tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/looting-27343/articlesLooting – The Conversation2023-03-13T12:24:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2010992023-03-13T12:24:32Z2023-03-13T12:24:32ZThe Banyamulenge: how a minority ethnic group in the DRC became the target of rebels – and its own government<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513396/original/file-20230303-18-fisnxr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Banyamulenge community members at the funeral of one of their own in eastern DRC.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexis Huguet/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The Banyamulenge are a minority ethnic group in South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In December 2022, the UN adviser on the prevention of genocide raised concerns about attacks against the community based on “<a href="https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2022/un-special-adviser-prevention-genocide-condemns-escalation-fighting-drc">ethnicity or perceived allegiance with neighbouring countries</a>”. The Banyamulenge have <a href="https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2071779/ACCORD_DR+Congo_Situation+of+Banyamulenge.pdf">long been viewed</a> as not being Congolese. The government, however, has often dismissed claims that the community is facing targeted attacks <a href="https://www.politico.cd/encontinu/2022/11/24/pretendus-discours-de-haine-en-rdc-une-fiction-qui-ressemble-aux-discours-segregationnistes-portes-par-le-rwanda-patrick-muyaya.html/121636/">as fiction</a>. Delphin R Ntanyoma, who has <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behind-Scenes-Banyamulenge-Military-extinction/dp/2343186979">extensively researched</a> the Banyamulenge, explains why they are facing persecution.</em></p>
<h2>Who are the Banyamulenge and how has their status changed over time?</h2>
<p>The Banyamulenge live in eastern DRC in South Kivu province. They are mostly seen as affiliated to the Tutsi of the <a href="https://www.africangreatlakesinform.org/page/african-great-lakes">African Great Lakes region</a>, and they speak a language close to Kirundi (Burundi) and Kinyarwanda (Rwanda). The Banyamulenge settled in South Kivu between the 16th and 18th centuries, having come from what are today Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. They are largely cattle keepers. </p>
<p>They mostly occupy the southern part of South Kivu province: the Fizi, Mwenga and Uvira territories. In the 1960s and 1970s, some Banyamulenge moved to Katanga in the DRC’s southern region. The region has rich pastures for cattle herding and is close to the large cities of Lubumbashi and Mbujimayi, providing business opportunities. However, in 1998, nearly 20,000 Banyamulenge were forced to flee Katanga after they were <a href="https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/irin_10298.html">attacked for being “foreigners”</a>. </p>
<p>Since 1984, the DRC has not organised a <a href="https://securelivelihoods.org/wp-content/uploads/DRC-census-working-paper-fina-online.pdf">general census</a>. The historian <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/nl/title/banyamulenge-qui-sont-ils-dou-viennent-ils-quel-role-ont-ils-joue-et-pourquoi-dans-le-processus-de-la-liberation-du-zaire/oclc/42719868">Joseph Mutambo</a> estimated the group had around 400,000 people in 1997. There are no clear estimates today, but it’s safe to assume that they have grown in number. </p>
<p>Colonial history in the Great Lakes region has categorised local communities into <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-history-matters-in-understanding-conflict-in-the-eastern-democratic-republic-of-congo-148546">“native” and “immigrants”</a>. Farmers are seen as native, while cattle herders are largely perceived as immigrants, foreigners and invaders. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-history-matters-in-understanding-conflict-in-the-eastern-democratic-republic-of-congo-148546">Why history matters in understanding conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo</a>
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<p>Based on these assumptions, the Banyamulenge have been viewed as foreigners and were <a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/worldreport/Africa-04.htm">denied citizenship in the 1980s</a>. A decade later, the Congolese state <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/congo/drc-banyamulenge-seeking-political-solution-tensions">sought to expel them</a> after a parliamentary resolution to send back all Rwandan and Burundian descendants. </p>
<p>This added to the perception that the Banyamulenge were “invaders”. I have researched the drivers of violence in South and North Kivu for six years, with a focus on the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behind-Scenes-Banyamulenge-Military-extinction/dp/2343186979">Banyamulenge situation</a>. It’s clear that much of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/14687968211009895">violence targeting them</a> revolves around the misconception that they are <a href="https://www.jpolrisk.com/the-banyamulenge-genocide-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo-on-the-interplay-of-minority-groups-discrimination-and-humanitarian-assistance-failure/">strangers in their own country</a>. </p>
<h2>Who’s who on the list of their political adversaries?</h2>
<p>The Banyamulenge’s political adversaries range from local politicians to armed groups and militias. Most of the politicians who rally their constituents against the Banyamulenge are from neighbouring ethnic communities. These include the Babembe, Bafuliro, Banyindu and Bavira. Members of these ethnic communities consider themselves “native”. Political figures outside South Kivu have also spread the idea that the Banyamulenge are outsiders. </p>
<p>Those who take issue with the Banyamulenge claim to be protecting their country from “invaders”. This has led to armed mobilisations and the use of local militias, like the MaiMai and Biloze-Bishambuke. These militias have vowed to <a href="https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/genocide-warning-the-vulnerability-of-banyamulenge-invaders">expel the Banyamulenge or eliminate them</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-conflicts-intertwined-over-time-and-destabilised-the-drc-and-the-region-185432">How conflicts intertwined over time and destabilised the DRC – and the region</a>
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<p>Since 2017, Burundian rebel groups like Red-Tabara and Forces Nationales de Liberation have joined local militias in attacks against the Banyamulenge. The Red-Tabara’s involvement raised questions about <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-burundi-rwanda-un-idUSKCN0VD04K">Rwanda’s role</a> after UN reports claimed that the country had supported the rebel group with logistical and training skills. </p>
<h2>How are the Banyamulenge targeted?</h2>
<p>The Banyamulenge have been targeted by Congolese security services and local militias in major attacks <a href="https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/irin_brf2287.html">in 1996</a>, <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/report/27798/drc-belgium-pursues-case-against-ex-minister-icj">1998</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/backgrounder/africa/burundi/2004/0904/index.htm">2004</a>. </p>
<p>A new wave of violence against the group <a href="https://www.ifri.org/fr/publications/notes-de-lifri/province-sud-kivu-un-champ-de-bataille-multidimensionnel-meconnu">began in 2017</a>, and has since led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and the destruction of <a href="https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/rapport-sur-les-attaques-anti-banyamulenge-en-rd-congo">hundreds of villages</a>. That year was marked by <a href="https://theconversation.com/2017-the-year-the-democratic-republic-of-congo-would-like-to-forget-88170">intensifying conflict in the DRC</a> over election delays. </p>
<p>The looting of Banyamulenge-owned cattle has been a constant occurrence <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26309798">since the 1960s</a>. Cattle constitute a major source of income and livelihood, and looting has worked as a strategy to impoverish the community and jeopardise their future. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/burundis-gatumba-massacre-offers-a-window-into-the-past-and-future-of-the-drc-conflict-191351">Burundi's Gatumba massacre offers a window into the past and future of the DRC conflict</a>
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<p>Due to the widespread destruction of villages, the remaining Banyamulenge in South Kivu live in small localities like Minembwe, Murambya/Bijombo, Mikenge and Bibokoboko. They continue to face <a href="https://kivutimes.com/minembwe-attaque-des-mai-mai-biloze-bishambuke-ilunga-et-yakutumba-plusieurs-villages-sous-le-feu-la-societe-civile-alerte-les-autorites/">regular and coordinated attacks</a>, which have prevented the community from accessing pastures and farmland beyond a two-kilometre radius. </p>
<p>Armed militias in South Kivu have <a href="https://www.jpolrisk.com/the-banyamulenge-genocide-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo-on-the-interplay-of-minority-groups-discrimination-and-humanitarian-assistance-failure/">prevented and constrained</a> humanitarian organisations from getting aid into Banyamulenge settlements. </p>
<p>Hate speech has played a major role in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623528.2022.2078578">fuelling violence</a> against the community. Twitter, Facebook, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG2YPRq3Uqw">YouTube</a> and other social media platforms have thousands of posts and videos that claim the Banyamulenge are not Congolese citizens and shouldn’t be in the country. </p>
<p>Such dehumanising and hateful speech feeds the minds and hearts of young people, mainly men, who consider attacks against the Banyamulenge a <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/5253c0784.html">“noble” cause</a>. <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/democratic-republic-of-congo-rising-concern-banyamulenge">Researchers</a> and <a href="https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/hate-speech-and-genocide-in-minembwe-d-r-congo">activists</a> have called for greater attention to be paid to these attacks.</p>
<h2>Who’s behind the attacks?</h2>
<p>The Banyamulenge are targeted because they are viewed as “foreigners”. For decades, local armed groups and militias have mobilised to get rid of those perceived as invaders. This ideology is transmitted across generations. </p>
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<p>In addition, the Congolese national army has played a role in enabling attacks against the Banyamulenge by <a href="https://twitter.com/KivuSecurity/status/1304083139334156289">providing ammunition to militias</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXYdu8U7At0">opening breaches when rebels attack civilians</a>. Huge destruction has taken place in areas where the <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2019/10/28/eastern-Congo-Kivu-conflict-regional-tensions">Congolese army is present</a> but didn’t intervene. </p>
<p>There are three possible reasons for the army’s general inaction. First, some military commanders and soldiers may believe the narrative that the Banyamulenge are not Congolese. Second, some military commanders create chaos and conflict pocket zones to serve one or more protagonists in the <a href="https://www.africangreatlakesinform.org/page/african-great-lakes">Great Lakes region</a>. Third, violence allows military commanders to access operational funds – and looted cattle can be turned into money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Delphin R. Ntanyoma 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 Banyamulenge have been viewed as strangers in their own country – the violence targeting them revolves around this misconception.Delphin R. Ntanyoma, Visiting Researcher, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1863972022-07-09T08:37:52Z2022-07-09T08:37:52ZSouth Africa’s deadly July 2021 riots may recur if there’s no change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472813/original/file-20220706-26-8nkoxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The aftermath of the looting and violence of July 2021 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last July South Africa was hit by a wave of devastating violence that left over 350 people dead and caused <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-lies-behind-social-unrest-in-south-africa-and-what-might-be-done-about-it-166130">massive economic damage</a>. Different people have used different terms to describe what happened: civil unrest, looting, food riots, uprising, rebellion, counter-revolution.</p>
<p>Even government ministers were initially divided about <a href="https://mg.co.za/news/2021-07-19-security-cluster-disagrees-over-describing-recent-unrest-as-an-insurrection/">what to call the events</a>. President Cyril Ramaphosa labelled them <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-update-security-situation-country-16-jul-2021-0000">an insurrection</a>: a calculated, orchestrated effort to destabilise the country, sabotage the economy, and undermine constitutional democracy.</p>
<p>Whichever way the events are described, they can be attributed to:</p>
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<li><p>the pervasiveness of weak state institutions which failed at implementation,</p></li>
<li><p>ineffective security institutions which failed to uphold the law, and </p></li>
<li><p>poor oversight and consequence management at national, provincial, and local government levels.</p></li>
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<p>The picture pieced together by an <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/content/report-expert-panel-july-2021-civil-unrest">expert panel</a> appointed by Ramaphosa to probe the riots was of a build-up, over several months, of a deliberate and targeted campaign that set the stage for what was to come. This included violent rhetoric, social media mobilisation, and threats aimed at intimidating the courts and law enforcement agencies. There were other incendiary acts that fitted into a generalised pattern of public disorder. They included the burning of trucks, blockades of highways and sabotage of infrastructure.</p>
<p>These multi-layered currents fed off and reinforced each other. They <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/content/report-expert-panel-july-2021-civil-unrest">sometimes ran parallel to each other</a>. The jailing of former president Jacob Zuma <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-07-30-south-africas-july-riots-and-the-long-shadow-of-jacob-zuma-fall-over-party-and-state/">for contempt of court</a> was only a trigger. </p>
<p>The notion of an insurrection suggests that there were key politically motivated actors who exploited weaknesses in the state’s capacity to drive a general campaign of violence. The violence undermined the legitimacy of state institutions and left the nation psychologically traumatised.</p>
<p>It left a lingering sense that untouchable people could act with impunity. This perception has been reinforced by the <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2022-07-08-the-july-riots-a-year-later-but-no-justice-for-the-237-people-murdered/">slow trickle of prosecutions</a>, and unconvincing promises by the state to uncover the presumed masterminds.</p>
<p>A troubling question is whether a recurrence of the devastating events of July 2021 is possible. In my view, it is possible, if there is no meaningful change. </p>
<h2>Growing seeds of discontent</h2>
<p>The objective conditions which made the riots possible remain in place. These include the periodic disruptions and <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/trucks-block-roads-in-mpumalanga-including-n4-to-mozambique-20220706">blockades on national roads</a>, calls for <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/604062/unions-plan-national-shutdown-in-south-africa-amid-worries-were-becoming-another-zimbabwe/">national shutdowns</a>, and deliberate <a href="https://www.enca.com/news/sabotage-and-syndicates-hampering-eskom-recovery-gordhan">damage to infrastructure</a>. </p>
<p>Social media continues to be used to stoke fears and spread rumours of unrest. Moreover, the governing African National Congress (ANC) is wracked by internal rivalry. It is failing to provide much-needed leadership.</p>
<p>South Africa has for years seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-lies-behind-social-unrest-in-south-africa-and-what-might-be-done-about-it-166130">almost daily protests</a> over a lack of decent municipal services such as water, sanitation, a lack of housing and land. A trigger event, or set of conditions, could easily ignite the flames.</p>
<p>After two years of hardship brought about by COVID-19, there have been other shocks. Earlier this year, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/south-africa/south-africa-kwazulu-natal-floods-emergency-appeal-no-mdrza012-operational-strategy">KwaZulu-Natal</a> and <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2022/04/28/more-than-1-000-people-homeless-as-mabuyane-reveals-extent-of-ec-flood-damage">other parts of the country</a> were hit hard by devastating <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2022/06/15/clean-up-operations-underway-in-waterlogged-western-cape-following-heavy-rains">floods</a>, evoking further trauma.</p>
<p>In other parts of the country, drought is creating <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-had-lots-of-rain-and-most-dams-are-full-but-water-crisis-threat-persists-178788">serious water shortages</a>, bringing with it a new source of insecurity and instability. </p>
<p>Unemployment <a href="https://www.gcis.gov.za/content/resourcecentre/newsletters/insight/issue13">has risen</a>. Many of those with jobs are failing to make ends meet. The violent rhetoric that has been building up <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/04/south-africa-migrants-living-in-constant-fear-after-deadly-attacks/">against migrants</a> could almost be out of the July 2021 playbook. The rhetoric includes the circulating of untraceable videos designed to stoke tension and fear.</p>
<p>The Ukraine war has severely affected energy security and food security, with a knock-on effect on the cost of living in South Africa. </p>
<h2>Addressing the problem</h2>
<p>Ramaphosa has admitted to a lack of leadership on the part of government, adding that his <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-2022-state-nation-address-10-feb-2022-0000">cabinet accepts responsibility for the violence</a>. He pledged to drive a national response plan to address the weaknesses that the expert panel identified. This included the filling of critical vacancies in the security services, and appointing new leadership. </p>
<p>A new national <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2022/03/31/sehlahle-fannie-masemola-announced-as-new-national-police-commissioner">police commissioner has been appointed</a>. Likewise, the State Security Agency has <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2022-02-28-state-security-agency-finally-gets-a-permanent-boss/">a new head</a>. And Treasury has released funds to recruit and train <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/583460/the-saps-is-hiring-thousands-of-officers-young-and-old/">more police officers</a> to bolster public order policing. </p>
<p>Since last year, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (<a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/natjoints">NatJOINTS</a> has been responding regularly to unrest. This is welcome, but there is a risk of law enforcement agencies becoming stretched if they do not base their operational plans on reliable intelligence.</p>
<p>The recent findings of the <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/">judicial inquiry into state capture</a> <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202206/electronic-state-capture-commission-report-part-v-vol-i.pdf">point</a> to the hollowing out and abuse for political ends of intelligence services during the Zuma era. It is not surprising, therefore, that the security sector was so ill-prepared to preempt the violent unrest. </p>
<p>If there is an area in which all the security services need to improve their capabilities, it is in the most modern methods of technical surveillance and digital intelligence. The era of fake news and disinformation requires a new generation of personnel with digital skills. </p>
<p>The security services need to be better prepared in case there is a similar outbreak of violence.</p>
<p>They need to hone their skills and improve the coordination of the roles and resources of local, provincial and national government with those of the emergency services, civil society, business and private security providers. There is also a need to improve intelligence capacity, and to work closely with communities, business and civil society for more timely sharing of information. </p>
<p>But, the state cannot outsource its overall constitutional responsibility for guaranteeing public safety and security. Intelligence services must forewarn government and the country of threats to security, using lawful means. </p>
<p>Other countries provide lessons. When policing powers are not overseen in a well-regulated and lawful manner, the space created can be filled by militias, <a href="https://theconversation.com/rising-vigilantism-south-africa-is-reaping-the-fruits-of-misrule-179891">vigilantes</a> and others trading on the vulnerability of communities.</p>
<h2>What lies ahead</h2>
<p>On the anniversary of the July unrest, South Africans are demanding accountability and justice. Many feel let down by weak governance, political dysfunction, and economic inequality – mainly at the expense of the country’s poverty-stricken black majority. </p>
<p>The Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, in presenting the <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-mondli-gungubele-state-security-dept-budget-vote-202223-24-may-2022-0000">State Security budget vote</a> for 2022/23, pledged a doctrinal shift in approach, away from “state security” towards a people-centred notion of security.</p>
<p>The need for such a turn in approach had also been highlighted by the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201903/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency.pdf">report</a> of a panel appointed by Ramaphosa in June 2018, to review the workings of the country’s intelligence services.</p>
<p>The president has also promised an inclusive process of developing a national security strategy. Civil society bodies should use this opportunity to put their demands on the table. </p>
<p>South Africa needs a multi-pronged strategy to build peaceful, sustainable neighbourhoods, communities, and a nation where the rule of law prevails. </p>
<p>New notions of security that reflect a people-centred ethos, are needed. To face violent and destabilising crimes similar to July’s events, the country may need to review the mandates, capabilities and resourcing of the security services.</p>
<p>This does not imply the escalation of the use of deadly force. Methods aimed at deescalating conflict, engaging community leaders, and averting bloodshed are needed. This requires serious and dedicated security services and accountable political representatives to oversee the services to avoid abuses of power. </p>
<p>An engaged citizenry is also one that acts lawfully to save the country from civil conflict. South Africans would do well to consider carefully whether and how to institutionalise the many acts of heroism displayed last year. They include spontaneously formed community patrols protecting shopping centres and private security companies assisting the police with operational equipment. </p>
<p>South Africa can hopefully avoid a repeat of the events of July 2021. But that calls for a recalibrated security sector which is effective, responsive, accountable, serving the country’s democracy and not the interests of a few who manipulate them for personal or partisan gain. </p>
<p><em>This is an edited version of a speech delivered at the recent <a href="http://defendourdemocracy.co.za/">Defend our Democracy conference</a></em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186397/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandy Africa was chairperson of the Expert Panel on the July 2021 civil unrest, appointed to assess the shortcomings of the South African security services' response to the violence. She writes in her personal capacity.</span></em></p>South Africa needs a multi-pronged strategy for building peaceful, sustainable neighbourhoods, communities, and a nation where the rule of law prevails.Sandy Africa, Associate Professor, Political Sciences, and Deputy Dean Teaching and Learning (Humanities), University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1792672022-03-23T12:42:04Z2022-03-23T12:42:04ZUkraine: how boycotting everything Russian – and blaming Russian society rather than Putin – is xenophobic<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/maps-show-and-hide-key-information-about-ukraine-war-179069">Russian invasion of Ukraine</a> has sparked global outrage and a desire to show support for Ukrainian citizens. Many people who are not in Ukraine have felt desperate to do something positive, something that will help.</p>
<p>Some have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/10/ukraine-humanitarian-crisis-what-is-the-most-effective-way-to-help">donated</a> clothing and blankets. Others have registered to <a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-welcoming-a-ukrainian-refugee-into-your-home-our-research-can-help-you-be-a-good-host-179212">host refugees</a>. And everywhere from <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukraine-russia-flag-mi6-downing-b2023415.html">government buildings</a> to <a href="https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/news/article/pupils-show-their-support-ukrainian-children">school playgrounds</a>, the colours of the <a href="https://yorkmix.com/around-2000-school-students-to-create-a-chain-of-peace-for-ukraine-across-york/">Ukrainian flag</a> have been flown, solidarity writ large in blue and yellow. </p>
<p>But alongside this positive support for Ukraine is a more negative rejection of anything – and everything – associated with Russia. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/12/cardiff-orchestra-defends-cut-tchaikovsky-concert-russia">Military anthems</a> by long-dead Russian composers have been stricken off concert playlists. Russian cats <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/03/1084205316/russian-cats-banned-international-competition">have been banned</a> from international feline exhibitions.</p>
<p>This begs the question of what these actions seek to achieve and who is being impacted. As my research shows, the <a href="https://www.rachelpistol.com/">second world war</a> offers multiple examples of destructive antagonism directed at German, Italian and Japanese citizens living in the UK and the US. As always in times of war, it is citizens who suffer the consequences of the actions of their government. </p>
<p>Amid the sanctions imposed on the Russian government, there have also been calls to boycott all things Russian, or even just Russian sounding. Boycotts, of course, give individuals a say through <a href="https://theconversation.com/boycotting-russian-products-might-feel-right-but-can-individual-consumers-really-make-a-difference-178876">collective action</a>. But many non-Russian products have been accidentally targeted. </p>
<p>Bar owners in the US have <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/27/business/russian-vodka-boycotts/index.html">dumped Stoli Vodka</a>, which is actually made in Latvia by a company headquartered in Luxembourg. The action may be symbolic but it is nonetheless misguided. </p>
<p>When Benito Mussolini declared war on Britain on June 10, 1940, there were riots across the UK. Italian shops were <a href="https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/29408">looted</a>, Italian businesses had their windows smashed. </p>
<p>Similar scenes have played out recently across the US, with Russian restaurants having their <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russian-businesses-us-face-backlash-war-ukraine-rcna19155">premises vandalised</a>. Both then and now, however, there is confusion over which businesses genuinely belong to “the enemy”. And no consideration is given to the suffering caused to innocent civilians caught in the crossfire between their native country and their country of domicile. </p>
<p>A lack of geographic knowledge and understanding among the general public has always caused issues in times of war. <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/2022/3/16/22979594/russian-tea-time-ukraine-backlash-war-choose-chicago-tourism-ceo-lawsuit-giant-penny-whistle">Ukrainians</a> and <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-xenophobic-attacks-and-death-threats-reported-by-russians-living-in-the-uk-12561807">Latvians</a> are currently being targeted because people mistakenly think they’re Russian. </p>
<p>This is merely people’s continued manifestation of xenophobic bullying based on a desire to “do” something but with little understanding of how best to direct their anger. During the second world war, Asian Americans wore badges stating <a href="https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Asian_American_response_to_incarceration/">they were not Japanese</a>, in order to stave off attacks on themselves or their property. Similarly, in the UK, the US and elsewhere, businesses whose names include the word “Russian” are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russian-businesses-us-face-backlash-war-ukraine-rcna19155">having to change to names</a> less likely to attract attention from xenophobes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A poster advertising a bottle of vodka on the side of a phone booth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453824/original/file-20220323-15-zwlbhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453824/original/file-20220323-15-zwlbhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453824/original/file-20220323-15-zwlbhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453824/original/file-20220323-15-zwlbhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453824/original/file-20220323-15-zwlbhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453824/original/file-20220323-15-zwlbhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453824/original/file-20220323-15-zwlbhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&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">Luxembourgeois company SPI has had to change the Russian name of its vodka, which is made in Latvia, to Stoli, after being boycotted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edenpictures/5851334976">Eden, Janine and Jim | Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Civilians harmed</h2>
<p>More concerning are the calls for deporting ordinary Russian citizens from western countries, even if they are opposed to Putin and his regime. In scenes that directly echo the treatment of so-called “enemy aliens” during the second world war, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Californian congressman Eric Salwell <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/national-politics/article/Swalwell-proposes-expelling-Russian-students-16947581.php">suggested</a> “kicking every Russian student out of the United States” as a means of retaliating against Putin.</p>
<p>In the UK, the MP for North Thanet in Kent, Roger Gale, went even further. He called for all Russians to be <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/russia-citizens-visa-uk-roger-gale-b2024940.html">“sent home”</a>, even though he acknowledged that many “good and honest” people would be caught as “collateral damage”. During the second world war, much harm was inflicted on innocent bystanders because of policies like these. </p>
<p>Most Italians who <a href="https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/retro/violent-anti-italian-riots-in-edinburgh-recalled-80-years-on-2879748">suffered during the rioting</a> had lived in the UK for decades and held strong loyalties to Britain. This did not stop male Italians who had lived in the UK for less than 20 years from being <a href="https://www.rachelpistol.com/talks">interned behind barbed wire</a> in camps on the Isle of Man, deported to camps in Canada or Australia, or, tragically for some, perishing on the torpedoed <a href="https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=pistol-enemy-alien.pdf&site=15"><em>Arandora Star</em></a>. </p>
