Honours Review 12

Honours Review Issue 12, February 2019

4 — Honours Review

Introdu Issue 12 is the essence of what we are: multidisciplinarity, internationalism and beautiful art from cover to cover. The articles cover modern China and ancient Rome, the Russian revolution and American showbiz, the horrors of sexual blackmail and the search for utopia. They illustrate the ways the world is transforming, but how the fundamental underpinnings, be they structural or emotional, remain the same.

In 1919, the League of Nations was founded to harness the benefits of a globalized world, give rights and representation to minorities and maintain peace. The lack of international concern for oppressed peoples and the indifference to the Japanese invasion of and subsequent war crimes in modern-day China illustrated the weakness and heralded the end of the first instance of supranational problemsolving. The United Nations followed, but has been unable to compel states to take action. The international society twiddles its thumbs while thousands of kids are dying in Yemen, millions of Venezuelans are escaping what has become a failed state, and billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide are pumped into the atmosphere each year. The names, the places and the numbers change, but the problems, the causes and the indifference remain the same.

5

uction In 1919, Adolf Hitler gave his first speech for the German Workers’ Party. A hundred years later, politicians from Hungary, Turkey, the United States, Brazil and many more will hold speeches echoing his – charming disgruntled citizens, scapegoating minorities and appealing to isolationism. That is not to say that any of them will be another Hitler; the Holocaust will remain unique in its horror and scale. However, then, as now, the prevalence of government-induced stochastic terrorism and the tacit acceptance of divisive rhetoric remain the same.

Today’s world is pretty bleak, but it has seen much worse: the Second World War, the Spanish Flu pandemic, or the Mongol invasions. Fortunately, humanity has shown itself to be hugely resilient: it has overcome the societal disruptions and rebuilt societies after wars and natural disasters. There have been roughly 100 billion Homo Sapies on the world, for about 300,000 years and the 7 billion alive today aren’t unique. The human instinct to solve problems and progress has been with us since time immemorial, and thankfully, in that respect, we will always remain the same.

The Editorial Board

6 — Honours Review

Table of contents 8

An Idea Designed to Fail A Short Explanation of the Structural Flaws of the Euro by: Onno de Wal

12

The China Model

18

A Call for Legislative Action: Combating Sextortion in the Digital Age

by: Piotr G. S. Schulkes

On the inertia of domestic law vis-a-vis new forms of cybercrime by: Madalina Nicolai

7

24

Spartacus as the New Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Gladiators as Sportsmen and the Conceptualization of Sport in the Roman World by: Iris Loois

30

Book Review: 1917: Stories and Poems from the Russian Revolution, edited by Boris Dralyuk by: Dora Vrhoci

36

American Jesus

American Celebrity Culture and Worship Explored through LaChapelle's Photographs by: Rebecca Heuvelmans

42

Utopias That Bite

Devising and Inspiring Long-Term Change by: Tess Beukema

An Idea d e n g i s e D to Fail A Short Explanation of the Structural Flaws of the Euro Author: Onno de Wal Illustrator: Veronica Gorii

It has been there for a long time now. Nearly twenty years, to be precise.

However, whether we will reach the milestone of two decades is far from certain.

It started with a rather pleasant part, a part where everyone was assured the right choice had been made. Sadly, that part did not last very long. Ten years ago, the entire house of cards collapsed, and sentiments changed. Economies crumbled, unemployment soared and the same people that had previously praised it now claimed that it was the big offender. Some wanted it gone, others claimed that because we could not live without it anymore, there simply was no going back. And despite it being framed as an economic project, it has been very political from the very first second of its existence (1). The ‘it’ that I am referring is the Euro, a currency that hundreds of millions of people use on a daily basis.

Looking back, we have to recognize that it is a broken currency – broken to such a degree that it will be hard to fix. Can it be done? Absolutely. But if we want to do so, we will have to make important choices.

10 — An Idea Designed To Fail

Same Shoes, Different Feet Monetary policy is an important tool for managing one’s economy consisting of two main parts. The first part is the exchange rate, or the value of your national currency compared to that of other countries. The second part is the interest rate, or the ‘price’ of borrowing money in your country.

