tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/wake-forest-university-1709/articlesWake Forest University2024-03-12T12:31:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250132024-03-12T12:31:57Z2024-03-12T12:31:57Z3 things to watch for in Russia’s presidential election – other than Putin’s win, that is<p>Russians will <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-presidential-election-who-what-when-2024-03-11/">vote in a presidential election</a> from March 15-17, 2024, and are all but <a href="https://apnews.com/rusia-putin-election-2024">guaranteed to hand Vladimir Putin a comfortable victory</a>, paving the way for him to remain in power until at least 2030. </p>
<p>While the result may be a foregone conclusion, the election offers an important glimpse into the Kremlin’s domestic challenges as it continues a war against Ukraine that <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-war-in-ukraine-enters-third-year-3-issues-could-decide-its-outcome-supplies-information-and-politics-220581">recently entered its third year</a>.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/adam-lenton/">expert on Russian politics</a>, I have identified three key developments worth paying attention to during and after the upcoming election. Yes, we already know Putin will win. But nonetheless, this election is the largest public test of the Russian state’s ability to shape its desired result at home since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.</p>
<h2>1. Don’t mention the war (too much)</h2>
<p>The 2024 election is taking place during the largest interstate conflict to take place this century.</p>
<p>With Russian domestic media and politics all but gutted of dissenting voices, the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/03/opinions/why-putin-wants-a-forever-war-galeotti/index.html">war has become</a> the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-war-ukraine-economy-policy-7428ef7b">organizing principle of post-2022 Russian politics</a>, shaping all major policies and decisions.</p>
<p>Yet, while the context of the war looms large, its role is largely implicit rather than occupying center stage. And for good reason: Banging the drums of war is not particularly popular.</p>
<p>In fact, the Kremlin’s strategy throughout the conflict has relied upon the general public’s acquiescence and disengagement from the war effort in exchange for <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/11/28/alternate-reality-how-russian-society-learned-to-stop-worrying-about-war-pub-91118">a degree of normalcy</a> at home. </p>
<p>Officially, the war remains euphemistically termed a “special military operation,” yet it is also frequently framed by Moscow <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/3874880-putin-says-ukraine-war-poses-existential-threat-to-russian-people/">as an existential struggle</a> for Russia and a <a href="https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/comments/zapad-vedet-rukami-ukraintsev-voynu-s-rossiey-i-nazyvaet-eto-prekrasnoy-investitsiey/">proxy war</a> between Russia and the West.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman walks past a billboard with Russian words on and another will a soldier's head in a helmet depicted." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581084/original/file-20240311-30-jap2gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581084/original/file-20240311-30-jap2gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581084/original/file-20240311-30-jap2gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581084/original/file-20240311-30-jap2gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581084/original/file-20240311-30-jap2gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581084/original/file-20240311-30-jap2gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581084/original/file-20240311-30-jap2gg.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">A billboard promotes the upcoming Russian presidential election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RussiaElection/44d797eb397e446684e1d02a8d485433/photo?Query=Putin&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=now-30d&totalCount=604&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the Russian public <a href="https://www.levada.ru/2023/10/31/konflikt-s-ukrainoj-otsenki-oktyabrya2023-goda/">still doesn’t agree</a> on what its aims are. There <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/wartime-putinism">are relatively few</a> ardent supporters of the war, outweighed by a <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/in-russia-clear-signs-of-war-fatigue/">more general sense of fatigue</a> among the public. This is supported by survey data that shows that <a href="https://www.levada.ru/2024/03/05/konflikt-s-ukrainoj-massovye-otsenki-fevralya-2024-goda/">consistent majorities</a> in Russia would prefer to start peace talks – though this of course does not tell us what type of peace they prefer.</p>
<p>Yet the war is putting pressure on the government’s ability to juggle ensuring a disengaged population and bolstering support for a <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/90753">grinding war that demands unprecedented</a> resources.</p>
<p>Putin’s public communication in the buildup to the election reflects this tension. He announced his intention to run during an awkward, poorly staged interaction with an officer at a military award ceremony in December 2023. That choice <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/91234">surprised some insiders</a>, who expected Putin to weave his announcement into a high-profile, choreographed event focusing on domestic achievements and not the ongoing war. </p>
<p>More recently, his state of the nation address on Feb. 29 <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/91872">began and ended by lauding</a> the achievements of the war, yet the bulk of the address – the <a href="https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/65e069269a794724567533c5">longest of the 19</a> he has delivered since he first became president in 1999 – was devoted to a laundry list of achievements, programs and goals largely disconnected from the war itself.</p>
<h2>2. Pressure to deliver results for Putin</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-autocrats-rig-elections-to-stay-in-power-and-get-away-with-it-95337">autocratic regimes like Russia’s have proved adept</a> at managing the electoral process to squeeze out rivals and mitigate against upsets, elections are still high-stakes events.</p>
<p>For officials, the election is a litmus test for their ability to muster administrative resources and deliver Putin an electoral windfall. Most <a href="https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/04/people-don-t-want-to-vote">reports suggest the Kremlin is hoping to engineer</a> that the turnout is at least 70%, with around 80% of the vote for Putin – which would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/vladimir-putin-secures-record-win-in-russian-presidential-election">surpass his 76.7% share</a> from 2018.</p>
<p>For observers of Russian politics, what will be of interest is not the result itself, but how the result is produced during wartime conditions.</p>
<p>Take, for example, securing high turnout. One prominent tactic used by local officials in Russia is pressuring state employees and workers at state-owned corporations to turn up at the polls en masse.</p>
<p>But with the economy on a war footing, and with an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-short-around-48-million-workers-2023-crunch-persist-izvestia-2023-12-24/">acute labor shortage</a>, it is unclear whether this tried and tested approach will work. Moreover, political disengagement and the certainty of a Putin victory means that interest in voting is at an <a href="https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/04/people-don-t-want-to-vote">all-time low</a>. For local officials, the pressure is on.</p>
<p>At the head of efforts to engineer the election is Sergey Kiriyenko, Putin’s <a href="https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/06/10/the-viceroy">technocratic domestic policy czar dubbed</a> “viceroy of the Donbas” due to his role administering the occupied territories of Ukraine. Recent <a href="https://vsquare.org/kremlin-leaks-putin-elections-russia-propaganda-ukraine/">leaked documents</a> obtained by the Estonian website Delfi reveal how Kiriyenko’s team spent over US$1 billion in “pre-rigging” the election, sponsoring creative content such as films, TV series and video games replete with pro-government and anti-Western messaging.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s hard to say in advance whether such efforts will directly bear fruit. But the scale of the Kremlin’s investment in shaping the broader ideological environment indicates a degree of uneasiness with the public’s disengagement.</p>
<p>There are also new technical regulations that will boost Putin’s vote. The election will be held across three days instead of one. Together with this, the <a href="https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/03/07/the-digital-steal-en">rollout of electronic voting</a>, first used in Moscow elections in 2019, will make it easier to maximize turnout. These changes also make it difficult for observers to monitor the degree of fraud.</p>
<p>Beyond these subtler forms of manipulation, however, there are also overtly coercive ways to ensure vote targets are met. This is particularly the case for the millions of Ukrainians <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/06/deportation-re-population-russia-occupied-ukraine-zaporizhzhia">currently under Russian occupation</a>, who are subject to intense pressure from the occupying authorities to acquire Russian citizenship and to vote.</p>
<h2>3. Silencing political opposition</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-putins-russia-the-death-of-navalny-has-left-the-opposition-demoralised-but-not-defeated-224303">death of longtime Putin critic Alexei Navalny</a> in February 2024 was a huge blow to the opposition but is representative of the state of political repression in Russia.</p>
<p>Since 2018, some <a href="https://www.proekt.media/en/guide-en/repressions-in-russia-study/">116,000 Russians have faced</a> political repression. Under such circumstances, the presidential election will be the least pluralistic in post-Soviet Russia, with only four candidates on the ballot box and no openly anti-war figures featured among them.</p>
<p>In previous elections, there has usually been a candidate from the so-called “liberal opposition.” For a while it <a href="https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/01/26/the-situation-took-a-wrong-turn">looked as though this trend might</a> continue in the form of independent Boris Nadezhdin, whose explicit anti-war program saw him <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/world/europe/russia-putin-election-boris-nadezhdin.html">gain unexpected traction</a> compared to other would-be candidates.</p>
<p>But by barring Nadezhdin from running, the Kremlin likely wished to avoid a repeat of 2018, when the Communist Party’s Pavel Grudinin <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2018/01/26/grudinin-russia-communist-party-gets-capitalist-makeover-lenin-sovkhoz-a60185">unexpectedly struck a chord</a> with voters for his down-to-earth populism. This forced state media to go into overdrive, turning the election into a mudslinging contest. </p>
<p>Yet the scale of public mourning for Navalny and the enthusiasm for Nadezhdin reveal that despite draconian wartime censorship and repression, there remains a <a href="https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/04/said-without-enthusiasm">sizable bloc of Russians eager</a> for authentic political alternatives.</p>
<p>For now, the closest candidate to an alternative appears to be <a href="https://www.russian-election-monitor.org/who-is-vladislav-davankov-a-new-hope-for-opposition-in-the-presidential-election.html">Vladislav Davankov</a> from the liberal-leaning party “New People,” who will likely draw votes from some of this anti-war constituency.</p>
<p>Indeed, the <a href="https://davankov2024.ru/program">first point on his manifesto</a> calls for “peace and negotiations,” though “on our own terms.” Fresh <a href="https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6552544">polling data</a> from state-owned VTsIOM suggests that he might well take second place.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225013/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Lenton 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>While Putin is all but guaranteed to win, war fatigue, electoral engineering and extreme risk-aversion suggest that the Kremlin is anxious to get these elections over and done with.Adam Lenton, Assistant Professor of Politics & International Affairs, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2247942024-03-03T20:41:35Z2024-03-03T20:41:35ZTetris: un juego al alcance de todos que enseña conceptos básicos de arquitectura, ingeniería y animación<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578915/original/file-20240130-15-cg1jbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2991%2C2434&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tetris has hooked people for decades. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MusicofGaming/8f0f44af03b145208aa578e21b453275/photo?Query=tetris&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=284&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=1&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Richard Drew</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Con sus colores brillantes, sus reglas sencillas y su música reconocible, el videojuego Tetris se mantienen como un icono de la cultura pop desde hace 40 años. Muchos, como yo, han jugado durante décadas a este juego, que ha ido evolucionando para adaptarse a los nuevos sistemas de videojuegos, teléfonos y tabletas. Sin embargo, hasta enero de 2024 nadie había logrado ganar al Tetris. </p>
<p>Un adolescente de Oklahoma acaba de conseguir el título tras hacer que el juego colapsara en el nivel 157 y <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/why-everyone-is-obsessed-with-the-kid-who-beat-tetris/">ganar</a> a la máquina. Esto significa que logró mover cada pieza a una velocidad tan rápida que el juego no pudo seguir apuntando los tantos, y colapsó. La inteligencia artificial <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-besting-tetris-ai-to-epic-speedruns-inside-gamings-most-thrilling-feats-220620">es capaz de ofrecer estrategias</a> para que los jugadores controlen las piezas de una manera más eficaz y consigan ponerlas en su sitio todavía más rápido, estrategias que han contribuido al logro de este primer campeón de Tetris. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aSXxa64WrEA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Un juego masivo de Tetris en Las Vegas en enero de 2024.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pero el Tetris es mucho más que el afán de ganar a la máquina. Como <a href="https://education.wfu.edu/about-the-department/faculty-and-staff-profiles/dr-leah-mccoy/">matemática y enseñante de matemáticas</a>, puedo identificar el elemento fundamental de la geografía en que está basado el juego: el razonamiento dinámico espacial. El jugador de Tetris se vale de estas habilidades geométricas para manipular las piezas: jugar al Tetris puede servir para comprobar su capacidad de razonamiento dinámico espacial y también para mejorarlo.</p>
<h2>Cómo se juega</h2>
<p>Un ingeniero informático ruso llamado <a href="https://tetris.com/history-of-tetris">Alexey Pajitnov inventó el Tetris</a> en 1984. Es un juego sencillo: la pantalla se compone de un espacio rectangular en el que van cayendo figuras geométricas tridimensionales hechas de cubos. Estas figuras se llaman <a href="https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Tetromino.html">tetrominos</a> y tienen de uno a cuatro cubos combinados en siete configuraciones distintas. </p>
<p>Las piezas van cayendo desde la parte de arriba de la pantalla y se van acumulando en la parte de abajo. El jugador puede <a href="https://tetris.com/article/33/tetris-tips-for-beginners">mover cada una de ellas a medida que cae y antes de que toque el suelo o alguna otra pieza</a>: puede girarlas para que encajen de la mejor manera con las que ya hay, de manera que cada fila completa de cubos desaparece, dando puntos al jugador y más espacio para seguir manipulando las figuras que continúan cayendo. </p>
<p>A medida que avanza el juego las piezas aparecen más deprisa, hasta que se acumulan sin tiempo a ordenarlas y deja de haber espacio para más fichas. </p>
<h2>El razonamiento dinámico espacial</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="La pantalla de Tetris con sus piezas de hasta cuatro cubos." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1382&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1382&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pantalla de Tetris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Typical_Tetris_Game.svg">Brandenads/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Al manipular estas piezas estamos ejercitando nuestro razonamiento dinámico espacial. El razonamiento espacial es la habilidad de visualizar figuras geométricas y cómo se mueven en el espacio. El razonamiento dinámico espacial es la habilidad de visualizar las figuras moviéndose. </p>
<p>El jugador de Tetris debe decidir rápidamente donde encajar la pieza que está cayendo y moverla a ese lugar. Es un movimiento que incluye traslación (de izquierda a derecha) y rotación, girando la pieza sobre su eje en movimientos de 90⁰ hasta que su forma se adapte de la mejor manera posible a las que ya hay debajo. </p>
<p>Esta habilidad es en parte innata, pero también se puede aprender. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016127">Algunos expertos</a> la consideran necesaria para resolver problemas, y sirve para practicar las habilidades matemáticas y verbales. </p>
<p>La visualización espacial es un componente básico de la Geometría Transformacional, una disciplina matemática que se suele empezar a enseñar en secundaria. Un ejercicio típico es el que pide a los estudiantes que representen una figura en un gráfico de coordenadas y describir qué <a href="https://www.cuemath.com/geometry/transformations/">transformaciones</a>, como traslación y rotación, son necesarias para moverla a otra posición sin cambiar ni su tamaño ni su forma. </p>
<p>Las otras dos transformaciones básicas en matemáticas son la reflexión y la dilatación, pero estas no se usan en el Tetris. Con la reflexión, la figura se voltea sobre un eje determinado mientras que mantiene su forma y tamaño; en la dilatación cambia de tamaño pero no de forma. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cIgeB4Mognw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Las transformaciones matemáticas pueden parecer simples, pero necesitan muchos conceptos matemáticos complejos para realizarse.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Para muchos estudiantes, este tipo de ejercicios son aburridos porque obligan a marcar muchos puntos en los gráficos para cambiar la posición de la figura. Pero con juegos como el Tetris, pueden entender estos conceptos de una manera más dinámica y entretenida. </p>
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Leer más:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/por-que-no-deberiamos-resignarnos-a-ser-malos-en-matematicas-201446">Por qué no deberíamos resignarnos a ser 'malos' en matemáticas</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>La geometría transformacional más allá del Tetris</h2>
<p>Aunque puede parecer simple, la geometría de transformaciones es fundamental para muchos conceptos más avanzados de matemáticas. Arquitectos e ingenieros la utilizan para sus planos, en los que las cosas reales <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/scale-drawings-and-models">se representan a escala</a>. </p>
<p>También los animadores y diseñadores gráficos informáticos usan estos conceptos. <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/pixar/animate">Animar</a> supone representar las coordenadas de una figura en una matriz y crear una serie de cambios de posición secuenciados que la mueven en la pantalla. Aunque los animadores de hoy usan programas informáticos que hacen estas transformaciones de manera automática, todos tienen una base geométrica. </p>
<p>El cálculo y la geometría diferencial también usan las transformaciones geométricas. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371605360_Some_optimization_problems_with_calculus">El concepto de optimización</a> supone representar una situación <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/function-mathematics">como una función matemáticas</a> y a partir de ahí encontrar su máximo o mínimo valor. Los problemas de optimización a menudo necesitan una representación gráfica en la que los estudiantes se valen de la transformación geométrica para manipular una o varias variables. </p>
<p>La optimización tiene muchos usos en la vida real. Sirve para encontrar, por ejemplo, el coste mínimo de distribuir un producto. O para deducir el tamaño teórico de una caja que tenga el mayor volumen posible. </p>
<p>Todos estos conceptos avanzados de matemáticas utilizan los mismos movimientos sencillos del Tetris.</p>
<p>El Tetris es un juego entretenido y absorbente en el que las personas con una habilidad dinámica espacial elevada pueden lograr muy buenos resultados. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9498-z">Pero se ha demostrado también</a> que manipular rotando y trasladando las figuras en el juego sirve para construir una base conceptual sólida para las matemáticas avanzadas en muchos campos. </p>
<p>Jugar al Tetris <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x">puede ayudar a los estudiantes</a> a descubrir <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221320209598683">sus aptitudes</a> para el análisis empresarial, la ingeniería o la informática, y es divertido. Como profesora de matemáticas, animo a mis alumnos y sus amigos a que sigan jugando.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224794/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah McCoy no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.</span></em></p>El Tetris tiene adictos de todas las generaciones. La capacidad de razonamiento dinámico espacial que es necesaria para jugar puede servir a los estudiantes para entender conceptos más complejos.Leah McCoy, Professor of Education, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2237392024-02-29T14:41:33Z2024-02-29T14:41:33ZSerengeti migration: fire and rain affect how zebras, wildebeest and gazelles make the journey<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578227/original/file-20240227-18-b7rwld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zebra and wildebeest taking part in the Serengeti migration.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">nikpal/iStock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tanzania’s Serengeti ecosystem is like a time machine. As one of the world’s last remaining fully intact grazing ecosystems it provides a glimpse of what others in Australia, Eurasia and the Americas might have looked like when communities of large grazing mammals roamed freely across these continents.</p>
<p>During the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Pleistocene-Epoch">Late Pleistocene</a>, which spanned from 129,000 to 11,700 years ago and is sometimes referred to as the “ice age”, populations of these grazing animals collapsed all over the world. </p>
<p>But those populations left a mark: the effect they had on plant communities. Animals and plants shape each other’s evolution. These effects are visible and continuing in the Serengeti. One way this plays out is during one of Earth’s last great herbivore migrations – of zebras, wildebeest and Thomson’s gazelles in Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania. </p>
<p>Since the early 1970s there have been various theories about what explains the order and timing of the three main Serengeti migratory herbivores. Is it always zebras first, followed by wildebeest and then gazelles? Is that because of competition for the best food? The foraging benefits that smaller herbivores gain from following larger herbivores? Or the risk of being eaten by predators?</p>
<p>Now we believe we have the answer. In <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg0744">our new research</a> in the journal Science, we report that the large herds sweeping across the grasslands of Tanzania in synchronised migration waves overlap in patterns that can be influenced by fire and rain. </p>
<p>Our findings may help conservationists manage migratory herbivore populations, especially as they face future threats due to human induced climate change.</p>
<h2>Various hypotheses</h2>
<p>The Serengeti is composed of the Serengeti National Park, the Maasai Mara in Kenya, and several smaller protected areas. It’s a tropical savanna dominated by grass. Thorny acacia trees are sparsely scattered in the grassland. </p>
<p>Several competing hypotheses have emerged in the past five decades about the Serengeti migration.</p>
<p>In 1971, Richard Bell, a leading researcher in African savanna ecology and conservation, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24922780">described</a> the Serengeti migration as a “grazing succession”. During this year-long trek, African herbivores navigate an ecosystem the size of Lesotho (about 30,355km²) in a way that depends on body size. </p>
<p>In his description zebras come first. Wildebeest follow about eight weeks later. And, again about eight weeks later, Thomson’s gazelles follow. The description painted the migration as a giant game of follow the leader, smaller herbivores benefiting from following larger herbivores. Zebras (and then wildebeest) graze the tallest, low-quality components of grass. This exposes the more nutritious grass tissues nearer to the ground and promotes the regrowth of fresh, high-quality leaf tissue.</p>
<p>By visiting a grassland patch weeks after being grazed by larger herbivores, the smaller herbivores, which require more protein per unit body weight, can be selective and obtain better nutrition per bite.</p>
<p>In the years after Bell’s seminal paper, other competing hypotheses emerged which could also account for the movement patterns of Serengeti migratory herbivores. </p>
<p>Some authors argued that competition between grazing species explained the body-size dependent order of migration. Anthony Sinclair of the University of British Columbia, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00389015">for instance</a>, argued that wildebeest, because of their enormous population size and capacity to reduce the height of vegetation, out-compete zebra for food. This forces zebras to seek taller vegetation to meet their energy demands. Under the competition hypothesis, zebras migrate in front of the wildebeest because they are consistently nudged forward so that they encounter abundant forage, lest they be left behind to starve behind massive herds of wildebeest.</p>
<p>Finally, the mixed herding behaviour sometimes observed during migration was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4386">proposed</a> as an anti-predation strategy which reduced the risk of being killed by large predators such as lions, cheetahs and leopards. This hypothesis argues that, if herbivores must move to obtain forage, they should do so in groups that contain other species to decrease their chance of being killed by predators.</p>
<h2>Breakthrough</h2>
<p>The size of the migration (<a href="https://www.serengeti.com/great-migration-africa.php">around two million animals</a>), involving large herbivore populations and a huge spatial footprint, made it nearly impossible to explicitly test these hypotheses. </p>
<p>Then, in 2010, Craig Packer from the University of Minnesota launched a bold project to establish 200 camera traps in central Serengeti. Today the Serengeti camera trap database offers the longest running camera trap study in Africa. It is one of the most significant spatiotemporal databases of herbivore occupancy, movements and habitat selection ever collected. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Grant Hopcraft of the University of Glasgow was attaching GPS satellite collars to migrating wildebeest and zebras to <a href="https://www.serengeti-tracker.org/about">track animal movements</a>.</p>
<p>Other satellites, operated by Nasa, provide data on <a href="https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/">vegetation growth and fires</a>, which animals respond to on a year-to-year basis. </p>
<p>Finally, Rob Pringle’s lab at Princeton pioneered <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1503283112">an emerging technology</a> that relies on DNA sequence data from the faecal matter of individual herbivores. This opened the door to quantifying herbivores’ diets over time and space.</p>
<p>A combination of camera trap observations and multiple seasons of dietary and GPS collar data allowed me and my collaborators to, for the first time, explicitly test the mechanisms proposed to control the Serengeti migration.</p>
<h2>Our study</h2>
<p>We made several major findings.</p>
<p>First, the movement of migratory herbivores only cursorily matched the classic predictions of grazing succession. Rather than spacing themselves months apart as observed by Bell, zebras and wildebeest travelled closer together than expected. They also frequently crossed paths during migration. Thomson’s gazelles followed behind the larger migrants by approximately three weeks. This was consistent with the classic predictions of grazing succession and foraging facilitation, but over a shorter window than reported by Bell.</p>
<p>Second, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/env.2657">statistical analyses</a> developed by Wake Forest University professor Staci Hepler revealed spatial associations between Thomson’s gazelles and wildebeest that were strong in high rainfall years and weakened in years with widespread fires. This strengthened the evidence for foraging facilitation on the tail end of the migration. </p>
