tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/indiana-university-1368/articlesIndiana University2024-03-28T12:50:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2263552024-03-28T12:50:10Z2024-03-28T12:50:10Z69% of US Muslims always give to charities during Ramadan, fulfilling a religious obligation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583547/original/file-20240321-28-vegr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C988%2C5620%2C4421&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Muslim community gather for the first Taraweeh prayer of Ramadan in New York City in 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-muslim-community-gather-for-the-first-news-photo/2066798836">Adam Gray/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/items/ecaeeffb-5441-4b96-a2f6-ea8220571f22">Nearly 70% of Muslim Americans</a> say they always <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-zakat-a-scholar-of-islam-explains-170756">give zakat</a>, a yearly donation of 2.5% of one’s wealth that Islam encourages, during Ramadan according to a new study I worked on.</p>
<p>Ramadan is a month-long period of fasting and spiritual growth during which Muslims refrain from all food, beverages and sexual activity from dawn to dusk.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://lakeinstitute.org/research/muslim-philanthropy-initiative/">Muslim Philanthropy Initiative</a> research team at Indiana University surveyed 1,136 Muslims across the country in 2023 to assess the connection between Ramadan and zakat. We also looked into demographic differences in Muslim giving <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">tied to Ramadan</a>.</p>
<p>We found that women, married couples, those who consider themselves to be very religious, people with incomes in the US$50,000-$75,000 range, people in their 30s, and those who are registered to vote are most likely to give the bulk of their zakat during Ramadan.</p>
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<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Billions of Muslims across the world observe Ramadan.</p>
<p>Zakat, one of the <a href="https://crestresearch.ac.uk/comment/islam-five-pillars">five pillars of Islam</a>, is aimed at redistributing wealth and alleviating poverty within the Muslim community. Muslims can give to the poor, people who owe big debts, stranded travelers and those <a href="https://www.zakat.org/zakat-foundations-ceo-wins-lincoln-anti-slavery-award">seeking to free people from slavery or captivity</a> to meet the requirements of zakat.</p>
<p>Muslims often offer zakat during Ramadan through fundraising at <a href="https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/iftar-eftari-iftar-iftor-and-its-socio-cultural-traditions-01984">iftars</a>, which are gatherings held at sunset where people break their fast together.</p>
<p>Nonprofits that are not led by Muslims tend to focus their fundraising efforts on <a href="https://neonone.com/resources/blog/year-end-giving-statistics/">giving in December</a> and important secular days for campaigns, such as <a href="https://missionwired.com/insights/giving-tuesday-2023-final-report-11-takeaways/">Giving Tuesday</a>. But if these organizations don’t do outreach to Muslims during Ramadan they are less likely to raise money effectively from a <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-muslims-gave-more-to-charity-than-other-americans-in-2020-170689">small but generous population</a>.</p>
<p>Muslim-led U.S. nonprofits do spend a significant amount of time and money on fundraising during Ramadan. But they may not realize the importance of stepping up their efforts to seek zakat from Muslims in their 30s, women, married couples, active voters and those who regularly pray at a mosque.</p>
<p>In previous research projects, we’ve found that <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1805/29947">U.S. Muslims support both Muslim and non-Muslim nonprofits</a>, donating at least $4.3 billion in 2021, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-muslims-gave-more-to-charity-than-other-americans-in-2020-170689">including about $1.8 billion in zakat</a>. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We are partnering with <a href="https://irusa.org/O">Islamic Relief USA</a>, the largest Muslim-led humanitarian charity in the United States which serves people in the United States and internationally, and our colleagues at Indiana University’s <a href="https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/institutes/lake-institute/index.html">Lake Institute on Faith and Giving</a> to conduct annual surveys of Muslims in the United States to better understand Muslim giving starting in 2024.</p>
<p>We’re also conducting surveys and focus groups across the world to have a global understanding of Muslim giving. We aim to release data from Pakistan, Kuwait, Jordan, Turkey, Qatar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Bangladesh and India, in addition to the United States by the end of 2025.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Additional research is needed to better understand what motivates these donors to give during Ramadan, how much money U.S. Muslims give to charity during Ramadan and the best ways for nonprofits led by Muslims and non-Muslims to engage donors who are moved to support charitable causes during Ramadan.</p>
<p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226355/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shariq Siddiqui receives funding from The John Templeton Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts, Pillars Fund, Proteus Fund, Islamic Relief USA, Zakat Foundation of America, PennyAppeal USA, Mirza Family Foundation, Helping Hand Relief and Development, Nama Foundation and WF Fund. This research study was funded by Islamic Relief USA.</span></em></p>During the month-long period of fasting, the obligation of zakat takes on heightened significance.Shariq Siddiqui, Assistant Professor & Director of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2263762024-03-27T12:37:18Z2024-03-27T12:37:18Z‘The Amazon of Sports’ has already cornered baseball’s apparel market – and is now on the verge of subsuming baseball cards, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584187/original/file-20240325-24-8sv22l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C7%2C5073%2C3638&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The U.S. sports card industry is an estimated $12 billion market.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/group-of-young-fans-hold-up-their-topps-baseball-cards-news-photo/830913124?adppopup=true">Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During spring training, Major League Baseball’s official uniform supplier, Fanatics, became a focal point for all the wrong reasons. </p>
<p>After arriving in Florida and Arizona, players began to complain about the quality of their new, Fanatics-manufactured uniforms. </p>
<p>One player for the Baltimore Orioles <a href="https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-players-slam-new-mlb-jerseys-like-a-knockoff-jersey-from-tj-maxx-DEXUP34CLNFNNEW3AMES56G6U4/">groused that the new uniforms looked</a> “like a knockoff jersey from T.J. Maxx.” Others were dismayed to learn that the white pants were transparent, with seams from tucked-in jerseys – <a href="https://twitter.com/JRoc23/status/1760930264828563621">and sometimes more than just seams</a> – visible to all.</p>
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<p>The spring training uniform fiasco has led to more scrutiny for Fanatics, a company that had, until recently, been widely considered an American success story. CEO Michael Rubin, a college dropout, grew Fanatics from a ski and snowboard business into what some now call “<a href="https://theathletic.com/3998333/2022/12/14/michael-rubin-business-sportsperson/">the Amazon of Sports</a>.” </p>
<p>Thanks to its connections with the leading U.S. sports leagues, Fanatics has quickly become the dominant player in nearly every aspect of the sports licensing industry. It manufactures and sells everything from team hats and T-shirts to logo-adorned <a href="https://www.fanatics.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/auto-accessories/new-york-rangers-wincraft-chrome-colored-license-plate-frame/o-4628+t-47598504+d-64881168+f-9585632+z-9-3053713359?">license plate frames</a> and <a href="https://www.fanatics.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/lawn-and-garden/boston-red-sox-bird-house/o-3432+t-92334186+d-75002380+f-539183674+z-9-1600955566?">birdhouses</a>.</p>
<p>But uniforms are not the only aspect of Fanatics’ licensing strategy that has elicited controversy. Over the past few years, <a href="https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/news/fanatics-sports-card-rights-reaction-mlb-nba-nfl-hobby">Fanatics has undertaken an aggressive campaign</a> to acquire the exclusive rights to produce the officially licensed sports trading cards for not only MLB but also the NFL and NBA. In some cases, these deals are set to run for as long as 20 years.</p>
<p>As we explain <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4739580">in a forthcoming article</a> in the University of Illinois Law Review, Fanatics’ consolidation of the sports card industry threatens to reduce the company’s incentive to innovate or invest in trading cards, risking a stagnant future for the hobby.</p>
<h2>Pro sports get exclusive</h2>
<p>In order to produce apparel or memorabilia featuring official team logos, manufacturers must secure the legal right to use the teams’ trademarks, the intellectual property that legally protects teams’ names and emblems. </p>
<p>The companies will typically acquire these legal rights by entering into contracts, called <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/licensing-agreement.asp">licensing agreements</a>, with a particular sports league, giving the manufacturer the right to use all league and team logos on its products.</p>
<p>Historically, U.S. sports leagues have granted multiple companies these rights.</p>
<p>In recent years, however, leagues and manufacturers have tended to favor <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/exclusive_license">exclusive licenses</a> – agreements that ensure that only a single company will have the right to use the league’s trademarks on a particular type of product. EA Sports, for instance, has held the exclusive rights to produce NFL video games – via its Madden franchise – <a href="https://kotaku.com/remember-its-not-just-the-nfls-exclusive-license-with-5988357">for nearly 20 years</a>, giving it an effective monopoly over this product line.</p>
<p>After deciding to move into the sports trading card market, Fanatics used exclusive trademark licenses <a href="https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/news/fanatics-sports-card-rights-reaction-mlb-nba-nfl-hobby">to secure the sole rights to produce MLB, NFL and NBA cards</a> in 2021.</p>
<p>While some people may see baseball cards as mere child’s play, the U.S. sports card industry <a href="https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/product/sports-trading-card-market/">is estimated to be a US$12 billion market</a>. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href="https://theathletic.com/3447519/2022/07/26/sports-card-baseball-market/">there’s been a surge in interest</a>. </p>
<p>Moving forward, Fanatics will have near monopoly control over a large chunk of that market.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman wearing sunglasses, an older man wearing sunglasses, and a middle-aged man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584197/original/file-20240325-28-qao0hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584197/original/file-20240325-28-qao0hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584197/original/file-20240325-28-qao0hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584197/original/file-20240325-28-qao0hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584197/original/file-20240325-28-qao0hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584197/original/file-20240325-28-qao0hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584197/original/file-20240325-28-qao0hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, right, embraces New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft at the 2019 Fanatics Super Bowl party.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/2019FanaticsSuperBowlParty-Arrivals/5f67df95733e4014af8a9b8d5d97a2ce/photo?Query=michael%20rubin&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=62&currentItemNo=34">Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Trading card competition spurs innovation</h2>
<p>This won’t be the first time that the U.S. sports card hobby has fallen under the control of a single manufacturer. </p>
<p>Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, one of the companies recently displaced by Fanatics – the Topps Chewing Gum company – possessed largely unchallenged power over the industry.</p>
<p>Topps had acquired its monopoly in the mid-1950s after <a href="https://fanarch.com/blogs/sports-cards/is-bowman-owned-by-topps">buying out its former competitor</a>, Bowman, following a protracted legal battle. It then maintained the monopoly for decades by signing exclusive contracts with nearly every MLB player. These contracts gave Topps the sole rights to use images of the players on trading cards.</p>
<p>This lack of competition resulted in an era that featured little innovation – and, in the eyes of many collectors, uninspired offerings. Indeed, during this period, Topps would not only often rely on relatively unattractive card designs, but the company would also occasionally <a href="https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/woulda-coulda-shoulda-vintage-baseball-team-photos-topps-left-out/">reuse the same player photos multiple years in a row</a>.</p>
<p>The Topps monopoly was ultimately broken up by a federal court <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2019/01/baseball-card-litigation-fleer-v-topps/">in a suit filed by would-be competitor Fleer</a> under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and this decision led to a variety of new brands entering the market. </p>
<p>In addition to Fleer, the 1980s would witness the launch of a flood of new card companies, including <a href="https://www.cardboardconnection.com/donruss-baseball-card-designs-years">Donruss</a>, <a href="https://www.baseball-almanac.com/baseball_cards/baseball_card_sets.php?m=Score">Score</a> and Upper Deck. The resulting competition pushed these companies, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Card_Sharks.html?id=J-_vAQAACAAJ">with Upper Deck leading the way</a>, to dramatically improve their product offerings, not only upgrading their card designs and photos, but also their printing technology and card stock.</p>
<p>Eventually, however, many card collectors became overwhelmed by the vast number of product offerings in the 1990s and early 2000s. Realizing that overproduction was dampening consumer interest, sports leagues began to grant exclusive licenses to individual card manufacturers to restrict the number of cards on the market. Topps, for instance, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/sports/baseball/06cards.html">regained its status</a> as the exclusive card manufacturer for MLB in 2009.</p>
<p>Until recently, however, different companies had held the exclusive rights to produce trading cards for the leading U.S. sports leagues, providing some degree of continued competition in the industry.</p>
<h2>Is Fanatics running afoul of antitrust law?</h2>
<p>Fanatics’ consolidation of the industry raises the specter that the hobby could once again witness the ills of monopolization in the coming years.</p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fanatics’ takeover of the sports card hobby <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/07/fanatics-panini-launch-legal-battle-with-a-pair-of-lawsuits.html">is currently being challenged in court by Panini</a>, another of the companies that Fanatics supplanted.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Yellow and sign reading 'PANINI' in front of manufacturing facilities." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584186/original/file-20240325-18-1cecuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584186/original/file-20240325-18-1cecuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584186/original/file-20240325-18-1cecuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584186/original/file-20240325-18-1cecuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584186/original/file-20240325-18-1cecuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584186/original/file-20240325-18-1cecuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584186/original/file-20240325-18-1cecuh.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">The Italian collectibles company Panini filed an antitrust lawsuit against Fanatics in 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photo-taken-on-april-20-2018-shows-the-panini-group-news-photo/950673158?adppopup=true">Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The lawsuit alleges that Fanatics has violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by engaging in anti-competitive practices that have ousted Panini and other competitors from the industry. </p>
<p>In this sense, Fanatics’ re-monopolization of the U.S. sports trading card business exhibits additional parallels to the earlier Topps monopoly of the 1960s and 1970s.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Panini’s case merely underlies what may actually be bigger questions about Fanatics’ business practices in general. </p>
<p>Fanatics has used exclusive license agreements – similar to those that it has executed for sports cards – to help build its dominant position in the broader sports licensing marketplace. </p>
<p>Whether these exclusive licensing agreements are legal or not remains unresolved; the permissibility of similar exclusive trademark licenses under federal antitrust law was last raised in a 2010 case before the Supreme Court in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2009/08-661">American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League</a>. </p>
<p>In that case, a former manufacturer of NFL hats sued the NFL after the league decided to grant Reebok the exclusive rights to make its team-logoed hats beginning in 2002. American Needle alleged that the decision by 32 individually owned and operated NFL franchises to collectively license their trademarks to a single manufacturer ran afoul of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sherman_antitrust_act">the Sherman Antitrust Act</a>.</p>
<p>While the Supreme Court held that the NFL-Reebok deal was subject to scrutiny under antitrust law, the parties ultimately settled the case before the courts issued a final resolution regarding the legality of the NFL’s exclusive license.</p>
<p>While sports trading cards comprise a multibillion-dollar industry, they represent just a share of the larger, <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/licensed-sports-merchandise-market-report">$33 billion U.S. sports licensing market</a>. </p>
<p>See-through, cheap-looking baseball pants may or may not be a consequence of a lack of competition in this market.</p>
<p>But we think it’s only a matter of time before the depletion of competition for licensed sports apparel results in higher prices and less choice for fans. The same holds true for trading cards.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226376/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>Fanatics’ consolidation of the sports card industry risks a stagnant future for the hobby.Nathaniel Grow, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Indiana UniversityJohn Holden, Associate Professor of Management, Oklahoma State UniversityMarc Edelman, Professor of Law, Baruch College, CUNYLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250612024-03-26T12:40:09Z2024-03-26T12:40:09ZPoliticians may rail against the ‘deep state,’ but research shows federal workers are effective and committed, not subversive<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584101/original/file-20240325-22-7ip3p7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2995%2C2043&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A worker at the National Hurricane Center tracks weather over the Gulf of Mexico.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/philippe-papin-hurricane-specialist-at-the-national-news-photo/1494908383">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s common for political candidates to disparage “the government” even as they run for an office in which they would be part of, yes, running the government. </p>
<p>Often, what they’re referring to is what <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=I_z924QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">we</a>, as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=RW9itwwAAAAJ">scholars</a> of the inner workings of democracy, call “the administrative state.” At times, these critics use a label of collective distrust and disapproval for government workers that sounds more sinister: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2023.2249142">the deep state</a>.”</p>
<p>Most people, however, don’t know what government workers do, why they do it or how the government selects them in the first place.</p>
<p>Our years of research about the people who work in the federal government finds that they care deeply about their work, aiding the public and pursuing the stability and integrity of government.</p>
<p>Most of them are devoted civil servants. Across hundreds of interviews and surveys of people who have made their careers in government, what stands out most to us is their commitment to civic duty without regard to partisan politics. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A drawing of a statue with a caricature of Andrew Jackson riding on a pig." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Andrew Jackson was a proponent of the ‘spoils system’ in which new presidents could hire friends and supporters into government jobs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:In_memorium--our_civil_service_as_it_was.JPG">Thomas Nast, Harper's Weekly, via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From spoils to merit</h2>
<p>From the country’s founding through 1883, the U.S. federal government relied on what was called a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/009539979802900606">spoils system</a>” to hire staff. The system got its name from the expression “to the victor goes the spoils.” A newly elected president would distribute government jobs to people who helped him win election.</p>
<p>This system had two primary defects: First, vast numbers of federal jobholders could be displaced every four or eight years; second, many of the new arrivals had no qualifications or experience for the jobs to which they were appointed. </p>
<p>Problems resulting from these defects were smaller than modern Americans might expect, because at that time the federal government was much smaller than it is today and had less to do with Americans’ everyday lives. This method had its defenders, including President Andrew Jackson, who <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/7597210">believed that government tasks were relatively simple</a> and anyone could do them.</p>
<p>But even so, the spoils system meant government was not as effective as it could have been – and as the people justifiably expected it to be.</p>
<p>In 1881, President James Garfield was assassinated by a <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/114423/destiny-of-the-republic-by-candice-millard/">man who believed he deserved a government job</a> because of his support for Garfield but didn’t get one. The assassination led to bipartisan passage in Congress of the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/pendleton-act">Pendleton Act of 1883</a>. </p>
<p>The law brought sweeping change. It introduced for the first time principles of merit in government hiring: Appointment and advancement were tied to workers’ competence, not their political loyalties or connections. To protect civil servants from political interference, they were given job security: Grounds for firing now revolve around poor performance or misconduct, rather than being a supporter of whichever political party lost the last election.</p>
<p>Nearly <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9091000001">3 million career civil servants</a> continue to have these protections today. New presidents still get to hire <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ppo/">roughly 4,000 political appointees</a> with fewer protections.</p>
<p>As a result of these changes and related reforms in the <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/history/civil-service-reform-act-1978">Civil Service Reform Act of 1978</a>, the U.S. government is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12945">far more effective today</a> than it was prior to the Pendleton Act. </p>
<p>In fact, U.S. civil service institutions, built on merit-based appointments, merit-based advancement and security of employment, have become the <a href="https://doi.org/10.33545/26646021.2020.v2.i1b.40">standard for democratic governments</a> around the globe. U.S. federal workers are generally <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2023.2249142">high-performing, impartial and minimally corrupt</a> compared with other countries’ civil servants.</p>
<h2>Increasing government responsibilities</h2>
<p>Since 1776, the U.S. population has increased <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/07/july-fourth-celebrating-243-years-of-independence.html">from about 2.5 million people to over 330 million today</a>. With its growing size and with technological advances, the federal government now provides a great many services, including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/opinion/trump-deep-state.html">protecting its citizens</a> from complex environmental, health and international threats.</p>
<p>Environmental Protection Agency employees help maintain clean air and water and clean up toxic waste dumps to protect human health. Department of Energy scientists and managers oversee the treatment and disposal of <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Fifth-Risk/">radioactive nuclear waste</a> from our weapons program and power plants. National Park Service staff manage over <a href="https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/fy2021-bib-bh081.pdf">85 million acres of public land across all 50 states</a>. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecasters’ advance detection of potential weather emergencies enable early warnings and evacuations from high-risk areas, <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Fifth-Risk/">which has saved countless lives</a>.</p>
<p>Federal Emergency Management Agency employees aid survivors of natural disasters. That agency also subsidizes flood insurance, making home insurance available in flood-prone areas. The U.S. government additionally provides <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/federal-government-pays-farmers-doesnt-mean-farmers-are-fans">billions of dollars in subsidies</a> per year to support farmers and maintain food security. </p>
<p>These programs are all administered by government employees: environmental scientists, lawyers, analysts, diplomats, security officers, postal workers, engineers, foresters, doctors and many other specialized career civil servants. Andrew Jackson’s idea of government work no longer applies: You do not want just anyone managing hazardous waste, sending a space shuttle into orbit or managing public lands constituting <a href="https://www.gao.gov/managing-federal-lands-and-waters">one-third of the country’s territory</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People wearing white helmets and white jackets slice open meat carcasses." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety inspectors examine meat at a processing plant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/AgSecretaryFoodSafety/51f2053e7b3841c5b9343ebff015c7c3/photo">AP Photo/Nati Harnik</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A dedicated workforce</h2>
<p>Research, including our own, shows that these workers are not self-serving elites but rather dedicated and committed public servants.</p>
<p>That’s <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-new-case-for-bureaucracy/book238024">generally true</a> even of Internal Revenue Service staffers, postal service clerks and other bureaucratic functionaries who may not earn much public respect. Federal employees <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/phantoms-of-a-beleaguered-republic-9780197656945?cc=us&lang=en&">mirror demographics in the United States</a> and are hired, trained and legally obligated to uphold the Constitution and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/725313">serve the public interest</a>.</p>
<p>One of us, Jaime Kucinskas, with sociologist and law professor <a href="https://law.seattleu.edu/faculty/directory/profiles/zylan-yvonne.html">Yvonne Zylan</a>, tracked the experiences of dozens of federal employees across the EPA, Department of Health and Human Services, State Department, Department of Interior, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and various other agencies during the Trump administration. That research found these workers were dedicated to serving the public and the Constitution, upholding the missions of their agencies and democracy, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/725313">working to support leadership and the elected president</a>. </p>
<p>Even though 80% of the centrist and Democratic Party-leaning government workers they spoke with did not believe in the ideas behind the Trump presidency, they were careful to follow legal official orders from the administration.</p>
<p>They noted the importance of speaking up while leaders deliberated what to do. After political appointees and supervisors made their decisions, however, even the civil servants who most valued speaking truth to power acknowledged, “Then it’s time to execute,” as one State Department employee told Kucinskas. “As career professionals we have an obligation to carry out lawful instructions, even if we don’t fully agree with it.”</p>
<p>Another international affairs expert told Kucinskas, “People have voted and this is where we’re at. And we’re not going to change things. We don’t do that here.” He said if political appointees “want to do what you consider bad decisions … we do our best to give more information. … And if they still decide to do (it), then we say okay, that’s what we’re going to do.”</p>
<p>He was firm in this loyal and deferential position to the elected president and his administration in 2018 and again in a 2020 follow-up interview. “If you want to be an advocate, you can leave and work in a different sector,” he concluded. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People wearing reflective safety vests stand in a clearing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.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>
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<span class="caption">Environmental Protection Agency workers tour the site of an abandoned mercury mine in California slated for cleanup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/environmental-protection-agency-remedial-project-manager-news-photo/2041454729">Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some decided to do just that: More than a quarter of the upper-level government workers Kucinskas spoke with left their positions during the Trump administration. Although exits typically rise during presidential transitions, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jpart/article/31/2/451/5983893">they typically remain under 10%</a>, making this degree of high-level exits unusually high.</p>