<p>In the US, meanwhile, Japanese immigrants had called the west coast their home for decades before the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. They had raised their children and grandchildren as proud American citizens. Had <a href="https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Immigration%20Act%20of%201917">anti-Asian legislation</a> not existed to prevent Asians from naturalising, many Japanese immigrants would have become American citizens like their American children. </p>
<p>Denied this opportunity, all those with Japanese ancestry – including their Japanese American children, who were American citizens by right of their birth – were <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/psq.12695">forcibly removed</a> from their homes and places of work and incarcerated behind barbed wire. Research <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6354763/">has shown</a> the lasting trauma this has caused and how this was done in a <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/msen/files/internment.pdf">manner tantamount</a> to ethnic cleansing. </p>
<p>Calling for all Russian citizens to suffer for the actions of Vladimir Putin does nothing to place meaningful pressure on the Russian government. Death threats, damage to property, physical attacks and cyber stalking do nothing to help Ukrainians. This is simply bullying. </p>
<p>A clear distinction must be drawn between Russian government officials and those Russians who have earned their wealth via corruption and support of Putin, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60125659">who need to be sanctioned</a>, and ordinary Russian citizens living abroad. The latter find themselves in a dangerous situation, regardless of how staunchly they oppose their government’s invasion of Ukraine. </p>
<p>Many Russian citizens and Russian speakers – which includes many Ukrainians – are suffering xenophobic abuse. If history is to be repeated, they are at risk of incarceration, and even deportation. What Ukraine needs is political, military and humanitarian assistance, not hatred directed at innocent Russian citizens living in the west.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179267/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Pistol 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>Russian citizens in the west are being targeted in much the same way Germans, Italians, and Japanese were during the second world war.Rachel Pistol, Research Fellow, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1661302021-08-18T15:00:39Z2021-08-18T15:00:39ZWhat lies behind social unrest in South Africa, and what might be done about it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416500/original/file-20210817-23-1nmv9ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Residents clean up the streets and local businesses after looting incidents in Alexandra, Johannesburg. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa has among the highest recorded levels of social protest of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03050629.2012.697426">any country in the world</a>. The reasons behind this are more complex than often assumed.</p>
<p>The scale and severity of the <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/investigations/anatomy-of-a-violent-july-data-mapping-shows-unrest-was-part-of-tactical-plan-to-shut-down-sa-20210806">looting and sabotage</a> in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng in July, following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, has brought social protest and civil unrest into the popular discourse.</p>
<p>But much of the commentary on the July riot – which cost over 300 lives and billions of rands in damage to the economy – has neglected the long history of violent protest in the country. The truth is that, while <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-07-30-south-africas-july-riots-and-the-long-shadow-of-jacob-zuma-fall-over-party-and-state/">disgruntlement by Zuma’s supporters</a> was the trigger, the roots of social unrest go much deeper. </p>
<p>What is more, the available data shows that the number of protests in South Africa has been steadily <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/research-data/view/7862">rising over the past 20 years</a>. For instance, there has been an almost nine-fold increase in the average number of service delivery protests each year <a href="https://www.municipaliq.co.za/index.php?site_page=article.php&id=52">comparing 2004-08 with 2015-19</a>. </p>
<p>There is also evidence that social protests are <a href="https://journals.assaf.org.za/sacq/article/view/3031">increasingly violent and disruptive</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/violence-in-south-africa-an-uprising-of-elites-not-of-the-people-164968">Violence in South Africa: an uprising of elites, not of the people</a>
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<p>It is important to understand what lies behind this trend of growing social unrest, which makes the country precarious, and what might be done to tackle the underlying causes.</p>
<p>If the government wants to avoid a repeat of the social and economic catastrophe of the July 2021 riots – even if on a smaller and more localised scale – it should look back to learn some important lessons about why protest happens and how to address this. </p>
<h2>Seeds of discontent</h2>
<p>There are a number of key factors in understanding the reasons behind social protest in South Africa:</p>
<p>First, it is important to recognise that the people and places with the highest levels of social and economic deprivation are not those most likely to protest. For example, protests over “service delivery” – the provision of basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation – are heavily concentrated in the metropolitan areas, such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Mangaung. Yet rural municipalities actually have <a href="https://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/citations/52590">much lower levels of service coverage</a>. </p>
<p>Access to basic services has also improved across the country over the <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report%2003-01-22/Report%2003-01-222016.pdf">past two decades</a>. But delivery protests have increased exponentially over the same period. There are evidently deeper and more complex reasons behind how and when ineffective delivery of municipal services ends up in social conflict.</p>
<p>Second, it is often a sense of unfairness (inequality), not just levels of provision, that lead to grievances and resentment which <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022002717723136">spark social protest</a>. For instance, long-standing differences in amenities between neighbouring communities send a clear signal that the government is not willing or not able to meet their needs in an equitable manner. </p>
<p>A case in point is informal settlements which have often been <a href="http://repository.hsrc.ac.za/handle/20.500.11910/11292">hotspots for protest action</a>. Rural migrants arrive in the city with expectations of a better life, only to end up living in squalor. Until the government can implement a realistic and scalable plan for upgrading informal settlements, this is likely to continue.</p>
<p>Third, government departments tend to get fixated with meeting numerical targets at the expense of service quality and what matters most for communities. <a href="https://www.sacities.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Rules-of-the-Game-Report_final-draft-1.pdf">Recent research</a> suggests that municipal officials get locked into a culture of “playing it safe” and “compliance” in delivering services and related public investments rather than innovation and genuine transformation. </p>
<p>An infamous example is the delivery of <a href="https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/37125">toilets in an open field</a> where municipalities get the credit and contractors get paid for erecting them, whether or not there are any houses or people living in the vicinity.</p>
<p>Government needs to stop paying “lip service” to the principles of community consultation and local participation, and take this work seriously. The extra time and effort are justified by aligning municipal plans and investments closer to people’s actual priorities. Local buy-in can also help ensure that investments in public infrastructure are protected and maintained.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-violent-protest-in-south-africa-and-the-difficult-choice-facing-leaders-148751">Understanding violent protest in South Africa and the difficult choice facing leaders</a>
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<p>Finally, feelings of frustration and anger have been heightened by years of waiting for promises to be fulfilled. International <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/223459">studies</a> suggest that communities are more likely to protest when they can clearly attribute blame, and where visible institutions are perceived to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022002717723136">possess the means for redress</a>. </p>
<p>Municipal services have a clear line of sight, where communities can easily measure and attest to progress in their experience of daily life. <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africans-are-revolting-against-inept-local-government-why-it-matters-155483">Mismanagement and corruption</a> have led to the collapse of many municipalities over recent years. This is especially so in smaller cities and towns, with images of <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/mangaung-where-the-stench-of-sewage-smells-as-bad-as-its-finances-20200825">sewage running down the street</a> and no water in the pipes. In this way, grievances over service delivery are a common trigger for social protest. But the grievances often reflect a much broader basket of discontent. </p>
<p>Over the last 18 months, the hardship and suffering facing poorer urban communities, in particular, has been compounded by their disproportionate loss of jobs and livelihoods <a href="https://cramsurvey.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/12.-Turok-I.-_-Visagie-J.-2021-Drive-apart_-Contrasting-impacts-of-COVID-19-on-people-and-places.pdf">during the pandemic</a>. The reality of hunger and food insecurity is a moral issue but also critical for social stability.</p>
<p>The recent extension of the R350 (US$23) <a href="https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/sa-moves-to-lockdown-level-3-ramaphosa-reinstates-r350-covid-grant-20210725">special COVID-19 monthly grant</a> should help to alleviate some of the immediate pressures on poorer households. But, the country also needs a clearer plan of how to tackle the problem of food insecurity. </p>
<h2>No quick fix</h2>
<p>At the heart of the matter, South Africa’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemic-underscores-gross-inequalities-in-south-africa-and-the-need-to-fix-them-135070">deep-seated social inequalities</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-their-rush-to-become-global-cities-risk-creating-spatial-apartheid-77200">segregated living conditions</a> provide fertile ground for popular discontent. There is no easy fix for these.</p>
<p>Metropolitan populations continue to expand. This places added pressure on poorer communities forced to cope with rapid densification, strained services, informality and sparse economic opportunities. Fractured communities and weak, under-resourced governing institutions further complicate the task of upgrading and transforming these neighbourhoods.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-1994-miracle-whats-left-159495">South Africa's 1994 'miracle': what's left?</a>
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<p>Meanwhile, affluent households can buy their way into places that are safer, better planned and have higher quality facilities. They can opt out of public services by paying for private schooling, healthcare and security. This accentuates the socio-economic divides even further.</p>
<p>There is a real danger that the <a href="https://www.econ3x3.org/article/part-1-fiscal-dimensions-south-africas-crisis">current fiscal crisis</a> will further corrode public services. This will encourage more and more middle-class families to buy into private provision. Unless the government gets to grips with this issue, the widening chasm between middle and working-class communities will amplify perceptions of unfairness and exacerbate social instability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166130/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justin Visagie receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation through the SARChI in City-Region Economies at the University of the Free State.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivan Turok receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation through the SARChI in City-Region Economies at the University of the Free State.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharlene Swartz receives funding from the South African Department of Science and Innovation, the Mastercard Foundation and the National Research Foundation.</span></em></p>Much of the commentary on the July riots, which cost over 300 lives and billions of rands in damage to the economy, has neglected the long history of violent protests in the country.Justin Visagie, Senior Research Specialist, Human Sciences Research CouncilIvan Turok, Distinguished Research Fellow, Human Sciences Research CouncilSharlene Swartz, Head of Inclusive Economic Development, Human Sciences Research CouncilLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1653282021-08-01T09:13:04Z2021-08-01T09:13:04ZFive key reasons why basic income support for poor South Africans makes sense<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413749/original/file-20210729-25-1rnv3s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Marie Coetzee and her husband Fanie Coetzee live in the poverty stricken shanty town community of Munsieville, west of Johannesburg.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The basic income grant debate has been rumbling in South Africa for two decades, ever since the grant was recommended by the Committee of Inquiry into a Comprehensive System of <a href="https://sarpn.org/CountryPovertyPapers/SouthAfrica/march2002/report/Transforming_the_Present_pre.pdf">Social Security for South Africa</a> in 2002. </p>
<p>The reintroduction of the “social relief of distress” grant by President Cyril Ramaphosa, for unemployed people and unpaid caregivers who don’t receive any other social grant or <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/statement-president-cyril-ramaphosa-progress-national-effort-contain-covid-19-pandemic-4">unemployment insurance</a>, provides the ideal moment to introduce permanent basic income support for poor and unemployed adults.</p>
<p>I prefer the argument for <a href="http://www.blacksash.org.za/images/campaigns/basicincomesupport/BasicIncomeSupport2020.pdf">basic income support</a>, rather than a universal basic income grant. That’s because South Africa already has <a href="https://www.gov.za/faq/services/how-do-i-apply-social-grant">social grants</a> for poor children up to 18 years of age, poor older people over 60 and other vulnerable groups.</p>
<p>What is needed is a social protection instrument that would address the <a href="https://mg.co.za/business/2021-06-01-sa-hits-new-unemployment-record/">country’s unemployment pandemic</a> by assisting people aged 18 to 59 who are living in poverty – basic income support.</p>
<h2>The case for basic income</h2>
<p>There are at least five arguments for basic income support. First is the moral case for providing support to the poor, which in South Africa is also a <a href="https://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/Reports/4th_esr_chap_6.pdf">constitutional right</a>. </p>
<p>Second is the positive economic impact: boosting the purchasing power of the poorest will create <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387818300105">income multipliers</a>, stimulating local economic growth and livelihoods.</p>
<p>Third is social solidarity and cohesion. The recent spate of <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/everything-you-need-to-know-south-africa-protests/">looting</a> in parts of the country, ostensibly triggered by the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma, was just as much an outburst of frustration and anger against a system that excludes millions of citizens who see no hope for their future. </p>
<p>The social relief of distress grant will alleviate some of this hardship and make everyone feel recognised and included.</p>
<p>The fourth argument for a basic income support is COVID-19. The pandemic and the lockdowns affected low-paid and informal workers badly, and prompted a R500 billion (US$34 billion) social and economic support package from the government, including a <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_documents/Covid%2019%20TERS%20Easy%20Aid.pdf">temporary employer/employee relief scheme</a> and the special relief grant.</p>
<p>Though temporary, these interventions highlighted the underlying problems of chronic poverty and unemployment that receive too little policy attention in “normal” times. This has prompted calls to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14680181211021260">make these emergency relief measures permanent</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, a basic income support would improve the effectiveness of the existing social grants. The <a href="https://www.sassa.gov.za/newsroom/articles/Pages/SASSA_Social_Grants_Increase_2021.aspx">child support grant</a> is intended to meet the basic needs of <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/2021/review/Chapter%205.pdf#page=9">13 million children</a> in low-income households. But instead this cash is diluted among the entire family because unemployed parents and carers also need food and clothes.</p>
<p>This is one reason why there has been <a href="https://foodsecurity.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Final_Devereux-Waidler-2017-Social-grants-and-food-security-in-SA-25-Jan-17.pdf">no decline in child malnutrition</a> in post-apartheid South Africa. Child stunting rates have plateaued at around one in four children since the early 1990s, despite the introduction of the child support grant in 1998, and its subsequent rollout to two-thirds of all children by 2020. Basic income support that targets low-income adults would allow more child support grant cash to be allocated to the needs of the child.</p>
<h2>The case against basic income</h2>
<p>Two commonly heard arguments against basic income relate to its supposed behavioural effects (“dependency”) and its cost (“unaffordability”). The first refers to the claim that cash transfers make people lazy.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://socialprotection-humanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IWP-2017-06.pdf">myth of the lazy welfare claimant</a> has been comprehensively disproved in the social policy literature. Nonetheless, influential commentators like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-KSZCtaETs">Mamphela Ramphele</a> have recently argued that South Africans should pull themselves out of poverty through “self-liberating” hard work, and should not continue to depend on the “dummies” of social grants. </p>
<p>This pejorative view implies that poor people are lazy (they choose leisure rather than work, as economists phrase it), that they prefer to live on handouts from the state, and that there are plenty of job vacancies waiting to be filled.</p>
<p>This view is not aligned with reality. South Africa’s social grants are too little to live on, ranging from R460 a month for the child support grant to R1,890 a month for the older person’s and disability grants. Also, the economy is characterised by high structural unemployment. There simply aren’t enough jobs to absorb the millions of unemployed job-seekers. </p>
<p>People who argue against basic income are effectively saying that unemployed South Africans, who cannot find nonexistent jobs, should also be denied their constitutional right to social assistance from the state.</p>
<h2>Is basic income unaffordable?</h2>
<p>The second argument against a basic income grant or basic income support is its cost, and the assertion that it is “unaffordable” or “unsustainable”. </p>
<p>It is true that it will be expensive. Even at its low R350 a month (less than the <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P03101/P031012020.pdf">food poverty line at R585 a month</a>), if 10 million people claim the special relief grant (there are <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02111stQuarter2021.pdf">10.3 million unemployed and discouraged work-seekers</a>, only a small minority of whom can claim UIF) the cost would amount to R42 billion (US$2.85 billion) each year. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK7v9dGWNqI&list=PL5SgYUH3ZX3qa--NbIjFN2ZXmRhxxosmS&index=1">Where will this money come from?</a></p>
<p>One possible source is more efficient government. Reducing corruption, mismanagement and wasteful expenditure would release billions. Cutting <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=14484">government spending</a> by 2%-3% would be enough to cover the cost of the basic income support. </p>
<p>The second source of revenue is to raise taxes. This is never popular. If personal income tax is raised, the middle classes will complain that they are already overtaxed. If corporate taxes are increased, business will complain, and some private sector jobs could be at risk. If value added tax is raised, this will <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-02-23-explainer-budget-vat-rise-will-hurt-poor-despite-mitigating-efforts/">affect the poor negatively</a> as well as those better off.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, South Africa is an upper-middle-income economy, and <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview">one of the most unequal countries in the world</a>. That suggests that there is much scope for redistribution. And the gap between rich and poor South Africans is so great that more redistribution is a moral, social and political imperative.</p>
<p>A third way of managing the costs of expanded social protection is to grow the economy. The flip side of the ANC government’s social policy success in establishing Africa’s most comprehensive and generous social protection system is the failure of its economic policy to generate broad-based economic growth that creates jobs for the poor. If that can be addressed, then poverty will fall, and the number of people claiming the country’s means-tested social grants will fall in the coming years.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>A comprehensive social protection system is one that provides social assistance and social insurance to everyone who needs support from the state when they need it, at an adequate level. </p>
<p>R350 is not enough for anyone to live on – and certainly not enough for any recipient to “choose leisure” rather than look for work – but it’s a good start. Most important of all, now that the special relief grant is back, civil society will start campaigning hard to raise it to an adequate level – and to make it permanent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165328/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Devereux receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Number: 98411), and the Newton Fund, administered by the British Council.</span></em></p>There is no substance to the view that poor people are lazy and prefer to live on handouts from the state rather than seek work.Stephen Devereux, Research Fellow, Institute of Development StudiesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1647172021-07-26T15:24:04Z2021-07-26T15:24:04ZMilitary not a magic bullet: South Africa needs to do more for long term peace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413119/original/file-20210726-26-vb3azi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African Defence Force troops on patrol in Alexandra, Johannesburg, following recent violence and looting. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a show of force unprecedented since South Africa became a democracy in 1994, the South African National Defence Force has <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/sandf-forces-continue-to-arrive-in-kzn-following-a-week-of-violence-faae84c3-64b0-474b-9716-f5147c86fcb6">commissioned 25,000</a> soldiers for deployment across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, the two provinces most affected by <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/22/south-africa-unrest-death-toll-jumps-to-more-than-300">recent riots and large scale looting</a>. </p>
<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of the troops to <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/address-president-cyril-ramaphosa-acts-violence-and-destruction-property">support the country’s police</a>, who had been overwhelmed by the scale of the violence.</p>
<p>Governments usually deploy the military as the last line of defence when they face an insurrection or <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/columnists/qaanitah_hunter/qaanitah-hunter-an-insurrection-or-not-why-governments-confusion-doesnt-solve-sas-crises-20210721">revolt</a>. The threat of or use of military force is the ultimate arbiter to quell unrest that threatens state stability or the safety of citizens, as seen in Nigeria, where the deployment of the army on internal security operations <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-use-of-nigerian-soldiers-in-civil-unrest-whats-in-place-and-whats-missing-149283">has increased dramatically since 1999</a>.</p>
<p>In South Africa, the military has recently been deployed to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-army-is-being-used-to-fight-cape-towns-gangs-why-its-a-bad-idea-120455">counter gang violence</a> on the Cape Flats and during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-military-is-not-suited-for-the-fight-against-covid-19-heres-why-138560">COVID-19 pandemic</a>. In all these instances, there are concerns about how effective it is in these roles. </p>
<p>In South Africa, for now, the deployment of the army troops to assist the police has brought about an <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2021/07/21/explainer-what-caused-south-africa-s-week-of-rioting//">uneasy calm</a>. But what South Africans are seeing is a negative peace – where a degree of normality returns, but in which the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/422690?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents">underlying causes of the conflict remain</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-army-is-being-used-to-fight-cape-towns-gangs-why-its-a-bad-idea-120455">The army is being used to fight Cape Town's gangs. Why it's a bad idea</a>
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<p>The military may help create a more stable and secure environment, curb violence and unrest in the short term, but this is unlikely to result in a <a href="https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/4135/413546002004.pdf">sustainable and lasting peace</a>. The cultural and structural issues underlying the violence need to be <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-15-whats-behind-violence-in-south-africa-a-sociologists-perspective/">addressed</a>. These relate to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemic-underscores-gross-inequalities-in-south-africa-and-the-need-to-fix-them-135070">inequalities</a> and injustices embedded in the structure of society. </p>
<p>The military is no magic bullet.</p>
<h2>Concerns about army deployment</h2>
<p>There are many concerns around the use of the military internally in domestic operations within the borders of one’s own country.</p>
<p>The first concerns the government’s use of the military <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2019.1650787">against its own citizens</a>. As seen in both Nigeria and South Africa, the military is typically not trained or equipped to deal with civil unrest and has limited experience in riot control.</p>
<p>One risk is that communities might deliberately act out in ways that <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/news/general/SANDF-covid-19">provoke the soldiers</a>, which could result in excessive use of force. This can affect trust in the military, affecting the legitimacy of the state. The South African government has already faced criticism for its heavy handed and highly militarised approach during the <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/un-human-rights-office-highlights-toxic-lockdown-culture-in-sa-20200428">early phase of lockdown in 2020</a>. However, in general the population has a far higher level of trust in the military <a href="https://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Dispatches/ab_r6_dispatchno90_south_africa_trust_in_officials.pdf">than in other state institutions</a>.</p>
<p>The second risk pertains to prominence given to the military when faced with situations of civil unrest. Giving the military a prominent role in political decision-making in dealing with civil unrest can <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-army-is-being-used-to-fight-cape-towns-gangs-why-its-a-bad-idea-120455">lead to a culture of militarism and militarisation</a>. This results in the increased political reliance and economic investment in the military to assist with solving societal problems.</p>
<p>This can undermine attempts at finding more constructive approaches at conflict resolution. </p>
<h2>Achilles’ heel</h2>
<p>The army will inevitably be called in again to support the police. Whether the soldiers can provide this support given their <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-south-africas-neglected-military-faces-mission-impossible-133250">limited capacity</a> is the big question. Those deployed are predominantly from the infantry, of which there are only 14 battalions, not all of which can deploy internally. Then there are the commitments to peacekeeping operations and the border, and now to Mozambique. </p>
<p>In its present form, the military cannot adequately respond to the threats facing the country internally and externally, due to the way it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-mulls-future-of-its-military-to-make-it-fit-for-purpose-146423">structured, funded and trained</a>. The military is structured for <a href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/war-and-terrorism/">conventional warfare</a>. This requires expensive equipment and training and does not allow sufficient flexibility to perform the functions it actually does.</p>
<p>South Africa needs a military that is more capable of responding to all the challenges facing the country. These include <a href="https://www.dcaf.ch/sites/default/files/publications/documents/DCAF_BG_15_Gendarmeries%20and%20constabulary-type%20police_0.pdf">a mix of military and policing functions</a>. This would mean restructuring the military to be able to put more boots on the ground. What is needed is more infantry troops, trained and equipped for the tasks they are required to do. This is less costly than preparing for conventional warfare, and using the army in collateral roles as it does now.</p>
<p>These changes would ensure that it could meet roles like peacekeeping, border control, support for the police and countering terrorism more effectively. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-mulls-future-of-its-military-to-make-it-fit-for-purpose-146423">South Africa mulls future of its military to make it fit-for-purpose</a>
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<p>Beyond this is the need to address the current <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-14-south-africas-tipping-point-how-the-intelligence-community-failed-the-country/">inefficiencies in the state security cluster</a>. Clearly there is a lack of visionary leadership, accountability and oversight, to enable these sectors to function more effectively.</p>