<p>The movements of individual collared zebras and wildebeest demonstrated a striking pattern: zebras consistently selected habitats away from wildebeest, and more so in a dry year. Wildebeest, though, were indifferent to the location of zebras during habitat selection. Dietary analysis revealed strong grass consumption and considerable overlap between zebras and wildebeest. And Thomson’s gazelles consumed largely flowering plants that would have only become accessible after larger herbivores removed the tall grasses.</p>
<p>Together the results suggested a “push-pull” mechanism of multi-species migration. Zebras are nudged ahead of wildebeest due to the negative consequences of competition. The smaller Thomson’s gazelles follow in the wake of larger herbivores to gain access to high quality forage. Rainfall strengthens the association by stimulating grass productivity and creating a greater reliance of small herbivores on the foraging of larger herbivores. Fire, however, weakens the association by burning vegetation and opening the grass canopy for smaller herbivores.</p>
<h2>Understanding herbivore populations</h2>
<p>If conservationists are going to protect remaining herbivore populations, or restore those that have collapsed, they must have a fundamental understanding of how they function and what promotes their stability. Our hope is that this study’s lessons will help.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223739/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>T. Michael Anderson received funding from the National Geographic Society (grants WW-025R-17 and NGS-52921R-18) and the US National Science Foundation (grant BCS-1461728).</span></em></p>Lessons from the Serengeti herds may help conservationists manage migratory herbivore populations.T. Michael Anderson, Professor of Biology, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2209152024-02-28T12:33:16Z2024-02-28T12:33:16ZAnyone can play Tetris, but architects, engineers and animators alike use the math concepts underlying the game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572289/original/file-20240130-15-cg1jbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2991%2C2434&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tetris has hooked people for decades. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MusicofGaming/8f0f44af03b145208aa578e21b453275/photo?Query=tetris&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=284&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=1&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Richard Drew</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With its bright colors, easy-to-learn rules and familiar music, the video game Tetris has endured as a pop culture icon over the last 40 years. Many people, like me, have been playing the game for decades, and it has evolved to adapt to new technologies like game systems, phones and tablets. But until January 2024, nobody had ever been able to beat it.</p>
<p>A teen from Oklahoma holds the Tetris title after he crashed the game on Level 157 and <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/why-everyone-is-obsessed-with-the-kid-who-beat-tetris/">beat the game</a>. Beating it means the player moved the tiles too fast for the game to keep up with the score, causing the game to crash. Artificial intelligence can <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-besting-tetris-ai-to-epic-speedruns-inside-gamings-most-thrilling-feats-220620">suggest strategies</a> that allow players to more effectively control the game tiles and slot them into place faster – these strategies helped crown the game’s first winner. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aSXxa64WrEA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Las Vegas sphere lit up with a massive game of Tetris in January 2024. The game’s appeal spans generations.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But there’s far more to Tetris than the elusive promise of winning. As a <a href="https://education.wfu.edu/about-the-department/faculty-and-staff-profiles/dr-leah-mccoy/">mathematician and mathematics educator</a>, I recognize that the game is based on a fundamental element of geometry, called dynamic spatial reasoning. The player uses these geometric skills to manipulate the game pieces, and playing can both test and improve a player’s dynamic spatial reasoning.</p>
<h2>Playing the game</h2>
<p>A Russian computer scientist named <a href="https://tetris.com/history-of-tetris">Alexey Pajitnov invented Tetris</a> in 1984. The game itself is very simple: The Tetris screen is composed of a rectangular game board with dropping geometric figures. These figures are called <a href="https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Tetromino.html">tetrominoes</a>, made up of four squares connected on their sides in seven different configurations. </p>
<p>The game pieces drop from the top, one at a time, stacking up from the bottom. <a href="https://tetris.com/article/33/tetris-tips-for-beginners">The player can manipulate each one</a> as it falls by turning or sliding it and then dropping it to the bottom. When a row completely fills up, it disappears and the player earns points. </p>
<p>As the game progresses, the pieces appear at the top more quickly, and the game ends when the stack reaches the top of the board.</p>
<h2>Dynamic spatial reasoning</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Tetris board, which has blocks made up of four squares arranged in different formations, stacked atop each other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1382&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572281/original/file-20240130-25-8puxh9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1382&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 Tetris board.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Typical_Tetris_Game.svg">Brandenads/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Manipulating the game pieces gives the player an exercise in dynamic spatial reasoning. Spatial reasoning is the ability to visualize geometric figures and how they will move in space. So, dynamic spatial reasoning is the ability to visualize actively moving figures. </p>
<p>The Tetris player must quickly decide where the currently dropping game piece will best fit and then move it there. This movement involves both translation, or moving a shape right and left, and rotation, or twirling the shape in increments of 90 degrees on its axis.</p>
<p>Spatial visualization is partly inherent ability, but partly learned expertise. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016127">Some researchers</a> identify spatial skill as necessary for successful problem solving, and it’s often used alongside mathematics skills and verbal skills. </p>
<p>Spatial visualization is a key component of a mathematics discipline called transformational geometry, which is usually first taught in middle school. In a typical transformational geometry exercise, students might be asked to represent a figure by its x and y coordinates on a coordinate graph and then <a href="https://www.cuemath.com/geometry/transformations/">identify the transformations</a>, like translation and rotation, necessary to move it from one position to another while keeping the piece the same shape and size.</p>
<p>Reflection and dilation are the two other basic mathematical transformations, though they’re not used in Tetris. Reflection flips the image across any line while maintaining the same size and shape, and dilation changes the size of the shape, producing a similar figure. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XiAoUDfrar0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Transformations may seem simple, but they underlie lots of more complex math concepts.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For many students, these exercises are tedious, as they involve plotting many points on graphs to move a figure’s position. But games like Tetris can help students grasp these concepts in a dynamic and engaging way.</p>
<h2>Transformational geometry beyond Tetris</h2>
<p>While it may seem simple, transformational geometry is the foundation for several advanced topics in mathematics. Architects and engineers both use transformations to draw up blueprints, which represent the real world in <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/scale-drawings-and-models">scale drawings</a>. </p>
<p>Animators and computer graphic designers use concepts of transformations as well. <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/pixar/animate">Animation</a> involves representing a figure’s coordinates in a matrix array and then creating a sequence to change its position, which moves it across the screen. While animators today use computer programs that automatically move figures around, they are all based on translation.</p>
<p>Calculus and differential geometry also use transformation. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371605360_Some_optimization_problems_with_calculus">The concept of optimization</a> involves representing a situation <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/function-mathematics">as a function</a> and then finding the maximum or minimum value of that function. Optimization problems often involve graphic representations where the student uses transformations to manipulate one or more of the variables.</p>
<p>Lots of real-world applications use optimization – for example, businesses might want to find out the minimum cost of distributing a product. Another example is figuring out the size of a theoretical box with the largest possible volume.</p>
<p>All of these advanced topics use the same concepts as the simple moves of Tetris.</p>
<p>Tetris is an engaging and entertaining video game, and players with transformational geometry skills might find success playing it. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9498-z">Research has found</a> that manipulating rotations and translations within the game can provide a solid conceptual foundation for advanced mathematics in numerous science fields.</p>
<p>Playing Tetris <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.x">may lead students</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221320209598683">a future aptitude</a> in business analytics, engineering or computer science – and it’s fun. As a mathematics educator, I encourage students and friends to play on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220915/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah McCoy 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>People young and old love the classic video game Tetris. A working knowledge of the spatial reasoning concepts underlying Tetris can set students up for success in mathematics.Leah McCoy, Professor of Education, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2164262023-11-30T13:36:28Z2023-11-30T13:36:28ZAs plastic production grows, treaty negotiations to reduce plastic waste are stuck in low gear<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562205/original/file-20231128-19-csbpls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C17%2C5982%2C3952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plastic litters a beach in Manila, Philippines.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/motorcycle-helmet-and-other-plastic-waste-are-seen-washed-news-photo/1681770746"> Ezra Acayan/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Plastic pollution has spread to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06113-5">Earth’s farthest reaches</a>, with widespread effects <a href="https://theconversation.com/seabirds-that-swallow-ocean-plastic-waste-have-scarring-in-their-stomachs-scientists-have-named-this-disease-plasticosis-201506">on wildlife</a>, <a href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/plastics/Policy-Highlights-Climate-change-and-plastics-pollution-Synergies-between-two-crucial-environmental-challenges.pdf">the environment</a> and <a href="https://www.afro.who.int/news/tackling-health-impacts-plastic-pollution-africa">human health</a>. To curb this problem, U.N. member countries are <a href="https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution">negotiating a global treaty</a> to reduce plastic pollution, which they aim to complete by the end of 2024. </p>
<p>That effort is well underway. In September 2023, the U.N. Environment Programme released the so-called <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/43239/ZERODRAFT.pdf">zero draft</a> – a first iteration of ideas and goals that emerged from the first two rounds of negotiations. And in November 2023, the <a href="https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution">Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution</a> met in Nairobi, Kenya, for the third negotiating round of a planned five sessions. </p>
<p>Studies show that plastic causes harm <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.05.015">in all stages of its life cycle</a>, from production through use and disposal. Because the draft treaty includes provisions that address all of these phases, environmental advocates greeted it as a <a href="https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/2023/09/05/breakfreefromplastic-members-encouraged-by-the-zero-draft-for-a-global-plastics-treaty-call-for-ambitious-negotiations/">step in the right direction</a>. </p>
<p>The draft includes 13 provisions that address issues such as reducing plastics production, the use of recycled materials, phasing out single-use plastics, promoting alternative materials and limiting the use of <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/report/chemicals-plastics-technical-report">chemicals of concern</a> – materials that have high toxicities and the potential to be released from plastic products. But with three rounds of negotiations now complete, major questions remain unresolved. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz59f8esLe7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Some countries continue to focus on end-of-life measures, like disposal and recycling, while others prioritize reducing plastic production. Notably, the U.S. – the world’s <a href="http://nap.nationalacademies.org/26132">top generator of plastic waste</a> – has been slow to endorse ambitious goals.</p>
<p>On the plus side, the Biden administration recently agreed that national plans should be based on a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-talks-global-plastic-treaty-delegates-face-off-over-production-limits-2023-11-12/">globally agreed target</a> for reducing plastic, rather than simply calling on countries to act individually. However, the U.S. position on other questions remains vague. </p>
<h2>Recycling isn’t keeping up</h2>
<p>Plastic has many uses, and it’s cheap. These attributes drive what some observers call a <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/the-worlds-addiction-to-plastic-in-five-charts/">plastic addiction</a>. </p>
<p>In particular, thanks to consumers’ desire for convenience, about <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/report/single-use-plastics-roadmap-sustainability">36% of global plastic production is for single-use items</a>, such as food packaging, straws, grocery bags and utensils. Global plastic production <a href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-management-and-recycling-fall-short.htm">doubled from 2000 through 2019</a>, but recycling rates in the U.S. and elsewhere have <a href="https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data">remained essentially flat</a>.</p>
<p>Treaties have successfully curbed other global harms, including <a href="https://leap.unep.org/en/content/treaty/convention-long-range-transboundary-air-pollution">acid rain</a>, <a href="https://www.unep.org/ozonaction/who-we-are/about-montreal-protocol">stratospheric ozone loss</a> and <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/minamata-convention-mercury-marks-three-years-protecting-human-health-and">mercury contamination</a>. Many environmental advocates see the decision to design a global plastic treaty as a <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/un-plastic-pollution-treaty-one-step-closer-to-being-realized-as-negotiators-in-paris-agree-to-start-developing-a-draft-treaty-with-global-rules-to-curb-plastic-pollution">unique opportunity</a>, on a par with the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/03/climate-crisis-un-agrees-to-develop-treaty-to-end-plastic-pollution.html">2015 Paris accord</a> to address global climate change. </p>
<p>But based on my <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/our-plastic-problem-and-how-to-solve-it/CAD4AF039D41B2CD6B66BF3B8DF57BF0">research into curbing plastic pollution</a>, I believe such an agreement won’t succeed unless major governments embrace a life-cycle approach that addresses all stages of the plastic value chain, from production to disposal. And since plastics are made from petrochemicals, the fossil fuel industry has a strong interest in the outcome and will need incentives to support proposals for limiting production.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562210/original/file-20231128-27-79x45t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People march with signs calling for limits on plastic production." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562210/original/file-20231128-27-79x45t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562210/original/file-20231128-27-79x45t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562210/original/file-20231128-27-79x45t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562210/original/file-20231128-27-79x45t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562210/original/file-20231128-27-79x45t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562210/original/file-20231128-27-79x45t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562210/original/file-20231128-27-79x45t.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">Environment activists demonstrate in Nairobi, Kenya, on Nov. 11, 2023, just before the third round of negotiations on a global plastic pollution treaty.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/environment-activists-stage-a-demonstration-demanding-news-photo/1775869205">Edwin Ndeke/Anadolu via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The ozone precedent</h2>
<p>Historically, the U.S. has taken the position that plastic pollution is a waste disposal problem. Industry, too, prefers to treat plastic pollution primarily as an issue of <a href="https://www.afpm.org/newsroom/blog/reintroduced-break-free-plastic-pollution-act-falls-short-would-penalize-american">people mismanaging waste</a>. Relevant U.S. policies, such as the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ224/PLAW-116publ224.pdf">Save Our Seas 2.0 Act</a> enacted in 2020, have focused on managing waste rather than reducing plastic production.</p>
<p>In May 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-04/Draft_National_Strategy_to_Prevent_Plastic_Pollution.pdf">Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution</a>. While green groups view it as an <a href="https://earthjustice.org/action/plastics-are-harming-our-health-and-destroying-our-planet">improvement over past policies</a>, the proposal does not ban nonessential plastics, as some advocates urge. </p>
<p>In my view, recycling and <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/comment/EPA-HQ-OLEM-2023-0228-0704">end-of-life management of plastic</a> play oversized roles in the draft. What’s more, critics argue that the plan’s focus on <a href="https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/beyond-plastics-calls-on-us-epa-to-standardize-and-restrict-plastic-industry-legislation.html">voluntary waste reduction goals</a> will be ineffective.</p>
<p>I see the 1987 <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/report/single-use-plastics-roadmap-sustainability">Montreal Protocol</a>, which phased out production and use of chemicals that deplete Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer, as a better model. This treaty, which is <a href="https://theconversation.com/saving-the-ozone-layer-why-the-montreal-protocol-worked-9249">widely viewed as successful</a>, clearly identified the chemicals at issue and included scientists in the negotiating process. </p>
<p>It set an ambitious schedule for monitoring and controlling ozone-depleting substances, gave industry a central role in developing substitutes and <a href="https://council.science/current/blog/happy-birthday-montreal-protocol-ozone/">left room for businesses and regulators to innovate</a>. Thanks to the treaty’s design, plus <a href="https://theconversation.com/cooling-conundrum-hfcs-were-the-safer-replacement-for-another-damaging-chemical-in-refrigerators-and-air-conditioners-with-a-treaty-now-phasing-them-out-whats-next-191172">updates to address newly recognized threats</a>, scientists agree that Earth’s ozone layer <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/01/1132277">is on track to recover</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/05HS141u4yA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Under the Montreal Protocol, Earth’s ozone layer is on track to recover over the next several decades from 20th-century depletion – a precedent for tackling other environmental problems.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lagging negotiations on plastic</h2>
<p>Countries did not show this kind of unity in the Nairobi negotiations on the plastics treaty. Environmental advocates accused a handful of oil-producing countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia, of engaging in what the green groups viewed as <a href="https://phys.org/news/2023-11-frustration-latest-global-plastic-treaty.html">stalling tactics</a> by introducing new proposals. These so-called “low-ambition countries” have pushed for language that allows individual countries to determine how to reduce plastic and focuses on waste management.</p>
<p>In contrast, a separate <a href="https://hactoendplasticpollution.org/">High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution</a>, chaired by Rwanda and Norway, together with the <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/opinion/african-nations-have-power-tools-re-design-plastic-pollution-free-future">African Group of Negotiators</a> and the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/story/202306/small-island-developing-states-call-ambitious-global-plastics-treaty-inc-2-paris">Small Island Developing States</a>, pressed for setting binding targets and eliminating <a href="https://usplasticspact.org/problematic-materials/">problematic plastics</a>, such as single-use items. As an example, the U.S., Canada, several other nations and the European Union have already <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/report/legal-limits-single-use-plastics-and-microplastics">banned or limited the use of microbeads</a> in personal care products. These tiny beads, which are added for purposes such as helping to remove dry, dead cells from users’ skin, have become <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-guinea-pigs-in-a-worldwide-experiment-on-microplastics-97514">widely distributed in the environment</a>.</p>
<p>Another concern is treatment of <a href="https://grist.org/international/global-plastics-treaty-waste-pickers/">waste pickers</a> – people whose livelihood depends on collecting and sorting plastic waste. Negotiators have called for a <a href="https://enb.iisd.org/plastic-pollution-marine-environment-negotiating-committee-inc3-daily-report-13nov2023">just transition</a> for people working in the informal waste economy, through steps such as making plastics less toxic and providing compensation as countries reduce use of plastics.</p>
<p>The fossil fuel industry had a significant presence at the Nairobi meeting. According to the <a href="https://www.ciel.org/news/fossil-fuel-and-chemical-industries-at-inc-3/">Center for International Environmental Law</a>, a legal and policy advocacy group, 143 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists registered for this round of negotiations, a 36% increase from the previous round. The industry’s main goals focus on <a href="https://www.afpm.org/issues/petrochemicals/plastic-waste-principles">end-of-life measures like increasing recycling</a>, rather than limiting production.</p>
<p>Ultimately, nations failed to agree on how to narrow down the proposals in the draft treaty ahead of the fourth round of negotiations, which is scheduled for April 2024 in Ottawa, Canada. Instead, the text still lists multiple proposals for addressing each major issue. </p>
<p>Although the negotiations <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03579-1">are behind schedule</a>, many nations agree that a binding treaty on plastic pollution is critical to solving the plastic pollution problem. As I see it, key conditions for success include minimizing oil and gas industry influence and increasing U.S. support for a life-cycle approach, including agreements to phase out single-use plastics and harmful chemicals. </p>
<p>In addition, I believe scientists should have a formal way to provide policymakers and negotiators with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03579-1">regular updates on the scientific evidence</a> related to plastic pollution. Insights about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/seabirds-that-swallow-ocean-plastic-waste-have-scarring-in-their-stomachs-scientists-have-named-this-disease-plasticosis-201506">effects of plastic waste</a> continue to emerge, and a treaty that reflects those findings will be better positioned to achieve its goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah J. Morath is a member of the Scientists Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty. </span></em></p>A central question remains unresolved in the draft treaty: Is plastic pollution basically a waste management problem, or can it be solved only with a cap on production?Sarah J. Morath, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for International Affairs, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2148152023-10-26T12:30:52Z2023-10-26T12:30:52ZHow often do you lie? Deception researchers investigate how the recipient and the medium affect telling the truth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555683/original/file-20231024-17-ua983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=292%2C0%2C5903%2C3935&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hunter Biden has been charged with making a false claim on a federal firearms application.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXHunterBiden/8a209c980515489694a4607e62e4b782/photo">AP Photo/Julio Cortez</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prominent cases of purported lying continue to dominate the news cycle. Hunter Biden was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/14/us/politics/hunter-biden-indictment-gun-charges.html">charged with lying on a government form</a> while purchasing a handgun. Republican Representative George Santos <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/guide-george-santos-lies.html">allegedly lied in many ways</a>, including to donors through a third party in order to misuse the funds raised. The rapper Offset <a href="https://people.com/offset-says-cardi-b-didnt-cheat-he-was-just-drunk-7568020">admitted to lying on Instagram</a> about his wife, Cardi B, being unfaithful.</p>
<p>There are a number of variables that distinguish these cases. One is the audience: the faceless government, particular donors and millions of online followers, respectively. Another is the medium used to convey the alleged lie: on a bureaucratic form, through intermediaries and via social media.</p>
<p>Differences like these lead researchers like me to wonder what factors influence the telling of lies. Does a personal connection increase or decrease the likelihood of sticking to the truth? Are lies more prevalent on text or email than on the phone or in person?</p>
<p>An emerging body of empirical research is trying to answer these questions, and some of the findings are surprising. They hold lessons, too - for how to think about the areas of your life where you might be more prone to tell lies, and also about where to be most cautious in trusting what others are saying. As the recent director of <a href="https://honestyproject.philosophy.wfu.edu/">The Honesty Project</a> and author of “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/honesty-9780197696040">Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue</a>,” I am especially interested in whether most people tend to be honest or not.</p>
<h2>Figuring out the frequency of lies</h2>
<p>Most research on lying asks participants to self-report their lying behavior, say during the past day or week. (Whether you can trust liars to tell the truth about lying is another question.)</p>
<p>The classic study on lying frequency was conducted by psychologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kCGIDeQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Bella DePaulo</a> in the mid-1990s. It focused on face-to-face interactions and used a group of student participants and another group of volunteers from the community around the University of Virginia. The community members <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.5.979">averaged one lie per day</a>, while the students averaged two lies per day. This result became the benchmark finding in the field of honesty research and helped lead to an assumption among many researchers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2009.01366.x">that lying is commonplace</a>.</p>
<p>But averages do not describe individuals. It could be that each person in the group tells one or two lies per day. But it’s also possible that there are some people who lie voraciously and others who lie very rarely.</p>
<p>In an influential 2010 study, this second scenario is indeed what Michigan State University communication researcher <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TIqSMJoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">Kim Serota</a> and his colleagues found. Out of 1,000 American participants, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2009.01366.x">59.9% claimed not to have told a single lie</a> in the past 24 hours. Of those who admitted they did lie, most said they’d told very few lies. Participants reported 1,646 lies in total, but half of them came from just 5.3% of the participants.</p>