<p>Even as many Americans express frustration with the president, Congress and the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/06/06/the-people-of-government-career-employees-political-appointees-and-candidates-for-office/">federal government as a whole</a>, however, we believe it is important not to take for granted what federal government workers are doing well. U.S. citizens benefit from effective federal services, thanks in part because the government hires and rewards civil servants because of their merit rather than loyalty.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225061/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>Years of research about the people who work in the federal government finds that most of them are devoted civil servants who are committed to civic duty without regard to partisan politics.Jaime Kucinskas, Associate Professor of Sociology, Hamilton CollegeJames L. Perry, Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs Emeritus, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2251572024-03-26T12:39:27Z2024-03-26T12:39:27ZHelping children eat healthier foods may begin with getting parents to do the same, research suggests<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580459/original/file-20240307-24-3kjt9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=241%2C160%2C6186%2C4255&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Everyone agrees kids should eat healthy foods. But parents are often left out of that message.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/african-american-mother-feeding-her-happy-son-with-royalty-free-image/1126065782?phrase=parent%20feeding%20child">skynesher/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most parents, educators and policymakers agree that children should eat healthy foods. However, our peer-reviewed paper suggests the strategy adults often use to achieve that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437231184830">can sometimes backfire</a>. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix.</p>
<p><a href="https://kelley.iu.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/profile.html?id=KGULLO">We</a>, <a href="https://business.pitt.edu/professors/peggy-liu/">along</a> with fellow marketing scholars <a href="https://www.hkubs.hku.hk/people/lingrui-zhou/">Lingrui Zhou</a> and <a href="https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/gavan-fitzsimons">Gavan Fitzsimons</a>, conducted five experiments with over 3,800 parents as well as 10 in-depth interviews. We found that parents tend to choose unhealthy foods for themselves after choosing a healthy meal for their young children. This happens because parents said they are uncertain whether their child will eat their healthy dishes, and so they use their own meal as backup to share to ensure that their child at least eats something. </p>
<p>This dynamic is not ideal. For one, it could result in parents eating unhealthier foods, and children may also end up eating unhealthily if they eat mostly from their parent’s plate. Additionally, it does not set a good example of healthy eating.</p>
<p>How, then, to change this dynamic?</p>
<p>After testing several interventions, one stood out as particularly simple and effective: nudging parents to think of their meals as their own, rather than backup options for their kids.</p>
<p>We partnered with a nursery school that was interested in promoting healthier eating among children. Parents associated with the school were offered a free family dinner. Parents first chose a meal for their child from a healthy kid’s menu. They then chose a meal for themselves from a menu that had a mix of healthy and unhealthy options. Half of the parents – randomly assigned – saw a menu that prompted them to think of their own meal as “for you and only you!” The other half did not see this additional prompt to think of their own meal as only for them. </p>
<p>This intervention was successful: By encouraging parents to think of their meal as their own, it made about a third more likely to choose the healthy option for themselves.</p>
<p>Our findings suggest policymakers and schools may want to consider the role parents – and their food choices – play in efforts to encourage healthy eating among children. As for parents, we suggest nixing the backup plan and making sure both they and their children are eating nutritiously.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225157/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelley Gullo Wight receives funding from the Duke-Ipsos Research Center & Think Tank.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peggy Liu receives funding from the Duke-Ipsos Research Center & Think Tank.</span></em></p>Not knowing whether their children will eat the healthy food put on their plates, parents may prepare a less healthy dish for themselves to serve as backup for the kids too.Kelley Gullo Wight, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Indiana UniversityPeggy Liu, Ben L. Fryrear Chair in Marketing and Associate Professor of Business Administration, University of PittsburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2235372024-03-05T14:34:39Z2024-03-05T14:34:39ZDonations by top 50 US donors fell again in 2023, sliding to $12B − Mike Bloomberg, Phil and Penny Knight, and Michael and Susan Dell led the list of biggest givers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578433/original/file-20240227-22-ys3u32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3008%2C1868&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Penny Knight and Phil Knight were the second-largest givers of 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wishtv.com/news/education/indiana-lawmakers-join-gop-led-states-trying-to-target-college-tenure/">Michael Hickey/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The top 50 American individuals and couples who gave or pledged the most to charity in 2023 committed US$12 billion to foundations, universities, hospitals and more. That total was 28% below an inflation-adjusted $16.5 billion in 2022, according to the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/page/philanthropy-50">Chronicle of Philanthropy</a>’s latest annual tally of these donations.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VYsdAEIAAAAJ&hl=en">David Campbell</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=c__VVwsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Angela R. Logan</a> and <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/people-directory/moody-michael.html">Michael Moody</a>, three scholars of philanthropy, to assess the significance of these gifts and to consider what they indicate about the state of charitable giving in the United States.</em></p>
<h2>What trends stand out overall?</h2>
<p><strong>David Campbell:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/donations-by-top-50-us-donors-dropped-sharply-to-16-billion-in-2022-bill-gates-elon-musk-mike-bloomberg-and-warren-buffett-lead-the-list-of-biggest-givers-199732">As was the case in 2022</a>, more than one-third of these big gifts – $4.4 billion – went to donors’ personal foundations. Another $764.3 million flowed into donor-advised funds. Also known as DAFs, these charitable savings accounts make it possible for donors to reserve assets such as cash, stocks and bonds for future charitable gifts.</p>
<p>That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that a significant amount of the money these wealthy Americans technically gave away in 2023 didn’t get in the hands of charities right away. And while foundations must <a href="https://www.ncfp.org/2008/10/15/what-is-the-5-payout-rule/">give away or spend 5% of their assets every year</a>, there are no such requirements for DAFs.</p>
<p>Many of the same wealthy people make this list every time, and they stick with a few main priorities. Media mogul and former New York City Mayor <a href="https://www.bloomberg.org/public-health/">Mike Bloomberg</a>, for example, puts a lot of his charitable money into public health.</p>
<p><strong>Michael Moody:</strong> One thing that stands out for me is what’s missing. This list doesn’t include some billionaires known to give significant amounts of money to charity, and it doesn’t reflect all the ways that the wealthiest Americans seek to do good aside from giving to charitable organizations. </p>
<p>The list leaves out anonymous donors, such as the one who in 2023 <a href="https://www.mcpherson.edu/2023/07/mcpherson-college-establishes-1-billion-endowment/">catapulted the endowment of McPherson</a>, a small college in Kansas, past the $1.5 billion mark. It also omits a very prominent billionaire donor: author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.</p>
<p>Scott openly discusses her giving in periodic essays posted to the internet, including one in December 2023 when she described the <a href="https://yieldgiving.com/essays/giving-update/">more than $2.1 billion she had given</a> in the previous 12 months to <a href="https://yieldgiving.com/gifts?essay=20231206">360 nonprofits</a>.</p>
<p>However, this sort of self-disclosure doesn’t fit the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/how-the-chronicle-compiled-its-list-of-the-top-50-donors-of-2022">Chronicle of Philanthropy’s methodology</a>. To avoid counting the same donation twice, it acknowledges only those gifts that go directly to charities or are made to foundations and other intermediaries such as DAFs. Without specific information from Scott or her representatives about which vehicles she uses and how much money she funnels through them each year, they leave her off the list. </p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/investing/elon-musk-charity-donation/index.html">probable omission is Elon Musk</a>, one of the richest people in the world, who leads several companies and <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/elon-musk-donated-1.95-billion-in-tesla-stock-in-2022">designated billions for charity in 2021 and 2022</a>. He has said little about his giving. Details about gifts he’s made to his foundation or other charities usually surface only through mandatory legal filings. Also, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-says-spacex-tesla-neuralink-boring-company-are-philanthropy-2022-4?r=US&IR=T">Musk has argued that his companies</a> are his best “philanthropy.”</p>
<p>Similarly, other billionaires who regularly make this list also say they use money to do good in ways beyond the charitable gifts summarized here.</p>
<p>John Arnold, who made a fortune by starting and running a hedge fund, and his wife, Laura Arnold, as well as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, often point to ways they pursue their philanthropic goals through for-profit means, as well as through gifts to their foundations and DAFs. <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/laura-and-john-arnold-foundation-to-restructure-as-llc">They reserve large chunks of their fortunes</a> in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/technology/zuckerbergs-philanthropy-uses-llc-for-more-control.html">limited liability companies</a>, which are private corporations that they use to either make charitable donations or invest in what they believe are socially responsible companies.</p>
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<h2>What surprises you about the biggest donors?</h2>
<p><strong>Campbell:</strong> Last year, <a href="https://theconversation.com/donations-by-top-50-us-donors-dropped-sharply-to-16-billion-in-2022-bill-gates-elon-musk-mike-bloomberg-and-warren-buffett-lead-the-list-of-biggest-givers-199732">I predicted</a> that Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, would make the 2023 list and she did. French Gates was the ninth-largest donor of 2023, while her former husband was No. 16.</p>
<p>French Gates has charted her own course by creating <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/melinda-french-gates-effort-aims-to-accelerate-womens-power-and-influence?sra=true">Pivotal Ventures</a>, a limited liability company. But she has continued to give primarily by funding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the biggest private source of <a href="https://pages.devex.com/rs/685-KBL-765/images/the-top-10-foundations-funding-development.pdf">funding for international development</a>.</p>
<p>French Gates indicated that she <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/melinda-french-gates-no-longer-pledges-bulk-of-her-wealth-to-gates-foundation-11643808602">plans to branch out</a> with her philanthropy. But she and Bill <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/leadership?division=Co-chairs%20and%20Board%20of%20Trustees">still co-chair the foundation</a> bearing their names.</p>
<p><strong>Angela Logan</strong> Most <a href="https://www.dafresearchcollaborative.org/national-study-dafs7">donor-advised funds aren’t massive</a>. Only 1% of those accounts held balances of $10 million as of late 2021, according to a recent report. Yet, some of the biggest donors of 2023 deposited far more than that.</p>
<p>Tech executive Michael Dell and his wife, Susan Dell, have infused theirs with $486 million, while Phil Knight, the founder of the athletic apparel and footwear company Nike, and his wife, Penny Knight, placed $104 million in their DAF. <a href="https://www.dell.org/what-we-do/">Both couples</a> also have <a href="https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/knight-foundation,911791788/">their own foundations</a>.</p>
<p>I believe it’s worth watching to see whether in the future more of the biggest donors will take this route, rather than creating their own family foundations.</p>
<p>One concern is that there is <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">no obligation for donors to disclose gifts</a> they make through DAFs, another <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/public-disclosure-and-availability-of-exempt-organizations-returns-and-applications-requirements-for-private-foundations">difference between them and foundations</a>.</p>
<p>If more of the biggest donors take the DAF route, rather than forming foundations or giving directly to charities, the public would lose access to information about where philanthropic dollars go. And that could potentially further erode trust in charitable giving and nonprofits.</p>
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<h2>What concerns do you have?</h2>
<p><strong>Campbell:</strong> While these gifts are formidable, I still think about those who are not showing up. Only 23 of the top givers are from the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/">Forbes 400 list</a> of the wealthiest Americans.</p>
<p>I find it surprising that many of those with the most to give away are outflanked by others’ generosity. Only 13 of the year’s top donors have signed <a href="https://givingpledge.org/">the Giving Pledge</a>, a “promise by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.” This fact leads me to wonder what the long-term plans are for many of the other top donors.</p>
<p>Will they sign to the Giving Pledge? What makes them willing to give so much today but not commit for tomorrow? </p>
<p><strong>Logan</strong> Similarly, I’m struck by the lack of diversity in terms of age among the top givers. More than half of them are over 80. Only one person listed among the youngest members of the Forbes 400 list, Zuckerberg, also made the cut.</p>
<p>Even more intriguing is that, in addition to Zuckerberg, five more of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/savannahborn/2023/10/03/the-youngest-billionaires-on-the-2023-forbes-400-list/">youngest members of the Forbes 400</a> have signed the Giving Pledge: Airbnb co-founders Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk and Brian Chesky; Brian Armstrong, CEO of the cryptocurrency platform Coinbase; and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. </p>
<p>What makes them willing to commit so much tomorrow but less inclined to give as much today? </p>
<p><iframe id="8ubHV" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8ubHV/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>What do you expect to see in 2024 and beyond?</h2>
<p><strong>Logan:</strong> I feel as though this has been stated every four years since I turned 18, but the 2024 U.S. presidential election will be the most consequential in the nation’s history.</p>
<p>I suspect that in this election cycle, donors are putting more of their philanthropic dollars toward preserving democracy, voter education and the causes that matter to Americans on the left, right and center.</p>
<p>Additionally, even if the conflict between Israel and Hamas ends soon, I expect to see an increase in giving in 2024 to combat both antisemitism and Islamophobia and for that to continue going forward. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/29/us/hate-crimes-antisemitism-anti-muslim-dg/index.html">Hate-related crimes</a>, including those targeting Muslims and Jews, have been rising in the U.S. since 2014. And they have surged since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched its war on Gaza. That could drive further giving along the lines of the $100 million that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft provided his <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/robert-kraft-patriots-israel-anti-semitism-0cf70cb4">Foundation to Combat Antisemitism</a> in 2023.</p>
<p><strong>Moody:</strong> I expect that most of the biggest gifts will keep going to foundations and DAFs, as well as higher ed and medical causes. That pattern seems to hold steady, regardless of whatever new culture war, political fight or international conflict is in the headlines.</p>
<p>However, as Angela Logan notes, there are hints that we’ll see more major gifts focused on issues like ethnic conflict, bigotry or racial justice and uplift. One notable example of this in 2023 was the Knights’ <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/phil-knight-invests-400-million-in-portland-s-albina-neighborhood">$400 million pledge to revive a struggling Black neighborhood</a> in Portland, Oregon.</p>
<p>But the world of philanthropy can be surprising sometimes. Donors can make choices no one saw coming, and new donors can burst on the scene. With <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/30/business/ubs-billionaires-report/index.html">new billionaires emerging</a> at a swift pace, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next.</p>
<p>Consider, for instance, the news announced in late February 2024 that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/nyregion/albert-einstein-college-medicine-bronx-donation.html">Ruth Gottesman donated $1 billion</a> to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.</p>
<p>Gottesman is a former professor at that medical school. Her husband, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/business/dealbook/david-s-gottesman-dead.html?searchResultPosition=1">David “Sandy” Gottesman</a>, was a billionaire investor who died in 2022 without putting any strings on what she should do with their fortune. This gift broke with some common conventions.</p>
<p>While she did stipulate that the funds should be be used to make the school tuition-free forever, she didn’t tie the gift to <a href="https://charitylawyerblog.com/2021/06/28/charity-naming-rights-how-to-do-it-right/">naming rights</a>. She insisted, instead, that the college keep its name. Initially, she even <a href="https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/dr-ruth-gottesman-just-gave-1-billion-to-make-tuition-free-at-this-bronx-medical-school-it-comes-with-a-surprising-catch.html">wanted to give the money anonymously</a>. </p>
<p>Will other big donors now follow suit?</p>
<p><em>The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided funding for The Conversation U.S. and provides funding for The Conversation internationally. Arnold Ventures provides funding for The Conversation U.S.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Campbell is the Chair of the Board of the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela R. Logan is the Board President of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Moody 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>Three philanthropy scholars discuss several trends in giving by the wealthiest Americans highlighted in this yearly report. Among them: Much of this money doesn’t go to charities right away.David Campbell, Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkAngela R. Logan, Associate Teaching Professor of Management & Organization, St. Andre Bessette Academic Director of the Master of Nonprofit Administration, University of Notre DameMichael Moody, Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234262024-03-04T15:38:32Z2024-03-04T15:38:32ZSupreme Court says only Congress can bar a candidate, like Trump, from the presidency for insurrection − 3 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579609/original/file-20240304-20-77h9ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C49%2C8130%2C5408&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Journalists set up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building on Feb. 8, 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-press-stake-out-outside-the-supreme-court-in-news-photo/1991622087">Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, in a unanimous decision, that the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-719_19m2.pdf">state of Colorado cannot bar former President Donald Trump</a> from appearing on Colorado’s presidential ballot under the provisions of <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/#amendment-14-section-3">Section 3 of the 14th Amendment</a> to the U.S. Constitution.</p>
<p>The text of <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/">Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states</a>, in full:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ruling said states may decide who is eligible to hold state offices, but <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-719_19m2.pdf">only Congress may decide</a> who is eligible to hold federal offices.</p>
<p>Writing for The Conversation U.S. as far back as 2021, several scholars have explained aspects of this part of the Constitution, how it was intended, and the legal and political considerations surrounding its function. They give context to the court’s ruling and what it means for the country now.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380248/original/file-20210122-17-ad7bzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pelosi signs a document with four people standing behind her, and American flags" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380248/original/file-20210122-17-ad7bzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380248/original/file-20210122-17-ad7bzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380248/original/file-20210122-17-ad7bzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380248/original/file-20210122-17-ad7bzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380248/original/file-20210122-17-ad7bzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380248/original/file-20210122-17-ad7bzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380248/original/file-20210122-17-ad7bzu.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">Then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi signs an article of impeachment against then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 13, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/speaker-of-the-house-nancy-pelosi-signs-an-article-of-impeachment-picture-id1230572656?k=6&m=1230572656&s=612x612&w=0&h=V-BDhqZJ7pEUiqqfWq25M5pz4SND4vIJiq3wpFu6O7Q=">Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. A relatively recent development</h2>
<p>In early 2021, <a href="https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/faculty-staff/profile-WCMS.cfm?Id=40">Gerard Magliocca</a>, a law professor at Indiana University, pointed out that up until that time, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/congress-could-use-an-arcane-section-of-the-14th-amendment-to-hold-trump-accountable-for-capitol-attack-153344">Section 3 of the 14th Amendment</a> was an obscure part of the U.S. Constitution.”</p>
<p>But this provision had an important purpose, he wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It prohibits current or former military officers, along with many current and former federal and state public officials, <a href="https://theconversation.com/congress-could-use-an-arcane-section-of-the-14th-amendment-to-hold-trump-accountable-for-capitol-attack-153344">from serving in a variety of government offices</a> if they ‘shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ against the United States Constitution.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Supreme Court’s ruling did not decide whether Trump had or had not engaged in insurrection.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/congress-could-use-an-arcane-section-of-the-14th-amendment-to-hold-trump-accountable-for-capitol-attack-153344">Congress could use an arcane section of the 14th Amendment to hold Trump accountable for Capitol attack</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Justices focused on potential for national disarray</h2>
<p>During oral arguments on Feb. 8, 2024, several members of the Supreme Court focused on the fact that this case was about a Colorado decision to bar Trump from the ballot, which suggested that other states might come to their own conclusions if the court didn’t deliver a clear message that would apply nationwide.</p>
<p>As Notre Dame election law scholar <a href="https://law.nd.edu/directory/derek-muller/">Derek Muller</a> observed: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-skeptical-that-colorado-or-any-state-should-decide-for-whole-nation-whether-trump-is-eligible-for-presidency-223063">States are the ones who have the primary responsibility</a> of running presidential elections. And Colorado was leaning very heavily into this authority they have over which candidates to list on the ballot and how that can vary from state to state. The pushback from the Supreme Court in this case was to say, in essence, you’re not dealing with local or state interests, you’re not dealing with these state-specific procedures for how you list candidates on the ballot. You are interpreting a provision of the U.S. Constitution, and then you are applying it in your own state in a way that could affect what happens in other states.”</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-skeptical-that-colorado-or-any-state-should-decide-for-whole-nation-whether-trump-is-eligible-for-presidency-223063">Supreme Court skeptical that Colorado − or any state − should decide for whole nation whether Trump is eligible for presidency</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574469/original/file-20240208-20-2e10qo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=86%2C0%2C5131%2C3472&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A police officer standing behind a barricade and in front of a large, white columned building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574469/original/file-20240208-20-2e10qo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=86%2C0%2C5131%2C3472&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574469/original/file-20240208-20-2e10qo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574469/original/file-20240208-20-2e10qo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574469/original/file-20240208-20-2e10qo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574469/original/file-20240208-20-2e10qo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574469/original/file-20240208-20-2e10qo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574469/original/file-20240208-20-2e10qo.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">Police place a fence at the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 8, 2024, before justices heard arguments over whether Donald Trump is ineligible for the 2024 ballot.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2024TrumpInsurrectionAmendment/05e2c7bc3615410b8088714a425193c9/photo?Query=trump%20supreme%20court&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=5319&currentItemNo=15">AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. The importance of consensus</h2>
<p>The court appears to have taken pains to get to a unanimous decision. Muller anticipated such a move. He said it was likely because of the potential effect on elections:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/us-supreme-court-decision-on-trump-colorado-ballot-case-monumental-for-democracy-itself-not-just-2024-presidential-election-220643">This is a binary choice</a> that either empowers the Republican candidate or prevents voters from choosing him. So when you have a choice in such stark, political and partisan terms, whatever the Supreme Court is doing is often going to be viewed through that lens by many voters. … (T)here will be as much effort as possible internally on the court to reach a consensus view to avoid that appearance of partisanship on the court, that appearance of division on the court. If there’s consensus, it’s harder for the public to … point the finger at one side or another.”</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/us-supreme-court-decision-on-trump-colorado-ballot-case-monumental-for-democracy-itself-not-just-2024-presidential-election-220643">US Supreme Court decision on Trump-Colorado ballot case 'monumental' for democracy itself, not just 2024 presidential election</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Experts explain the context behind the Supreme Court’s ruling on Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on presidential ballots.Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1999552024-02-22T13:43:08Z2024-02-22T13:43:08ZDonors gave $58 billion to higher ed in the 2023 academic year, with mega gifts up despite overall decline<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576848/original/file-20240220-30-3492mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5362%2C3189&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jim Simons and his wife, Marilyn Hawrys Simons, made a historic gift to Stony Brook University in 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mathematician-jim-simons-attends-the-23rd-annual-stars-of-news-photo/1391332846?adppopup=true">Roy Rochlin/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Charitable giving to colleges and universities <a href="https://www.case.org/research/surveys/voluntary-support-education-survey/findings-and-reports">fell 5% in inflation-adjusted terms to US$58 billion</a> in the 2023 academic year, according to the latest <a href="https://www.case.org/resources/giving-us-college-and-universities-58-billion-fiscal-year-2023">Voluntary Support of Education survey</a> from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE.</p>
<p>Giving had reached an all-time high of $59.5 billion in the prior 12-month period. Although the 2023 total marked the second-highest for any 12-month period ever, the decline fits into <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news/_news/2023/giving-usa-total-us-charitable-giving-declined-in-2022-to-49933-billion-following-two-years-of-record-generosity.html">ebbing levels of philanthropy</a> seen recently.</p>
<p>As a former fundraiser who now <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=zLBh-YMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">researches giving to colleges and universities</a>, I see five key trends in the new data. </p>
<h2>1. Higher ed remains a high priority</h2>
<p>Educational causes have long been among the nation’s most popular for charitable donors, and the new data suggests that this has not changed.</p>
<p>Only <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-charitable-donations-fell-to-499-billion-in-2022-as-stocks-slumped-and-inflation-surged-207688">churches and other religious institutions</a> consistently receive more philanthropic dollars. In recent years, educational and social service-related nonprofits, such as food banks and homeless shelters, have <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-charitable-donations-fell-to-499-billion-in-2022-as-stocks-slumped-and-inflation-surged-207688">attracted similar levels of support</a>, according to the annual Giving USA report.</p>
<p>Giving USA, which tracks donations of all kinds, unlike the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, lumps giving to higher education, preschools, K-12 education and libraries into its education category, so it has consistently detected a higher amount of educational giving than CASE.</p>
<p>Among other differences, the Giving USA data covers calendar years, while the CASE survey runs from July 1 of one year through June 30 of the next. In 2022, Giving USA found that Americans made <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news/_news/2023/giving-usa-total-us-charitable-giving-declined-in-2022-to-49933-billion-following-two-years-of-record-generosity.html">$70 billion in education-related donations</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="C8T8j" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/C8T8j/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>2. More mega gifts</h2>
<p>Donors provide more donations of $100 million or more <a href="https://theconversation.com/donations-by-top-50-us-donors-dropped-sharply-to-16-billion-in-2022-bill-gates-elon-musk-mike-bloomberg-and-warren-buffett-lead-the-list-of-biggest-givers-199732">related to education than any other cause</a>, including religion, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual ranking of America’s biggest donors.
