tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca-fr/topics/equality-1548/articlesEquality – La Conversation2024-03-20T13:59:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2254412024-03-20T13:59:10Z2024-03-20T13:59:10ZFashion needs stronger storytelling that is more inclusive, relevant and responsible<p>The fashion industry could not exist without storytelling. Compelling and aspirational stories conveyed through catwalks, campaigns and social media are the stuff that make garments fashionable, fostering a strong desire to be seen wearing them.</p>
<p>Fashion’s stories can spread positive messaging about issues that affect us all. In 2020, Stella McCartney’s Paris show featured models wearing cartoonish animal costumes. This humorous stunt emphasised a serious point about the “planet-friendly” brand’s <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a31191131/stella-mccartney-mascot-paris-fashion-week/">pledge</a> not to use leather, fur, skins, feathers or animal glues.</p>
<p>But more often, the darker, more unpalatable truth is that fashion’s storytelling drives overconsumption. And it defines unrealistic beauty expectations that exclude many by perpetuating western standards about what is normal and acceptable.</p>
<p>As a cultural historian who researches fashion, I believe the industry has to do better to effect change, and this can be achieved through stronger, more inclusive and responsible storytelling. </p>
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<h2>Fashion and world problems</h2>
<p>According to recent fashion industry <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/sustainable-fashion-communication-playbook">reports</a>, storytelling is becoming more prominent as brands seek to demonstrate their social responsibility by forging deeper relationships with consumers. The increased significance of storytelling within fashion can be linked to two themes that have defined social and political debate about the world’s post-COVID recovery: self and society.</p>
<p>Consumers want more meaningful experiences that enable them to explore their identities and connect with others. Fashion is the ideal medium for this, especially during a time of social and political unease. The industry’s global reach means that visual cues and messaging conveyed through clothing campaigns can be easily shared and understood.</p>
<p>The Business of Fashion’s report, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion">The State of Fashion 2024</a>, links the increased importance of storytelling to consumers being “more demanding when it comes to authenticity and relatability”. People want to buy brands that share and support their values.</p>
<p>The consumer group most concerned to align their lifestyle choices and beliefs with the companies that clothe them is Gen-Z – people born between 1996 and 2010 – who “value pursuing their own unique identities and appreciate diversity”. </p>
<p>The increasing prominence of storytelling in fashion is also linked to the industry’s global sway and corresponding social responsibility. Organisations like the UN are <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/sustainable-fashion-communication-playbook">increasingly clear</a> that the fashion industry will only help tackle the global challenges emphasised by COVID if it uses its influence to change consumers’ mindsets.</p>
<p>The uneven social impact of the pandemic, which <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2021/06/inequality-and-covid-19-ferreira.htm">emphasised longstanding inequalities</a>, provided a wake-up call to take action on many global problems, including climate change, overconsumption and racial discrimination. This makes the fashion industry, which <a href="https://fashinnovation.nyc/fashion-industry-statistics/">contributes 2% to global GDP</a>, a culprit but also a potential champion for driving change. </p>
<p>The British Fashion Council’s <a href="https://www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk/Innovation/Diversity-Equity-Inclusion--Belonging">Fashion Diversity Equality & Inclusion Report</a>, published in January 2024, highlights “fashion’s colossal power to influence, to provide cultural reference and guide social trends”. Similarly, the UN’s <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/sustainable-fashion-communication-playbook">Fashion Communication Playbook</a>, published last year, urges the industry to use its “cultural reach, powers of persuasion and educational role to both raise awareness and drive a shift towards a more sustainable and equitable industry”.</p>
<p>To do this, the UN’s report urges storytellers, imagemakers and role models to change the narrative of the fashion industry. They are asked to educate consumers and inspire them to alter their behaviour if it can help create positive change. </p>
<h2>Fashion’s new stories</h2>
<p>Since the pandemic, there is evidence the fashion industry has begun to change the content and form of the stories it tells, chiefly by putting a human face on current global challenges. Large-scale, entrenched social problems are being explored through real-life stories. This can help people to understand the problems that confront them, and grasp their role in working towards overcoming them.</p>
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<p>One example is Nike’s <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/nike-move-to-zero-sustainability">Move to Zero campaign</a>, a global sustainability initiative which launched during the pandemic in 2020. Instead of endless statistics and apocalyptic warnings about crisis-point climate emergency, Nike encourages people to “<a href="https://www.nike.com/nl/en/product-advice/product-care">refresh</a>” sports gear with maintenance and repair. Old Nike products that have been recreated by designers are sold through pop-ups. When salvage is not possible, Nike provides ways for people to <a href="https://www.nike.com/nl/en/sustainability/recycling-donation">recycle and donate old products</a>.</p>
<p>By encouraging relatively small changes that align the lifecycle of a product with consumers’ everyday lives, Nike’s campaign challenges the traditional idea of clothes being new, immediate and ultimately disposable by making change aspirational. </p>
<h2>Narrative hang-ups</h2>
<p>While some fashion brands are rethinking the stories they tell, my <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hangups-9781350197268/">recent book</a>, Hang-Ups: Reflections on the Causes and Consequences of Fashion’s Western Centrism, explains that some of fashion’s most powerful and harmful stories are deep-rooted.</p>
<p>Concepts defined during the 18th and 19th centuries – civilisation, anthropology, sexology – still influence how the fashion industry engages with age, gender, race and sex. Its drive for newness and the way it pushes the idea that purchasing expensive brands brings automatic status is also based on traditional western social values that fit poorly with 21st-century perspectives and priorities.</p>
<p>The persistence of centuries-old attitudes is apparent too in Nike’s Move to Zero campaign, however well-intentioned. While the initiative is clearly conceived to influence consumer behaviour in a positive way, it still doesn’t fundamentally address what the fashion industry is and does. But at the very least, it accepts that fashion functions through high consumption and the sense of status that owning and wearing a brand confers.</p>
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<h2>Throwing everything out</h2>
<p>One of the key points I make in my book is that effective change will be more likely if we understand how the industry developed into what it is today. This calls for more audacious storytelling that critiques notions of normality, acceptability and inclusivity.</p>
<p>One example is Swedish brand <a href="https://avavav.com/en-gb/about">Avavav</a>, which commits itself to “creative freedom driven by humour, entertainment and design evolution”. In February 2024, the brand’s <a href="https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/avavav-fashion-show-trash-photos-1236222394/avavav-runway-milan-fashion-week-womenswear-fall-winter-2024-2025/">Milan catwalk show</a> concluded with models being pelted with litter. This experimental performance explored prevailing social media stories by calling out online trolls and highlighting the hurt of hate speech, within and beyond the fashion industry.</p>
<p>Naturally, it <a href="https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/62036/1/avavav-aw24-fw24-beate-karlsson-milan-fashion-week-mfw-trash">caused a sensation</a> and was widely covered in the media. A stunt perhaps, but it got people talking and drew attention to designer Beate Karlsson’s message about online hate. Clearly, compelling and innovative storytelling has the power to change minds and behaviour.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Wild does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Representing 2% of global GDP, the fashion industry must use its cultural reach to drive a shift towards a more sustainable and equitable industry.Benjamin Wild, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Narratives, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2244552024-03-13T16:20:57Z2024-03-13T16:20:57ZWomen favour climate actions that benefit future generations more than men – new study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579173/original/file-20240301-30-6h6n1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Connecting with the climate risks that could be faced by future generations could influence support for better policies now. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-hands-join-together-on-wooden-642952270">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The decisions we make now inevitably shape the prospects for generations to come. So tackling a long-term problem like climate change raises an intergenerational moral dilemma: should we invest in solutions that might not personally benefit ourselves but will help future generations reach net zero – or should money be spent to ensure everyone right now has the best possible quality of life? </p>
<p>Some of these choices people make may depend on gender. Women are more likely than men to be more concerned for the wellbeing of future generations and more likely to bear the costs of costly climate mitigation policies. New <a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae105">research</a> into this intergenerational altruism examines the attitudes and behaviours of 1,600 Swedish citizens, and has found a significant difference between women and men. </p>
<p>Women tend to make more climate-friendly choices than men, according to <a href="https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/0022-4537.00177">previous research</a>. A <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08941920.2011.651191">study based on Gallup polls</a> involving more than 6,000 US citizens found that women are more worried than men about health-related environmental problems. However, previous research had little to say about whether women deal with environmental intergenerational dilemmas differently than men. </p>
<p>Curious about whether women are more likely to favour costly environmental actions that benefit future generations, our team, including the researchers Gustav Agneman and Sofia Henriks, asked participants to state how many children they have or would like to have. Then they were told how many descendants they could have in 250 years and asked to distribute imaginary resources across generations.</p>
<p>Participants were encouraged to reflect on the fact that if we use up all resources today, there will be none left for future generations. Finally, they were asked whether they’d support climate policies that would increase the costs of aviation, food, fuel and clothes. </p>
<p>A control group of participants were simply asked about their attitudes toward these costly climate policies without being told their estimated number of descendants or how they might distribute resources. Support for climate policies was compared across these two groups. </p>
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<span class="caption">Researchers surveyed responses of 1,600 Swedish adults and found that reflecting on future generations changed their support for climate mitigation policies.</span>
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<p>Results show clear gender differences. Women were more supportive of costly climate mitigation policies when they had been informed about their projected number of descendants and had distributed resources across generations. Men were not more likely to support costly climate mitigation policy when asked to contemplate future generations.</p>
<p>Women expressed more worries about the impact of climate change, indicating that when women reflect on their future generations, they become more concerned about climate change and its impact on the planet, and more willing to invest in climate solutions now. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjop.12995">large body</a> of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1987-97607-000">social psychology research</a> on gender stereotypes shows that women are seen, and see themselves, as more caring and nurturing than men. The gender differences found in our study could be explained by nurturing traits being activated more significantly in women than men when reflecting on the climate risks that their descendants might face. </p>
<h2>Future implications</h2>
<p>Some citizens seem willing to bear the costs of climate mitigation policies to benefit future generations. Our study suggests that making people aware of the consequences of their behaviour and helping them to psychologically connect to future generations may lead them to be more willing to make environmentally friendly choices. This suggests that political campaigns that stress environmental consequences are not futile. </p>
<p>Women are not necessarily the only people likely to respond to such calls for intergenerational altruism in the future. Gender stereotypes are changing in society. <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00037/full">Previous research</a> has <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167200262001">indicated</a> that changes in the workforce <a href="https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/sipr.12060">influence</a> how men and women are perceived and socialised. If boys are encouraged from an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3200/GNTP.168.2.177-200">early age to be more caring of others</a>, traits traditionally associated with femininity could become more widespread among men. </p>
<p>Perhaps then more men might favour environmental actions that benefit future generations. Until then, women’s voices in the climate mitigation debate should clearly be listened to.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hanna Bäck receives funding from The Swedish Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma A. Renström (prev. Bäck) receives funding from The Swedish Research Council. </span></em></p>Attitudes towards climate policies partly depend on a consideration of future, as yet unborn, descendants. Women tended to show more ability to think about how future generations could benefit.Hanna Bäck, Professor of Political Science, Lund UniversityEmma A. Renström (prev. Bäck), Professor, Department of Psychology, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236692024-03-07T13:03:50Z2024-03-07T13:03:50ZWhite men dominate the environment sector – here’s how to encourage more diverse voices<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579142/original/file-20240301-16-bo8mjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bringing a diversity of people to the table and giving plenty of opportunities for everyone to have their say is key to ensuring real inclusivity. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-business-people-on-meeting-298996202">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early 2021, I observed a meeting of 25 people working on climate change policy in Bristol as part of my research into creating a <a href="https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/gsc/view/journals/gscj/2/2/article-p86.xml">just and fair climate transition</a>. I was struck by how the conversation was dominated by one group: white men. From that moment, inequality in decision-making became a major part of my climate justice research. </p>
<p>I drew a table in my notebook with four headings: white men, white women, minoritised men and minoritised women. Every time someone spoke, I put a tick in the relevant column. By the end of that meeting, white men had three times as many ticks as the rest combined. I took a picture of the table and sent it to my research partner, <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/people/person/Alice-Venn-3bb91446-28d7-46b3-81cb-aa84c262282f/">Alice Venn</a>. </p>
<p>“Should I keep recording this data?” I asked. Venn approved of this approach, so data on gender and race became central to <a href="https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/gsc/view/journals/gscj/2/2/article-p86.xml%E2%80%8B">our study</a>.</p>
<p>We observed various meetings including steering groups, member consultations and board meetings for nine hours over the course of six months. During that time, white men spoke for 64% of the time and represented 40% of participants. A slightly higher percentage (41%) of white women were present in the meetings we observed, but they spoke for just 33% of the time.</p>
<p>By comparison, minoritised women made up 14% of participants in meetings and spoke 2% of the time. Minoritised men made up 5% of participants in meetings and spoke only 1% of the time. </p>
<p>This is no great surprise. The environment sector is notoriously <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/11/too-white-green-sector-launches-work-scheme-to-be-more-diverse">one of the least diverse</a>, with only 3.5% of people working in environmental jobs identifying as being from an ethnic minority. In the <a href="https://www.race-report.uk/news/2023-press-release-environmental-charity-sector-boosts-participation-for-racial-diversity-initiative">environmental charity sector</a>, that figure is 6%. This compares quite starkly with an average across the UK workforce of 15% of employees from racial or ethnic minorities. </p>
<p>Diverse voices and critical discussions are key to making robust, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriklarson/2017/09/21/new-research-diversity-inclusion-better-decision-making-at-work/?sh=7924784e4cbf">inclusive and future-proof decisions</a>. If a group of people who come from similar backgrounds (whether because of race, class or gender) assess a decision they are making for flaws, they are unlikely to find them because they are likely to agree with one another.</p>
<p>There may then be unexpected pushback against policies such as 15-minute neighbourhoods (where residents can reach all the facilities they need within a 15-minute walk, bike ride or journey on public transport), because groups who do not benefit from those schemes have not been consulted and their dissent has not been anticipated. </p>
<p>In Bristol, our observations of meetings found that participants showed very little critical engagement with existing policies, such as cycling route safety planning that centred around men commuting, or expansion plans for Bristol airport. Often, there was no space or time in meetings to be critical of existing ideas and narratives, or to challenge existing policy processes and systemic problems. </p>
<p>Climate justice was only mentioned in one of the nine meetings we observed. Climate vulnerability was not mentioned at all. Meetings felt very busy, filled with packed agendas, with little opportunity to make radical suggestions for change.</p>
<h2>Changing the dynamic</h2>
<p>Even with a mix of women and men or representative examples of minoritised people in the room, these people <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/06/women-find-your-voice">won’t necessarily speak up</a>. Women are less likely to have <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01492063231173421">influence in board meetings</a> and struggle to be heard in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/us/zoom-meetings-gender.html">online meetings</a>.</p>
<p>A good chair will be aware of these dynamics and take steps to ensure inclusivity, perhaps by setting up small group tasks to build confidence or monitoring who is speaking and calling on quieter people directly. </p>
<p>Another technique, known as the “2-2 method”, involves asking “what are two reasons someone would agree, and two someone would disagree?” before opening the floor for critique. An open workplace culture where people feel they can trust leadership even if they are critical is also important, and will make more open and inclusive meetings easier to conduct.</p>
<p>From observations in our study, women tend to take longer to answer a question, which gives space for men to jump in or interrupt. One of the female participants told us: “I notice men tend to talk over me and interrupt me, a lot.”</p>
<p>Minoritised individuals may be more reticent to speak if they feel they won’t be listened to. <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/09/is-your-board-inclusive-or-just-diverse">Previous research shows that</a> some board members worry they will be tokenised by being asked to represent huge groups – this <a href="https://media.frc.org.uk/documents/FRC_Board_Diversity_and_Effectiveness_in_FTSE_350_Companies.pdf">puts undue pressure</a> on them to be the spokesperson for their race or ethnicity, and does not treat them as an individual with worthy opinions. Being aware of these dynamics and getting it right as an employer or community leader is key to making change and ensuring everyone feels able to speak up.</p>
<h2>A diversity redesign</h2>
<p>As a follow-up from our study, we are training members of the environment sector in Bristol. We have been working with the UK-wide, equalities-led social enterprise <a href="https://www.diversitytrust.org.uk/">The Diversity Trust</a> and video production company <a href="https://beestonmedia.com/">Beeston Media</a> to provide a series of workshops and videos about making more inclusive decisions, creating an open workplace culture, and recruiting and retaining diverse staff. </p>
<p>So far we’ve held three workshops, each attended by more than 25 people from a wide range of sectors and organisations. Three more workshops are planned for spring and summer 2024.</p>
<p>As a result, the <a href="https://thebaccc.org/about/#:%7E:text=The%20Bristol%20Advisory%20Committee%20on,the%20Bristol%20One%20City%20Boards.">Bristol Advisory Committee on Climate Change</a> has already changed its recruitment policies. The committee has widened its definition of an expert, moving away from a research-based definition and explicitly noting that lived experience and community knowledge can be accepted as expertise. </p>
<p>Meeting space policies have also been redesigned at several organisations – for example, by implementing the 2-2 method and ensuring that chairs avoid tokenism and use micro-affirmations to build confidence. </p>
<p>We are monitoring the impact of these changes with one-to-one support calls, surveys and peer-to-peer support groups. One testimony stated that “the training you have been running has been so valuable in helping environmental organisations to develop better equality, diversity and inclusion practice”.</p>
<p>Improvements to embrace a more diverse and inclusive environmental sector are critical to ensuring a greener, fairer and more sustainable future for all. But this transition needs to be designed with people, rather than imposed on them. The shift can begin in a boardroom, steering group, or committee meeting. Any institution that pays attention to how it makes decisions, and who is consulted, will help to ensure the green transition is as inclusive as possible. </p>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alix Dietzel receives funding from PolicyBristol for this study.</span></em></p>The environment sector is notoriously dominated by white men. But diverse voices and critical discussions about climate policies are key to making good, inclusive decisions about the future.Alix Dietzel, Senior Lecturer in Climate Justice, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2247282024-02-29T23:41:42Z2024-02-29T23:41:42ZDo the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi really give Māori too much power – or not enough?<p>This week parliament acted urgently to disestablish the Māori Health Authority. The hurry was to circumvent an urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing on whether the proposal breached te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) and its principles.</p>
<p>Te Pāti Maori’s co-leader, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350193412/bills-disestablish-maori-health-authority-smokefree-be-passed-under-urgency">Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, said</a>: “The government’s use and abuse of urgency has created a dictatorship in what should be a Tiriti-led democratic state.”</p>
<p>We have heard a lot about the Treaty “principles” since last year’s election.</p>
<p>But just what these principles are, and how they should be interpreted in law, remain open to contest – including by those who argue the principles actually limit some of the political rights that fairly belong to Māori people.</p>
<h2>No rigid rule book</h2>
<p>When parliament established the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975, <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1975/0114/107.0/DLM435368.html">one of its jobs</a> was to “provide for the observance, and confirmation, of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi”.</p>
<p>There isn’t a definitive and permanent list of principles. They have evolved as new problems and possibilities arise, and as different ideas develop about what governments should and shouldn’t do. Te Tiriti, in other words, can’t be a rigid rule book.</p>
<p>But the Treaty’s articles are clear: </p>
<ul>
<li>governments should always be allowed to govern (article 1)</li>
<li>the powers of government are qualified by Māori political communities (<a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?keywords=iwi">iwi</a> and <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?keywords=hapu">hapu</a>) exercising authority and responsibility over their own affairs (article 2)</li>
<li>and government is contextualised by Māori people being New Zealand citizens whose political rights and capacities may be expressed with equal <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?keywords=tikanga">tikanga</a> (custom, values, protocol) (article 3).</li>
</ul>
<p>Perhaps the real question, then, is how to bring these articles into effect. The Waitangi Tribunal, parliament and courts developed the principles over time as interpretative guides. They <a href="https://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/o-matou-mohiotanga/crownmaori-relations/he-tirohanga-o-kawa-ki-te-tiriti-o-waitangi">include</a> partnership, participation, mutual benefit, good faith, reciprocity, <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?&keywords=rangatiratanga">rangatiratanga</a> (independent authoity) and <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?keywords=kawanatanga">kāwanatanga</a> (government).</p>
<p>In 1992 the <a href="https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/WT-Principles-of-the-Treaty-of-Waitangi-as-expressed-by-the-Courts-and-the-Waitangi-Tribunal.pdf">Court of Appeal said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is the principles of the Treaty which are to be applied, not the literal words […] The differences between the [English and Māori] texts and shades of meaning are less important than the spirit.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But the “spirit” of te Tiriti, too, is vague and open to contest.</p>
<h2>The Māori text prevails</h2>
<p>The English text of te Tiriti says Māori gave away their sovereignty to the British Crown. The Māori text says they only gave away rights of government. But both texts were clear: Māori authority over their own affairs wasn’t surrendered, and government wasn’t an unconstrained power allowing other people to do harm to Māori.</p>
<p>It’s also significant that only <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/making-the-treaty/signing-the-treaty">39 people</a> signed the English-language agreement (they didn’t read English and had it explained to them in Māori). More than 500 signed the Māori text. The former chief justice Sian Elias said, “<a href="https://natlib.govt.nz/he-tohu/korero/interview-with-dame-sian-elias">it can’t be disputed that the Treaty is actually the Māori text</a>”.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-idea-of-sovereignty-is-central-to-the-treaty-debate-why-is-it-so-hard-to-define-220201">The idea of ‘sovereignty’ is central to the Treaty debate – why is it so hard to define?</a>
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<p>The <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nzfirst/pages/4462/attachments/original/1700784896/National___NZF_Coalition_Agreement_signed_-_24_Nov_2023.pdf?1700784896">New Zealand First party argues</a> the principles often appear in legislation without clear explanation of their relevance or what they’re intended to achieve. It says they should be clarified or removed.</p>
<p>The ACT party <a href="https://www.act.org.nz/stopdivision">goes further</a> and says the principles are often interpreted to give Māori greater political voice than other New Zealanders. It says the Treaty promised equality, and this should be enshrined in law – through rewritten principles that would limit Māori influence.</p>
<h2>Equal political voice</h2>
<p>There’s a counterargument, however, that says Māori influence is limited enough already. And it’s the principles that constrain Māori authority over their own affairs and give Māori citizens less than their fair influence over public decisions. </p>
<p>The idea that Māori are the Crown’s partners, rather than shareholders in its authority, seriously weakens Māori influence.</p>
<p>Participation, on the other hand, should strengthen it, and was one of the Treaty principles the Māori Health Authority was established to support. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/02/fears-for-maori-rights-as-new-zealand-government-reviews-waitangi-treaty">Abolishing the authority</a> overrides that principle. But it also takes decision-making about Māori health away from Māori experts. </p>
<p>This may undermine effective health policy. But it also undermines te Tiriti’s articles themselves. These include the idea that government is for everybody and everybody should share decision-making authority; and the idea that Māori people use their own institutions to make decisions about their own wellbeing.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the question is: if some people can’t contribute to policy-making in ways that make sense for them, then do they really have equal opportunities for political voice?</p>
<h2>The problem with ‘race’</h2>
<p>The picture is further confused by reference to “race”. In 1987, the <a href="https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/WT-Principles-of-the-Treaty-of-Waitangi-as-expressed-by-the-Courts-and-the-Waitangi-Tribunal.pdf">Court of Appeal said</a> the “Treaty signified a partnership between races”. It said partnership – a significant Treaty principle – should help the parties find a “true path to progress for both races”.</p>