<p>This general pattern in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqab019">data has been replicated</a> several times. Lying tends to be rare, except in the case of a small group of frequent liars.</p>
<h2>Does the medium make a difference?</h2>
<p>Might lying become more frequent under various conditions? What if you don’t just consider face-to-face interactions, but introduce some distance by communicating via text, email or the phone?</p>
<p>Research suggests the medium doesn’t matter much. For instance, a 2014 study by Northwestern University communication researcher <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=s8zROxUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Madeline Smith</a> and her colleagues found that when participants were asked to look at their 30 most recent text messages, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.032">23% said there were no deceptive texts</a>. For the rest of the group, the vast majority said that 10% or fewer of their texts contained lies.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/are-people-lying-more-since-the-rise-of-social-media-and-smartphones-170609">Recent research by David Markowitz</a> at the University of Oregon successfully replicated earlier findings that had compared the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/985692.985709">rates of lying using different technologies</a>. Are lies more common on text, the phone or on email? Based on survey data from 205 participants, Markowitz found that on average, people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqab019">told 1.08 lies per day</a>, but once again with the distribution of lies skewed by some frequent liars.</p>
<p><iframe id="Hq9er" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Hq9er/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Not only were the percentages fairly low, but the differences between the frequency with which lies were told via different media were not large. Still, it might be surprising to find that, say, lying on video chat was more common than lying face-to-face, with lying on email being least likely.</p>
<p>A couple of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/985692.985709">factors could be playing a role</a>. Recordability seems to rein in the lies – perhaps knowing that the communication leaves a record raises worries about detection and makes lying less appealing. Synchronicity seems to matter too. Many lies occur in the heat of the moment, so it makes sense that when there’s a delay in communication, as with email, lying would decrease.</p>
<h2>Does the audience change things?</h2>
<p>In addition to the medium, does the intended receiver of a potential lie make any difference?</p>
<p>Initially you might think that people are more inclined to lie to strangers than to friends and family, given the impersonality of the interaction in the one case and the bonds of care and concern in the other. But matters are a bit more complicated.</p>
<p>In her classic work, DePaulo found that people tend to tell what she called “everyday lies” <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.74.1.63">more often to strangers than family members</a>. To use her examples, these are smaller lies like “told her (that) her muffins were the best ever” and “exaggerated how sorry I was to be late.” For instance, DePaulo and her colleague Deborah Kashy reported that participants in one of their studies lied <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.74.1.63">less than once per 10 social interactions</a> with spouses and children.</p>
<p>However, when it came to serious lies about things like affairs or injuries, for instance, the pattern flipped. Now, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2004.9646402">53% of serious lies were to close partners</a> in the study’s community participants, and the proportion jumped up to 72.7% among student volunteers. Perhaps not surprisingly, in these situations people might value not damaging their relationships more than they value the truth. Other data also finds participants tell <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2009.01366.x">more lies to friends and family members</a> than to strangers.</p>
<h2>Investigating the truth about lies</h2>
<p>It is worth emphasizing that these are all initial findings. Further replication is needed, and cross-cultural studies using non-Western participants are scarce. Additionally, there are many other variables that could be examined, such as age, gender, religion and political affiliation.</p>
<p>When it comes to honesty, though, I find the results, in general, promising. Lying seems to happen rarely for many people, even toward strangers and even via social media and texting. Where people need to be especially discerning, though, is in identifying – and avoiding – the small number of rampant liars out there. If you’re one of them yourself, maybe you never realized that you’re actually in a small minority.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>From 2020-2023, Christian B. Miller received funding from the John Templeton Foundation for the Honesty Project, which advancd research on the psychology and philosophy of honesty. </span></em></p>Researchers are interested in whether who you’re communicating with and how you’re interacting affect how likely you are to lie.Christian B. Miller, A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2078962023-10-25T12:32:22Z2023-10-25T12:32:22ZBeing humble about what you know is just one part of what makes you a good thinker<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555385/original/file-20231023-19-wf4nlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=171%2C311%2C6508%2C4154&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Good thinking is built from many ingredients.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/back-view-of-college-student-wants-to-ask-something-royalty-free-image/1396209957">skynesher/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What does it mean to be a good thinker? Recent research suggests that acknowledging you can be wrong plays a vital role. </p>
<p>I had these studies in mind a few months ago when I was chatting with a history professor about a class she was teaching to first-year students here at Wake Forest University. As part of my job as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cKCKO2UAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">psychology professor who researches character</a> – basically, what it means to be a good person – I often talk to my colleagues about how our teaching can develop the character of our students. </p>
<p>In this case, my colleague saw her class as an opportunity to cultivate character traits that would allow students to respectfully engage with and learn from others when discussing contentious topics. Wanting to learn about and understand the world is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/14040-005">distinctive human motivation</a>. As teachers, we want our students to leave college with the ability and motivation to understand and learn more about themselves, others and their world. She wondered: Was there one characteristic or trait that was most important to cultivate in her students?</p>
<p>I suggested she should focus on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gby016">intellectual humility</a>. Being intellectually humble means being open to the possibility you could be wrong about your beliefs. </p>
<p>But is being humble about what you know or don’t know enough? </p>
<p>I now think my recommendation was incorrect. It turns out good thinking requires more than intellectual humility – and, yes, I see the irony that admitting this means I had to draw on my own intellectual humility.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555387/original/file-20231023-23-fvsqmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="view from behind of students walking on campus in fall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555387/original/file-20231023-23-fvsqmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555387/original/file-20231023-23-fvsqmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555387/original/file-20231023-23-fvsqmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555387/original/file-20231023-23-fvsqmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555387/original/file-20231023-23-fvsqmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555387/original/file-20231023-23-fvsqmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555387/original/file-20231023-23-fvsqmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To be ready to learn, you need to acknowledge that what you currently believe could be wrong.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/rear-view-of-sudents-walking-through-the-park-royalty-free-image/690169722">vm/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Acknowledging you might not be right</h2>
<p>One reason for my focus on intellectual humility was that without acknowledging the possibility that your current beliefs may be mistaken, you literally can’t learn anything new. While being open to being wrong is generally quite challenging – especially for first-year university students confronting the limits of their understanding – it is arguably the key first step in learning. </p>
<p>But another reason for my response is that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2021.1975725">research on intellectual humility has exploded</a> in the past 10 years. Psychologists now have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00081-9">many different ways</a> to assess intellectual humility. Social scientists know that possessing a high level of intellectual humility is associated with multiple positive outcomes, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1167938">having more empathy</a>, more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1738536">prosocial behavior</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620988242">reduced susceptibility to misinformation</a> and an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217697695">increased inclination to seek compromise</a> in challenging interpersonal disagreements.</p>
<p>If you want to focus on one trait to promote good thinking, it seems that intellectual humility is hard to beat. Indeed, researchers, <a href="https://jayawide.sites.wfu.edu">including those in my own lab</a>, are now testing interventions to promote it among different populations.</p>
<h2>A single trait won’t make you a good thinker</h2>
<p>However, was I right in recommending just a single trait? Is intellectual humility by itself enough to promote good thinking? When you zoom out to consider what is really involved in being a good thinker, it becomes clear that simply acknowledging that one could be wrong is not enough.</p>
<p>To provide an example, perhaps someone is willing to acknowledge that they could be wrong because “whatever, man.” They didn’t have particularly strong convictions to begin with. In other words, it’s not enough to say you’re mistaken about your beliefs. You also need to care about having the right beliefs.</p>
<p>While part of being a good thinker involves recognizing one’s possible ignorance, it also requires an eagerness to learn, curiosity about the world, and a commitment to getting it right. </p>
<p>What other traits, then, should people strive to cultivate? The philosopher Nate King writes that being a good thinker <a href="https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/the-excellent-mind-9780190096267">involves possessing multiple traits</a>, including intellectual humility, but also intellectual firmness, love of knowledge, curiosity, carefulness and open-mindedness.</p>
<p>Being a good thinker involves confronting multiple challenges beyond being humble about what you know. You also need to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Be sufficiently motivated to figure out what’s true.</li>
<li>Focus on the pertinent information and carefully seek it out.</li>
<li>Be open-minded when considering information that you may disagree with.</li>
<li>Confront information or questions that are novel or different from what you’re generally used to engaging with.</li>
<li>Be willing to put in the effort to figure it all out.</li>
</ul>
<p>This is a lot, but philosopher Jason Baehr writes that possessing good intellectual character <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-inquiring-mind-9780199604074">requires successfully addressing all these challenges</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555389/original/file-20231023-21-dkjjde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="three students looking at textbooks in library" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555389/original/file-20231023-21-dkjjde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555389/original/file-20231023-21-dkjjde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555389/original/file-20231023-21-dkjjde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555389/original/file-20231023-21-dkjjde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555389/original/file-20231023-21-dkjjde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555389/original/file-20231023-21-dkjjde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555389/original/file-20231023-21-dkjjde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Good intellectual character depends on more than one key trait.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/multi-ethnic-students-studying-in-a-library-royalty-free-image/876865594">Tashi-Delek/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Additional ingredients for good thinking</h2>
<p>So, I was wrong to say that intellectual humility was the silver bullet that can teach students how to think well. Indeed, being intellectually humble – in a way that promotes good thinking – likely involves being both curious and open-minded about new information.</p>
<p>Focusing on a single characteristic such as intellectual humility rather than the totality of intellectual character ends up promoting lopsided character development, similar to that of a bodybuilder focusing their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-005-3651-y">efforts on one bicep rather than their whole body</a>. </p>
<p>My lab’s current work is now attempting to address this issue by defining the good thinker in terms of multiple intellectual traits. This approach is similar to work in personality science that has identified key traits of people who are psychologically healthy as well as those whose patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving cause enduring distress or problems. We hope to further understand <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2022.2154701">how good thinkers function in daily life</a> – for example, their personality, the quality of their relationships and their well-being – as well as how their intellectual character <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785221113985">influences their thinking, behavior and sense of identity</a>.</p>
<p>I think <a href="https://www.templeton.org/grant/clarifying-the-virtue-profile-of-the-excellent-thinker">this work</a> is vital in order to understand the key characteristics of good thinking and to learn more about how to build these habits in ourselves and others.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207896/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eranda Jayawickreme receives funding from the John Templeton Foundation (grant 62669).
This article was produced with support from UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center and the John Templeton Foundation as part of the GGSC's initiative on Expanding Awareness of the Science of Intellectual Humility.</span></em></p>Being open to the possibility you could be wrong about your beliefs is an important part of learning about the world. But this trait is not enough on its own.Eranda Jayawickreme, Professor of Psychology & Senior Research Fellow, Program for Leadership and Character, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2125852023-09-06T12:26:55Z2023-09-06T12:26:55ZThe US committed to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, but like other countries, it’s struggling to make progress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546246/original/file-20230904-15-tjmfsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=229%2C467%2C3173%2C2207&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many colonias along the Texas-Mexico border still lack basic infrastructure, including running water.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TexasBorderColonias/47c19c2a66e340d49a1d534f3b6df91e/photo">AP Photo/Eric Gay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a Zen parable, a man sees a horse and rider galloping by. The man asks the rider where he’s going, and the rider responds, “I don’t know. Ask the horse!”</p>
<p>It is easy to feel out of control and helpless in the face of the many problems Americans are now experiencing – <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/americans-challenges-with-health-care-costs/">unaffordable health care</a>, <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/poverty-awareness-month.html">poverty</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-report-climate-solutions-exist-but-humanity-has-to-break-from-the-status-quo-and-embrace-innovation-202134">climate change</a>, to name a few. These problems are made harder by the ways in which people, including elected representatives, often talk past each other.</p>
<p>Most <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/06/21/inflation-health-costs-partisan-cooperation-among-the-nations-top-problems/">people want</a> a strong economy, social well-being and a healthy environment. These goals are interdependent: A strong economy isn’t possible without a society peaceful enough to support investment and well-functioning markets, or without water and air clean enough to support life and productivity. This understanding – that economic, social and environmental well-being are intertwined – is the premise of sustainable development. </p>
<p>In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2015/ga11688.doc.htm">unanimously adopted</a> 17 <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/12/sustainable-development-goals-kick-off-with-start-of-new-year">Sustainable Development Goals</a>, known as the SDGs, with 169 measurable targets to be achieved by 2030. Though not legally binding, all nations, including the U.S., agreed to pursue this agenda.</p>
<p>The world is now halfway to that 2030 deadline. Countries have made some progress, such as reducing extreme poverty and child mortality, though the COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://www.un.org/en/desa/it%E2%80%99s-now-or-never-achieving-sdgs-hinges-effective-crises-response">set back progress</a> on many targets.</p>
<p>On Sept. 18-19, 2023, countries are reviewing global progress toward those goals during a meeting at the United Nations. It’s a good opportunity for Americans to review their own progress because, as we see it, sustainable development is fundamentally American.</p>
<h2>Environment, economy and health intertwined</h2>
<p>Though not widely recognized, sustainable development has been a core American policy since President Richard Nixon signed the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/nepa/downloads/national-environmental-policy-act-1969">National Environmental Policy Act </a> into law in 1970. The law says that Americans should “use all practicable means and measures … to create and maintain conditions under which man [sic] and nature can exist in productive harmony and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.”</p>
<p>While it is tempting in today’s sour political climate to dismiss this as wishful thinking, the U.S. has made some progress reconciling economic development with environmental protection. </p>
<p>Gross domestic product, for example, grew 196% between 1980 and 2022, while total emissions of the six most common non-greenhouse air pollutants, including lead and sulfur dioxide, fell 73%, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-national-summary">according to the Environmental Protection Agency</a>. </p>
<p>The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, a major sustainable development law, is designed to further accelerate the use of renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through tax credits and other incentives. <a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/the-us-is-poised-for-an-energy-revolution.html">Goldman Sachs</a> estimated the law would spur about US$3 trillion in renewable energy investment. The law has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/one-year-biden-still-needs-explain-his-signature-clean-energy-legislation-2023-08-16/">already been credited with creating</a> 170,000 new jobs and leading to more than 270 new or expanded clean energy projects. That impact further demonstrates that environmental goals can align with economic growth.</p>
<p>The 2015 Sustainable Development Goals cover a broader range of environmental, social and economic issues, and there are indicators for assessing progress on each.</p>
<h2>How is America doing?</h2>
<p><a href="https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/rankings">The U.S. ranked 39th</a> out of 166 countries in a 2023 review of national efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.unsdsn.org/about-us">Sustainable Development Solutions Network</a>, which operates under the auspices of the U.N. Secretary-General, finds that America is lagging behind the targets set <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">for many of the Sustainable Development Goals</a> that are critical to the nation’s defense, competitiveness and health, such as reducing obesity, increasing life expectancy at birth, protecting labor rights, reducing maternal mortality, decreasing inequality and protecting biodiversity.</p>
<p>To understand where the U.S. is falling short, we asked <a href="https://www.eli.org/sites/default/files/files-pdf/GoverningforSustainability-TOC.pdf">26 experts working on various areas of sustainable development</a> to review the nation’s progress and make recommendations for future action. The resulting 2023 book, <a href="https://www.eli.org/eli-press-books/governing-sustainability">Governing for Sustainability</a>, provides some 500 U.S.-specific recommendations for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young child, looking bored, sits on a woman's lap as a nurse tests her blood pressure." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546248/original/file-20230904-27-721s7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546248/original/file-20230904-27-721s7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546248/original/file-20230904-27-721s7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546248/original/file-20230904-27-721s7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546248/original/file-20230904-27-721s7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546248/original/file-20230904-27-721s7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546248/original/file-20230904-27-721s7p.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">Residents waited in long lines for a free annual health clinic in Wise, Va., in 2017. A nonprofit operated the annual pop-up clinic for two decades until the state expanded Medicaid eligibility in 2019, which helped more residents afford local health care.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ruby-partin-and-her-adoptive-son-timothy-huff-visit-a-free-news-photo/820902146">John Moore/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Health and access to quality health care loom large in many of the goals. The authors in several chapters explain why the nation cannot eliminate poverty or hunger, or have a vibrant economy, gender equality or education gains, without widely available, affordable health care. Yet, the U.S. has some of the <a href="https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/07/why-are-americans-paying-more-for-healthcare">highest health care costs in the world</a>. Several states have <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/georgia-medicaid-program-work-requirement-off-slow-start-102389380">rejected efforts to expand eligibility</a> for federal Medicaid health insurance for low-income residents, leaving many people without care.</p>
<p>Similarly, the authors show that human health, ecological health, clean water and economic vitality <a href="https://www.eli.org/eli-press-books/governing-sustainability">all require sound climate policy</a>. A quickly warming world <a href="https://theconversation.com/8-billion-people-four-ways-climate-change-and-population-growth-combine-to-threaten-public-health-with-global-consequences-193077">poses new health risks</a>, decimates ecosystems, strains potable water supplies and reduces global economic productivity.</p>
<p>Clean and abundant water is critical to a functioning economy and a stable, diverse ecosystem, and yet some areas of the United States <a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-rules-the-us-is-not-required-to-ensure-access-to-water-for-the-navajo-nation-202588">still lack clean water</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/youth-living-in-settlements-at-us-border-suffer-poverty-and-lack-of-health-care-103416">indoor plumbing</a>. This often occurs in communities of color and low income, and it can impede economic prosperity and development in these areas.</p>
<p>Ready access to nutritious food is also a bedrock need to support many of the Sustainable Development Goals, from poverty alleviation to education, yet far too many American children <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001%2Fjamanetworkopen.2021.5262">rely on school lunches</a> for <a href="https://www.ppic.org/blog/feeding-children-when-schools-are-closed-for-covid-19/">basic sustenance</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man squints into the sun as he holds a large hose that pours water into a tank in the back of a pickup truck." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546249/original/file-20230904-27-t1qoyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546249/original/file-20230904-27-t1qoyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546249/original/file-20230904-27-t1qoyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546249/original/file-20230904-27-t1qoyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546249/original/file-20230904-27-t1qoyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546249/original/file-20230904-27-t1qoyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546249/original/file-20230904-27-t1qoyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A U.S. Army veteran fills a tank in the back of his pickup with water in Laredo, Texas, to provide water for his mother’s home. Rural residents in parts of the Southwest have to truck in clean water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/carlos-salas-u-s-army-veteran-fills-his-water-tank-that-is-news-photo/916823510">Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The goals covering <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal16">peace, justice, strong institutions</a> and <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal17">partnerships</a> are necessary to achieve all of the goals. A society at war with itself and without rule of law cannot support a vibrant, diverse economy and lasting democracy. This has been shown repeatedly as some developing nations <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/10/20/understanding-and-responding-to-global-democratic-backsliding-pub-88173">backslide from democratic progress</a> and prosperity to civil war and poverty. <a href="https://www.eli.org/eli-press-books/governing-sustainability">Developed nations</a> are subject to the same forces.</p>
<h2>Taking the reins</h2>
<p>Sustainable development is emphatically not about government alone solving the nation’s problems. Businesses, universities and other organizations, as well as individuals, are essential to help the country realize its environmental, health and climate goals, fair practices and living wages. </p>
<p>The right place to “take the reins” is where you are, and with the problems or tasks in front of you – at work and at home. Figure out more sustainable ways to use water and energy, for example. Look at what our book recommends and what others are already doing to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Seize opportunities such as saving money, and reduce risks by, for example, cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Every individual can contribute to a better future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212585/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>Halfway to the SDGs’ 2030 deadline, countries have made progress, but most are struggling to meet all 17 goals. The US is no exception.Scott Schang, Director of Environmental Law and Policy Clinic; Professor of Practice, Wake Forest UniversityJohn Dernbach, Professor of Law Emeritus, Widener UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2110162023-09-05T12:29:10Z2023-09-05T12:29:10ZHow video games like ‘Starfield’ are creating a new generation of classical music fans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546018/original/file-20230901-25-u3v8gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3199%2C2122&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The London Symphony Orchestra has performed music from video games like 'Starfield' and 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.' </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/niklas-benjamin-hoffmann-winner-of-the-donatella-flick-lso-news-photo/623978072?adppopup=true">Tristan Fewings/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“<a href="https://bethesda.net/en/game/starfield">Starfield</a>” is one of the most anticipated video games in recent history. </p>