The CASE survey found that colleges and universities received 11 of these gifts in the 2023 academic year, four more than a year earlier. The total money given this way doubled from 2022 to $2.24 billion.</p>
<p>The share of higher ed giving from the biggest donors more than doubled to 3.9% from 1.8% a year earlier. CASE doesn’t name the sources of mega gifts or the schools that received them, but I believe the list may include a historic <a href="https://news.stonybrook.edu/newsroom/press-release/general/simons-foundation-announces-historic-500-million-gift-to-stony-brook-university-endowment/">$500 million gift from the Simons Foundation</a> donated to Stony Brook University.</p>
<p>Donors rarely make gifts that big. This one also stands out because it’s the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-unrestricted-funding-two-philanthropy-experts-explain-164589">largest donation ever to be completely unrestricted</a>. Stony Brook, a New York state public university located on Long Island, may spend or invest the money for whatever purposes it believes make the most sense. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/largest-donations-to-colleges-universities/">Most gifts of $100 million or more</a>, in contrast, are designated for specific purposes, such as funding student financial aid, expanding academic programs, constructing or renovating buildings or growing research initiatives.</p>
<p>What’s more common in this case are the close ties between the donor and the school receiving the gift. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/nyregion/stony-brook-university-gift.html">foundation was formed by Jim Simons</a>, a former Stony Brook math professor, and his wife, Marilyn Simons, who earned a bachelor’s degree and doctorate there. Jim Simons later made a fortune as a hedge fund manager.</p>
<p>Other massive gifts that coincided with the 12 months covered by the latest CASE survey included <a href="https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/roy-and-diana-vagelos-institute-biomedical-research-education-launched-columbia-university-175-million-gift">$175 million for Columbia University</a>, <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/story/chicago-booths-phd-program-receives-100-million-gift-celebration-its-100th-anniversary">$100 million for the University of Chicago</a> and <a href="https://uknow.uky.edu/campus-news/historic-100-million-gift-will-catapult-uk-college-agriculture-food-and-environment">$100 million for the University of Kentucky</a>.</p>
<p>To be sure, not all donors to higher education make massive gifts. Roughly 43% of the donations are under $100, according to the CASE survey. But those gifts totaled less than 1% of the dollars overall.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., opened in 2023 – with support given in prior years from the university’s biggest donor, Mike Bloomberg.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. No across-the-board decline</h2>
<p>Despite the decline from the 2022 academic year, giving to higher ed remains $8.5 billion above levels seen in the 12 months ending in June 2020 – which coincided with <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-coronavirus-is-hitting-colleges-and-universities-hard-but-donors-can-help-133331">the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset</a>. </p>
<p>The decline in 2023 was driven primarily by a reduction in gifts slated to meet long-term needs, such as increasing the size of a university’s endowment or construction. Giving intended to support current needs remained more consistent. </p>
<p>The total amount donated grew for nearly half of the surveyed institutions. It was flat or fell at the rest, CASE found.</p>
<p>This survey also underscores how giving to higher education is unequally distributed: 20 schools, out of more than 750 for which detailed data is collected, accounted for more than one-quarter of the total money raised. That ratio has held steady for the past decade.</p>
<h2>4. Organizations are giving more than individual donors</h2>
<p>Personal donations, whether from alumni or people who didn’t attend a school they’re supporting, fell by more than 13% during the 12-month period when taking inflation into account. That giving totaled $20.5 billion – about one-third of the total donated.</p>
<p>Higher ed giving from foundations, corporations and other institutional donors was flat, rising by an inflation-adjusted 0.1% to $37.5 billion.</p>
<p>CASE attributed the decline in individual donations in the 2023 academic year to the stock market’s relatively weak performance.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/stock-indexes-are-breaking-records-and-crossing-milestones-making-many-investors-feel-wealthier-223274">Stock market indexes</a> closed out 2022 at a low point, with the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/30/investing/dow-stock-market-2022/index.html">Dow Jones Industrial Average declining 9%</a> for the year and other indexes plunging even more. Wealthy people typically give <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2010.10.016">more to charity when the stock market is booming</a> than when it sags.</p>
<h2>5. Role of donor-advised funds is growing</h2>
<p>Many of the gifts that the survey attributes to organizations are indirectly from individuals who have either established their own foundations or are giving through <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">donor-advised funds</a> – financial accounts often called DAFs.</p>
<p>Donor-advised funds are a way for people to set aside money for giving to charitable causes when they are ready to do so. According to sources like <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/reports/daf-report/">National Philanthropic Trust</a> and Fidelity Charitable, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fidelity-charitable-daf-donor-advised-fund-7a483a4f69115f467ecfb1c4348bbdc3">largest DAF grantmaker</a>, these payouts have been increasing over time.</p>
<p>And research indicates that <a href="https://theconversation.com/charitable-gifts-from-donor-advised-funds-favor-education-and-religion-171793">educational causes are the top recipients</a> of giving through DAFs.</p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>Because this survey covered giving through June 2023, it doesn’t include the period of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/18/business/upenn-donor-israel/index.html">donor discontent</a> after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-universities-owe-their-big-donors-less-than-you-might-think-explain-2-nonprofit-law-experts-219902">Some donors</a>, including several with previously strong ties to some of the nation’s most prominent universities, are objecting to policies regarding campus activism in solidarity with Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip. For example, billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin, who gave Harvard University a $300 million gift, has said <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/1/31/ken-griffin-pausing-harvard-donations/">he will refrain from making new donations</a>. </p>
<p>Donors are also continuing to make groundbreaking donations to higher education. These include two 2024 gifts: a <a href="https://www.spelman.edu/about-us/news-and-events/news-releases/2024/01/18/spelman-college-receives-historic-$100-million-donation">$100 million gift to Spelman College</a> announced in January 2024, from Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston. It’s the largest ever for a historically Black college or university. Also, an anonymous donor made a <a href="https://www.depauw.edu/stories/details/depauw-university-receives-200-million-investment-for-transformational-liberal-arts-education/">$150 million gift to DePauw University</a>, which was the largest donation on record for the small liberal arts college in Indiana.</p>
<p>The data also doesn’t reflect the impact of a more predictable trend: that the stock market ended the 2023 calendar year on an upswing. The <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stock-market-up-24-percent-2023-rally/">Dow gained more than 13%</a>, with other major indexes racking up even larger gains.</p>
<p>Ultimately, if trends of past support to higher education are any indication of what to expect in the future, giving to colleges and universities will probably hold steady or even increase.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Genevieve Shaker receives research funding from the TIAA Institute and the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy.</span></em></p>The stock market’s weak performance at the end of 2022 may have made donors less willing to give.Genevieve Shaker, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238042024-02-16T19:46:38Z2024-02-16T19:46:38ZNavalny morre na prisão, dizem as autoridades - mas seu projeto de ativismo anti-Putin deve continuar vivo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576235/original/file-20240216-26-sb3w3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5928%2C3565&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">O legado de Alexei Navalny continuará vivo</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-alexei-navalny-candles-and-flowers-are-left-at-news-photo/2008366667?adppopup=true">Ian Langsdon/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Longas <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/world/europe/russia-putin-election-boris-nadezhdin.html">filas de russos suportaram temperaturas abaixo de zero</a> em janeiro de 2024 para exigir que o <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-anti-war-candidate-nadezhdin-says-he-has-enough-signatures-run-president-2024-01-31/">candidato contra a guerra na Ucrânia, Boris Nadezhdin</a>, pudesse concorrer na próxima eleição presidencial. Foi um protesto por meio de petição - uma tática que reflete o legado de Alexei Navalny, o antigo ativista russo pró-democracia. As autoridades dizem que Navalny, um obstáculo persistente para o presidente russo Vladimir Putin, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/world/europe/aleksei-navalny-dead-russia.html">morreu na prisão</a> em 16 de fevereiro de 2024.</p>
<p>Por mais de uma década, Navalny lutou contra o autoritarismo russo nas urnas e nas ruas como o rosto mais conhecido do antiputinismo, filtrando o apoio a candidatos corajosos o suficiente para se posicionar contra os desejos do Kremlin.</p>
<p>Muitas vezes, a oposição não se traduz em sucesso eleitoral. Os partidários de Nadezhdin não esperavam que seu homem pudesse realmente derrotar Putin na <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-putin-run-again-president-2024-2023-12-08/">votação marcada para 20 de março de 2024</a>. Dada a rigidez com que o Kremlin controla a política na Rússia, o resultado da eleição presidencial é uma conclusão precipitada.</p>
<p>Mas, para muitos russos, a oportunidade de apoiar a candidatura de Nadezhdin foi o único meio legal que tiveram para comunicar sua oposição a Putin e à guerra. O fato de que as autoridades acabaram <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/08/boris-nadezhdin-antiwar-candidate-putin/">impedindo</a> a participação de Nadezhdin sugere que o Kremlin continua cauteloso em relação a qualquer candidato que fure as narrativas oficiais de uma nação unida por trás da guerra de Putin na Ucrânia.</p>
<p>Esse esforço para protestar contra a eleição parece ainda mais pungente após a morte de Navalny. Ele refletia o cerne de uma estratégia que Navalny desenvolveu ao longo de mais de uma década e sobre a qual <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4HseTkMAAAAJ&hl=en">tenho escrito</a> desde 2011.</p>
<h2>O movimento permanece</h2>
<p>Navalny entendeu que a oposição na Rússia tinha a ver com a exposição da <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/united-russia-party-of-crooks-and-thieves-and-then-some/">corrupção</a> no partido de Putin, o Rússia Unida; com o esclarecimento da <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/elections-protest-and-authoritarian-regime-stability/51A474C37A1671C885CC5F90091EDBC0">manipulação eleitoral</a>; e com o alerta ao mundo sobre a crescente <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/russian-repression-of-dissidents-civil-society-reaches-unprecedented-levels/7279656.html">violência política</a>.</p>
<p>Navalny destacou a oposição muito real a Putin e ao governo autoritário que existe na Rússia, apesar das tentativas de escondê-la do mundo.</p>
<p>Para atingir esses objetivos, a equipe de Navalny - e é importante lembrar que, embora o homem Navalny tenha morrido, o <a href="https://acf.international">movimento que ele desencadeou permanece</a> - usou repetidamente as eleições para tornar a oposição visível e estimular o debate político.</p>
<p>Navalny <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-blogger-alexei-navalny-in-spotlight-after-arrest/2011/12/06/gIQA5tZPZO_story.html">emergiu como uma força política</a> em 2011, quando deu início a um grande movimento nacional de protesto antes da eleição parlamentar de 2012, rotulando o Rússia Unida de Putin como o “Partido dos Vigaristas e Ladrões”. Ele realizou concursos para criar memes para ilustrar o slogan e mobilizou eleitores que não apoiavam o partido de Putin.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Um manifestante usando um boné fica em frente a um cartaz em russo que significa 'Não votamos em bandidos e ladrões!'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.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">Os ativistas da oposição em 2011 declaram: ‘Não votamos em bandidos e ladrões!’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/opposition-activists-protest-in-the-siberian-city-of-news-photo/135444601?adppopup=true">Valery Titievsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Putin inevitavelmente venceu a eleição, com o chefe da missão de observação da Organização para a Segurança e Cooperação na Europa comentando que, <a href="https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/88661">devido a irregularidades e abusos</a>, o vencedor “nunca esteve em dúvida”.</p>
<p>Mas, mesmo assim, os esforços de Navalny significaram que uma nova oposição estava em vigor e pronta para sair às ruas para combater a fraude eleitoral.</p>
<h2>Saindo do “gueto” eleitoral</h2>
<p>Apesar de sua prisão e condenação por acusações de fraude em 2013, Navalny <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/perspective/russian-mayoral-election-white">concorreu à prefeitura</a> de Moscou naquele ano. Na campanha, ele inovou a política eleitoral, recrutando jovens voluntários que se reuniam com os eleitores nas ruas e em seus blocos de apartamentos.</p>
<p>Navalny obteve <a href="https://www.lai.lv/viedokli/navalnys-i-have-a-dream-moment-in-moscows-mayoral-election-313">quase 30% dos votos</a> - o dobro do esperado - e alegou que o único motivo pelo qual o candidato escolhido a dedo por Putin, Sergei Sobyanin, ultrapassou os 50% necessários para garantir a vitória no primeiro turno foi <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/moscows-mayoral-race-rattles-the-kremlin/2013/09/09/458edb8a-1986-11e3-8685-5021e0c41964_story.html">devido a uma votação falsificada</a>.</p>
<p>Mais tarde, Navalny <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43555051">articulou</a> o verdadeiro sucesso, como ele o via, em uma entrevista com o colega da oposição <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/russia-jails-putin-critic-vladimir-kara-murza-for-treason/a-65343380">Vladimir Kara-Murza</a>: “Mostramos que as pessoas comuns - sem recursos administrativos, sem patrocinadores corporativos, sem gurus de relações públicas - podem se unir e obter resultados nas urnas”, disse ele. “Mostramos que não estamos mais confinados a um ‘gueto’ eleitoral de 3%.”</p>
<p>Navalny concluiu: “Para mim, o resultado mais importante dessa campanha é o retorno da política real à Rússia.”</p>
<p>Durante a campanha de 2013, <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/rupo/1/4/article-p347_2.xml">minha equipe de pesquisa entrevistou ativistas de Navalny</a> e observou o trabalho no comitê de campanha.</p>
<p>Essas entrevistas ressaltaram o relacionamento de Navalny com as pessoas. Muitos dos voluntários rejeitaram a ideia de que estavam trabalhando para ele. Em vez disso, eles estavam se voluntariando porque admiravam as táticas de Navalny. Gostavam de seu estilo político. Eles queriam mudanças na Rússia.</p>
<p>Navalny reuniu os russos alienados pela política russa e os capacitou. Como argumentou um voluntário da campanha <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/rupo/1/4/article-p347_2.xml">entrevistado</a> em nosso estudo, “Todos nós estávamos assustados antes do primeiro protesto e até deixamos um testamento antes de nos juntarmos ao movimento. Mas não era uma multidão. Havia pessoas como nós. A sensação que tivemos no comitê de Navalny foi a sensação de estar com pessoas como eu”.</p>
<p>Durante a década seguinte, Navalny e sua equipe continuaram a devolver a competição política à política russa. Eles criaram organizações locais que atraíram apoio e <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200914-kremlin-set-for-victory-in-local-elections-navalny-s-allies-make-symbolic-gains-in-siberia">obtiveram algum sucesso</a> nas cidades siberianas de Tomsk e Novosibirsk, apesar dos <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/10/25/how-kremlin-learned-to-defeat-its-opposition-pub-85620">inúmeros obstáculos</a> que o Kremlin colocou em seu caminho.</p>
<h2>Retorno do exílio</h2>
<p>O ponto culminante desses esforços é um sistema que Navalny desenvolveu em 2018 chamado <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-media-voting-cec43110142e7ce362b2d4f9acd9b1f0">Smart Voting</a>. Por meio de uma <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-media-voting-cec43110142e7ce362b2d4f9acd9b1f0">ferramenta on-line</a>, a equipe de Navalny incentiva os russos a apoiar qualquer candidato reformista nas eleições e, em particular, direciona os eleitores para o candidato com maior probabilidade de derrotar o partido Rússia Unida de Putin.</p>
<p>Uma pesquisa realizada pelos acadêmicos russos Mikhail Turchenko e Grigorii Golosov mostra que a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2022.2147485">ferramenta teve um efeito</a> muito significativo sobre os eleitores e aumentou a participação, os votos da oposição e a atenção popular nas eleições.</p>
<p>Os esforços de Navalny aparentemente irritaram o Estado russo e podem ter sido o ímpeto de uma tentativa de assassinato contra ele pela agência de segurança interna da Rússia, conhecida como FSB, em 2020.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/14/alexei-navalny-in-critical-situation-after-possible-poisoning-says-ally">Navalny sobreviveu ao envenenamento por Novichok</a> somente porque a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/06/navalny-poisoning-germany-raises-pressure-on-russia-with-sanctions-talk">pressão internacional</a> forçou o regime a permitir que ele fosse transportado de avião para a Alemanha para tratamento. Durante sua recuperação, Navalny usou o ataque contra ele para promover seu ativismo político e transmitir a crescente brutalidade do regime. Ele ficou famoso por ter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwvA49ZXnf8">entrevistado seu suposto assassino</a> para descobrir os detalhes da operação.</p>
<p>O <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-alexey-navalny-returned-to-russia">retorno de Navalny à Rússia</a> sob ameaça de prisão em fevereiro de 2021 deu início aos maiores protestos de rua - em apoio ao líder da oposição - desde o colapso da União Soviética.</p>
<p>Esses protestos inspiraram uma nova geração de ativistas. Eles também <a href="https://en.ovdinfo.org/suppression-rallies-support-alexei-navalny-january-17-and-18-2021">marcaram</a> novos níveis de brutalidade policial contra manifestantes pró-democracia nas ruas e nos anos seguintes.</p>
<h2>Passando o bastão</h2>
<p>Desde 2022, lidero uma equipe de pesquisa que tem entrevistado russos que deixaram o país em oposição à guerra na Ucrânia. Muitos participaram dos protestos contra a guerra do final de fevereiro e início de março de 2022 e apontam o retorno de Navalny à Rússia como a origem de seu próprio engajamento político e ativismo.</p>
<p>Como argumentou um entrevistado: “Minha posição cívica começou a surgir. Tudo isso foi graças a Navalny, seu movimento e seu incentivo para perceber algo, prestar atenção… Comecei a ir a comícios e fiquei muito mais interessado e consciente da política”.</p>
<p>Enquanto <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/25/europe/alexey-navalny-russian-opposition-found-prison-intl/index.html">Navalny definhava em campos de prisioneiros</a> após sua prisão sob a acusação de <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/02/russian-court-rules-jail-navalny">violar a liberdade condicional</a> durante sua recuperação na Alemanha, muitos desses ativistas no exílio <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/democracy/democracy-exile-political-action-anti-war-russian-migrants-facilitates-possible-democratization">continuaram</a> a operar fora da Rússia, conforme descobriram nossos <a href="https://outrush.io/eng">parceiros de pesquisa</a>.</p>
<p>Eles <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/underground-networks-russians-helping-ukrainian-refugees-2022-05-11/">apoiam os refugiados ucranianos</a> e os esforços de guerra e participam da busca de crianças que foram levadas para a Rússia. Eles participam ativamente de manifestações contra a guerra e <a href="https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/press/press-releases/russian-migrant-activists-try-to-mobilise-diasporas-in-georgia-and-germany">apoiam</a> uns aos outros no exílio.</p>
<p>Essa nova geração de ativistas russos - sejam os que estão no exílio defendendo mudanças ou os que arriscam seu bem-estar na Rússia para apoiar candidatos contra a guerra - é o legado de Navalny, e acredito que ele seja poderoso.</p>
<p>Antes de sua morte, Navalny <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-alexei-navalny-had-a-message-for-russians-if-he-died-2024-2">falou diretamente à geração de ativistas que ele inspirou</a>: “Ouçam, tenho algo muito óbvio para lhes dizer. Vocês não podem desistir. Se eles decidirem me matar, isso significa que somos incrivelmente fortes.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223804/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Regina Smyth não presta consultoria, trabalha, possui ações ou recebe financiamento de qualquer empresa ou organização que poderia se beneficiar com a publicação deste artigo e não revelou nenhum vínculo relevante além de seu cargo acadêmico.</span></em></p>Alexei Navalny, um persistente espinho no lado do presidente russo Vladimir Putin, morreu em 16 de fevereiro de 2024, na prisão, informaram as autoridades.Regina Smyth, Professor of Political Science, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2237742024-02-16T18:21:08Z2024-02-16T18:21:08ZNavalny dies in prison − but his blueprint for anti-Putin activism will live on<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576225/original/file-20240216-26-sb3w3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5946%2C3574&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The legacy of Alexei Navalny lives on.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-alexei-navalny-candles-and-flowers-are-left-at-news-photo/2008366667?adppopup=true">Ian Langsdon/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Long <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/world/europe/russia-putin-election-boris-nadezhdin.html">lines of Russians endured subzero temperatures</a> in January 2024 to demand that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-anti-war-candidate-nadezhdin-says-he-has-enough-signatures-run-president-2024-01-31/">anti-Ukraine war candidate Boris Nadezhdin</a> be allowed to run in the forthcoming presidential election. It was protest by petition – a tactic that reflects the legacy of Alexei Navalny, the longtime Russian pro-democracy campaigner. Authorities say Navalny, a persistent thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/world/europe/aleksei-navalny-dead-russia.html">died in prison</a> on Feb. 16, 2024.</p>
<p>For more than a decade, Navalny fought Russian authoritarianism at the ballot box and on the streets as the most recognizable face of anti-Putinism, filtering support to candidates brave enough to stand against the Kremlin’s wishes. </p>
<p>Often opposition does not translate into electoral success. Nadezhdin supporters did not expect that their man could actually defeat Putin in the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-putin-run-again-president-2024-2023-12-08/">vote scheduled for March 20, 2024</a>. Given how tightly the Kremlin controls politics in Russia, the result of the presidential election is a foregone conclusion.</p>
<p>But for many Russians, the opportunity to support Nadezhdin’s candidacy was the only legal means they had to communicate their opposition to Putin and the war. The fact that authorities ultimately <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/08/boris-nadezhdin-antiwar-candidate-putin/">barred</a> Nadezhdin from participating suggests that the Kremlin remains cautious about any candidate who punctures official narratives of a nation united behind Putin’s war in Ukraine.</p>
<p>That effort to protest the election seems all the more poignant following Navalny’s death. It reflected the heart of a strategy that Navalny developed over more than a decade and that <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4HseTkMAAAAJ&hl=en">I have written about</a> since 2011.</p>
<h2>The movement remains</h2>
<p>Navalny understood that opposition in Russia was about exposing the <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/united-russia-party-of-crooks-and-thieves-and-then-some/">corruption</a> in Putin’s party, United Russia; shining a light on <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/elections-protest-and-authoritarian-regime-stability/51A474C37A1671C885CC5F90091EDBC0">electoral manipulation</a>; and alerting the world to growing <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/russian-repression-of-dissidents-civil-society-reaches-unprecedented-levels/7279656.html">political violence</a>. </p>
<p>Navalny highlighted the very real opposition to Putin and authoritarian rule that exists in Russia despite attempts to hide it from the world.</p>
<p>To achieve these goals, team Navalny – and it is important to remember that while Navalny the man is dead, the <a href="https://acf.international">movement he sparked</a> remains – repeatedly used elections to make the opposition visible and spark political debate.</p>
