny like never before. Collections are critiqued around their works’ provenance, history and how their acquisition were funded.</p>
<p>It is down to the integrity of Burrell and his knowledge of the world of art and antiquities at that time that there are so few provenance issues associated with his vast collection, although there have been several recent notable exceptions around <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2vu_p4Ty30">artworks appropriated by the Nazis</a>. </p>
<p>But in Glasgow, people are less concerned about issues pertaining to the Burrell Collection’s imperial context than they are about the cost of upgrading it at a time of <a href="https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/20028907.glasgows-burrell-collection-reopening-targeted-protesters/">closures and failings</a> in the upkeep on commuity facilities across the city.</p>
<p>Still, this doesn’t avoid the fact that the collection was gathered at the height of the British empire, whose social norms and politics of exploitation sit uneasily with the drive to present alternative cultural perspectives today – meaning the voices of the people and cultures where the art originated. </p>
<p>A supporter of living artists, Burrell was guided by prominent art dealers and academics in developing his knowledge around art and history. He was a Scottish Presbyterian with a deep sense of public service, a trustee of several national institutions and was involved in local politics. </p>
<p>He regularly loaned his artworks to different galleries around the country, wishing to share his developing art collection with others. His artworks were particularly prominent at the <a href="https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/history/remembering-glasgow-international-exhibition-1901-23844710">Glasgow International Exhibition</a> of 1901.</p>
<p>His collection offered those who wished to improve their lives through the appreciation of beauty and craft an opportunity to share in his legacy. Today, many regard the quality of the Burrell Collection as unsurpassed, rivalling major international art museums.</p>
<h2>Cultural legacy</h2>
<p>This new exhibition provides an insight into the life of the Burrells and their collections of beautiful objects and works of art. These include artefacts of ancient Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome, Ming Dynasty vases, 19th-century romantic French paintings and delicate Japanese woodcut prints. There is high renaissance stained-glass set against medieval armour, Persian tapestries contrasting delicate lace, and rare pieces of furniture.</p>
<p>The two new acquisitions are stunning: Mallard Rising is a painting by <a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/joseph-crawhall">Joseph Crawhall</a>, who was one of the leading <a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/glasgow-boys">Glasgow Boys</a> – an influential group of artists who rebelled against stuffy cultural Victorian norms; and the small bronze statue is by <a href="https://www.theartstory.org/artist/claudel-camille/">Camille Claudel</a>, best known as Auguste Rodin’s lover and assistant, but a gifted – if largely unrecognised – sculptor in her own right. </p>
<p>Highlights are the exquisite and intact gilded mummy casing of an Ibis from ancient Egypt; the Chinese Ming Wanli period porcelain jar with five-clawed dragons; Théodore Géricault’s radiant painting The Prancing Grey Horse; the burse for the great Seal of England – a stunning ceremonial bag, embroidered in silk with silver and gilt threads; and finally an old favourite, the dynamic Japanese woodcut print of Shoki the Demon Queller, king of the ghosts.</p>
<p>Ultimately the pieces in this exhibition reflect the preferences, tastes and perspectives of William Burrell and the bias of his era is inherent within this formerly private collection. The broader collection from which these pieces have been chosen holds predominately white, male, Eurocentric, colonial perspectives at its core.</p>
<p>Female works are sparse and mainly comprise lace and embroidery. The exhibition avoids looking at the artworks through any gendered lens and exclusively reflects the taste of Burrell and his wife. The acquisition of the Claudel sculpture by the trust is a gesture towards more inclusivity, but it stands out as an exception rather than the rule.</p>
<p>What does an exhibition like this say about how culture is created? Those in powerful positions shape and influence the nature of art through their purchases and their specific choices around support of the arts. They reinforce their status through being seen as arbiters of good taste and elevate what they think should be valued as art. Art and culture is given to Glaswegians to look at and admire, where perhaps more time could be spent on people making their own culture and art in their own communities.</p>
<p>Even though this collection is of huge historical importance in its own right, it does not give the audience any socio-historical context or try to create a relationship with more modern contemporary types of art. It looks backwards to a time of empire with no attempt to bridge the gap between the world then and the world now. Perhaps the Burrell’s curators will come to consider these broader, modernising themes alongside managing and maintaining such a mammoth collection.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189508/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blane Savage 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>Gathered throughout the period of the British empire and gifted to the people of Glasgow, this famous collection is both spectacular and problematical.Blane Savage, Lecturer in Creative Media Practice and New Media Art, University of the West of ScotlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1870212022-07-26T20:05:15Z2022-07-26T20:05:15ZWhy is Peter Dutton trying to start another political fight over the school curriculum?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474853/original/file-20220719-26-86lje8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C49%2C5416%2C3558&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a move that surprised political watchers, Liberal leader Peter Dutton <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/schools-reform-a-peter-dutton-priority/news-story/5517de8583dd0e88ee428abe950442a2">says</a> the school curriculum and education reform will be some of his key priorities in opposition. </p>
<p>Despite the Morrison government signing off on the latest version of the curriculum just before the election, Dutton argues a “broader discussion” is needed. </p>
<p>As he told <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/schools-reform-a-peter-dutton-priority/news-story/5517de8583dd0e88ee428abe950442a2">The Australian</a> earlier this month, “there is a lot of non-core curriculum that is being driven by unions and by other activists that parents are concerned about”.</p>
<p>NSW Liberal senator Hollie Hughes has also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/26/education-system-run-by-marxists-jason-clare-takes-aim-at-liberal-senator-over-comments-on-teachers">blamed</a> her party’s election loss on “Marxist” teachers filling students’ heads with “left-wing rubbish”. </p>
<p>This may seem like an strange issue to prioritise after an election loss, with issues like climate change and cost-of-living front of mind for many voters. But there is a long tradition of “curriculum wars” in Australia, going back decades.</p>
<p>Parents concerned about this debate and what their kids may be “picking up” in the classroom should also understand this history.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541612689109438464"}"></div></p>
<h2>Curriculum and the conservative culture wars</h2>
<p>Dutton’s attempt to reignite the culture wars harks back to former Prime Minister John Howard, who <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/howard-claims-victory-in-national-culture-wars-20060126-ge1n0k.html">railed against</a> a “black armband” view of history, “political correctness” and the “divisive, phoney debate about national identity”. Howard <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/education/keeping-a-date-with-history-20060814-ge2ws7.html">argued</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The time has also come for root and branch renewal of the teaching of Australian history in our schools […] it has succumbed to a postmodern culture of relativism where any objective record of achievement is questioned or repudiated.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Following suit, as opposition leader in 2013, Tony Abbott claimed the national curriculum had become <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/election-2013/history-syllabus-needs-a-rethink-says-abbott/news-story/628f52463e23cd3b20df7cc0714fe86a">politicised</a> by left-wing teachers with history underselling the contributions and heritage of Western civilisation. He said there was a</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Lack of references to our heritage, other than an Indigenous heritage, too great a focus on issues which are the predominant concern of one side of politics.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Once in government, Abbott ordered a review of the national curriculum in 2014, claiming that schools needed to go “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/pm-calls-for-schools-to-go-back-to-basics-20141012-3hu4x.html">back to the basics</a>”.</p>
<p>Abbott’s handpicked <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/australian-curriculum/resources/review-australian-curriculum-final-report-2014">reviewers</a> argued for greater emphasis on Western literature and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-29/donnelly-the-bible-deserves-a-place-in-the-national-curriculum/3750156">Judeo-Christian heritage</a>. The revised curriculum <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/about-the-australian-curriculum/">(version 8.0)</a> was released in 2015 and has been in place until recently. </p>
<h2>The American connection</h2>
<p>Australia’s curriculum wars can also be <a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/06/02/peter-dutton-education-culture-wars/">linked</a> to education debates in the United States.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/critical-race-theory-what-it-is-and-what-it-isnt-162752">critical race theory</a> has become a key battleground for conservative culture wars against public schooling, teacher autonomy and curriculum. These debates are designed to create moral panic for parents, who worry that they send their kids to school to learn the facts, but are instead indoctrinated by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822">cultural Marxists</a> dressed as teachers.</p>
<p>The rise of <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/homeschooling-skyrocketed-during-pandemic-what-does-future-hold-online-neighborhood-pods-cooperatives/">homeschooling</a> and school choice in <a href="https://theconversation.com/school-choice-policies-are-associated-with-increased-separation-of-students-by-social-class-149902">Australia</a> and the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/how-school-choice-became-an-explosive-issue/251897/">US</a> are driven in large part by concerns about curriculum.</p>
<h2>Who gets to choose the curriculum in Australia?</h2>
<p>It is important for parents to know that the curriculum – what gets taught in our schools – is not developed by unions nor activists.</p>
<p>While teachers have a say in how their lessons are taught, the curriculum is developed and monitored by state and territory education authorities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-senate-has-voted-to-reject-critical-race-theory-from-the-national-curriculum-what-is-it-and-why-does-it-matter-163102">The Senate has voted to reject critical race theory from the national curriculum. What is it, and why does it matter?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Following their 2007 election, Labor promised an “<a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/gillard/education-revolution-our-schools">education revolution</a>”. This was the start of greater involvement by the federal government in curriculum development and assessment.</p>
<p>The newly created Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority released the first version of the Australian curriculum in 2010. This is the body that is also responsible for implementing the MySchool website and the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests.</p>
<p>Government schools are required to follow state and territory mandated curriculum guidelines, while Catholic, independent and other non-government schools have more <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/implementation-of-the-australian-curriculum/">curriculum flexibility</a>. This includes offering alternative curriculum options such as Steiner, Montessori or International Baccalaureate programs.</p>
<h2>The latest curriculum</h2>
<p>The latest review of the curriculum (version 9.0) was undertaken with the aim to “<a href="https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/curriculum/ac-review_terms-of-reference_website.pdf">refine, realign and declutter</a>” the curriculum content within its existing structure.</p>
<p>There was an extensive <a href="https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/media-releases/endorsement-ac-media-release-2022.pdf">consultation period</a> during 2020–2021, with more than 6,000 surveys, 900 emails and 360 teachers and curriculum specialists involved in the review.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Liberal leader Peter Dutton speaking to former Prime Minister John Howard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475329/original/file-20220721-13-j99nee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475329/original/file-20220721-13-j99nee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475329/original/file-20220721-13-j99nee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475329/original/file-20220721-13-j99nee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475329/original/file-20220721-13-j99nee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475329/original/file-20220721-13-j99nee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475329/original/file-20220721-13-j99nee.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">Former Prime Minister John Howard pictured with new Liberal leader Peter Dutton at a June 2022 book launch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even so, acting education minister Stuart Robert wrote to the chair of the Australian curriculum authority in February <a href="https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/07/09/pushing-bullshit-leaked-docs-reveal-duttons-education-farce">requesting extra changes</a> to portray a “more balanced view of Australian history”. He specifically wanted to ensure</p>
<blockquote>
<p>that key aspects of Australian history, namely 1750–1914 and Australia’s post World War II migrant history, are appropriately prioritised.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Following this, 55% of <a href="https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/07/09/pushing-bullshit-leaked-docs-reveal-duttons-education-farce">history curriculum content</a> between Years 7 and 10 was removed.</p>
<p><a href="https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/">Version 9.0</a> of the Australian Curriculum was then endorsed by federal and state education ministers in April, shortly before the federal election was called.</p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>New education minister Jason Clare has been quick to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/not-interested-in-picking-fights-new-education-minister-says-curriculum-wars-have-been-settled-20220603-p5aqtb.html">dismiss</a> Dutton’s attempts to fire up the curriculum wars, telling The Sydney Morning Herald, “I’m not interested in picking fights”.</p>
<p>So, as the updated curriculum begins to roll out across Australian schools from 2023, it will be interesting to see how much momentum Dutton generates.</p>
<p>Granted, a proposed move to <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/robert/education-ministers-agree-new-australian-curriculum">continuous curriculum updates</a> instead of every five or six years will potentially make it easier to politically interfere with the curriculum.</p>
<p>But it is important to remember that education authorities determine the curriculum – not unions, not activists and ideally not the minister of the day.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-only-one-front-in-the-history-curriculum-wars-30888">Australia is only one front in the history curriculum wars</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187021/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Riddle has received funding from the Australian Research Council (LP210100098 Constructing a Rich Curriculum for All: ‘Insights into Practice’). </span></em></p>The new Liberal leader says education is a top priority and ‘activists’ are driving ‘non-core’ subjects in schools.Stewart Riddle, Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1869832022-07-20T12:22:02Z2022-07-20T12:22:02ZWhat the Bible actually says about abortion may surprise you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474399/original/file-20220716-16-ksf3wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C6%2C996%2C683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Activist Jason Hershey reads from a Bible as he protests in front of the U.S. Supreme Court with the anti-abortion group Bound for Life in 2005 in Washington, D.C.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pro-life-activist-jason-hershey-reads-from-a-bible-as-he-news-photo/56303642?adppopup=true">Win McNamee via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the days since the Supreme Court <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-revolutionary-ruling-and-not-just-for-abortion-a-supreme-court-scholar-explains-the-impact-of-dobbs-185823">overturned Roe v. Wade</a>, which had established the constitutional right to an abortion, some <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article262921023.html">Christians have cited the Bible</a> to argue why this decision should either be celebrated or lamented. But here’s the problem: This 2,000-year-old text says nothing about abortion.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.fresno.edu/person/001g000001wnx9yiac/melanie-howard">a university professor of biblical studies</a>, I am familiar with faith-based arguments Christians use to back up views of abortion, whether for or against. Many people seem to assume the Bible discusses the topic head-on, which is not the case. </p>
<h2>Ancient context</h2>
<p>Abortions were <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674168763">known and practiced</a> in biblical times, although the methods differed significantly from modern ones. The second-century <a href="https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/n870zr06z">Greek physician Soranus</a>, for example, recommended fasting, bloodletting, vigorous jumping and carrying heavy loads as ways to end a pregnancy. </p>
<p>Soranus’ <a href="https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/n870zr06z">treatise on gynecology</a> acknowledged different schools of thought on the topic. Some medical practitioners forbade the use of any abortive methods. Others permitted them, but not in cases in which they were intended to cover up an adulterous liaison or simply to preserve the mother’s good looks. </p>
<p>In other words, the Bible was written in a world in which abortion was practiced and viewed with nuance. Yet the Hebrew and Greek equivalents of the word “abortion” do not appear in either the Old or New Testament of the Bible. That is, the topic simply is not directly mentioned. </p>
<h2>What the Bible says</h2>
<p>The absence of an explicit reference to abortion, however, has not stopped its opponents or proponents from looking to the Bible for support of their positions.</p>
<p>Abortion opponents turn to several biblical texts that, taken together, seem to suggest that human life has value before birth. For example, the Bible opens by describing the creation of humans “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen+1%3A27&version=NRSVUE">in the image of God</a>”: a way to explain the value of human life, presumably even before people are born. Likewise, the Bible describes several important figures, including the prophets <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jeremiah+1%3A5&version=NRSVUE">Jeremiah</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isa+49%3A1&version=NRSVUE">Isaiah</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gal+1%3A15&version=NRSVUE">the Christian Apostle Paul</a>, as having being called to their sacred tasks since their time in the womb. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+139&version=NRSVUE">Psalm 139</a> asserts that God “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+139%3A13-15&version=NRSVUE">knit me together in my mother’s womb</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A painting shows God's hand reaching out to touch Adam, the first human in the Bible's story of creation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474400/original/file-20220716-16-uee3tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474400/original/file-20220716-16-uee3tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474400/original/file-20220716-16-uee3tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474400/original/file-20220716-16-uee3tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474400/original/file-20220716-16-uee3tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474400/original/file-20220716-16-uee3tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474400/original/file-20220716-16-uee3tw.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Creation of Adam’ from the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-creation-of-adam-from-the-sistine-chapel-ceiling-by-news-photo/566419839?adppopup=true">GraphicaArtis/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, abortion opponents are not the only ones who can appeal to the Bible for support. Supporters can point to other biblical texts that would seem to count as evidence in their favor. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exod+21%3A22-25&version=NRSVUE">Exodus 21</a>, for example, suggests that a pregnant woman’s life is more valuable than the fetus’s. This text describes a scenario in which men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and cause her to miscarry. A monetary fine is imposed if the woman suffers no other harm beyond the miscarriage. However, if the woman suffers additional harm, the perpetrator’s punishment is to suffer reciprocal harm, up to life for life.</p>
<p>There are other biblical texts that seem to celebrate the choices that women make for their bodies, even in contexts in which such choices would have been socially shunned. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mk+5%3A25-34&version=NRSVUE">The fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark</a>, for example, describes a woman with a gynecological ailment that has made her bleed continuously taking a great risk: She reaches out to touch Jesus’ cloak in hopes that it will heal her, even though the touch of a menstruating woman was believed to cause ritual contamination. However, Jesus commends her choice and praises her faith. </p>
<p>Similarly, in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ follower Mary <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+12%3A1-8&version=NRSVUE">seemingly wastes resources</a> by pouring an entire container of costly ointment on his feet and using her own hair to wipe them – but he defends her decision to break the social taboo around touching an unrelated man so intimately.</p>
<h2>Beyond the Bible</h2>
<p>In the response to the Supreme Court’s decision, Christians <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/25/us/abortion-christian-debate-blake-cec/index.html">on both sides of the partisan divide</a> have appealed to any number of texts <a href="https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/tony-evans-urges-christians-to-promote-a-womb-to-the-tomb-strategy-for-pregnant-women.html">to assert that their particular brand of politics is biblically backed</a>. However, if they claim the Bible specifically condemns or approves of abortion, they are skewing the textual evidence to fit their position.</p>
<p>Of course, Christians can develop their own faith-based arguments about modern political issues, whether or not the Bible speaks directly to them. But it is important to recognize that although the Bible was written at a time when abortion was practiced, it never directly addresses the issue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie A. Howard 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>Faith can inform opinions about abortion on both sides of the political debate, but the Bible itself says nothing directly about the topic, a biblical scholar explains.Melanie A. Howard, Associate Professor of Biblical & Theological Studies, Fresno Pacific UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1844692022-07-12T20:03:39Z2022-07-12T20:03:39Z5 years on, would an outspoken Australian-Muslim activist ‘get Yassmined?’ Abdel-Magied herself hopes change is happening<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472735/original/file-20220706-25-9dmrfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C101%2C2233%2C2087&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin Random House Australia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Does Australia still have a <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/fethi-mansouri-301767/dashboard">racism problem</a>? Or does it simply suffer from a <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-extent-of-racism-in-australian-workplaces-has-been-laid-bare-how-can-it-be-eradicated/b49eiw85m">diversity and inclusion problem at the level of governance and political representation</a>? Answering these questions is rarely straightforward and always depends on the personal experiences and ethno-religious backgrounds of those asking. </p>