<p>The game, which was released on Sept. 6, 2023, allows players to build their own character and spacecraft, travel to any one of a thousand or more planets and follow multiple story arcs.</p>
<p>The soundtrack is equally epic, with audio director Mark Lampert describing the game’s music as a “companion to the player,” with a “sense of scale” that “had to be totally readjusted,” in a <a href="https://youtu.be/fedc6ZzfU8I?si=Ui0UHlf-vnrKhXlX">recent interview</a> about Starfield’s sound design.</p>
<p>Soundtracks for outer space have appeared in many films – “Star Wars,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Interstellar,” to name a few.</p>
<p>But the interactive music of “Starfield” by composer Inon Zur does something different: Utilizing a palette of musical language that cultivates a contemplative soundscape, it launches the listener into the vastness of space while remaining curious, innocent and restrained. If you close your eyes, you can imagine it being performed in the concert hall.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what happened prior to the game’s release, when the London Symphony Orchestra <a href="https://youtu.be/IaskxKfeFno">performed the “Starfield Suite</a>” before a sold-out audience at the Alexandra Palace Theatre, one of the world’s most prestigious concert halls.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jaaronhardwick.com/">As a conductor, musician and educator</a>, I’m excited about games like “Starfield” because they’re drawing people to symphonic music like never before.</p>
<h2>Classical music becomes exclusive</h2>
<p>Before recording technology, the only way to hear music was to experience it live. Throughout early history, music functioned as an integral part of cultural life: It was played at festivals, accompanied religious services and even served as a means of communication.</p>
<p>During the time of the <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/renm/hd_renm.htm">Renaissance</a>, around the middle 15th to 16th centuries, there was a shift from music as function to music as art and entertainment.</p>
<p>Soon, live vocal and instrumental music became a form of popular entertainment, and people clamored for bigger and better sounds. In the 16th century, the marriage of art, drama and music was consummated in <a href="https://www.sfopera.com/learn/about-opera/a-brief-history-of-opera/">opera</a>. During the 17th and 18th centuries, instruments continued to evolve, large concert halls and opera houses were built, and composers explored new ideas that pushed boundaries.</p>
<p>What’s now known as “symphonic music” was born: music that was performed by a symphony orchestra. <a href="https://coloradosymphony.org/symphony-vs-orchestra/">A symphony</a> is not only a large group of musicians, but it is also a piece of music written by a composer containing multiple movements.</p>
<p>To hear a performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, you had to witness a symphony orchestra play it, and crowds clamored to gain entry to concert halls hear the newest and most acclaimed composers’ works.</p>
<p>During the 18th and early 19th centuries, however, a set of social rules calcified around this music: how to listen, what to wear, where to sit and when to applaud. As tastes and technologies began to <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/amcm/hd_amcm.htm">change in the late 19th century</a>, the masses were drawn to new forms of music like jazz. Concert halls, meanwhile, became the realm of high culture, high art and high society.</p>
<p>A clear divide between popular music and <a href="https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/music-theory/why-do-we-call-it-classical-music/">what became known as “classical” music</a> emerged. That divide still exists today.</p>
<p>Many argue that the <a href="https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/11/17/the-classical-music-world-is-grappling-with-accessibility">classical music world is no longer accessible</a> to most people – it’s seen as too intimidating and too stuffy, with works that are too long and tickets that are too expensive. Meanwhile, symphony orchestras around the world <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/16/arts/music/orchestra-diversity.html">are scrambling to diversify their music and ranks</a> within a tradition and culture that was long reserved for the highly educated, wealthy and white.</p>
<p>With symphonies working to be more inclusive in their music education and program offerings, I see video games as a key way to bridge this divide.</p>
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/69xgGwecfj6y1Jfz2e73PA?utm_source=generator&theme=0" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<h2>From ‘bleeps and bloops’ to symphonic music</h2>
<p>Due to limitations in hardware, early video games utilized synthesized “bleeps and bloops.” However, these constraints spurred programmers to think about creative ways to make games more immersive through sound. </p>
<p>Today, video games do not have the same limitations. Composers have the agency to create soundscapes that utilize the most advanced hardware and software, and they can employ some of the best musicians in the world <a href="https://www.grammy.com/videos/assassins-creed-wins-best-score-soundtrack-video-games-interactive-media-2023-grammys-premiere-ceremony">to record award-winning soundtracks</a>. </p>
<p>In a 2021 interview, video game composer and conductor <a href="https://youtu.be/wInG9pSpmNQ?t=1505">Eimear Noone said</a>, “More young people listen to orchestral music through their game consoles today than have ever listened to orchestral music in the history of music.” </p>
<p>She’s probably right. <a href="https://financesonline.com/number-of-gamers-worldwide/">There are over 3 billion gamers</a> around the world, and people between the ages of 18 and 25 spend the most time playing video games. A <a href="https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/video-games-children-classical-music/">2018 poll conducted by the U.K.’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra</a> found that more young people are exposed to classical music through video games than through attending live performances.</p>
<p>The fusion of advanced technology and scholarship has forged worlds like those found in the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise, which can <a href="https://doi-org.wake.idm.oclc.org/10.1086/713365">act as time machines</a> that allow players to explore ancient Greece, with historically informed soundtracks accompanying them on their journeys.</p>
<p>In Activision’s “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice,” composer Yuka Kitamura used traditional Japanese instruments to craft a sound informed by Japan’s <a href="https://doyouknowjapan.com/history/sengoku/">Sengoku period</a>; the music of “Civilization IV” contains tracks influenced by composers throughout history; and many of today’s most popular video game titles <a href="https://limelightmagazine.com.au/features/the-best-classical-music-in-videogames/">feature classical music</a>. </p>
<p>“Thanks to video games,” <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/28/arts/i-fell-love-with-classical-music-thanks-video-games/">Boston Globe music writer A.Z. Madonna wrote</a>, “I fell in love with classical music.”</p>
<h2>Getting the recognition it deserves</h2>
<p>Today’s video game music is more interactive and nonlinear than traditional concert hall and film music. This means that <a href="https://stringsmagazine.com/top-video-game-composers-talk-craft-and-breaking-into-the-business/">composers think differently when writing for games</a>. Tools, technologies and education for composers and musicians are changing.</p>
<p>The increasing complexity of video games means composers are once again pushing boundaries through expanded sound palettes. Like “Starfield,” many modern game titles incorporate symphonic music needed to provide the emotional and atmospheric underpinning of the game experience.</p>
<p>As the gaming industry continues to expand – it’s projected <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/748044/number-video-gamers-world/">to earn US$533 billion globally by 2027</a> – video game soundtracks have become more and more popular. When a game is released, <a href="https://blog.chartmetric.com/video-game-music-rise-popularity/">music streaming platforms</a> routinely release an accompanying soundtrack. </p>
<p>The classical music world and symphony orchestras may finally be catching on.</p>
<p>In 2022, the BBC Proms, a daily summer concert series that features classical music in London, included video game music <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/erjv9r">performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra</a> for the first time in history. In 2023, the Grammys recognized “<a href="https://www.grammy.com/news/2023-grammys-new-categories-songwriter-year-best-video-game-soundtrack-social-impact-special-merit-award-65th-grammy-awards">Best Video Game Soundtrack</a>” as an official category for the first time. Its inaugural winner was <a href="https://www.grammy.com/news/stephanie-economou-interview-2023-grammys-assassins-creed-valhalla-best-score-soundtrack-video-games-interactive-media">Stephanie Economou</a> for her work on “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök.”</p>
<p>Today, there are a number of symphonic concert series – <a href="http://gameonconcert.com/">GameOn!</a>, <a href="https://www.gameconcerts.com/en/concerts/final-symphony/">Game Concerts</a>, <a href="https://ffdistantworlds.com/">Distant Worlds</a> and <a href="https://www.videogameslive.com/">VGL</a> – that feature live video game music performed by top orchestras.</p>
<p>“Starfield” will be marked by beautiful graphics, interactive game play and a compelling story, but holding it together will be the gravity of its sonic landscape. Video game music has come a long way from its first “bleeps and bloops.” Symphonic music will continue to accompany players’ video game journeys, and like “Starfield,” the sky is no longer the limit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211016/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>J. Aaron Hardwick 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 genre has long been viewed as too exclusive, too expensive and too stuffy. Thanks to video games, that’s starting to change.J. Aaron Hardwick, Orchestra Director and Assistant Professor of Music, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1711922023-06-30T12:37:43Z2023-06-30T12:37:43ZIs it legal to sell human remains?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534894/original/file-20230629-29-fif855.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C15%2C2108%2C1393&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The handling and disposition of human bodies raises all sorts of ethical and legal questions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/coffin-on-stage-royalty-free-image/85637547?phrase=funeral&adppopup=true">Jupiterimages/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Four individuals were <a href="https://media.wbur.org/wp/2023/06/morgue-indictment.pdf">charged with federal crimes</a> in June 2023 related to the “unlawful transport” across state lines of human remains taken from the Harvard Medical School morgue. This indictment was part of a larger effort by the Department of Justice to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/six-charged-trafficking-stolen-human-remains">shut down a national network</a> of people trafficking in human remains. </p>
<p>Cedric Lodge, who had been the morgue manager <a href="http://hms.harvard.edu/news-events/anatomical-gift-program-resources/frequently-asked-questions">until his firing in May</a>, was accused of removing human remains that had been donated to the medical school. According to <a href="https://media.wbur.org/wp/2023/06/morgue-indictment.pdf">the indictment</a>, he and his wife, Denise Lodge, shipped those remains to Katrina MacLean, the owner of a store called Kat’s Creepy Creations, and Joshua Taylor, an individual living in Pennsylvania. Taylor transferred nearly US$40,000 to the Lodges via PayPal, with memos that included “head number 7” and “braiiiiiins.”</p>
<p>As a scholar whose research is centered on the <a href="https://law.wfu.edu/faculty/profile/marshtd/">laws regarding the status, treatment and disposition of human remains</a>, I am often asked about the legality and ethics of <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/laws-permitting-human-remains_b_1769082">selling bodies</a>, especially when stories like the <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/crime/2023/06/16/is-it-legal-to-sell-human-remains-harvard-morgue-scandal-raises-questions/">Harvard morgue case</a> or <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/tiktok-user-sells-human-bones-ignites-ethical-debate/story?id=80541972">a TikTok user selling human bones</a> begin to circulate.</p>
<p>My answers often surprise people.</p>
<h2>State by state</h2>
<p>It is not illegal to sell human remains under federal law. That’s why the defendants in the Harvard Medical School case were <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/six-charged-trafficking-stolen-human-remains">charged with interstate transport of stolen goods</a>, rather than “trafficking human remains.” </p>
<p>There is actually very little federal law regarding the dead. The most significant is the Federal Trade Commission’s <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising/funeral-rule">Funeral Rule</a>, which requires funeral homes to provide certain disclosures to consumers.</p>
<p>Instead, the vast majority of law respecting the dead is state law, which varies significantly.</p>
<p>By my count, the sale of human remains is broadly and expressly illegal in only eight states: <a href="http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0800-0899/0872/Sections/0872.01.html#:%7E:text=View%20Entire%20Chapter,775.082%20or%20s.">Florida</a>, <a href="https://codes.findlaw.com/ga/title-31-health/ga-code-sect-31-21-41/">Georgia</a>, <a href="https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter272/Section72">Massachusetts</a>, <a href="https://www.revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=194.410&bid=10000&hl=#:%7E:text=194.410.,commits%20a%20class%20E%20felony.">Missouri</a>, <a href="https://www.revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=194.410&bid=10000&hl=#:%7E:text=194.410.,commits%20a%20class%20E%20felony.">New Hampshire</a>, <a href="https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c043.php">South Carolina</a>, <a href="https://casetext.com/statute/texas-codes/penal-code/title-9-offenses-against-public-order-and-decency/chapter-42-disorderly-conduct-and-related-offenses/section-4208-abuse-of-corpse#:%7E:text=Section%2042.08%20%2D%20Abuse%20of%20Corpse%20(a)%20A%20person%20commits,illegally%20disinterred%3B%20(3)%20sells">Texas</a> and <a href="https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title32.1/chapter8/section32.1-303/">Virginia</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps one reason the Harvard morgue case is being handled by the Department of Justice is that although selling human remains is illegal in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, it does not violate state law in Pennsylvania, where some of the activity took place.</p>
<p>In more than two dozen other states, <a href="https://www.lawyersandjudges.com/products/the-law-of-human-remains">it is illegal to sell human remains</a> only under certain circumstances. A number of these states make it expressly illegal to sell human remains or organs that were donated for anatomical study, transplantation or medical therapy. </p>
<p>Most commonly, it is illegal to sell human remains that have been unlawfully removed from a place of burial. For example, in <a href="https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_70/Article_3.pdf">North Carolina</a>, it is a crime to “knowingly exhibit or sell any human skeletal remains from unmarked burials.” However, this specific phrasing means that the North Carolina law could not be applied to a situation like the Harvard case, where the body was obtained from a morgue. Nor could it be applied to the sale of body parts other than skeletal remains.</p>
<h2>Up for sale</h2>
<p>In fact, it is surprisingly easy to purchase human remains in the United States, even in states where such sales are expressly illegal. There are brick-and-mortar stores, like <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/katrina-maclean-peabody-creepy-dolls-store-charged-harvard-morgue-body-part-theft/">Kat’s Creepy Creations</a> in Massachusetts, which sell skeletal remains. </p>
<p>But increasingly, retail traffic in human remains <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13147">takes place online</a>. The sales of human remains have been banned on Etsy and eBay <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2012/08/10/technology/etsy-bans-drugs/index.html">since 2012</a> <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/danvergano/skull-sales">and 2016</a>, respectively, but social networks like Facebook are <a href="https://www.livescience.com/human-bone-trade-facebook.html">rife with groups</a> where body parts are sold and traded. One of the defendants in the Harvard Medical School case <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/woman-posted-human-skull-instagram-before-harvard-morgue-indictment-1807078">advertised at least one skull on Instagram</a>.</p>
<p>It is difficult to determine how human remains end up in the retail stream because most body parts for sale have been de-identified. In other words, the seller does not name the deceased person whose remains are being sold and usually does not reveal how the remains were obtained – and there is no law requiring them to do so.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534901/original/file-20230629-26-9mgo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a green uniform and cap walks around a tombstone with a small fence around it in a wooded area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534901/original/file-20230629-26-9mgo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534901/original/file-20230629-26-9mgo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534901/original/file-20230629-26-9mgo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534901/original/file-20230629-26-9mgo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534901/original/file-20230629-26-9mgo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534901/original/file-20230629-26-9mgo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534901/original/file-20230629-26-9mgo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A historian inspects a Civil War-era grave dug up by grave robbers on National Park Service property in Maryland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/wheeler8-date-5-31-06-photographer-katherine-frey-the-news-photo/103800735?adppopup=true">Katherine Frey/The The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>There are a few explicitly illegal methods of obtaining human remains in the U.S. Grave robbery, for example, <a href="https://www.lawyersandjudges.com/products/the-law-of-human-remains?_pos=2&_sid=b1c0b1545&_ss=r&variant=6027975619">is specifically outlawed</a> in nearly every state. Digging up corpses was a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-need-cadavers-19th-century-medical-students-raided-baltimores-graves-180970629/">significant problem</a> in the 1800s, when medical schools first began <a href="https://theconversation.com/medical-students-honor-body-donors-through-words-deeds-and-ceremonies-208168">to teach students through anatomical dissection</a>.</p>
<p>When a person dies in the U.S., there are limited legal options for the disposition of their body, which effectively prevents an individual from arranging to sell their own remains. </p>
<p>In every state, remains may be buried, entombed, cremated, donated to science or removed from the state or order to be lawfully disposed of elsewhere. More than half of states have legalized a process called <a href="https://www.cremationassociation.org/page/alkalinehydrolysis">alkaline hydrolysis</a>, also known as <a href="https://www.cremationassociation.org/blogpost/776820/313847/What-do-you-know-about-Alkaline-Hydrolysis">aquamation or water cremation</a>, which dissolves the body in a base solution. In seven states, remains may be disposed of via <a href="https://connectingdirectors.com/65987-nevada-legalizes-nor">natural organic reduction</a>, also called <a href="https://www.popsci.com/environment/composting-body-burial/">human composting</a>.</p>
<h2>Final gift</h2>
<p>If an individual or their family donates remains to science, typically a nonprofit organization or university takes possession of the remains.</p>
<p>The use of those remains varies widely. A medical school like Harvard has an <a href="https://meded.hms.harvard.edu/anatomical-gift-program">anatomical donation program</a> to obtain intact cadavers to be used in gross anatomy labs and other teaching settings. </p>
<p>However, people sometimes donate to a non-transplant tissue bank, often called “body brokers.” Given the high costs of funeral arrangements in the U.S., some families donate a loved one’s remains to body brokers, who dispose of remains without cost to the family. </p>
<p>Bluntly speaking, body brokers carve up human remains and distribute them to be used in medical therapy or research, with little regulation – the subject of a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-bodies-brokers/">2017 Reuters investigation</a>. They do charge for processing and transporting human remains, and one such company, Science Care, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-bodies-science/">generated $27 million in revenue in 2017</a>.</p>
<p>Body brokers are <a href="https://nfda.org/news/media-center/nfda-news-releases/id/7475/congress-takes-significant-step-to-regulate-body-brokers">more controversial</a> than university anatomical donation programs, but in both cases, remains are used for medical education or research. The ultimate disposition of remains donated to science is typically cremation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534896/original/file-20230629-25452-4u7cgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A body lies covered by a white sheet on a metal table in a white and yellow lab-like room." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534896/original/file-20230629-25452-4u7cgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534896/original/file-20230629-25452-4u7cgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534896/original/file-20230629-25452-4u7cgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534896/original/file-20230629-25452-4u7cgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534896/original/file-20230629-25452-4u7cgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534896/original/file-20230629-25452-4u7cgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534896/original/file-20230629-25452-4u7cgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Human remains donated to science are meant to be disposed of with respect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/pathology-department-in-a-hospital-royalty-free-image/539882937?phrase=morgue&adppopup=true">Team Static/fStop via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Seeking justice</h2>
<p>If bodies donated to science are not <a href="https://nfda.org/news/media-center/nfda-news-releases/id/7475/congress-takes-significant-step-to-regulate-body-brokers">treated with the respect and dignity</a> that the donors were promised by the recipient institution, as in the Harvard Medical School case, there are several possible legal options. </p>
<p>First, there could be federal or state criminal charges in the small number of states that broadly outlaw the sale of human remains. </p>
<p>Second, 30 states outlaw the mistreatment or mutilation of human remains. These criminal laws are generally referred to as “<a href="https://funerallaw.typepad.com/blog/2015/10/does-the-law-limit-what-you-can-do-with-human-remains-yes-understanding-abuse-of-corpse-laws.html">abuse of corpse” statutes</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, the families of the donors may have a private cause of action against the recipient institution or against people who took the remains without permission. There are <a href="https://www.ali.org/projects/show/torts-miscellaneous-provisions/">two possible tort claims</a> that families could bring: interference with the family’s right to respectfully dispose of the remains, known formally as “interference with the right of sepulcher,” and infliction of emotional harm based on mistreatment of human remains.</p>
<p>I have yet to encounter a person who is not horrified by the treatment of the bodies donated to Harvard Medical School and then diverted into curiosity shops and private collections, especially when I explain that such activities are not clearly illegal in every state. </p>
<p>Respectful treatment of human remains, and of the loved ones they leave behind, appears to be a universal value. Yet there is a clear mismatch between these social norms and the law – for now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171192/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya D. Marsh 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 short answer: It’s complicated – and depends, in part, where you live.Tanya D. Marsh, Professor of Law, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2055532023-06-26T12:21:26Z2023-06-26T12:21:26ZTaking students to the range to learn about gun culture firsthand<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530147/original/file-20230605-22195-gqn7mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3404%2C1798&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Sociology of Guns' students during a gun range field trip.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sandra Stroud Yamane</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>“Sociology of Guns”</p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>I grew up in the liberal culture of the San Francisco Bay Area and never touched a firearm until I was 42 years old, living in North Carolina and <a href="https://sociology.wfu.edu/people/faculty/david-yamane">teaching sociology at Wake Forest University</a>.</p>
<p>For the past 10-plus years I have been deeply immersed in American gun culture both professionally and personally. I have both studied and am a member of the Liberal Gun Club, National Rifle Association and other gun-related groups.</p>
<p>Having one foot outside and one foot inside gun culture allows me to see the social life of guns from different perspectives. Wanting to convey this diversity to others prompted me to construct and teach this course for the first time in 2015. This fall, I will teach the course for the ninth consecutive academic year.</p>
<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>Rather than focusing exclusively on gun violence and politics, my course looks more broadly at guns in society.</p>
<p>The class begins by literally putting firearms in students’ hands.</p>
<p>The first class meeting is at a gun range, where students have the opportunity – but are not required – to shoot three semi-automatic firearms: a .22 pistol, a Glock 17 9 mm pistol and an AR-15 style .223 caliber rifle. The field trip is a source of insight that carries through the entire semester.</p>
<p>Substantively, the course builds on the students’ firsthand experience of guns by exploring the multifaceted role they play in society. It puts guns in historical, legal and global contexts. The intention is to provide students with a greater understanding of the lawful possession and use of guns, gun crime and injuries, and the future of gun politics.</p>
<p>Guest speakers vary from semester to semester but include leaders of various gun owner groups, professional gun educators and trainers, and representatives of gun violence prevention organizations.</p>
<h2>Why is this course relevant now?</h2>
<p>It often feels as though the United States is being torn apart by cultural and political divisions over guns. As Mark Joslyn argues in “<a href="https://www.choice360.org/choice-pick/the-gun-gap-rotw-4-5-21/">The Gun Gap</a>,” the different social worlds inhabited by gun owners and non-owners shape not just their fundamental orientations to guns, risk and policy, but their very understanding of what constitutes a good society.</p>
<p>I believe that we as a society cannot repair this divide until people begin to talk to each other about their differences with the goal of mutual understanding. These conversations should be built on a solid foundation of empirical knowledge about the role guns actually play in society - both positive and negative.</p>
<h2>What’s a critical lesson from the course?</h2>
<p>The trip to the gun range stands out because it offers direct exposure to gunfire. As expected, <a href="https://guncurious.wordpress.com/2023/06/23/collected-posts-on-sociology-of-guns-seminar/">student responses vary</a>. Most enjoy it. Some dislike it. No one is indifferent. All are better able to relate to the course material because of it.</p>
<p>In particular, those who were personally repulsed by guns prior to the field trip often come to see why guns can be attractive to others. Those who had lacked exposure often become gun curious. And the few gun enthusiasts I get in my course do not just have their enthusiasm reinforced; they also understand why others see guns differently. </p>
<p>Reflecting on the field trip experience over the course of the semester through the lens of scholarship on guns turns the heat of gunfire on the range into the light of comprehension in the classroom.</p>