<p>Navalny <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-blogger-alexei-navalny-in-spotlight-after-arrest/2011/12/06/gIQA5tZPZO_story.html">emerged as a political force</a> in 2011, when he kicked off a large national protest movement ahead of the 2012 parliamentary election by labeling Putin’s United Russia the “Party of Crooks and Thieves.” He held contests to create memes to illustrate the slogan and mobilized voters who did not support Putin’s party.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A protester wearing a hat stands in front of a sign in Russian that translates to 'We did not vote for crooks and thieves!'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.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">Opposition activists in 2011 declare, ‘We did not vote for crooks and thieves!’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/opposition-activists-protest-in-the-siberian-city-of-news-photo/135444601?adppopup=true">Valery Titievsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Putin inevitably won the election, with the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observer mission commenting that <a href="https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/88661">due to irregularities and abuses</a> the winner “was never in doubt.”</p>
<p>But nonetheless, Navalny’s efforts meant that a new opposition was in place and ready to take to the streets to fight election fraud.</p>
<h2>Getting out of the electoral ‘ghetto’</h2>
<p>Despite his arrest and conviction on fraud charges in 2013, Navalny <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/perspective/russian-mayoral-election-white">ran for mayor</a> of Moscow that year. In the campaign, he innovated electoral politics, recruiting young volunteers who met voters on the streets and in their apartment blocks. </p>
<p>Navalny <a href="https://www.lai.lv/viedokli/navalnys-i-have-a-dream-moment-in-moscows-mayoral-election-313">won almost 30%</a> of the vote – double that expected – and claimed that the only reason Putin’s hand-picked candidate, Sergei Sobyanin, had got above the 50% needed to secure a first-round victory was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/moscows-mayoral-race-rattles-the-kremlin/2013/09/09/458edb8a-1986-11e3-8685-5021e0c41964_story.html">due to a falsified vote</a>.</p>
<p>Navalny later <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43555051">articulated</a> the real success, as he saw it, in an interview with fellow opposition figure <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/russia-jails-putin-critic-vladimir-kara-murza-for-treason/a-65343380">Vladimir Kara-Murza</a>: “We have shown that ordinary people – with no administrative resources, no corporate sponsors, no public relations gurus – can unite and achieve results at the ballot box,” he said. “We have shown that we are no longer confined to a 3% electoral ‘ghetto.’”</p>
<p>Navalny concluded: “For me, the most important result of this campaign is the return of real politics to Russia.”</p>
<p>During that 2013 campaign, my research team <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/rupo/1/4/article-p347_2.xml">interviewed Navalny activists</a> and observed the work in campaign headquarters. </p>
<p>These interviews underscored Navalny’s relationship with the people. Many of the volunteers rejected the idea that they were working for him. Instead, they were volunteering because they admired Navalny’s tactics. They liked his political style. They wanted change in Russia.</p>
<p>Navalny brought Russians alienated by Russian politics together and empowered them. As one campaign volunteer <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/rupo/1/4/article-p347_2.xml">interviewed</a> in our study argued, “We all were frightened before the first protest and even left a will before we joined the movement. But it was not a mob. There were people like us. The feeling we had in Navalny’s office was the feeling of being with people like me.” </p>
<p>Through the next decade, Navalny and his team continued to return political competition to Russia’s politics. They built local organizations that attracted support and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200914-kremlin-set-for-victory-in-local-elections-navalny-s-allies-make-symbolic-gains-in-siberia">found some success</a> in Siberian cities Tomsk and Novosibirsk, despite the <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/10/25/how-kremlin-learned-to-defeat-its-opposition-pub-85620">endless obstacles</a> the Kremlin placed in their way.</p>
<h2>Return from exile</h2>
<p>The culmination of these efforts is a system Navalny developed in 2018 called <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-media-voting-cec43110142e7ce362b2d4f9acd9b1f0">Smart Voting</a>. Through an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-media-voting-cec43110142e7ce362b2d4f9acd9b1f0">online tool</a>, the Navalny team encourages Russians to support any reform-minded candidates in elections and in particular directs voters to the candidate most likely to beat Putin’s United Russia party.</p>
<p>Research by Russian scholars Mikhail Turchenko and Grigorii Golosov <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2022.2147485">shows that the tool</a> has had a very significant effect on voters and increasing turnout, opposition votes and popular attention on elections.</p>
<p>Navalny’s efforts seemingly irked the Russian state and may have been the impetus of an assassination attempt against him by Russia’s domestic security agency, known as the FSB, in 2020.</p>
<p>Navalny survived <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/14/alexei-navalny-in-critical-situation-after-possible-poisoning-says-ally">Novichok poisoning</a> only because <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/06/navalny-poisoning-germany-raises-pressure-on-russia-with-sanctions-talk">international pressure</a> forced the regime to allow him to be <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53865811">airlifted to Germany</a> for treatment. During his recovery, Navalny used the attack on him to further his political activism and convey the regime’s growing brutality. He famously <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwvA49ZXnf8">interviewed his would-be assassin</a> to uncover the details of the operation.</p>
<p>Navalny’s <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-alexey-navalny-returned-to-russia">return to Russia</a> under threat of arrest in February 2021 kicked off the largest street protests – in support of the opposition leader – since the collapse of the Soviet Union.</p>
<p>These protests inspired a new generation of activists. They also <a href="https://en.ovdinfo.org/suppression-rallies-support-alexei-navalny-january-17-and-18-2021">marked</a> new levels of police brutality against pro-democracy demonstrators in the streets and in the years since.</p>
<h2>Handing on the baton</h2>
<p>Since 2022, I have led a research team that has interviewed Russians who left the country in opposition to the war in Ukraine. Many participated in the anti-war protests of late February and early March 2022 and point to Navalny’s return to Russia as the origin of their own political engagement and activism.</p>
<p>As one respondent argued: “My civic position began to emerge. All this was close to Navalny, his movement, and his encouragement to notice something, to pay attention … I began to go to rallies, and became much more interested and aware of politics.”</p>
<p>While Navalny <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/25/europe/alexey-navalny-russian-opposition-found-prison-intl/index.html">languished in prison camps</a> following his arrest on charges of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/02/russian-court-rules-jail-navalny">violating parole</a> during his recovery in Germany, many of these activists in exile <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/democracy/democracy-exile-political-action-anti-war-russian-migrants-facilitates-possible-democratization">continued</a> to operate outside of Russia, our <a href="https://outrush.io/eng">research partners</a> have found.</p>
<p>They <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/underground-networks-russians-helping-ukrainian-refugees-2022-05-11/">support Ukrainian refugees and war efforts</a> and participate in tracking down children who have been taken to Russia. They are active in anti-war demonstrations and <a href="https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/press/press-releases/russian-migrant-activists-try-to-mobilise-diasporas-in-georgia-and-germany">support</a> each other in exile.</p>
<p>This new generation of Russian activists – whether those in exile advocating for change or those risking their well-being in Russia to support anti-war candidates – is Navalny’s legacy, and I believe it is powerful. </p>
<p>Before his death, Navalny <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-alexei-navalny-had-a-message-for-russians-if-he-died-2024-2">spoke directly to the generation of activists he inspired</a>: “Listen, I’ve got something very obvious to tell you. You’re not allowed to give up. If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223774/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Regina Smyth 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>Alexei Navalny, a persistent thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died on Feb. 16, 2024, in prison, authorities said.Regina Smyth, Professor of Political Science, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2159982024-02-14T13:24:03Z2024-02-14T13:24:03ZDon’t let ‘FDA-approved’ or ‘patented’ in ads give you a false sense of security<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557351/original/file-20231102-29-y77wkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C7156%2C4764&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is that really a stamp of approval?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/approved-concept-rubber-stamp-with-fda-and-pills-on-royalty-free-image/1186545957">iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you’ve ever reached for a bottle of moisturizer labeled “patented” or “FDA approved,” you might want to think twice. In a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4366900">recent study</a> of hundreds of advertisements, I found that supplements and beauty products often misleadingly use these terms to suggest safety or efficacy.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://law.indiana.edu/about/people/details/mattioli-michael.html">law professor</a>, I suspect this is confusing for consumers, maybe even dangerous. Having a patent means only that you can stop others from making, using, selling or importing your invention. It doesn’t mean the invention works or that it won’t blow up in your face.</p>
<p>“FDA approved,” meanwhile, means <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/development-approval-process-drugs">a product’s benefits have been found to outweigh its risks</a> for a specific purpose – not that it’s of high quality or low risk in general.</p>
<h2>Led astray by the label</h2>
<p>I wanted to know whether companies exploit these sorts of misunderstandings, so I analyzed hundreds of ads from print, television and social media that mention patents or FDA approval. I found that advertisers throw these terms around in confusing ways. </p>
<p>For example, I found an ad for a probiotic supplement stating, “The proof is in the patent”; an ad for an earwax removal product stating its “patented formula is safe, effective, and clinically proven”; and an ad for a headache remedy that made the words “FDA approved” a bold visual focal point. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1312044681551917058"}"></div></p>
<p>Here’s the concerning part: I looked at all kinds of products and found that these terms appear most often in ads for things you eat or rub onto your skin, such as supplements, insecticides, toothpaste and lotions. </p>
<p>That’s probably no coincidence. Products like this aren’t tightly regulated, yet consumers want to know they’re safe. It seems likely that advertisers are name-dropping the government to make people think just that.</p>
<h2>Risks to consumers − and to innovation</h2>
<p>One danger is clear: Ads with vague references to government authorities could dupe consumers into thinking products are safer or more effective than they actually are. In fact, there’s some evidence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.396">this is already happening</a>.</p>
<p>Another risk is that this creates perverse incentives for business. Companies could chose to forgo actual innovation, focusing instead on securing dubious patents or regulatory nods to <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/beauty/how-patents-became-the-beauty-industrys-secret-weapon">keep up in the advertising race</a>. </p>
<p>These practices could distort competition, burden government agencies with frivolous patent applications and deter new entrants from competing in markets where they can’t employ similar advertising tactics. </p>
<h2>Questions remain</h2>
<p>Even though my study has shed light on how often these tricky advertising methods are used, it leaves some big questions unanswered. What exactly makes consumers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2016.1179367">respond so favorably</a> to terms like “patented” or “FDA approved”? And who is most likely to be confused by these tactics? </p>
<p>As a next step, I plan to conduct comprehensive surveys of consumers, along with in-depth interviews, to explore how these labels resonate emotionally. I hope to coordinate with researchers from psychology and media studies. Research along these lines could offer policymakers the robust evidence they need to make changes to the law.</p>
<p>What might those changes look like? For one thing, the law could make it easier for groups of consumers to sue in federal courts over misleading ads. The Federal Trade Commission could also place more of a burden on companies to prove their ads are honest. These changes could make a big difference in ensuring companies persuade shoppers without confusing them. </p>
<p>At a time when ads are everywhere and Americans are losing trust in institutions – and each other – the stakes for truthful product claims are high.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Mattioli 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>Most people don’t know what these labels really mean − and advertisers take advantage of that fact.Michael Mattioli, Professor of Law and Louis F. Niezer Faculty Fellow, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234742024-02-13T20:16:09Z2024-02-13T20:16:09Z100 ans de radio en Afrique : de la propagande au pouvoir populaire<p>La radio <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/african-broadcasters-radio-still-reigns-supreme-across-continent-/7218451.html">se porte bien</a> dans toute l’<a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AD509-PAP7-Promise-and-peril-Africas-changing-media-landscape-Afrobarometer-dispatch-19feb22.pdf">Afrique</a>. Il est difficile d'obtenir des chiffres exacts car les études d'audience diffèrent d'un pays à l'autre. Mais des études estiment que la proportion d'auditeurs de radio se situe entre <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AD509-PAP7-Promise-and-peril-Africas-changing-media-landscape-Afrobarometer-dispatch-19feb22.pdf">60 % et 80 %</a> parmi les <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population-dashboard">1,4 milliard d'habitants</a> du continent. </p>
<p>Contrairement à de nombreux pays occidentaux, où l'on assiste à une <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2056305119880002">évolution</a> vers le streaming et les podcasts, la radio traditionnelle continue d'être largement adoptée en Afrique. En raison des faibles niveaux d'alphabétisation et de l'accès inégal à l'internet et aux infrastructures technologiques, la radio traditionnelle reste un média <a href="https://tidsskrift.dk/mediekultur/article/download/5489/5767">fiable et inclusif</a>. </p>
<p>Cette année, la <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/days/world-radio/radio-next-century">célébration</a> des plus de 100 ans de la radio nous offre l'occasion, en tant que spécialistes des médias africains, de réfléchir à l'importance historique, à la pertinence culturelle, au pouvoir politique et à l'impact social de ce médium sur le continent. Pour illustrer cette riche histoire, nous nous appuierons sur des exemples tirés des régions que nous avons étudiées.</p>
<h2>Les premières années</h2>
<p>L'émergence de la radio trouve ses origines dans son utilisation <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2778607">pour servir les intérêts coloniaux</a>. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001654928804200202?journalCode=gaza">Selon le chercheur camerounais Francis Nyamnjoh</a> dès son avènement en tant que média de masse: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Les États européens ont rapidement compris le rôle que la radio pouvait jouer dans la réalisation de leur désir d'assimiler les cultures plus vulnérables du monde entier. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Les historiens <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00083968.2020.1829832">notent</a> qu'elle a également permis aux Européens dans les colonies de maintenir les liens avec leur pays d'origine, leur culture et leur langue. </p>
<p>Au début des années 1920, des passionnés de radio amateur avaient déjà commencé à <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/e994713d-3d62-41fc-8420-71f87f36e183/content">expérimenter</a> cette technologie. La <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-40702-4">première diffusion officielle</a> semble avoir eu lieu le 18 décembre 1923 à Johannesburg, en Afrique du Sud. </p>
<p>En Afrique de l'Est, la radio a été introduite pour la première fois au Kenya en 1927 et en Afrique de l'Ouest en Sierra Leone en 1934.</p>
<p>Le spécialiste britannique des médias Graham Mytton <a href="http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf">écrit</a> que l'arrivée de la radio dans les colonies britanniques d'Afrique de l'Ouest - la Gambie, la Sierra Leone, la Gold Coast (actuel Ghana) et le Nigeria - représente un moment charnière. </p>
<p>Jusqu'alors, la radio était diffusée par transmission sans fil. Lorsqu'elle a été <a href="http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf">introduite</a> en Sierra Leone, au Ghana (1935) et au Nigeria (1936), c'était “par le biais de services câblés – les abonnés disposaient de haut-parleurs (reliés par fil à la station de radio) installés chez eux pour recevoir le service … Ces dispositifs avaient été créés en tenant compte des auditeurs africains indigènes”.</p>
<p>Puis, en 1936, l'administration coloniale britannique <a href="http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf">décide de développer</a> la radiodiffusion dans l'ensemble de ses colonies africaines.</p>
<h2>La propagande</h2>
<p>Les puissances coloniales telles que le Royaume-Uni et la France ont intensifié leurs efforts en matière de radiodiffusion après le déclenchement de la <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II">deuxième guerre mondiale</a> en 1939. Les années 1940 ont été marquées par l'introduction d'émissions dans les langues autochtones par les puissances coloniales désireuses d'influencer l'opinion publique et d'obtenir un soutien pour leur effort de guerre. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001654928804200202?journalCode=gaza">Alors que</a> les Britanniques diffusaient en Afrique dans certaines langues africaines, la France ne diffusait qu'en français. </p>
<p>Cela a jeté les bases des développements futurs. Après la guerre, les Britanniques ont <a href="http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf">officiellement adopté</a> une politique visant à étendre les services de radiodiffusion à la plupart de leurs colonies africaines. </p>
<p>Au Kenya, par exemple, le premier service de radiodiffusion pour les Africains a débuté en 1953, transmettant dans les langues locales pendant l'état d'urgence déclaré en 1952 pour réprimer le <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mau-Mau">soulèvement des Mau Mau</a>. </p>
<p>Des universitaires ont <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/50568/">soutenu</a> que, bien qu'elle ait été conçue principalement pour la propagande, la radio en Afrique</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a toujours été beaucoup plus complexe et insaisissable que ce que prévoyaient les puissances coloniales. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Elle offrait également la “possibilité de créer de nouveaux publics, parfois impertinents”.</p>
<h2>La radio de la résistance</h2>
<p>Les années 1950 ont vu l'expansion et la transformation de la radio en Afrique. Les stations de radio des colonies britanniques, françaises et belges se sont rapidement multipliées alors que les populations soumises à la domination coloniale redoublaient d'efforts pour obtenir leur indépendance.</p>
<p>Au milieu des années 1950, la plus ancienne station de libération en Afrique, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070902919892">Radio Freedom</a>, a été créée en tant que station clandestine en Zambie par le mouvement de résistance sud-africain. Elle diffusera sa première émission officielle en 1963.</p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=h0vPEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=angola%E2%80%99s+radio+marissa&ots=TfjFlqiNSY&sig=MWUjA-iVwN4TzyW67rtPKWcMMvw">En Angola</a>, la radio s'est développée avec le <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Angola/Independence-and-civil-war">déclenchement de la guerre</a> en 1961 entre les mouvements de libération et l'État colonial portugais. </p>
<p>Les mouvements de libération des pays voisins ont utilisé la radio pour rendre compte de la guerre en dépit de la censure coloniale. De son côté, la radio de l'État colonial a favorisé l'émergence de la musique des artistes locaux dans le cadre de sa propagande coloniale. </p>
<h2>Indépendance et contrôle de l'État</h2>
<p>Entre la fin des années 1940 et le début des années 1960, le nombre postes radio a été <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ereh/article-abstract/16/1/23/560883">multiplié par cinq</a>, passant de 90 appareils pour mille habitants en Afrique à 450. </p>
<p>À certains égards, les années 1960 ont été un <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03064228208533427">âge d'or</a> pour la radio africaine. Une vague de mouvements <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200709-1960-a-wave-of-independence-sweeps-across-africa">d'indépendance</a> a donné naissance à de nouvelles nations alors que la technologie radio devenait plus abordable. </p>
<p>De nombreux pays nouvellement indépendants ont mis en place des services de radiodiffusion nationaux, comme la Gambie en 1965. Cela a élargi la portée de la radio et la possibilité d'adopter des langues locales, de la musique et des programmes culturels. Au Nigeria, la Broadcasting Corporation s'est étendue à l'ensemble du pays. </p>
<p>Mais certains pays nouvellement indépendants qui avaient hérité de systèmes de radiodiffusion contrôlés par l'État ont également <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2023/03/to-speak-freely-in-zambia">censuré le contenu</a> jugé critique ou menaçant, restreignant ainsi la liberté d'expression. </p>
<p>Avec l'indépendance de l'Angola en 1975, par exemple, les nouveaux dirigeants considéraient la radio comme un outil de construction nationale, mais ils ont <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=h0vPEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=angola%E2%80%99s+radio+marissa&ots=TfjFlqiNSY&sig=MWUjA-iVwN4TzyW67rtPKWcMMvw">renforcé leur emprise</a> après une tentative de coup d'État en 1977. </p>
<p>Dans de nombreux pays africains, dont l'Angola, le contrôle de la radio par l'État postcolonial persiste. Le secteur radiophonique du Zimbabwe, par exemple, est florissant. Mais le contrôle de l'État reste prépondérant avec des licences favorisant la radio nationale et des lois restrictives pour les stations de radio communautaires. </p>
<p>La Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation a été créée en 1964 et fonctionne toujours comme une <a href="https://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/me/meb/meb03a/meb03a01/mobile_browsing/onePag">radio d'État</a>. Bien qu'elle soit financée par les redevances publiques et la publicité, elle est perçue comme promouvant les programmes du gouvernement.</p>
<p>La radio a également été utilisée pour promouvoir des objectifs politiques malveillants. Le <a href="https://theconversation.com/portraying-rwandas-genocide-as-an-encounter-with-hell-114305">génocide de 1994</a> au Rwanda en est un exemple douloureux. La tristement célèbre Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines a diffusé des discours de haine et <a href="https://genocidearchiverwanda.org.rw/index.php/Radio_T%C3%A9l%C3%A9vision_Libre_des_Mille_Collines">incité à la violence</a> contre la minorité tutsie. </p>
<h2>Stations commerciales privées</h2>
<p>Au cours des 40 dernières années, de nombreux pays africains ont libéralisé leurs économies et leurs réglementations en matière de médias, en délivrant des licences pour les radios commerciales et communautaires.</p>
<p>Au Ghana, par exemple, la radio servait principalement les intérêts de l'élite jusqu'aux années 1990 avant que le secteur privé ne diverisifie l'industrie. En 2022, le Ghana<a href="https://nca.org.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FM-LIST-2022.pdf">comptait fièrement</a> 513 stations de radio publiques, commerciales, communautaires, universitaires et étrangères. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/radio-in-south-africa-turns-100-and-collides-with-podcasting-and-streaming-198021">Radio in South Africa turns 100 – and collides with podcasting and streaming</a>
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<p>L'émergence de radios en langues autochtones a constitué un progrès significatif. Ces radios ont produit des contenus qui résonnent sur le plan culturel et ont donné la priorité aux questions communautaires. Mais des défis persistent. Certaines stations sont affiliées à des intérêts politiques ou commerciaux, et <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/1/8/season-of-intimidation-attacks-on-ghana-press-escalate-ahead-of-2024-polls">l'augmentation des attaques</a> contre les journalistes pose des risques pour la liberté et la diversité des médias.</p>
<p>Au cours des dernières décennies, le paysage radiophonique du Kenya s'est transformé et compte désormais plus de 200 stations. Les stations commerciales privées dominent désormais, diffusant dans les langues locales. </p>