<p>The new Albanese government has delivered the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-pm-albanese-appoints-record-number-women-diverse-cabinet-2022-06-01/">most diverse cabinet in Australian history</a>: from the appointment of Linda Burney, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2022/06/01/linda-burney-sworn-minister-indigenous-australians">the first First Nations woman to be Indigenous Affairs minister</a>, to the elevation of Muslims Ed Husic and Anne Aly as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-02/first-muslim-federal-ministers-anne-aly-ed-husic/101117106">ministers</a>, to the election of Fatima Payman as Australia’s first <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/21/i-want-to-normalise-hijab-wearing-was-newest-labor-senator-on-making-history">hijab-wearing senator</a>.</p>
<p>Diversity and inclusion, at least in political representation, seem to be much improved.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472714/original/file-20220706-27-75hsrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472714/original/file-20220706-27-75hsrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472714/original/file-20220706-27-75hsrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472714/original/file-20220706-27-75hsrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472714/original/file-20220706-27-75hsrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472714/original/file-20220706-27-75hsrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472714/original/file-20220706-27-75hsrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472714/original/file-20220706-27-75hsrr.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">Fatima Payman pictured in Perth in May.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Wainwright/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet while many <a href="https://scanloninstitute.org.au/mapping-social-cohesion-2021/">national surveys</a> show strong support for diversity and multiculturalism, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-2137-6">racism in Australia endures</a>. Often, it is most keenly felt by people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who dare disrupt dominant narratives about belonging and national identity. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Talking About a Revolution - Yassmin Abdel-Magied (Penguin Random House)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Despite the nation’s increasing ethno-religious diversity, (as shown by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-28/census-2021-data-shows-a-changed-australia/101177152">the 2021 census data</a>), such narratives still reflect a particularly narrow interpretation of the history of settler colonialism. The deep <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/religion/one-photo-brings-australia-history-of-colonial-violence-into-fo/12363912">dispossession and violence inflicted upon First Nations communities</a> and the state’s failure to remedy these injustices is often glossed over. </p>
<p>In addition, Australia’s participation in global wars, from the two world wars to the more recent ones in Iraq, Afghanistan and the so-called “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/john-howard-defends-the-war-on-terror-says-australia-owed-a-debt-to-the-us/news-story/682dba4302ddf2caec535f8db57a536d">global War on Terror</a>”, continues to invite contested positions. </p>
<p>It is no surprise, then, that polarisation around Australia’s history of race relations, colonial settlement, international alliances and contemporary migration continues. Indeed, any criticism of or dissent from dominant narratives is often dismissed as part of the ongoing “culture wars”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-is-still-an-everyday-experience-for-non-white-australians-where-is-the-plan-to-stop-this-179769">Racism is still an everyday experience for non-white Australians. Where is the plan to stop this?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A new generation</h2>
<p>A flamboyant and outspoken Australian-Muslim social advocate, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, is at the forefront of a new generation of activists challenging entrenched structures of power and privilege. Her recent collection of essays, <a href="https://www.readings.com.au/products/34997033/talking-about-a-revolution">Talking about a Revolution</a>, reflects on her life and political activism.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472713/original/file-20220706-17-me3rew.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472713/original/file-20220706-17-me3rew.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472713/original/file-20220706-17-me3rew.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472713/original/file-20220706-17-me3rew.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472713/original/file-20220706-17-me3rew.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472713/original/file-20220706-17-me3rew.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472713/original/file-20220706-17-me3rew.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472713/original/file-20220706-17-me3rew.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&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>
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<p>Abdel-Magied refuses to accept the role of the subordinate, female, Muslim migrant passively resigned to her supposed second-class citizen status. Instead, she speaks out. She fights. She writes. She rebels. She revolts. </p>
<p>Hers is a powerful voice that has often divided opinions, yet it is a voice that cannot be ignored even when speaking from her self-imposed “exile” in London. </p>
<p>Abdel-Magied left Australia in 2017 following <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-40712832">the outcry</a> against her seven-word ANZAC day post “LEST.WE.FORGET. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine…)” on her personal Facebook page. Perhaps ironically, her book explores the power of language, particularly through a brief reference to the philosophical work of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein">Ludwig Wittgenstein</a>.</p>
<p>In doing so, she reflects on the ways in which particular words and phrases reveal, and often reinforce, power relations, becoming synonyms for socially constructed “truths”.</p>
<p>In Australia, taking the phrase “Lest we forget” in vain is a cardinal sin. Typically used to commemorate military service personnel, using it in the context of refugees languishing in <a href="https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/operation-sovereign-borders-offshore-detention-statistics/2/">offshore detention centres</a> or to express solidarity with victims of the ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories drew an avalanche of public criticism on social media and in political circles.</p>
<p>Despite her unreserved apology, Abdel-Magied, who only a few years earlier had been named Young Queenslander of the Year, was hounded mercilessly by many on the right, particularly from within the Murdoch-owned Newscorp media, and ultimately driven out of the country.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472718/original/file-20220706-22-gcsog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472718/original/file-20220706-22-gcsog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472718/original/file-20220706-22-gcsog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472718/original/file-20220706-22-gcsog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472718/original/file-20220706-22-gcsog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472718/original/file-20220706-22-gcsog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472718/original/file-20220706-22-gcsog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472718/original/file-20220706-22-gcsog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queenslander of the Year Dimity Dornan and Young Queenslander of the Year Yassmin Abdel-Magied holding their awards in June 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sequel Communications/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>On self, society and systems of power</h2>
<p>Her somewhat eclectic collection of essays includes previously published papers and newly penned ones. The book is organised around two major themes, “The Private and Public Self” and “Systems and Society”. Its unifying thread is Abdel-Magied’s unflinching take on enduring fissures around race, gender, belonging and identity.</p>
<p>These two themes reflect her own journey growing up as a young woman of colour in contemporary Australia. Now 31, she was born in Khartoum (Sudan). At the age of 18 months, she moved to Australia with her family following the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/01/world/military-coup-in-sudan-ousts-civilian-regime.html">1989 Islamist coup d'état</a>. The daughter of Midhat Abdel-Magied, who has a PhD in engineering from the United Kingdom, she grew up in Brisbane and would herself graduate to become a mechanical engineer. </p>
<p>It is not surprising, therefore, that she is uniquely placed to tell a story of fighting to disrupt stubbornly static social and political norms.</p>
<p>I was first made aware of this articulate young Muslim Australian activist at an international UNESCO-hosted conference on diversity and intercultural dialogue. As the founding director of the organisation <a href="https://www.ywb.com.au/">Youth without Borders</a>, Abdel-Magied was passionate about empowering young people and mobilising their full potential. She immediately struck me as a powerful advocate unafraid to speak her mind on the international stage. </p>
<p>Synthesising a collection written over a long period of time and covering a range of topics is naturally a challenging task. But Abdel-Magied makes optimal use of her usual openness, trademark optimism and critical lens.</p>
<p>She does, in the end, manage to convey a coherent argument around the importance of both personal and collective struggles for social justice. Her reflections on activism, belonging, diversity and social transformations provide an authentic exposé of the lived experience of a racialised female, Muslim activist. </p>
<p>As she reminds us in the book, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Eurocentric understandings of race come not from biology, but from the desire for power. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indeed, race relations have historically been about power, control and exploitation. Imperial projects use socially constructed racial hierarchies to justify their acts of oppression and subjugation. </p>
<p>Abdel-Magied discovered, to her own cost, that challenging contemporary structures of power will inevitably lead to an oppressive counter-reaction.</p>
<p>Thus the book’s second major theme becomes fertile terrain for examining key institutional frameworks of power, such as citizenship, and the ways it can be experienced by different individuals and groups. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472726/original/file-20220706-23-n8ux2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472726/original/file-20220706-23-n8ux2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472726/original/file-20220706-23-n8ux2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472726/original/file-20220706-23-n8ux2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472726/original/file-20220706-23-n8ux2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472726/original/file-20220706-23-n8ux2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472726/original/file-20220706-23-n8ux2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472726/original/file-20220706-23-n8ux2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Journalist Virginia Haussegger (left), Senator Michaelia Cash (second left), Executive Director at the Australian National Committee for UN Women Julie McKay (third left), founder of Youth Without Borders Yassmin Abdel-Magied (third right), Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency Helen Conway (second right) and then Opposition leader Bill Shorten (right) at the National Press Club in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian National Committee for UN Woman/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Citizenship is a concept that can engender a form of membership and belonging in a political community. But it is also, paradoxically, invoked to sanction, discipline and exclude. </p>
<p>Perhaps this inherent contradiction played out in Abdel-Magied’s case more than others. Although she grew up in Australia as a citizen who was a model of success, she was quickly ostracised by institutions and politicians alike. </p>
<p>When the ABC dropped Abdel-Magied’s program Australia Wide, the then immigration minister Peter Dutton reportedly said “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/one-down-many-to-go-peter-dutton-calls-for-abc-purge-after-abdelmagied-axing-20170525-gwcp78.html">one down, many to go</a>”. She was <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/yassmin-abdelmagied-the-latest-woman-to-be-roasted-on-the-spit-of-public-life-20170714-gxb6qh.html">attacked by government MPs</a> with LNP backbencher George Christensen saying she should consider “self-deportation”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/abdel-magied-anzac-row-is-a-storm-over-not-much-76708">Abdel-Magied Anzac row is a storm over not much</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Meaningful change</h2>
<p>In what ways can enduring injustices and discrimination be resisted to bring about genuine, meaningful and transformative social change? </p>
<p>In exploring this question in her book, Abdel-Magied reflects on current emancipatory global movements such as #Black_Lives_Matter and the #MeToo campaign, and recent political movements across the Middle East and North African region.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472734/original/file-20220706-25-nmvc3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472734/original/file-20220706-25-nmvc3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472734/original/file-20220706-25-nmvc3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472734/original/file-20220706-25-nmvc3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472734/original/file-20220706-25-nmvc3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472734/original/file-20220706-25-nmvc3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472734/original/file-20220706-25-nmvc3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472734/original/file-20220706-25-nmvc3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yassmin Abdel-Magied: hopeful.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin Random House Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She remains hopeful that change is happening, stridently believing in the power of words, of resisting oppression. She hopes her essays will inspire readers to “continue believing a better way is possible”. </p>
<p>In a super–diverse, hyper-connected world, citizens no longer passively accept the enduring injustices of settler colonialism or cultural oppression.</p>
<p>Still, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676261.2020.1766667">Australian Muslim youth</a> have a tough time negotiating their individualised, fluid identities alongside their ethno-religious communities and their broader sense of national belonging. Certainly, that collective, racialised depiction of all Muslims as somehow always <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5835166203596ef406c87231/t/5ed43cdbdf699b54f8cac83a/1590967532636/Beyond+mis+recognition+Muslim+youth+and+religiosity+in+Australia_Lam_Mansouri_JYS2020.pdf">potentially “suspect” subjects, needs to be critically deconstructed</a>, allowing for personal agency, capacity for self-empowerment, and the potential to engineer social change. </p>
<p>Has racism in Australia become more or less salient since Abdel-Magied left the country five years ago? In terms of diversity and representation, I’d like to think we are moving in the right direction, especially in the wake of the recent federal election and the recently released ABS census reports. </p>
<p>And though racism is not going to disappear from the Australian landscape any time soon, I remain hopeful, as is Abdel-Magied, that everyone will one day be able to speak their mind without a fear of “getting Yassmined”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fethi Mansouri receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p>Yassmin Abdel-Magied left Australia in 2017 after being hounded by right wing media and politicians. Has Australia changed since? In her new book of essays she believes a better way is possible.Fethi Mansouri, Professor/UNESCO Chair-holder; Founding Director, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1831222022-06-01T19:29:17Z2022-06-01T19:29:17ZWhat is Québec’s Bill 32 on academic freedom, and why does it matter?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465847/original/file-20220528-25-dltnuk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C116%2C5946%2C2550&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Quebec's bill may be seen as part of on-going 'culture wars,' and alongside Ontario and Québec conservative governments' grandstanding about 'free speech' on university campuses.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the controversy over the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-professor-uses-derogatory-word-1.6214139">suspension of a professor at the University of Ottawa for using the n-word in a 2020 lecture</a>, the Québec government hopes to pass Bill 32, <a href="http://m.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-32-42-2.html">a proposed act “respecting academic freedom in the university sector</a>.” </p>
<p>The bill was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/academic-freedom-bill-tabled-1.6410128">tabled April 6</a> and is under committee review.</p>
<p>In addition to undermining the autonomy of universities and faculty, and creating myriad implementation problems, the bill blurs the important distinctions between free expression and academic freedom. Most troubling, it signals that politicians are turning academic freedom into a political weapon.</p>
<p>All Canadians should be concerned about the shift in the meaning and control of academic freedom this bill could usher in. </p>
<h2>What’s the bill calling for?</h2>
<p>Bill 32 aims to define and control the principle of academic freedom that is now under the jurisdiction of universities. The bill redefines university <a href="http://www.assnat.qc.ca/Media/Process.aspx?MediaId=ANQ.Vigie.Bll.DocumentGenerique_181435en&process=Default&token=ZyMoxNwUn8ikQ+TRKYwPCjWrKwg+vIv9rjij7p3xLGTZDmLVSmJLoqe/vG7/YWzz">academic freedom</a> as, “the right of every person to engage freely and without doctrinal, ideological or moral constraint in an activity through which the person contributes, in their field of activity, to carrying out the mission of an educational institution.” </p>
<p>As scholars whose combined work engages with the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108684804.005">politicization of language</a> and <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781442610163/multiculturalism-within-a-bilingual-framework/">language, race and belonging</a>, we share concerns with other anti-racist scholars that the bill prioritizes the right to speak without consideration for ethical ramifications. The bill would <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/johs.12120">overshadow issues of justice for racialized members of the academy</a>.</p>
<p>Currently, complex questions about <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-universities-not-safe-space-1.6285400">creating “safe spaces” or issuing “trigger warnings” in classrooms</a> are addressed within universities. Commentators argue that the bill <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/university-community-reacts-to-quebecs-new-academic-freedom-bill">“spells the end of ‘trigger warnings’ and "safe spaces’ in the classroom</a>.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1519380459037376514"}"></div></p>
<h2>Rejected by students, university teachers</h2>
<p>The bill has sparked significant controversy and ignited criticism from students and university teachers for its <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/university-community-reacts-to-quebecs-new-academic-freedom-bill/">overreach into university autonomy</a>. </p>
<p>The bill’s Article 6 would give the minister of higher education the power <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/student-association-asks-quebec-to-scrap-bill-32-on-academic-freedom">to “order an educational institution to include, in its policy, any element indicated by the minister” or “have the necessary corrections made</a>.”</p>
<p>Québec student unions and <a href="https://www.caut.ca/node/11501">Canadian Association of University Teachers</a> have opposed the bill. The head of Concordia’s Black Student Union notes the bill would traumatize racialized students by reaching into university jurisdiction to permit derogatory language without concern for its effect, and calls it a “<a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-s-academic-freedom-bill-a-slap-in-the-face-says-concordia-black-student-union-1.5850864">slap in the face</a>.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/academic-freedom-cant-be-separated-from-responsibility-175026">Academic freedom can't be separated from responsibility</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Given that the suspended professor did not work in Québec, one might wonder why the province has proposed the bill. In March 2021, when Danielle McCann, Québec’s minister of higher education, announced a committee to examine academic freedom, she said <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-announces-committee-to-examine-academic-freedom-censorship">recent events had convinced the government to take action</a>.</p>
<p>One might wonder how Premier François Legault’s <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-university-classrooms-are-not-safe-spaces-says-academic-freedom-committee-1.5706817">criticism of the suspension of a professor who did not work in Québec</a> has culminated in a bill that attempts to radically transform the definition and control of academic freedom. Perhaps the extent of this reaction reflects anxieties specific to Québec’s nationalist articulations of its identity.</p>
<h2>U.S. and Canadian contexts</h2>
<p>The bill imports American principles by blurring the distinction between academic freedom and free expression or free speech, similar to other Canadian conservative government manoeuvres, discussed below.</p>
<p>The Canadian and U.S. legal frameworks for academic freedom differ. One fundamental difference is that in Canada, Charter rights <a href="https://canliiconnects.org/en/summaries/31312">do not apply to universities</a>. By contrast, in the United States, the First Amendment, the source of equivalent rights, does apply to <a href="https://www.aclu.org/other/speech-campus">public universities</a>. </p>
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning First Amendment free speech rights have a <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/17/academic-freedom">long history</a> of including academic freedom. This connection is non-existent in Canada. </p>
<p>In Canada, academic freedom is <a href="https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/constitutional_forum/index.php/constitutional_forum/article/view/29398/21395">grounded in collective agreements</a> or memoranda of understanding negotiated between faculty associations and university administrations. It usually includes the autonomy of the university and its faculty from outside pressures including provincial and federal governments. </p>
<p>In the U.S., <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t03.htm">the rate of unionization</a> at universities is far <a href="https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/constitutional_forum/index.php/constitutional_forum/article/view/29398">lower than in Canada</a>, making collective agreements less viable as the guarantee of academic freedom. </p>
<p>The Alberta Court ruled that the Charter right to free expression applies to campus anti-abortion <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.3138/9781487529314-015/pdf">protesters in Alberta</a> and that students at the University of Calgary were merely expressing themselves when they denigrated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/johs.12120">their professor on Facebook</a>.