<h2>What materials does the course feature?</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://lgolens.com/anthropillar/">The Liberal Gun Owners Lens, Pillar 1: The Human-Weapon Relationship</a>” – which explains the deep anthropological connection between <em>Homo sapiens</em> and projectile weaponry. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393345834">Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America_</a>,” – Adam Winkler’s magnificent book on the historical and legal context of guns.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162231156292">Gun Culture 2.0: The Evolution and Contours of Defensive Gun Ownership in America</a>” – my comprehensive summary of the history and development of gun culture in the United States.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmsa1916744">Handgun Ownership and Suicide in California</a>” and “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392115617227">Race and Mass Murder in the United States</a>” – articles that address negative outcomes with guns in society.</p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>“Sociology of Guns” teaches students to approach this fraught topic in a more objective and nuanced manner encompassing both the everyday uses and abuses of firearms. This knowledge then helps students better understand their own personal beliefs about and relationship to guns. </p>
<p>Taken together, these lessons prepare students to make informed choices for the rest of their lives about being involved with guns – or not – as well as the place of guns in the communities in which they will live.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205553/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Yamane has received funding from The Louisville Institute for the Study of American Religion to study church security. He is a member of the Liberal Gun Club, National African American Gun Association, and National Rifle Association and financially supports the Liberal Gun Owners 501c4 and Walk the Walk America 501c3 organizations.</span></em></p>In this course, a gun range becomes a classroom for students to explore their previously held beliefs about firearms.David Yamane, Professor of Sociology, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2072992023-06-12T12:26:11Z2023-06-12T12:26:11ZIn the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled states should decide the legality of abortion, voters at the state level have been doing just that: 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530911/original/file-20230608-18-hwoxua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5904%2C3954&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Abortion-rights demonstrators protest in front of the Supreme Court building on June 25, 2022, a day after the announcement of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/abortion-rights-demonstrators-protest-in-front-of-the-news-photo/1405134629?adppopup=true">Brandon Bell/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the Supreme Court ruled on June 24, 2022, in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf">Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</a> that states – some of which have been chipping away at women’s access to abortion for years – should decide the legality of abortion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court’s majority opinion that “women are not without electoral or political power.”</p>
<p>In one fell swoop, the court’s 6-3 ruling that abortion is not a federal constitutional right overturned <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-18">Roe v. Wade</a>, decided in 1973, and 1992’s <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1991/91-744">Planned Parenthood v. Casey</a> – two decisions that provided federal protections for abortion. </p>
<p>Since the Dobbs decision, women and men alike have exercised the political power Alito referenced at the ballot box and, in the states that allow it, through legislation citizens initiate themselves. State legislatures, too, have been passing abortion laws.</p>
<p>The Conversation has covered the fight over abortion rights in the U.S. for years. Here are four essential reads to help you understand some of the state-level decisions legislators and citizens have made since the Dobbs ruling.</p>
<h2>1. Kansans safeguard constitutional access to abortion</h2>
<p>On Aug. 2, 2022, in the first state referendum on abortion since the Dobbs ruling, voters in Kansas rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to deny the right to abortion in that state. The 59% to 41% vote was decisive. </p>
<p>Scholars <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vUKLlG4AAAAJ&hl=en">Matthew A. Baum</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Fj-XMtIAAAAJ">Alauna Safarpour</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=0JH3YoUAAAAJ">Kristin Lunz Trujillo</a>, of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, who poll Americans on social and political issues, wrote that most residents of Kansas favor neither unrestricted access to abortion nor a total ban on the procedure.</p>
<p>Sentiment appears to be the same in various states across the country.</p>
<p>In one survey that they conducted between June 8 and July 6, 2022, these scholars asked Americans about the importance of abortion to them and if they support the procedure under nine specific scenarios, ranging from saving the life of the woman to avoiding financial hardship. </p>
<p>Their findings were eye-opening.</p>
<p>“Since the Dobbs decision was announced, Americans also increasingly appear to <a href="https://theconversation.com/kansas-vote-for-abortion-rights-highlights-disconnect-between-majority-opinion-on-abortion-laws-and-restrictive-state-laws-being-passed-after-supreme-court-decision-187138">prefer fewer restrictions on abortion</a>, even as many states are moving to enact more restrictions,” they wrote. </p>
<p>“Across the U.S., more Americans support than oppose the right to an abortion in most scenarios – including cases in which the life or health of the mother is at stake, the fetus could be born with severe health problems, the pregnancy resulted from rape or the woman does not want to be pregnant. Support for abortion in all nine scenarios increased following the Dobbs ruling.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kansas-vote-for-abortion-rights-highlights-disconnect-between-majority-opinion-on-abortion-laws-and-restrictive-state-laws-being-passed-after-supreme-court-decision-187138">Kansas vote for abortion rights highlights disconnect between majority opinion on abortion laws and restrictive state laws being passed after Supreme Court decision</a>
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<h2>2. Kansas was no fluke</h2>
<p>Whether they were voting in favor of a state constitutional amendment that protected abortion rights or voting against one that would have banned abortion, voters in a record number of states – from California to Vermont – made clear on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022, that they want abortion to be an option for women.</p>
<p>In Kentucky as in Kansas, for example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-first-nationwide-election-since-roe-was-overturned-voters-opt-to-protect-abortion-access-194140">voters rejected a proposed</a> constitutional amendment that would have stripped residents of the right to seek an abortion. And in California, Michigan and Vermont, voters approved constitutional amendments to protect the right to an abortion.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=4bgaJCQAAAAJ">Linda C. McClain</a>, a law professor, and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=CcAfO1UAAAAJ">Nicole Huberfeld</a>, a professor of law and health law, of Boston University, have studied the issue. They wrote: “Exit polls indicate <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/midterm-elections-exit-polls-live-updates/?id=92683687">60% of voters nationwide</a> – up 9% since 2020 – believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. A majority – 60% – of voters <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/midterm-elections-exit-polls-live-updates/?id=92683687">expressed anger</a> at the Supreme Court over the Dobbs ruling and indicated that they trusted the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party on the issue by a margin of 52% to 42%.”</p>
<p>The pair pointed out that abortion was also indirectly on the ballot in federal races and in states like Pennsylvania and New York, where it was a campaign issue.</p>
<p>In Pennsylvania, abortion figured prominently in the gubernatorial race between Democrat Josh Shapiro and Republican Doug Mastriano.</p>
<p>“Access to abortion care and protecting abortion rights were key themes in Shapiro’s campaign, while Mastriano stressed culture war issues,” they wrote. “Commentary and exit polling suggest that abortion was a motivating issue among Pennsylvania voters – especially younger voters.”</p>
<p>Shapiro won the contest. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-first-nationwide-election-since-roe-was-overturned-voters-opt-to-protect-abortion-access-194140">In first nationwide election since Roe was overturned, voters opt to protect abortion access</a>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530912/original/file-20230608-29-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People in Overland Park, Kansas gathered in a meeting room cheer, clap and some cry happily after learning an anti-abortion amendment failed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530912/original/file-20230608-29-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530912/original/file-20230608-29-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530912/original/file-20230608-29-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530912/original/file-20230608-29-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530912/original/file-20230608-29-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530912/original/file-20230608-29-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530912/original/file-20230608-29-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&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">Supporters of abortion rights react happily to news that an amendment which would have denied the right to abortion failed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/abortion-supporters-alie-utley-and-joe-moyer-react-to-the-news-photo/1242276288?adppopup=true">Dave Kaup/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>3. Some abortion fights are through constitutional amendments</h2>
<p><a href="https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/john-dinan/">John Dinan</a>, a scholar of state constitutions at Wake Forest University, wrote that even before the Dobbs ruling, state constitutional amendments had shaped abortion policy as much as state court rulings had.</p>
<p>But, he noted, how these amendments are used – and who proposes them – is different now.</p>
<p>“Before the Dobbs ruling, abortion-related amendments invariably sought to limit protection for abortion rights by clarifying that there is no state constitutional right to abortion,” he wrote, noting that, as in the cases of Kansas and Kentucky, <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-battles-over-abortion-are-leading-to-state-constitutional-amendments-an-option-in-all-states-and-available-directly-to-citizens-in-18-states-203394">voters don’t always approve these amendments</a>.</p>
<p>“After the Dobbs decision, most proposed abortion-related amendments have aimed to expand protection of abortion rights. In November 2022, voters in <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3608609-state-ballot-measures-are-new-abortion-battleground/">Vermont, California and Michigan approved amendments</a> that explicitly protect reproductive rights.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/state-battles-over-abortion-are-leading-to-state-constitutional-amendments-an-option-in-all-states-and-available-directly-to-citizens-in-18-states-203394">State battles over abortion are leading to state constitutional amendments – an option in all states and available directly to citizens in 18 states</a>
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<h2>4. A patchwork legal landscape</h2>
<p>Since the Dobbs decision, women’s access to abortion has increasingly been determined by geographic boundaries.</p>
<p>As Temple University’s <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Q974nRQAAAAJ&hl=en">Rachel Rebouche</a>, a scholar of reproductive health and justice, wrote for us, women who live along the East and West coasts can get abortions, but women in parts of the South and Midwest can’t. </p>
<p>And since the Dobbs decision, which prompted state-level referendums, some of those <a href="https://theconversation.com/abortion-rights-referendums-are-winning-with-state-by-state-battles-over-rights-replacing-national-debate-193490">boundaries have hardened</a>. But voters in some states with tight abortion restrictions opted to loosen them.</p>
<p>For example, in California, Michigan and Vermont, voters added abortion protections to their state constitutions. And in Kentucky, where abortion was severely restricted, voters rejected a referendum that would have denied constitutional protections for abortion.</p>
<p>“The legislation that states pass post-Dobbs of course reflects differences in opinion about abortion itself. But in some places where abortion has been banned, or restricted, anti-abortion legislators may not reflect their constituents’ beliefs. The recent ballot measures reveal that,” Rebouche wrote.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/abortion-rights-referendums-are-winning-with-state-by-state-battles-over-rights-replacing-national-debate-193490">Abortion rights referendums are winning – with state-by-state battles over rights replacing national debate</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207299/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, giving decisions about the legality of abortion back to states, voters and state legislatures have made their preferences on abortion clear.Lorna Grisby, Politics & Society EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2052662023-06-09T13:34:23Z2023-06-09T13:34:23Z6 books that explain the history and meaning of Juneteenth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530978/original/file-20230608-20480-a4sqhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C52%2C5850%2C3835&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Juneteenth celebration in Prospect Park in New York City in 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-take-part-in-a-celebration-of-juneteenth-in-prospect-news-photo/1241425742?adppopup=true">Michael Nagle/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>After decades of being celebrated at mostly the local level, Juneteenth – the long-standing holiday that commemorates the arrival of <a href="https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/juneteenth-original-document">news of emancipation and freedom</a> to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 – <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/475">became a federal holiday</a> in 2021. In honor of this year’s Juneteenth, The Conversation reached out to Wake Forest University humanities professor <a href="https://english.wfu.edu/meet-corey-db-walker/">Corey D. B. Walker</a> for a list of readings that can help people better understand the history and meaning of the observance. Below, Walker recommends six books.</em></p>
<h2>‘On Juneteenth’</h2>
<p>Combining history and memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s “<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631498831">On Juneteenth</a>” offers a moving history of African American life and culture through the prism of Juneteenth. The award-winning <a href="https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/annette-gordon-reed/">Harvard historian</a> presents an intimate portrait of the experiences of her family and her memories of life as an African American girl growing up in segregated Texas. The essays in her book invite readers to enter a world shaped by the forces of freedom and slavery.</p>
<p>Reed’s exploration of the history and legacy of Juneteenth is a poignant reminder of the hard history all Americans face.</p>
<h2>‘O Freedom! Afro-American Emancipation Celebrations’</h2>
<p>William H. Wiggins Jr.’s “<a href="https://utpress.org/title/o-freedom/">O Freedom! Afro-American Emancipation Celebrations</a>” is the historical standard for African American emancipation celebrations. It offers an accessible and well-researched account of the emergence and evolution of Juneteenth.</p>
<p>Wiggins brings together oral history with archival research to share the stories of how African Americans celebrated emancipation. It explains how Juneteenth is part of the tapestry of emancipation celebrations. These celebrations included such dates as <a href="https://www.ncpedia.org/emancipation-day">January 1</a>, in North Carolina, <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/4684hpr-1a40a372231de4c/#:%7E:text=A%20large%20crowd%20of%20Black,of%20Richmond%2C%20the%20Confederate%20capital.">April 3</a>, in Richmond, Virginia, and <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/april-16/#:%7E:text=On%20April%2016%2C%201862%2C%20President,and%20enfranchisement%20for%20African%20Americans.">April 16</a>, in Washington, D.C.</p>
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<img alt="Three women hug or gesture." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530980/original/file-20230608-26-z8tztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530980/original/file-20230608-26-z8tztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530980/original/file-20230608-26-z8tztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530980/original/file-20230608-26-z8tztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530980/original/file-20230608-26-z8tztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530980/original/file-20230608-26-z8tztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530980/original/file-20230608-26-z8tztt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Juneteenth celebration in 2022 in San Francisco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-take-part-in-a-celebration-of-juneteenth-in-san-news-photo/1241425569?adppopup=true">Liu Yilin/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>What began as a local holiday has evolved into a national celebration.</p>
<p>Juneteenth celebrations are known for the variety of programs and events that highlight African American history and culture. In the 1960s, students at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, informed faculty that classes would not be held on Juneteenth. In Milwaukee, the local Juneteenth parade includes a group known as the <a href="http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/photos/milwaukees-black-cowboys-urban-horseback-riding-club-keeps-equestrian-traditions-alive-brew-city/">Black Cowboys</a> riding their horses along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Juneteenth celebrations also feature cultural fairs and exhibitions, artistic performances and historical reenactments. Lectures and public conversations, community feasts and religious services are also part of the celebrations.</p>
<h2>‘Juneteenth’</h2>
<p>Ralph Ellison, perhaps best known for his novel “Invisible Man,” offers multiple meanings of Juneteenth in African American and American life in his posthumously published novel “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/46133/juneteenth-by-ralph-ellison/">Juneteenth</a>.”</p>
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<img alt="A black-and-white portrait of a man in front of a shelve of books." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530982/original/file-20230608-2966-gk7fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530982/original/file-20230608-2966-gk7fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=674&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530982/original/file-20230608-2966-gk7fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=674&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530982/original/file-20230608-2966-gk7fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=674&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530982/original/file-20230608-2966-gk7fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530982/original/file-20230608-2966-gk7fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530982/original/file-20230608-2966-gk7fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Ralph Ellison’s novel ‘Juneteenth’ was released posthumously.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-american-author-ralph-ellison-new-york-new-york-news-photo/1067513294?adppopup=true">United States Information Agency/PhotoQuest via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The ambivalence of Juneteenth is of a freedom delayed but not denied. Ellison’s spiraling novel captures this in the entangled and tragic lives of the racist Senator Sunraider – previously known as Bliss – and the minister who raised him, the Reverend A. Z. Hickman. For Ellison, Juneteenth represents more than just a celebration of emancipation. It also represents the shared fate of white Americans and African Americans in the quest to create a just and equal society. The promise and peril of Juneteenth is elegantly captured in Hickman’s words, “There’s been a heap of Juneteenths before this one and I tell you there’ll be a heap more before we’re truly free!”</p>
<h2>‘Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915’</h2>
<p>Mitch Kachun’s book, “Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915,” <a href="https://www.umasspress.com/9781558495289/festivals-of-freedom/">traces the history</a> of emancipation celebrations and their influence on African American identity and community. Juneteenth joined a longer tradition of emancipation celebrations. Those celebrations included ones at the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the United States on Jan. 1, 1808. They also included the <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliament-and-empire/parliament-and-the-american-colonies-before-1765/the-west-indian-colonies-and-emancipation/">August First Day/West India Day celebrations</a> that marked the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire on Aug. 1, 1834.</p>
<p>With an eye for historical detail, Kachun narrates a complex history of how Juneteenth and other freedom festivals shaped African American identity and political culture. The celebrations also displayed competing meanings of African American identity. In Washington, D.C. in the late 19th century, different groups of African Americans held distinct celebrations. These variations underscored tensions around political ideals, status and identity. Kachun’s book reminds us that Juneteenth served as a crucible for forging a collective and contested sense of African American community. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Six older African Americans face the camera in a photo from the year 1900." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529192/original/file-20230530-15-53w1dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529192/original/file-20230530-15-53w1dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529192/original/file-20230530-15-53w1dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529192/original/file-20230530-15-53w1dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529192/original/file-20230530-15-53w1dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529192/original/file-20230530-15-53w1dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529192/original/file-20230530-15-53w1dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Emancipation Day celebration from 1900 in Austin, Texas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth">The Austin History Center</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Rites of August First: Emancipation Day in the Black Atlantic World’</h2>
<p>Similar to Kachun’s book, <a href="https://profiles.howard.edu/jeffrey-kerr-ritchie">Howard University historian</a> Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie’s “<a href="https://lsupress.org/books/detail/rites-of-august-first/">Rites of August First: Emancipation Day in the Black Atlantic World</a>” reminds readers of a broader history and geography of emancipation celebrations.</p>
<p>Kerr-Ritchie focuses on how various African American communities adopted and adapted West India Day celebrations. He also explores how they created meaning and culture in celebrating the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies. Kerr-Ritchie’s book details how these celebrations moved across political borders and boundaries.</p>
<h2>‘Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration’</h2>
<p>Contemporary invocations of Juneteenth often overlook its military history. </p>
<p>Edward T. Cotham, Jr.’s “<a href="https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781649670007/juneteenth/">Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration</a>” fills the void by exploring the Civil War origins of Juneteenth.</p>
<p>Cotham renders explicit the military context leading up to the events on June 19, 1865, in Galveston. This is when enslaved Black people there finally got word that they had been freed more than two years prior. Cotham reminds readers that the history of Juneteenth involves ordinary actions of many individual people whose names may not be widely known.</p>
<p>Collectively, these books about Juneteenth offer fresh perspectives on the history and culture of African Americans on a quest to fully express their freedom. Juneteenth is also an invitation for all Americans to continue to learn about and strive for freedom for all people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205266/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corey D. B. Walker 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>Juneteenth is part of a rich heritage of African American emancipation and freedom celebrations.Corey D. B. Walker, Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2042632023-04-26T12:28:46Z2023-04-26T12:28:46ZChallenging the FDA’s authority isn’t new – the agency’s history shows what’s at stake when drug regulation is in limbo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522817/original/file-20230425-28-sxmbmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2048%2C1370&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In addition to evaluating new drug applications, the FDA also inspects drug manufacturing facilities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/bCZpCD">The U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Political pressure is nothing new for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency has <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fdas-big-gamble-on-the-new-alzheimers-drug-162396">frequently come under fire</a> for its drug approval decisions, but attacks on its decision-making process and science itself have increased <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/08/27/trump-has-launched-an-all-out-attack-on-the-fda-will-its-scientific-integrity-survive/">during the COVID-19 pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>Recent challenges to the FDA’s authority have emerged in the context of reproductive rights.</p>
<p>On Nov. 18, 2022, a group of anti-abortion doctors and medical groups <a href="https://adflegal.org/sites/default/files/2022-11/Alliance-for-Hippocratic-Medicine-v-FDA-2022-11-18-Complaint.pdf">filed a lawsuit</a> against the FDA, challenging its approval from more than 20 years ago of <a href="https://theconversation.com/mifepristone-is-under-scrutiny-in-the-courts-but-it-has-been-used-safely-and-effectively-around-the-world-for-decades-204163">mifepristone</a>, a drug taken in combination with another medication, misoprostol, to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-will-the-supreme-courts-decision-on-mifepristone-affect-abortion-access-4-questions-answered-204172">treat miscarriages</a> and used to induce <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2022/02/medication-abortion-now-accounts-more-half-all-us-abortions">more than 50% of abortions</a> in early-stage pregnancies in the U.S.</p>
<p>It is widely believed that the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas so District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/us/politics/texas-judge-matthew-kacsmaryk-abortion-pill.html">well-known abortion opponent</a>, could oversee the litigation. While Kacsmaryk did issue a preliminary injunction ruling that the FDA lacked the authority to approve mifepristone, an appeal <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.213145/gov.uscourts.ca5.213145.183.2_1.pdf">partially reversed</a> the decision and the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/22a901_3d9g.pdf">stayed Kacsmaryk’s order</a>. The case now sits at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and will likely return to the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>The FDA is the government’s oldest consumer protection agency. The effects of this lawsuit could reach far beyond mifepristone – undermining the agency’s authority could threaten its entire drug approval process and change access to commonly used drugs, ranging from amoxycillin and Ambien to prednisone and Paxlovid.</p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Yeg0EUgAAAAJ&hl=en">legal scholar</a> whose research focuses in part on the law and ethics of the FDA’s drug approval process. Examining the FDA’s history reveals the unprecedented nature of the current challenges to the agency’s authority.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522844/original/file-20230425-14-2hs75n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart titled 'Data for Decisions' depicting sources the FDA considers in its decision-making" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522844/original/file-20230425-14-2hs75n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522844/original/file-20230425-14-2hs75n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522844/original/file-20230425-14-2hs75n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522844/original/file-20230425-14-2hs75n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522844/original/file-20230425-14-2hs75n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522844/original/file-20230425-14-2hs75n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522844/original/file-20230425-14-2hs75n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&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 FDA Commissioner George Larrick used this chart during 1964 Senate testimony to illustrate the range of sources the agency uses in evaluating proposals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/dv6CFV">The U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Events shaping FDA’s focus on safety</h2>