<p>But te Tiriti doesn’t use the word “race”, or anything similar. It recognised hapu as political communities, and established kawanatanga as a new political body.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-redefining-the-treaty-principles-would-undermine-real-political-equality-in-nz-218511">Why redefining the Treaty principles would undermine real political equality in NZ</a>
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<p>So, whether we just focus on the Treaty articles, or find it useful to have principles to help with interpretation, we need to work out what hapu do and what government does, and how they relate to one another.</p>
<p>We don’t need to know what different “races” should do. Race is simply a “<a href="https://bioanth.org/about/position-statements/aapa-statement-race-and-racism-2019/">classification system</a>” colonial powers use to place themselves above the colonised in a hierarchy of human worth.</p>
<p>Instead, people are born into cultures formed by place, family and language – what Māori call “<a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?&keywords=whakapapa">whakapapa</a>”. Te Tiriti gave settlers a place and a form of government to secure their belonging. It also said Māori continue to belong on their own terms.</p>
<p>There can’t be equality without acceptance of these ideas of who belongs, and how.</p>
<h2>A simpler solution</h2>
<p>Citizenship tells us who “owns” the state. If partnership implies the Crown represents only non-Māori, it puts Māori people on the outside. It says government really belongs to “us”, and “you” don’t participate in “our” affairs.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-33-4172-2">liberal democratic argument</a>, however, is that the state is “owned” equally by each and every citizen. Māori citizens are as much shareholders in the authority of the state as anybody else. They should be able to say the powers, authority and responsibilities of the state work equally well for them.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/waitangi-2024-how-the-treaty-strengthens-democracy-and-provides-a-check-on-unbridled-power-221723">Waitangi 2024: how the Treaty strengthens democracy and provides a check on unbridled power</a>
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<p>People think and reason through culture. Colonial experiences influence what people expect politics to achieve. This is why it’s fair to insist that Māori citizenship is exercised with equal tikanga.</p>
<p>The Treaty principles can be critiqued from many perspectives. They change because they are only interpretive guides that can be accepted, rejected, challenged and developed.</p>
<p>So, rather than refer to these principles in legislation, and leave them for courts and the Waitangi Tribunal to define, maybe there’s a simpler solution. </p>
<p>Each act of parliament could simply state: “This Act will be interpreted and administered to maintain and develop rangatiratanga, and otherwise work equally well for Māori as for other citizens.”</p>
<p>The principle of equality would be established. And it would be for Māori citizens to determine what “equally well” means for them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224728/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic O'Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rather than leave the Treaty principles to parliament and the courts to define, why not embed the essence of the Treaty articles themselves in all laws?Dominic O'Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2233992024-02-26T13:09:06Z2024-02-26T13:09:06ZRelationship anarchy is about creating bonds that suit people, not social conventions<p>By its very nature, friendship is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/anarchy">anarchic</a>: it has few rules and is not regulated by the government. Our friendships are usually egalitarian, flexible and non-exclusive. We treat our friends as individuals and care about their interests. We support them and don’t tell them what to do; our friendships fit around, rather than govern, our lives. </p>
<p>But interestingly, friendship is the exception when it comes to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/10/people-who-prioritize-friendship-over-romance/616779/">intimacy</a>. Few of us want anarchic love lives, or to treat our children as equals. We gravitate instead towards more rigid, hierarchical, structured forms of intimacy in these relationships. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/i-have-4-partners-and-several-comet-romances-this-is-what-its-like-to-be-a-relationship-anarchist_uk_64ba8dcfe4b093f07cb48251">Relationship anarchists</a> do not hold with these ideas. They argue we must try harder to relate as equals, reject hierarchy between relationships and accept that intimate life can take many forms. </p>
<p>Critics would suggest relationship anarchy is just a lifestyle – an attempt to evade commitment. But the concept is best understood as political, and a development of the core themes of anarchist thinking. This reflects the values and practices involved, and reminds us that the flourishing of intimacy might require radical change. </p>
<p>These core themes include rejecting the idea that there should be one dominant form of authority – like a president, boss or patriarch; wariness of social class or status which arbitrarily privileges some people other others; and a deep respect for the idea that individuals should be able to govern their own lives and support each other. Applied to intimate relationships, these themes define relationship anarchy. </p>
<p>But political anarchism is not above violence and disorder. As someone whose work explores the philosophy of love, sex and relationships – and different approaches to intimacy – I view it as an attitude towards our social predicament where people try to relate as equals and reject unnecessary constraints. </p>
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<h2>Equals without constraints</h2>
<p>Relationship anarchists critique society and imagine alternatives. Their main target is the idea that there are different kinds of relationships and some are more important than others.</p>
<p>They reject how relationships appear in the media; good relationships needn’t last forever, be exclusive, between two people, domestic, involve romantic love or practical entanglement. This critical eye also extends to our attitudes towards children, animals and the environment. </p>
<p>Relationship anarchy’s aversion to hierarchy separates it from <a href="https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a46109633/what-is-a-swinger/">swinging</a> or forms of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/japp.12240">polyamory</a> which distinguish between sex and romance, <a href="https://www.morethantwo.com/polyconfigurations.html">“primary” and “secondary” partners</a>, or which think the government should privilege some relationships through marriage law. </p>
<p>The practical heart of relationship anarchy is the idea that we design relationships to suit us, not mirror social expectations. Do we want to share a home? Is sexual intimacy important? If so, what kind exactly? This process also involves creating a framework to guide our broader intimate life. How will we choose together? How and when can we revise our framework? What about disagreements?</p>
<p>Relationship anarchists will disagree about the content of these frameworks. Can two relationship anarchists agree to be romantically exclusive, for example, set rules for each other, or decide to never revise their framework? Should they retain, repurpose or reject common labels such as “partner”?</p>
<p>My own view is that agreements are acceptable if they support our <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=romantic-agency-loving-well-in-modern-life--9781509551521">ability to be intimate</a>, but we should embrace “minimal non-monogamy” and remain open to the possibility our desires will change. </p>
<h2>Community and self-development</h2>
<p>Community is central to relationship anarchy. From queer feminist Andie Nordgren’s “<a href="https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/andie-nordgren-the-short-instructional-manifesto-for-relationship-anarchy">short instructional manifesto</a>” – which jumpstarted relationship anarchy – to <a href="https://ia803109.us.archive.org/14/items/rad2019zine/RAD%202019%20Zine%20for%20online%20reading.pdf">zines</a> like Communities Not Couples, the <a href="https://violetbeau00.medium.com/relationship-anarchy-smorgasbord-practical-applications-78ad8d911b0b">relationship “smorgasbord”</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/decolonizing.love/?hl=en">social media influencers</a>, relationship anarchists educate each other and share resources. </p>
<p>They also embrace <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2722-mutual-aid">supporting each other</a> when social institutions are inadequate. This might involve providing money, establishing accessible community spaces, sourcing contraception and caregiving.</p>
<p>Relationship anarchy requires self-development. Since we are shaped by our social context, we often lack the skills needed to overhaul our relationships, whether that’s communicating effectively or managing emotions such as jealousy and insecurity.</p>
<p>Relationship anarchists embrace the idea that we cannot behave now in ways that would be <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Prefigurative+Politics:+Building+Tomorrow+Today-p-9781509535910">unacceptable in our ideal society</a>. We cannot be callous or dishonest in trying to bring about open and equal relationships. Instead, trying to embody our desired changes in our actions helps us develop the skills needed to ensure these changes are sustainable. </p>
<p>Talk of relationship anarchy often prompts objections. Liberals think government involvement in private life prevents harm, and that common social norms and ideals of relationships prevent anxiety. A relationship anarchist would ask us to consider the real source of these worries. </p>
<p>We are well able to harm each other within existing government frameworks: police, immigration, social and health services often harm people in unconventional relationships through policies that <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/21/orphaned-by-decree-italy-same-sex-parents-react-losing-rights">do not recognise the family life of non-heterosexual people</a>. Or which make it hard for immigrant families to be together, or deny visitation rights to unmarried people, for example.</p>
<p>Community networks of care are active in resisting and repairing these harms, and their efforts are evidence that we can successfully oversee our own needs when it comes to intimacy. </p>
<p>Similarly, a more active approach to our relationships, where we reflect on our needs and desires, set boundaries and communicate, <a href="https://scribepublications.co.uk/books-authors/books/polysecure-9781914484957">builds confidence and decreases anxiety</a>. A realistic and flexible attitude towards intimacy makes it harder to trip on the <a href="https://blog.oup.com/2019/09/why-love-ends/">gap between ideals and reality</a>.</p>
<p>Realism, not revolution, is at the heart of relationship anarchy. Social criticism can be radical – ranging from love and domesticity to childcare, companionship and co-operation – but efforts to remould our relationships should be done with care. We can both expose social contradictions and oppressive laws and accept common ground with other views and initiatives.</p>
<p>Most of all, we should be wary of attempts to cast relationship anarchy as a fad or lifestyle. It is political – a commitment to nurture agency when it comes to intimacy. Like conversation, relationship anarchy is a process; it can be messy, loud, and unpredictable, but it can change us entirely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luke Brunning does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Relationship anarchists argue that we should relate to one another as equals and accept that intimacy can take many forms.Luke Brunning, Lecturer in Applied Ethics, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2196172023-12-26T20:29:23Z2023-12-26T20:29:23ZNZ report card 2023: near the top of the class in some areas, room for improvement elsewhere<p>End-of-year results aren’t only for school and university students. Countries, too, can be measured for their progress – or lack of it – across numerous categories and subject areas. </p>
<p>This report card provides a snapshot of how New Zealand has fared in 2023. Given the change of government, it will be a useful benchmark for future progress reports. (Somewhat appropriately, the coalition seems keen on standardised testing in education.)</p>
<p>It’s important to remember that this exercise is for fun and debate. International and domestic indices and rankings should be read with a degree of caution – measurements, metrics and numbers from 2023 tell us only so much. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, it’s still possible to trace the nation’s ups and downs. As the year draws to an end, we can use these statistics and rankings to decide whether New Zealand really is the best country in the world – or whether we need to make some additional new year’s resolutions.</p>
<h2>International pass marks</h2>
<p>Overall, the country held its own internationally when it came to democratic values, freedoms and standards. But there was a little slippage.</p>
<p>Despite falling a spot, Transparency International ranked New Zealand <a href="https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022">second-equal</a> (next to Finland) for being relatively corruption-free. </p>
<p>In the Global Peace Index, New Zealand dropped two places, now <a href="https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/">fourth-best</a> for safety and security, low domestic and international conflict, and degree of militarisation.</p>
<p>The country held its ground in two categories. Freedom House underlined New Zealand’s near-perfect score of <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores">99 out of 100</a> for political and civil liberties – but three Scandinavian countries scored a perfect 100. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2023/">Global Gender Gap Report</a> recorded New Zealand as steady, the fourth-most-gender-equal country. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-winston-peters-right-to-call-state-funded-journalism-bribery-or-is-there-a-bigger-threat-to-democracy-218782">Is Winston Peters right to call state-funded journalism ‘bribery’ – or is there a bigger threat to democracy?</a>
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<p>Supplementary work by the United Nations Development Programme shows New Zealand making impressive strides in breaking down <a href="https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2023-06/gsni202302pdf_0.pdf">gender bias</a>.</p>
<p>The Index for Economic Freedom, which covers everything from property rights to financial freedom, again placed New Zealand <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/">fifth</a>, but our grade average is falling. We also dropped a place in the World Justice Project’s <a href="https://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/">Rule of Law Index</a> to eighth.</p>
<p>New Zealanders are about as happy as they were last year, still the tenth-most-cheery nation, according to the <a href="https://worldhappiness.report/">World Happiness Report</a>.</p>
<p>The Human Development Index did not report this year (New Zealand was 13th in 2022). But the <a href="https://www.prosperity.com/rankings">Legatum Prosperity Index</a>, another broad measure covering everything from social capital to living conditions, put New Zealand tenth overall – reflecting a slow decline from seventh in 2011.</p>
<p>The Economist’s <a href="https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/global-liveability-index-2023/">Global Liveability Index</a> has Auckland at equal tenth, with Wellington racing up the charts to 23rd. (Hamilton, my home, is yet to register.)</p>
<p>While New Zealand registered a gradual slide in the Reporters Without Borders <a href="https://rsf.org/en/index">Press Freedom Index</a>, at 13th position it still ranks highly by comparison with other nations.</p>
<h2>Could do better</h2>
<p>New Zealand has seen some progress around assessment of terror risk. While the national terror threat level has remained at “<a href="https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/our-programmes/national-security/counter-terrorism#:%7E:text=New%2520Zealand's%2520current%2520national%2520terrorism,Zealanders%2520both%2520here%2520and%2520overseas.">low</a>”, the <a href="https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/global-terrorism-index/#/">Global Terrorism Index</a> ranked the country 46th – lower than the US, UK and Russia, but higher than Australia at 69th.</p>
<p>The country’s previous drop to 31st in the <a href="https://www.imd.org/centers/wcc/world-competitiveness-center/rankings/world-competitiveness-ranking/">Global Competitiveness Report</a> has stabilised, staying the same in 2023. </p>
<p>On the <a href="https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/Home">Global Innovation Index</a>, we came in 27th out of 132 economies – three spots worse than last year. <a href="https://kof.ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/media/press-releases/2022/12/globalisation-index.html#:%7E:text=The%2520KOF%2520Globalisation%2520Index%2520measures,a%2520long%2520period%2520of%2520time.">The Globalisation Index</a>, which looks at economic, social and political contexts, ranks New Zealand only 42nd.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-the-climate-summits-first-health-day-points-to-what-needs-to-change-in-nz-218809">COP28: the climate summit’s first Health Day points to what needs to change in NZ</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But the country’s response to climate change is still considered “highly insufficient” by the <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/">Climate Action Tracker</a>, which measures progress on meeting agreed global warming targets. The <a href="https://ccpi.org/">Climate Change Performance Index</a> is a little more generous, pegging New Zealand at 34th, still down one spot on last year.</p>
<p>New Zealand’s overseas development assistance – low as a percentage of GDP compared to other <a href="https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/official-development-assistance.htm">OECD countries</a> – had mixed reviews. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://odi.org/en/insights/principled-aid-index-2023-in-a-weaponised-world-smart-development-power-is-not-dead/">Principled Aid Index</a> – which looks at the purposes of aid for global co-operation, public spiritedness and addressing critical development goals – ranks New Zealand a lowly 22 out of 29. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cgdev.org/cdi#/">Commitment to Development Index</a>, which measures aid as well as other policies (from health to trade) of 40 of the world’s most powerful countries, has New Zealand in 19th place.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nicola-willis-warns-of-fiscal-snakes-and-snails-her-first-mini-budget-will-be-a-test-of-nzs-no-surprises-finance-rules-218920">Nicola Willis warns of fiscal ‘snakes and snails’ – her first mini-budget will be a test of NZ’s no-surprises finance rules</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Decent economic grades</h2>
<p>The economic numbers at home still tell a generally encouraging story:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>unemployment <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/unemployment-rate/">remains low at 3.9%</a>, still below the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/unemployment-rates-oecd-updated-november-2023.htm#:%7E:text=14%2520Nov%25202023%2520%252D%2520The%2520OECD,Figure%25202%2520and%2520Table%25201">OECD average of 4.8%.</a></p></li>
<li><p>median weekly earnings from wages and salaries <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/income-growth-for-wage-and-salary-earners-remains-strong/">continued to rise</a>, by NZ$84 (7.1%) to $1,273 in the year to June</p></li>
<li><p>inflation is rising, but the rate is slowing, <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/annual-inflation-at-5-6-percent/#:%7E:text=New%2520Zealand's%2520consumers%2520price%2520index,to%2520the%2520June%25202023%2520quarter.">falling to 5.6%</a> in the 12 months to September</p></li>
<li><p>and good or bad news according to one’s perspective, annual house price growth appears to be slowly recovering, with the <a href="https://www.qv.co.nz/price-index/">average price now $907,387</a> – still considerably down from the peak at the turn of 2022.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>It’s worth noting, too, that record net migration gain is boosting economic measurements. In the year to October 2023, 245,600 people arrived, with 116,700 departing, for an <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/international-migration-october-2023/">annual net gain</a> of 128,900 people.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-hopes-private-investors-will-fund-social-services-the-evidence-isnt-so-optimistic-218512">The government hopes private investors will fund social services – the evidence isn't so optimistic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Room for social improvement</h2>
<p>In the year to June, <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/10/new-zealand-s-suicide-rate-increases-for-first-time-in-years.html">recorded suicides increased</a> to 565, or 10.6 people per 100,000. While an increase from 10.2 in 2022, this is still lower than the average rate over the past 14 years.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/statistics/quarterly_prison_statistics/prison_stats_september_2023">Incarceration rates</a> began to rise again, climbing to 8,893 by the end of September, moving back towards the 10,000 figure from 2020.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/maori-suicide-rates-remain-too-high-involving-whanau-more-in-coronial-inquiries-should-be-a-priority-217254">Māori suicide rates remain too high – involving whānau more in coronial inquiries should be a priority</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Child poverty appears to be <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/child-poverty-statistics-show-no-annual-change-in-the-year-ended-june-2022/">stabilising</a>, with some reports suggesting improvements in longer-term trends. While commendable, this needs to be seen in perspective: one in ten children still live in households experiencing material hardship.</p>
<p>The stock of <a href="https://www.hud.govt.nz/stats-and-insights/the-government-housing-dashboard/public-homes/">public housing</a> continues to increase. As of October, there were 80,211 public houses, an increase of 3,940 from June 2022.</p>
<p>In short, New Zealand retains some bragging rights in important areas and is making modest progress in others, but that’s far from the whole picture. The final verdict has to be: a satisfactory to good effort, but considerable room for improvement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Gillespie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand was mostly stable in key international rankings and domestic socio-economic measures. But there are signs of slippage in some areas and not enough progress in others.Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2185112023-11-27T01:50:03Z2023-11-27T01:50:03ZWhy redefining the Treaty principles would undermine real political equality in NZ<p>All three parties in New Zealand’s new coalition government went into the election promising to diminish various Māori-based policies or programs. But it was the ACT Party that went furthest, <a href="https://www.act.org.nz/act_proposes_referendum_on_co_governance">calling for a referendum</a> to redefine the “<a href="https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/WT-Principles-of-the-Treaty-of-Waitangi-as-expressed-by-the-Courts-and-the-Waitangi-Tribunal.pdf">principles</a>” of <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/the-treaty-in-brief">te Tiriti o Waitangi</a>/Treaty of Waitangi.</p>
<p>The referendum didn’t make it into the <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nationalparty/pages/18466/attachments/original/1700778592/National_ACT_Agreement.pdf?1700778592">coalition agreement</a>, but National and New Zealand First
have agreed to a Treaty Principles Bill going to a select committee for further consideration.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nationalparty/pages/18466/attachments/original/1700778597/NZFirst_Agreement_2.pdf?1700778597">NZ First</a> negotiated a review of all legislation referring to the Treaty principles and to “replace all such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty, or repeal the references”.</p>
<p>These proposals are significant because they would reverse a decades-long bipartisan trend towards increasing the Treaty/te Tiriti’s influence in public life. </p>
<h2>The Treaty and its principles</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561722/original/file-20231127-23-bl6p5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561722/original/file-20231127-23-bl6p5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561722/original/file-20231127-23-bl6p5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561722/original/file-20231127-23-bl6p5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561722/original/file-20231127-23-bl6p5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561722/original/file-20231127-23-bl6p5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1412&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561722/original/file-20231127-23-bl6p5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561722/original/file-20231127-23-bl6p5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1412&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 fragement of one copy of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Archives New Zealand via Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the past 50 years, the treaty/tiriti principles have been developed by parliament, the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal. The principles include partnership, reciprocity, mutual benefit, active protection of Māori interests, and redress for past wrongs. </p>
<p>ACT argues that these principles give people “different political rights based on birth”, meaning Māori have a bigger say in political decisions, and that this affronts political equality.</p>
<p>Others have argued the principles <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/14687968211047902">overshadow the substance</a> of te Tiriti, meaning Māori have less say, and that this is actually where inequality lies. This in turn explains why, for example, <a href="https://www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2022-12/ap22-02.pdf">Māori die</a> an average six to seven years younger than other people.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-parties-two-deals-one-government-the-stress-points-within-new-zealands-coalition-of-many-colours-217673">Three parties, two deals, one government: the stress points within New Zealand's 'coalition of many colours'</a>
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<p>When <a href="https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/treaty-of-waitangi/translation-of-te-reo-maori-text/">te Tiriti</a> was presented to Māori chiefs (rangatira) in 1840 by the Anglican missionary Henry Williams, he <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/8768416/20188postpub.pdf">stressed</a> the protection of Maori authority over their own affairs was a serious and unbreakable promise. </p>
<p>Most importantly for the current debate, people were given reasons to believe the government would not interfere with a Māori right to <em>be</em> Māori. </p>
<p>Specifically, the British Crown would establish a government (Article 1 of te Tiriti). Māori would enjoy tino rangatiratanga over their own affairs (Article 2) – the inherent authority to make decisions, not the government’s gift to take away as it pleased. </p>
<p>Māori would also enjoy the rights and privileges of British subjects (Article 3), and there would be “equality of tikanga” (cultural equality). By now, “subjecthood” has come to mean New Zealand citizenship, and the concept continues to evolve. </p>
<h2>Political equality requires cultural equality</h2>
<p>ACT’s alternative principles do not use the language developed to deal with te Tiriti’s/the Treaty’s meaning over the past 50 years. They state:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>All citizens of New Zealand have the same political rights and duties.</p></li>
<li><p>All political authority comes from the people by democratic means including universal suffrage, regular and free elections with a secret ballot.</p></li>
<li><p>New Zealand is a multi-ethnic liberal democracy where discrimination based on ethnicity is illegal.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>These could be interpreted to support the idea that cultural equality means Māori people are allowed to <em>be</em> Maori when they participate in public life. But ACT’s election campaign rhetoric, and the coalition government agreements, suggest the opposite intent.</p>
<p>The plan to abolish the <a href="https://www.futureofhealth.govt.nz/maori-health-authority/">Māori Health Authority</a> is an example. It was established in 2022 to ensure Māori experts could make decisions about funding and providing Māori primary health services. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/putting-te-tiriti-at-the-centre-of-aotearoa-new-zealands-public-policy-can-strengthen-democracy-heres-how-180305">Putting te Tiriti at the centre of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public policy can strengthen democracy – here's how</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>This was based on findings by both <a href="https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/news/report-on-stage-one-of-health-services-and-outcomes-released/">Waitangi Tribunal</a> and parliamentary <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/committees-press-releases/the-m%C4%81ori-affairs-committee-completes-its-inquiry-into-health-inequities-for-m%C4%81ori/">select committee inquiries</a> that health policies were failing Māori – partly because there was no sufficient mechanism for Māori to systematically contribute to decisions about services and delivery.</p>
<p>Health services will remain universally available. But it’s not clear they are intended to work equally well for everybody, given the government has provided no alternative to address the policy void the Māori Health Authority was intended to fill.</p>
<p>In other words, there’s no space for specific Māori leadership in making decisions about what works and why, and what should be funded as Māori primary health services. Māori culture won’t count in decision making. </p>
<p>Diminishing that cultural perspective means democratic equality is, in effect, conditional on not bringing a Māori perspective to public life.</p>
<h2>Policy that works equally well for Maori</h2>
<p>Equality means every citizen should expect a policy to work for them as well is it works for anybody else. Te Tiriti may help achieve that. But without it, there may be a gap between the language of equality and the policy intent.</p>
<p>For example, the government plans to repeal the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0024/latest/whole.html">Treaty section</a> of the law governing Oranga Tamariki, the state’s child care and protection agency. This section says te Tiriti requires Oranga Tamariki to recognise the cultural backgrounds of Māori children in its care. </p>