<p>The lack of <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/unrestsa-ministers-cele-and-dlodlo-at-odds-over-intelligence-report-20210720">effective intelligence</a> has meant that both the military and police were unable to put preemptive defensive measures in place to tackle the recent violence and looting, which has left <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/22/south-africa-unrest-death-toll-jumps-to-more-than-300">more than 330 people dead</a>.</p>
<h2>Comprehensive approach</h2>
<p>A more comprehensive approach to security is required. As indicated by soldier-scholar Laetitia Olivier in relation to gang violence, what is needed is a coordinated and comprehensive plan to <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-soldiers-wont-end-gang-violence-a-co-ordinated-plan-might-120775">address the twin challenges of security and economic development</a>. </p>
<p>Security and economic development are intertwined; the <a href="https://www.accord.org.za/ajcr-issues/%EF%BF%BCthe-security-development-nexus-and-the-imperative-of-peacebuilding-with-special-reference-to-the-african-context/">one cannot be achieved without the other</a>. To date, the government has failed on both accounts, which has led to the current crisis.</p>
<p>What is needed is a clear national security framework to repurpose the military in terms of its most likely <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/south-africas-security-sector-is-in-crisis-reform-must-start-now">future roles, missions and goals</a>. These are the roles which the military is currently performing, but it doesn’t have the force design and structure best suited for the tasks.</p>
<p>Tough decisions have to be made in terms of personnel, rejuvenation and equipping the military for its future roles and functions, given the current security threats facing the citizens of South Africa. This does not imply more investment in defence, but better use of the resources available.</p>
<p>More than ever before, decisive leadership is needed from politicians, military leadership and civil society to march the South African National Defence Force in the right direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindy Heinecken 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 army may help create a more stable and secure environment in the short term, but this is unlikely to result in sustainable and lasting peace.Lindy Heinecken, Chair of the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1649682021-07-22T14:54:44Z2021-07-22T14:54:44ZViolence in South Africa: an uprising of elites, not of the people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412684/original/file-20210722-13-1conxh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trucks and business were looted and burnt during recent riots in South Africa. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Stringer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From time to time, South Africa is rudely reminded that its past continues to make its present and future difficult. It does not always recognise this reality when it sees it.</p>
<p>The latest – and most shocking – reminder is the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2021/7/13/violence-and-looting-escalates-in-south-africa-as-zuma-jailed">violence</a> which followed the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma. The mayhem devastated KwaZulu-Natal, the home of Zuma and his faction of the governing African National Congress (ANC), and damaged Gauteng, the economic heartland which also houses <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1021-14972020000100001">hostels</a> in which working migrants from KwaZulu-Natal live. </p>
<p>The violence was seen as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/unrest-is-being-used-to-subvert-south-africas-democracy-giving-in-is-not-an-option-164499">new threat to the democracy established in 1994</a>. But, while it was severe, it was a symptom of a past the country has yet to face, not a future it did not see coming. Even the one aspect which was new – the scale of violence in KwaZulu-Natal – was a product of realities which have been evident for years.</p>
<p>Destructive violence is frightening. In South Africa, it is even more alarming because its middle class, which <a href="https://witspress.co.za/catalogue/prisoners-of-the-past/">monopolises the debate</a>, assumes that it is only a matter of time before the country is engulfed in conflict. This makes it important to point out that, as severe as the violence was, it does not mean that the country’s democracy is in deep danger.</p>
<p>The South African mainstream, which expected democracy to usher in a perfect country and is repeatedly angered that it didn’t, ignores a core reality – that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338545954_Power_in_Action_democracy_citizenship_and_social_justice_by_Steven_Friedman">democracies are tested all the time</a>. For people who like power – who exist in all societies and at all times – there is nothing natural or necessary about democracy. It forces them to obey rules they would rather ignore, listen to voices they would rather not hear, and allow others to take decisions they would prefer to take. </p>
<p>This means that there is nothing fatal about democracy being tested – it always is. The question is whether it passes the test. The violence did test democracy. Whether President Cyril Ramaphosa is right that it was a <a href="https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/president-ramaphosa-attempted-insurrection-failed-gain-popular-support">failed insurrection</a> is open to debate. But the violence was aimed at ensuring that democracy did not work. Democracy survived the assault. Whether this test strengthens it depends on whether the issues which caused the violence are addressed. And that depends on understanding what the test was.</p>
<h2>Elite uprising</h2>
<p>The violence has been widely seen as an expression of anger and frustration by people living in poverty, which has been much worsened in South Africa by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-pandemic-has-triggered-a-rise-in-hunger-in-south-africa-164581">impact of COVID-19</a>. But there was no revolt of the poor – it was an assault on democracy by elites. </p>
<p>The KwaZulu-Natal violence was frighteningly new because much of it did not follow the familiar pattern of conflict in South Africa and other countries. While there was looting, a common response to conflict by people living in poverty, there was also an assault on infrastructure, destruction of businesses and the “disappearance” of <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/unrestsa-more-than-a-million-bullets-stolen-from-container-in-durban-most-still-missing-20210716">large stocks of bullets</a>. None of this squares with what we might expect people fighting poverty to do during a conflict.</p>
<p>Nor was the violence a popular uprising. There were no large public demonstrations. The scale of the KwaZulu-Natal violence was huge but you don’t need many people to set fire to electricity installations or factories. The damage could have been done with minimal public support and almost certainly was. This was an uprising of elites, not of the people, although some joined the looting as we would expect people in poverty to do. </p>
<p>Ironically, the claims that this was about poverty or the COVID-19 lockdown blame the people for something the elites did.</p>
<p>But which elites? It will take a while before we know exactly what happened. But there are two elements in reports of the violence which suggest that it was a product of realities which have been evident to researchers for years.</p>
<p>First, although South Africa’s democracy is the product of a <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/The_Small_Miracle.html?id=GSMvAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">negotiated settlement</a>, it followed armed conflict between the minority government and the forces fighting for majority rule. This makes the country another example of what some academics call “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4146925">war transitions</a>”: change from one political system to another where there are armed people on both sides of the divide.</p>
<p>In these cases, the textbook idea that <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190679545.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190679545-e-13">only the state uses violence</a> and does this within rules which are clear to all does not apply. Some people still have weapons and armed networks, whether they are inside or outside the government, and are not necessarily bound by the rules.</p>
<h2>Unsettling reality</h2>
<p>This has been a South African reality since 1994. It shows in constant factional battles between state intelligence operatives, in divisions between ex-combatants <a href="https://www.news24.com/witness/news/mkmva-defies-anc-call-to-disband-20210706">in the fight against apartheid</a>, in security companies and criminal gangs whose members bore arms before 1994. </p>
<p>Their political loyalties may lie with members of the faction, not the governing party, let alone the state. Their networks may be devoted not only to a common political goal but also to gaining wealth and economic influence. This has made keeping order far more difficult. It can also make creating disorder easier.</p>
<p>The second is that local councillors allegedly played an important role in the violence. This too would reflect a long-standing reality. Attention to corruption in South Africa focuses on national government, but local and regional networks devoted to getting richer at public expense are far more deep-rooted. There is a <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-17-this-is-us-those-trying-to-tear-south-africa-apart/">clear link</a> between them and violence – KwaZulu-Natal in particular has seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-fails-to-get-to-the-bottom-of-killings-in-kwazulu-natal-128167">repeated killings of councillors or local officials</a> who tried to resist corruption.</p>
<p>Both the people under arms and the local networks had ample reason to mobilise their power for harm – Zuma’s imprisonment may well have signalled that power had shifted in ways which threatened the survival of the networks. They may not have been trying an insurrection, which means they were trying to seize power. But they were doing whatever they could to ensure that their networks survived.</p>
<h2>Unfinished business</h2>
<p>So, while the scale of the violence may have been new, its origins are not. They are deeply embedded in South Africa’s unfinished business, its inability to create a single source of public order or to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-corruption-in-south-africa-isnt-simply-about-zuma-and-the-guptas-113056">change an economic balance of power</a> which ensures that ambitious people with the means to destroy see their networks as the only route to wealth.</p>
<p>The violence wreaked its damage because South Africa’s journey to democracy remains incomplete. It sends a sharp message that the country must look its past far more squarely in the eye and find ways to change it before it can be confident about avoiding more of what happened in KwaZulu-Natal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Friedman 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 violence wreaked its damage because South Africa’s journey to democracy remains incomplete. It sends a sharp message that the country must look its past far more squarely in the eye.Steven Friedman, Professor of Political Studies, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1645712021-07-15T14:28:54Z2021-07-15T14:28:54ZWhy have South Africans been on a looting rampage? Research offers insights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411501/original/file-20210715-32667-1h8s8sm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Police enter a flooded mall that had been ransacked .</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The looting of businesses, shopping centres and warehouses in South Africa over the past week, particularly in the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, has taken place <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57818215">at an unprecedented scale</a>. It has affected both poor and middle-class areas. Private as well as government property has been damaged and destroyed. People have been injured and lives have been lost. </p>
<p>A variety of narratives have emerged in an effort to explain the looting frenzy. Some have accused die-hard <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d712a9ac-4a8e-43a8-9ebc-29ee5824fb88">supporters of former president Jacob Zuma</a> of fuelling the unrest. Others have intimated that the looting is a consequence of <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/editorial/editorial-cry-the-beloved-country-20210712">state capture and the high level of criminality</a> in South Africa. </p>
<p>There have been suggestions that the current disorder is akin to a rebellion of the poor brought about by acute <a href="https://www.newframe.com/durban-food-riots-turn-the-wheel-of-history/">food insecurity</a>. </p>
<p>Research findings on looting, nonetheless, suggest that such phenomena are rarely caused by one thing. Rather, it’s often the outcome of various factors. </p>
<p>Looting in South Africa has taken place intermittently for decades in the context of an ongoing crisis of poverty, inequality and unemployment. It occurred under apartheid and continued to take place after democracy 1994. But it has traditionally been largely confined to marginalised urban and peri-urban areas. </p>
<p>Incidents of looting have often been synonymous with outbreaks of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/17/they-have-robbed-me-my-life/xenophobic-violence-against-non-nationals-south">xenophobic violence</a> and service delivery protests. These have overwhelmingly happened in townships and informal settlements in which shops and businesses owned by foreign nationals have been plundered. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://3bc3d90b-3b34-48f1-82d2-3fed86731588.filesusr.com/ugd/ae1dfd_2f802284b8484630a633d8394b882fdd.pdf">study</a> on xenophobic violence and the spaza shop sector by myself and researchers from the <a href="http://www.savi.uct.ac.za/">Safety and Violence Initiative</a> showed that looting was often a highly localised phenomenon. That is, foreign-owned spaza shops (small, informal retail outlets) were vulnerable to looting in communities where a combination of factors were at play. Among them were intense xenophobic attitudes, ineffective measures to regulate competition among shop owners, dysfunctional community leadership and the alienation of foreign shop owners. </p>
<p>We noted in our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353262761_Xenophobic_Violence_and_the_Spaza_Shop_Sector_Situational_Analysis_Synthesis_Report_People_to_People_Dialogues_Fostering_Social_Cohesion_in_South_Africa_through_Conversation_Implementing_Organisations">study</a> the uncomfortable reality that a key driver of looting was that it was perceived by the looters to be socially acceptable. And it was often encouraged and endorsed within social and community networks. </p>
<p>Our findings echo those in a number of publications on looting in the <a href="https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/2347">US</a> and <a href="https://www.youthandpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooper_riots_2011.pdf">England</a>. </p>
<p>However, as underscored in our report, looting does not spontaneously emerge. It usually comes about due to instigation by influential individuals or groups who actively articulate that looting against specific targets is permissible and justifiable.</p>
<h2>The drivers</h2>
<p>In political violence literature, the process of active encouragement is often referred to as <a href="https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/The-Politics-of-Collective-Violence-Charles-Tilly.pdf">brokerage</a>. A good example was during the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/12/us/capitol-mob-timeline.html">storming of the Capitol building</a> in Washington DC. Trump supporters were actively encouraged to engage in acts of sedition by leaders of extremist groups. </p>
<p>Brokerage has been a central feature of the current looting spree in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-14-under-investigation-twelve-masterminds-planned-and-executed-insurrection-on-social-media-then-lost-control-after-looting-spree/">Supporters of Jacob Zuma</a> have been actively encouraging South Africans to engage in acts of violence and civil disobedience. </p>
<p>Individuals who are more prone to violence and criminal offending tend to initiate the looting. Ordinary people may then join. Acts of looting are often contagious and develop a life of their own. This is due to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-20332-002">group dynamics</a> where acts of looting by some may encourage others. </p>
<p>In addition, collective disorder offers a degree of camouflage and impunity for criminal actions. </p>
<p>The absence of <a href="https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/16063/1/THESIS%20FV_DPF.pdf">capable guardians</a>, such as police and private security, can also contribute to looting by ordinary people. </p>
<p>Another important observation from the xenophobic violence <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353262761_Xenophobic_Violence_and_the_Spaza_Shop_Sector_Situational_Analysis_Synthesis_Report_People_to_People_Dialogues_Fostering_Social_Cohesion_in_South_Africa_through_Conversation_Implementing_Organisations">study</a> was that the looting of spaza shops tended to be more widespread in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. This was due to the greater prevalence of groups and networks willing to engage in various forms of collective violence. Action taken included protests, extortion, political assassinations, taxi conflicts and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32692461">hostel violence</a>. This mainly entails violence between groups of residents over control of hostels, which are often badly maintained.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/505840/looters-gangsters-and-the-third-force-the-disturbing-root-of-south-africas-violent-riots/">reports</a> have suggested that groups and networks like this have contributed to igniting and accelerating the present spate of looting. </p>
<p>The intensity of the ongoing looting in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng signifies a convergence of brokerage, an upsurge in attitudes that looting is socially allowable, and a willingness of certain pro-violence groups and networks to actively facilitate looting across the two provinces. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unrest-is-being-used-to-subvert-south-africas-democracy-giving-in-is-not-an-option-164499">Unrest is being used to subvert South Africa's democracy: giving in is not an option</a>
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<p>But these factors don’t adequately account for the significant shift of the looting into middle class retail areas and commercial properties. </p>
<p>The grand scale and bold nature of suggests well-resourced “<a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hidden-hand">hidden hands</a>” that have expertise in provoking and instigating civil disorder. </p>
<h2>Poor state of security</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201903/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency.pdf">A report</a> published in December 2018 revealed deeply troubling findings about state security in South Africa. The report was drawn up by the high-level review panel on the country’s State Security Agency.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-in-flames-spontaneous-outbreak-or-insurrection-164466">South Africa in flames: spontaneous outbreak or insurrection?</a>
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<p>In particular, it showed that elements within the intelligence services at the time had access to large sums of money and had not only fuelled political factionalism but had engaged in sophisticated “<a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/dirty-tricks">dirty tricks</a>” operations against governing party factions aligned to President Cyril Ramaphosa. </p>
<p>The police minister announced on Wednesday that former <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/exclusive-zumas-private-spy-thulani-dlomo-a-prime-suspect-for-instigating-unrest-20210714">intelligence operatives</a> and Zuma loyalists, some of whom may still be on the State Security Agency payroll, were under investigation for possibly instigating the looting and disorder.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guy Lamb 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>An uncomfortable reality is that looting is perceived by the looters to be socially acceptable and is often encouraged and endorsed within social and community networks.Guy Lamb, Criminologist / Lecturer, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1644982021-07-14T14:17:26Z2021-07-14T14:17:26ZChaos in South Africa points to failures in the project to build a democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411223/original/file-20210714-19-1n9h7om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African soldiers interrogate a pedestrian outside a mall in Soweto. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Emmanuel Croset/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The spate of violence <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/13/worst-violence-in-years-spreads-in-south-africa-amid-zuma-jailing">that’s engulfed South Africa</a> shows that not all citizens have internalised constitutional democracy and the rule of law as the organising principle of the post-apartheid society. </p>
<p>Various interventions to institutionalise democracy were more focused on policy interventions and institution-building to safeguard it, but not on ensuring that it was embraced by the entirety of society, appreciating it as the basis of its evolution. </p>
<p>The violence started in KwaZulu-Natal following the imprisonment of the former president Jacob Zuma to serve a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-top-court-says-ex-leader-zuma-contempt-absences-2021-06-29/">15-month sentence</a> for contempt of the order of the Constitutional Court. </p>
<p>This was initially hailed as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/historic-moment-as-constitutional-court-finds-zuma-guilty-and-sentences-him-to-jail-163612">victory for the rule of law</a>. But the subsequent rioting and mass looting of retail outlets shows it to have been a pyrrhic victory. In many ways, the edifice of the country’s constitutional democracy where the judicial authority is vested in the courts to institutionalise the rule of law is blown to smithereens.</p>
<p>This betrays the sacrifices of many to create an orderly society, where progress related to their selfless efforts had gathered pace over years. Just in a wink of an eye, all is going up in flames. </p>
<p>Beyond the pale in this rasping disobedience is the clamour of a war cry <a href="https://www.enca.com/news/supporters-call-zumas-release">demanding Zuma’s release</a>. Isn’t this treasonous, especially by those who use their influential standing in society to agitate for insurrections in the guise of protest? These concepts are not the same. The constitution states that citizens <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf">have the right</a> to “assemble, demonstrate, picket and present petitions”, but “peacefully and unarmed”. This is what protest means.</p>
<p>Closely related to it is freedom of expression, which <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf">does not include </a> “incitement of imminent violence or to cause harm”. Especially in the social media, <a href="https://qz.com/africa/2033328/south-africa-to-monitor-social-media-as-protests-rock-the-country/">reckless postings</a> with incendiary intentions to stoke violence, looting, and destruction of property incite insurrection – an uprising against the state. </p>
<p>This is lawlessness, not protest. </p>
<p>The country is held at ransom by those cajoling the state into concessions intended to belie the essence of its foundation based on the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law. This is largely by those who are demanding that the law should apply to the former president differently. </p>
<p>This absurdity should not in any way be entertained lest it mark the onset of the death of the rule of law. </p>
<p>An important principle in the organisation of the post-apartheid society is that of equality before the law and that nobody is above it.</p>
<p>In my view state power should be unleashed to clamp down on the violence. But this isn’t a sustainable way of making people understand that South Africa is a constitutional democracy. In many ways the rioting shows that many South Africans haven’t grasped what it was that the country decided to become as a post-apartheid society.</p>
<h2>Dangers</h2>
<p>The violence and looting has spawned a situation of national danger for President Cyril Ramaphosa. As the commander-in-chief of the defence force it was within <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a64-97.pdf">his powers</a> to declare a state of emergency. <a href="https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/sandf-called-to-join-police-on-patrols-20210712">He did not</a>. Instead, he opted to consult widely for the next course of action should the situation not subside. </p>
<p>This has come to define his presidential disposition. The state of emergency is the intervention of the last resort to maintain or regain control over public affairs. The constitution makes <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a64-97.pdf">provision for it</a>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[When] the life of the nation is threatened by war, invasion, general insurrection, disorder, natural disaster or other public emergency", the President can declare a state of emergency if such “is necessary to restore peace and order. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A core element of this is suspending civil rights. In other words, when democracy as the organising principle of society is imperilled, undemocratic means can be used to save it.</p>
<p>Which raises the question: is the president’s cautious approach defensible? Haven’t the incidences of violence, which by their nature are tantamount to insurrections, and therefore create disorder, a reason enough for the declaration of state of emergency? </p>
<p>Despite Ramaphosa’s tough talk, and the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210712-s-africa-to-deploy-army-to-quell-violence-as-former-president-zuma-faces-court">deployment of troops</a>, thuggery continues unabated opportunistically preying on the credulity of the disadvantaged groups in society to make all the actions being taken look like a socioeconomic grievance. </p>
<p>But doesn’t this give us a hint of where the fault line may lie in institutionalising the country’s constitutional democracy?</p>
<p>Invoking state power to maintain order and stability is necessary. But it isn’t a sustainable way of making citizens internalise that South Africa is a constitutional democracy. </p>
<p>In many ways the insurrections suggest that many do not seem to have signed up to the concept that the rule of law would be the organising principle in democratic South Africa. Various interventions to institutionalise democracy were more focused on policy interventions and institution-building to safeguard it, but not on ensuring that it was embraced by the entirety of society. </p>
<p>Had this been the case, many would not have fallen into the trickery of not seeing the violence unleashed against democracy as the push back by the beneficiaries of corruption. In other words, for a democracy to endure, it must exist in the consciousness of society. </p>
<p>But how should South Africa go about this? </p>
<h2>The construction of a democracy</h2>
<p>This requires social institutions as subsystems that optimise co-existence to reassert their role in society, in the same way they animated patriotism in galvanising citizen participation in the making of <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf">South Africa’s constitution</a>.</p>
<p>If the mayhem that besets the country is anything to go by, indications are that what became a social contract out of this exercise – where the powers and obligations of the state in relation to the rights and responsibilities of the citizens are defined – may not have been deliberately and systematically brought back into the people’s understanding of what it means to shape society’s consciousness.</p>
<p>In the hubris of the democratic breakthrough, social institutions as platforms to shape the nation’s character receded from this important role. </p>
<p>Much of this is glaring in the learning spaces, where education tends to focus more on forming the mind, and less on character formation. Many who are in the forefront of the mayhem that besets the country had interacted with education in their lives. Some are graduates. They are learned but lack civic character. </p>
<p>This calls for great introspection of the approach to education, lest the institutions of learning keep churning out miscreants that damage rather than build society.</p>
<p>It is time to introduce civic education at all levels of learning to cut across various disciplines. And it should emphasise citizenship as being about shared values of humanism, as enshrined in the constitution, where co-existence is about sustaining each other. </p>
<p>As a function of responsible citizenry, a good society makes democracy thrive. Its safety does not lie in the power of the state to exact obedience, but in the collective conscience of society. Social institutions are key to instilling this. </p>
<p>If this had existed, the Zuma moment which has gripped the country would have been averted as many would have known that South Africa is a constitutional democracy based on the rule of law.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mashupye Herbert Maserumule received funding from his postgraduate studies from the National Research Foundation(NRF). He is affiliated with the South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM). He edits its scholarly publication, Journal of Public Administration. </span></em></p>After 1994 efforts were made to embed democracy. The focus was on policy and institution-building. What was missing was ensuring all South Africans were on board.Mashupye Herbert Maserumule, Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1644932021-07-14T09:36:09Z2021-07-14T09:36:09ZSouth African riots and food security: why there’s an urgent need to restore stability<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411194/original/file-20210714-17-1ieq0b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fuel storage tanks at South Africa's Durban harbour. Blocking the transport of fuel will stop the transport of food.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/address-president-cyril-ramaphosa-acts-violence-and-destruction-property">addressed the nation</a> on July 12 amid violence and destruction of property in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, he warned of several risks if the situation was not resolved swiftly. One of them was food security.</p>
<p>A lot has been written about the <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-13-duduzile-zuma-sambudla-from-pampered-diamond-queen-to-armchair-instigator-of-violence/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=First%20Thing%20Tuesday%2013%20July%202021&utm_content=First%20Thing%20Tuesday%2013%20July%202021+CID_afe017a372186f9079a1ada2ecae8450&utm_source=TouchBasePro&utm_term=Duduzile%20Zuma-Sambudla%20%20from%20pampered%20diamond%20queen%20to%20armchair%20instigator%20of%20violence">acts of criminality</a> and the disregard for the rule of law that’s swept parts of the country. Attention has also been given to the <a href="https://www.newframe.com/a-place-weeping/">underlying factors</a> that make the South African society so fragile. These include rising unemployment, inequality, corruption and poor service delivery.</p>
<p>In light of the ongoing state of turbulence it’s important to take a closer look at food security issues. </p>
<p>South Africa is generally a <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=12135&gclid=CjwKCAjw87SHBhBiEiwAukSeUQhxU-y2abchhc9NMtxIXD94vaIrPGm86-WtzabYolueotvh6-mijxoCMMgQAvD_BwE">secure food country</a> at a national level. On top of this it is a net exporter of agricultural and processed food products. Last year agricultural exports reached the second-highest level on record of <a href="https://agbiz.co.za/content/open/15-february-2021-agri-market-viewpoint">US$10.2 billion</a> following a favourable production season.</p>