But no court has ruled that the Charter applies to universities’ classrooms or university teaching.</p>
<h2>To further confuse matters</h2>
<p>But Bill 32 focuses not on freedom of speech, but on academic freedom. The only other province to legislate on issues concerning academic freedom to our knowledge is Manitoba. </p>
<p>Manitoba’s <a href="https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/ccsm/a006-3e.php">Advanced Education Administration Act</a> merely states that the minister responsible for post-secondary education, “respects the appropriate autonomy of educational institutions and the recognized principles of academic freedom.” </p>
<p>But the goal and functioning of Bill 32 is to define and control the principle of academic freedom (now under universities’ jurisdiction). </p>
<p>The Québec government claims it can do better than universities in protecting this core principle of academic freedom. More substantially, this bill politicizes complex questions of how professors do their work at the university.</p>
<h2>Ignores right to criticize government</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/university-community-reacts-to-quebecs-new-academic-freedom-bill/">Commentators have criticized the bill</a> for omitting what is usually considered a fundamental dimension, that is, the right for academics to criticize their own universities as well as government.</p>
<p>University collective agreements are clear in granting academic freedom to faculty members based on them having fulfilled years of education to become experts in their fields. </p>
<p>But the bill ignores these standard definitions of academic freedom and presents it as if it is like the right to free expression: universal, applicable to everyone regardless of their qualifications. </p>
<p>As American historian Joan Wallach Scott argues about the American right-wing: by “<a href="https://www.amacad.org/news/free-speech-and-academic-freedom">collapsing the distinction between academic freedom and free speech, they deny the authority of knowledge and of the teacher who purveys it</a>.”</p>
<h2>Potential problems with scope</h2>
<p>Since the bill does not restrict itself to academics but speaks of “the right of every person … in their field of activity,” concrete problems for implementation are evident. </p>
<p>For example, if a professor gives a student a C in a course, could this be challenged as restricting the student’s academic freedom from “doctrinal” constraint? </p>
<p>Could not the offence of plagiarism be argued as a “moral” constraint and thus against a student’s academic freedom? </p>
<h2>Joins Ontario and Alberta ‘culture wars’</h2>
<p>The purpose of this bill seems comparable to the influential statement issued by the <a href="https://freeexpression.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a>, known as the <a href="https://provost.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/documents/reports/FOECommitteeReport.pdf">Chicago Principles of Free Expression</a>. Those principles nowhere mention academic freedom. But, they were also <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/university-chicago-we-don-t-condone-safe-spaces-or-trigger-n637721">the grounds for the university to speak against “trigger warnings” and the notion of the university as a “safe space.”</a> </p>
<p>The Chicago Principles have been adopted by many American universities, although not without <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2018/12/11/what-chicago-principles-miss-when-it-comes-free-speech-and-academic-freedom-opinion">controversy</a>. </p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.thestar.com/calgary/2019/05/06/alberta-and-ontario-premiers-campus-free-speech-policies-a-dog-whistle-blow-for-the-right-expert.html">Alberta Premier Jason Kenney</a> and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/develop-free-speech-policies-or-face-funding-cuts-ontario-tells-colleges-1.4074727?cache=lxaherxk%3FclipId%3D375756">Ontario Premier Doug Ford insisted</a> that universities in their respective provinces adopt freedom of speech policies, they referenced the Chicago Principles.</p>
<p>Québec’s bill may be seen as part of the on-going “culture wars,” along with Ford and Kenney’s grandstanding about free speech crises on university campuses.</p>
<p>As in those cases, maybe this is just political posturing <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-ucp-promises-threaten-academic-freedom-of-speech">with little genuine concern</a> for the quality of university education. </p>
<p>In sum, even if this bill is revised or fails, its very proposal signals a move towards using academic freedom as a political weapon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Ives is affiliated with the University of Winnipeg and is a representative-at-large to the council of the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eve Haque has received funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada for an Insight Development Grant on 'Reconciling Academic Freedom and Equity in Canada'
</span></em></p>In addition to undermining universities’ and faculty members’ autonomy, the bill blurs distinctions between free expression and academic freedom, and turns academic freedom into a political weapon.Peter Ives, Professor, Political Science, University of WinnipegEve Haque, Professor, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1828852022-05-12T12:14:33Z2022-05-12T12:14:33ZBritain’s descent into culture wars has been rapid, but it needn’t be terminal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462513/original/file-20220511-13-9oxk2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>There has been an extraordinary transformation in how the media talk about culture change in the UK in just the last few years – and it’s starting to infect public opinion.</p>
<p>In 2015, there were only 21 articles in UK newspapers that talked about a UK “culture war”. Our <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/woke-cancel-culture-and-white-privilege-how-the-uks-culture-war-debate-is-evolving">new survey</a> shows that by 2021 there were nearly 1,500.</p>
<p>“Cancel culture” didn’t exist at all in the British mainstream media in 2017 – but in 2021 there were an astonishing 3,670 articles that used the term.</p>
<p>And the public is starting to notice. In 2020, 47% had never even heard of cancel culture, but this had halved by 2022. More generally, most people now agree that the UK is divided by culture wars, up from our last study in 2020. This increase cuts across demographics and political identities, but it’s older groups and Conservatives who have moved the most.</p>
<p>This shifting ground is also seen in how people view that other key term in the culture wars discussion – “woke”. In our 2020 study, the most common response when asking people whether “woke” was a compliment or an insult was “I don’t know what it means”, while those who did have a view were evenly split between thinking of it as a compliment and thinking of it as an insult.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462756/original/file-20220512-26-pacolg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph showing that the British media went from hardly ever using the term 'culture wars' to rapidly increasing its use since 2017." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462756/original/file-20220512-26-pacolg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462756/original/file-20220512-26-pacolg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462756/original/file-20220512-26-pacolg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462756/original/file-20220512-26-pacolg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462756/original/file-20220512-26-pacolg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462756/original/file-20220512-26-pacolg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462756/original/file-20220512-26-pacolg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mentions of the ‘culture wars’ increased rapidly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">KCL Policy Institute</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But many more now know what it means – and people have shifted firmly towards seeing it as insulting. That’s not surprising when you see our analysis of the context in which “woke” is used, which is overwhelmingly derogatory – language such as “embittered”, “blinkered”, “puritan”, “ludicrous”, “insidious”, even “terrorist”, are all linked to the term.</p>
<p>This leaves us in a deeply worrying position.</p>
<p>Some say these debates don’t matter, or that they’re manufactured by the media and politicians rather than being an authentic concern among the public. It’s true that we don’t see culture war issues top people’s lists of the most important issues facing the country – the cost of living crisis, strains on the NHS, war in Europe and the pandemic are all viewed as bigger priorities. As shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said, this culture change debate <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/david-lammy-labour-party-identity-politics-radio-4_uk_61541f5ee4b099230d1cb0a0">doesn’t come up “on the doorstep”</a>.</p>
<h2>Front page to front bench</h2>
<p>But this misreads the importance of the culture war story. Who controls the cultural narrative of a country matters because it sets the tone for politics more generally. And, as research by the thinktank <a href="https://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mind-the-values-gap.pdf">UK in a Changing Europe</a> shows, the cultural instincts of Conservative MPs are much closer to the average voter than Labour MPs. There is a clear incentive, therefore, for the current party of government to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/10/the-queens-speech-2022-what-was-in-it-and-what-it-means">maintain a focus on these issues</a>. </p>
<p>When talk of a culture war first emerged in the US in the 1990s, it was described as a <a href="https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/buchanan-culture-war-speech-speech-text/">“war for the soul of America”</a>. It can become powerful stuff, not due to the great national importance of the individual issues pulled in, but because that process creates tribes, as more and more cultural issues become rolled into your political identity.</p>
<p>Yet the UK is not the US. The country has very different historic, cultural and political contexts, so it’s not inevitable that the same scenarios will unfold. But, on the other hand, complacency could lead the UK down a path to an equally bad place. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/electoral-politics-of-growth-regimes/B2E6C55E34429CCDDD57E22B162CD928">Analysis of political manifestos across 21 countries</a>, including the UK, over past 50 years shows a long trend towards a greater focus on cultural over economic issues in what the parties promise. In the UK, this has been sharpened by Brexit, which was, at its core, about different views of the country and its <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/feb/brexit-driven-cultural-values-and-national-identity-more-social-class">values</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462757/original/file-20220512-22-hu8q1i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph showing that the British media very suddenly started using the term 'cancel culture' in recent years." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462757/original/file-20220512-22-hu8q1i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462757/original/file-20220512-22-hu8q1i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462757/original/file-20220512-22-hu8q1i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462757/original/file-20220512-22-hu8q1i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462757/original/file-20220512-22-hu8q1i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462757/original/file-20220512-22-hu8q1i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462757/original/file-20220512-22-hu8q1i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Use of the term ‘cancel culture’ has exploded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">KCL Policy Institute</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the defining features of the culture wars is deep suspicion of the motives of the “other side”. One group believes they are engaged in a legitimate battle against cultural institutions captured by a view of the world that doesn’t reflect the values of ordinary people. The other sees this purely as a cynical political tactic.</p>
<p>Debating which of these is true misses the point. What matters more is the sense of conflict the tone of the debate creates, which sets identities into warring tribes and means compromise becomes impossible. Our culture and values, and how they’re changing, are completely legitimate, in fact, essential aspects of political discussion – but how we do it is important. The speed and scale of the adoption of culture war rhetoric in the UK is a dangerous game.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182885/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bobby Duffy receives funding from Unbound Philanthropy, the ESRC, the Britsh Academy and the European Commission's H2020 programme.</span></em></p>‘Cancel culture’ didn’t exist at all in the British mainstream media in 2017 – but in 2021 there were an astonishing 3,670 articles that used the term.Bobby Duffy, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1793012022-03-15T18:58:45Z2022-03-15T18:58:45ZTeacher sacked for reading bum book to students: the latest conservative book ban<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452140/original/file-20220315-19-1j6dv4a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C9%2C1580%2C1078&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Illustration detail from the cover of Andy Griffiths' international bestseller, The Day My Bum Went Psycho (Pan Macmillan).</span> </figcaption></figure><p>On March 1, 2022, Toby Price, an assistant principal at Gary Road Elementary School in New Byrum, Mississippi, faced a problem. The reader booked for a Zoom session for 240 grade two students hadn’t shown up. So Price grabbed one of his favourite books, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21975813-i-need-a-new-butt">I Need a New Butt</a>, and began reading. </p>
<p>He was fired two days later.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452130/original/file-20220315-19-4d3dk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452130/original/file-20220315-19-4d3dk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452130/original/file-20220315-19-4d3dk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452130/original/file-20220315-19-4d3dk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452130/original/file-20220315-19-4d3dk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452130/original/file-20220315-19-4d3dk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452130/original/file-20220315-19-4d3dk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>In <a href="https://pen.org/take-action/open-letters/sign-now-hinds-county-schools-reading-is-not-a-crime/">Price’s termination letter</a>, Hinds County Schools Superintendent Delesicia Martin cited “unnecessary embarrassment, a lack of professionalism and impaired judgment” on Price’s part. The superintendent was particularly disturbed by the word “fart”, which he called “inappropriate”. </p>
<p>However, the book, which features a character who sets out to find a replacement bum after he discovers his has a crack in it, is recommended for the same age group as Price’s audience. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/battles-over-book-bans-reflect-conflicts-from-the-1980s-177888">Battles over book bans reflect conflicts from the 1980s</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Ban sets a dangerous precedent</h2>
<p>Why – apart from depriving young children of entertainment – does this matter? Making decisions about who can access books on the basis of whether they offend the sensibilities of those in authority, rather than whether they’re a good match for their target audience, sets a dangerous precedent.</p>
<p>Conservatives in the United States have recently focused on school boards as easy pressure points in the ongoing culture wars. </p>
<p>Late last year Rabih Abuismail, a member of the Spotsylvania County School Board in Virginia, <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/spotsylvania-school-board-votes-to-remove-sexually-explicit-books-from-libraries/2878034/">proposed</a> that books be not only be removed from school libraries, but also burned for good measure. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis <a href="https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/10/ron-desantis-slams-disney-florida-dont-say-gay-anti-lgbt-bill/6994905001/">supports a bill</a> (colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”) which has this wording:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This joins with some dozens of other bills in state legislatures across the US which seek to repress discussion of gender, race or sexual identity. The terms are deliberately vague so that teachers can never know whether they’re on safe ground. </p>
<p>In this kind of atmosphere, what chance does a good bum joke have? </p>
<h2>Breaking taboos and attracting reluctant readers</h2>
<p>Bums have a foundational role in literature. Chaucer’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Millers-Tale">The Miller’s Tale</a>, Shakespeare’s frequent play on the word “ass” and Swift’s scatological obsessions are part of this rich inheritance. In children’s literature, bums have found a ready audience: children love to read about bodily functions. They know there is some level of taboo-breaking here and they love to break the rules. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452123/original/file-20220315-17-1yqzads.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452123/original/file-20220315-17-1yqzads.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452123/original/file-20220315-17-1yqzads.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452123/original/file-20220315-17-1yqzads.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452123/original/file-20220315-17-1yqzads.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452123/original/file-20220315-17-1yqzads.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452123/original/file-20220315-17-1yqzads.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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</figcaption>
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<p>So, books such as Stéphanie Blake’s <a href="https://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Poo-Bum-9781877467974">Poo Bum</a>, Dave Pilkey’s <a href="https://pilkey.com/book/the-adventures-of-super-diaper-baby">The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby</a>, Mark Norman’s <a href="https://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Funny-Bums-9781742032504">Funny Bums</a> and Kate Maye and Andrew Joyner’s <a href="https://www.andrewjoyner.com.au/the-bum-book">The Bum Book</a>, sell very well.</p>
<p>And I’m not sure what the Mississippi school superintendent would make of Andy Griffith’s international bestseller <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9780330362924/">The Day My Bum Went Psycho</a>. Here, the protagonist, Zack Freeman, finds that his own bum is part of a global conspiracy to cause a methane eruption that could render everyone unconscious while the bums take the place of people’s heads.</p>
<p>Griffiths, a former teacher, <a href="https://www.news24.com/parent/Storytime/why-is-humour-in-kids-books-important-best-selling-author-andy-griffiths-spills-his-secrets-20190912">says</a> he started writing humorous books as a way to engage reluctant readers. “Kids respond to humour. They are naturally playful with words and ideas. If you want a sure way to engage children, especially reluctant readers, then humour is necessary.”</p>