<p>Oranga Tamariki must also recognise it’s also the job of Māori families, iwi, hapu and other agencies to support Maori children who need care and protection.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-the-kohanga-reo-generation-and-how-could-they-change-maori-and-mainstream-politics-215694">Who are the 'kōhanga reo generation' and how could they change Māori and mainstream politics?</a>
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<p>There’s nothing in this section to support ACT’s election campaign statement that the previous government’s Treaty policies contributed to an “unequal society [where] there are two types of New Zealanders. Tangata Whenua, who are here by right, and Tangata Tiriti who are lucky to be here”. </p>
<p>This section says no more than that Māori people should expect state care and protection policies to work for them. Yet it is the only section of any legislation the government is explicitly committed to repealing. </p>
<p>To avoid doubt, and affirm the substantive equality of all people, the government could simply replace references to the Treaty with the words: “This Act will be applied to work equally well for Māori as for all other citizens.” After all, if this is not the intent of any law, then equality <em>per se</em> is not its intent either.</p>
<h2>Political authority and people</h2>
<p>ACT’s second proposed principle states that “all political authority comes from the people”. But as I argue in my recent book <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-33-4172-2">Sharing the Sovereign</a>, that means <em>all</em> people must be able to express that authority in ways that are personally meaningful. </p>
<p>People’s actual experience of the democratic system must give them reasons to believe it works as well for them as for anyone else. Those reasons cannot arise –for anyone – in a cultural void. </p>
<p>We all think and reason about what governments should do, and what they should leave for others, through a cultural lens. If some people may only participate in public life through a cultural lens someone else has imposed, then they are not among the people from whom “all political authority comes”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218511/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic O'Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ACT Party claims revisiting the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi is about political equality. But removing a Māori cultural dimension to New Zealand’s democracy would have an opposite effect.Dominic O'Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2147362023-10-15T04:45:46Z2023-10-15T04:45:46ZBetween state and mosque: new book explores the turbulent history of Islamic politics in Mozambique<p><em><a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/dp/2014/afr1404.pdf">Mozambique</a> is a multi-religious southern African nation with excellent relations between faiths. Relations between Muslims and the state have been good too. But the situation became more complicated <a href="https://theconversation.com/mozambiques-own-version-of-boko-haram-is-tightening-its-deadly-grip-98087">in 2017</a> when a bloody jihadist insurgency broke out in the north. Eric Morier-Genoud has published extensively on politics and religion in Mozambique. His latest book, <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/towards-jihad/">Towards Jihad? Muslims and Politics in Postcolonial Mozambique</a>, looks at the historical relationship between Islam and politics in the country. He fielded some questions from The Conversation Africa.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>When was Islam introduced to Mozambique?</h2>
<p>Islam has a very old presence in Mozambique. It is estimated to have arrived within the first century of the start of the faith, with Arab, Ottoman and Persian traders. It settled at once during and after the 8th century among new Swahili networks, cultures and societies that developed on the east African coast between Somalia and what is today Mozambique. </p>
<p>Expansion of the Islamic faith inland was slow and only made significant progress in the 19th and 20th centuries. This was the time when European colonial powers occupied Africa, building new infrastructure such as roads and railways that helped the spread of different faiths. </p>
<p>At <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique/Mozambique-under-the-New-State-regime">independence in 1975</a>, Muslims represented 15% of the population of Mozambique. The latest census indicates it stood at 19% <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique/Religion">in 2017</a>. Today Muslims live mostly on the coast and in the north of the country. A majority of the population of Niassa and Cabo Delgado provinces are Muslim, as are 40% of the population of Nampula province.</p>
<h2>What’s been the political experience of Muslims since independence?</h2>
<p>A majority of Muslims, like all other religious people in the country, were in favour of independence. But when Frelimo, the liberation movement, came to power at independence in 1975, its policy was socialist-oriented and the government turned against religion. Frelimo saw faith as a superstition and an impediment to its programme. It closed churches near state and educational institutions, restricted religious practice, and even ran atheist campaigns between 1978 and 1980. </p>
<p>In the 1980s, the Frelimo party-state shifted towards tolerance, meaning a policy of minor religious restrictions and a strict separation between state and church/mosque. Frelimo party members were prohibited from being members of a religious institution. Faith institutions were ordered to focus on religion only. </p>
<p>In the 1990s, after the end of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/question/How-did-the-Cold-War-end">Cold War</a> and the official abandonment of socialism, the Frelimo government moved towards a freer religious regime. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the post-socialist <a href="https://www.portaldogoverno.gov.mz/por/Governo/Legislacao/Constituicao-da-Republica-de-Mocambique">1990 constitution</a> did not allow political parties based on regionalism, ethnicity or religion. So there’s a limit to what Muslims can do politically for their faith.</p>
<p>A law to recognise Muslim religious holidays in the 1990s was blocked by the Supreme Court in the name of secularism. Muslims argued this was unfair since Christmas is an official holiday, although called <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?country=126">“family day”</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly in the 2000s Muslim politicians (organised in a formal cross-party lobby in parliament) struggled to influence a new law to define the family, inheritance rights and women’s rights. </p>
<p>Consequently, many Islamic organisations and politicians have moved away from politics in the last two decades, to focus on education, social works and proselytism.</p>
<h2>What led to the current insurgency?</h2>
<p>There is much debate about the causes of the jihadi insurgency in northern Mozambique. <a href="https://www.iese.ac.mz/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/cadernos_17.pdf">Researchers</a> have identified poverty, youth marginalisation, ethnicity and religion as push factors. </p>
<p>The pull factor is a jihadi project of more justice and equality through sharia law and a caliphate. It offers an alternative plan for state and society, and a path to it through violence. The insurgency developed regionally (in connection with Tanzanian jihadis) and the insurgents connected formally to the Islamic State, the <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/08/11/how-al-qaeda-and-islamic-state-are-digging-into-africa">international terrorist group</a>, in early 2018. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mozambican-terror-group-is-strikingly-similar-to-nigerias-deadly-boko-haram-201039">Mozambican terror group is strikingly similar to Nigeria's deadly Boko Haram</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>My book shows that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Mozambique do not want full sharia law and a caliphate. Nor do they accept the violence used to achieve these objectives. </p>
<p>The insurgents have nevertheless settled militarily in the extreme north, where they have established bases in deep forests and rely on Islamic State for some technical support and public relations.</p>
<h2>What support, if any, do the insurgents enjoy in Mozambique?</h2>
<p>Insurgents enjoy hardly any support nationally. Locally, they draw some support from networks they established, from long-held local grievances, and from mistakes the state, the army and the police have made since the start of the conflict. </p>
<p>Other dynamics have come into play, including displacement, violence, uncertainty and fear. Today, the “Al-Shabaab” insurgents (as they are known in Mozambique) operate in a territory of about 30,000 square kilometres which represents less than half of the province of Cabo Delgado (one of the 11 provinces of Mozambique). </p>
<p>This is a very limited territory, but one where crucial economic projects are located. Among others, private investment is unfolding for the production of onshore and offshore LNG gas, and companies have developed graphite projects that have turned Mozambique into the second largest world producer of this mineral. </p>
<p>The insurgents have hardly expanded since they began their armed insurrection in October 2017. In 2021 they carried out attacks in Niassa and Nampula, but they withdrew rapidly. It is not clear whether they chose not to expand, or whether the government and its <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/06/regional-security-support-vital-first-step-peace-mozambique">international allies</a> have been effective in containing them. Still, the armed conflict continues today, six years on.</p>
<h2>How can the peace be restored?</h2>
<p>This is a topic of debate. The government has been active mostly militarily, with an international intervention since 2021. It wants to root out those it calls international “terrorists”. </p>
<p>Many commentators and partners of Mozambique believe that to resolve the conflict, one also needs to address the root causes: poverty, youth marginalisation and ethnicity. Donors and the Mozambican government have started social and economic programmes focusing on youth and on economic development in the north of Mozambique. Even private companies such as TotalEnergie want to engage in such programmes.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/catalogue-of-failures-behind-growing-humanitarian-crisis-in-northern-mozambique-149343">Catalogue of failures behind growing humanitarian crisis in northern Mozambique</a>
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<p>An element which has not been touched upon yet relates to the pull factors. There are several possibilities. One would be for the state and civil society to develop a reflection and consultation about the future of the country and about inclusion and representation. It could look at social, economic, political, historical, cultural, and religious elements, aiming to establish a medium-term “agenda for the nation”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214736/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Morier-Genoud does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The overwhelming majority of Muslims in Mozambique reject the violence of the insurgents and their quest for a caliphate.Eric Morier-Genoud, Reader in African history, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2103432023-08-02T13:27:23Z2023-08-02T13:27:23ZSouth Africa’s new Marriage Bill raises many thorny issues - a balancing act is needed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539927/original/file-20230728-16043-9x88ao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brides attend a mass wedding ceremony at the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, south of Johannesburg.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ihsaan Haffejee/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa is changing its marriage law to recognise all types of intimate partnerships – irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, or religious, cultural and other beliefs. </p>
<p>The Department of Home Affairs has <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/department-home-affairs-invites-public-submit-written-comments-draft-marriage-bill-11-jul">invited public comment</a> on the <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/marriage-bill-draft-7-jul-2023-0000">Draft Marriage Bill 2022</a>. The bill amends some marriage laws, and prescribes what’s required for marriages to be considered valid, forms of registration, and the property consequences of marriage. As the <a href="https://static.pmg.org.za/48914_7-7_HomeAffairs-4-28.pdf#page=3">preamble</a> shows, it seeks to promote liberal values of equality, nondiscrimination, human dignity and freedom of thought. </p>
<p>While it is innovative for bringing all forms of intimate partnerships under one piece of legislation, the bill raises thorny questions. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/liberalism">Liberalism</a> – or openness to different behaviour, opinions or new ideas – is a strange beast. It pushes accepted conduct to its limits.</p>
<p>For instance, if the bill truly seeks equity, why does it not recognise intimate partnerships such as cohabitation? Why does <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202307/48914gon3648.pdf#page=20">section 22(6)</a> criminalise marriage between people who are related to each other by adoption or by blood (to certain degrees)?</p>
<p>I have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JgVz0yUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researched</a> these issues, notably as a member of the Advisory Committee on Matrimonial Property of the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/Salrc/ipapers/ip41-prj100E-MatrimonialPropertyLawReview-6Sep2021.pdf">South African Law Reform Commission</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-relevance-of-african-customary-law-in-modern-times-150762">Understanding the relevance of African customary law in modern times</a>
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<p>I believe that even though the bill promotes important constitutional values, it does not sufficiently reflect changing social and economic conditions. Specifically, it ignores polyandry – marriage of a woman to more than one man – and unmarried partnerships. This is significant because other laws recognise <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a17-061.pdf">civil unions</a>, which include formalised marriage-like partnerships of same-sex couples.</p>
<h2>The thorny issues</h2>
<p>Firstly, radical socioeconomic changes require society to reevaluate traditional assumptions about accepted forms of relationships. Due to urbanisation and the interaction of different cultures, relationships such as cohabitation and polyandry are rising. A couple could live together for reasons such as exorbitant rent, distance to workplaces, and prohibitively high bridewealth (<em>ilobolo</em>). </p>
<p>The bill doesn’t recognise such intimate partnerships, which the Constitutional Court has accorded the same legal status as formal marriages. As the court has <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2021/51.html">acknowledged</a>, unmarried partnerships have serious implications for finances, human dignity, property ownership and child custody.</p>
<p>Secondly, the Marriage Bill <a href="https://static.pmg.org.za/48914_7-7_HomeAffairs-4-28.pdf#page=8">defines</a> <em>ilobolo</em> as</p>
<blockquote>
<p>property in cash or in kind … which a prospective husband or the head of his family undertakes to give to the head of the prospective wife’s family in consideration of a customary marriage.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This implies that only (traditionally male) family heads can receive it. The definition does not anticipate a role for women, as happens among the Galole Orma people of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2744433">northeastern Kenya</a>.</p>
<p>Also, the position of family head could be disputed where the mother is divorced and raised the bride alone. As far back as 1997, the Transvaal High Court <a href="https://www.bbrief.co.za/content/uploads/2019/11/Mabena-v-Letsoalo-1998.pdf">ruled</a> that the bride’s mother could negotiate and receive <em>ilobolo</em>. The bill should therefore redefine bridewealth as “money, property, or anything of value given by the groom or his family to the bride’s family in consideration of marriage and/or to symbolise a union between the groom and bride’s families”.</p>
<p>This definition is consistent with the decreasing role of the extended family in the education or raising of the bride. Uncles and aunts should not benefit from bridewealth if they did not assist in raising the bride. </p>
<p>Thirdly, the bill is silent on the coexistence of a civil law marriage with a customary or religious marriage. For reasons like legal certainty and communal respect, <a href="https://www.saflii.org/za/journals/SPECJU/2018/14.pdf">double marriage is common</a>. Previously, if a couple in a civil marriage subsequently concluded a customary or religious marriage, the state regarded the latter marriage as invalid. </p>
<p>The bill creates ambiguity because it does not stipulate the fate of a subsequent customary or religious marriage. This could affect inheritance, property and child custody because legal systems may govern these issues differently.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-courts-and-lawmakers-have-failed-the-ideal-of-cultural-diversity-91508">South Africa's courts and lawmakers have failed the ideal of cultural diversity</a>
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<p>Furthermore, the bill defines polygamous marriage as “a marriage in which a male spouse has more than one spouse at the same time”. This patriarchal definition does not promote equality. It implies that a woman should not marry more than one man. </p>
<p>Finally, the bill imposes an omnibus standard for divorce on all marriages. This standard may complicate divorce under Islamic and customary law, where the standard is relaxed. Also, <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202307/48914gon3648.pdf#page=19">section 21(1)</a> of the bill states that a marriage may be dissolved by the “continuous unconsciousness of one of the spouses,” without specifying how long a spouse must be unconscious following an injury, for example.</p>
<p>If the thorny issues in the bill are not addressed, the eventual legislation could be challenged as discriminatory. Its amendment would then drain the public purse. </p>
<h2>A balancing act</h2>
<p>Significantly, the bill emerged from the 2022 <a href="http://www.dha.gov.za/images/PDFs/White-Paper-on-Marriage-in-SA-5-May2022.pdf">White Paper on marriages and life partnerships</a>. The advisory committee that worked on the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/salrc/dpapers/dp152-prj144-SingleMarriageStatute-Jan2021.pdf">Single Marriage Statute (Project 144)</a> proposed two options for regulating life partnerships in its discussion paper.</p>
<p>These are a <a href="https://www.lssa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/SALRC-discussion-paper-152-on-single-marriage-statute-plus-media-release.pdf">Protected Relationships Bill and a Recognition and Registration of Marriages and Life Partnerships Bill</a>. It appears Home Affairs did not add life partnerships to the bill because it is controversial. But legislative avoidance is unhelpful because it <a href="https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1727-37812021000100048">postpones inevitable problems</a>. The Constitutional Court <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2021/51.html">recognises</a> the right of a woman in a life partnership to inherit or claim maintenance from her deceased partner’s estate. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lgbtq-rights-african-union-watchdog-goes-back-on-its-own-word-197555">LGBTQ+ rights: African Union watchdog goes back on its own word</a>
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<p>Ultimately, new forms of relationships demand legislative recognition. Law reform should be carefully handled to ensure that non-discriminatory cultural and religious practices <a href="https://repository.uwc.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10566/7355/Diala_law_2021.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">are respected</a>. The bill should strike a balance between preserving these practices, promoting liberal values, and recognising the evolving realities of contemporary relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Diala receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Number 136532). </span></em></p>The Marriage Bill should strike a balance between preserving non-discriminatory cultural and religious practices and promoting liberal values.Anthony Diala, Director, Centre for Legal Integration in Africa, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2102932023-08-01T14:46:56Z2023-08-01T14:46:56ZSudan needs to accept its cultural diversity: urban planning can help rebuild the country and prevent future conflict<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539757/original/file-20230727-17-efhzbn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Smoke rises above buildings in Sudan's capital Khartoum in June 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sudan is rich in cultural, ethnic and racial diversity. The country’s <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population/SD">48 million people</a> come from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13698280500423908">56 ethnic groups, with over 595 sub-ethnic groups, speaking more than 115 languages</a>. </p>
<p>This plurality has shaped urban development patterns and the country’s socio-political landscape. </p>
<p>Take, for instance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/khartoum-the-creation-and-the-destruction-of-a-modern-african-city-205705">Khartoum</a>. The Sudanese capital <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-politique-africaine-2005-4-page-302.htm">historically</a> drew traders from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Each placed a <a href="https://jur.journals.ekb.eg/article_88400.html">distinctive stamp</a> on the cityscape. </p>
<p>These range from Ottoman-style Islamic architecture to the narrow alleys, small windows and colourful clothes peculiar to African ethnic groups. The city symbolises Sudan’s cultural mosaic in architecture and urban planning.</p>
<p>However, Khartoum is also a domain of <a href="https://www.altaghyeer.info/ar/2020/12/02/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8E%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%8A/">ethnic and cultural division</a>.</p>
<p>This dates back to the period of the <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/mahdist-state-mahdiyya">Mahdist state (Mahdiyya)</a>, which ruled Sudan from 1881 to 1898 and challenged the colonial ambitions of Britain and Egypt. The Mahdist state made <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Omdurman">Omdurman (Umm Durman)</a> its new capital on the western side of the River Nile, and developed the city around the <a href="https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781782821151">ethnic structure of its army</a>. </p>
<p>A colonial plan for <a href="https://repozytorium.biblos.pk.edu.pl/redo/resources/28522/file/suwFiles/HassanS_UrbanPlanning.pdf#page=3">Khartoum followed in 1910</a>, triggered by the governor-general of Sudan, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Horatio-Herbert-Kitchener-1st-Earl-Kitchener">Horatio Kitchener</a>. It had <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268280184_alywm_alalmy_ltkhtyt_almdn_althdyat_w_almalat_fy_almdn_alswdanyt">three segregated zones</a> to accommodate Europeans, elites and ordinary locals. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/khartoum-the-creation-and-the-destruction-of-a-modern-african-city-205705">Khartoum: the creation and the destruction of a modern African city</a>
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<p>These decades of interplay between diversity and urban planning in Sudan fostered vibrant cityscapes. But spatial segregation has continued, creating <a href="https://docs.southsudanngoforum.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Luka-Biong-Deng-Kuol-When-Ethnic-Diversity-Becomes-a-Curse-in-Africa-The-Tale-of-Two-Sudans.pdf">socio-cultural divisions and uneven urban growth</a>. </p>
<p>Drawing on my experiences as an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ibrahim-Bahreldin">educator, researcher and practitioner in urbanism in Sudan</a>, I argue that failure to use urban planning to manage diversity has worsened ethnic and racial divisions. It has fanned <a href="https://theconversation.com/darfur-how-historical-patterns-of-conflict-are-haunting-current-violence-144423">conflict and discontent</a> in Sudanese society.</p>
<h2>Embracing diversity</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268280184_alywm_alalmy_ltkhtyt_almdn_althdyat_w_almalat_fy_almdn_alswdanyt">Urban planning</a> is supposed to improve residents’ quality of life. It strategically organises physical spaces and land use. It optimises resources and livelihoods, and promotes social equity. </p>
<p>It holds immense potential to manage diversity and reconstruct a resilient and prosperous Sudan. </p>
<p>This isn’t to say urban planning can single-handedly resolve <a href="https://theconversation.com/sudan-crisis-explained-whats-behind-the-latest-fighting-and-how-it-fits-nations-troubled-past-203985">Sudan’s conflict</a>. Peace requires a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-makes-peace-talks-successful-the-4-factors-that-matter-206299">shared commitment</a> to silence the guns and build political stability and security. </p>
<p>Yet the way diversity is managed makes it either a virtue or a <a href="https://docs.southsudanngoforum.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Luka-Biong-Deng-Kuol-When-Ethnic-Diversity-Becomes-a-Curse-in-Africa-The-Tale-of-Two-Sudans.pdf">curse</a>. </p>
<p>In my view, there are three avenues through which urban planning can positively manage diversity to help prevent conflict: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>by celebrating multiculturalism.</p></li>
<li><p>by boosting regional integration and resource management.</p></li>
<li><p>by ensuring effective governance and public participation in urban spaces.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What Sudan got wrong</h2>
<p>Colonial and post-independence planning practices in Sudan attempted to forge a <a href="https://www.saflii.org/za/journals/AHRLJ/2013/17.html">national identity</a>. However, this was done by <a href="https://docs.southsudanngoforum.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Luka-Biong-Deng-Kuol-When-Ethnic-Diversity-Becomes-a-Curse-in-Africa-The-Tale-of-Two-Sudans.pdf">suppressing ethnic diversity</a>, and disintegrating cultural values and their spatial footprints. </p>
<p>After independence from Egypt and Britain in 1956, Sudan’s ruling elites rejected the demand from southern Sudan for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/federalism">a federal system</a>. This would have created a united Sudan but allowed different regions to maintain their integrity, culture and traditions. The ruling elite instead adopted an “Arab Islamic” identity to create a <a href="https://docs.southsudanngoforum.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Luka-Biong-Deng-Kuol-When-Ethnic-Diversity-Becomes-a-Curse-in-Africa-The-Tale-of-Two-Sudans.pdf">homogeneous society</a>. </p>
<p>This was among the reasons for the eruption of the <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sudanese-civil-wars">first civil war in southern Sudan in 1955</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/darfur-tracing-the-origins-of-the-regions-strife-and-suffering-131931">Darfur: tracing the origins of the region's strife and suffering</a>
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<p>And in Darfur, infringements of communal land ownership rights <a href="https://metropolitics.org/Land-Insecurity-in-Khartoum-When-Land-Titles-Fail-to-Protect-Against-Public.html">fuelled violent conflict</a>. This extended to <a href="https://docs.southsudanngoforum.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Luka-Biong-Deng-Kuol-When-Ethnic-Diversity-Becomes-a-Curse-in-Africa-The-Tale-of-Two-Sudans.pdf">southern Sudan</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287221183_Urban_agriculture_facing_land_pressure_in_Greater_Khartoum_The_case_of_new_real_estate_projects_in_Tuti_and_Abu_Se'id">Khartoum</a>. </p>
<p>The Khartoum <a href="https://www.icnl.org/wp-content/uploads/Sudan_Khartoum1998.pdf">Public Order Act</a> of 1996 (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50596805">repealed in 2019</a>) was another misjudgement. It <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/5194">discriminated against citizens</a> based on their cultural and gender identities. The public order rules were <a href="https://redress.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/report-Final.pdf#page=5">vague and open-ended</a>, leaving them open to exploitation for social control.</p>
<h2>Rebuilding a post-war Sudan</h2>
<p>Urban planning should follow the principles of economic, social and physical integration. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Economic integration ensures equal access to employment, education and resources. </p></li>
<li><p>Social integration provides affordable housing, diverse neighbourhoods and accessible social infrastructure. </p></li>
<li><p>Physical integration encourages social interaction and breaks down barriers. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>These principles help create vibrant, harmonious cities that cater to the needs of diverse populations and future generations. They can be put into practice through three avenues.</p>
<p><strong>1. Celebrating multiculturalism and diversity</strong> </p>
<p>This requires <a href="https://www.cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/the-power-of-diversity?category_id=cgrn&path=cgrn%2F209%2F215">rethinking urban spaces to embrace inclusivity</a>, particularly where ethnocultural ties transcend national boundaries. Inclusive neighbourhoods, mixed-use developments and accessible public spaces promote interaction and foster belonging. Such developments help build understanding, empathy and trust among different communities, preventing community fracturing that <a href="https://theconversation.com/darfur-tracing-the-origins-of-the-regions-strife-and-suffering-131931">leads to unrest</a>. </p>
<p><strong>2. Regional integration and resource management</strong></p>
<p>Sudan has experienced <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269336771_Khartoum_2030_Towards_An_Environmentally-Sensitive_Vision_for_the_Development_of_Greater_Khartoum_Sudan">unequal urban growth and the depopulation of rural areas</a>. To address this, the country’s long-term development visions and plans should aim for equitable development. These plans should take into account marginalised regions which may have ethnic populations that extend beyond national borders. A planning vision that transcends the scope of a single nation and seeks a regional approach is indispensable. Regional integration can restructure urban spaces, mobility systems and production patterns. This would foster self-sufficiency and integration. </p>