<p>But food security is about more than just having sufficient supplies. It also requires food accessibility, affordability, nutrition and stability over time. </p>
<p>This is where the challenge lies. </p>
<p>Continued disruption will affect supplies given the specifics of South Africa’s food supply chains. KwaZulu-Natal, the epicentre of rioting and looting, is a major producer of various agricultural products such as sugar, milk and poultry products. The province also serves as an entry for imported food products, including wheat, rice, poultry products, and palm oils. Gauteng, the other province also most affected, is one of the major food processing hubs. </p>
<p>However, South Africa’s food supply chains are not concentrated in one particular province. The biggest risk in the short term is the free movement of goods, including food and agricultural produce on the roads, specifically to and from the Durban port, the entry and exit point for agricultural imports and exports.</p>
<p>The other risk relates to increased income poverty because of the destruction of businesses.</p>
<h2>Food production and consumption</h2>
<p>In the same year as record production figures, the country experienced an increase in hunger, as identified in the <a href="https://cramsurvey.org/reports/#:%7E:text=The%20first%20wave%20of%20the,increase%20in%20household%20food%20insecurity.">National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM).</a>. But this wasn’t necessarily an issue of food shortage or a rapid increase in food prices. It was mostly because people were out of work and had reduced means to buy food.</p>
<p>In 2021, South Africa again enjoyed another season of an <a href="https://www.agbiz.co.za/content/open/sas-summer-crop-production-forecasts-were-left-unchanged-in-jun-2021-assessment">abundant harvest</a> following favourable summer rainfalls. This means that there are unlikely to be food shortages this year, but rather ample supplies for local consumption and export markets. This will be true for major grains, fruits, meat and various products. </p>
<p>Still, this doesn’t mean everyone in the country is food secure. Or that prices won’t rise rapidly.</p>
<p>There are long-standing challenges with income poverty in South Africa and the extent to which the poorest people are able to afford nutritious food. Still, food prices have only risen negligibly. South Africa’s consumer food price inflation was at 6.8% year on year in May 2021, from 6.7% year on year in April, according to <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=1854&PPN=P0141">data</a> from Statistics South Africa. This is not an alarmist rate as we have seen double-digit inflation rates in years of drought such as 2016, where consumer food price inflation averaged 10.8% year on year. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/Opinion/wandile-sihlobo-steep-food-prices-remain-but-there-may-be-hope-on-the-horizon-20210608">expectation</a> is that consumer food price inflation could in fact soften in the second half of 2021.</p>
<p>Therefore, Ramaphosa’s emphasis on the risks to food security in his address on July 12 was primarily focused on KwaZulu-Natal. The main challenge is a disruption due to the looting spree, forcing companies to avoid volatile areas so as not to expose their property and employees to danger. It is far from clear how long the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal will last.</p>
<p>Menacingly, no one can tell with certainty if waves of protest will not spill over to other provinces in ways that disrupt business and supply chains and affect livelihoods. If the wave of violent protests continues unabated, it could pose a risk to food security, with the poorest people most affected as their employment and livelihoods will suffer. Small businesses in particular might be forced to close given the scale of the <a href="https://www.news24.com/witness/news/kzn/unrest-in-kwazulu-natal-costs-at-least-r100-million-in-damages-20210712">continuing</a> violence.</p>
<p>But South Africans in other parts of the country that have not seen outbreaks of looting and violence should not panic about possible food shortages.</p>
<h2>Production patterns</h2>
<p>KwaZulu-Natal has been the most affected by the violence. But the province isn’t the epicentre of agriculture in the country. It isn’t an anchor to the South African food system. Provinces in central South Africa – the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo – hold far more key positions. This is because of their abundant agricultural production and food processing capacity. </p>
<p>Maize meal and wheat flour – both staple to most South African diets – are primarily produced in the Free State, Mpumalanga, North West and the Western Cape. These provinces account for <a href="https://www.grainsa.co.za/pages/industry-reports/production-reports">over 60% of production of each of these grains</a>, and process <a href="https://www.sagis.org.za/processing-per-province.html">over 50% of</a> them. </p>
<p>KwaZulu-Natal processes roughly <a href="https://www.sagis.org.za/processing-per-province.html">8% of the 11.5 million tonnes of maize</a> consumed in South Africa each year. In wheat, KwaZulu-Natal processes <a href="https://www.sagis.org.za/processing-per-province.html">roughly 21% of the annual consumption</a>. The numbers vary per product, but the point here is that food supply chains are not concentrated in one particular province.</p>
<p>There is no risk of food shortage currently from other anchor provinces. But the risk comes when there is no fuel for transport within the country, <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-13-sapref-oil-refinery-declares-force-majeure-shuts-down-a-third-of-south-africas-fuel-supply/">given the force majeure that the refinery in Durban has declared</a>. It is South Africa’s largest refinery, accounting for 35% of the country’s refining capacity. </p>
<p>I highlight this because a large share of South Africa’s food is transported by road.</p>
<p>In the case of trade, the current disruptions weigh even more heavily on businesses and farmers in agriculture. On average, <a href="https://www.sagis.org.za/monthly-grain-transport.html">75% of the country’s grains are transported by road annually</a>. These are largely exported through the Durban harbour. The same is true for imported food products such as rice, wheat and palm oil, among other products. The volumes are also large for horticulture, specifically citrus, a leading exportable agricultural product in South Africa. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/at-least-25-trucks-burnt-in-kzn-protests-roads-remain-closed/">burning of trucks on the roads</a> and the blocked routes to the ports will prove costly to businesses and harm South Africa’s reputation as a global supplier in various value chains. This will also negatively affect the province’s food supply chains.</p>
<p>This needs urgent intervention, especially as agricultural products are perishable and the country is entering an export period for citrus in a year of a <a href="https://www.foodformzansi.co.za/record-citrus-exports/#:%7E:text=South%20Africa's%20citrus%20industry%20looks,the%20rest%20of%20the%20world.">record harvest</a>.</p>
<p>As South African authorities grapple with achieving stability, there needs to be a deeper introspection about ensuring that the country creates an environment conducive for businesses to thrive. And that it addresses the social ills that underlie instability and disregard for the rule of law. </p>
<p>In the near term, South Africans should not panic about the food system. But authorities will need to act swiftly and assertively to restore stability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164493/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), and also a member of the South African President's Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).</span></em></p>South Africans should not panic about the food system. But authorities will need to act swiftly and assertively to restore stability.Wandile Sihlobo, Visiting Research Fellow, Wits School of Governance, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1644662021-07-13T17:47:48Z2021-07-13T17:47:48ZSouth Africa in flames: spontaneous outbreak or insurrection?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411094/original/file-20210713-21-ocu5qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Private armed security officers take a position near a burning barricade during a joint operation with South African Police Service officers in Jeppestown, Johannesburg.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africans spent most of mid-July glued to their news outlets, from established media outlets to TikTok, from streaming news to old-fashioned printed words, to see just one thing: would Jacob Zuma blink? Would the country finally get some taste of revenge for the <a href="https://www.sastatecapture.org.za/">state capture</a>, looting, destruction of institutions and threats to the country’s democracy their former president had enabled and championed? Would the rule of law win? </p>
<p>Zuma blinked, with a few minutes to spare, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-zuma-hand-himself-over-police-foundation-2021-07-07/">handed himself over to police</a>. An hour or so later he was booked into a rather comfy looking <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/estcourt-correctional-centre-inside-the-prison-that-will-house-a-former-president-20210708">“state of the art correctional facility”</a> in Estcourt (which had taken 17 years to refurbish).</p>
<p>The rule of law won. The institutions that had been so assiduously hollowed out under the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Zuma-Years-South-Africas-Changing/dp/1770220887">nine years of his presidency</a> had flexed their new-found muscle. The Constitutional Court had long <a href="https://theconversation.com/historic-moment-as-constitutional-court-finds-zuma-guilty-and-sentences-him-to-jail-163612">held firm</a>, the police were rather more wobbly, but despite much assegai-rattling by family members and the Zuma Foundation, into prison he went. No ANC leader expressed joy, <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-07-07-anc-saddened-by-jacob-zumas-imminent-15-month-incarceration/">only sorrow</a> that <a href="https://www.enca.com/news/zikalala-we-stand-zuma">the man had fallen so low</a>; for people not in such elevated positions, it was a rare <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/zumas-sentencing-has-lifted-the-mood-of-the-country-study-reveals-20210701">moment of jubilation</a> in the midst of a global pandemic that has us locked down, again.</p>
<p>Protests that had been low key since he was <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2021/07/09/zuma-supporters-intensify-protests-in-streets-of-kzn-causing-traffic-delays">arrested on Wednesday night</a> exploded into an an orgy of looting, marching, xenophobic attacks, arson, truck-burning, stabbing and shooting, and blockading of roads and freeways (among others) <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/violence-spreads-south-africas-economic-hub-wake-zuma-jailing-2021-07-11/">by Sunday</a>. It seemed – and Zuma’s allies and (adult) children were quick <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-13-duduzile-zuma-sambudla-from-pampered-diamond-queen-to-armchair-instigator-of-violence/">to preach the word</a> – that he was so popular and such an object of sympathy that a spontaneous outbreak of bloody violence and theft was unavoidable, and a dark portent if Zuma was not immediately released. Prescience seemed to have replaced profligacy.</p>
<p>The stakes were (and remain) exceptionally high. Thanks in part to the commission of inquiry into <a href="https://www.sastatecapture.org.za/">state capture and corruption</a> Zuma established and later refused to attend, Zuma is now known to have allowed the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/22/world/africa/gupta-zuma-south-africa-corruption.html">Gupta family</a>, using organised crime money-laundering vehicles, to bankrupt the state. As has been noted, fish rot from the head. From the time that he was <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/president-thabo-mbeki-sacks-deputy-president-jacob-zuma">fired</a> by former president Thabo Mbeki (in 2005) to date, Zuma has deployed his infamous <a href="https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/opinions/using-stalingrad-tactics-to-delay-justice/">Stalingrad legal strategy</a>. In effect, he has been fighting every single item in court while adopting the victim stance of a man more sinned against than sinning.</p>
<p>Sadly, Zuma is not a Shakespearian hero, but a man of decidedly clay feet. For nine years as president, he outmanoeuvred pretty much all and sundry – he <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2017-03-31-zumas-11-cabinet-reshuffles-all-the-graphic-details/">reshuffled cabinets</a> to destabilise opponents; he forced the Whip and faced down multiple votes of no confidence; he allowed <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-24-the-totalish-cost-of-the-guptas-state-capture-r49157323233-68/">R50 billion</a> to be stolen by his friends, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22513410">the Gupta family</a> – all now safely in Dubai – and ran state and party as <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/edward-zuma-declares-former-president-jacob-zuma-will-not-go-to-jail-ded5716e-7dd1-4b77-ad26-414e81239c2b">both cash cow</a> and defensive wall. </p>
<p>He met his match in Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, who <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-anc-has-a-new-leader-but-south-africa-remains-on-a-political-precipice-89248">succeeded him</a> as ANC and national president. Ramaphosa has moved with the cold, calculating methodology that proves him to be the real chess master (Zuma has a passion for the game). Ramaphosa has <a href="https://theconversation.com/precarious-power-tilts-towards-ramaphosa-in-battle-inside-south-africas-governing-party-158251">outmanoeuvred Zuma</a> and many of his allies in the ANC (such as secretary general Ace Magashule). He has done this by trying to resuscitate the organs of state, investigation and prosecution that had been severely damaged by his predecessor. </p>
<p>The rule of law – which took a pummelling over the last decade – seems to be out of rehab. Zuma may only be in prison for a contempt charge – but the notion that the first ANC leader in orange overall would be Zuma was not a fantasy that played out as realistic in most imaginations.</p>
<h2>Why the violence</h2>
<p>Many reasons have been offered for the violence, looting, racist bile and bloodshed that erupted. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the pent-up frustration of hungry and cold people facing few prospects for socio-economic improvement; </p></li>
<li><p>inequality and the gulf between the conspicuous consumption of the “made it” compared to others; </p></li>
<li><p>ethnic tensions within the ANC, with the president representing a “minority” tribe and apparently lacking legitimacy; </p></li>
<li><p>good old stereotypical Zulu nationalist violence was breaking out as it did in the early 1990s; </p></li>
<li><p>internal ANC factional tensions were spilling onto the streets; and more.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>All of these have some truth. Yet none provides a narrative thread that ties together these disparate issues and scattered but clearly organised acts of violence. Part of the gap in our understanding is how a middle-of-the-night incarceration of Zuma – albeit done in the blaze of TV arc lights – led to such a widespread and destructive but apparently spontaneous outbreak. </p>
<p>This narrative suits Zuma and his supporters perfectly: pity for the victimised former president unleashed patriotic fervour that was unstoppable, proving his popularity and victim status. Family, the Zuma Foundation and others all began pumping out the narrative – much as Zuma’s daughter tweeted the video of a gun firing bullets into a poster of Ramaphosa. Subtlety did not play much of a role.</p>
<p>But when the Minister of State Security <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2021-07-13-looting-and-violence-could-have-been-worse-intelligence-police-ministers/">reported</a> on the morning of Tuesday 13 July that her spies had managed to stop attacks on substations, planned attacks on ANC offices and in Durban-Westville prison, things began to look different. How did they know of the plans, and for how long? Who was doing the planning? How did they stop it?</p>
<p>When “impeccable sources in the intelligence service and law enforcement” <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/investigations/cops-fear-gun-battle-as-jacob-zumas-high-noon-approaches-20210707%22">warned</a> of arms caches at Zuma’s home, Nkandla; when <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12689342">we recall</a> that the police admitted to “losing” some 20,000 weapons in the 2000s, as had the State Security Agency, we are permitted to ask uncomfortable questions.</p>
<p>Suddenly the acts look rather more organised and rather less spontaneous. </p>
<p>Neeshan Balton, executive director of the not-for-profit lobby group, the <a href="https://www.kathradafoundation.org/">Kathrada Foundation</a>, has suggested that part of the strategy was a wildfire – strike lots of matches and just let them burn whatever is in their path to destabilise the democratic project. </p>
<p>This too is premised on the existence of a plan.</p>
<p>The danger with suggesting that this was not at heart a set of random acts by poor people who were overcome by emotion at the thought of Zuma in prison but rather a (more or less well) planned and executed attempt to destabilise the state is that rather than <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2018-11-19-statecaptureinquiry-gordhan-connect-the-dots-to-uproot-state-capture/">“joining the dots”</a> as Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan advised, one may be constructing a crazy conspiracy theory. </p>
<p>The definition of insurrection is to rise against the power of the state, generally using weaponry. Conspiracies exist. From <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/as-mpofu-threatens-another-marikana-ngcukaitobi-says-police-must-enforce-zuma-arrest-orders-20210707">dark warnings</a> of another massacre like the one at <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/marikana-massacre-16-august-2012">Marikana in 2012</a> should Zuma be touched, to planning sabotage against municipal infrastructure, and fanning the flames of xenophobic violence, it seems very difficult to ignore the planned insurrection at hand.</p>
<p>Poor and hungry people exist, and the state should be ashamed. But hungry people do not become violent looters on behalf of better-known looters who are in jail. They may well be available for mobilisation (looting, violence, marching) behind the organisers – but it is the organisers that need to be brought to book, and who must also face the rule of law.</p>
<p>Corruption thrives in a destabilised state with weak institutions. South Africa cannot be allowed back to that space because there will be no turning back.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Everatt 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>Corruption thrives in a destabilised state with weak institutions. South Africa cannot be allowed back to that space because there will be no turning back.David Everatt, Professor of Urban Governance, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1511762021-02-11T21:23:26Z2021-02-11T21:23:26ZLovers of Sappho thrilled by ‘new’ poetry find, but its backstory may have been fabricated<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383094/original/file-20210208-13-1bdi9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C27%2C799%2C455&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fragments of Sappho? The 2014 discovery was of five stanzas of one poem and portions of a second. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">('Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene,'1864, by Simeon Solomon)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Museum of the Bible in Washington recently announced it has <a href="https://www.museumofthebible.org/newsroom/update-on-iraqi-and-egyptian-items">returned 5,000 fragments of ancient papyrus to Egypt</a>. Among them are <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/23850356">fragments of poetry</a> by the ancient Greek poet Sappho the museum had acquired <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/museum-of-the-bible-obbink-gospel-of-mark/610576/">in 2012</a>.</p>
<p>The announcement follows years of questions about the origins of the fragments, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/43909704">and the origins of a fragment from the same papyrus roll</a> that came to public attention in 2014.
Scholars and literary critics were abuzz after <em>The Daily Beast</em> reported on Jan. 28, 2014, that papyrologist Dirk Obbink of the University of Oxford had <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/scholars-discover-new-poems-from-ancient-greek-poetess-sappho.html">identified two new poems by Sappho</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/ca/academic/subjects/classical-studies/classical-literature/sappho-new-translation-complete-works?format=HB">Sappho of Lesbos</a> is one of the earliest <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sappho-Greek-poet">Greek lyric poets</a>, famed in antiquity for the polish and elegance of her verse. </p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/26/books/books-of-the-times-the-mystery-of-sappho-and-her-erotic-legacy.html">Sappho’s legacy extends beyond poetry</a>. Her expressions of female <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo3619781.html">same-sex desire</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-sappho-a-poet-in-fragments-90823">(“… sweat pours down me / a tremor shakes me …”)</a> have made <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/hel.0.0008">her an icon</a> for some <a href="https://theithacan.org/media/the-pride-pod-sappho-of-lesbos/">LGBTQ+ communities</a>.</p>
<p>Little of Sappho’s poetry survives, and what does is fragmentary. Obbink’s discovery was remarkable because it preserved the final five stanzas of one poem and portions of a second, making it one of the longest continuous sequences of Sapphic verse. </p>
<p>News of the discovery made <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/29/sappho-ancient-greek-poet-unknown-works-discovered">international headlines</a>, but serious questions about the papyrus’s <a href="https://facesandvoices.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/sappho-papyrology-and-the-media/">origins, acquisition and ownership history</a> — its provenance — did not. Provenance is important for establishing the authenticity and legal status of antiquities.</p>
<p>In the fall, I published <a href="http://doi.org/10.2143/BASP.57.0.3288503">new research</a> into a digital sales brochure produced by the auction house <a href="https://www.christies.com/">Christie’s</a>. My research calls into question the published accounts of the papyrus’s provenance. I believe the accounts of the Sappho papyrus’s origins that Obbink published were fabricated, and that its owner had access to Obbink’s unpublished research and sought to capitalize upon it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="One woman leading another by the hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382889/original/file-20210207-21-1tg0a4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382889/original/file-20210207-21-1tg0a4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382889/original/file-20210207-21-1tg0a4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382889/original/file-20210207-21-1tg0a4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382889/original/file-20210207-21-1tg0a4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382889/original/file-20210207-21-1tg0a4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382889/original/file-20210207-21-1tg0a4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Little of Sappho’s oeuvre has survived, but the poet continues to stir people’s imagination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Legal, ethical concerns</h2>
<p>Papyri originate almost without exception in Egypt. In 1983, the Egyptian government passed <a href="https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/egypt_law3_2010_entof.pdf">legislation</a> prohibiting the domestic trade in antiquities, establishing definitively that the country’s archeological heritage is state property. </p>
<p>To combat looting and the illegal antiquities trade, <a href="https://www.papyrology.org/resolutions.html">more than</a> <a href="https://classicalstudies.org/about/scs-statement-professional-ethics">one scholarly</a> association’s <a href="https://www.archaeological.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Code-of-Ethics.pdf">ethical guidelines</a> cite the <a href="https://en.unesco.org/fighttrafficking/1970">1970 UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property</a> in condemning the study of newly surfaced antiquities. According to those guidelines, scholars shouldn’t authenticate or publish objects that left their country of origin illegally or prior to the 1970 convention.</p>
<p>How and when the Sappho papyrus left Egypt are pressing legal and ethical questions.</p>
<p><em>The Daily Beast</em> linked to an unpublished, draft article Obbink briefly made available on <a href="https://newsappho.wordpress.com/">a blog</a>. </p>
<p>Regarding the papyrus’s origins, it said only that it was newly uncovered and in the private collection of an anonymous owner.</p>
<h2>Scholarly questions</h2>
<p>Historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes soon reported in London’s <em>Sunday Times</em> that Obbink discovered the papyrus after prising it from <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lover-poet-muse-and-a-ghost-made-real-dwj29ldp8c5">mummy cartonnage — the casing of an Egyptian burial similar to papier-mâché</a>. </p>
<p>Obbink <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/opinion/papyrus-provenance-and-looting.html">corroborated its origin in mummy cartonnage</a> in a <em>Times Literary Supplement</em> article. Hughes stated that the papyrus’s “provenance was obscure” and that it “was originally owned, it seems, by a high-ranking German officer.” Obbink said only that its provenance was both documented and legal.</p>
<p>Scholars <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/09/a-scandal-in-oxford-the-curious-case-of-the-stolen-gospel">questioned the mummy cartonnage narrative because the practice of recycling papyri in the manufacture of cartonnage</a> ceased long before the papyrus was copied. </p>
<p>When Obbink’s <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23850358">scholarly paper was finally published on April 10, 2014</a>, it didn’t discuss provenance. </p>
<p>A year later, <a href="https://classicalstudies.org/sites/default/files/ckfinder/files/FinalProgramProof.pdf">Obbink revised</a> the papyrus’s origin story at a scholarly conference on Jan. 9, 2015. He said it was recovered from an unpainted fragment of papyrus cartonnage that was purchased at a <a href="https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-collection-of-greek-and-coptic-papyri-5504745-details.aspx">2011 Christie’s auction</a>. He did not specify when the recovery took place.</p>
<h2>The Christie’s brochure</h2>
<p>After Obbink’s presentation, Christie’s produced a 26-page brochure advertising the new Sappho papyrus for private sale. It circulated exclusively among Christie’s clientele, and was unknown to scholars. I received a digital copy from Ute Wartenberg Kagan, a scholar of ancient Greek coinage, which she obtained from a client of Christie’s. The brochure contained photographs captioned as “the recovery of the Sappho papyrus.” When I inquired about the brochure, Christie’s responded: “We cannot discuss private sales activities unless authorized to do so.”</p>
<p>I hoped to learn when the files had been created and modified, and to scrutinize what the images depicted more closely. I ran a computer program that examined the brochure and its JPG files, and was able to <a href="https://dataverse.lib.umanitoba.ca/dataverse/sapphometadata">extract the metadata</a> associated with them. </p>
<p>I concluded that the photos presented in the Christie’s brochure were staged and don’t depict the extraction of the Sappho papyrus. In my view, the photos document the story about mummy cartonnage that Hughes and Obbink wrote about. </p>
<p>One photo includes a panel of cartonnage I have identified as <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/antiquities-n08500/lot.89.html?locale=en">previously belonging to a high-ranking German officer</a>, as was mentioned in Hughes’s report. The story was never plausible — scholars questioned it and Obbink subsequently revised it. But the brochure, I believe, bears witness to the original narrative. </p>
<p>I also concluded that the anonymous owner of the papyrus had access to Obbink’s unpublished research, and undertook to propose the papyrus for private sale almost immediately after Obbink presented the revised story at the scholarly conference Jan. 9, 2015.</p>
<p>The brochure’s “Provenance” section cited not Obbink’s January presentation but a scholarly article that wasn’t published until June 15, nearly four months after the creation of the brochure.</p>
<p>In response to an article in <em>The Guardian</em> that reported on my research, Christie’s said it: “… <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/09/a-scandal-in-oxford-the-curious-case-of-the-stolen-gospel">would never knowingly offer any works of art without good title or incorrectly catalogued or authenticated</a>. We take our name and reputation very seriously and would take all necessary steps available to address any situation of inappropriate use.” </p>
<h2>Scholarly ethics and antiquities</h2>
<p>Scholars are wary of the antiquities market because academic appraisals add to objects’ commercial value, which can incentivize looting and the illegal trade in antiquities. Scholarship also offers legitimacy.</p>
<p>For this reason, scholars must scrutinize new discoveries carefully before conducting or publishing research, and present their findings transparently. When the media reports on preliminary research, it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-rush-for-coronavirus-information-unreviewed-scientific-papers-are-being-publicized-152912">important to convey its preliminary nature</a>.</p>
<p>Last April, an Oxford student newspaper reported that Obbink had been arrested Mar. 2, 2020, for “<a href="https://www.theoxfordblue.co.uk/2020/04/16/exclusive-christ-church-professor-arrested-over-scandal-of-stolen-papyrus">for alleged theft of ancient papyrus from the Sackler Classics Library in Oxford</a>.” <a href="https://wacotrib.com/news/higher_education/oxford-professor-who-worked-at-baylor-allegedly-stole-ancient-bible-fragments-sold-them-to-hobby/article_52db7c0b-a13f-5fdc-8a09-5ddb1f82af29.html">Obbink has denied</a> those allegations.</p>
<p>Questions remain about the 2014 Sappho papyrus. The Museum of the Bible’s recent announcement acknowledges the “<a href="https://www.museumofthebible.org/newsroom/update-on-iraqi-and-egyptian-items">insufficient reliable provenance information</a>” of its papyri — including its Sappho fragments. The chapter about the museum’s Sappho papyri has concluded, but the status of the Sappho papyrus Obbink discovered is uncertain. The papyrus’s present owner is anonymous and its location is unknown.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151176/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>C. Michael Sampson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In 2014, reports of a new discovery of Sappho’s poems were remarkable. New research argues the papyrus had a fabricated backstory.C. Michael Sampson, Associate Professor of Classics, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1395282020-06-18T15:10:24Z2020-06-18T15:10:24ZLooting of antiquities has increased under lockdown – here’s how we’re working to prevent this in Iraq<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342698/original/file-20200618-41204-1v43zsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C35%2C3956%2C2928&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Training museum staff in Iraq in how to mark priceless heritage artefacts using SmartWater.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ali Al-Makhzoomi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In addition to causing mayhem and misery for most, the COVID-19 pandemic crisis has <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/04/30/smugglers-are-using-coronavirus-lockdowns-to-loot-artifacts/">expanded the opportunities</a> for illicit looting, theft and dealing in one of the world’s most important resources – its cultural heritage. </p>