<p>Michelle Jensen, president of the School Library Association of NSW, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/dav-pilkeys-captain-underpants-inspires-reluctant-readers-20140426-zqywx.html">agrees</a>. “The book often needs to be funny, so that’s probably why they like Captain Underpants.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-and-other-reasons-why-we-ban-books-for-young-people-47514">Sex and other reasons why we ban books for young people</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Irony, anxiety and why kids love bum books</h2>
<p>Kids love bum books for reasons that are not immediately obvious, too. They know that use of words with light taboos will gain laughter and approval from peers. They learn that these words have a kind of power, and enjoy experimenting with this power. </p>
<p>When children call you a “poo poo” (knowing you are not, in fact, a “poo poo”), they are experimenting with irony, where they intentionally use the wrong word. They are showing that there’s no natural connection between a word and a thing, an understanding that helps them to absorb picture books, where there is often a disjunction between the word and the illustration. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452132/original/file-20220315-15-65tz9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452132/original/file-20220315-15-65tz9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452132/original/file-20220315-15-65tz9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452132/original/file-20220315-15-65tz9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452132/original/file-20220315-15-65tz9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452132/original/file-20220315-15-65tz9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452132/original/file-20220315-15-65tz9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Adults joke about things that make us anxious. So do children, who often have concerns about toilet accidents and can use language to discharge some of this worry. These books can also be used to initiate conversations about bodily processes, showing that they should not be embarrassing and we do not always control them. </p>
<p>And “disgust”, however it can be theorised, exerts a weird dynamic of attraction and repulsion on all of us. How else can you explain that there is a TV show called Dr. Pimple Popper?</p>
<h2>Teachers fired for sharing LGBTQ+ books</h2>
<p>In the United States right now, we can also imagine Toby Price being fired for reading a book about a queer kid, or about racial history. </p>
<p>In late 2021, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, third grade teacher Lauren Crowe <a href="https://bookriot.com/teacher-pulled-from-classroom/">was suspended</a> because her TikTok site showed the LGBTQ+ material she used in class. Crowe was subsequently reinstated, as Illinois laws support the teaching of LGBTQ+ perspectives. But the incident seems likely to discourage other teachers from using similar books. </p>
<p>In 2015 in North Carolina, teacher Omar Currie <a href="https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-teacher-who-read-gay-fairy-tale-resigns-20150616-story.html">felt compelled to resign</a> after he read a gay-themed fairytale to his third grade students and caused a controversy that culminated in a town hall meeting with 200 participants. </p>
<p>Queer books for younger readers have <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/feb/why-queer-literature-is-vital-for-people-growing-up-lgbtq-.html">saved lives</a>, as children and teens who struggle with their own developing identity <a href="https://theconversation.com/queer-young-adult-fiction-isnt-all-gloomy-realism-here-are-5-uplifting-books-to-get-you-started-141125">increasingly see their challenges reflected in fiction</a> and know they are not alone. </p>
<p>Bum books, for all their good points, aren’t quite so noble.</p>
<p>But if they can ban the bum, they can ban anything – and that should worry us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Ryan 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>A teacher was fired this month for reading his favourite picture book, I Need a New Butt, to kids. It’s an example of how US conservatives are focusing on school boards as weapons in the culture wars.Simon Ryan, Associate Professor (Literature), Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1712372021-11-11T16:03:34Z2021-11-11T16:03:34ZWhy wearing a poppy and taking a knee in football should not be dismissed as ‘gesture politics’<p>At the London Stadium on Sunday, November 7, the players of West Ham United and Liverpool football clubs gathered around the centre circle, arms interlinked. Falling poppies filled the big screen as former England team captain Trevor Brooking read John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Field, and a trumpeter played The Last Post. Such remembrance ceremonies have become a <a href="https://theconversation.com/poppies-are-a-political-symbol-both-on-and-off-the-football-pitch-68113">familiar feature</a> of the football calendar in November. </p>
<p>Since June 2020, a more recently adopted ritual has been observed in UK football. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, English Premier League players started <a href="https://theconversation.com/taking-the-knee-in-football-why-this-act-of-protest-has-always-been-political-162541">taking the knee</a> in a gesture of protest against racial discrimination inside football and the <a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/dear-england-gareth-southgate-euros-soccer">wider community</a>. The English Football League and the Scottish Premier League followed suit.</p>
<p>Football has become enveloped in the burgeoning post-Brexit <a href="https://theconversation.com/culture-wars-uncovered-most-of-uk-public-dont-know-if-woke-is-a-compliment-or-an-insult-161529">culture wars</a>. This is often framed as an intergenerational conflict between young and old or as a political clash between conservatives and the so-called woke left. </p>
<p>At first glance, there seems to be little that unites these two symbolic acts. But, on closer inspection, there are commonalities. Identifying these can help us avoid, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17526272.2021.1930701">as I have shown</a>, the intellectual dead end that is the “keep politics out of sport” mantra. </p>
<h2>Invented traditions</h2>
<p>During Euro 2020, Home Secretary Priti Patel defended some fans right to boo players who knelt. For her, the latter were engaging in “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/priti-patel-taking-knee-boo-england-b1865409.html">gesture politics</a>”. <a href="https://theconversation.com/gesture-politics-and-foreign-aid-evidence-vs-spin-90718">This term</a> is most often used disparagingly to describe crude symbolism resulting in little practical action. But Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben <a href="https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/46452/65632.pdf">argues</a> that such gestures harness potent political power. </p>
<p>Whereas wearing the poppy is often portrayed as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37848413">traditional and apolitical</a>, taking the knee is perceived as new and ideological. In reality, both are what British historian Eric Hobsbawm has called <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0275720042000257403?journalCode=ghan20">invented traditions</a>. They draw on longer legacies to imply continuity with the past, seeking to inculcate values and norms of behaviour through repetition. </p>
<p>Although the Poppy Appeal was first launched by the Royal British Legion <a href="https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/about-remembrance/the-poppy">100 years ago</a>, the poppy entered the football calendar far more recently. Minute silences were introduced to matches <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17526272.2021.1930701">in around 2000</a> and footballers only started wearing a poppy in 2009, following <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1225562/Kop-Liverpool-Manchester-United-Bolton-refuse-wear-poppies-weekend-matches.html">a Daily Mail campaign</a>.</p>
<p>Conversely, although the immediate inspiration for taking the knee came from quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/sep/14/the-kaepernick-effect-a-story-of-the-other-athletes-who-kneeled-in-protest">protest</a> in 2016, the gesture has a much longer lineage. The English Football Association <a href="https://www.thefa.com/news/2021/jun/12/a-message-to-england-supporters-20210611">pointed out that it</a> can be traced back to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/africans_in_art_gallery_02.shtml#:%7E:text=The%20inscription%20%27Am%20I%20Not,of%20the%20Pennsylvania%20Abolition%20Society">the 18th-century abolitionist movement</a>.</p>
<h2>Collective memory</h2>
<p>Wearing a poppy and taking a knee are examples of what French philosopher and sociologist Maurice Halbwachs calls <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17526272.2021.1930701">collective memory</a>. They seek to reconstruct the past through the prism of the beliefs and needs of the present. In commemorating fallen soldiers and victims of racial injustice, both represent public performances of collectivised grief. These in turn generate what sociologists term <a href="https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/1000207/mod_resource/content/1/%5BNeil_J._Smelser,_Richard_Swedberg%5D_The_Handbook_Economic%20sociology.pdf">symbolic capital</a>: which can help to facilitate political reform, as well as consolidate or reinvent national identities.</p>
<p>If the culture wars can be understood as a debate about what values the UK stands for, as a nation, the controversies surrounding the poppy and taking the knee (in UK football) can be seen as attempts to shape the narrative on British national identity. Both address a perceived sense of <a href="https://theconversation.com/brexits-global-britain-uk-needs-a-clear-economic-strategy-for-its-trading-future-not-a-dead-colonial-fantasy-116707">crisis</a> in postcolonial Britishness from alternative perspectives. </p>
<p>In the context of a fracturing British state, military remembrance remains, as the political scientist Michael Moran put it in <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-49965-9">The End of British Politics</a>, “the one civic ideology” that is truly bipartisan and common to all parts of the United Kingdom. Although taking a knee has been <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/england-fans-boo-players-knee-southgate-not-political-stand-b938499.html">explicitly defined</a> by the players according to a relatively narrow anti-racist message, it is symbolically connected (not least by its <a href="https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1404360783467851777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1404360783467851777%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php">rightwing detractors</a>) to the wider Black Lives Matter movement, as well as <a href="https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/324092">the campaign</a> for greater critical awareness of Britain’s colonial past and contemporary inequities.</p>
<p>These collective visions are punctured by the alternative experiences of individuals. James McClean and Nemaja Matic have refused to wear the poppy because of its connotations with British military interventions in <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo3619875.html">Northern Ireland</a> and <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/nemanja-matic-manchester-united-poppy-22022377">Serbia</a>, respectively. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/56126928">Wilfred Zaha</a> and <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/12413223/marcos-alonso-chelsea-defender-to-stop-taking-knee-after-claiming-anti-racism-gesture-is-losing-strength">Marcus Alonso</a> have similarly vowed to stop taking the knee, describing it as “degrading” and “losing strength” as a gesture of anti-racism. </p>
<p>Common to both <a href="https://talksport.com/football/152145/poppy-not-political-statement-its-symbol-remembrance-and-mark-respect-scottish-fa-chief/">military remembrance</a> and <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/england-fans-boo-players-knee-southgate-not-political-stand-b938499.html">taking the knee </a> in football is a denial of their underlying politics. More than mere gestures, they convey a great deal about how the British think about their collective national identity in the 21st century.<br>
Acknowledging this is the first step to better mutual understanding. Closing down debate and maintaining the naive belief that politics can be kept out of the national sport only enables expedient politicians and commentators to exploit football for cheap populist points.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171237/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Fitzpatrick 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>On-field demonstrations of remembrance and protest are able to harness potent political power.Daniel Fitzpatrick, Lecturer in Politics, Aston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1711752021-11-05T18:15:57Z2021-11-05T18:15:57ZSuburban voters responded to GOP culture war pitch in Virginia governor’s race, and showed all politics are now national<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430044/original/file-20211103-21-1f54ff0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C5182%2C3454&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin greets supporters at an election night party.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election%202021%20Virginia%20Governor/c6998cce8cbd40ff8cd0062a8df63640?Query=Virginia%20governor&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3264&currentItemNo=7">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the 2022 midterm elections less than a year away, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2021-virginia-governor-glenn-youngkin-mcaulife-6cdbf77acf9a966e216ab2a297601baa">stunning victory of political newcomer Glenn Youngkin</a> in the Virginia governor’s race demonstrated an effective GOP strategy that appeals to crucial suburban voters alienated by Donald Trump while maintaining support from the former president’s die-hard supporters.</p>
<p>Youngkin’s campaign and subsequent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/us/elections/youngkin-wins-virginia-governor.html">victory over Democratic former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe</a> launched Virginia into the national limelight. The election was a referendum on not only Trump’s influence within the GOP but also the Biden administration’s inability to deliver so far on presidential campaign promises.</p>
<p>In previous elections in Virginia, local politics were just that – local. But over the past decade, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/09/us/virginia-elections-democrats-republicans.html">Virginia turned from a reliable red state in presidential elections to a reliable blue state</a>. Starting with the election of Barack Obama in 2008, <a href="https://www.270towin.com/states/Virginia">Virginia has voted Democratic</a> in presidential contests, including for Hillary Clinton in her unsuccessful bid in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_voting_trends_in_Virginia">Before the election in 2008, Virginians voted Republican in presidential elections for the previous 40 years</a>. </p>
<p>The recent blue wave placed Virginia at the heart of national politics – and made it a GOP target. By <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/03/republicans-critical-race-theory-winning-electoral-issue">using national culture wars</a>, and specifically GOP outrage over how race issues are taught in public schools, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-elections-crime-virginia-election-2020-b3265985b40d25db51491a39b07a2737">Youngkin took aim at suburban Virginia voters and sliced off enough to become governor</a>. </p>
<p>In addition to winning the governor’s race, the Virginia GOP saw <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/03/politics/winsome-sears-virginia-lieutenant-governor-race/index.html">Winsome Sears become the first Black woman</a> to become lieutenant governor. And <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/republican-miyares-poised-oust-herring-virginia-attorney-general-2021-11-03/">Republican Jason Miyares took the state attorney general’s office</a>. Republicans also won <a href="https://wtop.com/virginia/2021/11/gop-flips-enough-seats-to-tie-va-house-of-delegates-some-races-remain-too-close-to-call/">enough seats in the House of Delegates to tie</a> the Democrats, although a few races are still being decided. The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-house/2021/11/02/44bbab6c-36b4-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html">Virginia Senate remains in Democratic control</a>.</p>
<p>The blue wave in Virginia is now an open question. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430508/original/file-20211105-19-7w6d0c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman leads a young child through a voting site in Virginia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430508/original/file-20211105-19-7w6d0c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430508/original/file-20211105-19-7w6d0c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430508/original/file-20211105-19-7w6d0c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430508/original/file-20211105-19-7w6d0c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430508/original/file-20211105-19-7w6d0c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430508/original/file-20211105-19-7w6d0c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430508/original/file-20211105-19-7w6d0c.jpeg?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">Youngkin’s appeals to parents and suburban voters helped him win.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/adrienne-harris-is-accompanied-by-her-daughter-savannah-news-photo/1350937017?adppopup=true">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Suburban GOP gains</h2>
<p>Though <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/bidens-victory-came-from-the-suburbs/">Biden won the suburbs overwhelmingly in 2020,</a>, the Youngkin campaign won a significant portion this year by, in part, focusing on the potential that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-house/2021/11/02/44bbab6c-36b4-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html">critical race theory could be taught at the K-12 level</a>. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/11/05/critical-race-theory-galvanize-voters/6272715001/">It’s not, but that didn’t stop the spread of misinformation</a>. </p>
<p>Usually reserved for graduate schools, <a href="https://theconversation.com/critical-race-theory-what-it-is-and-what-it-isnt-162752">critical race theory is a field of intellectual inquiry</a> that demonstrates the legal codification of racism in America. Instead of responding to Youngkin with the truth, McAuliffe <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/578885-education-blunder-igniting-suburban-parents-driving-mcauliffe-panic-in%5D(https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/578885-education-blunder-igniting-suburban-parents-driving-mcauliffe-panic-in">alienated suburban voters further</a> by declaring during a debate with Youngkin that “parents shouldn’t tell schools what to teach.” </p>
<p>It was a major blunder and became the subject of relentless campaign advertisements by Youngkin in the days leading up the Nov. 2 election.