In order to understand the flaws of a common currency, it is important to first talk about monetary policy as a way of responding to economic challenges. The adjustment that is needed differs per situation as well as from country to country.

The United States, for example, is currently in a state of rapid economic growth. In order to make sure that the economy does not get overheated, the Federal Reserve Bank raises interest rates (2), which dampens domestic demand and investments.

Other countries that experience low economic growth, such as Italy (3), might benefit from lower interest rates so that people borrow – and spend – more, giving a boost to domestic demand. Roughly the same can be said for exchange rates. When the 2008 financial crisis hit, Iceland was among the countries struck the hardest. Their recovery, however, was extraordinarily swift. Because the Icelandic Króna dropped in value, Icelandic products became more affordable for people using other currencies. This gave a large boost to their export sector, aiding the economic recovery (4,5). Countries like Turkey, on the contrary, might not currently need the short-term boost in exports that a weaker currency brings. Instead, they would prefer to have a stronger currency to strengthen faith in the economy and minimize the risk of inflation (6).

As we can see, almost every country in the world has a unique economic situation, requiring specific monetary policy decisions to make their economy run as smoothly as possible. However, sharing a currency with nineteen different countries – as we do in Europe – removes the ability to fit monetary policy to the exact needs of your country (5,7). Instead, these decisions are made by the European Union and the European Central Bank, and they apply to all countries in the Euro area. It is as if nineteen people went buying shoes together, only with one

Economics & International Relations — 11

"It is as if nineteen people went buying shoes together, only with one condition: everyone has to buy the exact same shoe size." condition: everyone has to buy the exact same shoe size. This would work as long as everyone’s feet are roughly the same, but as soon as there are significant differences in foot size and shape between these nineteen people, problems will arise.

It would be a mistake to claim that all economic problems in the Eurozone are to be blamed on the common currency. Rather than creating economic problems from scratch, the issue is that the Euro prevents countries from properly tackling new problems, for governments can no longer freely use monetary policy as a mechanism of adjustment (5). The impact of the removal of these adjustment mechanisms should also not be underestimated, as is clearly shown by the facts. The economic output of the eurozone grew with only 0.6% during the entire economic crisis (8). In comparison, the growth in economic output of non-eurozone Europe in the same time period was 8.4% (5). The eurozone also saw a decrease in GDP per capita of nearly two percent, meaning that the average person living in the eurozone was two percent poorer at the end of the crisis than he or she was before (5,9,10). This is in stark contrast with the average citizen of the United States – the birthplace of the financial crisis, and thus the country expected to take the hardest hit – who ended up three percent richer at the end of the crisis than at the start (11). Note that the above

"the issue is that the Euro prevents countries from properly tackling new problems, for governments can no longer freely use monetary policy as a mechanism of adjustment"

is the average performance of the Eurozone as a whole. For individual countries like Greece, the results have been even worse, with unemployment reaching 27% (12) and overall economic output almost dropping by half (13).

There is a widespread consensus amongst economists from all over the economic spectrum that the design of the euro, as it is implemented now, has major flaws (14). The euro has had a devastating impact on the economies and peoples of many countries that adopted it and unless radical changes are implemented, it will continue to do so for a long time. Nevertheless, there are still some possible solutions to this grim outlook.

All or Nothing

So far, the response of European leaders to the economic crisis has largely consisted of implementing strict rules on the budget deficits and national debts of governments (5,15). As long as these would be contained, it was argued, a country would stay out of trouble. This logic is flawed, for it fails to recognize the real reason behind the severity of euro crisis: the inflexibility of the single currency system. Excessive budget deficits and national debt are not necessarily the cause of economic failure, as many Northern European countries, notably Germany, like to claim. More often than not, they are not the cause but the consequence of a crisis (5). In fact, both Spain (16) and Ireland (17) were running budget surpluses before they were hit heavily by the financial crisis. Both countries also had a lower debtto-GDP-ratio than Germany (18,19,20), the country that fanatically proclaimed that limiting debt and deficits is the best way to avoid economic problems.

But if limiting budget deficits and government debt is not the way to solve the problem, then what should be done instead?