<p>Urban planning can also address resource management concerns – such as land ownership and economic opportunities – that trigger tension and conflict. Transparent mechanisms for resource allocation can help mitigate conflict arising from scarce resources. In Sudan, this would have helped improve regional employment prospects, reducing a <a href="https://theconversation.com/sudan-created-a-paramilitary-force-to-destroy-government-threats-but-it-became-a-major-threat-itself-203974">reliance on paramilitary activities</a> for income.</p>
<p><strong>3. Effective governance and public participation</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261996322_A_Critical_Evaluation_of_Public_Participation_in_the_Sudanese_Planning_Mandates">Participatory urban planning</a> improves governance. It empowers historically marginalised groups like young people, women, rural communities, informal settlers and minorities through public engagement. This enables them to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262008475_Evaluation_of_Two_Types_of_Community_Participation_In_Development_Projects_A_Case_Study_of_The_Sudanese_Neighbourhood_of_Al-Shigla">address their grievances and secure opportunities for meaningful dialogue</a>. The process generates enthusiasm for shaping, financing and managing urban spaces. </p>
<p>Public engagement harnesses local knowledge and culture. It advocates for policy transformation to address systematic inequalities and safeguard rights. Transparent and accountable governance complements these arrangements, promoting equality and preventing tension.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ibrahim Bahreldin is a member of the Sudanese Institute of Architects and the City Planning Institute of Japan, and is registered as a professional architect and urban planner with the Sudanese Engineering Council and the Saudi Council of Engineers. He is also affiliated with the University of Khartoum in Sudan. Ibrahim does not work for, consult, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article.</span></em></p>The interplay between diversity and urban planning in Sudan has created vibrant cityscapes, but also led to segregation and division.Ibrahim Z. Bahreldin, Associate Professor of Urban & Environmental Design, King Abdulaziz University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2102472023-07-26T22:47:09Z2023-07-26T22:47:09ZThe progress of women in the workplace is at a standstill. How can we break through the glass ceiling?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539041/original/file-20230724-27-ph4kyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C1899%2C1200&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The progression of women in organizations is undermined by stereotypes and prejudices.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women are promoted less than men because they are deemed to have less leadership potential than men. </p>
<p>These are the findings <a href="https://danielle-li.github.io/assets/docs/PotentialAndTheGenderPromotionGap.pdf">of a study published in 2022</a> by professors Alan Benson of the University of Minnesota, Danielle Li of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Kelly Shue of Yale University and the NBER. Their conclusion is based on the consultation of 30,000 performance evaluation forms of employees working in a large American retail chain.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/women-arent-promoted-because-managers-underestimate-their-potential">Prof. Shue</a>, performance assessment is generally very factual and based on very concrete evaluation criteria. Assessing leadership potential, on the other hand, is more subjective and can give free rein to the biases that shape the perception of leadership as conceived by those who carry out these assessments.</p>
<p>“What we commonly talk about in terms of management and potential are characteristics such as assertiveness, execution skills, charisma, leadership and ambition. These are, I believe, real traits. They are also very subjective and stereotypical, associated with male leaders. What we have seen in the data is a fairly strong bias against women in assessments of potential.”</p>
<p>According to these researchers, women’s evaluations of their promotion potential are getting progressively lower than men’s as they rise through the ranks of the organization, leading to an increasingly solid glass ceiling.</p>
<p>This is what we’ve seen when we’ve looked at the presence of women in senior management positions for decades, notably as I have, as dean and executive-in-residence at the John Molson School of Business, as well as co-director of the Barry F. Lorenzetti Centre for Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership. Things are not changing fast. <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022">According to a recent World Economic Forum report on gender inequality in the world</a>, at this rate, it would take another 132 years (compared to 136 in 2021) to close the gender gap.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
À lire aussi :
<a href="https://theconversation.com/avec-les-nouvelles-generations-il-faut-voir-autrement-les-cheminements-de-carriere-surtout-ceux-des-femmes-200201">Avec les nouvelles générations, il faut voir autrement les cheminements de carrière – surtout ceux des femmes</a>
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<hr>
<h2>A better work-life balance</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/ca/%7E/media/mckinsey/locations/north%20america/canada/gender%20diversity%20at%20work/gender_diversity_at_work_in_canada.pdf">the consulting firm McKinsey</a> illustrates, only 30 per cent of senior management positions and only five per cent of CEO positions in Canada are held by women, <a href="https://www.securities-administrators.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022oct27-58-314-avis-acvmWOB.pdf">according to a census by the Canadian Securities Administrators</a>.</p>
<p>In addition to perception issues, there are a number of other factors that explain the scarcity of female talent in senior management. These include the demands of balancing work and family, women’s choices for a better life balance, disillusionment about their chances of accessing these strategic positions, and so on.</p>
<p>However, we will be focusing on the following two questions, which were addressed <a href="https://women-initiative-foundation.com/en/the-foundation/">at our last master’s class for the Women Initiative Foundation</a>, which took place in May at the John Molson School of Business:</p>
<p>1) Is there a trend towards a new conception of leadership that is more multidimensional and parity-based and that fosters greater equity?</p>
<p>2) Can women be more proactive in their quest to make a greater impact at the highest levels of decision-making?</p>
<h2>For a new leadership type</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemie-les-femmes-font-elles-de-meilleures-leaders-137048">In an article published on <em>La Conversation</em></a> in April 2020, which I co-authored with Anne-Marie Croteau, dean of the John Molson School of Business, we reflected on the challenges of the 21st century that will characterize the evolution of leadership. </p>
<p>More specifically, we referred to climate change, health, the environment and the depletion of the Earth’s resources, the aging population, the shortage of talent and the development of new technologies. All these major factors are reshaping the game and calling for a new type of leadership, different from the command-and-control approach which marked the last century.</p>
<p>This new type of leadership draws heavily on resilience, courage, flexibility, listening, empathy, collaboration, benevolence and recognition of the collective contribution. The involvement of everyone’s intelligence becomes the key to success. As parity in management functions is gradually taking place, these other leadership characteristics are emerging.</p>
<p>In order to overcome the obstacles of the 21st century and achieve success, organizations need to diversify their pool of talent as much as possible, particularly in terms of gender. It is now high time to review the definition of leadership to make it more multidimensional, referring to all the qualities it must include and promote.</p>
<h2>Career-boosting mandates</h2>
<p>Given this move towards a new approach to leadership among today’s managers, we can ask ourselves about the opportunities that women can seize to raise their profile within organizations and develop their expertise. </p>
<p>One of the strategies that deserves attention <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/06/21st-century-talent-spotting">is the acceptance of mandates that we will call career boosters</a>, and which can be defined as follows: a short-term role that enables the acquisition of new strategic knowledge while creating significant added value for the organization.</p>
<p><a href="https://hbr.org/2014/06/21st-century-talent-spotting">According to a study carried out among senior business executives</a>, 71 per cent of respondents identified these types of mandates as having been their career boosters. Another <a href="https://www.kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/strategy-activation-planning-leadership-development-journey">study by the consultancy Korn Ferry</a> even described these types of roles as the most valuable career acceleration experience, ahead of mentoring, training and even networking with more experienced leaders.</p>
<h2>Raising awareness in organizations</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, this type of special assignment is offered more frequently to men than to women, with administrative assignments (note-taking, event organization, making coffee for meetings) being the most frequently offered to women <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/women-serve-coffee-at-work-how-to-say-no_l_5d35c9bfe4b004b6adb352a5">as well as those that do not lead to promotion</a>.</p>
<p>Organizations have a duty to be mindful of this discrepancy by documenting the assignment of such mandates by gender, highlighting the inequities that such an assignment process can engender, linking the granting of such mandates to individual performance and, above all, consciously offering more such mandates to women in order to correct these unconscious prejudices.</p>
<p>It’s possible to break through the glass ceiling, but succeeding in this major challenge requires a fresh look at leadership. Opportunities for career acceleration must be offered to people of all genders. Our organizations also need to become more aware of the hidden inequities embedded in promotion processes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210247/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>To counter stereotypes and prejudices of women at work, we need to take a fresh look at leadership and encourage career-boosting mandates.Louise Champoux-Paillé, Cadre en exercice, John Molson School of Business, Concordia UniversityAnne-Marie Croteau, Dean, John Molson School of Business, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2083542023-06-30T19:18:54Z2023-06-30T19:18:54Z‘We the People’ includes all Americans – but July 4 is a reminder that democracy remains a work in progress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535045/original/file-20230630-19-9rx4tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When the Constitution was written, the term 'We the People' had a very limited application for voting rights.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/108914576/photo/a-protestor-holding-a-placard-in-front-of-the-us-capitol-building.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=On4svGb-O5Cv9XvMXuS4wV-FzqfSsO0ZdpW4o5yzjNM=">Antenna/Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United States’ founders firmly rejected King George III and the entire idea of monarchy 247 years ago, on July 4, 1776. </p>
<p>Political power does not come from some absolute authority of a king over people, the founders argued. Rather, political power comes from the <a href="https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/federalist-no-39">people themselves</a>. And these people must <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript">agree to any authority</a> <a href="https://academy4sc.org/video/representative-vs-direct-democracy-power-of-the-people/">governing their society</a>. </p>
<p>This is why the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript">U.S. Constitution</a> starts with the words “We the People,” and not “I, the ruler.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joseph-Jones-8">I am</a> a historian, ethicist and media scholar <a href="https://www.psu.edu/news/bellisario-college-communications/story/dissertation-focused-food-journalism-earns-annual-davis/">and have studied</a> how people build communities.</p>
<p>America’s founders did not trust everyone’s ability to equally participate in the <a href="https://www.ushistory.org/gov/1c.asp">new democracy</a>, as laws at the time showed. </p>
<p>But, because of policy changes on issues like voting, the idea of who actually is represented in the phrase “We the People” has <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/we-people-united-states">changed over time</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting depicts men dressed in old fashioned clothing in a large room crowded around some men on a raised platform." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535047/original/file-20230630-41655-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and other founders prepare to sign the Constitution in 1787.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/525372757/photo/signing-the-us-constitution.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=fUS2e0GJevIjoW2km_VDY6Y7syikiU8nt-86W9eXopM=">GraphicaArtis/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>First steps</h2>
<p>In 1776, only <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/the-founders-and-the-vote/">white men who owned property</a> had the right to vote.</p>
<p>“Few men, who have no property, have any judgment of their own,” as former President John Adams <a href="https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1645">wrote in 1776</a>.</p>
<p>As activists – including <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/women-who-fought-for-the-vote-1">some women</a> and <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote/people">Black Americans</a> – proclaimed their equality, <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606970.pdf">public education spread</a>, and <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/voting-rights-throughout-history/">social thinking shifted</a>. </p>
<p>By about 1860, all state legislatures had lifted <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/the-founders-and-the-vote/">property requirement for voting</a>. Allowing only wealthy property owners to vote did not align with the democratic notion that “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/the-founders-and-the-vote/">all men are created equal</a>.” </p>
<p>While some states, <a href="https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-8-1-b-who-voted-in-early-america">like Vermont</a>, eliminated the property voting requirement in the 18th century, this shift became more popular in the 1820s and the 1830s. </p>
<p>Congress passed the 15th Amendment in 1870, <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/15th-amendment">giving Black men</a> and others the right to vote, regardless of race.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-native-americans/">that amendment still excluded</a> some people, chiefly Native Americans and women. </p>
<h2>An unfinished history</h2>
<p>Despite the 15th Amendment, violence and intimidation in some states still <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-african-americans/#:%7E:text=Until%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20struck,people%20whose%20ancestors%20were%20slaves.">prevented Black men from voting</a>.</p>
<p>State lawmakers also used bureaucratic measures, such as a poll tax, renewed attempts at a property requirement and literacy tests, to prevent African Americans from voting. </p>
<p>The fight over <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote">African American suffrage</a> continued for decades, and many courageous Americans protested and were arrested or killed in the struggle to exercise their voting rights. </p>
<p>Thanks to the work of <a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/voting-rights/">civil rights activists</a> – including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Lewis-American-civil-rights-leader-and-politician">John Lewis</a>, <a href="https://time.com/5692775/fannie-lou-hamer/">Fannie Lou Hamer</a> and <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/mlk-topic/voter-registration">Marting Luther King Jr.</a> – public opinion shifted. </p>
<p>In the 1960s, Congress passed additional legal measures to protect the voting rights of Black Americans. This included the <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-24/">24th Amendment</a>, which outlawed the use of poll taxes, and the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act">1965 Voting Rights Act</a>, which prohibited any racial discrimination in voting. </p>
<h2>Women’s turn</h2>
<p>In 1920, <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-women/">women gained</a> the right to vote with the addition of the 19th Amendment, following another decadeslong struggle.</p>
<p>Women’s rights activists made the first organized call for female suffrage at the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/july-19/">Seneca Falls Convention in 1848</a>. </p>
<p>In the following years, suffragists pushed for <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage">constitutional amendments, state laws and a change in public thinking</a> to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23001287">include women</a> in “We the People.” </p>
<h2>Native American rights</h2>
<p>Having self-governed for centuries, Native Americans were not legally recognized with voting rights until Congress approved the <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-in-1924-all-indians-made-united-states-citizens">Indian Citizenship Act</a> in 1924.</p>
<p>While that supposedly gave Native Americans the same rights as other Americans, <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-native-americans/">Native Americans faced the same tactics</a>, like violence, that white racists used to prevent Black Americans from voting. </p>
<p>Like other people excluded from “We the People,” <a href="https://medium.com/indigenously/meet-the-indigenous-women-who-fought-for-the-vote-ecdc335fb29f">Native Americans</a> have continued to push for voting rights and other ways to ensure <a href="https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/history-of-native-american-voting-rights">they are included in American self-government</a>. </p>
<h2>Making democracy more democratic</h2>
<p>In 1971 “We the People” again expanded, to include younger people, with the <a href="https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/37022">lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18</a>. The ongoing <a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/winning-vote-history-voting-rights">Vietnam War shifted public opinion</a>, and there was popular support for the idea that someone old enough to die fighting for their country should also be able to vote. </p>
<p>A government once described by Abraham Lincoln as “<a href="https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm">of the people, by the people, and for the people</a>” was now going to technically include all of the people.</p>
<p>But equality for women, young people and racially marginalized groups did not change overnight. </p>
<p>Social equality remains far off for many people, including undocumented immigrants, for example, and LGBTQ+ individuals.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person walks past a white sign that says 'Vote here.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535049/original/file-20230630-17-732pno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While some states have it made it harder to vote in recent years, others have made it easier.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1204917011/photo/voters-in-14-states-head-to-the-polls-on-super-tuesday.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=x4w0NYntBddlGQ41pzexXLAg9bTXcyG8Es8oaEbou60=">Stephen Maturen/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Current limitations to ‘We the People’</h2>
<p>The government has recognized that citizens over the age of 18 have a right to participate in self-government. But there are still political and legal attempts to <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-june-2023">restrict people’s</a> ability to vote. </p>
<p>While some states have passed new laws that make it harder to vote in recent years, other states have made it easier. </p>
<p>North Carolina passed new <a href="https://www.wbtv.com/2023/04/28/nc-supreme-court-reverses-previous-opinion-deems-voter-id-law-constitutional/">ID requirements</a> in April 2023 that make it difficult for those without current state identification to vote.</p>
<p><a href="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/politics/2023/04/03/bill-aims-to-purge-texas-voters-if-they-skip-elections">Texas</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ga-state-wire-georgia-election-2020-voter-registration-business-a916e90db938aa60a4eff3d00d391006">Georgia</a>, <a href="https://oklahomawatch.org/2019/04/22/nearly-90000-inactive-oklahomans-removed-from-voter-rolls/">Oklahoma</a> and Idaho are also <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/20/790319853/are-states-purging-or-cleaning-voter-registration-rolls">among the states</a> that <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/20/790319853/are-states-purging-or-cleaning-voter-registration-rolls">are deleting some voters</a> from their rolls – if people do not regularly vote, for example.</p>
<p>Arizona has <a href="https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2019/09/12/arizona-has-closed-hundreds-polling-places-2013-voting-rights-act-">closed multiple polling sites</a>, making it more difficult for some people to vote. </p>
<p>Twenty-five states, meanwhile, including Hawaii and Delaware, have passed laws over the last few years that <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-states-are-making-it-harder-to-vote-some-are-making-it-easier-but-its-too-soon-to-say-if-this-will-affect-voter-turnout-in-2022-176102">make it easier to vote</a>. One of these measures automatically registers people to vote when they turn 18. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/25/voting-rights-act-voter-map-registration-id-racism-supreme-court-georgia">more examples</a>. The bottom line is, voters have fewer protections when it becomes harder to vote, and American democracy is not as democratic as it could be. </p>
<h2>The big picture</h2>
<p>Voting is not the only form of <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/daed/article/152/1/52/115008/Power-to-Pursue-Happiness">recognition and participation</a> in a democracy. People can be respected at work, paid what they are worth and treated with dignity. Community members can be treated fairly by police, school officials and other authorities, given an equal opportunity for justice and education to improve their lives. </p>
<p>People <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/civic-virtue-and-why-it-matters#:%7E:text=Civic%20virtue%20describes%20the%20character,of%20its%20values%20and%20principles">can also contribute</a> to the social and economic well-being of a democracy in ways other than voting, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-bucket-list-for-involved-citizens-76-things-you-can-do-to-boost-civic-engagement/">doing everything</a> from planting a tree in a public park to attending a political rally. </p>
<p>But the overall expansion of voting rights and a historical understanding of “We the People” shows that everyone belongs in a democratic society, regardless of wealth, achievement or other differences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Jones 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 meaning of the Constitution’s preamble, which begins with the words ‘We the People,’ has evolved over time as voting rights have expanded.Joseph Jones, Assistant Professor of Media Ethics and Law at Reed College of Media, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2048192023-05-15T17:17:22Z2023-05-15T17:17:22ZJustice Yvonne Mokgoro: South Africa’s trailblazing defender of justice, human dignity and the constitution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525569/original/file-20230511-17-jo3h2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former South African constitutional court judge, Yvonne Mokgoro.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vathiswa Ruselo/Sowetan</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many great legal minds have made important contributions to the development of the law, justice and constitutionalism in South Africa. One figure who stands out as a particularly influential jurist of the era is retired judge <a href="https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/judges/former-judges/11-former-judges/63-justice-yvonne-mokgoro">Yvonne Mokgoro</a>. She was among the first justices of the country’s new constitutional court, serving from 1994 to 2009.</p>
<p>Researchers at South Africa’s <a href="https://hsrc.ac.za/who-we-are/">Human Sciences Research Council</a> have <a href="https://repository.hsrc.ac.za/handle/20.500.11910/11726">aptly described</a> this remarkable jurist: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>As the first black African woman appointed to the Bench in 1994, she brought with her fresh scars of the oppressive system of apartheid that alienated and marginalised her as a black person and as a woman … As a member of the Constitutional Court Justice Mokgoro was active and engaged, with her most lasting contribution being her efforts to Africanise human rights through the dignification of the law and the operationalisation of ubuntu as a constitutional value.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/sobukwes-pan-africanist-dream-an-elusive-idea-that-refuses-to-die-52601">Robert Sobukwe</a>, a pan-Africanist leader and lawyer, greatly influenced her to break the glass ceiling for women who wished to become lawyers, and her dedication to fighting injustice. Remarkably, he represented her <a href="https://www.servantleader.co.za/yvonne">in 1970</a> after her arrest for protesting against the ill-treatment of a man by the apartheid police. </p>
<p>I would argue that just as the US celebrates the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/18/100306972/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-champion-of-gender-equality-dies-at-87">legal, cultural and feminist icon</a>” and human rights defender, South Africa can be proud to have the retired Justice Yvonne Mokgoro. She has dedicated her life to defending justice, equality and human rights for all.</p>
<h2>The early years and education</h2>
<p>She was born in 1950 in Galeshewe, near Kimberley in the Northern Cape, as the second child of working-class parents. She finished high school at the local St Boniface High School in 1970.</p>
<p>Her university education was mostly part time. She obtained an undergraduate (B Iuris) degree at the then University of Bophuthatswana, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) two years later, and a Master of Laws (LLM) in 1987. She also studied at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA, where she earned a <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/justice-yvonne-mokgoro">second LLM degree in 1990</a>. </p>
<p>Mokgoro’s journey included working as a nursing assistant, a retail salesperson and a clerk in the department of justice of the erstwhile nominally independent <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Bophuthatswana">Bophuthatswana</a>. She was also a maintenance officer and public prosecutor in the then Mmabatho magistrate court. She later became an associate professor of law at the University of Bophuthatswana (now North West University) and <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/justice-yvonne-mokgoro">the University of the Western Cape</a>. </p>
<h2>Legacy</h2>
<p>Mokgoro has served South Africa and its justice system with distinction. Her influence on issues of protection of children and vulnerable communities, transformation of the legal profession and parity for female legal scholars and lawyers will linger for decades. Her commitment to access to justice and nation building is commendable. </p>
<p>Her judgments and some academic works, such as the 1998 journal paper <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/pelj/article/view/43567">Ubuntu and the Law in South Africa</a>, have become foundational texts for legal education in South Africa and beyond. </p>
<p>Her academic writing and judgments have aided the development of constitutionalism in South Africa.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-its-first-woman-deputy-chief-justice-heres-who-she-is-176896">South Africa has its first woman Deputy Chief Justice: here's who she is</a>
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<p>She is a strong advocate for the rule of law and respect for the principles enshrined in the country’s constitution. These include respect for human rights and dignity. She believes that all South Africans have a patriotic duty not to allow the constitution to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26633677_UBuntu_and_the_law_in_South_Africa">slide into disrepute</a>.</p>
<p>She is also an avid proponent of reconciliation and national cohesion. For instance, in her separate judgment <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/1995/3.html">in 1995)</a>, she eloquently argued for <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-archbishop-tutus-ubuntu-credo-teaches-the-world-about-justice-and-harmony-84730">ubuntu</a> (humanness) as the philosophy that should foreground interpretation of the constitution. She <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/1995/3.html">stated that</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Although South Africans have a history of deep divisions characterised by strife and conflict, one shared value and ideal that runs like a golden thread across cultural lines is the value of Ubuntu … While it envelops the key values of group solidarity, compassion, respect, human dignity, conformity to basic norms and collective unity, in its fundamental sense it denotes humanity and morality. Its spirit emphasises respect for human dignity, marking a shift from confrontation to conciliation.</p>
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<p>Also notable is that she advocated for reconsideration of the place of African jurisprudence in relation to South African law, the South African constitution and customary law. She <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/pelj/article/view/43567">has urged</a> the</p>
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<p>revival of African jurisprudence as part of the total or broader process of the African renaissance.</p>