In Fairfax County – a suburban Democratic stronghold near Washington, D.C., comprising nearly 13.5% of the state’s overall vote – Youngkin’s campaign against critical race theory <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/578885-education-blunder-igniting-suburban-parents-driving-mcauliffe-panic-in%5D(https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/578885-education-blunder-igniting-suburban-parents-driving-mcauliffe-panic-in">improved GOP results by 2.6 percentage points from the 2020 presidential election</a>. </p>
<p>Youngkin’s strategy was also helped by McAuliffe’s inept efforts to paint the millionaire political newcomer as a Trump acolyte. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430054/original/file-20211103-18-tlh7kj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Virginia governor who lost to Republican Glenn Youngkin, hugs his wife, Dorothy, on election night." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430054/original/file-20211103-18-tlh7kj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430054/original/file-20211103-18-tlh7kj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430054/original/file-20211103-18-tlh7kj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430054/original/file-20211103-18-tlh7kj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430054/original/file-20211103-18-tlh7kj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430054/original/file-20211103-18-tlh7kj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430054/original/file-20211103-18-tlh7kj.jpeg?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">Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Virginia governor who lost to Republican Glenn Youngkin, hugs his wife, Dorothy, on election night.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2021VirginiaGovernor/d0910a52bb3a42fc951c9df6eca8c9f9/photo?Query=Virginia%20governor%20mcauliffe&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1002&currentItemNo=44">AP Photo/Steve Helber</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Trump factor</h2>
<p>Polls showed the race as a statistical <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-took-credit-glenn-youngkin-virginia-win-thanked-maga-voters-2021-11%5D(https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-took-credit-glenn-youngkin-virginia-win-thanked-maga-voters-2021-11">dead heat leading into Election Day</a>. Those poll numbers held steady on election night.</p>
<p>In majority Republican counties in Virginia, for instance, such as Bedford, Frederick, Roanoke and Hanover, Trump’s margin of victory in 2020 was between 37% and 60%. Youngkin maintained those numbers <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-republicans-won-the-virginia-governors-race/%5D(https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-republicans-won-the-virginia-governors-race/">within 1 percentage point</a>. </p>
<p>Youngkin was able to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-2021-election/2021/11/02/445d1038-3bec-11ec-a493-51b0252dea0c_story.html">maintain the Trump base without embracing Trump publicly</a>. GOP hopefuls who fear alienating moderate suburban Republicans are now able to follow Youngkin’s lead by downplaying their association with Trump while secretly enjoying the enthusiasm he generates among his base.</p>
<h2>As Virginia goes?</h2>
<p>The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “bellwether” as “one that takes the lead or initiative” or “an indicator of trends.” That’s the role Virginia could now be playing on the national political scene.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/10/09/historically-the-presidents-party-performs-poorly-in-the-midterms-infographic/">the sitting president’s party usually loses congressional seats during the midterms</a>, emboldened Republicans strengthened by the results in Virginia now expect both chambers to not only return to GOP control but also present Biden with the additional challenge of a divided government. Both might culminate in a 2024 presidential election campaign that could very well see Trump at the top of the ticket as the Republican nominee once more.</p>
<p>Such enthusiasm – and public distancing from Trump – might be the difference between winning and losing in an upcoming election across the country. It might also create a new version of an old political standard: All politics are now national.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Athena M. King 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>Glenn Youngkin, the newly elected Virginia governor, just gave the GOP a blueprint on how to win local elections with a national message – and without embracing Trump in public.Athena M. King, Assistant Professor, Political Science and Geography, Old Dominion UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1528302021-08-12T08:30:18Z2021-08-12T08:30:18ZA bitter culture war in the fourth century shows we may not be as divided as we think<p>A large crowd gathers, seething with anger over the ignorant and harmful ideas of their opponents. They want to stamp out the power of the old regime for the good of the world. The group comes upon a statue honouring the outdated ideologies they have come to hate and tears it to the ground, shattering it to pieces.</p>
<p>This scene may sound familiar. So much like the demise of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52954305">in 2020</a> and the Capitol riots <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55575260">in Washington DC</a>. But I’m actually describing episodes from the eastern Roman Empire in the late fourth and early fifth century AD. Imagine zealous Christian monks tearing down statues of Greek gods, such as Artemis or Zeus, rather than anti-racism protesters or MAGA fanatics.</p>
<p>It happened in a world dominated by the far-reaching Roman Empire, in which only elite men could receive an education and hold positions of influence, while ordinary people lived as craftsmen, traders and farmers or cared for their children. The previous century had been marked by plague and famine, but people in this time lived in relative safety. Very few read, so almost all went to listen to speeches on street corners, the public square and from the pulpit as a source of entertainment and learning. It was a very different time.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I was reminded of this scene in 2020 when <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52949014">anti-racism protests</a>, in the wake of the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52861726">murder of George Floyd</a>, led to the toppling of statues <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/us/confederate-statues-photos.html">around the world</a>. I research the history and philosophy of Christianity in the fourth century and I focus, in particular, on a certain bishop named <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-of-Nyssa">Gregory of Nyssa</a>. Gregory wrote many ornate theological texts which both advanced what it meant to be a Christian and helped people to live better lives.</p>
<p>Alongside sermons and treatises, Gregory also wrote biographies of certain holy people. He did this because he thought that these stories could subtly influence people to believe and act in accordance with his vision of Christianity. So, my research reconstructs the reasons why Gregory thought that biographies could influence people in this way. I ask how the rhetoric made them feel and what it taught them, and then I explore how these feelings and knowledge change what people believe and do. </p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&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"></span>
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<p><strong><em>This is a Conversation Insights story</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<p>I find this area fascinating because today we are starting to come to terms with the fact that all media shapes our beliefs and actions. So Gregory offers us a useful way to think about how it does this. And a crucial part of my research has been coming to understand what society was like and what people believed in order to grasp the ideas and actions of ordinary people and figure out how Gregory was trying to influence them. As my research progressed I discovered that there is a really significant parallel between then and now. Namely, the fourth century seemed – on the surface at least – to be divided by a bitter culture war. But a closer look revealed that this “war” was overstated – just as I believe it is now. </p>
<p>This parallel isn’t just a quirk of history – it’s genuinely insightful for us today because it helps answer a particularly pressing question: why does society feel so polarised – as if on every issue we’re divided into two warring factions – when there is <a href="https://www.britainschoice.uk/">evidence</a> which suggests that is not the case? It seems that the misperception that society is incredibly polarised comes from those who shout the loudest.</p>
<p>Social media has helped amplify divisive voices, with the far right and the far left of the political spectrum both using their reach to spread misinformation and sow the seeds of division. This all happened in the fourth century too. But instead of Twitter and YouTube, each side of the divide used letters, sermons and speeches to spread their distorted version of reality. So what was dividing Rome all those centuries ago?</p>
<h2>Christianity is legalised</h2>
<p>Until the beginning of the fourth century, the official religion of the empire had been the worship of the traditional Greek and Roman gods such as Zeus and Athena. These gods were worshipped through sacrifices and public ceremonies. Then, in 313, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-I-Roman-emperor">Emperor Constantine</a> decreed that Christians were free to worship whichever gods they pleased and Christianity finally became legal.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Battle image from Greek manuscript." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410627/original/file-20210709-21-14ozcs9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410627/original/file-20210709-21-14ozcs9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410627/original/file-20210709-21-14ozcs9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410627/original/file-20210709-21-14ozcs9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410627/original/file-20210709-21-14ozcs9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410627/original/file-20210709-21-14ozcs9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410627/original/file-20210709-21-14ozcs9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=356&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">Battle image from Greek manuscript depicting Emperor Constantine’s vision in the sky before a battle in 312AD prompting his conversion to Christianity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great_and_Christianity#/media/File:BnF_MS_Gr510_folio_440_recto_-_detail_-_Constantine's_Vision_and_the_Battle_of_the_Milvian_Bridge.jpg">Wikipedia/National Library of France</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>This meant that Christians did not have to carry on hiding in the margins of society, as they had once done. They quickly rose to prominence. First, Constantine converted to Christianity, then almost every successive emperor kept the Christian faith. Bishops began to play crucial roles in local power structures, churches popped up everywhere, and by the end of that century the emperor Theodosius I introduced <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/%7Egrout/encyclopaedia_romana/greece/paganism/paganism.html">laws</a> outlawing the worship of those old Greek and Roman gods. The fourth century was a time of enormous cultural change as one dominant ideology gave way to another. Rome was moving from paganism to Christianity. </p>
<p>For a long time there was a widespread historical view that this century was a time of bitter conflict between pagans and Christians. <a href="https://archive.org/details/conflictbetweenp0000momi/page/n9/mode/2up">Scholars believed</a> there had been a culture war for a number of reasons and one of the most important was that they read the extreme voices as if they represented the reality of the age.</p>
<p>Then, slowly, historians began to <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336931.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195336931-e-26">investigate</a> what ordinary people thought. They saw that most in society were much more moderate in their religious beliefs and found a great deal in common with the “other side”. But who were the extremists dividing Rome at the time?</p>
<h2>The fanatic monk</h2>
<p>The fourth century was a moment about which the adage “history is written by the victors” is certainly true. There are a great many examples of Christian authors who paint a deceptive picture of the ideological landscape of their time. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-Chrysostom">John Chrysostom</a> is a particularly useful example. Chrysostom was born in Antioch (which is now in Turkey) with every advantage. His father ranked highly in the military and Chrysostom received the finest education available under the tutelage of one the most famous teachers in the empire.</p>
<p>Then, once he committed himself to Christianity, he became a monk, living austerely in the desert, scarcely eating or sleeping, until he permanently damaged his body. At which point he moved back to the city, was ordained first as a deacon and then a priest and began to preach to his congregation.</p>
<p>Through his sermons, Chrysostom constantly defined what it meant to be a “true Christian” and what it meant to be pagan. One of his rhetorical strategies was the creation of a false choice: making his audience choose between either his strict beliefs or being a pagan. We could compare Chrysostom here to statements in the culture war today. <a href="https://twitter.com/DrIbram/status/1302724906212380673?s=20">For example</a>, “you are not truly anti-racist if you are pro-capitalism”.</p>
<p>Chrysostom never left any middle ground. This gave the sense that “true Christianity” was a very narrow path and also that it had absolutely nothing in common with paganism. </p>
<p>Throughout his works he says that being a Christian means that a person adheres to a strict set of beliefs about God. For example, good Christians had to live “a holy life” which meant, among many other things, not going to the theatre, because men might lust after the women singing and dancing on stage and neglect their families. Christians also had to give charitably to the poor and not use magical objects and spells. If a person was to step outside of these boundaries in any way then they were not a Christian – at least according to Chrysostom’s rhetoric. For example, in <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1908.htm">Instructions to Catechumens</a> he strictly forbids any Christian from wearing an amulet to keep them safe from illness (as was the pagan practice at the time), saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>And what is one to say about them who use charms and amulets, and encircle their heads and feet with golden coins of Alexander of Macedon. Are these our hopes, tell me, that after the cross and death of our Master, we should place our hopes of salvation on an image of a Greek king?… Thou dost not only have amulets always with you, but incantations bringing drunken and half-witted old women into your house…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>During the course of this moral command he draws an implicit comparison with the pagans through the figure of an old woman. Historians have <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/religious-identity-in-late-antiquity/religious-identity-religious-practice-and-personal-religious-power/B414248BB8F6A59A9858D8FE572D161E">suggested</a> that this woman was casting some kind of spell over a talisman of Alexander the Great while <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195342703.001.0001/acprof-9780195342703-chapter-7#acprof-9780195342703-chapter-7-note-56">uttering spells</a> which call upon the Christian God. Chrysostom then says in no uncertain terms that she is not a Christian because they do not use amulets. Instead, he goes on to imply that this woman is a pagan by comparing her to a demon, as he characterises pagan worship as demonic: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I especially hate and turn away from her, because she makes use of the name of God, with a view to ribaldry. For even the demons uttered the name of God, but still they were demons.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In this way, he sets up a false choice between two completely distinct and polarised options: be a Christian and don’t use amulets or be a pagan and do. There is no middle ground. </p>
<h2>The fanatic pagan</h2>
<p>But Christians were not the only ones ramping up the rhetoric. Pagans did it too. Emperor <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julian-Roman-emperor">Julian the Apostate</a> is one of the few pagan figures from that time whose texts survive in the historical record. Born in 331, he was the nephew of Emperor Constantine, who made Christianity legal in 313, and was brought up in the Christian faith but converted to paganism as a young adult.</p>
<p>He continued his philosophical education and eventually became <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julian-Roman-emperor#ref3788">emperor in 361</a>. But he died on a battlefield just 20 months later, after an unsuccessful attempt to invade Persia, seeking military glory. He is most famous for being the last pagan emperor. </p>
<p>During his short reign he tried to dislodge Christianity as the dominant religion of the empire. He attacked Christian ideology, incited power struggles within the church, openly preferred pagans for high office, expelled Christians from the army and banned them from teaching. He also tried to restore paganism to its previous station by restoring bloody animal sacrifices and the temples to the heart of public life and reforming the priesthood. </p>
<p>In particular, Emperor Julian tried to promote a very specific understanding of the ancient Greek literature, such as Homer and Plato. He believed that they revealed knowledge about the gods rather than simply being fine literary works and so he laid claim to them as belonging to pagans and insisted that “true Pagans” should venerate the gods as they are presented in these ancient texts. In this way he set forward a very particular vision for paganism. Importantly, he also drew a very sharp comparison to Christians and defined their relationship to these ancient texts in very uncharitable ways. In an <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Letters_of_Julian/Letter_36">edict</a> banning Christian teachers from teaching these Greek texts, he said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When a man thinks one thing and teaches his pupils another, in my opinion he fails to educate exactly in proportion as he fails to be an honest man…But if in matters of the greatest importance a man has certain opinions and teaches the contrary, what is that but the conduct of hucksters, and not honest but thoroughly dissolute men in that they praise most highly the things that they believe to be most worthless… </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Emperor Julian defines the Christian relationship with ancient Greek literature in a very narrow way, saying that they think that these texts are worthless, when in fact, a Christian might not have thought of them as divine texts but still would have seen their enormous value as literary objects. Julian allows no room for that nuance or middle way. Instead, he presents two false options: treat these texts as revelations of the gods or see them as useless. He paints a picture which says that pagan and Christian understandings of these Greek texts are completely polarised.</p>
<p>These texts are not isolated examples, but part of an enormous body of Christian and pagan literature which presents these two ideological systems as distinct, with no middle ground. In that wider context, both Chrysostom and Julian tell a very particular story about society – that being a Christian or a pagan involves a very narrow set of beliefs and practices, which are mutually exclusive. The result is a perception that society is split in two halves. </p>
<h2>New evidence</h2>
<p>But historians have since turned away from this picture. Over the past 50 years lots of different evidence has come to <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Pagans_and_Christians_in_the_Roman_Empir.html?id=Xln6LIaOwCcC&redir_esc=y">light</a> which shows that this image of society was, in fact, false. The fourth century society was not composed of two warring factions. </p>