12 — An Idea Designed To Fail

Although economists are notorious for disagreeing with each other, there is one point on which widespread consensus has now been achieved: following the current course will only lead to more mediocre economic performance. If no reforms are made, the eurozone will perform poorly for many years to come, and the risk of the eurozone fragmenting when the next crisis hits will be substantial (5). There are only two ways forward that will not end in disaster: we either need less or more Europe (5,7).

European leaders have consistently rejected the possibility of the eurozone falling apart and countries going back to their own currencies, and for good reason. Abandoning the euro, however structured and controlled it might be done, will undoubtedly lead to turmoil in the short term. In the end it would, however, give the European continent much more breathing room to deal with an inevitable future crisis (5). Another option might be to split up the

"There are only two ways forward that will not end in disaster: we either need less or more Europe."

References 1 Varoufakis, Y. 2016. And The Weak Suffer What They Must? London: The Bodley Head 2 Timiraos, Nick. “Fed Raises Interest Rates, Signals one More Increase This Year.” Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-raises-interest-rates-signals-onemore-increase-this-year-1537984955 3 Costelloe, Kevin. “Italian Economic Growth Slows to Weakest in Almost Two Years.”

Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-31/italian-economicgrowth-slows-to-weakest-in-almost-two-years 4 Krugman, Paul. “Iceland, Ireland, and Devaluation Denial. New York Times. https:// krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/iceland-ireland-and-devaluation-denial/ 5 Stiglitz, J. 2016. The Euro and its threat to the Future of Europe. London: Allen Lane 6 Aitken, Roger. “Turkish Lira ‘Currency Crisis’ Not Over, Could Hit 8 Against US Dollar.

Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogeraitken/2018/08/16/turkish-lira-currencycrisis-not-over-could-hit-8-against-u-s-dollar/#384f87d22301 7 Marsh, D. 2013. Europe’s Deadlock. New Haven: Yale University Press 8 Tradingeconomics.com. (2018). Euro Area GDP Growth Rate | 1995-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/euro-area/ gdp-growth [Accessed 17 May 2018].

9 Tradingeconomics.com. (2018). Euro Area GDP per capita | 1960-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/euro-area/gdpper-capita [Accessed 17 May 2018].

10 Tradingeconomics.com. (2018). Euro Area Population | 1960-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/euro-area/ population [Accessed 17 May 2018].

11 “Real gross domestic product per capita” Federal Reserve Bank Economic Research, accessed 17 May 2018. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA 12 Tradingeconomics.com (2018). Greece Unemployment Rate | 1990-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/greece/ unemployment-rate [Accessed 16 October 2018] 13 Tradingeconomics.com (2018). Greece GDP | 1960-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/greece/gdp [Accessed 16 October 2018]

eurozone into a northern and a southern part. The economic differences within these two zones would be significantly smaller than in the current eurozone, and the economically weaker southern part could devalue its currency, the ‘Southern Euro’, to restore their competitiveness (5).

But the chances of this happening are rather slim. Many European politicians and citizens are still, to some degree, committed to the European project (21) as well as to the eurozone in its current form.

Therefore, the only other feasible option is more Europe – far more than we have today, to such an extent that it can be roughly compared to the model of the United States. The American states also share a common currency with all states having vastly different economies, but an important difference with the eurozone is that the Americans have institutions in place that allow a shared currency to work. A good example is the Federal Budget. The government of the United States raises taxes from all citizens, regardless of where

Economics & International Relations — 13

they live, and then redistributes this money to wherever it is needed. This means that an American state getting in economic trouble, such as Nevada during the 2008 financial crisis, does not have to pay for all of its costs, like extra welfare benefits, alone. Instead, every citizen in the United States is contributing, and thus the burden is shared (1,22).

Other examples would be a fully developed banking union, Eurobonds and a Europe-wide deposit insurance (23). Although a system like this would work significantly better than the current approach, it is highly dubious whether this is politically feasible (7). Apart from requiring European states to give up more sovereignty, which they have been hesitant to do in the past, Northern European taxpayers would also have to be convinced that a significant part of their taxes going to shared European institutions is worth it. Whether this is something that can be achieved in the near future remains to be seen, but as of now it seems like a serious political challenge that will be very difficult to overcome.