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<p>Mokgoro’s parents greatly influenced her role in the constitutional court. She did not see her position as a judge as being about power. It was about her responsibility to the people of South Africa, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Soul-Portraits-Women-Africa/dp/1770130438">ensuring justice for everyone and improving people’s lives</a>.</p>
<h2>Judgments</h2>
<p>Mokgoro’s advocacy for group solidarity and reconciliation is discernible in several of her judgments. </p>
<p>For instance, in <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2004/11.html">Khosa and Others v Minister of Social Development, Mahlaule and Another v Minister of Social Development (2004)</a> the constitutional court was faced with a challenge to the constitutionality of the <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/social-assistance-act">Social Assistance Act, 1992</a>. The act provided that only South African citizens qualified for social grants. </p>
<p>The challenge was brought by two indigent Mozambican citizens who were permanent residents in South Africa. Mokgoro upheld a decision of the high court to allow permanent residents to receive the grants. </p>
<p>She thus advanced the rights of immigrants and refugees in South Africa, and advocated for the protection of all children.</p>
<h2>Legal icon</h2>
<p>Mokgoro deserves to be celebrated as a selfless jurist who highlighted the centrality of the constitution and human rights in South Africa. She is an icon of the legal profession, a defender of the marginalised.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rule-of-law-in-south-africa-protects-even-those-who-scorn-it-175533">Rule of law in South Africa protects even those who scorn it</a>
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<p>She is also one of the judges who, alongside <a href="https://www.chr.up.ac.za/world-moot-previous-judges/95-moot-courts/world-moot-court/judges/1646-justice-albie-sachs">Justice Albie Sachs</a>, mainstreamed African jurisprudence through the use of ubuntu in some of her judgments.</p>
<p>Aspiring judges and law students would do well to know this remarkable woman’s powerful judgments, which make clear the principles of human dignity and justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204819/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Omphemetse Sibanda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Justice Mokgoro’s advocacy for group solidarity and reconciliation is discernible in several of her judgments.Omphemetse Sibanda, Executive Dean and Full Professor, Faculty of Management and Law, University of LimpopoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2036092023-05-09T15:28:22Z2023-05-09T15:28:22ZFrench universalism sidelines ethnic minorities – why that must change<p>French MP Olivier Serva has urged his government to tackle discrimination against people with afro hair. In <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/28/france-urged-to-outlaw-hair-discrimination">a recent interview</a> on the national radio station France Info, he reportedly introduced plans to present a cross-party bill to parliament by appealing to the republic’s values of “liberty, equality, fraternity”. </p>
<p>He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is about allowing everyone to be as they are and as they want to be, whether in it’s in the workplace or anywhere else. </p>
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<p>Diversity in the public sphere is not something <a href="https://researchportal.northumbria.ac.uk/en/publications/pluralism-and-the-idea-of-the-republic-in-france">French republicanism</a>, as it is currently defined, does very well. As opposed to the American and British approach to immigration that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13691831003764367">has tended to promote multiculturalism</a>, Republican France espouses an “<a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-francaise-de-sociologie-1-2008-5-page-3.htm">assimilationist</a>” model. </p>
<p>There is broad political consensus, from the left to the far right, that what matters is to integrate minorities, culturally, into the national community. People are free to entertain personal allegiances, as individuals, as long as they integrate into the national community and respect its rules. </p>
<p>Every French citizen must fit, either voluntarily or under duress, into the framework of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/crimes-of-solidarity-liberte-egalite-and-frances-crisis-of-fraternite-90010">republican values</a>”. Ostensibly, these values are enshrined in the constitution as freedom, fraternity and equality, as well as <a href="https://theconversation.com/frances-la-cite-why-the-rest-of-the-world-struggles-to-understand-it-149943"><em>laïcité</em></a> (secularism). But they are actually ill-defined.</p>
<p>This universalism is intended to settle any class, gender or race-related inequalities. France sees itself as an exception in the world, on a mission to defend universal values. Anglo-Saxon societies, by contrast, are often branded, by French <a href="https://www.institutmontaigne.org/expressions/la-spectaculaire-derive-de-nos-societes-democratiques">political thinkers</a> and <a href="https://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/monde/etats-unis-la-fragmentation-culturelle-est-la-plus-grande-menace-qui-pese-sur-la-democratie-20210111">pundits</a> alike, as “fragmented” along religious and ethnic divisions. </p>
<p>However, proclaiming that the state upholds universal principles does not, in itself, act as a safeguard against institutional discrimination and racism. Instead, it leads to the issue being intentionally overlooked. France <a href="https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_international_comparative_law_review/vol31/iss2/7/">does not collect</a> data on race. It has never critically reflected on its colonial past. And <a href="https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/04/01/race-a-never-ending-taboo-in-france/">it sees no problem</a> in having a <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EMTEL/Minorities/papers/franceminorepres.pdf">disproportionately low representation</a> of ethnic minorities in the media, politics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/quand-le-racisme-est-devenu-une-question-politique-dans-le-cinema-francais-155189">culture</a> or business.</p>
<h2>Republican values</h2>
<p>French republicanism seeks to promote a specific, yet diffuse national culture. <a href="https://www.cairn.info/racismes-de-france--9782348046247-page-339.htm">I call it</a> <em>catho-laïque</em>, a blend of catholic, Christian values and militant atheism. It is a type of partisan patriotism based on an authoritarian communitarianism.</p>
<p>While purporting to defend universal values, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230590960">classic republicans</a> are in fact defending the interests of a predominantly male, bourgeois and white population. They do not want to share political and economic power with women, young people and <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/02/15/91-of-black-people-in-metropolitan-france-say-they-are-victims-of-racist-discrimination_6015940_7.html">racialised minorities</a>.</p>
<p>In his 1988 study, Le Creuset Français (The French Melting Pot), French historian Gérard Noiriel showed how <a href="https://theconversation.com/macaronis-ritals-quand-les-migrants-italiens-etaient-eux-aussi-victimes-de-racisme-196990">Italian</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-france-est-elle-vraiment-un-pays-assimilationniste-51145">Polish</a> immigrants during the interwar period were made to integrate in a rather brutal manner. French workers saw their Italian counterparts as competitors and “scabs”; the public in general labelled them “dirty” and “dangerous enemies of the Republic”. The fact that Polish workers were openly demonstrative of their Catholic faith only made things worse, particularly in the mining areas of north-east France.</p>
<p>In 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing’s centre-right government closed the nation’s borders and suspended all immigration, in an effort to protect French workers. An exception was made for family-based immigration, also known as <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-annales-de-demographie-historique-2014-2-page-187.htm"><em>le regroupement familial</em></a> (family reunion). This particularly affected people in former French colonies – Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco – in north Africa.</p>
<p>Nearly two decades later, in 1993, Jacques Chirac’s government voted in the “<a href="https://www.histoire-immigration.fr/les-50-ans-de-la-revue-hommes-migrations/1993-reforme-du-code-de-la-nationalite">Pasqua law</a>” on immigration. Until then, children born on French soil to foreign parents were automatically granted French citizenship. The new law now required them to apply. </p>
<p>New laws governing public life began to appear, from the late 1980s, which were rooted in partisan patriotism. In 1989, three Muslim schoolgirls refused to take off their headscarves at their college in Creil, near Paris, and <a href="https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2018/07/27/01016-20180727ARTFIG00053-l-affaire-des-foulards-de-creil-la-republique-laique-face-au-voile-islamique.php">were sent home</a>. Subsequently, politicians from the left and the right passed a law in 2004 banning the wearing of religious symbols in schools. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/after-charlie-hebdo-terror-racism-and-free-speech/ch2-the-meaning-of-charlie-the-debate-on-the-troubled-french-identity">I have argued</a> that, in the context of the 2015 terrorist attacks against Charlie Hebdo, the slogan “Je Suis Charlie” initially expressed solidarity with the victims of the attacks. However, it was quickly co-opted by the government as an injunction to support Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons and humour. </p>
<h2>Multicultural republicanism</h2>
<p>The concept of French citizenship could be expanded to include reference to ethnic or cultural backgrounds. It should be possible to present yourself as Franco-Algerian, Franco-Italian, Franco-Senegalese or Franco-Guadeloupean without being suspected of conspiring against republican universalism. </p>
<p>Similarly, in schools, the priority should be that pupils attend classes and receive an education. <a href="https://theconversation.com/de-la-mauvaise-defense-de-l-islamophobie-125780">Religious symbols</a> that do not hamper the curriculum being taught should be tolerated in school. Educational materials in history or philosophy, say, should recognise the existence of minority identities. The <a href="https://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2004/21/MENG0401138C.htm#:%7E:text=141%2D5%2D1%20du%20code,une%20appartenance%20religieuse%20est%20interdit%E2%80%9D.">2004 law banning religious signs in schools</a> should be abolished on the grounds that it is teaching that emancipates, not the forced removal of a religious symbol or the expulsion of a student who does not want to comply.</p>
<p>A multicultural republic would guarantee, in practice, that everyone, including people from ethnic minorities, has access to management positions in business, in public services, in universities or in politics. A policy that actively promotes minorities in these areas would enable minorities to acquire the social visibility which they still so often lack.</p>
<p>In its fight for equality, however, France should not fall in the trap of identity politics. The glorified and exclusive defence of an identity, which would be more important than alliances between classes, genders and races, would prove classic republicans right. A multicultural republic should not despise universal rights. On the contrary, it should fight for all to have access to them.</p>
<p>What is at stake here is not the recognition of minorities or the withdrawal into stigmatised or invisible identities. Even if well intended, this approach would only serve to further exclude minorities from the nation.</p>
<p>Instead, it is a question of making the presence of diversity in the public sphere the norm. This would be the sign that the French Republic is no longer a “white”, but a universal community; one that is aware of its racial prejudices. Only then will minorities become full citizens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203609/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philippe Marlière does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Saying the state upholds universal principles does not act as a safeguard against institutional discrimination and racism.Philippe Marlière, Professor in French and European Politics, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1893532022-12-05T03:08:00Z2022-12-05T03:08:00ZCitizen assemblies and the challenges of democratic equality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497184/original/file-20221124-15-btw172.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1789%2C1184&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">France's Convention for the Climate, held from 2019 to 2020, brought together 150 randomly selected citizens and asked them define measures to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 1990.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/convcit-Dossierdepresse_EN.pdf">Katrin Baumann/CCC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are a wide range of ways to create decision-making bodies in democratic societies. Elections are one of the most common, with individuals stepping forward and seeking public support. If elected by their fellow citizens, they then take action on their behalf. This is known as <a href="https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/representative-democracy/43508#">representative democracy</a>. An alternative form is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/direct-democracy">direct democracy</a>, which involves all citizens voting on proposed government policies or legislation.<br>
af
Another form that’s growing in popularity are citizens’ assemblies – decision-making bodies created by random selection. While less widespread, they’re creating a sense of optimism about democracy among those who have heard about or taken part in them, as well as organisations <a href="https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/innovative-citizen-participation-and-new-democratic-institutions_056573fa-en#page1">such as the OECD</a>. Randomisation – also known as <a href="https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/">sortition</a> – holds out the possibility that everyone can have an equal chance of being selected; politically, it offers the hope of consensus because partisan engagements are not a prerequisite for participation. Randomisation also promises an assembly where diversity of experience and opinions promotes critical reflection and reasoned judgement, as with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0032329218789892">criminal juries</a>.</p>
<p>Citizens’ assemblies can be asked to weigh in on major challenges to society – for example, France’s <a href="https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/en/">Convention for the Climate</a> and the UK’s <a href="https://www.climateassembly.uk/">Climate Assembly</a>, both held from 2019-2020, brought together hundreds of people together and asked them define measures that will allow to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an equitable manner. Other such bodies included the <a href="https://citizensassembly.co.uk/brexit/about/">Citizens’ Assembly on Brexit</a> (2017) and Germany’s <a href="https://participedia.net/case/5806">Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy</a>. Ireland even has a standing <a href="https://participedia.net/organization/5796">Citizens’ Assembly</a>, established in 2016.</p>
<h2>Reflecting society as a whole</h2>
<p>Creating a citizens’ assembly that truly reflects society as a whole isn’t so simple, however. In particular, only a very small percentage of those invited to participate actually agree to do so. According to a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313447022_Explaining_non-participation_in_deliberative_mini-publics">2017 study</a> published <em>European Journal of Political Research</em>, the precise percentage depends on how large, complex and time-consuming the process is likely to be. It ranges from 4% for larger, more onerous assemblies to 30% in a couple of exceptional cases, and averaging out at 15% across all countries and all forms of assembly. As a consequence, the formal equality of opportunity that unweighted lotteries promise tends to result in assemblies skewed to the socially advantaged, the partisan, and those most confident in their practical and cognitive abilities, whatever the reality.</p>
<p>To create an assembly that is more descriptively representative of the population – or one that looks more like us – <a href="https://www.oecd.org/gov/innovative-citizen-participation-and-new-democratic-institutions-339306da-en.htm">several approaches are used</a>. One is to have an initial phase of unweighted selection followed by a second phase that uses weighted lotteries. Another is to use stratified sampling or forms of stratification from the beginning. </p>
<p>For the Climate Assembly UK, organisers sent out 20% of its 30,000 letters of invitation to people randomly selected from the lowest-income postcodes, and then used random stratified sampling by computer to select <a href="https://www.climateassembly.uk/detail/recruitment/index.html">110 participants from all the people who were over 16 and free on the relevant dates</a>.</p>
<p>Because citizen assemblies are very small compared to the population as a whole – France’s Convention for the Climate was made up of just 150 people – the descriptively representative character of the assembly can occur on only a few dimensions. Organisers must therefore decide what population characteristics the assembly should embody and in what proportion. Randomisation thus does not preclude difficult moral, political and scientific choices about the assembly to be constructed, any more than it precludes voluntariness or self-selection.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497189/original/file-20221124-15-fdtm9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497189/original/file-20221124-15-fdtm9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497189/original/file-20221124-15-fdtm9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497189/original/file-20221124-15-fdtm9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497189/original/file-20221124-15-fdtm9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497189/original/file-20221124-15-fdtm9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497189/original/file-20221124-15-fdtm9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497189/original/file-20221124-15-fdtm9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Convention for the Climate was made up of 150 French citizens from all walks of life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/convcit-Dossierdepresse_EN.pdf">Katrin Baumann/CCC</a></span>
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<p>The use of <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/707212">weighted lotteries</a> means that individuals will <em>not</em> have a formally equal chance to be selected to it – nor, of course, a substantively equal one. Assemblies created by <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/stratified_random_sampling.asp">stratified random selection</a> offer a much wider set of opportunities to serve than is typical of other deliberative bodies. It is thus important to remember that even when a randomly selected assembly “looks like us”, everyone will not have had the same chance to be selected to it, nor to take up the invitation if they want to.</p>
<h2>Making the debate truly open</h2>
<p>The most egalitarian element of citizen assemblies, then, may lie in their commitment to <a href="https://delibdemjournal.org/article/525/galley/4532/view/">deliberative equality</a> among participants, rather than in the social profiles of their members. That commitment means that organisers ensure that all members get to share the same high-quality, impartial information. Otherwise, it would be difficult for assembly members who have limited knowledge about the topic of deliberation to discuss as equals with those who are already well informed (or convinced that they are).</p>
<p>Assemblies also use facilitators to ensure that all members feel free to contribute, that some don’t dominate the discussion or intimidate others, intentionally or otherwise. The importance of facilitation to good deliberation is brought out by the <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yXfO1gsosBgC">experience of one facilitator</a>, who stated “In every single citizens’ jury we have done, we’ve been thrown out – and asked back in.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497185/original/file-20221124-20-uy40xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497185/original/file-20221124-20-uy40xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497185/original/file-20221124-20-uy40xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497185/original/file-20221124-20-uy40xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497185/original/file-20221124-20-uy40xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497185/original/file-20221124-20-uy40xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497185/original/file-20221124-20-uy40xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497185/original/file-20221124-20-uy40xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">France’s Convention for the Climate took place from October 2019 to June 2020, and involved seven sessions that helped build understanding, defined the challenges, and reached formal conclusions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Convention for the Climate</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the importance of having equality among participants and between organisers, experts and participants should not be underestimated, democratic equality does not require that deliberative bodies be composed of social groups in proportion to their share of the population. </p>
<p>Trying to ensure that the membership of a small assembly matches that of the population along lines of sex, age, level of education, professional status, geography, means that it is impossible to match them in other ways – for example, in terms of their different beliefs, or in terms of the proportion of women who are farmers rather than bank managers. In short, trying to create a microcosm of the population along certain lines prevents the deliberative representation of the population on others.</p>
<h2>Giving the disadvantaged a real voice</h2>
<p>As a consequence, political philosophers who are concerned with the adequate representation of disadvantaged social groups often suppose that what we should be aiming for sufficient representation to ensure that their voices, opinions and internal differences are taken seriously in public assemblies, rather than representation in proportion to population. As <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=K2A9AwAAQBAJ">Anne Phillips puts it</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The underlying preoccupation is not with pictorial adequacy – does the legislature match up to the people? – but with those particularly urgent instances of political exclusion which a ‘fairer’ system of representation seeks to resolve.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For example, the over-representation is likely to be important for groups such as the homeless, the very poor, those with limited education, or those who suffer from chronic illness. They may be relatively small compared to the total population, but they also suffer from severe disadvantages that make it difficult to participate in public deliberations, and to be heard and respected as the equal of others. For them, adequate representation will likely require membership that is much greater than their share of the population.</p>
<p>In short, such groups are likely to suffer from <a href="https://mrdevin.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/five-faces-of-oppression.pdf">“cultural imperialism”</a>, as Iris Marion Young called it. This means that the creation of an assembly that “looks right” is insufficient. Instead, forms of assembly created specifically to maximise their opportunities to be heard may be necessary, even at the cost of underrepresenting members from more advantaged groups, such as university-educated middle-aged men, whose perspectives are likely to figure disproportionately in public discussion. </p>
<h2>Consensus, but not at any price</h2>
<p>It may also be desirable to rethink the practice of having a single report with policy recommendations, rather than allowing for separate majority and minority reports. Pressure to reach consensus can impede deliberation, <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-archives-de-philosophie-du-droit-2020-1-page-399.htm">as seems to have happened with France’s Convention for the Climate</a>, and reinforce social and political inequalities. Understanding why citizens disagree when faced with the same evidence and arguments is, itself, a contribution to public knowledge and reflection.</p>
<p>Seeking consensus is important, because citizens need to know what they can agree on in matters of public policy. But deliberators may have important disagreements to air publicly, and these should not be a source of shame or embarrassment, nor seen as a threat to the success of an assembly, rather than as evidence of the complexity of the issues with which it grappled. In short, while trained moderators are essential to citizen assemblies – and might profitably be used in many other deliberative fora – securing the inclusion and diversity that make citizen assemblies so appealing, requires confronting cultural imperialism more explicitly in future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189353/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annabelle Lever a reçu des financements de EC Coordination and Support Grant: Reconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-Centred Perspective (REDEM). Project 870996. Call H2020-SC6-GOVERNANCE-2019. </span></em></p>Decision-making bodies created by random selection, citizens’ assemblies are creating a sense of optimism about democracy among those who have heard about or taken part in them.Annabelle Lever, Chercheuse permanente, Cevipof, professeur de philosophie politique, Sciences Po Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1946652022-11-29T12:16:38Z2022-11-29T12:16:38ZFrom Andrew Tate to Jordan Peterson, a phoney zero-sum-game argument sits at the heart of anti-feminist backlash<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495705/original/file-20221116-14-5zw8kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C338%2C2460%2C1867&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The real reasons to be worried about men's quality of life does not mean discussions about equality should become a zero sum game.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/young-man-sitting-on-floor-smartphone-1635094006">Syuzann/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Clips of men sharing <a href="https://theconversation.com/andrew-tate-how-the-manosphere-influencer-is-selling-extreme-masculinity-to-young-men-192564">controversial opinions</a> about women and masculinity do swift business on social media. </p>
<p>Despite personally being banned from Twitter, social media influencer Andrew Tate is the most common face seen in these videos. And conservative psychologist Jordan Peterson remains a fixture too. Aided by algorithms that reward outrage, their hot takes and moments of “owning” feminists proliferate. Yet their seemingly rational arguments about the importance of masculinity conceal a more dangerous side – one which could harm men and women alike.</p>
<p>The arguments put forward by Tate and his kind centre around traditional gender roles. They propose that men should be physically strong and seek resources and status (in today’s world, money and fame), while women should serve their partner and nurture their children. Women who follow these expectations should be cared for. Women who do not should be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/06/andrew-tate-violent-misogynistic-world-of-tiktok-new-star">punished</a>.</p>
<p>These arguments embody <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0361684311414832#bibr18-0361684311414832">how psychologists conceptualise sexism</a>. According to ambivalent sexism theory, there are two co-occurring types of sexism. The first, benevolent sexism, represents ideas which <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pspa0000135">seem positive but actually undermine gender equality</a>. </p>
<p>One example is that men and women are different but complementary. Take Peterson’s conceptualisation of order and chaos as reflecting masculinity and femininity. On the surface, this idea seems to benefit everyone, as men and women can rely on each other to make up shortfalls. For example, it could mean that women are more creative (chaos) while men are better at making those ideas reality (order). </p>
<p>In reality, men and women are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/470332a">more similar than different</a>. Yet humans love categorising ourselves and others, so we fixate on and overemphasise the differences. This can result in men and women being pigeonholed into specific roles.</p>
<p>The second type of sexism, hostile sexism, reflects outright negative evaluations linked to gender. For example, someone could believe that women are inherently inferior, manipulative, or too easily offended. This is a regular feature of Tate’s videos, which are littered with sexist slurs and references to the need for men to control women. </p>
<p>Tate and Peterson rationalise these views as intellectual ways of understanding the world. Yet both forms of sexism solidify gender roles, which can, in turn, make people feel less able to challenge them, such as by pursuing non-stereotypical careers. We need a diverse range of viewpoints for the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sianbeilock/2019/04/04/how-diversity-leads-to-better-outcomes">best problem solving</a>, so tackling this is vital for societal progress. </p>
<p>What’s more, hostile sexist beliefs in particular are associated with <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2855">increased tolerance of sexual assault and intimate partner violence</a>. Normalising ambivalent sexism could in turn <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1368430220961838">normalise such attitudes</a>. This has clear potential to hurt women.</p>
<h2>Equality as a ‘threat’</h2>
<p>Strong progress has been made towards equality in the West. Women are now professors, CEOs and heads of state – and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0000494">stereotypes about women are changing accordingly</a>. Yet despite the fact that <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2018/11/28/blog-economic-gains-from-gender-inclusion-even-greater-than-you-thought">equality benefits everyone</a>, every stride comes with <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajs4.137">backlash against it</a>.</p>
<p>It’s common for people like Tate and Peterson to justify their views by saying that men’s issues and concerns are routinely ignored. And it is indeed the case that male health, homelessness and suicide have been historically under-discussed and underfunded. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1580973523035914240"}"></div></p>