<p>In particular, scholars have begun to look to other sources for information about ordinary people’s beliefs and practices. As a result, historians now suggest that everyone who worshipped the Christian God did not follow the same strict set of beliefs and practices as Chrysostom and the same is true of those who sacrificed to the pagan gods.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Image of ancient papyrus." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385636/original/file-20210222-21-14kkbl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385636/original/file-20210222-21-14kkbl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385636/original/file-20210222-21-14kkbl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385636/original/file-20210222-21-14kkbl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385636/original/file-20210222-21-14kkbl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1796&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385636/original/file-20210222-21-14kkbl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1796&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385636/original/file-20210222-21-14kkbl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1796&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A piece of excavated Oxyrhynchus papyrus - an amulet against fever.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/images/papyrus/0012rwf.jpg">University of Glasgow</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the turn of the 20th century, two archaeologists, Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt, <a href="https://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/oxyrhynchus-papyri">excavated</a> thousands of papyrus texts from an ancient rubbish heap in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. Since then scholars have slowly been digitising and translating these texts, finding scraps of ancient books, as well as various discarded documents, such as court records and private letters. In 1999, Marvin Meyer <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=h93iCQkR9WMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">published</a> their translation of <em>Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1151</em> – a text which was written roughly at the same time as Chrysostom and paints a very different picture of society. </p>
<p>The papyrus is a <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195342703.001.0001/acprof-9780195342703-chapter-15#acprof-9780195342703-chapter-15-note-8">magical amulet</a> designed to ward off illness. The owner would have probably bought it from a local priest at a local church or saints shrine. Before handing over the scroll the cleric would read it out-loud, then the owner would then have rolled it up into a small container and worn it around their neck. The idea was that the amulet would ward off illness as the owner wore it. It sounds like the sort of thing that Chrysostom vehemently denounced from his pulpit as unchristian – but the language is Christian. It says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Lord † Christ, son and word of the living God, the one who healed every disease and every sickness, heal and look upon your female slave Joannia also, to whom Anastasia alias Euphemia gave birth, and expel from her and put to flight every fever-heat and every kind of chill. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This scroll is not an isolated case. Meyer published his translation of Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1151 alongside hundreds of other Christian magical texts, dozens of which were written during the fourth century. For example, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=h93iCQkR9WMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">a spell</a> to protect a woman against fever, which closes by calling upon the Christian Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). </p>
<p>These scrolls are important evidence of a seamless integration of non-Christian magical practice and Christian language. Consequently, <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336931.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195336931-e-26">they show</a> that not all ordinary Christians, members of the clergy and religious orders followed the same narrow set of behaviours which Chrysostom set out.</p>
<p>Historians have begun to think that this moderate understanding of religious belief and practice was quite widespread, rather than being a few isolated cases. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/religious-identity-in-late-antiquity/religious-identity-religious-practice-and-personal-religious-power/B414248BB8F6A59A9858D8FE572D161E">They</a> advance this idea on the basis of the content of early Christian sermons. In the case of magical amulets, the fact that Chrysostom chose to denounce them in his sermon to baptismal candidates shows that many churchgoers used them, otherwise he wouldn’t have considered it a problem worth raising. </p>
<p>Sermons also show us that ordinary worshippers regularly practised a whole range of activities which the fanatics denounced. A great number of Christians observed pagan religious customs and vice versa. Christians observed pagan festivals and attended lectures about pagan gods. Clearly, a significant portion of society did not observe the strict boundaries around what it meant to be a Christian or a pagan, which the fanatics tried to set up. </p>
<p>These pieces of evidence are significant because they show that there is a certain disconnect between the story which Chrysostom and Julian tell about what it means to be Christian or pagan and the reality of what individual people actually believed. This evidence does not invalidate the ideas which Chrysostom had about Christianity or Julian about pagan philosophy, but it does reveal that they were the ideas of extreme voices on the margin rather than representative of half of society. It also shows us that historians initially let these extreme figures tell the story rather than looking at what ordinary people believed.</p>
<h2>Here and now</h2>
<p>And so back to today. It feels like the world is polarised between two groups who have nothing in common. But in reality there are a broad range of beliefs and values and these extreme voices only represent a small proportion of people. The same dynamics, which make society feel more polarised, are at play now, just as they were 1600 years ago.</p>
<p>I believe that we might be incorrectly perceiving the nature of today’s society for similar reasons, we are misled by the loudest and most extreme voices as they define what it means to be left or right wing, rather than falling back on the data about what people actually believe. </p>
<p>For example, the international research group <a href="https://www.moreincommon.com/">More in Common</a> released “<a href="https://www.britainschoice.uk/">Britain’s Choice</a>” which they described as one of the largest ever national studies of the UK’s social psychology. Their findings show that the country is not divided between two opposing groups but rather, is composed of seven different kinds of people, each with their own distinctive values and beliefs. </p>
<p>There are two groups who are particularly politically active and agree on little – “progressive activists” and “backbone conservatives”. But they only make up a small proportion of society (13% and 15% respectively). Importantly, each of these groups share many values and there are even some priorities which they all share, such as having pride in the NHS and being happy about advances in gender equality. The takeaway is that the UK, and society in general, is not divided into two sides of a culture war.</p>
<p>If people want to find out what society is actually like – rather than how it feels – they should stop letting the extreme voices tell the story and listen to ordinary people. Then, we might actually see the country for what it is: a complicated place in which many are divided – but also a haven for people to come together and bond over the things they have in common. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan James William Gilfeather receives funding from the following bodies: University of Cambridge Divinity Faculty; Peterhouse, University of Cambridge; The Church of England Research Degree Panel; and The Diocese of London in the Church of England. He will also be ordained as a minister in the Church of England in June 2022. </span></em></p>Voices on the extremes don’t represent society.Ryan Gilfeather, PhD Candidate in Divinity, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1642302021-07-15T12:27:12Z2021-07-15T12:27:12ZWhy some younger evangelicals are leaving the faith<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411295/original/file-20210714-23-12f7dj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=56%2C28%2C4632%2C3104&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young evangelical Christians are facing a dilemma whether to follow in the footsteps of their parents or pursue other choices.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-bow-their-heads-in-prayer-during-a-sunday-evening-news-photo/506230990?adppopup=true">Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The extent to which the number of white evangelicals have declined in the United States has been laid bare in 2021 by the <a href="https://www.prri.org/">Public Religion Research Institute’s</a> <a href="https://www.prri.org/press-release/prri-releases-groundbreaking-2020-census-of-american-religion/">2020 Census on American Religion</a>.</p>
<p>The institute’s study found that only 14% of Americans identified as white evangelical in 2020. This is a drastic decline since 2006, when America’s religious landscape was composed of 23% white evangelicals, as the report notes.</p>
<p>Along with a decline in white evangelicalism, the data indicates a stabilized increase in the number of those who no longer identify as religious at all. Scholars of religion refer to this group as “<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/08/why-americas-nones-dont-identify-with-a-religion/">nones</a>,” and they make up about a quarter of the American population. These statistics are even more drastic when considering age. In short, older Americans are much more religious than younger Americans, while millennials are likely to not practice or identify with religion. </p>
<p>This data is significant. Even though white evangelicals tend to be politically <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-christian-media-is-shaping-american-politics-95910">vocal and influential</a>, several are known to be leaving the faith. </p>
<p>Increasingly, scholarship is tracking the emergence of those defecting from religion. Religious studies scholar <a href="https://www.scu.edu/cas/religious-studies/faculty--staff/elizabeth-drescher/">Elizabeth Drescher’s</a> 2016 book, “<a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199341221.001.0001/acprof-9780199341221">Choosing Our Religion</a>,” examines numerous cases in which people transition away from their faith. She notes that people leaving evangelicalism “tended to express anger and frustration with both the teachings and practices of their childhood church.” </p>
<p>Although the statistics are sure to capture the attention of various readers, the data can give only limited insights into the more nuanced perspectives specific to critiquing white evangelicalism.</p>
<p>Over the past six years, I have been part of a team of scholars from various disciplines and universities <a href="https://wipfandstock.com/9781532617621/the-emerging-church-millennials-and-religion-volume-1/">examining the hesitancy and rejection</a> of younger individuals either leaving or attempting to reform evangelicalism in America. Some younger evangelicals are disenchanted with their faith traditions’ staunch and divisive political positions and how theology has been used to prop up these positions. </p>
<h2>Younger evangelicals’ experiences</h2>
<p>Between 2010 and 2018, I conducted over 75 interviews with those dissatisfied with their evangelical faith and observed multiple white evangelical megachurches.</p>
<p>My interviewees, all white, were typically in their late 20s to early 40s and highly critical of the Christian faith of their youth. These interviewees respond differently to their dissatisfaction. Some completely leave their faith while others try to reform their faith from within. For the majority, church was a major part of their social life, and they described rigid expectations to defend their theology, politics and spiritual communities to outsiders. </p>
<p>Several of those interviewed during my research mentioned how politics had influenced the theology of white evangelicalism in the United States. Rob, who resides in Florida and spent the majority of his early adult life as a musician in a white evangelical megachurch, told me that his church preached “God, country and the Republican Party.” He was even taught as a teenager that “Jesus was definitely a Republican,” and he characterized God as “quite angry, a cosmic referee” seeking to regulate the lives of the faithful. Today, Rob identifies as a progressive Christian and holds a much more generous view of his god. </p>
<p>My research shows <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-gen-x-and-millennial-evangelicals-are-losing-faith-in-the-conservative-culture-wars-162407">some younger evangelicals are fatigued with white evangelicalism’s allegiance to the Republican Party</a> and to specific stances on racism and sexuality. White evangelicals categorize these issues as <a href="https://iasculture.org/research/publications/culture-wars-struggle-define-america">a “culture war” for the soul of America</a> – an internal struggle for who will define and decide the future of America. </p>
<p>By framing these issues as a cultural battle, white evangelicals maintain an embattled posture targeting a list of such enemies as liberals, secularists and atheists. As sociologists <a href="https://raac.iupui.edu/about/who-we-are/our-staff/andrew-l-whitehead/">Andrew Whitehead</a> and <a href="https://www.ou.edu/cas/soc/people/faculty/samuel-perry">Samuel Perry</a> note in their <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190057886.001.0001/oso-9780190057886">study of Christian nationalism</a>, white evangelicals maintain a “collective desire to protect their cultural-political turf.” </p>
<p>Furthermore, in a racially and ethnically diversifying and increasingly pluralistic country, some evangelicals’ experiences transform their positions on political issues. Take for instance, the issue of immigration policies in the United States. White evangelicals as a group highly <a href="https://www.prri.org/research/a-nation-of-immigrants-diverging-perceptions-of-immigrants-increasingly-marking-partisan-divides/">favor restrictive immigration policies</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411296/original/file-20210714-21-1pdh2mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The Rev. Jose Rodriguez, of the Waltham Worship Christian Center, speaks at a meeting in Boston in March 2018 to bring attention to immigration issues." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411296/original/file-20210714-21-1pdh2mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411296/original/file-20210714-21-1pdh2mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411296/original/file-20210714-21-1pdh2mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411296/original/file-20210714-21-1pdh2mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411296/original/file-20210714-21-1pdh2mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411296/original/file-20210714-21-1pdh2mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411296/original/file-20210714-21-1pdh2mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&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">Some evangelicals have taken a position against restrictive immigration policies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/USImmigration40DayFast/9714d1dae5e64e568342f8ee94574812/photo?Query=evangelicals%20united%20states&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=223&currentItemNo=79">AP Photo/Sarah Betancourt</a></span>
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<p>However, Jerry, one of my interviewees who lives in North Carolina and grew up Methodist, cited the white evangelical position against restrictive immigration policies as a reason to question his faith. Today, Jerry identifies as spiritual but not religious; while still an evangelical, Jerry explained, “When it came to issues of immigration, we wanted our kids to know what it means to be an outsider. We want our kids to have a global experience.” His theological interpretation of the Bible at that time taught Jerry to welcome outsiders, and he applied this to national borders. </p>
<p>Political changes can shift religious beliefs. Jerry’s growing cultural awareness eventually replaced his evangelical interpretation of Scripture. He notes, “As opposed to looking to the Bible or church for answers, let’s have a multicultural world perspective to answer those questions.” </p>
<p>Likewise, Sarah grew up in Kentucky, spending much of her childhood in church services, Bible studies and Christian camps within a Baptist denomination. “Part of me likes the idea of church,” she says, “but I think I like the idea of just helping people more. That’s my idea of what a Christian is, someone who helps others.” She admits this while maintaining that for her personally, religious identity is unimportant. </p>
<p>Sarah’s involvement in poverty alleviation in Kentucky influenced her attitudes on how she sees white evangelical worship today: “The way that the church operates in Kentucky is so backwards. It’s all about the self. About pleasing yourself. It’s all white, middle- to upper-class people watching a big screen with a full band. I think that’s probably the opposite of what Jesus wanted.” </p>
<h2>Why is this happening now?</h2>
<p>For those trained and disciplined within white evangelicalism, the insular and authoritarian nature of the faith often creates circumstances where questioning or critiquing the faith seems impossible and can lead to shunning. </p>
<p>Brandy, in Tennessee and raised a Baptist, recounted that her family actually held a religious intervention, with a screen, PowerPoint and projector, after she stopped attending her family’s church. She experienced ostracization: “I felt rejected, overlooked, looked down upon,” she says. “I felt apart from the community.” Brandy is still a Christian and attends another more progressive church regularly, but her evangelical family refuses to accept her church as legitimate. </p>
<p>This is only a sample of interviewee comments I heard indicating a growing disaffection with the political stances and alliances of white evangelicalism. They represent a growing movement of <a href="https://www.emptythepews.epiphanypublishing.us/">“exvangelicals”</a> – those who grew up in the faith but have since abandoned it. </p>
<p>The staunch resistance to civil unions, transgender rights and women’s equality, along with the inability of white evangelicalism to grapple with its <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/White-Too-Long/Robert-P-Jones/9781982122867">racialized</a> and <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631495731">patriarchal</a> structures, is misaligned with some of these younger perspectives today.</p>
<p>As the report indicates, many millennials are simply rejecting traditional forms of religion altogether.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Shoemaker 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>Disaffected young evangelicals and those who left the church describe an out-of-touch institution not in line with their political beliefs, a scholar foundTerry Shoemaker, Lecturer in Religious Studies, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1632362021-07-13T12:30:44Z2021-07-13T12:30:44ZBans on critical race theory could have a chilling effect on how educators teach about racism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410612/original/file-20210709-23-zxwf4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C4300%2C3153&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People rally against 'critical race theory' at the Loudoun County Government Center in Leesburg, Va. on June 12, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-hold-up-signs-during-a-rally-against-critical-race-news-photo/1233449643?adppopup=true"> Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Perhaps no topic has dominated education news in 2021 like <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05">the debate</a> over whether or not critical race theory should be taught – or <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2021/06/what-is-critical-race-theory-is-it-really-taught-in-schools.html">whether it is even being taught</a> – in America’s schools.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05">Critical race theory</a> is an academic framework that holds that racism is embedded in American society and its institutions. </p>
<p>The debate about whether K-12 students should be exposed to this theory has prompted some Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass laws to make sure that never happens. As of early July 2021, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/">six states</a> have passed laws that seek to ban instruction on critical race theory in K-12 schools, although the laws rarely mention critical race theory by name.</p>