Looking Ahead

At this point it is safe to say that the euro has not lived up to its expectations. Instead of creating a stronger and closer Europe, it has resulted in increased inequality, both between member states and within countries, and in overall poor economic performance. Something has to change, for not altering the current course will undoubtedly lead to many more years of mediocre economic performance, or perhaps even another eurozone crisis, which, in turn, will have a direct and lasting impact on people’s lives. Indecisiveness can no longer be the leading term in policymaking, for a choice has to be made soon. Either we leave the single currency project in its current form behind us, looking for other ways to unite Europe and to strengthen European solidarity, or we choose to commit to this project more than ever before, creating the institutions needed to solve the problems caused by the euro’s inflexibility to ensure that every European citizen can reap the benefits of having a well-managed shared currency. The latter would require significant strides towards a United States of Europe, and it is highly questionable whether the will for such a political commitment exists. It is now up to politics to decide upon this issue, for the field of economics has already made its contribution by demonstrating that the worst choice out there would be to make no decisive choice at all.

When buying government bonds, a certain sum of money is paid to the government issuing the bond. The holder of the bond will then receive interest periodically, and after a certain period of time the full value of the bond will be paid back. It is thus a way of investment for the person buying the bond, while being providing the government issuing the bond with short-term credit. Eurobonds, in this case, would refer to bonds issued collectively by all the Eurozone countries.

The credit that becomes available through this would go to certain European institutions that would then distribute the money to wherever it is most needed. The benefit of this would be that the stronger European economies, such as Germany, back the weaker ones, such as Greece, making it easier for the latter to gain access to credit.

14 Forbes.com. (2018). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/ sites/timworstall/2016/09/11/the-euro-is-a-disaster-stiglitz-krugman-milton-friedmanand-james-tobin-agree/#5826aaa6063d [Accessed 17 May 2018].

15 Consilium.europa.eu. (2018). [online] Available at: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/119888.pdf [Accessed 17 May 2018].

16 Tradingeconomics.com. (2018). Spain Government Budget | 1995-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/spain/ government-budget [Accessed 17 May 2018].

17 Tradingeconomics.com. (2018). Ireland Government Budget | 1995-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/ireland/ government-budget [Accessed 17 May 2018].

18 Tradingeconomics.com. (2018). Spain Government Debt to GDP | 1980-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/spain/ government-debt-to-gdp [Accessed 17 May 2018].

19 Tradingeconomics.com. (2018). Ireland Government Debt to GDP | 1980-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/ireland/ government-debt-to-gdp [Accessed 17 May 2018].

20 Tradingeconomics.com. (2018). Germany Government Debt to GDP | 1995-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/ government-debt-to-gdp [Accessed 17 May 2018].

21 Stokes, B., Wike, R. and Manevich, D. (2018). Post-Brexit, Europeans More Favorable Toward EU. [online] Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. Available at: http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/06/15/post-brexit-europeans-more-favorable-towardeu/ [Accessed 17 May 2018].

22 Mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de. (2018). A Way Out of the Euro Crisis: Fiscal Transfers Are Indispensable for Sustainability in a Union with Heterogeneous Members - Munich Personal RePEc Archive. [online] Available at: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen. de/63025/ [Accessed 17 May 2018].

23 Obstfeld, M. (2018). Finance at Center Stage: Some Lessons of the Euro Crisis. [online] Papers.ssrn.com. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers. cfm?abstract_id=2247275 [Accessed 17 May 2018].

Th

he China Model

Author: Piotr G. S. Schulkes Illustrator: Olivia D'Cruz

16 — The China Model

When people come across China in their day-to-day lives, it is often in the form of food, knockoff clothing or because their phone is made there. For the majority of poeple, the country is famous for its big wall, its tea and its massive population.

In political circles, however, China is a whole different beast. With a portfolio including bridges in Zambia, a satellite station in Argentina and a windfarm in Texas, the Chinese have embarked on a global building spree which dwarfs anything which has come before it. Most of the projects undertaken by Beijing are part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to reroute the pipelines of global trade away from the United States.