<p>But to raise these issues as an argument against more freedom for women is to feed the false idea that men and women are battling for power.</p>
<p>This “us vs. them” perspective does emerge in political debate when <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103115300068">one group feels threatened by another</a>, generally when the other group is attaining power and resources. Such perceived competition may be further heightened if it is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-016-0651-9">considered to be zero-sum</a> – that is, when individuals believe that one group’s gain requires another group’s loss. Through this lens, women’s improving status in society must be hurting men’s opportunities. People who believe this may be motivated to reverse progress on gender equality. However, this notion is based on a false premise. Gender equality actually leads to <a href="https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/policy-areas/economic-and-financial-affairs/economic-benefits-gender-equality">more economic growth</a> and so more jobs for everyone, regardless of gender.</p>
<h2>Talking it through</h2>
<p>The good news is that understanding this zero-sum framework provides potential solutions to the backlash against gender equality. Intergroup relations research has reliably demonstrated that getting the opposing sides to meet, talk on equal footing and create shared goals <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2017/02/the-contact-hypothesis-offers-hope-for-the-world.html">reduces animosity</a>. We can start to reduce negativity towards feminism by <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/12/gender-equity-is-not-zero-sum">starting conversations about gender issues</a> in ways that do not make men feel threatened.</p>
<p>We should help them realise that equality benefits everyone, not just women. Gender equality leads to <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2016/09/14/to-boost-growth-employ-more-women">economic growth</a>, <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00331-X/fulltext">better health outcomes</a>, and a wider range of opportunities for the whole population.</p>
<p>We also need to promote positive male role models who embody this message. Bridging this divide will make influencers like Tate much less appealing, and everyone will reap the benefits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bethan Iley receives funding from the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy Research Studentship scheme. She is affiliated with the Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training (FORRT).</span></em></p>With sexism embedded into today’s social media landscape, it’s easy to ignore that conversations about equality can benefit both men and women.Bethan Iley, PhD Student in Social Psychology, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1908392022-09-20T22:55:04Z2022-09-20T22:55:04ZMore women are studying STEM, but there are still stubborn workplace barriers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485231/original/file-20220919-67457-2t01r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C280%2C7441%2C4638&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/GzDrm7SYQ0g">ThisisEngineering RAEng/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, the Australian government released the <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/stem-equity-monitor">STEM Equity Monitor 2022</a> – the nation’s annual scorecard on gendered participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers. </p>
<p>These data are more relevant than ever. Australia is facing unprecedented <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-education-or-immigration-the-answer-to-our-skills-shortage-we-asked-50-economists-189388">skills shortages</a> in critical areas – we need highly qualified people to help address our economic, environmental, and technological challenges.</p>
<p>Future careers in all sectors will rely heavily on STEM skills. But a lack of diversity means we have a limited workforce, and it’s missing a broad range of perspectives.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-more-engineers-and-more-of-them-need-to-be-women-130282">Australia needs more engineers. And more of them need to be women</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What does the scorecard say?</h2>
<p>We start with some positive news – the number of women enrolling in university STEM courses increased by a whopping 24% between 2015 and 2020, compared with a 9% increase among men. There was a more gradual rise in vocational STEM enrolments, where only 16% are women. </p>
<p>Women’s workforce participation is gradually increasing too. The proportion of STEM-qualified jobs held by women was 15% in 2021 – that’s an increase of 2% in just 12 months.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485450/original/file-20220920-16502-4s04q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two charts showing comparison between women's and men's participation in STEM workforce" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485450/original/file-20220920-16502-4s04q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485450/original/file-20220920-16502-4s04q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485450/original/file-20220920-16502-4s04q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485450/original/file-20220920-16502-4s04q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485450/original/file-20220920-16502-4s04q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485450/original/file-20220920-16502-4s04q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485450/original/file-20220920-16502-4s04q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stem Equity Monitor Data Report 2022</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But just 23% of senior management and 8% of chief executive officers in STEM industries are women. On average, women are paid 18% less than men across all STEM industries – although this gap closed by 1% last year.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485451/original/file-20220920-17325-bnbvqe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three charts demonstrating the gender pay gap in all STEM, all health and all industries" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485451/original/file-20220920-17325-bnbvqe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485451/original/file-20220920-17325-bnbvqe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485451/original/file-20220920-17325-bnbvqe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485451/original/file-20220920-17325-bnbvqe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485451/original/file-20220920-17325-bnbvqe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485451/original/file-20220920-17325-bnbvqe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485451/original/file-20220920-17325-bnbvqe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stem Equity Monitor Data Report 2022</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although we are doing a better job at attracting women to some university STEM courses, very few women are still going for vocational STEM education. And there’s far too little attention paid to actually <em>keeping</em> STEM-qualified women in the workforce.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/May%202021/document/stem-equity-monitor-highlights-report-2021_0.pdf">five-year study of STEM graduates</a> from the year 2011 found that by 2016, only 1 in 10 STEM-qualified women worked in a STEM industry, compared with more than 1 in 5 STEM-qualified men. Data on other gender identities were not collected.</p>
<p>The huge difference in retention rates should come as no surprise when we consider the gendered roles our society enforces, and the vastly different experiences people face, both in workplaces and in society at large.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1556431859046764545"}"></div></p>
<p>It is important to acknowledge the major gaps in these data, for example on other gender identities, sexual orientation, socioeconomic factors, disability, and race. Broadening the data captured will enable us to better understand the full impact of the many intersecting barriers to participation that people face.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/educators-can-help-make-stem-fields-diverse-over-25-years-ive-identified-nudges-that-can-encourage-students-to-stay-178578">Educators can help make STEM fields diverse – over 25 years, I've identified nudges that can encourage students to stay</a>
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<hr>
<h2>We need structural workplace changes</h2>
<p>Businesses suffering chronic skills shortages can’t keep focusing on programs designed to grow the pipeline, in the hope that the system will fix itself. We need structural workplace changes.</p>
<p>One avenue is to introduce more flexible work options and broaden access to paid parental leave. <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020-21_WGEA_SCORECARD.pdf">According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency</a>, gender-equal primary carer’s leave was offered by 3 in 5 employers in 2020-21. </p>
<p>Thanks to a concerted effort by many employers, 12% of this leave was taken by men last year, almost twice as much as the year before. This figure was even higher (20%) in management roles.</p>
<p>Bias, discrimination, and sexual harassment are major factors that drive people from workplaces. Solving these issues receives too little funding and attention.</p>
<p>Workplace sexual harassment costs Australia A$3.5 billion per year and inflicts a terrible personal toll on those affected. Women are more likely to be sexually harassed than men, and people from racial minorities, people with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ individuals suffer disproportionately.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctic-stations-are-plagued-by-sexual-harassment-its-time-for-things-to-change-189984">Antarctic stations are plagued by sexual harassment – it's time for things to change</a>
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<p>According to the <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/respectwork-sexual-harassment-national-inquiry-report-2020">Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report</a>, sexual harassment is more prevalent in male-dominated industries. The Australian government recently committed to implementing all 55 recommendations of that report – a significant, positive step.</p>
<p>Businesses must urgently put robust systems in place to prevent discrimination, bias, and sexual harassment. There are many excellent tools available to guide this work, for example these provided by the <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/education/employers">Australian Human Rights Commission</a>, <a href="https://cew.org.au/respect-its-everyones-business/">Chief Executive Women</a>, the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/take-action">Workplace Gender Equality Agency</a>, <a href="https://workplace.ourwatch.org.au/">Our Watch</a>, and the <a href="https://www.atse.org.au/news-and-events/article/diversity-and-inclusion-toolkit/">Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering</a>. </p>
<h2>Crashing barriers</h2>
<p>Ultimately, we need rigorous and well-resourced initiatives to reduce barriers to workforce participation. My office has created a <a href="https://womeninstem.org.au/national-evaluation-guide/">national evaluation guide for STEM equity programs</a> for this purpose.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485452/original/file-20220920-325-8d079p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several charts showing the proportion of women receiving research grants" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485452/original/file-20220920-325-8d079p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485452/original/file-20220920-325-8d079p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485452/original/file-20220920-325-8d079p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485452/original/file-20220920-325-8d079p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485452/original/file-20220920-325-8d079p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485452/original/file-20220920-325-8d079p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485452/original/file-20220920-325-8d079p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women are underrepresented in teaching and research roles in STEM.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stem Equity Monitor Data Report 2022</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than the usual PR campaigns and cupcake drives, we need investment in evidence-based solutions to address systemic issues affecting people who face discrimination in the workforce. </p>
<p>Nothing short of strong, decisive, and coordinated action from governments and the business sector will shift this pattern. The Australian government has already committed to this path, by <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/husic/media-releases/paving-pathway-diverse-science-and-tech-workforce">announcing</a> a review of existing government women in STEM programs.</p>
<p>This review will determine the impact of these programs, to drive future investments into measures that are proven to strengthen Australia’s STEM workforce. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1566988923381121026"}"></div></p>
<p>The key to diversifying STEM workplaces is respect – and reducing power differentials that appear along gendered, cultural and other lines.</p>
<p>Greater respect for every person will build a stronger, more cohesive society ready to tackle future challenges. And it will ensure that Australia’s fast-growing sectors – like space, advanced manufacturing, quantum technologies and cybersecurity – are well supported by a qualified workforce into the future.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-law-on-workplace-gender-equality-is-under-review-heres-what-needs-to-change-172406">A law on workplace gender equality is under review. Here's what needs to change</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190839/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>As Australia's Women in STEM Ambassador, Lisa Harvey-Smith receives funding from a Commonwealth grant. </span></em></p>With unprecedented skills shortages looming in Australia, more than ever we need gender equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Here’s what needs to happen.Lisa Harvey-Smith, Australian Government Women in STEM Ambassador, Professor, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1884912022-08-29T18:21:28Z2022-08-29T18:21:28ZThe U.S. Supreme Court failed to uphold American ideals of liberty and equality in abortion ruling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480458/original/file-20220822-65891-e50v65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Abortion-rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in June 2022 after the court ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly two months have passed since the Supreme Court of the United States returned its judgment in <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</em> — the now infamous decision <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ussc-dobbs-abortion-ruling-1.6495637">that reversed half a century of established law</a> on a woman’s right to abortion.</p>
<p>The majority opinion in <em>Dobbs</em> is <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/the-supreme-courts-wrong-turn-on-constitutional-rights">rife with contradictions and questionable legal reasoning</a>. The <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2022/06/30/dobbs-another-frontline-for-health-equity/">material harm that many women will suffer as a consequence</a> is undeniable. </p>
<p>But from a constitutional perspective, the theory the court used to arrive at its judgment poses the gravest danger. </p>
<h2>Originalism vs living constitutionalism</h2>
<p>Constitutional scholars have long been charting <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/magazine/how-will-trumps-supreme-court-remake-america.html">the Supreme Court’s transition away from a living reading of the U.S. Constitution toward an originalist one</a>.</p>
<p>Those who subscribe to an <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/white-papers/on-originalism-in-constitutional-interpretation">originalist reading of the Constitution</a> believe that courts act illegitimately wherever they try to creatively apply its provisions to modern times. Since it would be undemocratic for an unelected judiciary to “invent” the law, courts must limit themselves to the retrieval of constitutional principles from the text of the Constitution itself.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-originalism-debunking-the-myths-148488">What is originalism? Debunking the myths</a>
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<p><a href="https://dlj.law.duke.edu/2017/06/living-constitutional-theory/">Living constitution theorists</a> defend the opposite perspective. Since much of the U.S. Constitution was written more than 200 years ago, they argue that binding the current generation to the intentions of its drafters not only undermines the sovereignty of the people living today but impedes any progress the nation has made throughout its history.</p>
<p>It’s along these fault lines that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html">the majority and dissenting opinions in <em>Dobbs</em> took shape</a>.</p>
<p>According to the majority of Supreme Court justices, “constitutional analysis must begin with ‘the language of the instrument,’ which offers a ‘fixed standard’ for ascertaining what our founding document means.” And because “the Constitution makes no reference to abortion,” they argued, any claim that the document confers a right to it must be rejected.</p>
<p>The dissenting justices took the opposite tack. They acknowledged that “those responsible for the original Constitution… did not perceive women as equals, and [therefore] did not recognize women’s rights” — but added that this alone doesn’t invalidate the constitutionality of a right to abortion. The right to abortion, they argued, is a product of the country’s constitutional history.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman protester carries a sign that reads Our Rights Are Not Up For Debate" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480457/original/file-20220822-66616-m1t183.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480457/original/file-20220822-66616-m1t183.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480457/original/file-20220822-66616-m1t183.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480457/original/file-20220822-66616-m1t183.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480457/original/file-20220822-66616-m1t183.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480457/original/file-20220822-66616-m1t183.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480457/original/file-20220822-66616-m1t183.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">Abortion-rights protesters march on Capitol Hill, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, after protesting at the Supreme Court in June 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>How rights develop over time</h2>
<p>Originalists have a point on one front — it would be illegitimate for a court to simply concoct a right out of thin air. But to suggest this is what courts do when they interpret a country’s constitution misrepresents how rights develop over time.</p>
<p>Constitutions are not made up of a random collection of rules. They have integrity. Ideally, the different parts of a constitution will work to reinforce its other parts, rendering a complete vision that a nation can consult as it charts a course into the future.</p>
<p>From the start, <a href="https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/liberty-and-equality-today">the U.S. Constitution was organized around two core principles: liberty and equality</a>. These represented the defining ideals for the country. From these ideals, certain commitments followed. </p>
<p>Consider the 1954 Supreme Court decision on <em><a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/brown-v-board-of-education">Brown v. Board of Education</a></em> to reverse an earlier judgment affirming <a href="https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-history-beginning-end-separate-equal">the constitutionality of the separate-but-equal doctrine</a> — the legal mechanism that segregated white and Black schoolchildren in many parts of the United States throughout the first half of the 20th century. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People stand in front of a court building holding banners that pay tribute to the 60th anniversary of a landmark court decision." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480459/original/file-20220822-77906-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480459/original/file-20220822-77906-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480459/original/file-20220822-77906-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480459/original/file-20220822-77906-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480459/original/file-20220822-77906-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480459/original/file-20220822-77906-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480459/original/file-20220822-77906-e3lzru.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">In this 2014 photo, students, parents and educators are seen at a rally at the Supreme Court on the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision that struck down ‘separate but equal’ laws that kept schools segregated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The reasoning the court used in the Brown decision didn’t revolve around the moral wickedness of the doctrine itself — though wicked it surely was. Instead it focused on the constitutional commitments the United States had acquired over time. </p>
<p>In essence, the court explained that the nation could not simultaneously tolerate the separate-but-equal treatment of a certain section of its population while maintaining a commitment to the principle of equality. The two things were irreconcilable.</p>
<p>The constitutional commitments of a nation ensure rights once unrecognized can become recognized at a particular moment in time. Through the piecemeal advances that are made in any area of law, a country’s constitutional commitments are revealed and evolve. The role of Supreme Courts is merely to ensure those commitments are reflected in the laws by which people are governed.</p>
<h2><em>Dobbs</em> dissent</h2>
<p>From a constitutional perspective, the dissenting justices in <em>Dobbs</em> were correct.</p>
<p>Not only is the right to abortion a recognized right in the U.S. Constitution, it is deeply embedded in its fabric. To deny a woman the right to choose in an area so intimate to her, concerning a choice that carries such profound consequences over her life, is to deny her status as a free and equal person. Nothing could be further from the core constitutional commitments of the United States. </p>
<p>A country that turns its back on these commitments — liberty and equality, in the case of the United States — is at risk of losing its vision. And without a vision, even the most basic terms of the social contract begin to dissolve.</p>
<p>The constitutional legacy of <em>Dobbs</em> is that it has brought America one step closer to this kind of social collapse.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Callaghan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The U.S. Supreme Court turned its back on America’s core constitutional ideals — liberty and equality— when it erroneously ruled women have no constitutional right to abortion.Geoff Callaghan, Assistant Professor, Political Science, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1876472022-08-22T15:14:30Z2022-08-22T15:14:30Z‘Muslim culture’ is routinely blamed for lower levels of employment – but my research shows this is not what is behind the problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477943/original/file-20220806-23-3551xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=68%2C77%2C5682%2C3750&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/job-applicants-having-interview-1288395415">Shutterstock/adriaticfoto</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People who identify as minority ethnic are at a disadvantage in the labour market compared to the British white majority. They are more likely to <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/research-report-108-the-ethnicity-pay-gap.pdf">earn less</a>, <a href="https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/unemployment-and-economic-inactivity/economic-inactivity/latest#:%7E:text=Summary%20of%20Economic%20inactivity%20By,out%20of%20all%20ethnic%20groups">be outside of the labour force</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1539241">be unemployed</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1539254">remain unemployed for longer</a>.</p>
<p>Research also shows that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12220">Muslims are worse off</a> than any other religious group relative to white British Christians. Academics refer to this fact as the “Muslim penalty”. Importantly, the Muslim penalty remains even after accounting for factors that are likely to affect employment, such as education, age, region of residence, English language proficiency and health. </p>
<h2>The ‘cultural norms’ argument</h2>
<p>The existence of a Muslim penalty does not in and of itself indicate that discrimination is taking place. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369183X.2015.1082903">Some</a> therefore argue that so-called “cultural norms” are at play – that Muslims, and particularly Muslim women, are less likely to be working because the values of their own communities hold them back. These purported norms include a unique “taste for isolation” and a commitment to “traditional gender roles”. </p>
<p>But investigating a decade of data from the <a href="https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/">UK Household Longitudinal Study</a> – one of the largest surveys of its kind, which gathers information on the socio-economic situation and cultural contexts from around 100,000 people – I did not find this view to be supported by the evidence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A collection of CVs with different pictures of job applicants on them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477944/original/file-20220806-35572-lyuhyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477944/original/file-20220806-35572-lyuhyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477944/original/file-20220806-35572-lyuhyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477944/original/file-20220806-35572-lyuhyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477944/original/file-20220806-35572-lyuhyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477944/original/file-20220806-35572-lyuhyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477944/original/file-20220806-35572-lyuhyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What information counts in a CV?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By using information on people’s religious beliefs, membership in social organisations, and the extent to which they agreed with statements such as “Husband should earn, wife should stay at home”, and “Family life suffers if mother works full-time”, I was able to account for a range of attitudes in my <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2022.2097887?src=">study</a>. </p>
<p>If “cultural norms” are really so important then we would expect the Muslim penalty to be substantially reduced – if not completely disappear – after taking them into account. Yet, adjusting for this information did not reduce Muslim men and women’s comparatively high likelihood of being unemployed or inactive in any significant way. </p>
<p>In other words, my <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2022.2097887?src=">study</a> found no association between so-called “socio-cultural attitudes” and the likelihood of Muslims being unemployed or inactive. </p>
<p>What then is driving the Muslim penalty? Survey analysis like mine cannot prove discrimination is at play, but my findings lend support to the overwhelming evidence from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2019.1622826">field experiments</a> that suggests discrimination is a significant barrier to Muslims looking for work – even if it is not the only driver of such disparities. </p>
<h2>A growing body of evidence</h2>
<p>Findings from field experiments – generally taken as the gold standard for establishing whether discrimination is at play – provide strong evidence that discrimination in Britain contributes to differences in employment outcomes. </p>
<p>For example, a 2019 study examining employer behaviour towards Muslim job seekers across five European countries, including the UK, found high <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2019.1622826">levels of discrimination</a>. One of the study’s findings was that Muslims who disclose their religion to employers experience a lower callback rate, but Christians from the same country who disclose their religion do not. </p>
<p>This is persuasive evidence that the discrimination is targeted at Muslims, and is not an uneasiness with religion in a general sense. Another study has shown that even in cosmopolitan London candidates with a Muslim name secure three times fewer job interviews <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38751307">compared with those with Christian-sounding names</a>.</p>
<p>Evidence of racist and prejudicial <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-racist-is-britain-today-what-the-evidence-tells-us-141657">attitudes in Britain</a> and the continued vilification of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/applij/article/34/3/255/202289">Muslims in the media</a> lend further support to the discrimination thesis. Importantly, it’s not only the white majority who harbour anti-Muslim feelings. Research shows that Muslims are also <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-4446.12250#:%7E:text=Firstly%2C%20social%20distance%20from%20other,and%20minority%20groups%20is%20reciprocal,%20p.%20431">“singled out for unique hostility from (…) other minorities”</a>.</p>
<p>While subscribing to racist beliefs does not necessarily translate into action, suggesting that holding such views doesn’t influence a person’s behaviour, for example, in their hiring decisions, implies that employment is negotiated outside the social environment in which it operates. This is not a plausible assumption. </p>
<p>When all the evidence is analysed in combination, it is difficult not to see that discrimination plays an important role in bringing about the Muslim penalty.</p>
<h2>The consequences of ignoring the facts</h2>
<p>The argument that Muslims’ “problematic norms” hold them back appears to be more of an ideological position than one supported by evidence. It trivialises the reality Muslims face in the world of work and fails to acknowledge the complexities of <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/books/understanding-everyday-racism-an-interdisciplinary-theory">how racism operates</a> – which in turn delays efforts to improve the situation.</p>