<p>The new laws in <a href="https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2021/legislation/H0377.pdf">Idaho</a>, <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/pdf/HB03979F.pdf#navpanes=0">Texas</a>, <a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2021-22%20ENR/hB/HB1775%20ENR.PDF">Oklahoma</a>, <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGR/89/HF802.pdf">Iowa</a>, <a href="https://legiscan.com/NH/text/HB2/id/2412298">New Hampshire</a> and <a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/CCRReports/CC0003.pdf">Tennessee</a> all prohibit teaching that any race is superior. The laws also prohibit teaching that anyone should be subjected to discrimination or treated badly because of their race or sex. In short, it appears that these laws protect all students against racism and sexism in the classroom.</p>
<p>But the problem emerges when the laws seek to control what teachers can say about whether a state or the nation itself was racist from inception, or whether the U.S. or any states sought to promote white supremacy through their laws.</p>
<h2>A teacher’s dilemma</h2>
<p>Will these newly adopted laws require educators to paint a rosy picture of America’s past? Or do they still permit legitimate discussions about the role that racism played in legally sanctioned racist practices, such as <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-13/section-1-2/abolition-of-slavery">slavery</a> and <a href="https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-segregation.html">racial segregation</a>?</p>
<p>As a curriculum theorist who studies <a href="https://ct.ku.edu/people/nicholas-mitchell">how school curricula portray different events in history</a>, I am concerned that the laws will lead teachers to avoid topics that they worry could get them into trouble, even though it’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teachers-union-critical-race-theory-weingarten/2021/07/06/ef327c20-de61-11eb-9f54-7eee10b5fcd2_story.html">unclear what kind of trouble that could be</a>.</p>
<p>But first, let’s take a look at what some of these laws actually say.</p>
<p>In Iowa and Tennessee, the laws say teachers cannot teach that the United States is “fundamentally racist.” </p>
<p>How can a teacher in Iowa or Tennessee explain that the United States was not “fundamentally racist,” yet at the time of its founding, <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery">race-based slavery</a> was legal and stayed that way until after the Civil War?</p>
<p>The Texas law requires teaching that slavery and racism were strictly “deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States, which include liberty and equality.”</p>
<p>Does that mean a Texas teacher now has to say that Founding Fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison betrayed the “authentic founding principles” of liberty and equality because they owned slaves? </p>
<p>These are not philosophical questions.</p>
<h2>What is distortion?</h2>
<p>Not all of the measures against critical race theory come in the form of law. </p>
<p>In Florida, for instance, the Department of Education <a href="https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/19958/urlt/7-4.pdf">adopted a new policy</a> that states teachers “must be factual and objective.” It also says they cannot “suppress or distort significant historical events, such as the Holocaust, slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction.” </p>
<p>But the policy also states that distortion includes teaching critical race theory. The policy makes clear that it is referring to “the theory that racism is not merely the product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded in American society and its legal systems in order to uphold the supremacy of white persons.”</p>
<p>The policy further prohibits the use of material from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html">1619 Project</a>. That was a series of articles in The New York Times that connect the founding of America to a slave ship that arrived in Virginia in 1619.</p>
<p>The Florida policy also says teachers “may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.” Instruction also must include the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments, the policy states.</p>
<h2>Potential conflicts</h2>
<p>These restrictions create quite a few concerns for, say, a Florida social studies teacher. Now, such a teacher must figure out how to tell students what the Founding Fathers really meant when they wrote <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript">“We the people”</a> in the U.S. Constitution, without saying the Founding Fathers were racist for excluding Black people from the meaning of that phrase.</p>
<p>Teachers may be torn between whether they should follow these new laws and policies or follow their <a href="https://www.nea.org/resource-library/code-ethics-educators">professional code of ethics</a>, which says teachers “shall not deliberately suppress or distort subject matter relevant to the student’s progress.”</p>
<p>How do teachers explain the motivation behind the <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/379/184/">Florida law</a> that forbade unmarried interracial couples from spending the night together until the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in 1964? How do teachers explain why <a href="https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation">Japanese Americans were kept in internment camps</a> during the Second World War? </p>
<p>These are questions that lawmakers have essentially forced teachers to confront before they set out to teach American history. But there are no satisfactory answers for teachers, who will be forced to “distort” history one way or another. </p>
<p>Either they will “distort” history in the eyes of lawmakers who say it’s wrong to teach that America was racist from the start. Or they will distort history by ignoring the fact that – as the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/llst.022/?st=text">U.S. Supreme Court once noted itself in 1857</a> – Black people were “not intended” to be regarded as “citizens” under the U.S. Constitution and therefore had no constitutional rights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163236/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Ensley Mitchell 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>New laws that take aim at critical race theory could pose serious dilemmas for teachers when it comes to describing America’s past, a curriculum specialist says.Nicholas Ensley Mitchell, Assistant Professor of Curriculum Studies, University of KansasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1624072021-06-22T12:14:06Z2021-06-22T12:14:06ZWhite Gen X and millennial evangelicals are losing faith in the conservative culture wars<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407077/original/file-20210617-19-fd3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C7%2C1010%2C717&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Younger evangelicals are openly questioning the religious and political traditions of their parents and grandparents.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ReligionPaulaWhite/d34a2fc5ce034461ac2a52c3d81efdcf">Julie Bennett/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the 1970s, white American evangelicals – a large subsection of Protestants who hold to a literal reading of the Bible – have often managed to get specific privileges through their political engagement primarily through supporting the Republican Party.</p>
<p>In the 1980s, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/03/22/reagan-tied-republicans-white-christians-now-party-is-trapped/">President Ronald Reagan symbolically consolidated the alliance</a> by bringing religious freedom and morality into public conversations that questioned the separation of church and state. In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jesus/evangelicals/bushand.html">Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act</a> into law. In October 2020, President Donald Trump <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-the-politicisation-of-the-us-supreme-court-could-lead-149025">appointed a conservative Christian, Amy Coney Barrett</a>, to the Supreme Court, and went on to win <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/324410/religious-group-voting-2020-election.aspx">80% of the white evangelical vote in the following month’s election</a>. </p>
<p>Trump went so far as to appoint a <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/key-evangelical-players-trumps-advisory-board">faith consultant board</a> composed of influential evangelical leaders. They included Paula White, a well-known pastor and televangelist; and James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, a leading organization in evangelical efforts to embed “family values” into politics. These panel members heralded <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/october/of-course-evangelicals-should-vote-for-trump.html">gestures by Trump</a>, such as signing the “Presidential Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty,” which targeted enforcement of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-does-the-johnson-amendment-curtail-church-freedom-73165">Johnson Amendment</a>, a 1954 tax law requiring houses of worship to stay out of politics in order to remain tax-exempt. </p>
<p>Although it’s debated what specifically <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/evangelical-christian/418236/">constitutes an evangelical</a>, many agree that they are conservatives who are highly motivated by culture war issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and sexuality. </p>
<p>But even though evangelicals are often presented as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/12/evangelicals-donald-trump-capitol-riot-voter-fraud/6644005002/">monolithic in the media</a>, current research signals <a href="https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/7695/evangelicals.aspx">a more complex picture</a>. </p>
<p>Over the past six years, I have been working with an interdisciplinary team of scholars at the <a href="https://www.aarweb.org/">American Academy of Religion</a> to analyze generational shifts in evangelicalism and religion more broadly in the United States. We are finding that some of the younger evangelicals are openly questioning their religious and political traditions. In short, the majority of <a href="https://religioninpublic.blog/2018/01/29/the-graying-of-white-evangelicalism/">white evangelicals are aging</a> and a portion of younger evangelicals are engaging in both religion and politics differently. </p>
<h2>Leaving the faith versus reforming from within</h2>
<p>My research consists of hours of participant observation within younger evangelical faith communities, along with 50 in-depth, qualitative interviews with individuals who were raised in the politically charged evangelicalism in the southeastern United States, a region dominated by evangelicals. </p>
<p>Taken together, this research indicates increasing disaffection among white millennial and Gen X evangelicals with the cultural and political preoccupations that have strongly motivated their parents and grandparents. There is a growing number of “<a href="https://religionandpolitics.org/2019/04/09/the-rise-of-exvangelical/">Exvangelicals</a>” who disavow their previous stances on same-sex marriage, race and sexuality. </p>
<p>Evangelicals, often citing the biblical text, typically maintain that marriage is <a href="https://www.prri.org/spotlight/americans-are-broadly-supportive-of-a-variety-of-lgbtq-rights/">between one man and one woman</a>. <a href="https://sites.duke.edu/ncsweb/files/2020/10/Racial-Diversity-in-U.S.-Congregations-1998-2019.pdf">Over 75% tend to worship in racially segregated congregations</a> and <a href="https://religionnews.com/2019/08/29/which-religions-support-gun-control-in-the-us/">favor gun rights and ownership</a> more than other faith groups. </p>
<p>But my interviewees tend toward intense critiques of their previous religious tradition, as well as rejecting the evangelical faith completely.</p>
<p>This data parallels other scholarship unearthing racialized structures within white, American evangelicalism like the <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/White-Too-Long/Robert-P-Jones/9781982122867">work of</a> sociologist <a href="https://www.prri.org/staff/robert-p-jones-ph-d/">Robert P. Jones</a> and religious studies scholar <a href="https://africana.sas.upenn.edu/people/anthea-butler">Anthea Butler</a>. Likewise, historian <a href="https://calvin.edu/directory/people/kristin-kobes-du-mez">Kristen Kobes Du Mez</a> <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469661179/white-evangelical-racism/">examines how hypermasculinity is</a> embedded in <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631495731">American evangelicalism</a>. </p>
<h2>Expanding religion and politics</h2>
<p>My research reveals communities of younger evangelicals who are expanding their religious boundaries and rethinking their stances on culture war issues, as well as questioning the merits of the culture war.</p>
<p>These younger evangelicals are trying to reform their communities from within the tradition as loyal but highly critical members. Sometimes these groups are called “emerging evangelicals” or “progressive Christians,” with some debating whether “evangelical” as a label is redeemable. </p>
<p>I observed several younger evangelicals working within their religious communities to encourage acceptance of those outside of the Christian tradition as co-religionists on similar faith paths. They herald interfaith interactions as positive. One interviewee proudly detailed to me how her church partnered with the local imam and Muslim community to educate each other on their religious practices and volunteered together at a local food bank. This kind of attitude typically is resisted by their older evangelical counterparts, as I learned in <a href="https://irstudies.org/index.php/jirs/article/view/237/203">previous research</a>. Many traditional evangelicals believe that their faith is the sole path to religious redemption, and interfaith cooperation might harm their followers. </p>
<p>Additionally, some younger evangelicals tend toward adopting spiritual resources outside of the Christian tradition. Whether incorporating meditation techniques or yoga, my interviewees highlighted the ways in which they are exploring their religious and spiritual beliefs. </p>
<p>This contrasts with older evangelicals who perceive their tradition as providing all necessary resources for spiritual growth and reject any outside or Eastern influences. One interviewee noted that she had to change evangelical churches after her evangelical church prohibited her from being both a church member and a local yoga instructor. </p>
<h2>Losing interest in the culture war</h2>
<p>Many of the younger evangelicals in my study stated that their stances on culture war issues were significantly different from the evangelical majority of the past 50 years, which aligns with <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/04/though-still-conservative-young-evangelicals-are-more-liberal-than-their-elders-on-some-issues/">the findings of a 2017 Pew Research Center poll</a>. This survey found that younger generations of millennials are more liberal than older evangelicals on numerous political issues. </p>
<p>My interviewees cited an acceptance and welcoming of those who identify as LGBTQ into their communities as both members and leaders. They support and ally with the objectives of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. In sum, they are actively dismantling many of the insider/outsider distinctions established by older white evangelicals and transforming what it means to be a politically engaged evangelical in America.</p>
<p>Furthermore, many of the people that I spoke with cited a culture war fatigue. Some believe that evangelicalism’s multi-decade investment in campaigning for these conservative stances and alliance with the Republican Party actually harmed the evangelical tradition instead of empowering it, while others are simply trying to opt out of the culture war and focus on their faith instead. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="President Donald Trump takes his seat next to National Rifle Associations (NRA) Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre, right, and Pastor Paula White, left, of the New Destiny Christian Center, at a 2017 White House meeting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407078/original/file-20210617-25-1ibr9fk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407078/original/file-20210617-25-1ibr9fk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407078/original/file-20210617-25-1ibr9fk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407078/original/file-20210617-25-1ibr9fk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407078/original/file-20210617-25-1ibr9fk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407078/original/file-20210617-25-1ibr9fk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407078/original/file-20210617-25-1ibr9fk.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Influential figures like Paula White, left, helped rally evangelical support for Donald Trump, who in turn rewarded them with advisory and other roles in his administration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ReligionPaulaWhite/d34a2fc5ce034461ac2a52c3d81efdcf">Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Interviewees also told me that often their views are creating <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10050341">familial conflict</a>, since their parents and grandparents cannot understand why any evangelical would not be committed to the older generations’ conservative political causes. </p>
<h2>Political conversion</h2>
<p>Research to date, including my own, has yet to measure how widespread these shifts of attitude and belief among young white evangelicals may be. But there is other evidence of internal unraveling. </p>
<p>Take a recent announcement by Beth Moore, an influential evangelical speaker and author, that she <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/03/09/bible-teacher-beth-moore-ends-partnership-with-lifeway-i-am-no-longer-a-southern-baptist/">has decided to leave</a> the Southern Baptist Convention – the largest evangelical group in the U.S. – and end her relationship with a prominent evangelical publisher. </p>
<p>Or consider the <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/06/02/leaked-russell-moore-letter-blasts-sbc-conservatives-sheds-light-on-his-resignation/">recent departure</a> of pastor Russell Moore, the former president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, who resigned from his position over the denomination’s handling of racial issues. These developments indicate a growing internal struggle over who can legitimately claim authority for the evangelical tradition. </p>
<p>The last several decades of American politics have been dominated by culture war issues, with white evangelicals in positions of national power. But as my research is documenting, a political transformation seems to be underway. With younger, white evangelicals rethinking their alliances and continued participation in the culture wars, it is possible that conservative politicians may not be able to count on white evangelical support for much longer. </p>
<p>This could have broader implications for the American political landscape. Without evangelical support and influence, the issues that are often at center stage could drastically change. </p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s faith as a conservative Christian and pastor Russell Moore’s title.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162407/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Shoemaker 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>Growing numbers of young evangelicals and ‘Exvangelicals’ are pro-LGBTQ, support #BlackLivesMatter – or are fed up altogether with mixing faith and politics.Terry Shoemaker, Lecturer, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1615292021-05-26T12:48:57Z2021-05-26T12:48:57ZCulture wars uncovered: most of UK public don’t know if ‘woke’ is a compliment or an insult<p>If you were called “woke”, would you take it as a compliment or an insult?</p>
<p>This simple question sums up a lot about the “culture wars” that have become such a focus in the UK in the last couple of years. Only relatively small proportions of the public have engaged in the debate, but those that have often have utterly different perspectives.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/culture-wars-in-the-uk-how-the-public-understand-the-debate.pdf">major new study</a> suggests the public is completely split on the matter, with a quarter saying it’s a compliment, a quarter that it’s an insult – and the rest having little clue what the term even means.</p>
<p>Where people stand on these divides depends a lot on their characteristics. In particular, 52% of the young think the term woke is a compliment, compared with just 13% of those aged 55 or over. And Labour supporters are three times as likely as Conservative supporters to think of it as a compliment.</p>