"Most of the projects aim to reroute the pipelines of global trade away from the United States."

The BRI is, if anything, symptomatic of the natural direction of economic development: the money goes where the growth is happening, in developing countries with young populations (1).

But just like how American investment in the latter half of the 20th century was ostensibly linked to the spread of liberal democracies and capitalism, Chinese money also brings certain norms along with it. Compared to the marketbased approach to liberal democracies promoted by Washington, the Chinese model is statist and based less on liberty than on progress. China’s rise signals the start of a world order with multiple centres of political power and competing economic and social ideologies. It is the end of an era, and the transition to the next will have lasting consequences on people, businesses and societies everywhere (2).

The History

As with all things, to know where you are going, first you have to establish where you came from. The world as we know it is largely based on a number of ideas and organisations. The newest are only a few decades old, while the oldest ones, like liberal democracy, go back several centuries to the French and American revolutions. The most concrete aspects of today’s liberal world order, however, are post-Second World War, such as the World Bank and the United Nations.

Secondary to the – often US-based – organisations, there were also two other defining characteristics of this period.

First was the New York and Londonbased economic system built on the second characteristic, free markets.

This structure led to the creation of a highly interconnected first world and, after the end of the Cold War, saw itself exported to Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Between 1990 and 2010, an estimated one billion people, or 20% of the global population,

"The US waged wars, sweet talked opponents and twisted arms in order to protect a bubble of liberalism." were lifted out of poverty thanks to the liberalisation of economies and the accession of countries into international institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (3). The United States has always been the guarantor of this system – it sweet talked, twisted arms and waged war in order to protect the bubble of liberalism which existed in Western Europe and North America. When the Soviet Union collapsed, it seemed like America, democracy and liberalism had

Political Economy — 17

won, with Francis Fukuyama stating that liberal democracy was the final evolution of human government and society (4).

Wrongly, as he’d later admit. For a while, the Russian Federation and China, the two major non-capitalist powers during the Cold War, were on track to be drinking Coca Cola and wearing Levi’s.

But all things come to an end.

The United States could, for a long time, be inspiring through the ideals it represented, instead of having to rely on its vast military might to achieve its goals.

However, with a highly controversial sanctions policy on Iraq after the First Gulf War, followed by the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington was quickly losing international credibility as it no longer appeared to act according to the ideals of political freedom and personal liberty. Instead of being an example for other countries to follow, the United States became a punchline for jokes about oil and warmongering.

It had departed from many of the rules of the international order it had helped set up – sovereignty, human rights, to name a few. Another blow to Western trustworthiness came in the form of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008, which kicked off a global financial crisis.

The economic system championed

by America and its allies had led to unparalleled growth, only for millions of people to lose their houses and their savings due to inadequate regulations in cities such as New York and Hong Kong. Capitalism and deregulation had made many countries richer overall, but exacerbated income inequality and prioritised profit over sustainability.

America had, in only 20 years, gone from an example of democracy and stability to being synonymous with a questionable track record of human rights and a freewheeling economy.

The Spread

China has portrayed itself as a counterpoint to Western policies. Its economy has grown at a tremendous pace since the 90s, hitting 14% growth in 2007, compared to 4% for the US (5).

It easily weathered the 2008 financial crisis, and became the world’s largest economy when adjusted for purchasing power parity in 2014 (6). The economists and policymakers in Beijing have managed to engineer an economic miracle which seems to be remarkably stable. That is not to say that China has not benefited from the institutions and the global network the US has helped create and maintain, but rather that its way of using these tools is different, and hugely appealing.

The 2010s have been tumultuous for the West. The financial crisis, followed by the Syrian migrant crisis, the rise of nationalist parties, Brexit, the election of President Trump and dozens of other factors have shaken people’s faith in globalism and multiculturalism. On one hand, there is the West with political, social and economic instability, and on the other, there is China. Xi Jinping is a dictator, but one who does not embarrass his country on Twitter or undermine future generations by ignoring the dangers of climate change. China isn’t a pure planned economy, but the state plays a larger role in business than in any Western country. This is anathema to the free market ideals which have been supported by the likes of Thatcher, Reagan and those who came after them, but there is no doubt that it works.