<p>En Ile Maurice, les ondes ont été libéralisées en 2002, avec l'introduction de stations privées. Les émissions de débats, notamment en créole mauricien, ont révolutionné la radio. Les radios privées se sont étendues aux plateformes numériques, attirant le public par le biais de diffusion en direct et des réseaux sociaux, créant à la fois de la concurrence et une couverture sensationnelle. </p>
<h2>La radio aujourd'hui</h2>
<p>La convergence numérique est en train de remodeler la manière dont la radio est consommée, ce qui brouille les schémas d'audience.</p>
<p>Cette évolution n'est pas uniforme sur le continent. Les plateformes numériques sont confrontées à des défis, tels que la <a href="http://www.digitaldividecouncil.com/what-is-the-digital-divide/">fracture numérique</a> et l’<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43545-023-00626-6">inégalité</a> économique.</p>
<p>L'influence de la radio devrait perdurer, les podcasts venant en complément plutôt qu'en remplacement des émissions traditionnelles. Une étude réalisée en 2022 dans 34 pays africains <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AD509-PAP7-Promise-and-peril-Africas-changing-media-landscape-Afrobarometer-dispatch-19feb22.pdf">a révélé</a> que la radio était “la source d'information la plus répandue”. Cela témoigne de son influence durable et de sa capacité unique à toucher des publics divers, même un siècle après son introduction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sisanda Nkoala reçoit un financement de la National Research Foundation (Fondation Nationale de la Recherche). Elle est représentante publique au sein du outh African Press Council (Conseil de Presse d'Afrique du Sud). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Chan-Meetoo eçoit un financement de la Commission de l'Enseignement Supérieur à l'Ile Maurice (Higher Education Commission in Mauritius) en tant que membre d'une équipe de recherche sur le créole mauricien. Elle est également membre du conseil d'administration de Creole Speaking Union in Mauritius (l'Union des Locuteurs Créole à Maurice).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marissa J. Moorman reçoit un financement de Fulbright Hays et du Conseil Américain des American Council of Learned Societies (Sociétés Savantes) pour ses recherches sur la radio en Angola. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacinta Mwende Maweu, Modestus Fosu, and Stanley Tsarwe 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>Avec une histoire politique tumultueuse, la radio est aujourd'hui la première source d'information en Afrique.Sisanda Nkoala, Associate professor, University of the Western CapeChristina Chan-Meetoo, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication, University of MauritiusJacinta Mwende Maweu, Senior lecturer in Philosophy and Media Studies, University of NairobiMarissa J. Moorman, Associate Professor of History, Indiana UniversityModestus Fosu, Associate Professor in Language and Communication Studies, University of Media, Arts and Communication, Ghana Institute of JournalismStanley Tsarwe, Lecturer in Journalism, University of NamibiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2224612024-02-12T13:22:05Z2024-02-12T13:22:05ZLorne Michaels, the man behind the curtain at ‘Saturday Night Live,’ has been minting comedy gold for nearly 50 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573576/original/file-20240205-29-bcz58h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=120%2C7%2C4916%2C2303&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lorne Michaels holding one of his Emmy Awards in 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/74thEmmyAwards-TrophyTable/6c56e4ccbc7647aca4d123b7de872dd6/photo?boardId=37be9465fcce45d283d5431cccb20a6a&st=boards&mediaType=audio,photo,video,graphic&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=492&currentItemNo=2">Danny Moloshok/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On April 24, 1976, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0584427/">Lorne Michaels</a>, the creator and producer of the late-night NBC comedy program “Saturday Night” – it had not yet changed its name to “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072562/">Saturday Night Live</a>” – appeared on camera in hopes of luring the Beatles to reunite on the program.</p>
<p>The Fab Four’s last concert had been eight years earlier in San Francisco, and the <a href="https://www.thebeatles.com/abbey-road">band had stopped recording together in 1969</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL3Foo7ZokY">Michaels addressed</a> the band members by name – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – and then acknowledged rumors that the group might get back together. </p>
<p>“It’s also been said that no one has yet to come up with enough money to satisfy you,” Michaels said. “Well, if it’s money you want, there’s no problem here.”</p>
<p>Michaels then held up a check.</p>
<p>“Here it is right here. A check made out to you, the Beatles, for $3,000. All you have to do is sing three Beatles songs,” he said. “‘She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.’ That’s $1,000 right there. You know the words – it’ll be easy.”</p>
<p>Among the 22 million viewers was Lennon.</p>
<p>Lennon had watched the program from his home a few miles away from the NBC studio. A week later, he was watching the next episode with McCartney and told him about Michaels’ recent proposal.</p>
<p>“So John said, ‘<a href="https://www.theglassonionbeatlesjournal.com/2014/05/mccartney-talks-beatles-nirvana.html">It’s a hoot</a>, you know what would be great, we can go down there now.’” McCartney later recounted in an interview. </p>
<p>“For about five minutes, we were going, ‘We’ve got to do it.’ Then it was like, ‘Are you kidding, let’s stay in and watch the show,’” McCartney recalled. “It would be a great story, but we decided against it.”</p>
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<h2>‘It’s like he created Yale or NASA’</h2>
<p>No television program in history has chronicled American politics, culture, fads and tastes like “SNL,” which has mirrored and critiqued society over its half-century run by mocking it. “Caricatures,” <a href="https://www.humanitiesforwisdom.org/uploads/5/8/9/8/58987361/lampooning_injustice-__paul_conrad%E2%80%99s_perspective_on_civil_rights.pdf">Ralph Waldo Emerson</a> said, “are often the truest history of the times.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0275486">Tina Fey</a>, who appeared on the program from 1997 to 2006, <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1393319/lorne-michaels-reveals-who-may-succeed-him-at-saturday-night-live">reportedly might succeed Michaels</a> as its producer when he retires.</p>
<p>“Lorne created a show that’s impacted culture for decades,” Fey said of the man who has been the program’s producer, showrunner and mastermind for most of the program’s nearly half-century run. “No one has ever really successfully been able to replicate it.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aox7YP1Fr1I">Comedian Mike Myers</a>, who served as a cast member on “SNL” from 1989 to 1996, is another big fan. “It’s like he created Yale or NASA.”</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">SNL’s ‘needs more cowbell’ spoof of the band Blue Öyster Cult is among its most-watched sketches.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Unmatched track record</h2>
<p>Michaels <a href="https://horatioalger.ca/en/haa_members/lorne-michaels/">grew up in Toronto</a> before immigrating to the U.S., where he <a href="https://walkoffame.com/lorne-michaels/">first worked as a writer</a> for “Laugh-In” and “The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show.” He has received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement – Canada’s highest honor in the performing arts. He also won the <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/campaign/medal-of-freedom">Presidential Medal of Freedom</a>, the highest civilian honor in the U.S.</p>
<p>He’s also been nominated for <a href="https://www.emmys.com/bios/lorne-michaels">102 Emmy Awards</a>, <a href="https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/credits/creator/lorne-michaels?lang=es">setting a show business record</a>, and he’s won more than 20 of them. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls083322620/">“SNL” has won more Emmys</a> than any other TV show.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.kennedy-center.org/artists/m/ma-mn/lorne-michaels/">Michaels’ long list of awards</a> includes the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, two Peabody Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors.</p>
<p><a href="https://screenrant.com/snl-best-skits-ranked/#olympia-caf-eacute">“SNL”‘s skits</a> and its humorous “<a href="https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/snl-weekend-update-hosts-in-order">Weekend Update</a>” news segments have tracked America’s politics, fads, foibles and scandals from the era of disco fever through the COVID-19 pandemic and today’s <a href="https://youtu.be/pGO1hC4iIb8">trepidation about artificial intelligence</a>.</p>
<p>Whether it was <a href="https://youtu.be/puJePACBoIo">John Belushi</a> gruffly taking orders at a dive that’s only serving cheeseburgers at breakfast time, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgZukeisGwU&ab_channel=MsMojo">Fey impersonating Sarah Palin</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwPQn7i-6JQ">James Austin Johnson</a> caricaturing Donald Trump, “SNL” has served as the nation’s laugh track through the last half-century.</p>
<p>That’s in large part because Michaels <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/how-snls-lorne-michaels-became-179894/">recruited some of the best comic minds and actors</a> of the last half-century to work for “SNL,” including, but hardly limited to, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Will Ferrell, Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, Adam Sandler, Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson.</p>
<p>“There has never been anything in show business <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/feb/17/lorne-michaels-kingmaker-comedy-saturday-night-live">like his track record for discovering stars</a>,” said Doug Hill, the author of “Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live.”</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Gilda Radner as Emily Litella, a recurring character, and Chevy Chase, the original Weekend Update anchor.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>No reunion necessary</h2>
<p>Michaels’ enduring success is like that of a top college football coach who remains successful year after year even though his players frequently have to be replaced. But then again, how many <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/longest-tenured-college-football-coaches-023305426.html">college football coaches</a> have remained at the top of their game for a half-century?</p>
<p>At some point, Michaels, who <a href="https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/lorne-michaels.html">turns 80 on Nov. 17, 2024</a>, will retire.</p>
<p>When asked about retirement rumors in January 2024, he said he intended to remain with the program for at least another year.</p>
<p>“We’re doing the 50th anniversary show in February of '25,” <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1393319/lorne-michaels-reveals-who-may-succeed-him-at-saturday-night-live">he told “Entertainment Tonight</a>.” “I will definitely be there for that, and definitely be there until that, and sometime before that we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”</p>
<p>No matter when Michaels retires, his legacy is secure. So are his contributions to comedy, <a href="https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/first-saturday-night-live-cast-snl-season-1">beginning with the original cast</a>, known as the Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time Players. The roster included Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin and Garrett Morris.</p>
<p>A movie about the behind-the-scenes mayhem before the show first went on the air, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27657135/">SNL 1975</a>,” is in the works.</p>
<p>It was near the end of the first season of “SNL” when Michaels offered the Beatles $3,000 to appear on the program. </p>
<p>Former Beatle <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0694666/">Harrison</a> did make an appearance later that year. <a href="https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-chris-farley-show-paul-mccartney/2868143">McCartney later made several appearances</a>, and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0694472/">Starr</a> hosted an episode in 1984. But neither “Saturday Night Live” nor Michaels, as it turned out, needed a Beatles reunion to make their mark on popular culture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222461/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Lamb 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 show has served as the nation’s laugh track for decades. Who will take over when he retires?Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2227982024-02-12T11:25:32Z2024-02-12T11:25:32Z100 years of radio in Africa: from propaganda to people’s power<p>Radio is <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/african-broadcasters-radio-still-reigns-supreme-across-continent-/7218451.html">thriving</a> across <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AD509-PAP7-Promise-and-peril-Africas-changing-media-landscape-Afrobarometer-dispatch-19feb22.pdf">Africa</a>. Exact figures are difficult to come by because audience research differs across countries. But studies estimate radio listenership to be between <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AD509-PAP7-Promise-and-peril-Africas-changing-media-landscape-Afrobarometer-dispatch-19feb22.pdf">60% and 80%</a> of the continent’s <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population-dashboard">1.4 billion population</a>. </p>
<p>In contrast to many western countries, where there has been a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2056305119880002">shift</a> towards streaming and podcasts, traditional radio continues to be widely embraced in Africa. Because of poor literacy levels and uneven access to the internet and technological infrastructure, old-fashioned radio remains a <a href="https://tidsskrift.dk/mediekultur/article/download/5489/5767">reliable and inclusive</a> medium. </p>
<p>This year’s <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/days/world-radio/radio-next-century">celebration</a> of the 100-plus years of radio offers us an opportunity, as African media scholars, to reflect on the historical significance, cultural relevance, political power and social impact of the medium on the continent. We home in on examples from the regions we’ve studied to demonstrate this rich history.</p>
<h2>Early years</h2>
<p>The story of radio in Africa starts with its introduction <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2778607">to serve colonial interests</a>. Cameroonian scholar Francis Nyamnjoh <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001654928804200202?journalCode=gaza">argues</a> that as soon as it had established itself as a mass medium in the 1920s, </p>
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<p>European states were quick to realise the part radio could play in realising their desire to swallow up weaker cultures around the globe. </p>
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<p>Historians <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00083968.2020.1829832">note</a> that it also allowed Europeans in the colonies to connect to home, their culture and their languages.</p>
<p>In the early 1920s amateur radio enthusiasts had already begun <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/e994713d-3d62-41fc-8420-71f87f36e183/content">tinkering</a> with the technology. The <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-40702-4">first official broadcast</a> seems to have been on 18 December 1923 in Johannesburg, South Africa. </p>
<p>In east Africa, radio was first introduced in Kenya in 1927 and in west Africa to Sierra Leone in 1934.</p>
<p>UK media scholar Graham Mytton <a href="http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf">writes</a> that the arrival of radio in west Africa’s British colonies – The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast (now Ghana) and Nigeria – marked a turning point. </p>
<p>Until then radio had been broadcast by wireless transmission. When it was <a href="http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf">introduced</a> in Sierra Leone, Ghana (1935) and Nigeria (1936), it was “via wired services – subscribers had loudspeakers (linked by wire to the radio station) installed in their homes to receive the service … these were created with native African listeners in mind”.</p>
<p>Then, in 1936, the British colonial administration <a href="http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf">decided to develop</a> radio broadcasting throughout its African colonies.</p>
<h2>Propaganda</h2>
<p>Colonial powers such as the UK and France upped their radio transmission efforts after the outbreak of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II">second world war</a> in 1939. The 1940s were marked by the introduction of indigenous language broadcasts by colonial powers wanting to influence public opinion and garner support for their war effort. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001654928804200202?journalCode=gaza">While</a> the British broadcast to Africa in some African languages, France broadcast only in French.</p>
<p>This laid the groundwork for future developments. After the war, the British <a href="http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf">officially adopted</a> a policy of extending broadcasting services across most of its African colonies. </p>
<p>In Kenya, for example, the first broadcast service for Africans began in 1953, transmitting in local languages during the state of emergency declared in 1952 to suppress the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mau-Mau">Mau Mau uprising</a>. </p>
<p>Academics have <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/50568/">argued</a> that despite being designed mainly for propaganda, radio in Africa</p>
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<p>was always far more multifaceted and slippery than was intended by colonial powers. </p>
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<p>It also offered the “ability to create new and sometimes unruly publics”.</p>
<h2>Resistance radio</h2>
<p>The 1950s saw the expansion and transformation of radio in Africa. Radio stations across British, French and Belgian colonies rapidly increased as people under colonial rule increased their efforts to achieve independence.</p>
<p>In the mid-1950s the oldest liberation station in Africa, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070902919892">Radio Freedom</a>, was established as an underground station in Zambia by South Africa’s resistance movement. It would air its first formal broadcast in 1963.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/radio-as-a-form-of-struggle-scenes-from-late-colonial-angola-128019">Radio as a form of struggle: scenes from late colonial Angola</a>
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<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=h0vPEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=angola%E2%80%99s+radio+marissa&ots=TfjFlqiNSY&sig=MWUjA-iVwN4TzyW67rtPKWcMMvw">In Angola</a>, radio expanded with the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Angola/Independence-and-civil-war">outbreak of war</a> in 1961 between liberation movements and the Portuguese colonial state. </p>
<p>Liberation movements in neighbouring countries used radio for war reporting amid colonial censorship. For their part, colonial state radio fostered the emergence of local artists’ music as part of their colonial propaganda. </p>
<h2>Independence and state control</h2>
<p>From the late 1940s to the early 1960s the number of radio-receiving sets <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ereh/article-abstract/16/1/23/560883">increased fivefold</a>, from 90 sets per thousand people in Africa to 450. </p>
<p>In some respects the 1960s was a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03064228208533427">golden era</a> for African radio. A wave of <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200709-1960-a-wave-of-independence-sweeps-across-africa">independence</a> movements birthed new nations as radio technology was becoming more affordable. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575032/original/file-20240212-20-td3xm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575032/original/file-20240212-20-td3xm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575032/original/file-20240212-20-td3xm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575032/original/file-20240212-20-td3xm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575032/original/file-20240212-20-td3xm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575032/original/file-20240212-20-td3xm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575032/original/file-20240212-20-td3xm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575032/original/file-20240212-20-td3xm9.jpg?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"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Graphic: Gary Oberholzer</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Many newly independent countries established national broadcasting services, like The Gambia in 1965. This expanded the reach of radio and the opportunity to embrace local languages, music and cultural programming. In Nigeria, the Broadcasting Corporation expanded to cover the whole country. </p>
<p>But some newly independent countries that had inherited state-controlled broadcasting systems also <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2023/03/to-speak-freely-in-zambia">censored content</a> deemed critical or threatening, restricting freedom of expression. </p>
<p>With independence in Angola in 1975, for example, the new leaders saw radio as a tool for nation building, but <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=h0vPEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=angola%E2%80%99s+radio+marissa&ots=TfjFlqiNSY&sig=MWUjA-iVwN4TzyW67rtPKWcMMvw">tightened their grip</a> after a coup attempt in 1977. </p>
<p>In many African countries, Angola included, post-colonial state control of radio continues. Zimbabwe’s radio sector, for example, is thriving. But state control remains strong, with biased licensing for national radio and restrictive laws for community radio stations. </p>
<p>The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation was established in 1964 and still operates as a <a href="https://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/me/meb/meb03a/meb03a01/mobile_browsing/onePag">state broadcaster</a>. Despite funding through public licence fees and advertising, it’s perceived to promote government agendas.</p>
<p>Radio has also been used to promote nefarious political ends. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/portraying-rwandas-genocide-as-an-encounter-with-hell-114305">1994 genocide</a> in Rwanda stands as a painful example. The infamous Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines disseminated hate speech and <a href="https://genocidearchiverwanda.org.rw/index.php/Radio_T%C3%A9l%C3%A9vision_Libre_des_Mille_Collines">incited violence</a> against the Tutsi minority. </p>
<h2>Private commercial stations</h2>
<p>Over the last 40 years many African countries have liberalised their economies and their media regulations, issuing commercial and community radio licences.</p>
<p>In Ghana, for example, radio primarily served elite interests until the 1990s, when private ownership diversified the industry. By 2022, Ghana <a href="https://nca.org.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FM-LIST-2022.pdf">boasted</a> 513 radio stations, ranging across public, commercial, community, campus and foreign broadcasts. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/radio-in-south-africa-turns-100-and-collides-with-podcasting-and-streaming-198021">Radio in South Africa turns 100 – and collides with podcasting and streaming</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>An essential development has been the emergence of indigenous language radio. This has produced culturally resonant content and prioritised community issues. But challenges persist. Some stations are affiliated with political or business interests and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/1/8/season-of-intimidation-attacks-on-ghana-press-escalate-ahead-of-2024-polls">increased attacks</a> on journalists pose risks to media freedom and diversity.</p>
<p>In recent decades, Kenya’s radio landscape has transformed to over 200 stations. Private commercial stations now dominate, broadcasting in local languages. </p>
<p>In Mauritius, airwaves were liberalised in 2002, introducing private stations. Talk shows, especially in the Mauritian Creole language, have revolutionised radio. Private radio has expanded to digital platforms, engaging audiences through live streams and social media, creating both competition and sensationalist coverage. </p>
<h2>Radio now</h2>
<p>Digital convergence is reshaping radio consumption, blurring audience patterns.</p>
<p>This isn’t happening uniformly across the continent. Digital platforms face challenges, such as the <a href="http://www.digitaldividecouncil.com/what-is-the-digital-divide/">digital divide</a> and economic <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43545-023-00626-6">inequality</a>.</p>
<p>Radio’s influence is likely to endure, with podcasts complementing rather than replacing traditional broadcasts. <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AD509-PAP7-Promise-and-peril-Africas-changing-media-landscape-Afrobarometer-dispatch-19feb22.pdf">A 2022 survey</a> across 34 African countries found radio was “overwhelmingly the most common source for news”. This is a testament to its enduring influence and unique ability to connect with diverse audiences – even a century after its introduction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222798/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sisanda Nkoala receives funding from the National Research Foundation. She is a a public representative on the South African Press Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Chan-Meetoo receives funding from the Higher Education Commission in Mauritius as part of a research team on Mauritian Creole.