<p>Social instability and financial pressures can combine to encourage looting of archaeological sites across the world, particularly in the <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/increase-in-online-trade-of-illicit-antiquities-during-the-coronavirus-crisis">Middle East and North Africa</a>, feeding the global online black market in antiquities dealing, which is estimated to have a <a href="https://www.obs-traffic.museum/sites/default/files/ressources/files/Brodie_Archaeologists_Looting_Economic_Justice.pdf">daily turnover of US$10 million</a>(£7.9 million). </p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.int-comp.org/insight/2019/october/how-the-art-market-helps-fund-terrorism/">significant evidence</a> that terrorist groups such as Islamic State have benefited from the black market trade in looted antiquities from Iraq and Syria.</p>
<p>A country which has endured recurrent devastating episodes of looting of sites and museum collections is Iraq. In 1991, 2003 and 2014-17, situations of conflict and crisis have fostered widespread ransacking and theft of Iraq’s invaluable heritage assets. Most famously, in April 2003 in the wake of the US/UK-led invasion of Iraq, the Iraq Museum in Baghdad lost thousands of its <a href="https://theconversation.com/fifteen-years-after-looting-thousands-of-artefacts-are-still-missing-from-iraqs-national-museum-93949">most valuable pieces</a>, many of which have never been recovered.</p>
<p>The cultural heritage of Iraq, where I have worked as an archaeologist for more than 35 years, is of national and global significance. Some of the world’s <a href="https://www.czap.org/home">first farming villages</a>, the world’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2019.1592018">first cities and writing</a>, and early empires were all developed by communities in the lands of Iraq, ancient Mesopotamia. </p>
<p>As president of <a href="https://rashid-international.org">RASHID International</a> (Research, Assessment and Safeguarding of the Heritage of Iraq in Danger), I work closely with Iraqi and international colleagues to enhance the protection and promotion of Iraq’s heritage, situating it within a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13527258.2019.1608585">cultural rights framework</a> that promotes equitable access to and enjoyment of heritage sites and assets by all the communities of Iraq.</p>
<p>Working with colleagues from the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk">University of Reading</a> and supported by a grant from the British Council’s <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/arts/culture-development/cultural-protection-fund">Cultural Protection Fund</a>, we recently completed an <a href="https://www.czap.org/protecting-iraqi-cultural-heritage%3C/u">ambitious project</a> to enhance the security and protection of more than 270,000 priceless artefacts in the collections of the <a href="https://theiraqmuseum.com">Iraq Museum</a> in Baghdad and <a href="https://slemanimuseum.org">Slemani Museum</a> in Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.</p>
<h2>‘Liquid traceability’</h2>
<p>To do this we used a commercial product, SmartWater, which works by providing “<a href="https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/about-us/about-the-met/campaigns/MetTrace/how-to-use-smartwater/">liquid traceability</a>” to protected objects and materials. By applying a small dot or spray of the “smart” liquid to artefacts in museum collections, it becomes possible to prove the museum source of each object, should they ever be illicitly removed from their host museum. Each dot of liquid contains a unique code specific to that museum.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342703/original/file-20200618-41238-f0r24k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342703/original/file-20200618-41238-f0r24k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342703/original/file-20200618-41238-f0r24k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342703/original/file-20200618-41238-f0r24k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342703/original/file-20200618-41238-f0r24k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342703/original/file-20200618-41238-f0r24k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342703/original/file-20200618-41238-f0r24k.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">Invisible to the naked eye, the marking shows up clearly under UV light.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SmartWater Foundation</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The liquid is invisible to the naked eye but glows brightly under directed UV light. Exhaustive tests <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016599361630173X">have established its durability</a> and lack of negative effect when applied to objects of inorganic materials, such as pottery, stone, glass and metal. Since the liquid was developed in the early 1990s, more than one million businesses, homes and heritage buildings around the world have adopted it.</p>
<p>The two major objectives of marking artefacts in this way are deterrence and traceability. After marking objects in the museum, clearly visible signage is displayed at the museums, as a means of deterring theft. <a href="https://popcenter.asu.edu/sites/default/files/library/awards/tilley/2008/08-88.pdf">Studies</a> in the UK show that up to 74% of criminals refrain from committing crimes of theft where the company’s signs are displayed. The element of deterrence feeds through into the black market, introducing risk and reducing the appetite of potential buyers and channels such as auction houses. </p>
<p>But if protected objects are stolen, a <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46950727.pdf">study has shown</a> that the encoded liquid traceability means that those objects are permanently traceable, and can be repatriated to their proper home once they are encountered in situations such as auction house sales and catalogues and in online forums.</p>
<h2>Marking time</h2>
<p>Supported by a grant of £156,000 from the Cultural Protection Fund, in 2019 I led a team of colleagues, including Dr Amy Richardson and Ali Al-Makhzoomi at the University of Reading, Phil Cleary at the <a href="https://www.smartwater.com/heritage/">SmartWater Foundation</a>, and the directors and staff of the Iraq Museum and Slemani Museum in Iraq, in the application of SmartWater to artefacts in their collections. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340035/original/file-20200605-176564-1hbiztr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340035/original/file-20200605-176564-1hbiztr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340035/original/file-20200605-176564-1hbiztr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340035/original/file-20200605-176564-1hbiztr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340035/original/file-20200605-176564-1hbiztr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340035/original/file-20200605-176564-1hbiztr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340035/original/file-20200605-176564-1hbiztr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marking an archaeological artefact at Slemani Museum in Iraqi Kurdistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ali Al-Makhzoomi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Working to a tight schedule, the team succeeded in applying liquid solution to a total of 273,000 objects in both museums. Treated objects included pottery vessels, stone tools, metal coins and jewellery and glass ornaments, from across the span of Iraq’s rich heritage. These artefacts are all now permanently traceable as belonging to their respective museums.</p>
<p>Even more importantly, through the project we trained a total of 43 Iraqi museum professionals in the protocols of using the technology to protect their collections. These professionals are now in a position to pass on their skills and expertise to colleagues both within and beyond their own institutions.</p>
<p>Looking to the future, at the University of Reading we are working with SmartWater colleagues on the development of a liquid solution suitable for application to museum objects made of organic materials such as fabric, paper, leather and wood. We are also exploring expansion of the project to cover other museums in Iraq with vulnerable collections, and museum collections in other regions of the world. One such country is Yemen, where ongoing instability and conflict generate opportunities for illicit exploitation of one of the world’s great resources – its archaeological and historical heritage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139528/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Matthews receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Council, and the European Research Council. The Iraq SmartWater project is funded by the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.</span></em></p>Archaeologists working with museums in Iraq have protected more than 270,000 artefacts using SmartWater liquid technology.Roger Matthews, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1163252019-08-12T11:12:32Z2019-08-12T11:12:32ZI’m one of hundreds of archaeologists exiled from Syria who’s mourning what the war is costing us<p>I used to be a Near Eastern archaeologist working in Syria. Nowadays, I am stuck in academic purgatory, observing from a great distance as the country burns, unable to help protect its history or its present.</p>
<p>Syria sits within what’s known as the cradle of civilization. It’s part of the area archaeologists call the Fertile Crescent that stretches from modern-day Iraq to Egypt. This is where researchers believe human beings first settled down from nomadic lifestyles, where agriculture was born, where people originally domesticated animals thousands of years ago.</p>
<p>There were over a <a href="https://doi.org/10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.1.4.0351">hundred archaeological digs</a> ongoing in Syria before 2011, with researchers from inside and outside the country participating. What we all uncovered helps us learn more about the human species and our ancestors.</p>
<p>But when war broke out in 2011, archaeological excavations were suspended, and all international teams left the country. Images and videos of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUdO6GMoeNs">destruction of cultural heritage sites</a> started to circulate on news and social media sites. The Syrian war has not just interrupted the research that would help fill out the picture of early human culture; combatants are actively wrecking earlier finds.</p>
<h2>Thousands of years of cultural heritage</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286478/original/file-20190731-186833-orfg8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286478/original/file-20190731-186833-orfg8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286478/original/file-20190731-186833-orfg8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286478/original/file-20190731-186833-orfg8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286478/original/file-20190731-186833-orfg8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286478/original/file-20190731-186833-orfg8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286478/original/file-20190731-186833-orfg8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Modified cattle and horse shoulder bones from Tell Bderi, Syria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lubna Omar</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Before the uprising in Syria, I worked as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1-g8d8oAAAAJ&hl=en">zooarchaeologist</a>, analyzing ancient animal bones from sites that date back to the Bronze Age. I am one of a handful of experts in this field who is originally from the Middle East.</p>
<p>In my research, I focused on what <a href="https://www.academia.edu/33142106/Animal_exploitation_at_Tell_Bderi_Syria_during_the_Early_Bronze_period">animal bone fragments</a> could tell us about the people living in these ancient urban centers and how they used animals.</p>
<p>Based on my analysis, my colleagues and I concluded that ancient communities were investing in large herds of sheep and goats during the Bronze Age, between 3,000 and 1,200 B.C. People used herd animals and others – including cattle, pigs and wild species – for food, for raw materials for tools and even as a means to communicate with the spiritual realm through sacrifice and artwork. </p>
<p>For the most part, animal bones alone can’t reflect the richness and the level of craftsmanship in these kingdoms. A great example comes from the royal palace of Qatna, where an intricate stone sculpture of <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921173412.htm">a monkey holding a vessel that held facial paint</a> was recovered from a massive burial chamber; it dates to 1600-1400 B.C.</p>
<p>Archaeologists have been able to document major changes that happened further back, in the Neolithic period, which began roughly 10,000 years ago. They’ve uncovered innovative prehistoric architecture such as the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284902387_Architecture_and_'theatres_of_memory'_in_the_Neolithic_of_southwest_Asia">communal buildings</a> of Jerf el Ahmar. They’ve documented cultural developments in daily life, such as the emergence and the distribution of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.002">pottery cultures and food processing and cooking techniques</a>. They’ve uncovered complex funerary practices in Syria, including <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41432184">plastered skulls</a> from Tell Aswad that date back to 9,500 years ago, which are considered one of the best-preserved examples of decorated human skulls. </p>
<p>Excavations have found many much older artifacts and fossils in this region too. In Dederiyeh cave in the northwest of Syria, one group recovered almost-complete skeletons of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22665">two Neanderthal infants</a>, who lived sometime between 48,000 and 54,000 years ago. Recent research was able to connect their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22665">skeletal features</a> with the shape of modern human bones. It’s a crucial step to reconstruct the evolutionary relationship of our species with other hominids.</p>
<p>Archaeologists made other remarkable findings at the El Kowm oasis in central Syria, close to Palmyra. Here they uncovered hominid fossils alongside <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2015.10.003">giant camel bones</a> that date from around 100,000 years ago, before the time of Neanderthals in this region.</p>
<p>It’s evident the Fertile Crescent played a vital role as a path and a home for humans and their ancestors for a very long time. It continues to host waves of communities that invented and mastered skills and techniques which were essential for the survival of our species.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286477/original/file-20190731-186814-1y7u7nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286477/original/file-20190731-186814-1y7u7nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286477/original/file-20190731-186814-1y7u7nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=236&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286477/original/file-20190731-186814-1y7u7nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=236&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286477/original/file-20190731-186814-1y7u7nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=236&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286477/original/file-20190731-186814-1y7u7nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286477/original/file-20190731-186814-1y7u7nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286477/original/file-20190731-186814-1y7u7nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=296&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 mosaic in the Raqqa Museum, after and before its destruction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DirectSyria</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Artifacts under fire</h2>
<p>After the spring of 2011, archaeologists stopped working in Syria. Scientists aren’t uncovering new sites or digging deeper into the long human history of this region.</p>
<p><a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150901-isis-destruction-looting-ancient-sites-iraq-syria-archaeology/">Artifacts and sites are being destroyed</a>. Outrageous <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/02/the-looting-of-syrias-archaeological-treasures/459996/">looting and smuggling of artifacts</a> are still taking place in different parts of the country. The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47628369">looting of antiquities</a> became an economic tool for the Islamic State group to maintain its supremacy in the northern part of the country. Many of the fighting factions in Syria took advantage of the rich cultural properties and smuggled what they could to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54405-6_21">Western markets and collectors</a>.</p>
<p>Consequently, museums shut down and were barricaded. Still many of them were targeted during the armed conflict, and they severely suffered.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287396/original/file-20190808-144888-p2pbmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287396/original/file-20190808-144888-p2pbmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287396/original/file-20190808-144888-p2pbmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287396/original/file-20190808-144888-p2pbmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287396/original/file-20190808-144888-p2pbmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287396/original/file-20190808-144888-p2pbmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287396/original/file-20190808-144888-p2pbmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287396/original/file-20190808-144888-p2pbmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Video stills from the Russian Defense Ministry website purport to show the Roman-era amphitheater on June 6, 2016, left, and on Feb. 5, 2017, right, in Palmyra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Syria/36fccf9702d945588c05687fd90abc07/6/0">Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some sites – such as Crac des Chevaliers castle and Aleppo’s ancient monuments – were caught under fire between the regime forces and the opposition. As the international community recognized the destruction of world heritage and the value of Syrian archaeology in terms of global history, fighting groups realized they could use these sites as political pawns. While the <a href="https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8322.12362">Russian Orchestra</a> performed at the ancient amphitheater after “liberating” Palmyra from the Islamic State group in 2016, IS retaliated when they recaptured the city in 2017 by destroying the facade of the monument. </p>
<p>And this chaos has been in place for the last eight years.</p>
<h2>Syrian archaeologists in limbo</h2>
<p>Conducting archaeological research requires direct contact with ancient sites and materials. But the escalating armed violence in Syria continues to prevent archaeologists from resuming their work on the land. Most of the international institutions shifted their focus from Syria and moved their teams and projects to neighboring countries.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the relatively smaller number of Syrian archaeologists face multiple challenges. On a most basic level, war is ripping through their homes. But they also face an occupational challenge: How can you pursue a career in the field in the midst of armed conflict supported by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019856729">multiple geopolitical powers</a>?</p>
<p>Most of this group of ambitious young archaeologists – including me – were forced to flee the country. Though currently safe from the physical danger, we still face a harsh professional reality. Competing in a fierce job market, we can only promise that someday we’ll be able to travel and resume our work back where we used to belong.</p>
<p>Many Syrians in exile are still participating in initiatives such as <a href="https://syriansforheritage.org/">Syrians for Heritage</a>, trying to protect and restore artifacts and museums throughout the country and attempting to keep Syrian cultural heritage alive in our diaspora. I believe this mission could be successful – but only with genuine support for the Syrian people and not just their ruins.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lubna Omar works for Binghamton University. She is affiliated with Syrians for Heritage Association. </span></em></p>Armed conflict in Syria has been a disaster for the area’s cultural heritage. A displaced archaeologist describes what’s being lost.Lubna Omar, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1166452019-05-15T10:46:34Z2019-05-15T10:46:34ZWe’re just beginning to grasp the toll of the Islamic State’s archaeological looting in Syria<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274405/original/file-20190514-60545-5olb1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Syrian archeologist holds an artifact that was transported to Damascus for safe-keeping during the Syrian Civil War.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Syria-Rescuing-Antiquities/8899b3cfb4f340549454e0886b15cbcb/51/0">AP Photo/Hassan Ammar</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Islamic State <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/23/middleeast/isis-caliphate-end-intl/index.html">surrendered its last scrap of territory</a>, in Baghouz, Syria, this past March. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/18/trump-isis-terrorists-defeated-foreign-policy-225816">some argue</a> that celebrations of IS’s demise are premature, there’s no question that the terrorist group left a trail of destruction in its wake. </p>
<p>Many lives were lost, of course. But a looming issue is the group’s legacy of looting.</p>
<p>During IS’s seemingly unstoppable rise, looted artifacts were said to be a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/isis-makes-100-million-year-smuggling-ancient-artifacts-iraq-and-syria-647524">significant source of income</a> for the group. Value estimates ranged from a few million to <a href="https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/how-much-money-is-isis-making-from-antiquities-looting/">several billion dollars</a>.</p>
<p>One of the issues in media reports about the looting is that no one had a firm grasp of just how much was at stake. The dollar figures amounted to guesswork.</p>
<p>We still don’t know exactly what’s missing. But no one had identified the value, using empirical data and systematic calculations, of the artifacts that were known to exist in these archaeological sites. Until now.</p>
<p>With two Near Eastern archaeologists and two art market researchers on our team, we recently published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739119000018">a paper</a> in the International Journal of Cultural Property that offers the first attempt to quantify the market value of artifacts at the level of a site.</p>
<p>The excavated objects’ total value was larger than we had expected. We found that just a small portion of a site can yield thousands of objects, adding up to millions of dollars. </p>
<h2>An archaeological gold mine</h2>
<p>For the study, we examined two sites from different time periods that housed two different types of settlements. The first, <a href="https://artgallery.yale.edu/online-feature/dura-europos-excavating-antiquity">Dura Europos</a>, was a Roman garrison town on the Euphrates with a multi-ethnic population. Four years ago, when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/21/the-islamic-state-isnt-the-only-group-looting-syrian-archaeological-sites/">satellite images revealed</a> that Syria’s archaeological sites were being looted on a massive scale, the shots from Dura Europos showed a Swiss-cheese landscape of pits.</p>
<p>The second town we studied, <a href="https://vici.org/vici/34316/">Tell Bi’a</a>, in northern Syria, was a major Bronze Age capital in the second millennium B.C.</p>
<p>In the early decades of the 20th century, archaeologists excavated roughly 40% of Dura Europos. About 10% of Tell Bi'a was studied in the 1980s and 1990s. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739119000018">Records at these two sites list over 13,000 objects</a>, excluding coins. </p>
<p>Using a machine learning model, we compared archaeological records and sales records of over 40,000 antiquities from auction houses, galleries and dealers to predict what these objects would sell for. The goal was to match objects observed for sale on the art market with similar objects documented in excavation records. </p>
<p>Based on our model, the total estimated value of all artifacts, not including coins, excavated from Dura Europos to date is US$18 million. At Tell Bi’a, the estimate is $4 million. This range is partly explained by the different sizes of the two cities and the area that was excavated. It’s also explained by market interest: Greek and Roman artifacts, which comprise the large majority of objects found at Dura Europos, <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691725?af=R&mobileUi=0">fetch higher prices at auction</a> than Bronze Age items, which make up the majority of artifacts at Tell Bi’a.</p>
<p>It’s important to keep in mind that these dollar figures represent just slices of two sites. The most comprehensive database of Syrian archaeological sites, assembled by archaeologist Jesse Casana and collaborators at Dartmouth College, has identified roughly <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/neareastarch.78.3.0142">15,000 major sites</a> in the country. Data examined by Casana’s team suggest that 3,000 of those sites experienced some looting from the start of the Syrian Civil War in April 2011 to mid-2015. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 2014 satellite image of Dura Europos published by the American Schools of Oriental Research. The detail in the top-right shows looting holes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/41-6-1024x678.jpg">DigitalGlobe, Inc.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not every site has the artifactual density or richness of Dura Europos. But if a small portion of a single site like Tell Bi’a is capable of generating $4 million in sales – and there are 15,000 major sites – it doesn’t take much imagination to see just how much of an archaeological gold mine the country is.</p>
<p>Again, these dollar figures do not tell us what IS – or any other looters – actually pocketed. Our numbers project the total estimated value of recorded artifacts excavated at a particular site to date. In other words, over the past four years, IS had a treasure trove of artifacts at their disposal that they were able to pawn on a whim. </p>
<p>We may never know the full extent of the loss.</p>
<h2>What’s getting sold?</h2>
<p>What should we do with these estimates? </p>
<p>First, any policy that hopes to tackle archaeological looting needs reliable market estimates that highlight the scope and scale of the issue. Our findings get us closer to a point where everyone’s on the same page. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&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 fragment of a 2nd-century mural discovered in 1992 in the ancient city of Dura Europos. This particular piece was brought to Damascus for safe keeping during the Civil War, but thousands of other artifacts were left vulnerable to looting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Syria-Rescuing-Antiquities/d1029961bfd440908d4d017927047e2b/1/0">DGAM via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, our data show that small objects account for the majority of market share. At Dura Europos, 50% of the total market value was generated by objects under 13 cm long, and at Tell Bi'a by objects under 7 cm long. </p>
<p>These small treasures can pack a big punch on the market. We’re not the first to suggest that such <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/opinion/egypts-looted-antiquities.html?login=email&auth=login-email">finds</a> have outsize importance in the antiquities trade, and our data indicate that policies to address the black market – at least for Syrian antiquities – should focus on objects that can fit in looters’ pockets.</p>
<p>Our estimates also hint at possible features of the supply chain. Pairing our observations of market sales with existing evidence of farm gate prices – the price paid to looters at the source – we found that looters are paid just a small fraction of what objects would earn at their final destination. While <a href="https://traffickingculture.org/app/uploads/2012/07/CWC-14.pdf">evidence of farm gate prices is limited</a>, it indicates that much of the final price may be going to <a href="https://traffickingculture.org/app/uploads/2012/08/1998-Pity-the-poor-middlemen.pdf">middlemen</a> or dealers.</p>
<h2>Beyond the Islamic State</h2>
<p>However this isn’t a story solely about IS. We know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188589">multiple groups participated in archaeological looting during the Syrian war</a>, including the Syrian government’s own army. IS did not invent looting; the group tapped into an existing looting infrastructure and intensified its scale and productivity. Archaeological looting is a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3764/aja.117.1.0111#metadata_info_tab_contents">global problem</a>, and Syria will continue to be of <a href="https://traffickingculture.org/publications/culture-without-context-1997-vol-1-cambridge-illicit-antiquities-research-centre/">interest</a> to hobby diggers, renegade excavators and thieves. </p>
<p>Furthermore, archaeological sites aren’t just threatened by looters: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/06/half-of-world-heritage-sites-threatened-by-development-says-wwf">Urbanization</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06645-9">climate change</a> pose just as great a danger.</p>
<p>Of course, the legacy of Syrian wartime looting can’t just be measured in dollars. It’s a loss of culture and of historical knowledge. Archaeologists use artifacts to connect people, ideas and customs and track historical change. When an item goes missing, the ability to braid together such a rich history becomes that much harder.</p>
<p>Calculating the market value of an entire ancient city might be helpful for policymakers and scholars. But it doesn’t change what Syrians and Iraqis already know all too well: You can’t put a price on history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported in part by funding from the Antiquities Coalition, the University of Chicago Oriental Institute and the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago.</span></em></p>According to a new study, a small portion of a site can yield thousands of objects, adding up to millions of dollars.Fiona Greenland, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of VirginiaJames Marrone, Adjunct Lecturer of International Economics, Johns Hopkins UniversityOya Topçuoğlu, Lecturer, Northwestern UniversityTasha Vorderstrasse, University and Continuing Education Program Coordinator and Research Associate, University of ChicagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1098902019-01-15T15:10:32Z2019-01-15T15:10:32ZBold steps Mnangagwa should be taking instead of fiddling with the petrol price<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253840/original/file-20190115-152986-1z00z45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zimbabwe erupted in violent protest after the government doubled the price of petrol. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Aaron Ufumeli</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When economically challenged rulers try to run nations, especially fragile ones, they can easily make mistakes. </p>