Furthermore, China’s economic and political stability make it an attractive trading partner. President Trump has withdrawn from a large number of trade deals and international agreements, hanging the other actors involved out to dry. After Xi Jinping abolished term limits

When GDP is adjusted for PPP it accounts for the living costs and inflation rates, which differ from country to country, thereby changing how much ‘stuff’ one can buy with a certain amount of money.

18 — The China Model

"China’s economic and political stability make it an appealing trading partner." for the office of president, people need not worry about him stepping down in the near future, meaning that agreements with China can be counted on to be carried out. With Chinese hard power growing thanks to the BRI and its rapid pace of technological innovation, it can also gradually increase its soft power.

The United States has dropped the ball on global leadership, allowing China, who has a history of flouting international conventions on human rights, intellectual property rights and paying lip service to the environment, to become the defender of an international order (7).

However, it is not the international order referenced so far, but Xi Jinping’s own vision of the world. He has proven that free markets and liberal societies are not the only way forward, and has tapped into a basic human instinct: the desire for predictability and security.

For most Westerners, the hallmark of a good society is that it is free. However, if your society has been defined by war, as is the case for many countries in the Middle East, drug problems, in Central America, or foreign exploitation, like in Africa, freedom is no longer priority #1.

Rather, stability and relative fairness are. Unfortunately, this representation of the Chinese model is rather onedimensional and overstates its benefits while understating the drawbacks.

The Consequences President Xi has a very particular view of China, its inhabitants and how it should all develop. Should you disagree with this view, you will be sentenced to decades

in prison, like Qin Yongmin, or, as is the case with a vast number of Muslims in China’s northwest, get placed in reeducation camps until you change your mind. Domestically, the Chinese model relies on extensive control over its citizens. This ranges from encouraging Han Chinese to move to the Uighurmajority Xinjiang province in order to limit its autonomy, to mass surveillance and forced disappearances. The technology used in these cases have been exported to China’s business partners, who have no qualms about adopting Xi Jinping’s opinions on societal control.

In Venezuela, the Orwellian-sounding ‘Fatherland card’ tracks peoples’ voting habits and is used to give people access to food and medicine (8).

Zimbabwe has been given Chinese facial recognition AI and has used it to keep track of its own citizens (9).

"In Venezuela, the Orwellian-sounding ‘Fatherland card’ tracks peoples’ voting habits."

The fact that many of the agreements Chinese companies enter with other countries are backed by the Chinese government gives them two things: predictability, but also a lack of accountability. In the West, citizens can express dissatisfaction at their government’s support of a country or policy, or protest against unfair labour practices. That is generally not the case in China and even more so in the countries who are most interested in China’s infrastructure projects and technology. As a consequence, the stability which the Chinese model promises can serve to perpetuate the status quo. China’s development

Political Economy — 19

miracle was largely free of intense ethnic tensions where certain ethnicities were the “haves” and others were the “have nots”, and the majority of Chinese citizens have seen living conditions improve. For countries deeply divided among ethnic or religious lines such as Iraq, Turkey and Sri Lanka, the same trajectory of progress might not be feasible. Politically, the Chinese model will always be appealing. Its statist nature empowers the elite – the people who make the decision to implement it – but potentially leaves those who aren’t in the good graces of the government even worse off.

An example of this whole process can be found in Zambia. Since the late 90s China has invested vast amounts of money into improving the country’s infrastructure as part of a deal to gain access to Zambia’s copper resources (10). Beijing has also built a number of hospitals and schools in Zambia’s copper-rich provinces in order to appease the locals. So far, so good – the promise of improved living standards holds water. However, thanks to tax incentives and 99-year long leases on copper mines for Chinese companies, the deals are barely lucrative for the country as a whole (11). The primary beneficiaries are the politicians who get kickbacks from Chinese companies when they sign agreements. Eventually, the perceived unfairness of this system led to riots in 2007 and again in November 2018. To protect itself, the Zambian government has invested in Chinese surveillance technology and has sent government officials to Chinese-led seminars training them on how to use it.