She is a board member of the Creole Speaking Union in Mauritius. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marissa J. Moorman received funding from Fulbright Hays and the American Council of Learned Societies for her research on radio in Angola.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacinta Mwende Maweu, Modestus Fosu, and Stanley Tsarwe 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>With a dramatic political history, radio is today the number one source of news in Africa.Sisanda Nkoala, Associate professor, University of the Western CapeChristina Chan-Meetoo, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication, University of MauritiusJacinta Mwende Maweu, Senior lecturer in Philosophy and Media Studies, University of NairobiMarissa J. Moorman, Associate Professor of History, Indiana UniversityModestus Fosu, Associate Professor in Language and Communication Studies, University of Media, Arts and Communication, Ghana Institute of JournalismStanley Tsarwe, Lecturer in Journalism, University of NamibiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2227262024-02-06T15:20:45Z2024-02-06T15:20:45ZMoney and ageing: South African study shows cash grants help people live longer and have better memory function<p>Nearly <a href="https://theconversation.com/47-of-south-africans-rely-on-social-grants-study-reveals-how-they-use-them-to-generate-more-income-203691">half</a> of South Africa’s 60 million people receive social grants, ranging from child support to pensions. The grants are designed to provide financial assistance to people living in poverty.</p>
<p>The largest components of the South African social grant system were introduced, or expanded to include the full population, in the 1990s. Since then, the system has <a href="https://asq.africa.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/168/V19I1a3.pdf">evolved</a> into one of the most comprehensive in the global south.</p>
<p>In addition to their direct financial benefits, the grants have been found to have a wide range of positive effects. These include improvements in <a href="https://opensaldru.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11090/46/06_08.pdf?sequence=1">child nutrition</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03768350500322925">education</a>, and increased participation of women in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/47-of-south-africans-rely-on-social-grants-study-reveals-how-they-use-them-to-generate-more-income-203691">labour force</a>. </p>
<p>But the effects of social grants on the health of older adults have not been extensively explored. Until now. </p>
<p>Across a series of recent studies conducted as part of an extensive research project in a rural part of South Africa, we have established that social grants can help older South Africans protect their cognitive health and live longer. Cognitive health is the ability to clearly think, learn, and remember. </p>
<p>Using our collective expertise into cognitive and population health, we studied the health effects of three different cash transfer programmes in a sample of 5,059 adults 40 years and older in rural Mpumalanga province.</p>
<p>Our results consistently found strong and positive effects thanks to these programmes. </p>
<p>Older people will make up a much bigger portion of South Africa’s population over the next <a href="https://afrique.maisonphilo.com/doc/aging.pdf#page=20">20 years</a>. Our results provide good news about a social intervention programme the country already has in place to promote health and well-being among older adults. </p>
<h2>How we did the studies and what we learnt</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.agincourt.co.za/agincourt-maps-2">Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System</a> has been collecting data on more than 120,000 people living in 31 villages in north-east South Africa since 1992. </p>
<p>This rural campus of the University of the Witwatersrand was established to track and understand health and well-being in these rural environments. </p>
<p>The Agincourt project is also a platform for other studies to collect more detailed information on certain community members.</p>
<p>We used data from an experimental <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027795362300240X">cash transfer</a> trial within the larger Agincourt research platform that paid monthly cash transfers to households from 2011 through 2015 and compared them to control households with no payments. Just over 2,500 households originally enrolled in the trial. Monthly payments of R300 were split between a school-age female and her caregiver. </p>
<p>We also used data from Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies in South Africa. This is a smaller Agincourt cohort of 5,059 men and women aged 40 and older with detailed information on memory function and dementia probability collected every three years from 2014/2015 through to 2021/2022.</p>
<p>We tested whether being in the group that received the cash transfers led to better cognitive health later in life, up to seven years after the trial concluded. </p>
<p>We found that people who received the cash were better off than those who did not. They had slower ageing-related memory decline and lower dementia probability in 2021/2022, the most recent wave of <a href="https://haalsi.org/">data collection</a>. </p>
<p>For some groups, we also observed an impact on mortality. In those who were relatively better off at baseline with regard to education and wealth, the addition of the cash transfer led to significantly reduced risk of mortality.</p>
<p>In a second study we examined the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08959420.2023.2195785">impact</a> of the older person’s grant, a public pension, on men’s later-life cognitive health. </p>
<p>From 2008 to 2010, the older person’s grant expanded its <a href="https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/Media.action;jsessionid=bEt4_DojTu9wWIPBWbJTZ0k4vDXkszJ2EpvEJTFXyjUV31SZ3GJL!1393577045?id=15519">age eligibility</a> for men from 65 to 60 years. This meant that men aged 60 through 64 at the time of expansion were newly eligible for between one and five “extra” years of pension income prior to turning 65. </p>
<p>Women had always become eligible at <a href="https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/Media.action;jsessionid=bEt4_DojTu9wWIPBWbJTZ0k4vDXkszJ2EpvEJTFXyjUV31SZ3GJL!1393577045?id=15519">60 years</a> of age, so they were not included in this analysis. </p>
<p>We found that men who received the full five extra years of pension income eligibility had significantly better cognitive function than expected if the grant had not expanded its eligibility. </p>
<p>We also observed a “stair step” pattern, where cognitive function was progressively better for each extra year of pension eligibility.</p>
<p>In our final study, we examined the impact of the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9949209/">child support grant</a> on women’s later-life cognitive health. </p>
<p>When the child support grant was introduced in 1998, it was available only for children under <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-80542017000300006#:%7E:text=The%20CSG%20was%20introduced%20in%201998%20to%20cover%20children%20below,Toit%20%26%20Lues%2C%202014">seven</a> years old. Since then, a series of policy changes expanded the ages that children were eligible for the grant, eventually rising to age <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-80542017000300006#:%7E:text=The%20CSG%20was%20introduced%20in%201998%20to%20cover%20children%20below,Toit%20%26%20Lues%2C%202014">18</a> in 2012. These expansions over time mean that two women with the same number of children could have had access to very different amounts of child support grant income, depending on when those children were born.</p>
<p>Consistent with what we found for the older person’s grant expansion, higher access to child support grant income was associated with higher later-life cognitive function for maternal beneficiaries of the grant. </p>
<h2>Looking forward</h2>
<p>Our results so far clearly point to the benefits of South Africa’s social grant programmes for older adults as they are currently structured. </p>
<p>They suggest that as South Africa ages in the upcoming decades, sustained investments in these programmes will pay off in better health and well-being of the country’s most vulnerable older adults.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222726/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Molly Rosenberg receives funding from the United States National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (grant number R01AG069128)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsay Kobayashi is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the US National Institutes of Health (grant numbers R01 AG069128 and R01 AG070953).
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chodziwadziwa Whiteson Kabudula and Kathleen Kahn 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>Nearly half of South Africa’s 60 million people receive social grants. Health experts say they improve cognitive health among the elderly.Molly Rosenberg, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Indiana UniversityChodziwadziwa Whiteson Kabudula, Senior Researcher Rural Health in Transition and Agincourt Research Unit, University of the WitwatersrandKathleen Kahn, Professor: Health and Population Division, School of Public Health, University of the WitwatersrandLindsay Kobayashi, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205282024-02-05T13:28:50Z2024-02-05T13:28:50ZRace is already a theme of the 2024 presidential election – continuing an American tradition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572464/original/file-20240131-27-k5mtb2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C16%2C3336%2C2408&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Donald Trump's increasingly anti-immigrant campaign is steeped in race.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-us-president-donald-trump-speaks-during-a-make-news-photo/1252238271?adppopup=true"> Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I imagine that lots of people won’t like this article. They’ll feel attacked. They’ll feel it’s unfair. The depth of that response will show just how deeply rooted American politics is, and has always been, in racial fears.</p>
<p>The centrality of race to our politics is clear in the current presidential campaign. The most common campaign slogan is from the campaign of Donald Trump: “MAGA” – Make America Great Again. The slogan indicates that the U.S. was once great but has fallen from greatness. </p>
<p>So what caused America’s fall?</p>
<p>Former president <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-came-up-with-make-america-great-again/2017/01/17/fb6acf5e-dbf7-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html">Trump introduced MAGA as his campaign slogan</a> when he began his presidential run in 2015. Central to his announcement, and repeated endlessly since then, is his claim that illegal immigrants assaulting our border are an existential threat because, he claims, they are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/06/16/full-text-donald-trump-announces-a-presidential-bid/">rapists, criminals and other kinds of predators</a>.</p>
<p>His anti-immigrant campaign is steeped in race. When criticizing what he <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-illegal-immigration-crisis-border-security/">calls the country’s “open borders,</a>” he isn’t referring to Canada. In fact, he hopes, he says, for more <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/world/trump-countries-haiti-africa.html">immigrants from Norway and other predominantly white nations</a>. </p>
<p>The fearsome immigrants, the “others,” are the ones who have darker skin than most white Americans; their racial identity is written on their faces. How do we distinguish these immigrants from other Americans who have darker skins? There’s no need; the former president has warned us about them as well. You know, the earlier immigrants, from countries he referred to as “s***hole countries.” </p>
<p><a href="https://polisci.indiana.edu/about/emeriti-faculty/hershey-marjorie.html">Social scientists like me</a> have been able to demonstrate that concern about race has long been central to Trump’s appeal. As the U.S. begins another presidential campaign in which <a href="https://apnews.com/article/rnc-trump-presumptive-nominee-haley-2024-campaign-74c529ab8d3804622276f8e197cd3a5c">Trump is likely to be the GOP nominee</a>, here’s what we have found:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572502/original/file-20240131-23-jomth2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd of people behind a barricade along a street, waving Confederate flags while watched by two police officers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572502/original/file-20240131-23-jomth2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572502/original/file-20240131-23-jomth2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572502/original/file-20240131-23-jomth2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572502/original/file-20240131-23-jomth2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572502/original/file-20240131-23-jomth2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572502/original/file-20240131-23-jomth2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572502/original/file-20240131-23-jomth2.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">People wave Confederate flags outside the hotel that President Barack Obama stayed in on July 15, 2015, in Oklahoma City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Obama/160d41fb625349f988f7903d056f87f0/photo?Query=Unite%20the%20Right%20rally%20white%20supremacists&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=612&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=NaN&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Evan Vucci</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Racial resentment key</h2>
<p>Researchers showed that the second-strongest determinant of individuals’ vote for Trump in 2016 and 2020 – first, of course, was the voter’s party identification – wasn’t people’s economic fears or their commitment to individual freedom. It was <a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/02/03/racial-resentment-the-insidious-force-that-divides-america/">respondents’ racial resentment</a>, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2847791">measured by agree-disagree questions</a> such as, “Whites in the U.S. are more discriminated against than Blacks,” and “Blacks are getting advantages from elites that Blacks have not earned.” </p>
<p>Substantial <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2847791">numbers of Americans</a>, including one-third of white respondents, claim that white Americans face either a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of discrimination in the U.S. Among Republicans, well over half claim that white people are discriminated against, a larger percentage than acknowledges discrimination against Blacks, Latinos or Asians. </p>
<p>White Americans’ <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00564.x">racial resentment increased substantially during the Barack Obama presidency</a>. Even many 2008 Obama voters soon found that the media focus on Obama becoming the nation’s first Black president, at first so exciting, was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamas-decline-in-popularity-what-caused-it/">hard to swallow on a day-to-day basis</a>. </p>
<p>The U.S. is not now “post racial,” free from racial prejudices or discrimination, nor has it ever been.</p>
<p>It’s not easy to argue seriously that white people are more discriminated against than Black Americans. Such a claim withers in the face of hard facts: that the average Black employee earns just <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/palashghosh/2021/06/18/blacks-earn-30-less-than-whites-while-black-households-have-just-one-eighth-of-wealth-of-white-households/?sh=33b5f600550c">70% of the average white employee’s wages</a>; that the median white household in 2021 had <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2023/12/04/wealth-surged-in-the-pandemic-but-debt-endures-for-poorer-black-and-hispanic-families/">nine times as much wealth as the median Black household</a>; that Black Americans, especially Black men, are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/13/politics/black-latinx-incarcerated-more/index.html">jailed in much higher proportions than white Americans are</a>; or that the homeownership gap between Black and white Americans is <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/more-americans-own-their-homes-but-black-white-homeownership-rate-gap-is-biggest-in-a-decade-nar">substantial, at 44% versus 73%, and growing</a>.</p>
<p>Even reports from white Americans themselves belie the notion that they are more discriminated against than people of color. White people are less likely than other racial groups to report that they have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/07/kff-racial-descrimination-polling/">experienced negative responses from other people</a>. And among Black adults, “those with self-reported darker skin tones are more likely to report discrimination experiences <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/07/kff-racial-descrimination-polling/">than those with lighter skin tones</a>” – added evidence that observed racial differences affect the way people are treated.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572523/original/file-20240131-27-t35ou5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A 'For Sale' sign hanging from a post in front of a home with a metal roof." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572523/original/file-20240131-27-t35ou5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572523/original/file-20240131-27-t35ou5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572523/original/file-20240131-27-t35ou5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572523/original/file-20240131-27-t35ou5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572523/original/file-20240131-27-t35ou5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572523/original/file-20240131-27-t35ou5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572523/original/file-20240131-27-t35ou5.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 homeownership gap between Black and white Americans is substantial, at 44% versus 73%, and growing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/home-available-for-sale-is-shown-on-october-16-2023-in-news-photo/1739414316?adppopup=true">Brandon Bell/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Anxiety deepens resentment</h2>
<p>The centrality of race in American life is nothing new. </p>
<p>Race was the reason that a large portion of the U.S. – the South – could <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/confederacy-wasnt-what-you-think/613309/">not have been legitimately defined as a democracy</a> for most of the nation’s history. How could a region that deprived a large portion of its citizens of the right to vote systematically, in law and practice, on the grounds of their race be considered democratic?</p>
<p>But racial resentment seems to deepen in times of anxiety, when many people seek a specific target for their fears rather than deal with a vaguer sense of dread. The U.S. recently experienced an enormous source of anxiety: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/11/us/covid-deaths-us.html">More than 1.1 million Americans died of a virus</a> that affected virtually every aspect of day-to-day life, from our education and travel to the nation’s budget and public health.</p>
<p>The U.S. has also faced social-demographic change at a speed that those with racial resentment may find threatening. In just 20 years, from 2000 to 2020, the U.S. Census found that those who identified as non-Hispanic white dropped from about 75% of the population to 58%, though the two years’ measures <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/2020-united-states-population-more-racially-ethnically-diverse-than-2010.html">are not completely comparable</a>. These threats to the public’s health and to the image of the white American that so many traditionalists hold can encourage racial resentment.</p>
<p>However understandable it may be, it’s hard to argue that racial resentment, or any other hatred rooted in immutable differences, benefits U.S. society. Some segments of society do benefit from racial resentment, of course, and they will resist losing it as a campaign tool to protect their privileged status. </p>
<p>But if the U.S. is to fully realize the American ideals of freedom, opportunity and democracy for all, the country is going to have to face the reality of continuing discrimination against people of color and “others” of all types. Americans will need to not just talk about race <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2024/race-identity-michele-norris-hidden-conversations-race-card-project/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most">but to listen</a>, even if they don’t like what they hear. </p>
<p>As I said, lots of people won’t like this story.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220528/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marjorie Hershey 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 centrality of race to US politics is, once again, a defining feature of the current presidential campaign.Marjorie Hershey, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2217172024-01-25T13:18:54Z2024-01-25T13:18:54ZCould a court really order the destruction of ChatGPT? The New York Times thinks so, and it may be right<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571252/original/file-20240124-29-abie1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C44%2C4985%2C3196&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Old media, meet new.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-photo-illustration-the-new-york-times-logo-is-seen-news-photo/1894336797">Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Dec. 27, 2023, The New York Times <a href="https://nytco-assets.nytimes.com/2023/12/NYT_Complaint_Dec2023.pdf">filed a lawsuit</a> against OpenAI alleging that the company committed willful copyright infringement through its generative AI tool ChatGPT. The Times claimed both that ChatGPT was unlawfully trained on vast amounts of text from its articles and that ChatGPT’s output contained language directly taken from its articles.</p>
<p>To remedy this, the Times asked for more than just money: It asked a federal court to order the “destruction” of ChatGPT.</p>
<p>If granted, this request would force OpenAI to delete its trained large language models, such as GPT-4, as well as its training data, which would prevent the company from rebuilding its technology. </p>
<p>This prospect is alarming to the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/6/23948386/chatgpt-active-user-count-openai-developer-conference">100 million people</a> who use ChatGPT every week. And it raises two questions that interest me as a <a href="https://law.indiana.edu/about/people/details/marinotti-jo%C3%A3o.html">law professor</a>. First, can a federal court actually order the destruction of ChatGPT? And second, if it can, will it?</p>
<h2>Destruction in the court</h2>
<p>The answer to the first question is yes. Under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/503">copyright law</a>, courts do have the power to issue destruction orders. </p>
<p>To understand why, consider vinyl records. Their <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/10/23633605/vinyl-records-surpasses-cd-music-sales-us-riaa">resurging popularity</a> has attracted <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/04/06/punk-rock-fan-uncovers-six-year-scam-that-sold-1-6-million-worth-of-counterfeit-vinyl-records-to-collectors/">counterfeiters who sell pirated records</a>. </p>
<p>If a record label sues a counterfeiter for copyright infringement and wins, what happens to the counterfeiter’s inventory? What happens to the master and stamper disks used to mass-produce the counterfeits, and the machinery used to create those disks in the first place?</p>
<p>To address these questions, copyright law grants courts the power to destroy infringing goods and the equipment used to create them. From the law’s perspective, there’s no legal use for a pirated vinyl record. There’s also no legitimate reason for a counterfeiter to keep a pirated master disk. Letting them keep these items would only enable more lawbreaking.</p>
<p>So in some cases, destruction is the only logical legal solution. And if a court decides ChatGPT is like an infringing good or pirating equipment, it could order that it be destroyed. In its complaint, the Times offered arguments that ChatGPT fits both analogies.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kUUievwKEaM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">NBC News reports on The New York Times’ lawsuit.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Copyright law has never been used to destroy AI models, but OpenAI shouldn’t take solace in this fact. The law has been increasingly open to the idea of targeting AI. </p>
<p>Consider the Federal Trade Commission’s recent use of <a href="https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ftc-coppa-settlement-requires-deletion-1217192">algorithmic disgorgement</a> as an example. The FTC has forced companies <a href="https://www.dwt.com/-/media/files/blogs/privacy-and-security-blog/2022/03/weight-watchers-kurbo-stipulated-order.pdf">such as WeightWatchers</a> to delete not only unlawfully collected data but also the algorithms and AI models trained on such data. </p>