<p>In the past few weeks demonstrators have taken to the streets of Khartoum and Omdurman to protest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s removal of subsidies that have long kept <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/sudan-official-death-toll-protests-rises-24-190113065645372.html">bread and fuel affordable</a>. </p>
<p>Now it’s Zimbabwe’s turn. Just before flying off to Russia last weekend, President Emmerson Mnangagwa <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/zimbabwes-president-hikes-fuel-prices-to-tackle-shortages-20190113">doubled the price of petrol</a>. Doing so brought already impoverished urban Zimbabweans out onto the streets of the capital Harare as well as Bulawayo and a dozen other cities and towns. Protesters blocked roads with tyres, trees and rocks, stopped bus transport, attacked the police, threw canisters of tear gas back at security forces and <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/deaths-in-zimbabwe-fuel-protests-says-security-minister-20190115">generally ran amok</a>. </p>
<p>At least five people <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/military-deploys-in-zimbabwe-fuel-hike-protests-5-killed/2019/01/15/d44875f6-18aa-11e9-b8e6-567190c2fd08_story.html?utm_term=.2af9f13b1349">were reported</a> to have been killed. Flights into Harare <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2019-01-14-fastjet-cancels-flights-as-zimbabwe-unrest-continues-countrywide/">were cancelled</a> and the government <a href="https://www.techzim.co.zw/2019/01/econet-and-telone-shut-down-the-internet-completely-now-its-darkeness/amp/?__twitter_impression=true">closed down the internet</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1085088020640997376"}"></div></p>
<p>Mnangagwa’s excuse for raising prices so abruptly is not clear. Possibly he thinks that more costly petrol will bring more cash into national coffers that are mostly bare. Or perhaps he believes that more petrol will pour into the country via the pipeline from Beira in Mozambique if it is more valuable. Both ideas are barmy. </p>
<p>Before flying off to Russia, Mnangagwa said that the fuel price rise was intended to reduce shortages of fuel that, he indicated, were caused by rises in the use of fuel and what he called <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/anger-as-mnangagwa-raises-gas-prices-in-zimbabwe-20190113-2">“rampant” illegal trading</a> – accusations that make no sense whatsoever. Making petrol purchasing more expensive for poor Zimbabweans – the majority of the nation’s people – simply adds to their hardship and further slows an already crippled economy.</p>
<p>Instead Mnangagwa should do everything his government can to reduce the shortage of real (rather than fake) cash that is crippling the local economy, reducing local production and corporate and consumer cash flows, and driving an already weakened economy <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2019/01/12/zimbabwe-plans-new-currency-as-dollar-shortage-bites-finance-minister">further into recession</a>.</p>
<p>He should also be focused on taking a number of other bold steps to try and reverse the collapse of the country’s economy. Among them are bringing state looting to a halt.</p>
<h2>The cash crisis</h2>
<p>The US dollar is the official currency of commerce. But because Zimbabwe’s economy has essentially ground to a halt, it has few means of bringing new dollars into the country. That, and the steady money laundering of real dollars by high-level officials of the ruling Zanu-PF party, has drained the country of <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/2018/10/looting-of-state-resources-to-blame-for-economic-crisis/">currency</a>. </p>
<p>The government has printed $1 bond notes — known as <a href="https://businesstimes.co.zw/dollars-vs-zollars-zim-puts-accounting-standards-to-test/">zollars</a> – for Zimbabweans to use instead of real dollars. They are supposed to be exchangeable at par, but in 2019 they are worth as little as a third of a paper dollar. Many merchants refuse to accept zollars at all.</p>
<p>Bond notes now trade on the black market at 3.2 per dollar, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-14/no-currency-just-a-currency-crisis-zimbabwe-s-woes-deepen">according</a> to the Harare-based ZimBollar Research Institute.</p>
<p>The stress has also spread to financial markets, with locals piling into equities to hedge against price increases. </p>
<p>Mnangagwa may be <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-15/with-president-mnangagwa-in-russia-zimbabwe-descends-into-chaos">attempting to obtain loans</a> from Russia and from shady Central Asian countries <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2016/02/04/kazakhstan-at-twenty-five-stable-but-tense-pub-62642">like Kazakhstan</a>. But what the president should be doing is prosecuting and imprisoning his corrupt cronies. That could limit the flight of dollars from Zimbabwe. </p>
<p>He also needs to trim the bloated civil service of excessive patronage appointments. Most of all, if he dared, he should be cutting military expenditures. Zimbabwe has no imaginable need for its large and well equipped a security establishment.</p>
<p>Such bold measures could return confidence to the country’s corporate and agri-business sectors. If coupled with reduced military and other expenditures, and bolstered by funds no longer being transferred overseas, Zimbabwe’s long repressed economy could take off from a very low base.</p>
<h2>Poor leadership</h2>
<p>Raising petrol prices in a land where but a few months ago supplies of petrol were short and motorists <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-27/zimbabwe-suffering-worst-economic-crisis-in-a-decade/10433028">queued for hours and days</a> outside stations is neither politically nor economically wise. The newly aroused protesters will not readily melt away. Putting such a hefty extra charge on an essential commodity, and doing so just when Zimbabwe’s parlous economy was beginning to show signs of stability, shows few leadership skills and little common sense.</p>
<p>Inflation has soared since the national election in July, almost reaching the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=sudan+70%25+inflation&rlz=1C1NHXL_enZA711ZA711&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiwn7u4oO_fAhVMUBUIHVJzAKEQsAR6BAgEEAE&biw=1283&bih=638">Sudanese level of 70% a year</a>. Foreign capital and domestically reinvested capital is avoiding the country. </p>
<p>On top of this, exporters are struggling under draconian Reserve Bank regulations. Only Chinese purchases of ferrochrome, other metals and tobacco, keep the economy ticking over, albeit in an increasingly dilatory manner.</p>
<p>A further drain on confidence and economic rational thinking is the Reserve Bank’s allocation of whatever hard currency there is to politically prominent backers of the president. That is how arbitrage during President Robert Mugabe’s benighted era helped to enrich his entourage while sinking the Zimbabwean economy and impoverishing its peoples.</p>
<h2>Work that needs to be done</h2>
<p>Mnangagwa’s regime has much more work to do to stimulate sustainable economic growth. He will need to restore the rule of law, badly eroded in Mugabe’s time, put some true meaning into his <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2018-11-20-socialites-laying-low-as-zimbabwes-government-cracks-down-on-big-spenders/">“back to honest business”</a> promise, and widely open up the economy. That would mean eliminating most Reserve Bank restrictions on the free flow of currency and allowing the entire Zimbabwean economy once again to float.</p>
<p>Most of all, Mnangagwa needs to rush home from Russia and Asia and rescind or greatly reduce the price of petrol. After so many years of repression and hardship, Zimbabweans are out of patience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109890/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Rotberg 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>President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s decision to double the price of petrol shows very poor judgement and bad leadership.Robert Rotberg, Founding Director of Program on Intrastate Conflict, Harvard Kennedy SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1072572018-12-12T12:46:55Z2018-12-12T12:46:55ZHow Islamic State’s destruction of ancient Palmyra played out on Arabic-language Twitter – new study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249275/original/file-20181206-128220-ehjdj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">h</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Pictures of the destruction of the <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/23">UNESCO World Heritage site of Palmyra</a> have become iconic images of the conflict in Syria. These have been widely shared around the world as symbols of Islamic State’s barbarism – profiled alongside their extensive human rights violations, such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-who-are-the-yazidis-30280">massacre of the Yazidi people</a>. </p>
<p>But new research from the universities of Newcastle and Milan, published in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/isis-and-heritage-destruction-a-sentiment-analysis/CDABFFEB67F138A6B96AD45EA05A026E">Antiquity</a>, suggests the destruction also received some support from the Arabic-speaking public. </p>
<p>IS is not the first group to purposefully destroy heritage. The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31813681">Taliban’s destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas</a> in Afghanistan also shocked the world. but IS’s “<a href="https://theconversation.com/socially-mediated-terrorism-poses-devilish-dilemma-for-social-responses-50750">socially mediated terrorism</a>” has far-reaching impacts. </p>
<p>We wanted to understand what the Arabic-speaking world had to say about the issue, so we used “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020025516303917">sentiment analysis</a>”. This is a technique that involves categorising opinions in statements into whether they are positive, negative, or neutral, as well as categorising the reasons expressed to support such sentiments and then analysing the results. Categorisations are usually done manually to catch sarcasm and idioms, but our method allowed us to automatically and accurately analyse 1.5m publicly available Arabic-language tweets explicitly discussing the topic over nine months.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249965/original/file-20181211-76962-mnsczs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249965/original/file-20181211-76962-mnsczs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249965/original/file-20181211-76962-mnsczs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249965/original/file-20181211-76962-mnsczs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249965/original/file-20181211-76962-mnsczs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249965/original/file-20181211-76962-mnsczs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249965/original/file-20181211-76962-mnsczs.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">Tower Tombs in a Palmyrene necropolis, Syria, destroyed by Islamic State in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Unknown</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our study included widely shared reports of destruction – such as news stories, photographs and videos circulated on social media – as well as incidents that have only been discovered by analysis of satellite imagery. We also included instances of IS’s <a href="http://www.asor-syrianheritage.org/asor-cultural-heritage-initiatives-weekly-report-103-104-july-20-2016-august-2-2016/">demolition for construction purposes</a>, and the repurposing of sites (such as <a href="https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/womens-secret-films-from-within-closed-city-of-islamic-state/">turning a church into police headquarters</a>), as we assumed all of these would affect sentiment towards the extremist group.</p>
<p>In general, our research found that a fifth (21.7%) of tweets that expressed an opinion about these IS abuses of heritage actually supported it. Given the widespread Western media coverage of Palmyra, the team then decided to focus specifically on its impact in our study. </p>
<p>We took a subset of our data containing sentiments about attacks to archaeological sites and analysed the amount of positive sentiment. Then we ran the analysis again without Palmyra, to see whether it made any difference to the way people considered IS’s damage. Was there a greater amount of support (positive sentiment) for the destruction Palmyra compared with other archaeological sites?</p>
<p>Below is an example of one such tweet we found with sentiments about the destruction of Palmyra:</p>
<p><em>“The lions of the Islamic State are blowing up the temple (Temple of Baalshamin) in the city of Palmyra, and eventually by God’s will they will blow up the pyramids and the Sphinx”</em></p>
<p>Tweet from August 23, 2018 (translated from Arabic and anonymised).</p>
<h2>Islamic state onslaught</h2>
<p>Our study period ran from August 1 2015 to June 30 2016. Before it, in May 2015, the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39133343">Islamic State took control of the town of Tadmur</a> and the adjacent archaeological site of Palmyra. IS then used the ancient theatre for <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-palmyra-syria-executions-islamic-state-retake-city-russia-assad-ruins-roman-theatre-civilians-a7535026.html">mass executions</a>, destroyed the <a href="http://www.dgam.gov.sy/index.php?d=314&id=1731">Al-Lat goddess statue</a>, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-palmyra-idUSKCN0WZ0KO">mined the site</a>. </p>
<p>Within our study period, IS <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35688943">destroyed the Temples of Bel</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34036644">Baalshamin</a> in August 2015. In October 2015, they destroyed the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/05/middleeast/syria-isis-palmyra-arch-of-triumph/index.html">Arch of Triumph</a>, and then three columns <a href="http://www.dgam.gov.sy/index.php?d=314&id=1846">by tying men to them and detonating explosives</a>. Satellite imagery revealed that 11 <a href="http://www.asor-syrianheritage.org/special-report-update-on-the-situation-in-palmyra/">Tower Tombs were destroyed with explosives</a>. IS also beheaded <a href="https://theconversation.com/khaled-al-asaad-the-martyr-of-palmyra-46787">Khalad al-Assad</a>, the former head of Palmyra Antiquities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/khaled-al-asaad-the-martyr-of-palmyra-46787">Khaled al-Asaad, the martyr of Palmyra</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>After the study period, we learned <a href="https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2016/03/31/assessing-the-damage-at-palmyra/">Palmyra’s museum had been heavily vandalised</a>, and IS’s second occupation of Palmyra (December 2016 to March 2017) involved <a href="http://www.unitar.org/unosat/map/2537">additional destruction</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249274/original/file-20181206-128211-1yn7a7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249274/original/file-20181206-128211-1yn7a7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249274/original/file-20181206-128211-1yn7a7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249274/original/file-20181206-128211-1yn7a7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249274/original/file-20181206-128211-1yn7a7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249274/original/file-20181206-128211-1yn7a7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249274/original/file-20181206-128211-1yn7a7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Khaled al Asaad, former head of antiquities at Palmyra, was beheaded by Islamic State in August 2015 at the age of 83.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikipedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bombs and tweets</h2>
<p>As you might expect, given its prominence as a World Heritage site, the amount of online discussion increased when attacks on Palmyra were reported – but the overall levels of positive and negative sentiment were unaffected. Reports of Palmyra’s destruction did not attract more support than reports of attacks on other archaeological sites – but the destruction didn’t significantly lessen support for IS, either. </p>
<p>However, it did drastically increase coverage of IS’s actions. In that sense, the destruction at Palmyra was a successful propaganda coup. It could even have contributed to the support for recruitment seen in some tweets. When the reasons for expressing positive and negative sentiments about IS attacks on heritage were categorised, a fifth (21.5%) of the positive tweets related to what we termed as “recruit through the broadcasting of their ideology” – the third-largest category of reasons for support.</p>
<p>Yet, while IS appear highly strategic in their social media actions, the strategy is not coherent or consistently followed. The destruction of the temples was featured in Dabiq 9 (IS’s English-language magazine), and a photograph of al Asaad’s body and a video of the museum damage was released on their social media channels. These were the only events claimed by IS. Other events – including those from their second occupation – were reported by journalists or discovered via satellite imagery analysis, suggesting that IS was not always prompt to capitalise on its destruction of Palmyra. </p>
<p>Although Western media has focused on Palmyra, the most common category of support (34.5%) for heritage attacks from our analysis related to perceived <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/neareastarch.78.3.0170#metadata_info_tab_contents">humiliation of targeted local communities by IS</a>, rather than relating to a specific site or type of site. The highest levels of dislike came not from Palmyra, but from the destruction of Islamic sites and cemetery attacks. </p>
<p>So if we want to protect these important sites it’s important to move beyond the buildings to engage with the communities that have been targeted. Focusing simply on Palmyra’s antiquities fails to see the people behind the heritage – or to understand why they are threatened. And we now know that this understanding is essential to counter a threat that affects not only heritage sites but the social cohesion of the region that created them. As other groups begin to copy IS’s strategies – for example <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/04/war-savages-ancient-sites-yemen-and-iraq-destroying-archaeological-record">in Yemen</a> where bombing has destroyed many antiquities – this issue can only become more urgent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107257/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research for this article was generously supported by Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa, based at Oxford University, who are funded by Arcadia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luigi Curini 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>There is a surprising amount of support for the destruction of antiquities in the Middle East.Emma Cunliffe, Research associate, Newcastle UniversityLuigi Curini, Professor, University of MilanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1056042018-11-30T13:01:41Z2018-11-30T13:01:41ZThe ‘Gurlitt case’: how a routine customs check uncovered a sensational Nazi-era art hoard<p>One of the biggest stories from the Nazi regime’s looting of Jewish-owned art began with a routine customs check on a train from Zurich to Munich in September 2010. When customs agents stopped <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/03/cornelius-gurlitt-nazi-looted-art/554936/">Cornelius Gurlitt</a>, an elderly man resident in Munich, it turned out that he had an unusually large sum in cash on him. The money, which was only just within the legal limit, had apparently derived from an art sale in Bern.</p>
<p>The Bavarian authorities decided to investigate his affairs and in early 2012 carried out an inspection of his Munich apartment. They were astonished to discover it crammed full of art – more than 1,200 pieces. They surmised that he may have been secretly dealing and impounded them subject to investigation. </p>
<p>Because of who he was they also called in an expert to investigate the provenance of these works. His father <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/hitler-hildebrand-gurlitt-cornelius-gurlitt-nazi-art-theft-a8041501.html">Hildebrand Gurlitt</a> had been one of the most important German art dealers to have collaborated with the Nazi regime. Although Gurlitt senior was exonerated of criminal collaboration in 1947, changed attitudes towards these issues today meant that almost any artwork that had passed through his hands was suspect.</p>
<p>When the story eventually broke in November 2013 there was an international media storm. The Bavarian authorities <a href="http://www.taskforce-kunstfund.de/en/about_us.htm">established a task force</a> to examine the provenance of pieces in the find and Cornelius Gurlitt agreed to return works to the heirs of original owners where a case of forced dispossession was established. Soon after this, in April 2014, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/arts/design/cornelius-gurlitt-son-of-nazi-era-art-dealer-has-died.html">he died</a>, and it transpired that he had bequeathed the remaining collection to the Bern Kunstmuseum. </p>
<p>This problematic gift generated two coordinated exhibitions in the winter of 2017. The federal art and exhibition hall in Bonn, the <a href="https://www.bundeskunsthalle.de/en/home.html">Bundeskunsthalle</a>, showed works whose provenance remains under review and in Bern the museum of fine arts, the <a href="https://www.kunstmuseumbern.ch/en/startseite-englisch-121.html">Kunstmuseum</a>, displayed pieces that had been cleared of suspicion. The “<a href="https://www.museumsportal-berlin.de/en/exhibitions/bestandsaufnahme-gurlitt/">Gurlitt: Status Report</a>” show in Berlin this year was a combination of the two.</p>
<h2>Degenerate art</h2>
<p>The Gurlitt hoard included some that had been discovered in 2014 in another of his <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nazi-art-collector-cornelius-gurlitt-found-to-have-more-works-at-his-austria-home-9122246.html">properties in Salzburg</a>. Almost half were either from the Gurlitt family collection or derived from the Nazi “<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/exhibits-confront-degenerate-art-80-years-later-180964359/">Entartete Kunst</a>” or Degenerate Art campaign of 1937-1940. These were works “purged” from public collections that the regime had allowed Gurlitt senior and three selected colleagues to acquire and sell abroad. By law, Cornelius Gurlitt had clear title to the stocks from this source that his father had retained. </p>
<p>But there were undoubtedly pieces in the hoard that had been expropriated from Jewish owners in Germany and France. The initial investigation by the task force established five proven cases – including a Matisse from the stock of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/14/jewish-art-dealers-family-recover-matisse-painting-looted-by-nazis">Parisian dealer Paul Rosenberg</a> which he had put in storage in 1940 when fleeing France for the USA. Another painting was a Pissarro that had belonged to <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/germany-restitutes-4th-work-from-gurlitt-art-trove/">Max Heilbronn</a>, from the family that owned the Galeries Lafayette in Paris (which had been “aryanised” – handed over to non-Jewish ownership). </p>
<p>There was also a Liebermann painting that had been extorted from the collector <a href="https://www.jewishgen.org/AustriaCzech/wall-of-fame/friedmann.html">David Friedmann</a> in Breslau (Friedmann died in 1942 and his daughter was deported to Auschwitz). The painting was <a href="http://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/auction-essays/impressionist-modern-art-evening-sale-l15006/2015/06/property-restituted-.html">restituted to his great nephew</a> in May 2015 and fetched a sensational price at auction shortly afterwards. </p>
<p>But it quickly became evident that the provenance of many of the works was unclear – and, despite intensive research – this remains true today.</p>
<h2>Just and fair solution</h2>
<p>As the current exhibition and the documentation around it demonstrate, the German authorities have devoted enormous resources to the Gurlitt find. This is indicative of the transformation in attitudes and policies towards the restitution of Nazi-looted art over the past 30 years in Germany. In 1998 a <a href="https://www.lootedartcommission.com/Washington-principles">conference was held in Washington</a> devoted to this subject which laid down 11 key principles. These included the encouragement of restitution claims, the opening of relevant archives, the establishment of a central registry of information and the development of national processes for the handling of claims.</p>
<p>The Gurlitt case brings out key features of this difficult topic. First and foremost is the fundamental role of provenance research in determining restitution claims. The digitisation of records and the advent of the internet has transformed the field, but it remains a complex and arduous activity, dependent on both resources and determination. </p>
<p>Looted art also raises complex legal issues. The <a href="https://www.state.gov/p/eur/rt/hlcst/270431.htm">Washington Principles</a> called for a “just and fair” solution to restitution claims, prioritising moral over legal grounds. But these only applied to public bodies – private owners are not bound by them. Cornelius Gurlitt waived his individual rights to those works that the Kunstfund discovered had been looted - a very limited number – but the case drew attention to the difficulties attached to restitution claims caused notably by the statute of limitations concerning ownership under German law.</p>
<p>It also cast a renewed spotlight on the history of the German art world during the Nazi era and its legacy in the postwar years. Gurlitt senior, who was himself a quarter Jewish, had taken up art dealing under pressure of circumstances in order to earn a living in the new political climate. His move towards ever closer collaboration with the Nazi regime was motivated by a combination of ambition, greed and self-protection. </p>
<p>The extent to which he was directly involved in art “looting” is not entirely clear. When interrogated by the American authorities in 1945 he was adamant that he had only purchased work offered him voluntarily and that he had nothing to do with the Nazi agents engaged in the <a href="https://www.lootedart.com/QDES4V964951">expropriation of Jewish collections</a>.</p>
<p>But two things are evident – he and colleagues in France, Holland and Germany – exploited a situation in which the art market was extremely buoyant through a combination of forced sales, lack of other commodities and enormous demand on the part of both public bodies and individuals in the Third Reich. And when the heady era of German domination turned into catastrophe, they set out to preserve as much as possible of their art stocks, and to cover their tracks. </p>
<p>Gurlitt was able to rebuild his career after the war as director of the Düsseldorf Kunstverein. The Gurlitts occasionally lent works to exhibitions – Indeed at the end of his life Hildebrand was the main source of items for a touring exhibition of Modern German works of art on paper for which he <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/hildebrand-gurlitt-1950s-essay-about-his-history-with-art-a-934072.html">wrote an account</a> of his collection and artistic philosophy - which remained unpublished.</p>
<p>But the size and range of their collection was not publicly known – even if some art market insiders were aware of it. Over the years, Gurlitt junior relied on complicit discretion and lack of transparency in the art world in order to surreptitiously sell paintings. </p>
<p>This was dramatically exposed in the aftermath of the incident on the Zurich-Munich train. The Gurlitt Case abruptly confronted the present and the past: it gave a dramatic impetus to the efforts of the German cultural establishment to engage with the phenomenon of Nazi-looted art and contributed to international awareness of the complex issues raised by the Washington Conference 20 years ago, that <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/restitution-of-nazi-looted-art-a-work-in-progress">remain highly pertinent</a> today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105604/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malcolm Gee 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 discovery of an apartment crammed with art has revealed the dark history of collaboration and looting during the days of the Third Reich.Malcolm Gee, Visiting Fellow in Art History, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1026162018-09-06T13:24:43Z2018-09-06T13:24:43ZXenophobia in South Africa: why it’s time to unsettle narratives about migrants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235025/original/file-20180905-45178-58lmld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Four people died in the latest violence and looting to hit shops owned by foreign nationals in Soweto, Johannesburg. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sowetan/Thulani Mbele</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Foreign nationals have, yet again, been attacked, displaced and had their shops looted in <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-09-03-xenophobia-triumphs-in-gauteng/">South Africa</a>. This is an unfortunate – but entirely unsurprising – way to mark the anniversary of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/world/africa/20safrica.html">2008 xenophobic attacks</a> during which tens of thousands were displaced and more than 60 people killed. </p>
<p>Even before 2008, a handful of scholars and activists were urging the government <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2007-03-06-somalis-are-easy-prey">to do more</a> to protect those targeted for violence because of their geographic origins. Only after the 2008 melee did the <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/docs/other-docs/nap.html">government</a> join civil society and <a href="https://www.iom.int/news/one-movement-launched-combat-xenophobia-and-racism-south-africa-new-study-released">international organisations</a> in committing to ensure that such bloodletting would never happen again. But, it has.</p>
<p>Why? Firstly, both the government and civil society are culpable. The government continues to sideline xenophobic violence the same way it does most violence affecting <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/south-africa-s-crime-epidemic-how-townships-descend-into-vigilante-violence-pqkrgql7m">poor South African communities</a>. It has naturalised anti-outsider violence by blaming it variously on criminality or the natural resentment poor South Africans feel towards those they perceive as “stealing” opportunities from them.</p>
<p>Civil society efforts have fared little better in arresting the violence. Many organisation, foreign and domestic, have responded in a classic <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2392088">“garbage-can”</a> fashion, matching ready-made solutions to problems they only poorly understand. The results include innumerable <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/gauteng-premier-joins-anti-xenophobia-march-20170328">marches</a>, education campaigns, <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2014/09/24/Combating-xenophobia-a-national-issue">rights awareness symposiums</a>, and social cohesion <a href="http://www.fhr.org.za/latest_news/social-cohesion-summit/">summits</a>. Various bodies, including the one I work for, regularly document the abuse of migrants at the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/safrica-migrants-corruption/">hands of police</a>, authorities and <a href="http://www.savi.uct.ac.za/xenophobia_community-social-cohesion-profiles">neighbours</a>.</p>
<p>The solution doesn’t lie in simply doing more of the same. What’s required is to recalibrate how xenophobia is covered, particularly how stories are told about migrants – their rights, suffering, and their relationship to the citizens around them. The way it’s currently done is doing more harm than good. </p>