Instead of improvements throughout the country, the benefits are limited to the people in areas which are economically important and the upper class. At best, the Chinese model has delivered half of what is promised.

The Future Historically, the most populous nation on earth has also been the most powerful.

Depending on how one defines it, this trend was first bucked by Great Britain during its colonial heyday. After the First World War, the United States was the preeminent power, despite having only 5% of the world’s population. In the century since, the United States has defined global policy, influenced economies from Australia to Zimbabwe and been the benchmark when it comes to cutting edge technology. China’s re-entry to the international stage has fundamentally challenged the norms of politics, economics and society. For one thing, the most populous country will soon be back on top. It has also disproven, for now, that societies naturally progress to become more liberal and has illustrated why nondemocratic societies can be appealing.

Beijing has come where it is by selectively participating in the international system and is setting up its own parallel institutions now that it has the political and financial clout to do so. As a newly ascended global actor, China wants to make an impact. After the failures of American democratic imperialism in the Middle East, politicians and people are seduced by the promise of stable prosperity. Nevertheless, a degree of care is in order. The United States has done an admirable job of proving that liberal democracies do not always work; it would be equally prudent for recipients of investment from Beijing to remember that the Chinese model has that name because, thus far, it has only worked in one place.

References 1 Schneidman, Witney, and Joel Weigert.

“Competing In Africa: China, The European Union, And The United States”. Brookings.

Last modified 2018. Accessed May 23, 2018. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-infocus/2018/04/16/competing-in-africa-chinathe-european-union-and-the-united-states/.

2 Rothschild, Viola. “China’S Heavy Hand In Africa”. Council On Foreign Relations. Last modified 2018. Accessed May 23, 2018. https:// www.cfr.org/blog/chinas-heavy-hand-africa.

3 “Towards The End Of Poverty”. 2013. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/ leaders/2013/06/01/towards-the-end-of-poverty.

4 Fukuyama, Francis. 1992. The End Of History And The Last Man. 1st ed. London: The National Interest.

5 “China GDP: How It Has Changed Since 1980”.

2012. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian. com/news/datablog/2012/mar/23/china-gdpsince-1980.

6 Carter, Ben. 2014. “Is China’s Economy Really The Largest In The World?”. BBC News. https:// www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30483762.

7 Patrick, Stewart. 2018. “The World Order Is Starting To Crack”. Foreign Policy. https:// foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/25/the-world-orderis-starting-to-crack/.

8 Berwick, Angus. 2018. “Cards Of Control”.

Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/ special-report/venezuela-zte/.

9 Romaniuk, Scott, and Tobias Burgers. 2018.

“How China’S AI Technology Exports Are Seeding Surveillance Societies Globally”. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2018/10/ how-chinas-ai-technology-exports-are-seedingsurveillance-societies-globally/.

10 van Dijk, Pieter. The New Presence Of China In Africa. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2009.

11 Negi, Rohit. “Beyond The “Chinese Scramble”: The Political Economy Of Anti-China Sentiment In Zambia”. African Geographical Review 27, no.

1 (2012): 41-63.

A Call for Legislat Combating Sextor the Digital Age On the inertia of domestic law vis-a new forms of cybercrime Author: Madalina Nicolai Illustrator: Marina Sulima

A teenager named Ashley begins to receive ominous messages announcing that the sender is in possession of explicit pictures of her. Threatening to release the video to her friends and family if she doesn’t comply with their demands, the unknown tormentor coerces his new victim to provide him with more images of a sexual nature. Perhaps, for many of you, this little anecdote has produced an eerie effect of familiarity. That’s either because you are a fan of the TV Show “Black Mirror” or because you have heard about the sinister case of Lucas Michael Chansler, also known as the man who has victimised approximately 350 teen girls in a ‘sextortion’ scheme (1).

tive Action: rtion in

22 — A Call for Legislative Action: Combating Sextortion in the Digital Age

Proclaimed by the FBI and Europol as one of the most threatening forms of online exploitation that has emerged in the past 10 years, sextortion remains dramatically understudied both by academics and law enforcement agencies (2,3).