<h2>Why ChatGPT will likely live another day</h2>
<p>It seems to be only a matter of time before copyright law is used to order the destruction of AI models and datasets. But I don’t think that’s going to happen in this case. Instead, I see three more likely outcomes.</p>
<p>The first and most straightforward is that the two parties could settle. In the case of a successful settlement, which <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/01/04/nyt-ai-copyright-lawsuit-fair-use">may be likely</a>, the lawsuit would be dismissed and no destruction would be ordered.</p>
<p>The second is that the court might side with OpenAI, agreeing that ChatGPT is protected by the copyright doctrine of “<a href="https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/#:%7E:text=Fair%20use%20is%20a%20legal,protected%20works%20in%20certain%20circumstances.">fair use</a>.” If OpenAI can argue that ChatGPT is transformative and that its service does not provide a substitute for The New York Times’ content, it just might win. </p>
<p>The third possibility is that OpenAI loses but the law saves ChatGPT anyway. Courts can order destruction only if two requirements are met: First, destruction must not prevent lawful activities, and second, it must be “<a href="https://casetext.com/case/hounddog-prods-llc-v-empire-film-grp-inc">the only remedy</a>” that could prevent infringement. </p>
<p>That means OpenAI could save ChatGPT by proving either that ChatGPT has legitimate, noninfringing uses or that destroying it isn’t necessary to prevent further copyright violations. </p>
<p>Both outcomes seem possible, but for the sake of argument, imagine that the first requirement for destruction is met. The court could conclude that, because of the articles in ChatGPT’s training data, all uses infringe on the Times’ copyrights – an argument put forth in <a href="https://copyrightalliance.org/current-ai-copyright-cases-part-1/">various other lawsuits</a> against generative AI companies. </p>
<p>In this scenario, the court would issue an injunction ordering OpenAI to stop infringing on copyrights. Would OpenAI violate this order? Probably not. A single counterfeiter in a shady warehouse might try to get away with that, but that’s less likely with a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-talks-raise-new-funding-100-bln-valuation-bloomberg-news-2023-12-22/">US$100 billion company</a>.</p>
<p>Instead, it might try to retrain its AI models without using articles from the Times, or it might develop other software guardrails to prevent further problems. With these possibilities in mind, OpenAI would likely succeed on the second requirement, and the court wouldn’t order the destruction of ChatGPT. </p>
<p>Given all of these hurdles, I think it’s extremely unlikely that any court would order OpenAI to destroy ChatGPT and its training data. But developers should know that courts do have the power to destroy unlawful AI, and they seem increasingly willing to use it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>João Marinotti 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>It may seem extreme, but there’s a reason the law allows it.João Marinotti, Associate Professor of Law, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2206172024-01-13T18:11:31Z2024-01-13T18:11:31ZEthiopia’s deal with Somaliland upends regional dynamics, risking strife across the Horn of Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569174/original/file-20240113-23-3brzua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C6000%2C3476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Somali soldier controls the crowd at a protest in the capital Mogadishu on Jan.3, 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SomaliaDemonstration/537cb16b632d4e2d9693cef382a1a274/photo?Query=somaliland&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=184&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Horn of Africa ushered in the new year with news of a deal that would ensure that diplomatic relations in the region got off to a bumpy start in 2024. Ethiopia, it was announced on Jan. 1, had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/01/ethiopia-and-somaliland-reach-historic-agreement-over-access-to-red-sea-ports">signed a memorandum of understanding</a> with the breakaway region of Somaliland, opening the door to an agreement to exchange a stake in flagship carrier Ethiopian Airlines for access to the Gulf of Aden.</p>
<p>Such <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2706740?seq=1">transactions of economic reciprocity</a> are generally routine, as scholars of international relations and law <a href="https://ccd.indiana.edu/staff-boards-fellows/graduate-fellows.html">like myself</a> are aware. </p>
<p>But this deal has another element. It intertwined sea access with Ethiopia’s formal recognition of Somaliland – and this has sparked <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67911057">quite a diplomatic stir</a>. Ethiopia’s neighbor Somalia has demanded that the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f1a7ffa3-03d8-46e4-a009-3710b4abc27d">agreement be immediately retracted</a>. In Somaliland itself, the deal has been <a href="https://hornobserver.com/articles/2595/Protests-and-resignation-roil-Somaliland-over-Ethiopia-Red-Sea-deal">greeted by protest</a> and the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/somaliland-ethiopia-coast-deal-defense-minister-resigns-d8606e7221681e7adcd4a8219dae92c3">defense minister’s resignation</a>.</p>
<p>Prior to the memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had <a href="https://theconversation.com/ethiopias-abiy-takes-a-page-from-russia-china-in-asserting-the-right-to-restore-historical-claim-to-strategic-waters-216237">signaled his intention to gain Red Sea access</a> for his landlocked country – a bid observers warned could have a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/11/14/abiy-ahmeds-imperial-ambitions-are-bad-news-for-africa-and-the-world">destabilizing effect</a> in the region. </p>
<p>Ethiopia is reeling from an intense and bloody <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/ethiopia-tigray-conflict-explained.html">two-year war within its own borders</a>, coupled with ongoing strife <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/reflection-conflict-amhara-region-ethiopia">among different ethnic groups</a>. As a result of the violence, Ethiopia is currently experiencing <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/05/28/1100469734/ethiopia-set-a-world-record-for-displacements-in-a-single-year-5-1-million-in-20">massive internal displacement</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57791868">famine</a>. </p>
<p>Geopolitical tensions created by the pact with Somaliland could serve to exacerbate Ethiopia’s problems – and that of the region. But despite the risk, both sides know they have much to gain.</p>
<h2>Somaliland’s quest for recognition</h2>
<p>Since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, Somaliland has operated as a <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/05/30/530703639/somaliland-wants-to-make-one-thing-clear-it-is-not-somalia">fully functional de facto state</a>, boasting its own defined territory, population and government. </p>
<p><iframe id="qcR56" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/qcR56/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>However, it still lacks the international recognition that would allow Somaliland full participation in the global community, such as <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/about-un-membership">membership in the United Nations</a>. A formal nod would also <a href="https://carnegieeurope.eu/2018/12/03/introduction-strange-endurance-of-de-facto-states-pub-77841">unlock access to protections under international law and economic opportunities</a>. </p>
<p>The agreement with Ethiopia would be a step toward providing that critical missing link. </p>
<p>Recognition of a new state under international law requires established nations to acknowledge the sovereignty and legitimacy of the territory. This can be achieved through either expressed or implicit means.</p>
<p><a href="https://lawbhoomi.com/recognition-of-states-under-international-law/">Expressed recognition</a> takes the form of an official unequivocal declaration. In contrast, <a href="https://lawbhoomi.com/recognition-of-states-under-international-law/">implicit recognition can emerge</a> through bilateral treaties, alliances or diplomatic exchanges – essentially signaling acceptance of a country without making an official declaration of recognition. Implicit recognition often provides a strategic advantage, safeguarding a country’s interest without triggering regional discord. </p>
<p>Mastering the art of crafting treaties with implicit acknowledgments can be crucial to avoid overcommitting a country diplomatically. Abiy, a <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2019/summary/">Nobel Peace Prize winner</a>, was expected by the international community to navigate this diplomatic tightrope, balancing a degree of acknowledgment of Somaliland with restraint. Doing so might avoid rupturing relations with Somalia and imperiling regional security dynamics.</p>
<h2>An ambiguous deal</h2>
<p>The specific details of the memorandum of understanding <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67858566">remain unpublished</a>. So far, any insights gleaned stem mainly from <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/landlocked-ethiopia-signs-pact-use-somalilands-red-sea-port-2024-01-01/">a joint press conference</a> held by Ethiopia’s and Somaliland’s two leaders in Addis Ababa and subsequent press releases.</p>
<p>Nuanced distinctions in each party’s priorities have emerged: Somaliland places emphasis on explicit recognition; Ethiopia directs its focus toward regional integration.</p>
<p>And some larger discrepancies in messaging pop out when you look closer. Both sides point to economic and security benefits. But Ethiopia’s Jan. 3 statement suggests only an “<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240103-ethiopia-defends-somaliland-deal-as-somalis-protest">in-depth assessment</a>” of the request for state recognition. This seems at odds with Somaliland’s claim of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/1/4/ambiguous-ethiopia-port-deal-fuels-uncertainty-over-somaliland-statehood#:%7E:text=The%20memorandum%20of%20understanding%20was,recognition%20as%20a%20sovereign%20state.">guaranteed recognition</a> in exchange for sea access. </p>
<p>But because the actual text of the agreement isn’t publicly available, its implications remain shrouded in secrecy – further adding to the unease in the region over the deal.</p>
<h2>Rising regional tensions</h2>
<p>In the days since the memorandum of understanding was inked, tensions have deepened between Somalia and both Ethiopia and Somaliland. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-08/somalia-leader-warns-he-will-fight-against-ethiopia-red-sea-plan?srnd=undefined&embedded-checkout=true">issued a stern warning</a> against the agreement and threatened to defend Somalia through all available means. </p>
<p>He urged Somali civilians to stand united against potential incursions and cautioned Ethiopia against escalating the situation into armed conflict. </p>
<p>Mohamud has also been seeking support from allies. Already in 2024, he has <a href="https://www.trtafrika.com/africa/somali-leader-in-eritrea-after-annulling-somaliland-sea-deal-16585258">traveled to Eritrea</a> for security talks aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and addressing regional and international concerns. He also received an <a href="https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/129684/Somali-President-Hassan-Sheikh-thanks-Egypt-for-support-his-country">invitation from Egypt</a> in an apparent show of support.</p>
<h2>Ethiopia’s precarious situation</h2>
<p>In a further sign of growing tensions, Ethiopia’s army chief of staff <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67921447">has engaged in talks</a> with his Somaliland counterpart to discuss military cooperation. </p>
<p>Considering Ethiopia’s delicate situation with domestic secessionist forces, critics have been quick to note that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/02/world/africa/ethiopia-somaliland-port-deal.html">Ethiopia may not be best placed</a> to entertain the idea of recognizing Somaliland. Not only would it risk conflict with Somalia, doing so could also lead to the renewal of a breakaway push within Ethiopia itself.</p>
<p>Somaliland is situated to the south and east of Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State. The region is governed by the Somali branch of the Ethiopian Prosperity Party, whose legitimacy has long been contested by the Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF, a group demanding autonomy for Somalis in Ethiopia. </p>
<p>Until <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1MW0CT">a peace agreement</a> in October 2018, the ONLF had been engaged in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/world/africa/18ethiopia.html">decades-long secessionist war</a> with the Ethiopian government. More recently, in 2020, a push for independence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia resulted in a two-year armed conflict that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57791868">displaced millions</a> of people and forced <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57791868">hundreds of thousands</a> into famine. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Amhara – an indigenous ethnic group in Ethiopia – have been <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66496137">resisting</a> the federal government’s attempt to disarm their militia and regional special forces. And the state of Oromia also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-oromo-militants-peace-talks-7252be5f8128dc931982f503180235ca">saw calls for independence</a> before an Oromo prime minister, Abiy, was elected by parliament in 2018.</p>
<p>A renewed push for autonomy from Ethiopia’s Somali community could serve to reignite any number of these simmering internal conflicts and Somali <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2023/12/08/the-demon-of-irredentism-is-back-with-a-vengeance">irredentism</a>.</p>
<h2>Uneasy international response</h2>
<p>Global attention to growing tensions in the Horn of Africa has been mounting: The U.S. has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWD2FWLX7_Q">expressed serious concern</a>, and the African Union has <a href="https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20230103/chairperson-commission-calls-mutual-respect-between-ethiopia-somalia">urged Ethiopia and Somalia to de-escalate</a> the tensions in the name of regional peace.</p>
<p>Similar statements have come from the <a href="https://igad.int/statement-of-the-igad-executive-secretary-on-the-recent-developments-in-relations-between-the-federal-democratic-republic-of-ethiopia-fdre-and-the-federal-government-of-somalia-fgs/">Intergovernmental Authority on Development</a> — an African trade bloc — the <a href="https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/ethiopiasomalia-statement-spokesperson-territorial-integrity-federal-republic-somalia_en">European Union</a> and the <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436356/middle-east">Arab League</a>. </p>
<h2>Widespread protests</h2>
<p>Djibouti, which neighbors Somaliland to the northwest, has <a href="https://twitter.com/HarunMaruf/status/1744451659852333199">called for dialogue</a> and a diplomatic solution.</p>
<p>But such calls – from both international and regional players – have done little to calm tensions.</p>
<p>In the days since the deal was announced, <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/africa/2024-01-04-watch-somalis-protest-against-ethiopia-somaliland-deal/">tens of thousands Somalis</a> have protested in the streets of Mogadishu, calling the move an <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/protest-against-ethiopia-s-red-sea-access-deal-rocks-somali-capital/3106328#">aggression against the nation’s sovereignty</a>.</p>
<p>And while residents of both Somaliland and Ethiopia have largely supported the memorandum – hopeful in turn that it would lead to international recognition and economic uplift – not everyone is behind the deal. In Somaliland, Defense Minister Abdiqani Mohamud Ateye <a href="https://apnews.com/article/somaliland-ethiopia-coast-deal-defense-minister-resigns-d8606e7221681e7adcd4a8219dae92c3">resigned on Jan. 8</a>, stating that the handing over of access to the coast to Ethiopia represented a threat to Somaliland’s sovereignty.</p>
<p>It would seem that the memorandum of understanding has served to reopen old wounds across the region.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alemayehu Weldemariam 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>Somalia has demanded that a memorandum of understanding – which would see Ethiopia gain access to the Red Sea via a Somaliland port – be ripped up.Alemayehu Weldemariam, Ph.D. Fellow, Center for Constitutional Democracy, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200372023-12-21T13:45:57Z2023-12-21T13:45:57ZNew date, same traditions: Ukraine’s wartime Christmas celebrations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566160/original/file-20231217-21-nxjzz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C3%2C1014%2C679&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Singers in Lviv, Ukraine, before the traditional Christmas Stars Parade during Orthodox Christmas in January 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/participants-sing-outside-the-church-of-the-holy-eucharist-news-photo/1246086484?adppopup=true">Artur Widak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year, despite the raging war, people in Ukraine will continue celebrating Christmas – but not without politics.</p>
<p>In 2023, after years of debates, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-centuries-old-religious-dispute-over-ukraines-orthodox-church-matters-today-109768">the Orthodox Church of Ukraine </a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/29/europe/ukraine-christmas-date-change-intl/index.html">the Ukranian government</a> both declared Dec. 25 to be <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/orthodox-church-of-ukraine-to-switch-to-revised-julian-calendar-celebrate-christmas-on-dec-25/">the official date</a> for celebrating Christmas.</p>
<p>Traditionally, Orthodox Christians in Ukraine have celebrated on Jan. 7, in keeping with the Julian calendar that most branches of the Orthodox Church use to determine fixed-day religious celebrations. The decision to switch dates for Christmas and other holidays is one more way to assert Ukraine’s cultural and political independence from Russia since Moscow’s troops <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-russia-invade-ukraine-178512">invaded the country</a> in February 2022.</p>
<p>No matter what the calendar says, though, many Ukrainian traditions will continue as best as they can amid the fighting. As <a href="https://folklore.indiana.edu/about/graduate-students/voloshyna-iryna.html">a folklorist and ethnomusicologist</a>, and a native Ukrainian, I am particularly interested in how “koliadky” – Ukrainian carols – reflect the realities of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566169/original/file-20231217-17-qsu4cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A blue and yellow flag flutters on a short flagpole on a snow-covered field, next to a thin tree decorated with a few ornaments." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566169/original/file-20231217-17-qsu4cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566169/original/file-20231217-17-qsu4cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566169/original/file-20231217-17-qsu4cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566169/original/file-20231217-17-qsu4cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566169/original/file-20231217-17-qsu4cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566169/original/file-20231217-17-qsu4cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566169/original/file-20231217-17-qsu4cf.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">A Christmas tree close to the front line, amid intense fighting, near Bakhmut, Ukraine, in December 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-of-a-christmas-tree-5-km-from-the-front-line-as-news-photo/1850685504?adppopup=true">Marek M. Berezowski/Anadolu via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ancient heritage</h2>
<p>Like in other Slavic cultures, the roots of Christmas celebrations in Ukraine reach back before Christianity itself. In 988, Prince Volodymyr the Great of the Kyivan Rus — the medieval state centered around current-day Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital — <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000084613">was baptized</a>, marking the beginning of Christianity in the region. </p>
<p>Originally, <a href="https://ukrainer.net/krasnoilsk-malanka-the-revival-of-the-carnival/">winter festivals</a> were mainly a celebration of the harvest from the previous year: a moment of reflection, expressions of gratitude, and hopes for another prosperous year. These themes are still widely recognizable in the koliadky. </p>
<p>Songs for Christmas and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/pages/article/160120-ukraine-malanka-festival-costumes-new-year">Malanka, another Ukrainian folk holiday around New Year’s</a> often address members of the family: the host, their children, and sometimes even livestock <a href="https://rivisteclueb.it/index.php/etnoantropologia/article/view/321/510">and bees</a>, who are also seen as important for a family’s and community’s well-being. Many koliadky start with greeting the host – “Good evening to you, dear host,” or “dear hostess” – and proceed with praising the couple for their hard work, embodied in the plentiful breads and other foods on the table. Holiday songs usually end with <a href="https://www.kusc.org/culture/staff-blog/the-ukrainian-folk-tune-behind-carol-of-the-bells/">a wish of many happy years</a> to the family. </p>
<p>Some carols are tailored to special social situations. For instance, there are carols for the unmarried family members – sons and daughters – wishing them to find a partner and start a big prosperous family: “May you have as many children, as there are stars in the sky.” Other carols have special messages of encouragement and support to a widow or to an orphan. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/svDovA5ZaH0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">“Oh, How It Used to Be in the Ancient Times”</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some carols go so far back that they retell the Slavic creation myth, including “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svDovA5ZaH0">Oh, How It Used to Be in the Ancient Times</a>.” The song depicts a mythical time when there was no land or sky, just a blue sea. The saints volunteered St. Peter to dive to the bottom of the sea and get some sand, to sprinkle it all over the world, so that the sky could yield stars and the Earth could yield flowers. This carol is a good example of how pre-Christian cosmology <a href="https://euromaidanpress.com/2016/01/07/prehistoric-christmas-reconstructed-a-celebration-of-the-birth-of-the-world/">overlaps and coexists</a> with Biblical stories about the generosity and martyrdom of St. Peter. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566170/original/file-20231217-17-mzkrvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Six people in heavy coats and festive crowns stand outside, taking a selfie on a smart phone, in a snow-covered field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566170/original/file-20231217-17-mzkrvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566170/original/file-20231217-17-mzkrvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566170/original/file-20231217-17-mzkrvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566170/original/file-20231217-17-mzkrvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566170/original/file-20231217-17-mzkrvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566170/original/file-20231217-17-mzkrvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566170/original/file-20231217-17-mzkrvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People perform and sing carols near Kyiv during the celebration of Malanka in January 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-take-a-selfie-as-costumed-people-perform-and-sing-news-photo/1246226899?adppopup=true">Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pre-Christian koliadky are sung alongside the carols based on the Nativity story, while the birth of Jesus and praises of the Virgin Mary are filled with Ukrainian imagery. The saints are given Ukrainian equivalents of their names, and depictions of the Nativity reflect the everyday life in rural Ukraine. </p>
<p>The storytelling of koliadky materialize in another important part of the Ukrainian Christmas celebration: Vertep, <a href="https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/02/01/authentic-18th-century-ukrainian-christmas-tradition-vertep-reconstructed-and-performed-in-ukraine-despite-war/">a folk theater play</a> based on the biblical story of Jesus’ birth. The Vertep is typically performed by children and adults in someone’s house, or outside to gather more viewers.</p>