<p>South African coverage of migrants falls into what the president of the global Ethical Journalism Network, Aidan White, recently noted was a trend towards <a href="https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/migration-reporting-solutions">“victim journalism”</a> in global migration coverage. </p>
<p>But changing course means going against the grain of the dominant narratives. It means destabilising the language and approaches used to speak about violence and immigration. This is as true in South Africa as it is elsewhere in the world. </p>
<p>When one does this, as Tanya Pampalone and I have tried to do in the book <a href="http://witspress.co.za/catalogue/i-want-to-go-home-forever/"><em>I Want to Go Home Forever: Stories of Becoming and Belonging in Africa’s Great Metropolis</em>.</a> the stories are often difficult to digest. They are uncomfortable because they upset easy binaries and accusations. They also point to new opportunities to build communities that are inclusive and safe. </p>
<h2>Victim journalism</h2>
<p>The accounts of migrants described in White’s article are very recognisable in South Africa. Many of the accounts offered by South African civil society and scholars rapidly descend into a parade of miseries and indignities. As if the more people suffer, the more deserving they are of not only sympathy, but a place in a hosting country. It’s as if the only way one is allowed to stay is if you completely deserve pity. </p>
<p><a href="https://americanethnologist.org/features/interviews/ae-interviews-miriam-ticktin-innocence-ethnography-and-politics-beyond-the-human">Miriam Ticktin</a>, a leading migration scholar, similarly observes how migrants need to ensure they are read as helpless, needy and innocent to secure access to protection and help. While such claims may get you “in”, they also feed perceptions that migrants are wards, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-fears-about-jobs-drive-anti-migrant-sentiment-in-south-africa-101053">stealing resources</a>.</p>
<p>The problem of focusing on migrants’ rights and victimisation is that it does little to hold the political and criminal elements leading – and benefiting – from the violence against migrants responsible. It also prevents empathy from citizens grappling with the competition for scarce resources such as houses, or for jobs, as well as the ethical dilemmas of migration. Migration is a complex process that by its nature transforms communities. It introduces new languages and customs. It creates new forms of economic and social exchange. These can be unsettling and disorienting, especially during times of economic hardship and political transition.</p>
<p>Framing xenophobic violence as a question of immigrant victimisation invites divisions between neighbours. There are multiple examples, such as accounts of immigrants as somehow superhuman people who have suffered violence and persecution across a smorgasbord of sites, yet heroically continue commerce to feed their families. </p>
<p>Journalists and scholars overlook or suppress unsavoury elements of migrants’ histories and activities. This is often for fear of feeding anti-immigrant reactions. Perhaps more importantly, migrant-oriented journalists and activities too quickly condemn South Africans as thoughtless purveyors of violence. </p>
<p>Both sides become caricatures, people without politics or the complexities that are inherent to all humans.</p>
<h2>Humanising migration</h2>
<p>It’s true: there are many stories of victimisation. But there are a host of other accounts that reflect a complexity often ignored in the simple narratives. </p>
<p>There are the geriatric refugees from Ethiopia who fear reprisals for political actions taken decades ago. There are conflicts among immigrant families far more vicious than anything South Africans are offering. There are immigrants who make court cases against them disappear. </p>
<p>There are also thoughtful, patriotic South Africans convinced xenophobia is socially just. For them, overcoming apartheid’s legacy means redirecting resources and opportunities to the citizens who most suffered from it. For them, sharing the country’s wealth and urban space with “others” can only frustrate a transformation agenda that has been too slow to bear fruit.</p>
<p>There are also stories – seldom told – that can salve and offer direction. They remind those willing to listen that while immigrants live in almost all <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/publication/the-economics-of-south-african-townships-special-focus-on-diepsloot">South African townships</a>, violence against them is remarkably infrequent. It’s not random or driven solely by rage, but calculated, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiPkIKjop_dAhUII8AKHVBjAmIQFjAAegQIABAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffreedomhouse.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FSouth_Africa_Community_Social_Cohesion_Profiles_Synthesis%2520Report.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0cbij09H5SrnjVunIsGnjt">purposeful, and directed</a>. </p>
<p>What is more, there are poor, black South Africans who know that foreigners are not the problem. They are perfectly aware that foreigners aren’t the reason they are jobless, homeless, and frightened to walk the streets. Better than most, they know that it is officials’ false promises and unwillingness to counter corruption, violence, incompetence and institutional incapacity that are to blame. </p>
<p>These are problems with no easy solutions. Yet that is precisely the message that scholars, activists, and concerned citizens need to hear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102616/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loren B Landau receives funding from the National Research Foundation and The Open Society Foundation</span></em></p>Framing xenophobic violence as a question of immigrant victimisation invites divisions between neighbours.Loren B Landau, Research Chair on Mobility & the Politics of Diversity. Migration; Urbanisation; Refugees; Xenophobia, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/980932018-06-15T09:39:37Z2018-06-15T09:39:37ZIllegal trade in antiquities: a scourge that has gone on for millennia too long<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223191/original/file-20180614-32304-xbs128.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">h</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Looting of artefacts has always been a sign of military might or economic power. Over millennia, conquering generals would take away with them trophies to adorn their cities. In more recent centuries, the wealthy upper classes would make “grand tours” of classical sites and acquire – through whatever means – anything from vases to statues to entire temple friezes to show off at home. Owning a piece of antiquity was seen as demonstrating wealth, a love of ancient culture and, ultimately, one’s own distinction: having things that nobody else could have. </p>
<p>At least this is what the looters thought. We should now all know the most apt way to describe this dubious form of collection – and it’s a word that has historical resonance: vandalism. </p>
<p>So many antiquities were stolen that they fill massive imperial museums in many of the world’s capital cities: the British museum, the Louvre, the Metropolitan, the Istanbul museum. These institutions continue to hold on to national treasures of other countries, claiming that they are international museums keeping the heritage of the world and making it available to everyone. </p>
<p>So it is with the Parthenon Marbles – one of the most <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/03-04/parthenon-sculptures-british-museum-controversy/">controversial acts of vandalism of them all</a> – held in the British Museum in London after being dubiously “acquired” by Thomas Bruce, Earl of Elgin in 1801, less than three decades before the independence of Athens from Ottoman rule.</p>
<p>The UK’s opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, recently stated that a Labour government would return the marbles to Greece. In <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/corbyn-return-elgin-marbles-greece-british-museum-a8381681.html">a statement on June 3</a> he said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As with anything stolen or taken from occupied or colonial possession – including artefacts looted from other countries in the past – we should be engaged in constructive talks with the Greek government about returning the sculptures’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The traditional position for the British government on the Parthenon marbles is that it is up to the <a href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/press_releases/2015/unesco_mediation_proposal.aspx">trustees of the British Museum to decide</a> on the return of any artefacts in its collection. But, as the government is a key funder of the museum, it can surely wield a powerful influence on trustees’ decisions.</p>
<p>So the marbles have remained in London. And the antiquities trade is still going strong – not only depriving countries of their heritage, but, which is worse, depriving the world of the information that could be extracted with appropriate systematic excavation and reducing the artefacts into mere art pieces that can only be enjoyed in a stale museum context and not as both rich symptoms and teachers of the history of mankind. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, there is evidence that revenue from the sale of stolen antiquities looted in Syria and Iraq has been <a href="https://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/sites/culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/files/Bogdanos.Paper_.pdf">used to fund Islamic State</a> and other terrorist groups – so one illegal activity has been connected to many others.</p>
<h2>Fighting the trade</h2>
<p>How are we to stop this trade, which is a scourge of historical knowledge, local pride and international sovereignty. The illicit trade in antiquities – and almost all trade of antiquities is illegal in some sense, as it almost always breaks the law of the source countries – is considered to be a common crime. In many countries there are police departments that are specialised in this type of crime. For example, the UK has the Metropolitan Police’s art and antiques unit and in the US the FBI has a 16-person <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/art-theft">Art Crime Team</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223192/original/file-20180614-32334-1b6seud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223192/original/file-20180614-32334-1b6seud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223192/original/file-20180614-32334-1b6seud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223192/original/file-20180614-32334-1b6seud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223192/original/file-20180614-32334-1b6seud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223192/original/file-20180614-32334-1b6seud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223192/original/file-20180614-32334-1b6seud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Mask of Warka, one of the earliest representations of a human face, was recovered in Iraq after being stolen from the National Museum in Baghdad during the 2003 US invasion.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the UK, “Operation Bullrush” by the art and antiques unit successfully prosecuted dealer <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/egyptian-treasures-smuggler-is-jailed-1256685.html">Jonathan Tokeley-Parry</a> in 1997 for smuggling priceless antiquities out of Egypt (he was also sentenced in absentia in Egypt). Meanwhile in 2002 a US court <a href="http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2017111000">convicted Frederick Schultz</a>, the former president of the National Association of Dealers in Ancient, Oriental and Primitive Art, under the 1934 National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) of conspiracy to receive antiquities stolen from Egypt. </p>
<p>Meanwhile various countries are signing memoranda of understanding (MOU) to control the importation of antiquities and to coordinate efforts to prevent smuggling. In 2017 the US concluded an <a href="https://theantiquitiescoalition.org/ac-news/after-long-delay-us-and-egypt-sign-historic-mou-restricting-endangered-heritage-from-american-import/">MOU with Egypt</a>. These arrangements are backed by the <a href="http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13039&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">1970 UNESCO Paris convention</a> which prohibits the sale and purchase of ancient art that had not been in circulation before the ratification of that treaty by each country.</p>
<p>But most of these measures and stakeholders focus on the final destination of the illicit antiquities, the collectors or museums – and this isn’t enough. There need to be measures to account for all stages of the illicit trade of antiquities: from excavation to the first and second intermediary (the dealers), to those transporting it from one country to another, to the final purchaser, the collector.</p>
<h2>Working together</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://heritagemanagement.org/">Heritage Management Organisation</a> (HERITΛGE), a project associated with the University of Kent, has been working to create a comprehensive strategy for the illicit antiquities trade, which aims to combine the knowledge and efforts of multiple stakeholders: scientists, local communities, police, collectors, legislators and the public.</p>
<p>To prevent illicit excavations police forces need to deploy the latest technological advances such as satellite surveillance, pattern recognition and forensic science. But they need the assistance of local communities in areas of archaeological significance who need to become more positive as stakeholders in the protection of their heritage.</p>
<p>Collectors should not all be seen as the enemy – but as potentially powerful stakeholders that need to be engaged and trained in the fight against the illegal antiquities trade. Many collectors are careful in how they buy – but others are simply ignorant of how to buy more responsibly. Collectors have insights and valuable information on clandestine networks, art dealers and their potentially rigorous verification (or not) of the legal standing of each piece in their own collections. With the cooperation of the Greek Ministry of Culture, HERITΛGE organised the first ever meeting between collectors, the ministry and the police in Greece. Much more needs to be done in this area.</p>
<p>It’s all very well having international treaties to control the antiquities trade, but first they must be understood by all the relevant stakeholders. HERITΛGE has published one of the few commentaries on <a href="https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/cultural-property-law-and-restitution">restitution in both European and international Law</a>. </p>
<p>It is imperative that volunteers are trained on how to check the provenance of items for sale and on how to use existing databases to “catch” clandestine or stolen pieces. One example is academic <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/christos-tsirogiannis-on-the-trail-of-the-tomb-raiders-95tspm0f8">Christos Tsirogiannis</a> who had had some success in tracking down looted antiquities and ensuring they are returned to their country of origin. </p>
<p>But, for this strategy to bear fruit, all the relevant stakeholders need to collaborate with an open mind and then maybe there is a chance that we’ll be able to bring an end to millennia of the despoiling of so many countries’ national heritage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98093/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evangelos Kyriakidis directs the Heritage Management Organization. He is a Senior Lecturer in Aegean Prehistory in the University of Kent.</span></em></p>What’s needed is a comprehensive international strategy to combat the illicit trade in antiquities.Evangelos Kyriakidis, Senior Lecturer in Aegean Prehistory, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/939492018-04-09T20:03:50Z2018-04-09T20:03:50ZFifteen years after looting, thousands of artefacts are still missing from Iraq’s national museum<p>On April 10 2003, the first looters broke into the National Museum of Iraq. Staff had vacated two days earlier, ahead of the advance of US forces on Baghdad. The museum was effectively ransacked for the next 36 hours until employees returned. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213774/original/file-20180409-114098-1fooba3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213774/original/file-20180409-114098-1fooba3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213774/original/file-20180409-114098-1fooba3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213774/original/file-20180409-114098-1fooba3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213774/original/file-20180409-114098-1fooba3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213774/original/file-20180409-114098-1fooba3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213774/original/file-20180409-114098-1fooba3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213774/original/file-20180409-114098-1fooba3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The National Museum of Iraq in the wake of looting in 2003.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jamal Saidi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the staff - showing enormous bravery and foresight - had removed and safely stored 8,366 artefacts before the looting, some 15,000 objects were <a href="https://www.ajaonline.org/newsletter/110">taken</a> during that 36 hours. While 7,000 items have been recovered, more than 8,000 remain unaccounted for, including artefacts thousands of years old from some of the earliest sites in the Middle East. </p>
<p>The looting is regarded as one of the worst acts of cultural <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/146551803793156655">vandalism</a> in modern times, but much more of Iraq’s rich cultural history has been destroyed, damaged or <a href="https://boydellandbrewer.com/the-destruction-of-cultural-heritage-in-iraq.html">stolen</a> in the years since. Indeed the illegal trade in looted antiquities is growing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212918/original/file-20180403-189795-1h67uf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212918/original/file-20180403-189795-1h67uf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212918/original/file-20180403-189795-1h67uf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212918/original/file-20180403-189795-1h67uf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212918/original/file-20180403-189795-1h67uf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212918/original/file-20180403-189795-1h67uf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212918/original/file-20180403-189795-1h67uf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gold and lapis bowl from Ur, Iraq Museum IM8272. Current statue is unknown.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Oriental Institute Lost Treasures from Iraq database</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the museum objects that remains lost is a black stone <a href="https://oi-archive.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/dbfiles/objects/55.htm">weight shaped like a duck</a> made around 2070 BC and excavated from the ancient city of Ur. Another is a fluted <a href="https://oi-archive.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/dbfiles/objects/47.htm">gold and lapis bowl</a> from a royal cemetery in the same city.</p>
<p>The museum’s collection of cylinder seals (used to print images, usually into clay) was hit especially hard as they were easy to conceal and transport and had a ready market overseas. Of the 5144 taken, just over half have been returned. The museum <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-museum/looted-iraqi-museum-hopes-to-reopen-minus-many-relics-idUSBREA0G0G920140117">reopened</a> in 2014, somewhat a shadow of its former self.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212917/original/file-20180403-189830-xayncg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212917/original/file-20180403-189830-xayncg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212917/original/file-20180403-189830-xayncg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212917/original/file-20180403-189830-xayncg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212917/original/file-20180403-189830-xayncg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212917/original/file-20180403-189830-xayncg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212917/original/file-20180403-189830-xayncg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Duck-shaped weight from Ur, Iraq Museum IM3580. Current status unknown.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Oriental Institute Lost Treasures from Iraq database</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some high value items looted from the museum were so recognisable that they could not possibly appear on the open market, suggesting they were taken with buyers already lined up. In contrast to this was the opportunistic looting undertaken by locals: in some galleries copies were stolen but genuine pieces ignored. </p>
<p>Global outrage at the looting did lead to immediate action. One of the most successful programs was an <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/group/chr/drupal/ref/the-2003-looting-of-the-iraq-national-museum">amnesty</a> granted by authorities that saw almost 2,000 items returned by January 2004, and a further thousand items seized by Iraqi and US investigators.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212911/original/file-20180403-189813-vlk0ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212911/original/file-20180403-189813-vlk0ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212911/original/file-20180403-189813-vlk0ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212911/original/file-20180403-189813-vlk0ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212911/original/file-20180403-189813-vlk0ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212911/original/file-20180403-189813-vlk0ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212911/original/file-20180403-189813-vlk0ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212911/original/file-20180403-189813-vlk0ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Iraqi Col. Ali Sabah, displays ancient artefacts Iraqi Security Forces discovered in 2008, during two raids in northern Basra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hrs_081225_sod_hia.jpg">Wikimedia commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Initial returns were largely local. One early success was the famous <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/iraq-war-archeology-invasion/555200/">Lady of Warka</a>, dated to around 3100 BC; she was recovered by investigators at a nearby farm following a tip off. </p>
<p>Others have come home following international investigations (a large number of objects seem to have travelled through London and New York in the aftermath), such as a statue of Assyrian <a href="https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/assyrian-artifacts-to-be-returned-to-iraq/">king Argon II</a> seized in New York in 2008 and returned to the museum in 2015.</p>
<p>Likewise the heaviest item stolen, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/world/middleeast/26antiquities.html">headless statue of the Sumerian king Entemena of Lagash</a> was recovered in New York in 2006 with the help of an art dealer. <a href="https://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Works-of-art/Database">Interpol</a> and the <a href="https://oi-archive.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/dbfiles/Iraqdatabasehome.htm">University of Chicago</a> have fastidiously maintained databases for objects looted from museum. </p>
<h2>Demand increasing</h2>
<p>While destruction and looting of cultural heritage has been a by-product of war for thousands of years, the scale of the looting of the Iraq Museum was staggering. Particularly frustrating were the neglected warnings that such an incident could happen, and the immediate response from the Bush administration that “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY9l73Yo9Pw">stuff happens</a>”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RY9l73Yo9Pw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The museum looting should have been a clarion call for the need for better protection of antiquities in conflict zones, both from combatants and local populations. Sadly, this has not been the case. There has been subsequent destruction of archaeological sites and museums in <a href="http://monumentsofsyria.com/syria-conflict/">Syria</a> and Libya, <a href="https://theconversation.com/inside-isis-looted-antiquities-trade-59287">ISIS selling antiquities to finance weapons</a>, and <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/illicit-trafficking-of-cultural-property/international-alerts/greece-stolen-artefacts/">increases in thefts</a> from both private and public collections and from archaeological sites. </p>
<p>Part of the problem with halting the illegal global trade of stolen antiquities is the scale of the market. In late 2017, an investigation by the Wall Street Journal presented the sobering assessment that over 100,000 antiquities are offered for sale online daily, of which up to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-online-bazaar-for-looted-antiquities-1509466087">80% are likely to be faked or looted</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212909/original/file-20180403-189813-1kecoc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212909/original/file-20180403-189813-1kecoc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212909/original/file-20180403-189813-1kecoc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212909/original/file-20180403-189813-1kecoc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212909/original/file-20180403-189813-1kecoc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212909/original/file-20180403-189813-1kecoc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212909/original/file-20180403-189813-1kecoc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">National Museum of Iraq in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MohammadHuzam/Wikimedia commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The industry is <a href="https://www.obs-traffic.museum/sites/default/files/ressources/files/Brodie_Archaeologists_Looting_Economic_Justice.pdf">estimated by Neil Brodie of the University of Oxford to have a turnover of US$10 million a day</a>. Today’s antiquities black market is using social media platforms and messenger apps to reach buyers in a way that would have been inconceivable to looters in 2003. There has been a surge in antiquities originating in Syria available online since the outbreak of the civil war.</p>
<p>In order to halt looting, it is essential that private collectors and institutions only purchase antiquities with a legal provenance to dry up the demand. </p>
<p>Ironically, centuries after many of the remains of these ancient cultural entities were looted by European colonial forces in order to fill grand national museums, we are seeing a 21st century version of cultural colonialism. Private collectors are enabling an entire economy of illegal activities. </p>
<p>The loss of these sites and artefacts is disastrous for humanity. The Baghdad looting has shown that in times of conflict, not even a museum can necessarily provide a sanctuary, without meaningful policies of protection. Sadly, it appears we have not learnt the lessons of April 2003.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Barker 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>Looting of Iraq’s national museum began on April 10, 2003. At least half of the artefacts taken remain missing and disturbingly, the illegal trade in stolen antiquities has grown in the years since.Craig Barker, Education Manager, Sydney University Museums, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/926292018-03-13T09:01:38Z2018-03-13T09:01:38ZLara Croft is back with a bang – but there are real tomb raiders out there<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209908/original/file-20180312-30965-nd7wou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ilze Kitshoff/Warner Bros</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seventeen years since Angelina Jolie appeared on screens as the avatar-turned-adventurer and an astounding 22 years since the release of the original video game, Swedish actress Alicia Vikander is continuing the franchise in the blockbuster reboot of Tomb Raider. </p>
<p>The latest reincarnation of Croft is intelligent, athletic and primed for action. However, this time around filmmakers have thankfully ditched her previous shorts and crop-top for utilitarian trousers. It’s a welcome change, especially in light of the claims of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/jumanji-2-dwayne-johnson-tries-and-fails-to-calm-sexism-outcry-over-karen-gillans-skimpy-outfit-a7320456.html">over-sexualisation of Karen Gillan’s character</a> in the recent Jumanji 2.</p>
<p>As the original “tomb raider”, Lara’s relationship with archaeology is just about as precarious as the many situations in which she finds herself. Over the decades, in various film and game adaptations, Croft has either been an archaeologist in her own right or has been charged with continuing a quest left to her by a male archaeologist relative – this time her deceased father (played by Dominic West). The film’s action begins with the opening of his tomb – Croft entering a hard-won code to gain entry into what reveals itself to be her father’s secret study, a space resplendent with pseudo-archaeological figurines and antiquarian-style boxes.</p>
<p>In a recent interview, Vikander talked of “mystical doors being opened” in the remake. Certainly the trailer itself is packed full of cryptograms which Croft must crack in order to find out about her late father’s legacy. Yet there is little digging, data or discourse in a franchise which centres around a character who is frequently referred to as an “adventurer-archaeologist”, shooting and sparring against the backdrop of Indiana Jones-esque ancient tombs.</p>
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<p>However, although “raiding” is very much outside the rhetoric of recent practice, archaeologists have more in common with the world of Croft than it might initially appear. Tombs are often sites of contention and conflict and practising archaeology in areas where local populations may be hostile towards the intervention of foreign or official parties can still be disconcerting and indeed dangerous.</p>
<h2>Thrill of the chase</h2>
<p>British archaeologist <a href="https://www.brh.org.uk/site/contributors/dr-lucy-goodison/">Lucy Goodison</a> remembers instances during which locating and cataloguing the rural tomb sites of prehistoric Crete turned nasty. One incident in the early 2000s involved following a dilapidated car down a dirt track at breakneck speed, driven by people who it transpired intended to loot the tomb. Another was being denied help locating a tomb because of Elgin’s theft of the Parthenon Marbles. This unfortunately echoed an incident in which Greek archaeologist <a href="https://interactive.archaeology.org/zominthos/meet-the-team/">Yannis Sakellarakis</a> was shot at by looters caught red-handed while he was approaching the Cretan tomb of Ayia Kyriaki in 1965.</p>
<p>While situations in which archaeologists and real “tomb raiders” come into conflict do not always escalate to the point of shooting, they can take the form of sabotage. Excavators working in Narce, Italy in 2012 experienced instances of slashed tyres and the purposeful vandalism of surveillance cameras erected to discourage trespassing at the tomb sites. This accompanied some destructive episodes of illicit digging under the cover of night, which the excavation director <a href="https://iicdublino.esteri.it/iic_dublino/en/gli_eventi/calendario/2017/03/the-lullaby-of-the-tomb-looters.html">Jacopo Tabolli rather romantically called</a> “the lullaby of the looters”.</p>
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<p>Is Lara a looter? She’s certainly not asking anyone permission, but what this remake of Tomb Raider should remind us of is questions of motivation and ownership. “Close the tomb once and for all”, West booms over scenes of Vikander escaping the clutches of sinister rival organisation Trinity, who seek to open it and “start a global genocide”.</p>