<p>Poor labour market outcomes affect multiple aspects of a person’s life. Among other things, they affect what people can afford to eat, where they can afford to live, the education they and their children can access, as well as their physical and mental health. Delaying work to tackle anti-Muslim discrimination in the British labour market therefore reinforces a range of inequalities that extend well beyond the world of work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187647/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samir Sweida-Metwally receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>Study shows that so-called “socio-cultural attitudes” are not a plausible explanation for the Muslim penalty.Samir Sweida-Metwally, Doctoral Researcher, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1867952022-07-13T12:29:10Z2022-07-13T12:29:10ZCannabis prohibition in France over the past 50 years has disproportionately punished its Muslim minority<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473700/original/file-20220712-19-f4z0tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C53%2C5964%2C3934&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A cannabis ban has been in place in France since 1970, but there are ongoing demands to end it.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/close-up-of-young-adult-man-rolling-a-marijuana-royalty-free-image/1366397567?adppopup=true">juanma hache/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent years, France has come closer to ending its national prohibition of cannabis, <a href="https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000321402&categorieLien=id">which has been in place since 1970</a>.</p>
<p>The rise of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/cbd-rising-star-or-popular-fad-110146">CBD cafés</a>,” the growing <a href="https://www.nouvelobs.com/societe/20190619.OBS14590/l-appel-de-70-medecins-elus-economistes-pourquoi-nous-voulons-legaliser-le-cannabis.html">public calls</a> for an end to drug prohibition and an ongoing medical marijuana <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210326-france-kicks-off-first-medical-marijuana-trial">pilot program</a> signal that, in the near future, France – the European Union’s <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/597692/cannabis-use-europe-by-country/">leading cannabis-consuming member state</a> – may legalize cannabis. </p>
<p>But as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HAruWEAAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar</a> of the centuries-old links between cannabis and colonialism, I know that the movement to legalize the drug has largely ignored the groups most impacted by France’s historical war on drugs, which, as in the U.S., has disproportionately targeted ethnic and religious minorities. </p>
<h2>France’s hidden war on drugs</h2>
<p>Evidence suggests that cannabis prohibition over the past 50 years has disproportionately punished France’s Muslim minority. </p>
<p>About one-fifth of current French prisoners were convicted for drug offenses, according to the <a href="http://www.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/PPSMJ_2020_v5.pdf">French Ministry of Justice</a> – a rate comparable to that of the <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2019.html">United States</a>. Nearly all of them are men. </p>
<p>There is no demographic breakdown of this population, because the French credo of “absolute equality” among citizens has made it <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/how-french-law-makes-minorities-invisible-a7416656.html">illegal since 1978 to collect</a> statistics based on race, ethnicity or religion. But sociologist <a href="http://cadis.ehess.fr/index.php?1142">Farhad Khosrokhavar</a>, who studies France’s prison system, has found that roughly half of the 69,000 people incarcerated today in France are <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/france-muslims-face-mass-incarceration">Muslims of Arab descent</a>. </p>
<p>Muslims make up just 9% of France’s 67 million people.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/15/rap-info/i0595.asp">January 2018 study</a> commissioned by the French National Assembly, of the 117,421 arrests for drugs in France in 2010, 86% involved cannabis. Cannabis arrests are rising quickly, too. The same study reported that the number of people arrested annually for “simple use” of cannabis in France increased tenfold between 2000 and 2015, from 14,501 to 139,683.</p>
<p>Taken together, this and <a href="https://www.ofdt.fr/BDD/publications/docs/DCC2019.pdf">other data</a> suggests that up to 1 in 6 prisoners in France today may be an Arab Muslim man who used, possessed or sold cannabis. </p>
<h2>Hashish assassins</h2>
<p>The disproportionate impact of French drug laws on Muslim men is unsurprising considering the French have long associated Muslims with cannabis – specifically hashish, a cannabis resin.</p>
<p>As I argue in my book, “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Taming_Cannabis.html?id=0NnoDwAAQBAJ">Taming Cannabis: Drugs and Empire in 19th-Century France</a>,” the 19th-century French believed this mild drug caused insanity, violence and criminality among Muslim North Africans.</p>
<p>Writing in the early 1800s, the famed French scholar <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5656689h/f85.item.r=Sacy">Antoine-Isaac Silvestre de Sacy</a> popularized the idea that the word “assassin” was derived from the Arabic word “hashish” and that both originated with a Muslim sect called the Assassins of Alamut, which operated during the Crusades. </p>
<p>First described in the 1300 Italian travelogue “<a href="https://www.wdl.org/en/item/14300/">The Travels of Marco Polo</a>,” the Assassins of Alamut were rumored to use an “intoxicating potion” to dupe devotees in Iraq and Syria into becoming assassins. Sacy believed the potion was made from hashish, citing contemporary Arabic references to the sect as the “al-Hashishiyya,” or “hashish-eaters.” </p>
<p>These assassins, Sacy argued, “were specifically raised to kill” by their leader, known as the Old Man of the Mountain. They were fed hashish to ensure “absolute resignation to the will of their leader.” </p>
<p>Though largely a fiction, Sacy’s contentions about cannabis-eating Muslim assassins <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/SHAD30010050">gained traction</a> in France, particularly in medicine. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473633/original/file-20220712-17569-jj6uur.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bowl with hashish." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473633/original/file-20220712-17569-jj6uur.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473633/original/file-20220712-17569-jj6uur.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473633/original/file-20220712-17569-jj6uur.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473633/original/file-20220712-17569-jj6uur.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473633/original/file-20220712-17569-jj6uur.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473633/original/file-20220712-17569-jj6uur.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473633/original/file-20220712-17569-jj6uur.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hashish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_medical_hashish(2).jpg">Mjpresson/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the mid-19th century, dozens of doctors cited Sacy’s work in their research. They believed that Western pharmaceutical science could “tame” hashish for use by physicians to treat diseases including insanity, plague and cholera. </p>
<p>Medical hashish, primarily in the form of a tincture, <a href="https://digital.library.temple.edu/digital/collection/p245801coll10/id/490272">flourished</a> in France during the 1830s and 1840s. </p>
<p>But the French soon grew disillusioned with their wonder drug. Cannabis, we now know, eases the symptoms of some diseases, but it did not cure cholera, one of the most feared diseases of the 19th century.</p>
<p>As failed treatments mounted and many of the medical philosophies that underpinned the use of hashish became obsolete in France by the late 19th century, its use as medicine largely ended. In <a href="https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000845281&categorieLien=id">1953</a>, France made medicinal hashish illegal. </p>
<h2>Colonial reefer madness</h2>
<p>The link between hashish and violent Muslims, however, was ingrained in the national consciousness. And it influenced French public policy for decades.</p>
<p>Officials and physicians in French colonial Algeria, viewing hashish use as a cause of <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Le_hachich_essai_sur_la_psychologie_des/LiVWAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=folie%20hachichique">insanity and violent criminality</a>, filled psychiatric hospitals across Algeria with local Muslims supposedly suffering “folie haschischique” – basically, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/re-criminalizing-cannabis-is-worse-than-1930s-reefer-madness-89821">reefer madness</a>.”</p>
<p>Such thinking also helped justify the creation of the <a href="https://www.editions-zones.fr/livres/de-l-indigenat/">Code de l’Indigènat</a> in 1875, a French law that institutionalized racism and apartheid in French North Africa by officially designating Muslims as subjects rather than citizens. </p>
<p>In the name of promoting “colonial order,” France established separate and unequal legal codes that promoted the segregation, <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/civilisations/1717?lang=fr">forced labor</a> and civil rights restrictions of Muslims and other Africans.</p>
<p>The stigmatizing association between Muslims, hashish and criminality persisted after the end of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199668311.001.0001">French Empire</a> in 1968. It followed North Africans who emigrated to France, who were believed to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/00161071-2141118">prone to violence</a> and criminality and, as such, subject to government surveillance, interrogation and excessive police force.</p>
<p>French parliamentarians seeking to criminalize cannabis in the late 1960s embraced these discriminatory views. </p>
<p>They described the nation’s growing drug problem as a “<a href="http://archives.assemblee-nationale.fr/4/cri/1969-1970-ordinaire1/015.pdf">foreign plague</a>” spread by Arab drug traffickers. One French National Assembly member even cited Sacy, reminding fellow lawmakers that cannabis had supposedly once inspired a cult of Muslim murderers called the “Hachichins.” </p>
<p>French lawmakers today probably would not use such discredited research or stigmatizing language to connect Muslims to cannabis. But the number of Muslims imprisoned for drug-related crimes suggests that this historic racism is alive and well in France. </p>
<p>If France moves to regulate legal cannabis, many doctors, pot smokers and libertarian economists will surely rejoice. But it may be French Muslims who benefit the most. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a piece that <a href="https://theconversation.com/french-cannabis-legalization-debate-ignores-race-religion-and-the-mass-incarceration-of-muslims-120558">was published on August 7, 2019</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186795/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David A. Guba Jr. 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>France may be getting closer to legalizing cannabis. Still, arrests are rising quickly and often target Arab Muslim men.David A. Guba Jr., Assistant Professor of History, Bard Early CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1857432022-07-08T09:06:38Z2022-07-08T09:06:38ZCould post-war drive for a more equal society help with today’s cost of living crisis?<p>In response to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cost-of-living-crisis-its-not-enough-to-know-how-many-people-are-below-the-poverty-line-we-need-to-measure-poverty-depth-180450">cost of living crisis</a>, the UK government has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-statement-2022-documents/spring-statement-2022-html#executive-summary">announced a number of measures</a> – including a non-repayable rebate on energy bills for some households – to relieve the pressure from rising prices. While these are to be welcomed, they do nothing to tackle a much deeper social and livelihood crisis that has been building for decades. </p>
<p>Gaps in income have widened sharply since the 1970s. The share of national income taken by the top 1% has <a href="https://wid.world/country/united-kingdom/">doubled</a>, rising from 6% in 1977 to 13% in 2018. Because this rise has squeezed incomes among the rest of the population, especially those at the bottom, the level of child poverty (based on a relative measure) has also risen sharply, from 14% in 1977 to <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/incomes_in_uk">27%</a> in 2021. </p>
<p>The level of personal wealth, meanwhile, has been rising at twice the rate of incomes, while becoming increasingly <a href="https://wid.world/country/united-kingdom/">concentrated at the top</a>. Private wealth holdings now stand <a href="https://wir2018.wid.world/">at nearly seven times</a> the size of the UK economy compared with three times in the 1970s. </p>
<p>It hasn’t always been this way. In the late 1970s, Britain achieved peak equality and a low point for poverty. As shown in my recent book, <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-richer-the-poorer">The Richer, The Poorer</a>, this was the high point of egalitarianism that drove transformative, progressive change after the second world war. Today’s crisis of living standards is due in large part to a steady weakening of post-war pro-equality reforms. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A street party in a suburban area seen from above." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472992/original/file-20220707-12-gsnmbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472992/original/file-20220707-12-gsnmbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472992/original/file-20220707-12-gsnmbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472992/original/file-20220707-12-gsnmbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472992/original/file-20220707-12-gsnmbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472992/original/file-20220707-12-gsnmbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472992/original/file-20220707-12-gsnmbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1977, the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, marks a high point in the UK’s history of economic equality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/omcoc/7327896232/">ed_needs_a_bicycle | flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How peak equality was achieved</h2>
<p>In 1945, the new Labour government, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-shock-of-the-second-world-war-transformed-the-british-state-recovery-podcast-part-four-141324">led by Clement Attlee</a>, launched a wave of social reforms. Attlee, influenced by leading thinkers including the eminent historian and Christian socialist <a href="https://archive.org/details/equality00tawn">R.H. Tawney</a> , saw his central goal as <a href="https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/john-bew/citizen-clem/9781780879925/">achieving</a> “greater equality, fewer great differences, more opportunities, and more social justice”. </p>
<p>These reforms built a stronger welfare state. They included a more comprehensive <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-insurance-a-uk-tax-which-is-complex-and-vulnerable-to-political-intervention-167552">national insurance system</a> to cover unemployment, sickness and old age. Further, with the founding of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nhs-explained-in-eight-charts-91854?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=NHS">NHS</a> in 1948, all were given direct access to free healthcare. And there was a new system of family allowances to support children, a measure extended by the introduction of <a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/beveridge-report-child-benefit.htm">child benefit</a> in the late 1970s. </p>
<p>These reforms were paid for by a more progressive tax system which bore more heavily on those with the highest incomes. They were underpinned by a broad, if shallow, cross-party consensus on the need for social change. A new, informal pact was made with business to accept greater social responsibility. Full employment – unemployment was below 3% for men throughout the 1950s – and a rise in the share of output accruing to wages were both key factors in the steady improvement in living standards across society. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three people stand around a patient's bed in an old hospital." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472950/original/file-20220707-20-nxsno8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472950/original/file-20220707-20-nxsno8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472950/original/file-20220707-20-nxsno8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472950/original/file-20220707-20-nxsno8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472950/original/file-20220707-20-nxsno8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472950/original/file-20220707-20-nxsno8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472950/original/file-20220707-20-nxsno8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Minister of Health Anenurin Bevan visits Park Hospital Davyhulme near Manchester on the first day of the NHS, July 5, 1948.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/107733654@N04/14465908720">liverpoolhls | flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The counter revolution against egalitarianism</h2>
<p>Today’s crisis of living standards is, as I have argued, due in large part to the collapse of the egalitarian consensus, and its replacement by an anti-equality, pro-market ideology. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569317.2021.1979139">New Right</a> architects of this counter-revolution, which included the Conservative MP, <a href="https://cps.org.uk/research/stranded-on-the-middle-ground-reflections-on-circumstances-and-policies/">Keith Joseph</a>, one of Thatcher’s most trusted advisers, argued that egalitarianism had gone too far. Britain, they claimed, now needed a stiff dose of inequality to drive a more dynamic economy.</p>
<p>Far from the economic resurgence they envisaged, the effect of this shift has brought a new gilded age for the rich. This has come at the expense of a reversal of social gains, deteriorating life chances for many ordinary citizens, and a more crisis-ridden economy. </p>
<p>Many of the towering personal fortunes at the top – accumulated since the 1980s – have been largely unearned. As I have shown, they are less a reward for new wealth and value creation than the product of the upward extraction of existing wealth and corporate assets. Extraction, which was commonplace in the <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-History/Assets/Documents/Research/FACTS/WorkingPapers/2005/0605Johnson.pdf">Victorian era</a>, returned from the 1980s.</p>
<p>Contemporary examples of wealth extraction include <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/305788/sabotage-by-palan-anastasia-nesvetailova-and-ronen/9780241446997">manipulating</a> corporate balance sheets, skimming returns from financial transactions (a process known as “<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/70180486-33f1-11df-8ebf-00144feabdc0">the croupier’s take</a>”) and the growth of <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/daed/article/147/3/111/27209/The-Problem-of-Monopolies-amp-Corporate-Public">monopolistic</a> and anti-competitive behaviour by powerful corporations. </p>
<p>Extraction has been used to deliver excessive rates of return, boosting rewards to executives and investors, rather than raising corporate investment, long-term durability and productivity. From 2014 to 2018, FTSE 100 companies <a href="https://highpaycentre.org/how-the-shareholder-first-business-model-contributes-to-poverty-inequality-and-climate-change/">generated net profits</a> of £551 billion, but returned £442 billion of this to shareholders, leaving a much lower proportion for wages and private investment. This has resulted in <a href="https://www.oecd.org/g20/topics/employment-and-social-policy/The-Labour-Share-in-G20-Economies.pdf">the steady decline</a> in the share of the economy accruing to wages, down from the higher levels achieved after the war. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2014/sdn1402.pdf">influential study</a> by the International Monetary Fund has concluded that high levels of inequality are associated with brittle economies and weak growth. A key reason has been a perverse system of incentives that makes it more attractive for executives to line their pockets than to build for the future. As economist Andrew Smithers <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780198836117.001.0001/oso-9780198836117">has noted</a>, this contributes to Britain’s low-wage, low-skill, low-productivity economy. </p>
<p>Rising inequality has also been shown to have significant negative social consequences. The voting gap between rich and poor groups rose from four percentage points in the 1987 general election to <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/look-beneath-the-vote/">22% in 2010</a>. This has been fostered by political alienation and what political scientist Colin Crouch has called <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Post+Democracy-p-9780745633152">“post-democracy”</a>. </p>
<p>In the decade before COVID, <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthinequalities/bulletins/healthstatelifeexpectanciesbyindexofmultipledeprivationimd/2018to2020">the gap</a> in mortality rates between those living in the most and the least deprived areas widened. It now stands at 9.7 fewer years for men and 7.9 years for women. </p>
<p>Rebuilding Britain’s fractured society depends on re-embracing post-war egalitarianism. This means a set of pro-equality measures for modern times that raise the income and wealth floor but also lower the ceiling. Such measures should include a more generous benefits system financed by a more progressive tax system. They should also include the steady rebuilding of the social state. </p>
<p>Tackling widespread corporate extraction would further help to strengthen the economy for all. Part of Britain’s towering private wealth mountain should also be harnessed for the common good, with all given a stake in economic progress through a citizen-owned <a href="https://neweconomics.opendemocracy.net/creating-britains-first-citizens-wealth-fund/">wealth fund</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185743/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Lansley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The late 1970s marked a high point for economic equality in the UK. Returning to the progressive policies that made that possible could solve today’s cost of living crisis.Stewart Lansley, Visiting Fellow, School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol., University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1816962022-07-04T15:19:50Z2022-07-04T15:19:50ZSports can help prevent violent extremism in youth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470370/original/file-20220622-34601-b1wwi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=63%2C0%2C4168%2C2715&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sports may offer a strategy to re-integrate young people involved in violent activities back in to society.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Instances of violent extremism such as the recent attacks on <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/attack-on-chinese-workers-in-pakistan-challenges-new-government/6547926.html">Chinese workers in Pakistan</a> have been on a rise globally. These incidents have forced <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/canadian-report-warns-extremist-infiltration-military-84301400">nations across the world to take serious measures</a> — including <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220412-tunisia-france-unite-to-protect-youth-against-violent-extremism">declaring zero-tolerance policies</a> — to curb the violence. </p>
<p>Violent extremism <a href="https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/terrorism/module-2/key-issues/radicalization-violent-extremism.html">condones violent actions that are based on political or religious ideologies</a>, and youth are particularly vulnerable to it. In some countries they are at even greater risk: Pakistan, which is home to almost 120 million young people, <a href="https://www.ipripak.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/3-art-s-15.pdf">sees recurring targeting, manipulation and recruitment of vulnerable youth by extremist groups</a>.</p>
<p>Young people may be vulnerable to violent extremism due to several reasons including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2018.1543144">social exclusion, discrimination, hate, trauma, racism and forced displacement</a>. These reasons often accumulate over time, leading to increased frustrations among youth and making them <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000260547">vulnerable to exploitation by extremist groups</a> who promise them a better life and sense of community. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/handle/10371/144131">recent research</a> explored the reasons behind youth involvement in violent extremism in the South Punjab region of Pakistan and found that sports could help prevent it through resilience building. Sports is a powerful tool that can help change lives if used in an organized way.</p>
<h2>Promotion of positive values through sport</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Hands holding other hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469222/original/file-20220616-16-vzcb7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469222/original/file-20220616-16-vzcb7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469222/original/file-20220616-16-vzcb7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469222/original/file-20220616-16-vzcb7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469222/original/file-20220616-16-vzcb7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469222/original/file-20220616-16-vzcb7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469222/original/file-20220616-16-vzcb7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sports can help youth believe in equality through mutual acceptance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When young people experience positive interactions, it increases their sense of <a href="https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2020.00099">belonging</a>, improves <a href="https://mymind.org/why-is-acceptance-important-for-our-mental-health">mental health</a> and strengthens community ties. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, discrimination, harsh words, gestures or behaviour <a href="https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/discrimination-can-be-harmful-to-your-mental-health">negatively impact their mental health</a> and cause feelings of isolation. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2015.1050264">Studies have found</a> that sports can provide a safe environment to teach young people positive values through organized activities that lead to better resilience. It can also help youth believe in equality through mutual acceptance. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sport-for-development-and-peace-can-transform-the-lives-of-youth-126151">How sport for development and peace can transform the lives of youth</a>
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<p>Experiencing fairness and integrity during sports — <a href="http://www.sportparent.eu/en/helping-develop-integrity-in-sport">through the repetition of sporting values and principles including respect for others, co-operation and team-work, problem solving, conflict resolution, fair play and resilience</a> — makes them better human beings. It may also influence honesty, responsibility, respect and trust in their lives outside these activities as well. The resilience gained through sports strengthens young people and they become difficult targets for extremist groups. </p>
<h2>Violent extremism prevention through sports</h2>
<p><a href="https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/handle/10371/144131">We explored</a> two non-profit organizations’ implementation of <a href="https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/sports-development-and-peace">sports for development and peace programs</a> in Pakistan. We found that youth vulnerability could be changed by building life skills and developing social and moral values through sport. </p>
<p>These <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sport-for-development-and-peace-can-transform-the-lives-of-youth-126151">programs aim to use various sports or physical activities</a> to promote peace, health and social cohesion, including everyone to help foster community ties. As <a href="https://en.unesco.org/themes/fostering-rights-inclusion">inclusion prevents discrimination</a>, these programs promote a safe and stress-free environment for youth to let loose. </p>
<p>For example, Swat Youth Front uses soccer, volleyball and cricket to promote <a href="https://www.peaceinsight.org/en/organisations/syf/">peace values among war survivors</a>. Similarly, <a href="https://impactinfocus.com/idsdp-kafka-welfare-organization/">Kafka Welfare Organization</a> uses team-based sports to promote peace among young people in Pakistan.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of young people stand in a circle holding hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469520/original/file-20220617-16-e948sk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469520/original/file-20220617-16-e948sk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469520/original/file-20220617-16-e948sk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469520/original/file-20220617-16-e948sk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469520/original/file-20220617-16-e948sk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469520/original/file-20220617-16-e948sk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469520/original/file-20220617-16-e948sk.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 sports for development and peace activities event organized at the children literature festival held at Lahore, Pakistan, in January 2018, teaches peace values and promotes citizenship among young people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kafka Welfare Organization)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sports not only helped prevent the involvement of vulnerable youth in violent extremism but was used to integrate radicalized, excluded or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2022-008717">forcefully displaced</a> people back into the communities. The programs also helped reduce the mental health consequences of trauma exposure. </p>