<p>Within the Vertep, which is performed with puppets, are many Gospel stories that stand out poignantly amid the war. In one scene, without blinking an eye, King Herod orders the murder of hundreds of innocent children – an attempt to kill the infant Jesus, whom he views as a threat. In another scene, the three wise men offer gifts to Jesus, Mary and Joseph – assistance from afar.</p>
<h2>Wartime Christmas</h2>
<p>Ukrainian artists today are also taking opportunities to demonstrate resistance through folklore. In 2022, Hey Guide, a Kyiv-based communications agency, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/31653f7Fsvj4llWikCw4Wf?si=g4G-lVDMRBS8z-8rSHzqBA&nd=1">released an album called “Ukrainian Christmas Polyphony</a>.” <a href="https://slukh.media/en/texts/partes-church-chant/">Ukrainian polyphony</a>, a form of singing with multiple parts or voices, is an object of pride in Ukrainian culture. </p>
<p>Along with the koliadky collected by ethnomusicologists around the country, several are newly composed. For instance, Oleksiy Zayets, an ethnomusicologist and a folk singer, offered his own carol that he dedicated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. After each verse, the refrain repeated, “Lord, give our army good health and strength in their battle.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566171/original/file-20231217-25-axyuut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Blue and yellow decorations, along with a tiny Christmas tree and candles, positioned on snow with a large monument in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566171/original/file-20231217-25-axyuut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566171/original/file-20231217-25-axyuut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566171/original/file-20231217-25-axyuut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566171/original/file-20231217-25-axyuut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566171/original/file-20231217-25-axyuut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566171/original/file-20231217-25-axyuut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566171/original/file-20231217-25-axyuut.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ukrainian flags with the names of fallen soldiers are visible in Independence Square in Kyiv in December 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/flowers-candles-and-a-small-christmas-tree-near-ukrainian-news-photo/1841160234?adppopup=true">Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another recent project also aims to offer a fresh look at the traditional koliadky. In the 2022 Christmas film “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBJO9H3-pr8&t=982s">Koliadky at Kudriavka</a>,” the Kyiv-based folk-singing ensemble Shchuka-Ryba invited established as well as up-and-coming Ukrainian pop artists to give their renditions of Christmas songs. The film <a href="https://vogue.ua/article/culture/kino/zberezhene-rizdvo-prem-yera-novogo-muzichnogo-filmu-kolyadki-na-kudryavci-50869.html">was shot at Kudriuavka</a>, an abandoned wine factory in Kyiv, between the air raid sirens and blackouts.</p>
<p>The film’s message is that koliadky are not just a part of the past; they can be modern and hip. Most important, they are yet another testament to the vibrant and living Ukrainian culture that is under siege. </p>
<p>In preparation for Christmas, many folk-singing ensembles and researchers have offered workshops to teach general audiences some of the lesser-known koliadky. For instance, ethnomusicologist and folk singer Vira Ibryamova-Sivoraksha <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0wvZqyNbqI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">will host a workshop</a> in an underground church in <a href="https://museum-portal.com/en/museums/73_anthony-caves">the Antoniy caves</a> in Chernihiv, which are believed to be the home of an 11th century saint. In addition to the solemn environment, the location will also serve as shelter in case of an attack in the city, which is just a few dozen miles from the border with Russia, as well as the border with <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/belarus-russia-alliance-axis-autocracy-eastern-europe">Russia-backed Belarus</a>. </p>
<p>From Vertep performances to koliadky workshops, Christmas celebrations illustrate the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Despite the war, people continue to not only learn about their heritage, but to celebrate it – and continue a long, evolving tradition into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220037/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iryna Voloshyna 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>An expert on Ukrainian music and folklore explains how holiday traditions celebrate both centuries of culture and present-day resistance.Iryna Voloshyna, Ph.D. Candidate in Folklore, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2198732023-12-14T12:27:34Z2023-12-14T12:27:34Z¿La mejor manera de cumplir un propósito de Año Nuevo? Haga un “propósito de año viejo”<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565521/original/file-20211220-15-zf40ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C14%2C4815%2C3188&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Una pintura con colores oscuros y dorados muestra a María y José en el pesebre con el niño Jesús.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/this-year-i-will-text-on-a-vintage-typewriter-royalty-free-image/958919128?adppopup=true">Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Si ha hecho un propósito de Año Nuevo, es probable que su plan de superación personal se ponga en marcha el 1 de enero, cuando se le pasa la resaca y empieza en serio la búsqueda de un “nuevo yo”.</p>
<p>Pero si las investigaciones sobre el cambio de hábitos sirven de indicación, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234097">sólo la mitad</a> de los propósitos de Año Nuevo tienen probabilidades de superar el mes de enero, y mucho menos de durar toda la vida. </p>
<p>Como expertos en <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yrmBP5AAAAAJ&hl=en">psicología positiva</a> y <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QrpiSzEAAAAJ&hl=en">literatura</a>, recomendamos un enfoque poco convencional pero más prometedor. </p>
<p>Lo llamamos el “propósito de año viejo”. </p>
<p>Combina ideas de psicólogos y del primer gurú de la superación personal de Estados Unidos, Benjamin Franklin, que fue pionero en un modelo de cambio de hábitos muy adelantado a su tiempo.</p>
<p>Con el enfoque del “año viejo”, quizá pueda eludir los inevitables retos que conllevan los propósitos tradicionales de Año Nuevo y lograr cambios positivos y duraderos.</p>
<h2><strong>Un periodo para practicar y fracasar</strong></h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000324861">Las investigaciones han puesto de relieve</a> dos posibles escollos de los propósitos de Año Nuevo. </p>
<p>En primer lugar, si le falta confianza para invertir en un esfuerzo en toda regla, no conseguir el objetivo puede convertirse en una profecía autocumplida. Además, si mantiene el cambio pero percibe el progreso como inaceptablemente lento o inadecuado, puede abandonar el esfuerzo.</p>
<p>Los propósitos de año nuevo son diferentes. En lugar de esperar hasta enero para empezar a intentar cambiar tu vida, haces un simulacro antes de que empiece el Año Nuevo. </p>
<p>¿Cómo funciona?</p>
<p>Primero, identifica un cambio que quieras hacer en tu vida. ¿Quieres comer mejor? ¿Moverte más? ¿Ahorrar más? Ahora, a pocos días del 1 de enero, empiece a vivir de acuerdo con su compromiso. Haz un seguimiento de tus progresos. Puede que tropieces de vez en cuando, pero esto es lo que hay: sólo estás practicando. </p>
<p>Si alguna vez has ensayado para una obra de teatro o has jugado partidos de entrenamiento, habrás utilizado este tipo de práctica de bajo riesgo para prepararte para la realidad. Estas experiencias nos dan permiso para fracasar.</p>
<p>La psicóloga <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/44330/mindset-by-carol-s-dweck-phd/">Carol Dweck</a> y sus colegas <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2012.722805">han demostrado</a> que cuando las personas ven el fracaso como el resultado natural de esforzarse por conseguir algo desafiante, es más probable que persistan hasta alcanzar el objetivo. </p>
<p>Sin embargo, si la gente percibe el fracaso como una señal definitiva de que no es capaz -o ni siquiera merecedora- de alcanzar el éxito, el fracaso puede llevar a la rendición. </p>
<p>Si uno llega a convencerse de que no puede alcanzar un objetivo, puede producirse algo llamado “<a href="https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/lhtheoryevidence.pdf">indefensión aprendida</a>”, lo que significa que es probable que abandone el empeño por completo.</p>
<p>Muchos de nosotros, sin querer, nos abocamos al fracaso con nuestros propósitos de Año Nuevo. El 1 de enero, nos lanzamos a un nuevo estilo de vida y, como era de esperar, resbalamos, caemos, volvemos a resbalar… y al final nunca nos levantamos. </p>
<p>Los propósitos de año nuevo nos quitan presión. Te da permiso para fracasar e incluso para aprender del fracaso. Poco a poco se va ganando confianza y los fracasos son menos importantes, ya que ocurren antes de la “fecha de inicio” oficial del propósito.</p>
<p>Un jardinero desherbando un arriate cada vez</p>
<p>Mucho antes de convertirse en uno de los mayores triunfadores de Estados Unidos, Franklin ideó un método que le ayudó a superar los inevitables fracasos de la vida, y que podría ayudarle a dominar sus propósitos de año viejo.</p>
<p>Cuando aún era joven, Franklin ideó lo que llamó su “audaz y arduo proyecto de alcanzar la perfección moral”. Con una confianza encantadora, se propuso dominar 13 virtudes, entre ellas la templanza, la frugalidad, la castidad, la industria, el orden y la humildad.</p>
<p>En un movimiento típicamente Frankliniano, aplicó un poco de estrategia a sus esfuerzos, concentrándose en una virtud a la vez. Comparó este enfoque con el de un jardinero que “no intenta erradicar todas las malas hierbas a la vez, lo que excedería su alcance y sus fuerzas, sino que trabaja en uno de los macizos cada vez”. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm">En su autobiografía</a>, donde describió este proyecto en detalle, Franklin no dijo que vinculaba su proyecto a un nuevo año. Tampoco se dio por vencido cuando resbaló una vez - o más de una vez.</p>
<p>“Me sorprendió encontrarme mucho más lleno de defectos de lo que había imaginado, pero tuve la satisfacción de verlos disminuir”, escribió Franklin.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438272/original/file-20211217-21-1qce054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Página abierta de un libro antiguo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438272/original/file-20211217-21-1qce054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438272/original/file-20211217-21-1qce054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438272/original/file-20211217-21-1qce054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438272/original/file-20211217-21-1qce054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438272/original/file-20211217-21-1qce054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438272/original/file-20211217-21-1qce054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438272/original/file-20211217-21-1qce054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Benjamin Franklin anotó sus meteduras de pata a lo largo de una semana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll7/id/107">The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dejó constancia de sus progresos en un libro, donde anotaba sus deslices. <a href="https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll7/id/107">Una página</a> -quizá sólo un ejemplo hipotético- muestra 16 de ellas relacionadas con la “templanza” en una sola semana. (En lugar de marcar los fallos, recomendamos registrar los éxitos, en línea con <a href="https://time.com/5756833/better-control-emotions-better-habits/">el trabajo del experto en hábitos B.J. Fogg</a>, cuyas investigaciones sugieren que celebrar las victorias ayuda a impulsar el cambio de hábitos).</p>
<p>Los fracasos repetidos podrían desanimar a alguien lo suficiente como para abandonar el empeño. Pero Franklin continuó durante años. Para Franklin, todo era cuestión de perspectiva: Este esfuerzo por mejorar era un “proyecto”, y los proyectos llevan tiempo. </p>
<h2>‘Un hombre mejor y más feliz’</h2>
<p>Muchos años después, Franklin <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm">admitió que nunca fue perfecto</a>, a pesar de sus mejores esfuerzos. Sin embargo, vale la pena recordar su evaluación final: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Pero, en general, aunque nunca llegué a la perfección que tanto ansiaba, sino que me quedé muy lejos de ella, fui, por el esfuerzo, un hombre mejor y más feliz de lo que habría sido si no lo hubiera intentado”. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Tratar la superación personal como un proyecto sin plazos rígidos funcionó para Franklin. De hecho, su plan probablemente le ayudó <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/benjamin-franklin">a tener un gran éxito en los negocios, la ciencia y la política</a>. Y lo que es más importante, también encontró una inmensa satisfacción personal en el empeño: “Este pequeño artificio, con la bendición de Dios”, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm">escribió</a>, fue la clave de “la constante felicidad de su vida, hasta sus 79 años, en los que esto se escribe”.</p>
<p>Puedes disfrutar del mismo éxito que tuvo Franklin si empiezas con tu propio calendario -ahora, durante el año viejo- y tratas la superación personal no como un objetivo con fecha de inicio, sino como un “proyecto” continuo.</p>
<p>También puede ayudarte recordar la nota que Franklin se escribió a sí mismo sobre una virtud que llamó, casualmente, “Resolución”: “Resuélvete a hacer lo que debes; haz sin falta lo que te propongas”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Canada ha escrito un original de Audible llamado "Ben Franklin's Lessons in Life."</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Downey no recibe salario, ejerce labores de consultoría, posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pudiera beneficiarse de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de afiliaciones relevantes además de su cargo académico.
</span></em></p>La idea del nacimiento virginal ha formado parte del cristianismo desde el principio, pero su significado ha cambiado con el tiempo.Mark Canada, Chancellor and Professor of English, Indiana University Kokomo, Indiana University KokomoChristina Downey, Professor of Psychology, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981352023-11-16T13:20:09Z2023-11-16T13:20:09ZFewer U.S. college students are studying a foreign language − and that spells trouble for national security<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559674/original/file-20231115-22-ptjw7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Between 2009 and 2021, nearly 30% fewer college students enrolled in a foreign language course.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/multi-racial-college-study-group-royalty-free-image/1006971096">FatCamera/E+ Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, on Oct. 4, 1957, it did more than spark fears about America’s ability to compete technologically. It also raised concerns that the <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/11/26/90858114.html?pageNumber=32">U.S. had a shortage of Russian speakers</a> capable of monitoring Soviet scientific and military activities. </p>
<p>In 1958, the <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Sputnik_Spurs_Passage_of_National_Defense_Education_Act.htm">National Defense Education Act</a> authorized funding to strengthen U.S. education in language instruction, in addition to math and science.</p>
<p>More than six decades later, a <a href="https://www.mla.org/Resources/Guidelines-and-Data/Reports-and-Professional-Guidelines/Enrollments-in-Languages-Other-Than-English-in-United-States-Institutions-of-Higher-Education">new Modern Language Association report</a> is raising concerns about America’s foreign language capabilities anew. The report shows that the study of languages other than English at the university level experienced an <a href="http://www.mla.org/Enrollment-Report">unprecedented drop of 16.6%</a> between 2016 and 2021. </p>
<p>The second-largest drop – of 12.6% – took place between 1970 and 1972.</p>
<p>This decline continues a trend that began in 2009. Even though we live in an increasingly globalized world, the number of college students taking languages is rapidly falling.</p>
<p>As a professor of Spanish and Portuguese who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&amp;user=Vxyy3zYAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate">researches trends in language education</a>, I know that having fewer U.S. college students who learn a foreign language <a href="https://www.cfr.org/event/link-between-foreign-languages-and-us-national-security">creates greater risks for national security</a>.</p>
<h2>Foreign language census</h2>
<p>Every few years since 1958, the MLA has conducted a census of enrollments in college-level language courses in the U.S. <a href="https://apps.mla.org/flsurvey_search">Their data</a> shows that enrollments in languages other than English spiked after the National Defense Education Act became law.</p>
<p>Between 1958 and 1970, these enrollments nearly tripled, from about 430,000 to almost 1.2 million. The bulk of students studied French, German or Spanish. However, enrollments in Russian doubled in the first three years alone – jumping from roughly 16,000 in 1958 to over 32,700 in 1961. Enrollments in less commonly taught languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Arabic also rose steeply.</p>
<p>After 1970, the enrollments in language study began to fall. Arabic was an exception. Although very few U.S. students studied Arabic to begin with – just 364 in 1958, increasing to 1,324 in 1970 – the <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/oil-shock-of-1973-74">1973 oil crisis</a> accelerated the trend, and enrollments passed 3,000 in 1977 before plateauing.</p>
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<h2>Role of geopolitics</h2>
<p>College enrollments in Russian and Arabic courses illustrate how language study can be directly affected by – and have implications for – political events.</p>
<p>Enrollments in Russian <a href="https://apps.mla.org/flsurvey_search">peaked at nearly 44,500</a> in 1990. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to an immediate loss of interest in learning Russian. Enrollments dropped below 25,000 by 1995 and have continued to fall since. The latest MLA survey shows that between 2016 and 2021 alone, enrollments fell from 20,353 to 17,598 – just over 1,500 more than in 1958. The low number of U.S. students learning Russian comes at a time when the current war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Russia’s role as a <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/topics/cyber-threats-and-advisories/advanced-persistent-threats/russia">top cyberthreat</a>, makes knowledge of the language valuable to protecting national security.</p>
<p>Enrollments in Arabic, in turn, were low in 1998 – just 5,505 college students studied the language. Training and hiring speakers with professional-level Arabic proficiency <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/16/nyregion/on-education-after-sputnik-it-was-russian-after-9-11-should-it-be-arabic.html">was not a priority</a> for the federal government at that time. As a result, the FBI had few translators who were proficient in Arabic, which caused <a href="https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/index.htm">significant delays in translating surveillance information</a> in the run-up to the Sept. 11 attacks.</p>
<p>A year after 9/11, college-level enrollments in Arabic almost doubled to over 10,500, and they peaked in 2009 at just under 35,000. </p>
<h2>Expansion takes time</h2>
<p>Overcoming foreign language shortfalls is easier said than done. Gaps cannot be filled overnight, as languages <a href="https://exchanges.state.gov/cls">viewed as critical to national security</a> require hundreds to thousands of hours of study <a href="https://www.fsi-language-courses.org/blog/fsi-language-difficulty/">to reach professional proficiency</a>. And it also takes time for universities to expand their language offerings and staffing.</p>
<p>Therefore, shortfalls have continued. In 2016, nearly a quarter of the State Department’s overseas positions were held by people who <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-17-318">did not meet</a> the language proficiency requirements for their jobs. The numbers were even higher for positions requiring critical languages such as Arabic, Dari, Farsi and Urdu. These language gaps have <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-17-318">hindered officers’ ability</a> to protect embassies, manage emergency situations and more.</p>
<h2>Steep declines</h2>
<p>After peaking in 2009 at almost 1.7 million, college-level enrollments in languages other than English fell steeply. The new MLA report shows the decline has continued. By 2021, enrollments had fallen to under 1.2 million – a drop of nearly 30%.</p>
<p>Enrollments in almost all of the most commonly taught languages dropped significantly during this window. Arabic fell by almost 35%, Chinese/Mandarin by almost 25%, French by 37%, German by 44%, Japanese by 9% and Spanish by 32%. The only exceptions to this decline are enrollments in American Sign Language, which increased 17%, and Korean, which increased 128%. Korean in particular stands out, as its enrollments have increased steadily since 1974 and have been boosted recently by a global fascination with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/04/korea-culture-k-pop-music-film-tv-hallyu-v-and-a">Korean pop culture</a>.</p>
<p>Overall, enrollments for 2021 are on par with those of 1998. And they are only slightly higher than those of 1970 – even though more than <a href="http://www.mla.org/Enrollment-Report">twice as many students</a> now attend college.</p>
<p>In addition to the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/great-recession/">Great Recession</a>, other factors have <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/colleges-lose-a-stunning-651-foreign-language-programs-in-3-years">contributed to the downturn</a> in college language enrollments. As of 2017, only about <a href="https://www.americancouncils.org/language-research-fle-state-language-us">20% of K-12 students</a> study a foreign language, and only <a href="https://www.americancouncils.org/language-research-fle-state-language-us">11 states</a> have foreign language requirements for high school graduation. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, according to the Pew Research Center, just <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2016/10/06/the-state-of-american-jobs/">36% of Americans</a> believe that knowing a foreign language is very important for workers to be successful. In contrast, 85% believe that the ability to work with people from different backgrounds, training in writing and communication, and understanding how to use computers are each very important.</p>
<h2>National security initiatives</h2>
<p>In 2006, President George W. Bush launched the <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/58733.htm">National Security Language Initiative</a> to increase the number of speakers and teachers of critical languages.</p>
<p>Since then, government agencies have developed additional language programs. The National Security Agency’s <a href="https://www.startalk.info/">STARTALK</a>, for example, organizes summer programs to teach critical languages to students in kindergarten through college and provides resources and opportunities for teachers. The program served almost <a href="https://nflc.umd.edu/projects/startalk">70,000 students and 15,000 teachers</a> between 2007 and 2021.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nsliforyouth.org/">National Security Language Initiative for Youth</a>, in turn, is run by the State Department and offers summer and academic-year programs for high school students. Over <a href="https://live-nsli.pantheonsite.io/nsli-y/history/">8,000 students</a> have participated since 2006.</p>
<p>Despite the important role these programs play, the MLA report observes that college-level language enrollments continue to decline – even at a time of growing need for knowledge of languages other than English <a href="https://www.industryweek.com/talent/article/21119730/are-manufacturers-losing-out-on-business-due-to-lack-of-language-skills">in many industries</a>. As history has shown us, these declines will likely have negative effects on national security, diplomacy and U.S. strategic interests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198135/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Cohn has received grants from the American Philosophical Society (a Franklin Grant) and the Rockefeller Archive Center to conduct archival research related to the history of language study in the US. She is also a member of the Modern Language Association (MLA), a professional association for scholars of language and literature.</span></em></p>A new report from the Modern Language Association shows an unprecedented drop in the study of foreign languages among college students.Deborah Cohn, Provost Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.