<p>In its early years, the FDA focused primarily on balancing the competing goals of consumer safety with access to experimental treatments. The priority was strengthening consumer protection to prevent tragedy from recurring. </p>
<p>For instance, at the turn of the 20th century, Congress passed the <a href="https://ncjolt.org/articles/volume-23/volume-23-issue-4/fdas-accelerated-approval-emergency-use-authorization-and-pre-approval-access-considerations-for-use-in-public-health-emergencies-and-beyond/">Biologics Control Act of 1902</a>, providing the federal government the authority to regulate vaccines. This law was introduced after 13 children died from inadvertently contaminated diphtheria antitoxin, which was made from the blood of a horse infected with tetanus. </p>
<p>A few years later, after investigative journalists publicized the unsanitary conditions and food-handling practices in meatpacking plants, Congress passed the <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=3237889">Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906</a>, which prohibited the marketing and sale of misbranded and contaminated foods, drinks and drugs.</p>
<p>Similarly, in 1937, approximately 71 adults and 34 children died from ingesting <a href="https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-122-6-199503150-00009">S.E. Massengill’s antibacterial elixir</a>, which contained a poisonous raspberry flavoring added to sweeten the taste. In response, Congress passed the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-history/milestones-us-food-and-drug-law">Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938</a>, requiring manufacturers to show that drugs are safe before they go on the market. This act marked the beginning of modern drug regulations and the birth of the FDA as a regulatory agency. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4wIBCoxuOJ0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">FDA scientist Frances Oldham Kelsey’s decision to not approve thalidomide for use in the U.S. protected Americans from the birth defects that swept newborns in other countries.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then, in 1962, Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey, a pharmacologist, physician and medical officer working at the FDA, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-history/milestones-us-food-and-drug-law">refused to approve thalidomide</a>, a drug marketed in Europe, Canada, Japan and other countries to alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women but later found to cause severe birth defects. Shocking revelations of children born without limbs or suffering from other debilitating conditions motivated Congress to pass the <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-thalidomide-happen-again-46813">Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments of 1962</a>, which ushered in a more cautious approach to the drug approval process.</p>
<h2>FDA’s turn toward expanding access</h2>
<p>During the 1970s, questions about the limits of safety versus an individual’s right to access arose when cancer patients who wanted access to an unapproved drug derived from apricots, Laetrile, sued the FDA. The agency had blocked the drug’s shipment and sale because it was not approved for use in the U.S. At that time, the Supreme Court <a href="https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep442/usrep442544/usrep442544.pdf">upheld the FDA’s protective authority</a>, holding that an unproven therapy is unsafe for all patients, including the terminally ill.</p>
<p>The 1980s, however, marks the FDA’s shift toward increasing access following reports of an emerging disease – AIDS – which primarily affected gay men. In the first nine years of the AIDS epidemic, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001880.htm">over 100,000 Americans died</a>. AIDS patients and their advocates became <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2739121">vocal critics of the FDA</a>, arguing that the agency was too paternalistic and restrictive following events like the thalidomide scare.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522846/original/file-20230425-3279-zhlvri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="ACT UP protestors lying on the ground with tombstone-shaped signs demanding the FDA allow access to experimental HIV/AIDS drugs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522846/original/file-20230425-3279-zhlvri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522846/original/file-20230425-3279-zhlvri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522846/original/file-20230425-3279-zhlvri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522846/original/file-20230425-3279-zhlvri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522846/original/file-20230425-3279-zhlvri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522846/original/file-20230425-3279-zhlvri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522846/original/file-20230425-3279-zhlvri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protests from HIV/AIDS activists like ACT UP spurred the FDA to develop expedited drug approval tracks to meet urgent public health needs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protesters-close-the-federal-drug-administration-building-news-photo/1213566352">Mikki Ansin/Peter Ansin via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>After massive protests, Dr. Anthony Fauci, then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, proposed a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/29/fight-against-aids-has-shaped-how-potential-covid-19-drugs-will-reach-patients/">parallel track program</a> allowing eligible patients access to unapproved experimental treatments. This, along with other existing FDA mechanisms, helped lay the path for other alternative approval pathways, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-emergency-use-authorizations-and-do-they-guarantee-that-a-vaccine-or-drug-is-safe-151178">Emergency Use Authorization</a>, which played a large role in permitting use of vaccines and medications pending full FDA approval during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<h2>Future of the FDA</h2>
<p>Despite the FDA’s shift toward increased access, the <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2018/05/31/right-to-try-ron-johnson/">political right has in recent years argued</a> that the agency remains too bureaucratic and paternalistic and should be deregulated – an argument seemingly contrary to the reasoning underlying Kacsmaryk’s recent order that the FDA did not sufficiently evaluate the safety of mifepristone in its approval.</p>
<p>Mifepristone, which has <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/ama-court-don-t-overturn-fda-approval-mifepristone">overwhelming data supporting its safety</a>, could remain available to some people in some states regardless of the outcome of this lawsuit. While the FDA approves drugs for consumer use, it does not regulate the general practice of medicine. Doctors can <a href="https://www.fda.gov/patients/learn-about-expanded-access-and-other-treatment-options/understanding-unapproved-use-approved-drugs-label">prescribe FDA-approved drugs off-label</a>, meaning they could prescribe a drug with a different dose, in a different way or for a different use than what the FDA has approved it for.</p>
<p>The mifepristone case has broad implications for the FDA’s future and could have devastating effects on health in the U.S. Due in part to FDA involvement, public health interventions have led to a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6019a5.htm#">62% increase in life expectancy</a> in the 20th century. These include vaccines and medications for childhood illnesses and infectious diseases such as HIV, increased regulation of tobacco, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/fda-approval-of-over-the-counter-narcan-is-an-important-step-in-the-effort-to-combat-the-us-opioid-crisis-198497">over-the-counter Narcan</a> to combat the opioid crisis, among others.</p>
<p>The FDA needs to be able to use its scientific expertise to make data-driven decisions that balance safety and access, without the ability of a single judge to potentially gut the system. The agency’s history is an important reminder of the need for strong administrative agencies and ongoing vigilance to protect everyone’s health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204263/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Coughlin is affiliated with the Foundation for Prosecutorial Accountability.</span></em></p>As the government’s oldest consumer protection agency, the FDA has long butted up against drugmakers, activists and politicians. But undermining its work could be harmful to patient health and safety.Christine Coughlin, Professor of Law, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2033942023-04-12T12:42:37Z2023-04-12T12:42:37ZState battles over abortion are leading to state constitutional amendments – an option in all states and available directly to citizens in 18 states<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520373/original/file-20230411-661-p9ot9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C2646%2C2171&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Michigan State Capitol, like statehouses around the country, has been the site of numerous abortion policy battles.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/michigan-capitol-building-royalty-free-image/147514506?adppopup=true">Brandon Bartoszek</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The battles over abortion – who can get one, when they can get one – largely shifted from a focus on the U.S. Supreme Court back to state lawmakers and judges in June 2022. That’s when the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Supreme Court ruled</a> that there was no federal constitutional guarantee of the right to get an abortion. States, they said, should be making the rules.</p>
<p>That decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, has meant a lot of activity in the past year in both state legislatures and courts. Two <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/07/politics/read-texas-abortion-pill-mifepristone-ruling/index.html">contradictory rulings early in April 2023</a> about whether women should have access to mifepristone, one of the two kinds of prescription abortion pills typically taken together for abortion, make it clear that federal courts still play a role in abortion policymaking. But states remain an important battleground.</p>
<p>Many people following the abortion battle focus on the part that state courts and state <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/judicial-selection-map">supreme court elections</a> play. The intense focus on the outcome of the April 4, 2023, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-abortion-0d188b5c6f841546f98436c1ab8180fa">Wisconsin Supreme Court election</a>, which shifted ideological control of that court, is an example.</p>
<p><a href="https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/john-dinan/">I am a political scientist</a> whose research focuses on state constitutions. I follow state constitutional amendments, which are adopted <a href="https://law.okcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/OCULREV-Spring-2016-Dinan-27-52.pdf">on a regular basis</a> and revise the language of state constitutions. Sometimes they add new provisions. At other times they modify existing provisions. These amendments shape abortion policy as much as state court rulings – and stand to play a big role in abortion rights in the future.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520264/original/file-20230411-14-9esoe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Yes and No signs stand side-by-side on a Kansas highway as cars approach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520264/original/file-20230411-14-9esoe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520264/original/file-20230411-14-9esoe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520264/original/file-20230411-14-9esoe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520264/original/file-20230411-14-9esoe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520264/original/file-20230411-14-9esoe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520264/original/file-20230411-14-9esoe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520264/original/file-20230411-14-9esoe0.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">Signs supporting and opposing a Kansas constitutional amendment on abortion are displayed on Kansas 10 Highway.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/signs-in-favor-and-against-the-kansas-constitutional-news-photo/1412308440?adppopup=true">Kyle Rivas/Getty Images News via Getty Images North America</a></span>
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<h2>Using amendments to gain or deny rights</h2>
<p>My <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo27596107.html">research</a> shows that in recent decades state constitutions have been amended to shift the level of protection for <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_Proposal_3,_Voting_Policies_in_State_Constitution_Initiative_(2018)">voting rights</a>, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Wisconsin_Marsy%27s_Law_Crime_Victims_Rights_Amendment_(April_2020)">crime victims’ rights</a> and <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Montana_C-48,_Search_Warrant_for_Electronic_Data_Amendment_(2022)">electronic data and communication privacy rights</a>, among <a href="https://www.albanylawreview.org/article/69694-state-constitutional-amendments-and-individual-rights-in-the-twenty-first-century">others </a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, constitutional amendments have also protected – and in some cases, denied – abortion rights.</p>
<p>Before the Dobbs ruling, abortion-related amendments invariably sought to limit protection for abortion rights by clarifying that there is no state constitutional right to abortion. In fact, between 2014 and 2020, voters in Alabama, Louisiana, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/abortion-rights-state-constitutions.html">Tennessee and West Virginia approved amendments</a> stating there is no state constitutional right to abortion.</p>
<p>These amendments were designed in some cases to overturn state supreme court rulings that previously recognized abortion rights. In other cases, they were adopted to prevent state supreme courts from ruling in the future in favor of abortion rights. </p>
<p>But voters don’t always approve these amendments. In August 2022, voters in Kansas rejected a <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/2022-live-primary-election-race-results/2022/08/02/1115317596/kansas-voters-abortion-legal-reject-constitutional-amendment">proposed state constitutional amendment </a> to deny a right to abortion. And in November 2022, voters in Kentucky <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/kentucky-voters-reject-constitutional-amendment-on-abortion">did the same</a>.</p>
<h2>Drafting amendments to protect abortion rights</h2>
<p>After the Dobbs decision, most proposed abortion-related amendments have aimed to expand protection of abortion rights. </p>
<p>In November 2022, voters in <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3608609-state-ballot-measures-are-new-abortion-battleground/">Vermont, California and Michigan approved amendments</a> that explicitly protect reproductive rights. For instance, the California amendment <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_1,_Right_to_Reproductive_Freedom_Amendment_(2022)">declares</a>, “The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion.”</p>
<p><a href="https://perma.cc/U3UJ-FC7D">Eleven state constitutions</a> already include protection for a right to “privacy.” Many others guarantee “liberty,” “due process” or “equality.” </p>
<p>State courts occasionally rely on these provisions to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/05/us/south-carolina-abortion-supreme-court.html">issue decisions safeguarding abortion access</a>. But the amendments adopted in Vermont, California and Michigan marked the first time language was used in state constitutions to provide explicit protection for reproductive freedom. Similar abortion-rights amendments are set to appear on the ballot in other states.</p>
<p>In early April 2023, legislators in <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Maryland_Right_to_Reproductive_Freedom_Amendment_(2024)">Maryland</a> voted to place an abortion-rights amendment on the November 2024 ballot. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, in some states that allow citizens to put amendments directly on the ballot, bypassing the need for legislative approval, abortion-rights groups are organizing in support of putting abortion-rights amendments on the ballot. These groups in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-rights-ohio-amendment-constitution-ballot-vote-793e758f48cbb51cccee90950bd97bb2">Ohio</a>, for example, are collecting signatures to place an abortion-rights amendment before voters in 2023. And groups in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-missouri-constitution-voters-election-0d2fdde552c2478b283937a6fab78cfc">Missouri</a> are trying to put an abortion-rights amendment on the 2024 ballot. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520300/original/file-20230411-28-w3u33b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The arm of a Black woman, clad in a white sweater and black watch, is seen placing a tag that reads, " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520300/original/file-20230411-28-w3u33b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520300/original/file-20230411-28-w3u33b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520300/original/file-20230411-28-w3u33b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520300/original/file-20230411-28-w3u33b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520300/original/file-20230411-28-w3u33b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520300/original/file-20230411-28-w3u33b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520300/original/file-20230411-28-w3u33b.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 woman places a door tag in support of Proposal 3, a 2022 citizen-initiated proposal for a state constitutional amendment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/darci-mcconnell-of-grosse-pointe-park-places-a-door-tag-in-news-photo/1244680261">Nic Antaya/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bypassing the state legislature</h2>
<p>In all 50 states, <a href="https://bookofthestates.org/tables/constitutional-amendment-procedure-by-the-legislature-constitutional-provisions/">legislators have the authority to draft constitutional amendments</a>. In some states, amendments need the support of only a majority of legislators to be placed on the ballot for voter approval. Other states set a higher bar and require amendments to earn the support of a legislative supermajority or get legislative approval in two separate sessions.</p>
<p>But what many people don’t know is that 18 states allow for <a href="https://bookofthestates.org/tables/constitutional-amendment-procedure-by-initiative-constitutional-provisions/">citizen-initiated constitutional amendments</a>. This includes Mississippi, where the <a href="https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2022/11/07/no-statewide-ballot-initiatives-in-mississippi-elections-heres-why/69610647007/">process was recently suspended but is expected to be revived</a>. These are particularly powerful tools voters can use to get the outcomes they want, especially if measures to accomplish those goals have been defeated in state legislatures or rejected by courts.</p>
<p>In most of these states, when groups collect enough signatures in support of a proposed amendment, that amendment automatically qualifies for the ballot. Last year in Michigan, for instance, legislators showed no signs of advancing a reproductive-rights amendment. But <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_Proposal_3,_Right_to_Reproductive_Freedom_Initiative_(2022)">abortion-rights groups collected more than 500,000 signatures,</a> much more than necessary, and were able to put a reproductive-rights amendment on the November 2022 ballot. </p>
<p>Once on the ballot, citizen-led amendments generally need approval from a simple majority of voters before they can be approved, similar to what is needed to approve legislature-drafted amendments. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://bookofthestates.org/tables/constitutional-amendment-procedure-by-initiative-constitutional-provisions/">Florida, Colorado and Illinois</a> set a higher threshold, and <a href="https://bookofthestates.org/tables/constitutional-amendment-procedure-by-initiative-constitutional-provisions/">Nevada</a> requires voters to approve citizen-led amendments in two consecutive elections.</p>
<h2>Citizens can take the lead</h2>
<p>In states that allow citizen-initiated amendments, citizens and groups can bypass legislators who might not support their issues. What’s more, these amendments take precedence over previous state supreme court rulings to the contrary. So, even when state supreme court justices won’t recognize a right, voters can use the amendment process to get it.</p>
<p>Citizen-led amendments don’t begin and end with reproductive rights. In recent years, citizens have initiated and approved amendments to <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_Proposal_2,_Independent_Redistricting_Commission_Initiative_(2018)">establish redistricting commissions</a>, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Amendment_2,_%2415_Minimum_Wage_Initiative_(2020)">boost the minimum wage</a>, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/South_Dakota_Constitutional_Amendment_D,_Medicaid_Expansion_Initiative_(2022)">expand Medicaid</a> and <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Amendment_3,_Marijuana_Legalization_Initiative_(2022)">legalize marijuana</a>. </p>
<p>And abortion-rights groups that had success with the citizen-initiated amendment process in Michigan in November 2022 are eyeing additional opportunities in Ohio, Missouri and other states. </p>
<p>At the same time, opponents of abortion rights are considering making <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/03/23/revived-measure-to-require-60-for-ohio-constitutional-amendments-gets-first-hearing/">changes to amendment rules</a> to make it more difficult for amendments to get approved. </p>
<p>Both developments are proof that supporters as well as opponents of abortion rights see citizen-drafted amendments as an increasingly important abortion battleground of the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203394/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Dinan 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>Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, most abortion policy has been settled by states. Now, citizen-crafted constitutional amendments may be the abortion battleground of the future.John Dinan, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1945062022-12-01T13:39:12Z2022-12-01T13:39:12ZResounding success of ‘Black Panther’ franchise says little about the dubious state of Black film<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498066/original/file-20221129-20-p656p4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C8%2C2982%2C2029&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' is one of only three Black films since 2018 to have a production budget exceeding $100 million.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-handout-image-provided-by-disneyland-resort-in-news-photo/1244803203?phrase=black panther wakanda&adppopup=true">Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Marvel Studios released “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683">Black Panther</a>” in February 2018, it marked the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to feature a Black superhero and star a predominantly Black cast. </p>
<p>Its estimated production budget was <a href="https://bamsmackpow.com/2018/02/14/black-panther-movie-budget/">US$200 million</a>, making it the first <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/entertainment-weekly-a-celebration-of-black-film/id1552725693">Black film</a> – conventionally defined as a film that is directed by a Black director, features a Black cast, and focuses on some aspect of the Black experience – ever to receive that level of financial support.</p>
<p>As a scholar of media and Black popular culture, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5U4ax6Cu4">I was often asked</a> to respond to the resounding success of that first “Black Panther” film, which had shattered expectations of its box office performance. </p>
<p>Would it lead to more big-budget Black films? Was its popularity an indication that the global marketplace – the real <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2018/01/17/can-disney-possibly-succeed-with-black-panther-in-china/#3c8ad4727e8e">source of trepidation</a> about the film’s potential – was finally ready to embrace Black-cast films?</p>
<p>With the release of the <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/e2-80-98black-panther-wakanda-forever-e2-80-99-box-office-leaps-past-24400m-globally/ar-AA14fas6">massively successful</a> “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9114286">Black Panther: Wakanda Forever</a>” in November 2022, I expect those questions to reemerge. </p>
<p>Yet as I review the cinematic landscape between the original and its sequel, I am inclined to restate the answer I gave back in 2018: Assumptions should not be made about the state of Black film based on the success of the “Black Panther” franchise.</p>
<h2>Reason for optimism</h2>
<p>Prior to its release, the producers of <a href="https://deadline.com/2018/02/black-panther-african-american-films-foreign-box-office-1202286475/">“Black Panther” faced questions</a> about whether there was a market for a Black blockbuster film, even one ensconced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.</p>
<p>After all, since the Wesley Snipes-led “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120611/">Blade</a>” trilogy, which came out in the late-1990s and early 2000s, Black superhero films had experienced diminishing returns. There was one notable exception: the commercially successful, though heavily panned “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448157/">Hancock</a>” (2008), starring Will Smith. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498285/original/file-20221130-18-nzih42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man with red sunglasses pumps his first in front of a movie poster." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498285/original/file-20221130-18-nzih42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498285/original/file-20221130-18-nzih42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498285/original/file-20221130-18-nzih42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498285/original/file-20221130-18-nzih42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498285/original/file-20221130-18-nzih42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498285/original/file-20221130-18-nzih42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498285/original/file-20221130-18-nzih42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wesley Snipes attends the premiere of ‘Blade 2’ in March 2002.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/actor-wesley-snipes-attends-the-premiere-of-the-film-blade-news-photo/705528?phrase=blade%20wesley%20snipes&adppopup=true">Vince Bucci/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Otherwise, Black superhero films such as “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327554/">Catwoman</a>” (2004) and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4573516/">Sleight</a>” (2016) either flopped or had a limited release.</p>
<p>Furthermore, until “Black Panther,” no Black film exceeded a $100 million budget, <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0611/why-movies-cost-so-much-to-make.aspx">the average benchmark</a> for modern Hollywood blockbusters. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, despite these early concerns, “Black Panther” earned the highest domestic gross, <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2992866817/">$700 million</a>, of all films released in 2018, while earning $1.3 billion in worldwide gross, second only to “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154756">Avengers: Infinity War</a>.”</p>
<p>“Black Panther” emerged at the tail end of what many industry experts considered to be a surprisingly <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/girls-trip-is-killing-it-right-now-why-that-matters">successful</a> run of Black films, which included the biopic “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340">Hidden Figures</a>” (2016) and the raunchy comedy “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3564472">Girls Trip</a>” (2017). Despite their modest budgets, they earned over $100 million apiece at the box office – <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4846340">$235 million</a> and <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3564472">$140 million</a>, respectively. </p>
<p>However, both films were mostly reliant on the domestic box office, especially the R-rated “Girls Trip,” which was only released in a handful of foreign markets. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-black-movies-global-audience-myth-20170324-story.html">Conventional wisdom</a> has long held that Black films will fail abroad. International distributors and studios typically ignore them during the presale process or at film festivals and markets, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/are-black-movies-being-shut-by-global-buyers-1138916/">reasoning</a> that Black films are too culturally specific – not only in terms of their Blackness, but also their Americanness. </p>