<p>Of course, when thinking about how to interpret the term, answers don’t just depend on your age and political leaning - they also depend on how it’s being used. This is a further feature of the culture war debate and source of public confusion - the same terms often have very different meanings to each side.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chart in green grey and red showing whether different groups understand the word woke" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402832/original/file-20210526-13-1k9fgak.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402832/original/file-20210526-13-1k9fgak.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402832/original/file-20210526-13-1k9fgak.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402832/original/file-20210526-13-1k9fgak.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402832/original/file-20210526-13-1k9fgak.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402832/original/file-20210526-13-1k9fgak.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402832/original/file-20210526-13-1k9fgak.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">2,834 UK adults aged 16 or over were interviewed about their understanding of the word ‘woke’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/culture-wars-in-the-uk-how-the-public-understand-the-debate.pdf">King's College London/Ipsos MORI</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where does the idea of culture wars come from?</h2>
<p>The language of “culture wars” was first popularised by the US sociologist James Davison Hunter in the early 1990s. Hunter used it to describe the deep-seated tension that had emerged in the US between <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-349-62397-6_16">“orthodox” and “progressive” worldviews</a>. For him, the term not only captured a political struggle over cultural issues, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LoQU1kJ9iUcC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%E2%80%9Ca+heightened+awareness+of+culture+itself+and+those+who+seek+to+shape+it%E2%80%9D+james+davidson+hunter&source=bl&ots=JME7V5GBat&sig=ACfU3U39PFvt9kLXoOIg0lqY51fdOKcAnA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio-erDk-fwAhXVD2MBHbOdC2AQ6AEwAHoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Ca%20heightened%20awareness%20of%20culture%20itself%20and%20those%20who%20seek%20to%20shape%20it%E2%80%9D%20james%20davidson%20hunter&f=false">but also</a> “a heightened awareness of culture itself and those who seek to shape it” – a conflict “over the meaning of America”. </p>
<p>A “culture war”, in this fuller definition, signals much more than disagreement. In Hunter’s conception, it describes a sense of conflict between two irreconcilable worldviews in what is “fundamentally right and wrong about the world we live in”. </p>
<p>In the UK, however, the culture wars term has been attached to all sorts of disparate issues in media coverage. Perhaps partly because of this, its meaning remains of little interest or salience to the public. When people were asked to describe, in their own words, what sorts of issues the term “culture wars” made them think of, by far the most common response was that it didn’t make them think of any.</p>
<p>And only tiny minorities associate culture wars with many of the stories that have been prominent in UK media coverage: just over 1% link the term to the Black Lives Matter movement or debates over transgender rights, while under 1% make a connection to the removal of statues.</p>
<p>Indeed, looking across our whole research programme on culture wars, the clear impression is that the public is much less engaged or extreme in its views than you’d suspect, given the explosion in political and media discussion of the culture wars.</p>
<p>In 2015, there were just 21 articles in the main UK newspapers and news-sites that talked about “culture wars” in our own country. Last year, there were 534. The timing of this exponential surge in media coverage in the UK seems to point to Brexit as a trigger. But while the cultural divisions that Brexit revealed and reinforced have certainly played a key role, it’s far from the only, or even the main, focus now.</p>
<p>In fact, the <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/culture-wars-in-the-uk-how-the-public-understand-the-debate.pdf">top issues</a> that the media talked about as part of the culture wars in 2020 were empire and slavery, race and ethnicity, our response to COVID-19 and party politics. Brexit was down at ninth in the list.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chart of number of articles mentioning culture wars in UK newspapers with purple and blue bar lines" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402833/original/file-20210526-17-17kcwdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402833/original/file-20210526-17-17kcwdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402833/original/file-20210526-17-17kcwdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402833/original/file-20210526-17-17kcwdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402833/original/file-20210526-17-17kcwdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402833/original/file-20210526-17-17kcwdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402833/original/file-20210526-17-17kcwdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UK newspapers’ coverage of culture wars over the past three decades has grown considerably.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/culture-wars-in-the-uk-how-the-public-understand-the-debate.pdf">King's College London/Ipsos MORI</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sections of the media have, then, clearly imported the US language and concepts of culture wars wholesale – but it’s much less clear whether the public is as invested in the discussion.</p>
<h2>Can we call off the culture war?</h2>
<p>Across a whole series of terms connected to the culture wars, the majority said they’d heard at best “a little” about them, with large proportions saying they’d never heard of common media and political tropes such as “cancel culture” and “microagressions”.</p>
<p>The one term that has cut through more is “white privilege”, with over half of the UK public saying they’d heard a lot about it. This is not a good thing for those interested in making the case for a continued focus on racial equality, as <a href="https://www.britishfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Race-and-opportunity-in-Britain.Final_.30.3.21.pdf">other recent research</a> shows the public are pretty sceptical about the term, particularly white groups. For example, half of white British people agree that it’s easier to get ahead if you’re white, but only 29% agree there is “white privilege” in Britain. The language used and framing of debates matters.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Green and red chart showing UK public's knowledge of various words associated with culture wars" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402834/original/file-20210526-19-hpok7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402834/original/file-20210526-19-hpok7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402834/original/file-20210526-19-hpok7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402834/original/file-20210526-19-hpok7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402834/original/file-20210526-19-hpok7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402834/original/file-20210526-19-hpok7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402834/original/file-20210526-19-hpok7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The UK public’s familiarity with so-called ‘culture war’ words.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/culture-wars-in-the-uk-how-the-public-understand-the-debate.pdf">King's College London/Ipsos MORI</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But while it’s good news that the UK public is too sensible or distracted to get caught up in this rhetoric as yet, it would be a mistake to relax. The US history of culture wars suggests we’re at a very dangerous moment. The tone and focus of political leaders, activists and the media undoubtedly matter, as the US experience shows. The public are not passive recipients of messages from on high, but political and media discussions can be catalysts that encourage division.</p>
<p>Where America leads, Britain often follows – but we can still choose a different path.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161529/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bobby Duffy receives funding from ESRC, Unbound Philanthropy, NIHR and Horizon 2020.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Page works for Ipsos MORI. Ipsos MORI undertakes research for a wide range of government departments and media owners as well as charities and Think Tanks. Ben is a Council Member at ESRC. </span></em></p>The public is much less extreme in its views than you’d suspectBobby Duffy, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute, King's College LondonBen Page, Visiting professor at the Policy Institute, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1601762021-05-12T19:54:30Z2021-05-12T19:54:30ZGuide to the Classics: Montesquieu’s Persian Letters at 300 — an Enlightenment story that resonates in a time of culture wars<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398571/original/file-20210504-21-mrxp1a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>We have recently seen a spate of books defending the Enlightenment, the period of efflorescence in 18th-century Europe that helped shape the modern world. </p>
<p>At the vanguard has been the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, who titled his most recent monument to scientific progress <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/enlightenment-now-9780141979090">Enlightenment Now</a>. The book earned <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABVVDSgihYs">Bill Gates’s endorsement</a> but was widely <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-enlightenment-of-steven-pinker/10094966">criticised by historians</a> since it was not an assessment of the Enlightenment at all, but a compilation of data showing us why life was now better than ever.</p>
<p>Other advocates have been more subtle, stressing that what set the Enlightenment apart from preceding eras was less its confidence in reason per se, than its focus on the <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691161327/the-secular-enlightenment">secular</a> (as opposed to the sacred) as the space in which <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-enlightenment-9780241004838">happiness</a> ought to be pursued and quite possibly achieved.</p>
<p>Readers might wonder: who could be against this? But Pinker and his allies are pushing back on a tendency to see in the overweening self-confidence of the Enlightenment a <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/adorno/#2">blueprint for the horrors of the 20th century</a>. The view is not without merit. The Enlightenment may have given us a new way to think about rights, but it also gave us the atom bomb. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398557/original/file-20210504-19-vyguoo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398557/original/file-20210504-19-vyguoo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398557/original/file-20210504-19-vyguoo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398557/original/file-20210504-19-vyguoo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398557/original/file-20210504-19-vyguoo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398557/original/file-20210504-19-vyguoo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398557/original/file-20210504-19-vyguoo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398557/original/file-20210504-19-vyguoo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Moreover, its conviction that the same naturalistic perspective that led to scientific innovation could be <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520208230/magnetic-mountain">applied to populations</a> has given rise to social engineering in multiple, often sinister forms.</p>
<p>This year marks the 300th anniversary of the publication of a book that contemporaries saw as inaugurating the Enlightenment in France: <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/persian-letters-9780192806352?cc=au&lang=en&">Montesquieu’s Persian Letters</a>. </p>
<p>Given its exalted status, one would expect to find in Persian Letters an ode to human ingenuity and a confident projection of progress. But its contents are much more surprising — and relevant — than that.</p>
<p>The book’s author, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu — Montesquieu, for short — was an odd sort, an aristocrat with a sympathy for republics and a voracious intellectual appetite. </p>
<p>Born in 1689, he came of age at a time of French predominance in Europe. A lawyer by training, he began writing during the “Regency”, a period of social dynamism that followed the death in 1715 of Louis XIV, the Sun King, when his great-grandson Louis XV was too young to rule on his own.</p>
<h2>A new kind of fiction</h2>
<p>In 1721 Montesquieu introduced France to a new kind of fiction, a novel composed entirely of letters, mainly authored by Usbek and Rica, two Persians who have travelled to Paris and delight in reporting their bemusement at its customs. The device allows Montesquieu to make the more familiar features of European life appear idiosyncratic.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398558/original/file-20210504-17-1pla8xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398558/original/file-20210504-17-1pla8xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398558/original/file-20210504-17-1pla8xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398558/original/file-20210504-17-1pla8xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398558/original/file-20210504-17-1pla8xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398558/original/file-20210504-17-1pla8xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398558/original/file-20210504-17-1pla8xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398558/original/file-20210504-17-1pla8xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An anonymous painting of Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The nature of the work also gives Montesquieu ample space to deal with subjects that still divide us: the varieties of government, the extravagances of metaphysical speculation, and the dilemmas of tolerance.</p>
<p>In this regard, we can see Persian Letters as a set of working notes for the book that earned Montesquieu his place among the giants of modern political thought: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_the_Laws">The Spirit of the Laws</a>, published in 1748. With its case for a “separation of powers” as crucial to a well-functioning republic, this volume inspired <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/389064?seq=1">Thomas Jefferson</a> and the authors of the US constitution. </p>
<p>Providing a typology of regimes — republics, monarchies, despotisms — and tracing their relationship to material factors from climate to geography, The Spirit of the Laws more or less launched the discipline of <a href="https://archive.org/details/maincurrentsinso01aron">political sociology</a>. More prophetic still was the book’s concern for how despotism lies in wait for any regime that sees a loss of civic virtue.</p>
<p>All of this material is dealt with ironically in Persian Letters. The worry about despotism is signalled through what passes for a plot in the book. As Usbek becomes accustomed to Parisian society, he becomes distant from his seraglio (or harem) in Persia.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398572/original/file-20210504-23-1oap9tj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398572/original/file-20210504-23-1oap9tj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398572/original/file-20210504-23-1oap9tj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398572/original/file-20210504-23-1oap9tj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398572/original/file-20210504-23-1oap9tj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398572/original/file-20210504-23-1oap9tj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398572/original/file-20210504-23-1oap9tj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398572/original/file-20210504-23-1oap9tj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Persian miniature by Hossein Behzad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Iranian National Museum.</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>A revolt ensues in which the women, corrupted by having to live in a degraded state and no longer fearful of their absent authority, stage a bloody uprising. The story ends with a letter from Usbek’s favourite wife Roxane, who is committing suicide, pen in hand.</p>
<h2>Constant vigilance</h2>
<p>This ghastly conclusion makes for an instructive contrast with the playful tone otherwise permeating the book. Throughout the letters, there is much mirth at Frenchmen who distract themselves with philosophical rumination while their society becomes mired in conflict and sedition.</p>
<p>The irony is to the point; political stability is a matter of constant vigilance, irrespective of the nature of the regime in question.</p>
<p>With his portrayal of the seraglio, a question insists: is Montesquieu indulging in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism_(book)">Orientalism</a>, a projection of his Western prejudices on to figures from the East? </p>
<p>Perhaps. And yet Montesquieu never loses sight of the fictional nature of his construction. To see Europe through the eyes of another is to imagine yourself in the position of the other, not to occupy it.</p>
<p>Not coincidentally, this relationship between how we present ourselves and who we are is one of the key themes of the work.</p>
<p>In one of the early letters, Rica recounts the wonder he aroused walking the streets of Paris. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I therefore resolved to set aside my Persian clothing and dress instead as a European, to see whether anything in my appearance would still astonish. From this test, I learnt my true worth: stripped of my exotic finery, I found myself appraised at my real value, and I had good reason to complain of my tailor, through whom I’d lost, in an instant, the attention and esteem of the public.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In reflecting on whether the clothes make the man, Rica suggests the social nature of our identities. In effect, we are as we are seen. But recognising this fact only increases Rica’s desire for public approval.</p>
<p>Elsewhere Usbek remarks that in order to remain powerful a monarch must supply not only necessities, but luxuries. And yet the obsession with luxury — both as a pleasurable experience and opulent display — affects or indeed infects everything, even religion, which is mercilessly pilloried throughout Persian Letters.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398576/original/file-20210504-21-jq6dge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398576/original/file-20210504-21-jq6dge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398576/original/file-20210504-21-jq6dge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398576/original/file-20210504-21-jq6dge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398576/original/file-20210504-21-jq6dge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398576/original/file-20210504-21-jq6dge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398576/original/file-20210504-21-jq6dge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398576/original/file-20210504-21-jq6dge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Louis XV in Coronation Robes, Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1730.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The society Montesquieu satirises is one in which moral debates fail to find resolution because agreement is hardly the goal; vindication is. The need for social vindication breeds conflict. We seek out peers who advance what we take to be our interests rather than working with others to discover sites of common interest. </p>
<p>In this aspect, the paint on Usbek and Rica’s portrait of modern life hardly seems dry.</p>
<p>“The reader is urged to note,” Montesquieu wrote in a later edition of Persian Letters, “that the entire charm of the work resides in the constantly recurring contrast between actual reality and the singular, naïve, or strange manner in which reality is perceived”.</p>
<p>The mirror Montesquieu presents to society is one in which its vanities appear in all their absurdity.</p>
<p>With earnestness an increasingly dominant virtue in today’s culture wars, we’d likewise do well to rediscover the charm, indeed the humility, in appreciating the inevitably partial nature of our views.</p>
<p>More than celebrations of science or promises of progress — both of which tend to a self-righteousness foreign to Persian Letters — this seems to be a form of enlightenment we could use, for now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160176/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Knox Peden 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>In this influential novel, two Persians travel to Paris and report their bemusement at its customs. Questions such as the dilemmas of tolerance and the social nature of our identities are explored.Knox Peden, Senior Lecturer in European Enlightenment Studies, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.