<p>Sports did this because: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Physical activity can <a href="https://www.harvardpilgrim.org/hapiguide/exercise-has-benefits-for-mind-body-and-spirit/">protect and promote positive mental, physical and spiritual health</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Fun activities, like sports, <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/top-fun-stress-relievers-3145208">help reduce stress and anxiety</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Team sports help youth make friends and develop social ties. The youth we engaged with said sports helped them create support systems as they bonded with their teammates.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Building resilience against violent extremism</h2>
<p>Our research also explored two sports-based social programs — Parvaz e Aman
Program (PeA) and Youth Adolescent Development — working in South Punjab, Pakistan. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Two boys play cricket in a rural setting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469215/original/file-20220616-12-88qjk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469215/original/file-20220616-12-88qjk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469215/original/file-20220616-12-88qjk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469215/original/file-20220616-12-88qjk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469215/original/file-20220616-12-88qjk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469215/original/file-20220616-12-88qjk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469215/original/file-20220616-12-88qjk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When young people play together as a team and create stronger ties with the community, it helps them build trust.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.11.009">South Punjab is a marginalized area</a> where young people are considered more vulnerable because of the lacking economic and education opportunities. This area has been used by the Taliban to recruit <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344298071_Radicalization_of_Youth_in_Southern_Punjab">people into violent extremist activities</a>. The sports-based social programs use sports to build resilience among young people and help them stay away from such violent extremism recruitment. </p>
<p>The youth we interacted with — as part of our research — mentioned that they often “felt alone and neglected, but now feel important and have a purpose in life.” Many were thrilled to feel respected by their teammates it helped them feel equal. </p>
<h2>A global threat needs a broader solution</h2>
<p>The United Nations has been promoting the role of sports to prevent violent extremism among communities for years.</p>
<p>Often it is endorsed as an effective tool to promote peace among communities. The UN Office of Counter-Terrorism declared that sports: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<a href="https://www.sportsforsocialimpact.com/post/preventing-violent-extremism-in-youth">Help build the resilience of at-risk youth</a>, strengthening their life skills to minimize risk factors and maximize protective factors.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Violent extremism is a global threat that needs to be tackled seriously.</p>
<p>Investing in sports programs could be part of a broader solution. Sports may offer a strategy to reintegrate youth who were involved in violent activities into society. It may also help prevent recruitment of new targets. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44293/">Sports has the power</a> to promote pro social behaviour among young people. Neglecting its role in social development can increase a chance of youth involvement in violent activities. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.rcog.org.uk/careers-and-training/training/courses-and-events/rcog-world-congress/rcog-congress-2022/registration/low-resource-countries/">Governments of developing countries</a>, such as Pakistan, need to adopt these practices and integrate them in their policies, because violent extremism cannot be stopped through military actions alone in the long term. We need to also support young and vulnerable people, and that is possible through sports.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Umair Asif is a member of the UNESCO Chair in Curriculum Development and he receives funding from UQAM Sciences Faculty for this project. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Rosenbaum received funding from NHMRC. He is affiliated with The Olympic Refuge Foundation Think Tank. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tegwen Gadais is member of the UNESCO Chair in Curricular Development and he receives funds from UQAM sciences faculty and RISUQ for this project.</span></em></p>Sports can help prevent the involvement of youth in violent extremism.Umair Asif, PhD Student, Health and Society, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Simon Rosenbaum, Associate professor & Scientia Fellow, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, UNSW SydneyTegwen Gadais, Professor, Département des sciences de l'activité physique, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1861452022-07-01T13:54:45Z2022-07-01T13:54:45ZRoe v Wade: a philosopher on the true meaning of ‘my body, my choice’<p>The overturning of Roe v Wade harms all women and all who can get pregnant around the world by making their body-ownership merely conditional. This undermines their equality with others.</p>
<p>Many people are reeling from the recent decision by the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade, so that states may now make it illegal to obtain or perform an abortion. For many of us, even if we do not live in the US, this feels like a personal blow. I use <a href="https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/457650/">my work in moral philosophy</a> to explain this feeling. If we feel personally affected it is because we are personally affected. The ruling diminishes the self-ownership of all women (even if they cannot get pregnant) and all those who can get pregnant, wherever they live.</p>
<p>The decision is likely to leave <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-supreme-court-roe-v-wade-abortion-access/">33 million people</a> in the US without access to abortion. These are the people most directly affected by the ruling. Evidence shows that being denied an abortion <a href="https://www.ansirh.org/research/ongoing/turnaway-study">harms a person’s health, finances and family life</a>. Those in the US who are forced to continue pregnancy may lose their dreams, or even their <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2020/maternal-mortality-rates-2020.htm#:%7E:text=In%202020%2C%20861%20women%20were,20.1%20in%202019%20(Table).">lives</a>. </p>
<p>But the effects of the US ruling are global. Anyone who can get pregnant now knows that they cannot travel or move to the US and be recognised as an equal with equal rights. The same is not true for our male compatriots.</p>
<p>Of course, the US is not the only place where access to abortion is <a href="https://theconversation.com/roe-v-wade-overturned-what-abortion-access-and-reproductive-rights-look-like-around-the-world-184013">restricted</a> so the development in the US amounts to an additional blow to equality, rather than a loss of what had been perfect equality. But the size and influence of the US make this additional blow very significant.</p>
<h2>What is body ownership and why does it matter?</h2>
<p>You own your body when you have the authority to make decisions about what is done to it and how it is used on the basis of your own interests and desires. </p>
<p>Body ownership is a fundamental part of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/moral-standing">moral standing</a> for <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199683642.001.0001/acprof-9780199683642-chapter-9">humans</a>. It is through my body that I act on the world: when I bake a cake, write a book or build a house, I use my body. It is through my body that the world acts on me. When I am struck by the beauty of a sunrise, enjoy a cool breeze, find myself convinced by an argument, these effects on me need to go through my body. How my body is, makes up a major part of how I am: if my body is hurt, I am hurt. Body ownership is needed to respect the unique relationship between me and my body. </p>
<p>Body ownership is needed for a valuable kind of agency that I call full-fledged agency – the freedom to select one’s own ends and adopt a settled course of action in line with those ends. Maybe I value helping the sick and want to become a doctor. This requires me to commit to study for many years. I can only do this if I have at least some authority to decide what happens to my body.</p>
<p>None of this means that you are never required to use your body for others: it’s pretty uncontroversial that I am required to call an ambulance if the person next to me has a heart attack and this does not undermine self-ownership. However, for me to genuinely own my body, there must be limits on these requirements. I must have a say in how my body is used for the benefit of others. </p>
<p>Lack of access to abortion can undermine your body ownership even if you never actually need an abortion. If you can get pregnant but access to abortion is limited, then you only get to decide what happens to your body so long as you are not pregnant. You are not entirely free to decide on the actions needed to achieve your goals.</p>
<p>Indeed, I believe legal restrictions on abortion undermine body ownership for any woman, even if she cannot get pregnant and even if she never plans to travel to the US. Her control over her body still depends on the ability or inability to get pregnant and on where she is in the world. A woman’s right to control her body should not rest on such accidents.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674004238">Philosopher T.M. Scanlon</a> discusses a “friend” who would steal a kidney for you if you needed one. Scanlon argues that this person is not a true friend to you, because of what his view must be of your right to your own body parts: “He wouldn’t steal them [from you], but that is only because he happens to like you.” </p>
<p>We need our friends to recognise that we have rights to our body parts because we are people, not just because they happen to like us. As a woman, I need recognition that my body belongs to me because I am a person, not merely because I happen not to be able to get pregnant or happen not to need to go to the US.</p>
<p>So all women and all those who can get pregnant are personally affected by the overturning of Roe v Wade – and all threats to abortion access. Recognition of why this is might help us understand otherwise puzzling feelings, both in ourselves and others. It might also help us to work together to <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-you-can-get-involved-in-fighting-for-womens-reproductive-rights-185559">defend reproductive rights</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Woollard held a Non-Residential Fellowship in Philosophy of Transformative Experience at the Experience Project (September 2016-February 2017), funded by the Templeton Foundation, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has also received funding from the Mind Association, the ESRC, the AHRC, and been on a project funded by the European Research Council.</span></em></p>The concept of body ownership shows how the Supreme Court’s decision affects every woman, whether they can get pregnant or not.Fiona Woollard, Professor of Philosophy, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1820742022-05-30T18:39:45Z2022-05-30T18:39:45ZThe multiple faces of inequality in India<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463599/original/file-20220517-16-mniatq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C1024%2C676&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Punit Paranjpe/AFP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Known for its caste system, India is often thought of as one of the world’s most unequal countries. The <a href="https://wir2022.wid.world/www-site/uploads/2022/03/0098-21_WIL_RIM_RAPPORT_A4.pdf">2022 World Inequality Report</a> (WIR), headed by leading economist Thomas Piketty and his protégé, Lucas Chancel, did nothing to improve this reputation. Their research showed that the gap between the rich and the poor in India is at a historical high, with the top 10% holding 57% of national income – more than the average of 50% under British colonial rule (1858-1947). In contrast, the bottom half accrued only 13% of national revenue. A <a href="https://www.oxfamindia.org/knowledgehub/workingpaper/inequality-kills-india-supplement-2022">February report by Oxfam</a> noted 2021 alone saw 84% of households suffer a loss of income while the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142.</p>
<p>Both reports highlight not only the problem of revenue inequality but also of opportunity. While there may be disagreement between left and right on the ethics of equality, there is a consensus that everyone should be given the chance to succeed and the principle of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-fairness-matters-more-than-equality-three-ways-to-think-philosophically-about-justice-140954">fairness</a> – and not factors such as birth, region, race, gender, ethnicity or family backgrounds – ought to lay the foundations of a level playing field for all.</p>
<p>Drawing from the latest pre-pandemic database from the Periodic Labour Force Survey of 2018-19, our research confirms this is far from the case in India. On the one hand, the country has had a consistently high GDP growth rate of <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=IN">more than 7%</a> for nearly two decades, the exception being the period around the 2008 financial crisis. On the other hand, this income has failed to trickle down to India’s marginalised communities, with preliminary results pointing to a higher level of inequality of opportunity in the country than in Brazil or Guatemala.</p>
<p>Precarity as well as a large shadow economy also plague the country’s labour market. Even before the pandemic, only 30% to 40% of regular salaried adult Indian earners had job contracts or social securities such as national pension schemes, provident fund or health insurance. For self-employed workers, the situation is even more critical, even though these constituted nearly 60% of the Indian labour force in 2019.</p>
<h2>Castes, gender and background still determine life chances</h2>
<p>Our research indicated that at least 30% of earning inequality is still determined by caste, gender and family backgrounds. The seriousness of this figure becomes clear when it’s compared with rates of the world’s most egalitarian countries, such as Finland and Norway, where the respective estimates are below 10% for a similar set of social and family attributes.</p>
<p>The caste system is a distinctive feature of Indian inequality. Emerging around 1500 BC, the hereditary social classification draws its origins from occupational hierarchy. Ancient Indian society was thought to be divided in four <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616"><em>Varnas</em></a> or castes: <em>Brahmins</em> (the priests), <em>Khatriyas</em> (the soldiers), <em>Vaishyas</em> (the traders) and <em>Shudras</em> (the servants), in order of hierarchy. Apart from the above four, there were the “untouchables” or <em>Dalits</em> (the oppressed), as they are called now, who were prohibited to come into contact with any of the upper castes. These groups were further subdivided in thousands of sub-castes or <em>Jatis</em>, with complicated internal hierarchy, eventually merged into fewer manageable categories under the British colonisation period.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463592/original/file-20220517-16-fk8u09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463592/original/file-20220517-16-fk8u09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463592/original/file-20220517-16-fk8u09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463592/original/file-20220517-16-fk8u09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463592/original/file-20220517-16-fk8u09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463592/original/file-20220517-16-fk8u09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463592/original/file-20220517-16-fk8u09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The head of Lamborghini India Sharad Agarwal and managing director of Lamborghini Bangalore T.S. Sateesh pose with the $580,000 Lamborghini Huracan 610-4 Spyder at its launch in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Manjunath Kiran/AFP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://dopt.gov.in/sites/default/files/ch-11.pdf">Indian constitution</a> secures the rights of the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) through a caste-based reservation quota, by virtue of which a certain portion of higher-education admissions, public sector jobs, political or legislative representations, are reserved for them. Despite this, there is a <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/upper-caste-hindus-richest-in-india-own-41-total-assets-says-study-on-wealth-distribution-5582984/">notable earning inequality</a> between these social categories and the rest of the population, who consists of no more than 30% to 35% of Indian population. Adopting a data-driven approach we find that, on average, SC, ST and OBC still earn less than the rest.</p>
<p>While unique, the caste system is not the only source of unfairness. Indeed, it accounts for less than 7% of inequality of opportunity, something that’s in itself laudable. We will need to add criteria such as gender and family background differences to explain 30% of inequality.</p>
<p>In a country where <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-gang-rapes-tell-us-about-delhi-and-the-wider-world-22074">femicides and rapes</a> regularly make headlines, it comes as no surprise that women from marginalised social groups are often subject to a “double disadvantage”. For some states such as Rajasthan (in the country’s northwest), Andhra Pradesh (south), Maharashtra (centre), we find even upper-caste women enjoy fewer educational opportunities than men from the marginalised SC/ST communities. Even among the graduates, while the national average employment rate for males is 70%, it is below 30% for the females.</p>
<h2>A temporary byproduct of rising growth?</h2>
<p>Rising inequality could be dismissed as a temporary byproduct of rapid growth on the grounds of <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/simon-kuznets.asp">Simon Kuznets’ famous hypothesis</a>, according to which inequality rises with rapid growth before eventually subsiding. However, there is no guarantee of this, least of all because widening gap between rich and poor is not only limited to fast-growing countries such as India. Indeed, a <a href="https://blogs.imf.org/2019/11/07/the-threat-of-inequality-of-opportunity/">2019 study</a> found that the growth-inequality relationship often reflects inequality of opportunity and prospects of growth are relatively dim for economies with a bumpy distribution of opportunities.</p>
<p>Despite sporadic evidence of converging caste or gender gaps, our research shows an intricate web of social hierarchy has been cast over every aspect of life in India. It is true that <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/FLn6TiQPArdQZUN9LE2ZsM/The-impact-of-caste-on-economic-mobility-in-India.html">some deprived castes</a> may withdraw from school early to explore traditional jobs available to their caste-based networks – thereby limiting their opportunities. However, are they responsible for such choices or it is the precariousness of the Indian economy that pushes them down such routes? There is no straightforward answer to these questions, even if some of the “bad choices” that individuals make can result more from pressure than choice.</p>
<p>Given the complicated intertwining of various forms of hierarchy in India, broad policies targeting inequality may have less success than anticipated. Dozens of factors other than caste, gender or family background feed into inequality, including home sanitation, school facilities, domestic violence, access to basic infrastructure such as electricity, water or healthcare, crime rates, political stability of the locality, environmental risks and many more.</p>
<p>Better data would allow researchers studying India to capture the contours of its society and also help gauge the effectiveness of policies intended to expand opportunities for the neediest.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Created in 2007 to help accelerate and share scientific knowledge on key societal issues, the AXA Research Fund has supported nearly 700 projects around the world conducted by researchers in 38 countries. To learn more, visit the site of the AXA Research Fund or follow on Twitter @AXAResearchFund.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182074/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tista Kundu a reçu des financements de AXA Research Fund. </span></em></p>Preliminary research finds that India’s high growth rate has failed to trickle down to society’s marginalised communities, with caste, gender and background still dictating life chances.Tista Kundu, Post-doctoral research fellow in economics, Centre de Sciences Humaines de New DelhiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1805872022-05-24T20:04:59Z2022-05-24T20:04:59ZLow staff turnover, high loyalty and productivity gains: the business benefits of hiring people with intellectual disability<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456036/original/file-20220404-19-1ziypm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C9489%2C6302&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are many reasons to employ people living with intellectual disability. Most obvious is that it’s the right thing to do – it helps promote social justice, diversity, corporate social responsibility, and equal opportunity.</p>
<p>Even so, data released in 2020 (the latest available) show just <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/disability-and-labour-force">53.4%</a> of people with disability are in the labour force, compared with 84.1% of people without disability.</p>
<p>The situation is worse for people living with intellectual disability; only <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/disability-and-labour-force#data-download">32%</a> of this group are employed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464210/original/file-20220519-15-4x3c6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464210/original/file-20220519-15-4x3c6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464210/original/file-20220519-15-4x3c6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464210/original/file-20220519-15-4x3c6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464210/original/file-20220519-15-4x3c6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464210/original/file-20220519-15-4x3c6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464210/original/file-20220519-15-4x3c6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464210/original/file-20220519-15-4x3c6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Persons aged years a labour force status by disability group.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/disability-and-labour-force#data-download">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People living with intellectual disability are ready, willing and able to work.</p>
<p>What employers often don’t realise is that hiring from this oft-neglected segment of the workforce can also bring benefits for business.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-shove-us-off-like-were-rubbish-what-people-with-intellectual-disability-told-us-about-their-local-community-179479">'Don't shove us off like we're rubbish': what people with intellectual disability told us about their local community</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Resilience, perseverance and positive outlook</h2>
<p>The recent Australian television documentary series, <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/employable-me-australia">Employable Me</a>, highlighted the employment difficulties faced by people living with a disability.</p>
<p>It’s hard not to admire the incredible resilience, perseverance and positive outlook of this group.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1388337380508135425"}"></div></p>
<p>Despite these qualities, people living with intellectual disability who want to work <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10926-015-9586-1">face barriers</a> such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>employer attitudes</li>
<li>stigma</li>
<li>preconceived beliefs</li>
<li>discriminatory work practices and </li>
<li>a limited knowledge of their capabilities.</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s true employers may need to make <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/PR-05-2016-0105/full/html">workplace adjustments</a> to accommodate these employees’ needs, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>communicating in pictures rather than words (for example, using signage with symbols to indicate who and what goes where)</li>
<li>breaking tasks down into simple steps</li>
<li>specialised training for workers living with an intellectual disability, as well as supervisors and co-workers. </li>
</ul>
<p>Yes, these changes may represent an initial cost. But research shows the profound benefits of hiring people living with intellectual disabilities, which can include:</p>
<ul>
<li>improvements in <a href="https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-vocational-rehabilitation/jvr521">profitability</a></li>
<li>greater <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1744-7941.12230?casa_token=LX7vgoXjNO8AAAAA%3A-onOwl7cXpz8ML8wCF6-bFNav4599z0TUVZr-TigXNh4kGjjFrBlwY-AguP4dem2L4ghjAQD-newtjkt">cost-effectiveness</a></li>
<li>lower employee <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/236285953?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true">turnover</a> </li>
<li>high <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ828953">rates</a> of employee retention, reliability, punctuality, loyalty, and</li>
<li><a href="https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-vocational-rehabilitation/jvr8-1-09">benefits</a> to the company image.</li>
</ul>
<p>The organisations highlighted in such studies include retail organisations, the military, small and medium enterprises, professional services and landscaping.</p>
<p>To achieve such results though, requires employee support, changes to work procedures, flexibility in supervision, and – perhaps most importantly – an open mind.</p>
<h2>‘A massive waste of human resource’</h2>
<p>People living with intellectual disability can and do make a significant <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jar.12558?casa_token=fmR6PyCVwK0AAAAA:LK63YKhGSp7cQKxRlal1jFgc9-jLuBa3O15Mdco3OnVSsoMDWRHN_ie6mr74FsFqnN2MBH_4u2CiCeQ">contributions at work</a> when given the opportunity.</p>
<p>Many tend to be employed part-time, and in segregated settings – often in <a href="https://buy.nsw.gov.au/buyer-guidance/source/select-suppliers/australian-disability-enterprises#:%7E:text=An%20Australian%20disability%20enterprise%20(ADE)%20is%20a%20not%2Dfor,to%20large%20product%20assembly%20lines">Australian disability enterprises</a> or what used to be called “sheltered workshops”.</p>
<p>One of us (Elaine Nash) has been researching the business benefits of employing people living with intellectual disability. The (yet to be published) research has involved interviews with policy makers, leaders, disability advocates, managers, employers, and staff.</p>
<p>One interview was with Professor Richard Bruggemann, a disability advocate and last year’s <a href="https://www.australianoftheyear.com.au/recipients/richard-bruggemann/2273/">South Australia Senior Australian of the year</a>. He described the low labour force participation rate of people living with an intellectual disability as “a massive waste of human resource”. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>People living with intellectual disability are ready, willing, and able to make a difference to organisations beyond the traditional sheltered workshop setting. All they need is an opportunity to do so.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bruggemann’s observations are supported by international <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09638288.2019.1570356">research</a> <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10926-018-9756-z">about</a> workers living with intellectual disability. Many <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09638288.2019.1570356">studies</a> have called for a whole-of-government approach to boost employment rates in this cohort. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464191/original/file-20220519-17-cib5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464191/original/file-20220519-17-cib5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464191/original/file-20220519-17-cib5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464191/original/file-20220519-17-cib5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464191/original/file-20220519-17-cib5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464191/original/file-20220519-17-cib5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464191/original/file-20220519-17-cib5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464191/original/file-20220519-17-cib5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many studies have called for a whole-of-government approach to boost employment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Making it happen</h2>
<p>Employing people living with intellectual disability won’t always be suitable. </p>
<p>It is not a silver bullet for corporate success, higher efficiency, or greater profits. But in some settings, it may help <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/13668250.2017.1379250?casa_token=8wLN2zFs25sAAAAA%253AmB2jcCrnwhndFhnRyFmco8dc0PMAUhDUOIdzJyn0ZFkXoKwnmzZs-v7hZIsl7mOXS54-maTObIKI">address problems</a> that have been concerning employers. </p>
<p>As Simon Rowberry, CEO of <a href="https://www.barkuma.com.au/">Barkuma</a> (a not-for-profit that supports people with disability) told us in an interview:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are costs and benefits in any employment decision. Incorporating workers living with intellectual disability into your workforce is no different. Preparation, understanding what the upsides as well as the downsides are, and a need to be flexible are non-negotiables.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Perhaps the most critical success factor is a genuine desire to make it happen. Where there’s a will, there’s usually a way.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/employable-me-has-struck-a-chord-but-will-it-change-employers-attitudes-to-disability-94903">Employable Me has struck a chord but will it change employers' attitudes to disability?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elaine Nash used to work with Professor Richard Bruggemann when he was CEO of Intellectual Disability Services Council (IDSC). This story is part of The Conversation's Breaking the Cycle series, which is about escaping cycles of disadvantage. It is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Basil Tucker received funding from Accounting and Finance Association Australian and New Zealand (AFAANZ) for this project.</span></em></p>Research shows there can be profound business benefits to hiring people living with intellectual disability.Elaine Nash, PhD Candidate, University of South AustraliaBasil Tucker, Senior Lecturer in Management Accounting, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.