<p>Films like “Black Panther” and the Oscar winning “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4975722">Moonlight</a>” (2016), <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4975722">which earned more on the international market</a> than the domestic market, certainly challenged those assumptions. It has yet to upend them. </p>
<h2>Black films after ‘Black Panther’</h2>
<p>What do those Black films released in theaters in the nearly five years between “Black Panther” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” tell us about the former’s impact? </p>
<p>The simple answer is that the original “Black Panther” has had no discernible influence on industry practices whatsoever.</p>
<p>Since 2018, no other Black blockbuster has emerged, save for the sequel itself. Granted, Black filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s remake of “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1620680">A Wrinkle in Time</a>” (2018) reportedly cost an estimated $100 million; however, while Black actors portrayed the protagonist and a few other characters, the film features a multicultural ensemble cast – which, as scholars such as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3661094">Mary Beltran</a> have pointed out, has become the primary strategy for achieving diversity in film. </p>
<p>Even if one were to include “A Wrinkle in Time,” the grand total of Black films with budgets exceeding $100 million is three, with the two “Black Panther” films being the others – all during an era in which there <a href="https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/budgets/all">have been hundreds</a> of mainstream films with budgets exceeding $100 million.</p>
<p>Otherwise, most of the Black films released in theaters between 2018 and 2022 typically were low budget by Hollywood standards – $3 million to $20 million in most cases – with only a handful, such as the 2021 Aretha Franklin biopic “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452150/">Respect</a>,” costing $50 million to 60 million.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most notable change has been the medium. Many Black films now appear on either cable networks that cater to a Black audience – namely Black Entertainment Television and, more recently, Lifetime – or on streaming services such as Netflix. Tyler Perry, the most popular and prolific Black filmmaker of the modern era, has released his latest films – “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14307536">A Jazzman’s Blues</a>” (2022), “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14813966">A Madea Homecoming</a>” (2022) and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11390036">A Fall from Grace</a>” (2020) – directly to Netflix.</p>
<p>Furthermore, no other Black film has approached the financial success of “Black Panther.” Granted, several Black films have fared well at the box office, especially relative to their production costs. Foremost among them is Jordan Peele’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6857112/">Us</a>” (2019), which cost an estimated $20 million, yet earned approximately $256 million worldwide despite its R rating and the fact that it was never released in China.</p>
<h2>Whither Black film</h2>
<p>Without question, large budgets and commercial success are not the only measures of a film’s value and significance. </p>
<p>As has historically been the case, Black film has managed to do more with less. The critical acclaim afforded to films such as “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7349662">BlackKlansman</a>” (2018), “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7125860">If Beale Street Could Talk</a>” (2019) and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9620288">King Richard</a>” (2021) reflect this fact. All reflect trends in contemporary Black filmmaking – comedies, historical dramas and biopics abound, for instance – and were made for a fraction of the cost of both “Black Panther” films.</p>
<p>In truth, the zeal with which some cast “Black Panther” as a bellwether for Black films is part of continued haranguing over their viability, particularly after the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/movies/oscarssowhite-history.html">#OscarsSoWhite</a> movement that drew attention to the lack of diversity at the 2016 Academy Awards. </p>
<p>However, its positioning as a Disney property within Marvel’s transmedia storytelling effort makes it so atypical that its success — and that of its sequel — portends little about Black film.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194506/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phillip Lamarr Cunningham 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>After the first ‘Black Panther’ shattered box office expectations, some critics wondered if it marked the dawn of a new era of big-budget Black films.Phillip Lamarr Cunningham, Assistant Professor, Media Studies, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1871372022-07-18T17:42:25Z2022-07-18T17:42:25ZBehind the crisis in Sri Lanka – how political and economic mismanagement combined to plunge nation into turmoil<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474442/original/file-20220717-26-6pn18l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C107%2C5489%2C3549&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The sun sets on Sri Lanka's protest movement (for now).</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protestors-gather-at-presidential-secretariat-in-colombo-on-news-photo/1241898185?adppopup=true">Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/14/asia/sri-lanka-gotabaya-rajapksa-thursday-intl-hnk/index.html">formally resigned</a> on July 15, 2022, having earlier fled the country amid widespread protests in the Southern Asian nation.</em></p>
<p><em>The man who replaced him, Prime Minister and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62176758">now interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe</a>, is <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/76f232c0-cac2-48be-819a-d81b883fa1ca">likewise facing calls to go</a> amid political and economic turmoil.</em></p>
<p><em>Although the drama escalated over a matter of days – during which the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/sri-lankan-protesters-cook-swim-sleep-in-idUSRTS9KFY5">presidential palace</a> and the <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/sri-lanka-president-flees-as-thousands-of-protesters-storm-official-residence-12648619">prime minister’s residence were both occupied</a> by demonstrators – the crisis is years in the making, argues Neil DeVotta, <a href="https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/neil-devotta/">professor of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked DeVotta, who grew up in Sri Lanka and specializes in South Asian politics, to explain what brought about the crisis and where the nation of 22 million goes from here.</em></p>
<h2>Can you talk us through the latest events?</h2>
<p>What happened in Sri Lanka was really quite revolutionary. For the first time in the country’s history, you had a president resign – and in the most humiliating manner.</p>
<p>Gotabaya Rajapaksa had earlier announced his intention to step down but did not do so immediately, because once he did that he would lose <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62132271">his presidential immunity</a> from prosecution. Instead he fled the country, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sri-lanka-president-rajapaksa-set-fly-singapore-via-maldives-government-source-2022-07-13/">first going to the Maldives</a> and then to Singapore. Some claim he <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sri-lanka-rajapaksa-saudi-arabia-safe-haven-ousted-leaders">may now be looking to get to Saudi Arabia</a> – all of which is somewhat ironic given that Dubai, the Maldives and Saudi Arabia are Muslim states, and during his tenure in power Rajapaksa stood accused of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/11/21/sri-lankas-muslims-have-reason-to-fear-the-new-rajapaksa-era">encouraging Islamophobia to bolster his lock on power</a>.</p>
<p>The catalyst behind all this was a protest movement. Demonstrators have since left the president’s and the prime minister’s official residence, but the protest movement has only partly succeeded. They wanted <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/12/sri-lanka-crisis-no-to-all-party-govt-say-protest-leaders">Rajapaksa and his brothers</a> gone. But many <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/12/sri-lanka-crisis-no-to-all-party-govt-say-protest-leaders">also wanted the ouster of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man washes graffiti saying 'Go Home Gota' from a wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.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">A staff member washes graffiti left behind by protesters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/staff-member-washes-graffiti-left-behind-by-protestors-from-news-photo/1409431290?adppopup=true">Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Instead, Wickremesinghe, who was not elected to Parliament and got a seat only through a national list that tops up the legislature, has now been sworn in as interim president. So a man with no mandate – his party got only a <a href="https://anfrel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Sri-Lanka-Report-2020-FINAL-ol.pdf">small fraction of the 11.5 million</a> valid votes cast in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/world/asia/sri-lanka-elections-rajapaksa.html">2020 election</a> – is now acting president and may end up with the job full time once the <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sri-lanka-crisis-live-updates-july-15-2022/article65642747.ece">Sri Lankan Parliament holds a secret ballot</a> on July 20, 2022.</p>
<h2>What was the spark to the crisis?</h2>
<p>The spark was really set off in April 2021 when Rajapaksa announced a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/fertiliser-ban-decimates-sri-lankan-crops-government-popularity-ebbs-2022-03-03/">ban on fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides</a>.</p>
<p>Successive Sri Lankan governments have long been <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lanka-teeters-on-economic-edge-from-pandemic-fueled-financial-crisis-and-ukraine-war-spillovers-179741">living beyond their means</a> and employing a debt rollover strategy to keep the country afloat – in short, the country was relying on new loans, alongside revenue from tourism and international remittance, to pay down its debt.</p>
<p>But then came COVID-19, which <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3181671/can-sri-lanka-tourism-recover-triple-whammy-terrorism-covid-19">severely affected tourism</a> and contributed to what economists call a “<a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/op/186/index.htm">balance of payments crisis</a>.” In other words, the country was unable to pay for essential imports or service its debt. This pushed the government to abruptly announce a ban on herbicides and fertilizers – something they <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/7/15/23218969/sri-lanka-organic-fertilizer-pesticide-agriculture-farming">hoped would save the country US$400 million dollars</a> on imports annually. The president had previously indicated that the move to organic agriculture would take place over 10 years. Instead, it was implemented abruptly despite warnings over the <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2022/06/14/in-sri-lanka-the-sabotage-of-an-organic-revolution_5986670_114.html#:%7E:text=It%20was%20April%2027%2C%202021,nation%20the%20first%20country%20in">impact it would have on agriculture yields</a>.</p>
<p>That led to <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/lanka-s-agri-minister-forced-to-flee-as-farmers-protest-his-visit-report-122061800859_1.html">farmers’ protesting</a>. They were soon joined by sympathetic unions. The balance of payments crisis went far beyond farming. It got to the point when the government couldn’t pay for almost anything it was hoping to import, leading to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-asia-south-5217195484ef4c8d858d86bbfb79d35c">shortages in medicines</a> and milk powder. And that led to people from other sectors also protesting.</p>
<p>On top of this, the government was <a href="https://www.timesnownews.com/world/sri-lanka-is-printing-money-to-pay-salaries-but-this-could-cause-a-further-economic-implosion-article-91612814">printing money</a> to pay for goods. This inevitably led to inflation – which is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-05/sri-lanka-aims-to-stop-money-printing-as-inflation-nears-60">running above 50%</a>.</p>
<p>The tipping point came when people found that they could no longer pay for cooking gas and fuel. A few weeks ago, the government announced that it would <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/27/asia/sri-lanka-fuel-non-essential-services-intl-hnk/index.html">provide fuel for essential services only</a>, shuttering schools and ordering workers to stay at home.</p>
<h2>So this was a purely economic crisis?</h2>
<p>Not quite. While the spark was a balance of payments crisis, I believe that underpinning the mess is a <a href="https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/cleansing-sri-lanka-of-ethnonationalism/">deep-rooted ethnonationalism</a> that has allowed and encouraged <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Sri-Lanka-crisis/Nepotism-bad-policy-push-Sri-Lanka-to-brink-of-economic-ruin">corruption, nepotism and short-termism</a>.</p>
<p>Since at least the 1950s, Sri Lanka has been in the grips of <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/when-politics-are-sacralized/genesis-consolidation-and-consequences-of-sinhalese-buddhist-nationalism/D4627144C3A7090A32F13E1DC4288E63">Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism</a>. The Sinhalese make up around 75% of the population, with Tamils at around 15% and Muslims at 10%. </p>
<p>Sinhalese Sri Lankans have <a href="https://www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/sinhalese-buddhist-nationalist-ideology-implications-politics-and-conflict-resolution-s">long been favored when it comes to access to universities and government positions</a>. This has been to the detriment of not only the country’s minorities but also its governance. It has <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lankas-crisis-is-not-just-about-the-economy-but-a-long-history-of-discrimination-against-minority-groups-186747">led to a decay in how the state functions</a>. Sri Lanka has ended up with a system that disregards merit and is instead rooted in enthnocracy – rule by one dominant group. And that has <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/07/12/sri-lanka-crisis-politics-economics-rajapaksa-protest/">helped spread nepotism and corruption</a>.</p>
<p>The fact that the Rajapaksa brothers helped <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/17/the-terminator-how-gotabaya-rajapaksas-ruthless-streak-led-him-to-power-sri-lanka">brutally suppressed and defeated</a> a three-decade Tamil insurgency bolstered their credentials among Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists and consolidated their grip on power.</p>
<p>That <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/sri-lankan-civil-war/">civil war</a>, which ended in 2009, also contributed to the current crisis. Through the conflict, the Sri Lankan government ran national deficits to finance the counterinsurgency.</p>
<p>After the war, the Rajapaksas looked to develop the country by <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/china-s-infrastructure-projects-have-worsened-sri-lanka-s-economic-woes-992445.html">building up its infrastructure</a>. What the country instead got was “blingfrastructure” – vanity projects, often financed by China, that were <a href="https://srilankabrief.org/sri-lanka-massive-kickbacks-in-unsolicited-projects-with-china/">dogged by corruption and graft</a>. One such project is an airport that sees <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/05/28/the-story-behind-the-worlds-emptiest-international-airport-sri-lankas-mattala-rajapaksa/">very few planes land or take off</a>. I visited the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in 2015, and the only other people there were a coachload of students from a school on a field trip. Nothing has changed since then.</p>
<p>Other such wasteful projects include a conference center and cricket ground – called the <a href="https://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/ground/434210.html">Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium</a> – not far from the Mattala airport that hosts next to nothing. And then there is the Lotus Tower, the tallest communications tower in South Asia, which was supposed to contain other facilities and was ceremonially opened in 2019 but <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-tower/opening-of-sri-lankas-tallest-tower-marred-by-corruption-allegation-idUSKBN1W123I">remains out of operation</a>.</p>
<p>The construction of such projects has been <a href="https://srilankabrief.org/sri-lanka-massive-kickbacks-in-unsolicited-projects-with-china/">dogged by suggestions of corruption</a>. Such projects largely <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/13/784084567/in-sri-lanka-chinas-building-spree-is-raising-questions-about-sovereignty">involved Chinese construction firms</a>, often using Chinese laborers – <a href="https://www.sundaytimes.lk/091206/BusinessTimes/bt18.html">including the reported use of Chinese prisoners</a>, in the case of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-port.html">the Hambantota Port</a>, now leased to China for 99 years because Sri Lanka could not pay its debts. Sri Lankans themselves have benefited only little.</p>
<p>On paper it looked like the <a href="https://opecfund.org/news/accelerating-economic-growth-in-post-conflict-sri-lanka">country was developing and GDP was rising</a>. But the growth was from external money rather than goods and services generated in Sri Lanka.</p>
<p>Chinese loans with short terms and high interest played no small role in quickening Sri Lanka’s debt problem. As a result, the country currently owes <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/yellen-says-its-chinas-interest-restructure-sri-lankas-debt-2022-07-14/">between $5 billion and $10 billion to China</a>, and its overall debt stands at <a href="https://gulfnews.com/business/sri-lanka-defaults-on-entire-51-billion-external-debt-1.1649748538720">$51 billion dollars</a>.</p>
<h2>What happen next?</h2>
<p>The most important thing that Sri Lanka needs going forward is political stability. Without that, you will not get the help required from the international community.</p>
<p>And Sri Lanka is not going to get out of its economic mess without help from international actors, such as the <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/07/15/sri-lanka-imf-bailout-protest-gotabaya-rajapaksa-flee-singapore/">International Monetary Fund</a>, the <a href="https://www.adb.org/countries/sri-lanka/main">Asian Development Bank</a> and <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/srilanka">the World Bank</a>. It also needs help from partners like India, Japan, China and the U.S.</p>
<p>As it is, Wickremesinghe, the interim president, has said the country will <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/sri-lanka-admits-bankruptcy-crisis-to-drag-through-2023-wickremesinghe-122070600054_1.html">suffer shortages in goods until the end of 2023</a>.</p>
<p>Sri Lanka needs large-scale, long-term economic restructuring. And for that to happen, the government will have to restructure its bilateral debt – the IMF will not give Sri Lanka money simply so that it can pay off its debt to China or any other entity.</p>
<p>But China knows that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-15/china-will-agree-to-aid-at-some-point-sri-lanka-envoy-says">cutting any debt deal with Sri Lanka</a> will mean that other countries that hold large Chinese debt – like Pakistan and some African countries – will expect the same. And Beijing doesn’t want to set that precedent. On the other hand, China will most likely have to work with Sri Lanka and other bilateral donors, especially now that the Rajapaksas are out of power. It needs to cultivate goodwill to maintain influence in the island and will not want to be seen as exacerbating Sri Lanka’s woes. </p>
<p>The IMF will also likely expect painful measures to tamp down costs if it is to come to Sri Lanka’s aid. It will most likely insist that Sri Lanka free float its currency rather than peg it to the dollar, since right now Sri Lankans abroad are <a href="https://www.themorning.lk/the-war-against-the-undial-system/">using unofficial channels</a> – and not the banking system – to remit foreign currency. So it will likely have to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/sri-lanka-allow-rupee-weaken-230-per-dollar-2022-03-07/">devalue its currency beyond what it already has</a>. The IMF will also likely expect that the government cut back on the number of state employees – which <a href="https://island.lk/only-traitors-wont-accept-urgent-economic-reform-agenda-acceptable-to-imf/">currently stands at around 1.5 million people</a>.</p>
<p>This will be a very painful process, and it will take some time. And it will likely worsen the country’s turmoil in the days ahead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187137/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil DeVotta 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>Protests over shortages forced the ouster of Sri Lanka’s president, but the crisis has deep-set roots in ethnonationalism, which has encouraged corruption, argues an expert on the country’s politics.Neil DeVotta, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1762262022-02-24T13:53:06Z2022-02-24T13:53:06ZPlastic pollution is a global problem – here’s how to design an effective treaty to curb it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447907/original/file-20220222-17-5zchyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C29%2C4905%2C3245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plastic trash floating on the Buriganga river in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
Jan. 21, 2020</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-paddles-on-a-boat-as-plastic-bags-float-on-the-water-news-photo/1195130532">Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Plastic pollution is accumulating worldwide, on land and in the oceans. According to one widely cited estimate, by 2025, 100 million to 250 million metric tons of plastic waste could <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1260352">enter the ocean each year</a>. Another study commissioned by the World Economic Forum projects that without changes to current practices, there may be <a href="https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Plastics_Economy.pdf">more plastic by weight than fish in the ocean by 2050</a>. </p>
<p>On March 2, 2022, representatives from 175 nations around the world took a historic step toward ending that pollution. The <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/historic-day-campaign-beat-plastic-pollution-nations-commit-develop">United Nations Environment Assembly voted</a> to task a committee with forging a legally binding global treaty on plastic pollution by 2024. U.N. Environment Program Executive Director Inger Andersen described it as “an insurance policy for this generation and future ones, so they may live with plastic and not be doomed by it.” </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nvnsqIoAAAAJ&hl=en">legal scholar</a> and have studied questions related to food, animal welfare and environmental law. My forthcoming book, “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/our-plastic-problem-and-how-to-solve-it/CAD4AF039D41B2CD6B66BF3B8DF57BF0">Our Plastic Problem and How to Solve It</a>,” explores legislation and policies to address this global “<a href="https://theconversation.com/were-failing-to-solve-the-worlds-wicked-problems-heres-a-better-approach-64949">wicked problem</a>.” </p>
<p>I believe plastic pollution requires a local, national and global response. While acting together on a world scale will be challenging, lessons from some other environmental treaties suggest features that can improve an agreement’s chances of success. </p>
<h2>A pervasive problem</h2>
<p>Scientists have discovered plastic in some of the most remote parts of the globe, from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.112741">polar ice</a> to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/tech/science/2018/09/06/see-how-great-pacific-garbage-patch-feeds-off-our-throwaway-culture/1133734002/">Texas-sized gyres</a> in the middle of the ocean. Plastic can enter the environment from a myriad of sources, ranging from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.3408">laundry wastewater</a> to illegal dumping, waste incineration and accidental spills. </p>
<p>Plastic never completely degrades. Instead, it breaks down into tiny particles and fibers that are easily ingested by <a href="https://theconversation.com/hundreds-of-fish-species-including-many-that-humans-eat-are-consuming-plastic-154634">fish</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-you-can-eat-landfill-buffet-spells-trouble-for-birds-92562">birds</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14020">land animals</a>. Larger plastic pieces can transport <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.629756">invasive species</a> and accumulate in freshwater and coastal environments, altering ecosystem functions. </p>
<p>A 2021 report by the <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/26132/chapter/2">National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine</a> on ocean plastic pollution concluded that “[w]ithout modifications to current practices … plastics will continue to accumulate in the environment, particularly the ocean, with adverse consequences for ecosystems and society.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447910/original/file-20220222-13-jy397x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Infographic on quantities of plastic waste" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447910/original/file-20220222-13-jy397x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447910/original/file-20220222-13-jy397x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447910/original/file-20220222-13-jy397x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447910/original/file-20220222-13-jy397x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447910/original/file-20220222-13-jy397x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447910/original/file-20220222-13-jy397x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447910/original/file-20220222-13-jy397x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plastic pollution by the numbers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/pollution/plastic-pollution-infographic">University of Georgia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>National policies are not enough</h2>
<p>To address this problem, the U.S. has focused on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/11/15/epa-national-recycling-strategy-plastics/">waste management and recycling</a> rather than regulating plastic producers and businesses that use plastic in their products. Failing to address the sources means that policies have limited impact. That’s especially true since the U.S. generates 37.5 million tons of plastic yearly, but <a href="https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data">only recycles about 9% of it</a>. </p>
<p>Some countries, such as France and Kenya, have <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/plastic-bans-around-the-world/">banned single-use plastics</a>. Others, like Germany, have mandated <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/how-does-germanys-bottle-deposit-scheme-work/a-50923039">plastic bottle deposit schemes</a>. Canada has <a href="https://mcmillan.ca/insights/plan-for-the-banplastics-classified-as-toxic-substanceunder-canadian-environmental-protection-act/">classified manufactured plastic items as toxic</a>, which gives its national government broad power to regulate them. </p>
<p>In my view, however, these efforts too will fall short if countries producing and using the most plastic do not adopt policies across its life cycle.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1483400377064210434"}"></div></p>
<h2>Growing consensus</h2>
<p>Plastic pollution crosses boundaries, so countries need to work together to curb it. But existing treaties such as the 1989 <a href="http://www.basel.int/TheConvention/Overview/tabid/1271/Default.aspx">Basel Convention</a>, which governs international shipment of hazardous wastes, and the 1982 <a href="https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm">U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea</a> offer little leverage, for several reasons. </p>
<p>First, these treaties were not designed specifically to address plastic. Second, the largest plastic polluters – <a href="https://grist.org/climate/ocean-plastic-which-countries-are-responsible/">notably, the U.S.</a> – have not joined these agreements. Alternative international approaches such as the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/marine-and-polar/201905/iucn-endorses-global-oceans-plastics-charter">Ocean Plastics Charter</a>, which encourages governments and global and regional businesses to design plastic products for reuse and recycling, are voluntary and nonbinding. </p>
<p>Fortunately, many world and business leaders now support a uniform, standardized and coordinated global approach to managing and eliminating plastic waste in the form of a treaty. </p>