<p>Yet strip away the shooting, explosions and stunts and the conflict essentially arises from two opposed groups laying claim to a place of ancient importance, with the tomb existing as a site of contested access and control – an all-too familiar situation for archaeologists working in areas where looting and the subsequent sale of artefacts is a genuine source of livelihood for the local population.</p>
<h2>Understanding looting</h2>
<p>It remains to be seen – however doubtful – whether Croft manages to have a measured conversation with her competitors, but this is where the archaeological discipline differs. The <a href="http://followthepotsproject.org/">Follow the Pots project</a> seeks to understand the motivations and ideological underpinning of tomb looting in the southern Ghor – a region of Jordan – where the site of <a href="https://www.archaeological.org/sites/default/files/files/HCA_FutureofthePast-AIAJuly2016.pdf">Fifa</a> has been left resembling a “moonscape”, scarred by the innumerable holes dug in search of saleable artefacts.</p>
<p>By listening to – and learning from – the narratives of those involved in the illicit removal and sale of antiquities, the project urges archaeologists to “rethink their privileged position of controlling how people value and use the past”. This incorporation of alternative dialogues and ideologies into archaeological practice highlights that, unlike Croft’s new origin story, real “tomb raiding” is not a clear cut case of good versus bad, hero versus villain, but rather a difference in the way in which stakeholders choose to use the material remains of the past.</p>
<p>Audiences worldwide will soon watch Croft desperately trying to close the tomb ominously named the “Mother of Death”. Yet as archaeologists we should aim for the opposite. It is our job to open sites to thorough investigation, public engagement and debate but, more importantly, to enact and perpetuate openness in an acknowledgement of the multiplicity of claims to archaeological heritage. Now that really would be an adventure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92629/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellen Finn receives funding from the Irish Research Council and the Irish Department of Education. </span></em></p>Looting of antiquities is a serious problem, but looters are not always just motivated by greed.Ellen Finn, PhD Researcher in Classics, Trinity College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/810532017-07-17T14:47:15Z2017-07-17T14:47:15ZAfrican citizens have good reasons to be fed up with their politicians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178411/original/file-20170717-6075-789zcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Political campaigning in Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A few months ago, a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcv4Hes8iHg">video</a> in which a street boy blamed bad leadership for Nigeria’s socio-economic problems, went viral on social media in the country. He called for a mass burial of the country’s political elite, which in his opinion, would help combat corruption and unlock the country’s potential. </p>
<p>His view echoes the inner and hidden sentiments many people living in African countries have about their leaders.</p>
<p>The reasons for this are not hard to find. Most African leaders have done little to improve the welfare of their people, <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/publication/poverty-rising-africa-poverty-report">who are very poor</a>, while they, and their cronies, live in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2013/08/14/how-isabel-dos-santos-took-the-short-route-to-become-africas-richest-woman/#1f23748645f5">opulence</a>. </p>
<p>The rot goes all the way through the political chain to elected and appointed public officers – starting with political parties. Party financiers and godfathers dictate who holds what public office without regard for competence and internal democracy. They ultimately dictate how state affairs and funds are managed with barely a distinction between public and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/31/jacob-zuma-ordered-repay-upgrades-nkandla-home-south-african-state-funds">private funds</a>. So, elections don’t seem to help, mainly as the politicians are the same. Despite African political parties espousing different ideologies and launching welfare manifestos, nothing really changes when governments change.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/people_and_corruption_africa_survey_2015">Corruption is prevalent</a> throughout the continent. Tied to this is the fact that anti-corruption efforts fail because of a lack of honest and accountable leaders. Many have co-opted democratic systems, such as regular elections, or they simply make up the rules as they go along to stay in power. Behind it all lies an insatiable appetite for money, and the realisation that power can deliver untold wealth. In these scenarios, played out across dozens of countries on the continent, the state (and the people) are sacrificed to greed.</p>
<p>And those brave enough to stand up and be counted are driven out – either literally or figuratively.</p>
<h2>Ubiquitous corruption</h2>
<p>Every year about <a href="https://www.uneca.org/publications/illicit-financial-flows">USD$50 billion</a> is lost through illicit transfers. Not only does this hold back the continent’s <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/24/africa/africa-corruption-transparency-international/index.html">socio-economic progress</a>, it also threatens <a href="https://www.transparency.de/fileadmin/pdfs/Wissen/Publikationen/Study_Corruption_as_a_Threat_to_Stability_and_Peace.pdf">peace, security and stability</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR348-Why_do_Youth_Join_Boko_Haram.pdf">recent study</a> found that in Sokoto State, Nigeria, corruption facilitates the spread of radical ideology and induces about 70% of the youth to join <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13809501">Boko Haram</a>, a group which killed <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315687953_UNITED_STATES'_TRANS-SAHARAN_COUNTER-TERRORISM_PARTNERSHIP_AND_MANAGEMENT_OF_BOKO_HARAM_INSURGENCY_IN_NIGERIA_2005-2015">11,885</a> civilians between 2011 and 2016.</p>
<p>Whereas the ubiquity and repercussions of corruption in Africa have been widely articulated, the fight against it seems to be a fleeting illusion.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/PublicationFiles/combating-corruption-improving-governance-in-africa-2011-2016.pdf">Anti-corruption measures</a> mainly revolve around legislating to tighten loopholes, strengthening anti-corruption institutions, and empowering the media and citizens to report or stand up against malfeasance. </p>
<p>But the success of these measures depend on the often overlooked but crucial role of good leadership.</p>
<p>Willing, able and visionary leaders are required to push through sweeping reforms to curb corruption and augment public accountability. Unfortunately, such leadership is <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-lack-of-leadership-in-africa-threatens-economic-progress-8889974.html">lacking</a> in Africa.</p>
<h2>Leadership vacuum</h2>
<p>Africa is home to despots and <a href="http://theconversation.com/democracy-in-africa-the-ebbs-and-flows-over-six-decades-42011">sit-in presidents</a> who either abuse their power or allow abuses to be perpetrated. Countries are run like family property and political dynasties are created by <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2015/05/06/from-father-to-son-africas-leadership-transitions-and-lessons/">fathers passing power to sons</a>. Checks and balances are <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Acrobat/stm103%20articles/Alence_institutions_Africa.pdf">weak</a>, dissent is crashed, and alternative views are discarded, culminating in <a href="https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/PublicationFiles/agr4_eng_fin_web_11april.pdf">low accountability</a> which further deteriorates leadership and reinforces corruption.</p>
<p>One would expect multiparty democracy and its associated principles to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14781150902872141?journalCode=cpar20">produce visionary and effective leaders</a>, but this is rarely the case in Africa. While elections are held and leaders are changed at the ballot, things usually remain the same. Oftentimes, policies and corrupt practices which were criticised by political leaders while in opposition suddenly become right and justifiable when they win power.</p>
<p>In essence, there may be new faces in government, but the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/africahaveyoursay/2010/05/are-elections-working-in-afric.shtml">status quo does not change</a>. The big question is, why?</p>
<h2>Politics and money</h2>
<p>Politics in Africa is <a href="http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2016/september-20th/african-politicians-want-to-get-wealthy-without-sweating-for-it-prof-patrick-lumumba.php">synonymous with wealth</a>, whether acquired legally or otherwise. Hence, the scramble for power can be intense and sometimes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/dec/08/africa-and-asia-most-dangerous-places-mp">dangerous</a>. The expectation of quick riches <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39730035">increases internal competition</a> for party candidature, which often requires <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=66aI5Ku9EDEC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=buying+party+delegates+africa&source=bl&ots=vwKnh0wZpZ&sig=o9GOl7Tod2pKeejYxlT0UPwVvpo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4zf316YbVAhXpD8AKHQbfBBsQ6AEIOTAE#v=onepage&q=buying%20party%20delegates%20africa&f=false">deal making</a> and <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vVzmCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=buying+party+delegates+africa&source=bl&ots=nHuKrUw_Kp&sig=9JU5GUqBBFpLrD6yLSO9G_BfgMc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4zf316YbVAhXpD8AKHQbfBBsQ6AEIOzAF#v=onepage&q=buying%20party%20delegates%20africa&f=false">vote buying</a>.</p>
<p>And failure to align with the party establishment can prevent members from ascending the party hierarchy.</p>
<p>Party members are socialised in the same way, mainly to do whatever is necessary to win power by fair or foul means, and those who dare to think or behave differently are <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=66aI5Ku9EDEC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=buying+party+delegates+africa&source=bl&ots=vwKnh0wZpZ&sig=o9GOl7Tod2pKeejYxlT0UPwVvpo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4zf316YbVAhXpD8AKHQbfBBsQ6AEIOTAE#v=onepage&q=buying%20party%20delegates%20africa&f=false">sidelined, sabotaged or expelled</a>.</p>
<h2>Political party financing and corruption</h2>
<p>At the core of Africa’s corruption and leadership problems is <a href="http://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/funding-of-political-parties-and-election-campaigns.pdf">opaque</a> party financing. In most countries, parties rely on <a href="http://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/regulating-political-party-financing-insights-from-praxis.pdf">private funding</a> from individuals and organisations. But regulations on financial disclosure are either <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589000305451?journalCode=cjca20">non-existent</a> or <a href="https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijps/v2-i4/8.pdf">ineffective</a>, which allows wealthy individuals, known as <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/nigeria1007/5.htm">godfathers</a>, to wield significant influence, mainly for their benefit but to the detriment of the state.</p>
<p>Even leaders perceived to be strong-willed can find it hard to withstand the pressures. </p>
<p>In an interview in 2016, Nigeria’s first lady, Aisha Buhari, stated that her husband <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37642282">does not know all of his appointees</a>, which shows how a president can be the face of mightier but invisible forces.</p>
<p>In South Africa, President Jacob Zuma stands accused of being a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22513410">stooge of the wealthy Gupta family</a>. </p>
<p>These examples attest to how African leaders can be controlled from behind the scenes by vested interests and crooked godfathers. In some <a href="https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijps/v2-i4/8.pdf">cases</a>, the leaders are incapable of addressing the excesses of their sponsors, leading to anarchy and recklessness.</p>
<h2>Being different is political suicide</h2>
<p>There is a popular idiom: “do not bite the hands that feed you”. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that this is true for African leaders. There is a high chance that leaders who act against the interests of their party establishment, financiers and godfathers, even for the benefit of the state, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-african-academics-ask-zuma-to-stop-the-war-on-finance-minister-64441">will not last long</a>. The same applies to their policies. </p>
<p>So what’s the way forward? Africa must regulate political party financing and strengthen state institutions such as electoral commissions to enforce compliance. </p>
<p>Until then, most leaders on the continent will continue to be prone to capture and control by powerful and parochial godfathers. And <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/criminals-and-corrupt-politicians-steal-1trn-a-year-from-the-worlds-poorest-countries-9707104.html">the looting of public funds won’t stop</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81053/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong 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>Most African leaders have done little to improve the welfare of their people. Despite political parties different ideologies nothing really changes when governments change.Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong, Assistant Professor of Strategy, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/549282017-07-13T11:29:36Z2017-07-13T11:29:36ZWhy archaeological antiquities should not be sold on the open market, full stop<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178051/original/file-20170713-27137-16nqhhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anton_Ivanov / Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Illicit antiquities are once again in the headlines. US retailer <a href="https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2017/us-retailer-fined-after-seizure-of-illegally-imported-cultural-property/">Hobby Lobby was recently fined US$3m</a> (£2.3m) for illegally acquiring antiquities that were most likely looted from Iraq. Collectors and museums are therefore being reminded to undertake due diligence in checking collections’ histories before purchasing cultural property. </p>
<p>The implication here is, of course, that when the item on the auction block has been legally excavated and diligently recorded by archaeologists, there isn’t a problem. This is an enormous mistake. Such sales may be legal, but they are still ethically problematic.</p>
<p>At its most direct, the public auction of archaeologically procured finds puts those objects at risk of disappearing into the private domain, where their integrity is no longer assured. There are no international legal protections, no “obligations of ownership”, for cultural property in private possession.</p>
<p>More broadly, the legal status of these sales confers an air of legitimacy to the antiquities trade. Yet as <a href="http://traffickingculture.org/">scholars</a> have demonstrated, however one looks at it this is a “<a href="http://ccj.sagepub.com/content/24/3/225.abstract">grey trade</a>”. Illicit antiquities – that is things without provenance, accompanied by fake documents or with opaque ownership histories – are likely to be offered at the same sales. <a href="http://traffickingculture.org/publications/tsirogiannis-c-2015-due-diligence-christies-antiquities-auction-london-october-2015-journal-of-art-crime-fall-27-37/">Examples</a> of illicit antiquities pulled from a Christie’s auction in 2015 are a case in point.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flinders Petrie in the field documenting recently excavated artefacts, c. 1900.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Inflating prices</h2>
<p>The origin of items offered by auction houses is supposed to be subjected to close scrutiny. This seems reassuring, but there’s a worry that the records of discovery made by archaeologists now not only certifies auction lots, but also inflates their monetary worth. And this in a wider art market where prices have <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jan/17/art-market-mania-phase-bubble-report">never been higher</a> and is at risk of <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uol-ita010616.php">severe overheating</a>.</p>
<p>Whether they covet Old Masters or ancient pots, many bidders seek to acquire cultural capital – not out of some sort of honed connoisseurship or a sense of societal patronage – but as immediate monetary investments and as symbols of financial wealth. Exceptional prices are translated into headline news, reducing heritage to economic value and undermining attempts to promote meaningful engagements with the past. Sales from museums in this context threaten public trust in them.</p>
<p>Most seriously of all, these exorbitant prices and their media profile fuel market demand and become an incentive for looting. When heritage is sold by and for the privileged it is those that live in proximity to archaeological sites that stand to lose the most. It denies source communities the long-term touristic potential of sites, especially in countries where there is political and economic volatility or instability. </p>
<p>Looting can have devastating consequences – <a href="http://art-crime.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/one-killed-one-injured-at.html">lives have been lost</a>. Well-meaning efforts to protect heritage <em>in situ</em> <a href="http://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/29102015-bm-to-help-iraq-reconstruct-archaeological-sites">have been advocated</a>, but there needs to be more recognition that the problem often begins and ends with the art markets of Europe, North America and Asia.</p>
<h2>Public to private</h2>
<p>Despite all of these problems, sales of “licit” archaeological finds are still generally seen as unproblematic. Just how embedded this problem is can be seen from a case from October 2014, when two lots of Egyptian antiquities from the Archaeological Institute of America (AIAs) St Louis Chapter were offered for sale at Bonhams, London.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21928/lot/160/">Lot 160</a> was billed as “the treasure of Harageh” and comprised a group of 4,000-year old stone vessels and rare examples of inlaid silver jewellery. <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21928/lot/162/">Lot 162</a> was made up of a single stone headrest. The former was removed from auction following the intercession of the <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/news/2014/egyptian-haraga">Metropolitan Museum of Art</a> and a private sale to it for an undisclosed sum, while the latter exceeded its estimated price at auction and disappeared into private hands.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&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 Bonhams material in 1914.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Petrie Museum</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>These artefacts were originally discovered during excavations conducted under the auspices of Flinders Petrie’s British School of Archaeology in Egypt (<a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/archaeology/petriedigsindex.html">BSAE</a>), who had regulations on where objects should go. The finds were legally removed from Egypt, they were fully documented, duly published by the BSAE and a few delivered to the St Louis Museum in 1914 under the understanding that these were for public benefit, not for private profit. A century later the St Louis AIA branch contravened that agreement.</p>
<p>There were other options. The objects could have been donated to another institution capable of ensuring their long-term care and public accessibility (even if held in storage). But instead, they went straight to the auction house.</p>
<h2>Time to speak out</h2>
<p>When this auction was announced, a colleague and I condemned it in a public <a href="http://ees.ac.uk/news/index/279.html">statement</a>. But many believed our reaction was melodramatic. As far as they were concerned the sale was completely above board. It did not even breach AIA’s own ethical codes, which at the time only denounced the “trade in undocumented artifacts”.</p>
<p>But given the hugely problematic implications of selling material on the open market, <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=10183553&jid=AQY&volumeId=90&issueId=349&aid=10183552&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=&fulltextType=DS&fileId=S0003598X1500188X">we must be vocal</a> in denouncing instances in which archaeological heritage is commercialised in this way. The former editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Archaeology <a href="http://www.ajaonline.org/editorial/1946">agreed</a>. This is especially important given the current ideology of austerity in many countries, leading to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/arts/design/seeing-a-cash-cow-in-museums-precious-art.html?_r=0">concerns</a> that institutions may begin to consider their public collections as financial assets rather than as cultural obligations.</p>
<p>Yet museums still dispose of heritage from other countries on the open market. Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio <a href="http://theartnewspaper.com/news/museums/outcry-after-toledo-museum-of-art-sells-ancient-greek-and-egyptian-objects-at-auction/">sold ancient Egyptian artefacts</a> from its founding collection in Winter 2016 through Christie’s, despite an outcry from the Egyptian authorities. At the same time, <a href="http://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wpmedia.outlandish.com/trafficking/2017/07/07085251/Museum-Ethics-and-the-Toledo-Museum-of-Art-Tsirogiannis-JAC-Spring-2017.pdf">it has been shown</a> that other parts of Toledo’s collection which are being retained are likely to include illicit antiquities.</p>
<p>We have a strong moral obligation to challenge these “legal” sales. Over the last two centuries, millions of archaeological artefacts have been excavated and exported by rich colonial nations from developing countries whose own resources are now desperately stretched as they attempt to halt the destructive looting of their heritage for a first world market. At the very least we should be responsible and accountable on their behalf for material we <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie/research/research-projects/AHRC_project">excavated and exported</a>. We should not condone those that seek financial profit from the past, which is the sole objective of auction houses.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54928/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Stevenson receives funding from the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and is Chair of the Association of Curators of Collections for Egypt and Sudan. </span></em></p>Sales of antiquities legally excavated are just as ethically problematic as those likely looted.Alice Stevenson, Senior Lecturer in Museum Studies, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/574112016-06-20T13:43:34Z2016-06-20T13:43:34ZCultural appropriation: when ‘borrowing’ becomes exploitation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126766/original/image-20160615-14045-1d3gx2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Benin bronzes that were looted by British soldiers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea of “cultural appropriation” has recently entered mainstream debates about the ways in which African cultural creations are used, borrowed and imitated by others. In fashion, art, music and beyond, some people now argue that certain African cultural symbols and products are off-limits to non-Africans.</p>
<p>In March 2016, an African-American woman at San Francisco State University confronted a white student. She said he should cut his hair because dreadlocks belong to black culture. The incident went viral. Within a month, a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDlQ4H0Kdg8">YouTube video</a> of the encounter had been watched more than 3.7 million times. </p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/white-people-dreadlocks-justin-bieber-cultural-appropriation-1.3522221">online debate</a> also erupted about whether it was appropriate for Canadian singer Justin Bieber to wear dreadlocks. </p>
<p>Debates about appropriation aren’t always limited to cross-racial borrowing. An online discussion about African-American appropriation of African cultural symbols also went viral. It began with journalist Zipporah Gene <a href="https://thsppl.com/black-america-please-stop-appropriating-african-clothing-and-tribal-marks-3210e65843a7#.9jot46lp9">asking black Americans</a> to stop appropriating African clothing and tribal marks. She argued this indicated “ignorance and cultural insensitivity”.</p>
<p>In these debates, the label of cultural appropriation is broadly applied to borrowing that is in some way inappropriate, unauthorised or undesirable. My argument is that borrowing may become appropriation when it reinforces historically exploitative relationships or deprives African countries of opportunities to control or benefit from their cultural material.</p>
<h2>A history of extraction</h2>
<p>During colonialism, colonial powers not only extracted natural resources but also cultural booty.</p>
<p>The contemporary cultural appropriation debate reflects a justified sensitivity about this historical legacy of extraction, evidence of which can be found in various museums outside of Africa.</p>
<p>The theft of the renowned <a href="http://www.beninbronzes.com/">Benin Bronzes</a> is just one example of this cultural looting. These artefacts were seized by the British in 1897 during a punitive military expedition against the Kingdom of Benin. British soldiers invaded, looted, and ransacked Benin, setting buildings on fire and killing many people. They then deposed, shackled and exiled the Oba (king). This ultimately spelled the end of the independent Kingdom of Benin.</p>
<p>The punitive force looted an <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmcumeds/371/371ap27.htm">estimated 3,000</a> bronzes, ivory-works, carved tusks and oak chests. Benin’s cultural heritage was then sold in the private European art market to offset the cost of the expedition. Today the Benin Bronzes can be found in museums and collections worldwide. And, in 1990, one single Benin head was <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/149208">sold</a> for US$2.3 million by a London-based auction house.</p>
<p>In 2010, a looted Benin mask with an estimated value of £4.5 million was withdrawn from sale by <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/sothebys-cancels-sale-of-looted-benin-mask-2171125.html">Sotheby’s</a> auction house following protests concerning the sale. The mask was due to be sold by descendants of a participant in the punitive expedition. </p>
<p>In contrast, the descendant of one participant in the looting of Benin has returned looted <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31605284">artwork</a>. </p>
<p>This colonial booty was taken without permission or compensation. Some people argue a similar dynamic exists in contemporary use of African cultural symbols, creations and products.</p>
<h2>Cultural fluidity</h2>
<p>Accusations of cultural appropriation raise important and complex questions about the nature of culture. The reality of human experience is that borrowing and cultural mixture are widespread. This is evident in language, religion, agriculture, folklore, food and other cultural elements. </p>
<p>The fairy tale <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=981423.">Cinderella</a> provides a good example. Versions of the story can be traced back to the Far East, Near East, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe and Northern Europe. By the mid-20th century, the Cinderella story could be found in India, North Africa, North America, the Western Sudan, Madagascar, Mauritius, the Philippines and Indonesia. </p>
<p>Cultural boundaries are fluid and shifting. Cultural systems may be significantly transformed by different forces and influences. This means that incomplete discussions of appropriation may fail to account for borrowing, diffusion, collaboration and other factors that lead to cultural material being shared.</p>
<p>Discussions of appropriation may also take insufficient account of the importance and benefits of borrowing. Borrowing has led to the international spread of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/10/the-dos-and-donts-of-cultural-appropriation/411292/">denim, mathematics and even democracy</a>. </p>
<h2>When borrowing becomes appropriation</h2>
<p>In some instances, a line is crossed and cultural borrowing can become exploitative. Crossing this line may turn acts of borrowing into cultural appropriation.</p>
<p>Context, particularly as it relates to power relationships, is a key factor in distinguishing borrowing from exploitative cultural appropriation. </p>
<p>For example, cultural borrowing from Africa must be considered in the context of historical power asymmetries between Africa and the rest of the world. This is particularly the case with European powers, which developed trading relationships and spheres of influence in Africa. </p>
<p>These later formed the basis for colonial territories. Relationships between African countries and the colonial powers were often extractive and included varied forms of cultural imperialism.</p>
<p>Examining past instances of borrowing can give guidance for future models. Continuing discussions and a lawsuit about the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/22/international/africa/22lion.html?_r=0">noteworthy</a>. This discussion draws attention to the Zulu musician Solomon Linda, who received little compensation for his song Mbube, recorded in 1939. Linda’s song became The Lion Sleeps Tonight, a global pop classic that has generated substantial money for others.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Solomon Linda’s family had to fight for compensation for his composition.</span></figcaption>
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<p>When patterns of borrowing fail to acknowledge their sources and compensate them, they can be categorised as cultural appropriation. This is particularly the case when cultural flows reflect, reinforce or magnify inequalities. Even in instances where sources receive compensation, later compensation does not always redress past inequities.</p>
<p>The Linda family did eventually receive compensation after filing suit. When Linda died in 1962, his widow could not afford to purchase a gravestone. His daughter died of AIDS-related illness in 2001 because she was unable to afford antiretroviral medication.</p>
<h2>How to block exploitative practices</h2>
<p>Understanding the context of borrowing is important for preventing exploitative cultural appropriation. An understanding of both borrowing and appropriation should be incorporated into legal, business and other institutional frameworks. </p>
<p>In fields such as intellectual property law, greater recognition of the power structures underlying borrowing in different contexts is important. </p>
<p>This can be an important starting point for blocking future exploitative cultural flows. And it can help prevent extraction of more cultural booty.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57411/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olufunmilayo Arewa 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>Cultural imperialism and looting were part and parcel of the colonial project. Today, some argue this legacy continues. But in a globalised society, where does borrowing end and appropriation begin?Olufunmilayo Arewa, Professor of Law, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.