<p>The American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group, <a href="https://www.americanchemistry.com/chemistry-in-america/news-trends/press-release/2021/plastic-makers-support-global-agreement-to-eliminate-plastic-waste-welcome-us-leadership">supports an agreement</a> that will accelerate a transition to a more <a href="https://www.weforum.org/topics/circular-economy">circular economy</a> that promotes waste reduction and reuse by focusing on waste collection, product design and recycling technology. <a href="https://www.plasticmakers.org/files/f844022f219e9f85633604e9d4fb6c1b2dcd2e35.pdf">America’s Plastic Makers</a> and the <a href="https://icca-chem.org/focus/plastics/plastic-makers-call-for-global-agreement-among-nations-to-eliminate-plastic-waste/">International Council of Chemical Associations</a> have also made public statements supporting a global agreement to establish “a targeted goal to ensure access to proper waste management and eliminate leakage of plastic into the ocean.” </p>
<p>However, these organizations maintain that plastic products can help reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions – for example, by enabling automakers to build lighter cars – and are likely to oppose an agreement that limits plastic production. As I see it, this makes leadership and action by governments critical. </p>
<p>The Biden administration also has <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/u-s-to-back-global-treaty-aimed-at-curbing-plastic-pollution/">stated its support for a treaty</a> and is sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Nairobi meeting. On Feb. 11, 2022, the White House released a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/11/joint-statement-between-the-united-states-and-france-on-the-one-ocean-summit-in-france/">joint statement</a> with France that expressed support for negotiating “a global agreement to address the full life cycle of plastics and promote a circular economy.”</p>
<p><a href="https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Report-Analysis-2021-Comparison_Resolutions_Plastic_UNEA-5.2.pdf">Early treaty drafts</a> outline two competing approaches. One seeks to reduce plastic throughout its life cycle, from production to disposal, a strategy that would probably include methods such as banning or phasing out single-use plastic products. </p>
<p>A contrasting approach focuses on eliminating plastic waste through innovation and design – for example, by spending more on waste collection, recycling and development of <a href="https://theconversation.com/bio-based-plastics-can-reduce-waste-but-only-if-we-invest-in-both-making-and-getting-rid-of-them-98282">environmentally benign plastics</a>. </p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Some harmful impacts of plastic waste become more intense as the plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller fragments.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Elements of an effective treaty</h2>
<p>Countries have come together to solve environmental problems before. The global community has successfully addressed <a href="https://www.state.gov/key-topics-office-of-environmental-quality-and-transboundary-issues/convention-on-long-range-transboundary-air-pollution/">acid rain</a>, <a href="https://www.state.gov/key-topics-office-of-environmental-quality-and-transboundary-issues/the-montreal-protocol-on-substances-that-deplete-the-ozone-layer/">stratospheric ozone depletion</a> and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/minamata-convention-mercury">mercury contamination</a> through international treaties. These agreements, which include the U.S., offer strategies for a plastics treaty.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/676037">The Montreal Protocol</a>, for example, required countries to report their production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances so that countries could hold each other accountable. As part of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01244-4">the Convention on Long-range Air Pollution</a>, countries agreed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, but were allowed to select the method that worked best for them. For the U.S., that involved a system of buying and selling emission allowances that became part of the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/emissions-trading-resources/reducing-power-sector-emissions-under-1990-clean-air-act-amendments">Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990</a>.</p>
<p>Based on these precedents, I see plastic as a good candidate for an international treaty. Like ozone, sulfur and mercury, plastic comes from specific, identifiable human activities that occur across the globe. Many countries contribute, so the problem is transboundary in nature. </p>
<p>In addition to providing a framework for keeping plastic out of the ocean, I believe a plastic pollution treaty should include reduction targets for both producing less plastic and generating less waste that are specific, measurable and achievable. The treaty should be binding but flexible, allowing countries to meet these targets as they choose. </p>
<p>In my view, negotiations should consider the interests of those who experience the <a href="https://theconversation.com/plastic-waste-is-hurting-women-in-developing-countries-but-there-are-ways-to-stop-it-166596">disproportionate impacts</a> of plastic, as well as those who make a living off recycling waste as part of the <a href="https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/WIEGO_Urban_Informal_Workers_Green_Economy.pdf">informal economy</a>. Finally, an international treaty should promote collaboration and sharing of data, resources and best practices. </p>
<p>Since plastic pollution doesn’t stay in one place, all nations will benefit from finding ways to curb it. </p>
<p><em>This article was updated March 2, 2022, with the international vote to write a plastics treaty.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah J. Morath 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>Representatives of 175 countries voted to start developing a global treaty to reduce plastic waste. Treaties addressing mercury, long-range air pollution and ozone depletion offer some lessons.Sarah J. Morath, Associate Professor, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1653862021-09-16T12:16:51Z2021-09-16T12:16:51ZPolitical orientation predicts science denial – here’s what that means for getting Americans vaccinated against COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421428/original/file-20210915-18042-xvm9nw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1886&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters at an anti-vaccine rally in Pennsylvania in August 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protesters-hold-a-huge-american-flag-during-the-anti-news-photo/1234956589">Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Vaccine refusal is a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/25/health/coronavirus-vaccine-refusal.html">major reason</a> COVID-19 infections continue to surge in the U.S. Safe and effective vaccines have been available for months, but as of mid-September 2021, only <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-total-admin-rate-total">65% of eligible American adults</a> are fully vaccinated. In many areas, a <a href="http://www.healthdata.org/news-release/new-tool-shows-more-50-percent-population-vaccine-hesitant-over-580-zip-codes-across-us">majority of eligible adults</a> haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity to get vaccinated.</p>
<p>In the U.S., polling on intent to get vaccinated shows a massive <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/us/politics/coronavirus-vaccines-republicans.html">political divide</a>. Counties that went for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election <a href="https://www.vox.com/22587443/covid-19-vaccine-refusal-hesitancy-variant-delta-cases-rate">show higher vaccination rates</a> than counties that went for Donald Trump. Attendees at the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/07/11/anthony-fauci-cpac-cheers-missing-vaccination-goal-sot-sotu-vpx.cnn">Conservative Political Action Committee’s summer meeting</a> cheered the fact that the U.S. didn’t meet <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-covid-19-vaccine-goal-missed/">Biden’s July 4 vaccination goals</a> for the country.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/the-red-blue-divide-in-covid-19-vaccination-rates/">Politically motivated denial</a> of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness tracks with a dramatic politicization of trust in science itself. In a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/352397/democratic-republican-confidence-science-diverges.aspx">survey conducted in June and July</a>, Gallup found that the percentage of Republicans expressing a “great deal” or “quite a lot of” trust in science is down, shockingly, from 72% in 1975 to only 45% today. Over the same period, confidence in science among Democrats is up from 67% to 79%.</p>
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<p>Scientific institutions have never been perfect, but overall they have a tremendous track record of success – both in basic research and in applied sciences like epidemiology and immunology. The vast majority of expert opinion on, say, antibiotics, radio waves, orbital mechanics or electrical conductivity is accepted without complaint by the general public. Evidently people are satisfied with applied science in almost all walks of life. </p>
<p>So why is confidence in science so malleable, and what does a person’s political orientation have to do with it?</p>
<p>The rejection of scientific expertise with regard to COVID-19 vaccines appears to be standing in for something else. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QISyZMoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As a philosopher who has studied science denial</a>, I suggest that this “something else” includes factors like distrust in public institutions and perceived threats to one’s cultural identity.</p>
<h2>Ideologies that mesh with science denial</h2>
<p>Identifying as a Republican is <a href="https://replicationindex.com/2020/06/09/racism-decreased-in-the-us-but-not-for-conservative-republicans/">very strongly associated</a> with embracing central tenets of conservative ideology. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430221990104">2021 public opinion study</a> confirms that endorsement of conservative political ideology is currently the dominant predictor of anti-science attitudes.</p>
<p>Another recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430221992126">study of anti-science attitudes</a> identifies several tendencies particularly associated with conservative ideology. People who hold anti-science beliefs tend to be sympathetic toward <a href="https://theauthoritarians.org/">right-wing authoritarianism</a> – that is to say, they are conformists who defer to selected authority figures and who are willing to act aggressively in the name of those figures.</p>
<p>They also tend to support group-based hierarchy, with “superior” groups dominating “inferior” groups. Political psychologists call this “<a href="http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/group/social-dominance-orientation/">social dominance orientation</a>” and see it in, for example, attitudes about racial or gender equality. </p>
<p>Indeed, social scientists looking at the causes of science denial have increasingly narrowed in on two contributing causes. Certain <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167209351435">personality traits</a>, including comfort with existing social and cultural hierarchies and a predilection for authoritarianism, go along with a skepticism for science. So do closely related aspects of identity, such as identification with a dominant social group like <a href="https://theconversation.com/faith-and-politics-mix-to-drive-evangelical-christians-climate-change-denial-143145">white evangelical Christians</a>. </p>
<p>Conservative traditionalists from the historically dominant white Christian demographic in the U.S. have had the most reason to feel threatened by science. Evolution by natural selection is threatening to many doctrinal religious traditionalists. Climate science threatens the economic status quo that conservatives seek to conserve. The whole concept of a public health mandate runs counter to the “small government” individualism of political conservatives. </p>
<p>Further, because <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547020950735">COVID-19 has been starkly politicized</a> since the beginning of the pandemic, public health measures have become directly associated with the political left. Rejection of such measures has consequently become <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/no-we-didnt-get-the-vaccine-were-republicans/">a signal of political and cultural identity</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421709/original/file-20210916-21-7o2731.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="chart of vaccination levels and partisan lean of U.S. counties" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421709/original/file-20210916-21-7o2731.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421709/original/file-20210916-21-7o2731.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421709/original/file-20210916-21-7o2731.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421709/original/file-20210916-21-7o2731.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421709/original/file-20210916-21-7o2731.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421709/original/file-20210916-21-7o2731.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421709/original/file-20210916-21-7o2731.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=862&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. counties that skewed more heavily toward Trump in the 2020 election tend to have lower vaccination rates than those that skewed toward Biden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://acasignups.net/21/09/15/weekly-update-us-covid19-vaccination-levels-county-partisan-lean">Charles Gaba/ACASignups.net</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210319/Study-shows-COVID-19-denial-depends-on-peoples-trust-in-governments-social-institutions.aspx">Other recent studies on science denial</a> have shown that people who don’t have a lot of confidence in the honesty and reliability of others, as well as in social institutions like government, academia and media, tend to deny the dangers of COVID-19. Low social trust tends to track with conservative political orientation – in particular, with <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-supporters-have-little-trust-in-societal-institutions-131113">support for Trump</a>. His supporters are much <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/10/what-caused-the-u-s-anti-science-trend/">more likely to say</a> that scientific inquiry is driven by political considerations. </p>
<h2>Grasping for a sense of control</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/29/17627134/income-inequality-chart">Increasing economic inequality</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/census-2020-house-elections-4ee80e72846c151aa41a808b06d975ea">racial and ethnic diversification</a> are also part of the science denialism mix.</p>
<p>One school of thought in psychology, called <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315661452-12/compensatory-control-theory-psychological-importance-perceiving-order-bastiaan-rutjens-aaron-kay">compensatory control theory</a>, holds that many social phenomena – including ideological science denial – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01649.x">stem from the basic human need for a sense of control</a> over one’s environment and life outcomes. According to this theory, perceived threats to one’s sense of personal control can motivate denial of scientific consensus. The idea is that due to a combination of economic insecurity, demographic changes and the perceived erosion of cultural norms favoring whites, some people feel an existential threat to the white supremacy they’ve long benefited from – which in turn <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/its-not-vaccine-hesitancy-its-covid-denialism/618724/">spurs them to deny government warnings about the dangers of COVID-19</a>.</p>
<p>I believe this compulsive defensiveness plays a big part in the phenomenon of science denial, once trusted elites like politicians or news media hosts trigger the inclination to oppose some particular science-based public policy. You can’t control the coronavirus – or inequality, or a changing culture – but you can control whether you take the vaccine or wear a mask. This sense of control is implicitly but powerfully attractive on a deep, emotional level.</p>
<p>The need for control may also explain an attraction to politicians or media figures who promise to give you your power back by endorsing unproven, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-cautions-against-use-hydroxychloroquine-or-chloroquine-covid-19-outside-hospital-setting-or">alternative</a> <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/23/trump-bleach-one-year-484399">home</a> <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2021/08/ivermectin-covid-cure-farm-supply-stores.html">remedies</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421429/original/file-20210915-17-292n9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="man in USA cap with American flag mask and another flag around shoulders" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421429/original/file-20210915-17-292n9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421429/original/file-20210915-17-292n9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421429/original/file-20210915-17-292n9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421429/original/file-20210915-17-292n9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421429/original/file-20210915-17-292n9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421429/original/file-20210915-17-292n9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421429/original/file-20210915-17-292n9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the U.S., attitudes toward public health recommendations are tied up with political beliefs and identity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-wears-a-face-mask-made-of-the-us-flag-while-attening-a-news-photo/1216630256">Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Denial feeds on political polarization</h2>
<p>As I discuss in my book, “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-truth-about-denial-9780190062279">The Truth About Denial</a>,” I think that science denial, including COVID-19 vaccine denial, is probably best seen as the result of vicious feedback loops. Factors like economic pain, white Christian identity and low social trust play off one another in populations experiencing relative social and informational isolation. This denialism can take hold more easily in people who have chosen to limit their experiences to relatively homogeneous geographic areas, social contexts and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/01/americans-main-sources-for-political-news-vary-by-party-and-age/">news media environments</a>.</p>
<p>In the short run, the failure of a society to vaccinate enough people to get COVID-19 under control will dramatically change life for everyone for years to come. The larger issue is the way science itself has become politicized in ways never seen before. This development endangers the ability of organized society to respond effectively to pandemics and other existential threats, including climate change. </p>
<p>Is there any hope of depolarizing the issue of COVID-19 vaccination, or trust in science itself? I’d say probably not until leaders in conservative politics, media and religion exert a concerted effort to change the narrative.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Bardon received funding from the Humility and Conviction in Public Life project at the University of Connecticut. </span></em></p>Republicans are four times as likely as Democrats to say they’re not going to get the COVID-19 vaccine. What’s behind the polarization of who trusts or denies science?Adrian Bardon, Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1633472021-06-24T13:22:56Z2021-06-24T13:22:56ZSchools must act carefully on students’ off-campus speech, Supreme Court rules<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408032/original/file-20210623-19-1g37fzx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C26%2C5982%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Supreme Court ruled that a school could not punish a student for a profane Snapchat post made off campus.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/smart-phone-in-chain-with-lock-on-orange-background-royalty-free-image/1299325496?adppopup=true">Eshma/iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For decades, U.S. courts have ruled that public school students “<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1968/21?sort=ideology#!">do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression at the schoolhouse gate</a>,” as the Supreme Court said in 1968. </p>
<p>In that case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, the justices held that high school students who were suspended for protesting the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to school were protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. </p>
<p>The standard the court set then, which has been narrowed and focused over the years, was that schools could only punish students for speech that “materially and substantially” disrupted the educational mission of the school. In several subsequent cases, about a <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/478/675/">student campaign speech full of sexual innuendo</a>, a <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/484/260/">school newspaper article on teen pregnancy</a> and a student-created sign saying “<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/551/393/">Bong Hits for Jesus</a>”, the Supreme Court evaluated speech or expression that took place on campus or at a school-sponsored event. And in every case, the justices deferred to school authorities on their judgment of what disrupted their educational mission.</p>
<p>A case the court took up this year provided an opportunity for a wider view, specifically about what protections students might have for <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2020/20-255">speech they engage in off-campus and away from school events</a>, including online. </p>
<p>School districts and officials were <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-255/156538/20201001154014503_20-255%20Amici%20Brief%20Pennsylvania%20School%20Boards%20Assoc%20Final.pdf">anxious for guidance</a> about the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-255/156535/20201001153720293_2020.10.01%20Amicus%20Brief%20for%20efiling.pdf">extent to which they can police social media speech</a> by their students, especially with heightened concern about cyberbullying and threats of school shootings.</p>
<p>Free speech advocates were worried about the extent to which <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-255/173545/20210331150644127_20-255%20Brief%20for%20Amici%20Curiae.pdf">schools can extend their reach and control over students</a> outside of school grounds and hours, especially given the amount of time teens spend on social media.</p>
<p>The June 23, 2021, decision in that case, <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2020/20-255">Mahanoy v. B.L.</a>, is both a win and a loss for both sides. The 8-1 ruling, with Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting, did not give either side <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2021/04/supreme-court-free-speech-brandi-levy.html">the clear rules they may have wanted</a>. </p>
<p>It says schools are not forbidden from disciplining students in cases of severe harassment and cyberbullying that happen outside school. But it does warn schools that their attempts to regulate off-campus speech will be treated with less deference than they would get when addressing events on campus.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408033/original/file-20210623-21-2n8okv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elderly man with wire-rimmed glasses in a Supreme Court black robe." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408033/original/file-20210623-21-2n8okv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408033/original/file-20210623-21-2n8okv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408033/original/file-20210623-21-2n8okv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408033/original/file-20210623-21-2n8okv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408033/original/file-20210623-21-2n8okv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408033/original/file-20210623-21-2n8okv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408033/original/file-20210623-21-2n8okv.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">Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion in the case, saying a ‘school will have a heavy burden to justify intervention’ in student speech made off campus or outside school programs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SupremeCourt/cd23bb861a204cdfb135c05478300022/photo?Query=Justice%20AND%20Breyer&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=419&currentItemNo=5">Pool/Associated Press</a></span>
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<h2>A quick synopsis</h2>
<p>The case centered on Brandi Levy, who was a high school sophomore in 2017 when she failed to make the varsity cheerleading team at Mahanoy Area High School. She did make the junior varsity team, but expressed her disappointment at not making the top squad through a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-cheerleader-first-amendment/2021/04/25/9d2ac1e2-9eb7-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html">crude Snapchat post</a> involving raised middle fingers and multiple uses of the F-word.</p>
<p>She made the post over the weekend, from a location outside the school campus. Several members of the cheerleading squad saw the post and reported it to officials, who suspended her from cheerleading for violating team-conduct rules. Levy’s parents sued on her behalf, arguing under the First Amendment that the team rules were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/us/supreme-court-free-speech.html">overbroad and unconstitutionally vague</a>, and that the school had no authority over her off campus speech.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15693695857098220398&q=Mahanoy+Area+Sch.+Dist.&hl=en&as_sdt=40000003&as_vis=1">federal district court that first heard the case</a> concluded that Levy’s post did not create the sort of substantial disruption to education that the Tinker ruling’s standard demanded. The <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca3/19-1842/19-1842-2020-06-30.html">Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit</a> held that Levy’s speech happened off campus and outside a school-sponsored event, so Tinker’s standard didn’t apply.</p>
<p>The school district appealed to the Supreme Court, noting that the appeals court ruling conflicted with other rulings around the country that had applied the Tinker precedent to off-campus speech.</p>
<h2>The justices’ review</h2>
<p>The Supreme Court agreed with both lower courts that the school had violated Levy’s First Amendment rights. But it disagreed with the appeals court’s reasoning that the Tinker case would not apply to off-campus speech.</p>
<p>In the majority opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that the court “<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2020/20-255">did not believe the special characteristics</a> that give schools additional license to regulate student speech always disappear when a school regulates speech that takes place off campus.” At minimum, the ruling explains, schools must have the authority to regulate bullying, harassment, threats directed at staff or students, online learning and assignments and cybersecurity for school systems.</p>
<p>But the court also expressed reluctance to let schools very broadly regulate students’ off-campus speech, fearing the effect could be severe limits on student speech any time of day or night, in any location. </p>
<p>Instead, the justices said courts should be “<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2020/20-255">more skeptical</a>” of schools’ attempts to regulate off-campus speech than when handling on-campus expression. </p>
<p>The ruling also reminded schools of their obligation to protect the expression of unpopular opinion. Schools are “<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2020/20-255">the nurseries of democracy</a>,” Breyer wrote, and have an obligation to teach their students about the importance of free speech.</p>
<p>As a result of this reasoning, the court found that Levy’s Snapchat post was protected under the First Amendment. It was not substantially disruptive to the school environment, wasn’t targeted at anyone in particular, was not obscene, and did not constitute “fighting words” or incitement to violence.</p>
<p>Breyer did observe that Levy’s word choice was vulgar and perhaps juvenile in tone, but said “<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2020/20-255">sometimes it is necessary to protect the superfluous in order to preserve the necessary</a>.”</p>
<p>As a result of the ruling, students don’t lose their rights when they enter through the schoolhouse gate – but neither do school officials lose all of their disciplinary power once students leave.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katy Harriger 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 Mahanoy v. B.L. ruling did not give schools or free-speech advocates the clear lines they may have wanted, but it did attempt to address some of the complexity of modern-day speech.Katy Harriger, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.