‘Sextortion’ is a pseudonym of online exploitation, where individuals are coerced into providing their online tormentors with graphic images or other forms of sexual gratification.

In case of failure to comply with their demands, the victim is threatened with the distribution of sexual pictures, which have been acquired by the predators beforehand (4). In 91% of cases involving minors, the offenders will approach their victims on various internet platforms and establish amicable relationships through flattery and romance in order to entice the victims into sharing nude pictures. Alternatively, in 43% of cases involving adults, the offenders hacked into the victims’ computers by means of malicious software and gain access to personal and sensitive materials (4). However, regardless of age and gender of victim, or the surreptitious methods the sextortionist deploys, the psychological and sometimes physical impact that sexual predators inflict upon victims of sextortion is undeniably akin to “virtual slavery” (5). Moreover, while the crime of sextortion is heinous in itself, the fact that virtually no national criminal system has acknowledged its destructive impact upon human dignity has generated only further confusion, misunderstanding, and stigma around sextortion (6).

"the perpetrators are able to achieve a level of apparent omniscience in the lives of their victims."

Sextortion: Theoretical Backbone

The modus operandi used by online sex predators is as selfexplanatory as the concept of sextortion: the predator illicitly obtains intimate images of the victim that are later used for extortion of more images or sexual interactions. Their tool kit includes malware and hacking techniques that enable surreptitious keystroke recording and access to the webcam or microphone of any electronic device (7). Thereby, online sex predators inflict a two-fold assault on data privacy, acquiring access to any personal data stored on the electronic device, as well as continuous streaming via webcams. As a result, the perpetrators are able to achieve a level of apparent omniscience in the lives of their victims. Although sextortion flourished within underregulated cyberspace, examples of abuse of power in exchange for sexual benefits have seeped into the area of human face-to-face interactions: a professor demanding from his student performance of a sexual act in exchange for a passing grade, a public authority representative who requests sexual favours in exchange of annulling a fine (8). With such stories, online and offline, the picture of humanity is not a flattering one.

Sextortion is a pervasive yet under-reported phenomenon that affects the safety as well as the physical and emotional wellbeing of thousands of people worldwide, the majority of whom are females. However, the judiciary and law enforcement bodies still do not possess the adequate vocabulary and

Cyber Security & Human Rights — 23

toolbox to address the victims’ suffering. Instead, existing national legislation is stretched in order to encompass cases of sextortion. Therefore, prosecutors rely on anti-corruption laws that could be interpreted broadly enough to encompass sexual favors as a currency for blackmail. Otherwise, there are attempts to deploy gender-based violence laws in the courtroom (8). However, legally, it is a tough argument to call these abuses rape in some jurisdictions, as they typically do not involve physical violence on behalf of the perpetrator. Nor does this offence fall neatly within the definition of sexual harassment, because many existing sexual harassment laws apply to specific contexts, such as workplaces or the school, while in case of sextortion, the victim may not necessarily know her tormentor.

Subsequently, justice is often performed in a legislative vacuum.

"existing national legislation is stretched in order to encompass cases of sextortion" A comparative study conducted by the International Association of Women Judges highlighted two underlying characteristics of the crime of sextortion. The organization advocated for the recognition of sextortion by way of extension of legal and institutional jurisdictions. Firstly, the focus should zoom in on the sexual component of the crime, which is linked to the forms of sexual activity that range from sexual intercourse to exposing private body parts. As opposed to revenge porn, the actus reus of sextortion does not require the distribution of the explicit content (4). Instead, the nature of the crime is rooted in the forced, non-consensual creation of explicit material, as victims often receive instructions which aim to fulfil the sexual gratification of the perpetrator. Secondly, the corruption component is manifested in the way the perpetrator exercises authority over the victim in order to demand a sexual favour.

Sextortion entails the use of sexual material as a currency for blackmail. Such form of corruption, therefore, is not merely limited to data privacy infringement, but also undermines human autonomy, dignity, and mental health. Besides providing the theoretical backbone for a statutory project recognizing sextortion, with the protection of human dignity as its core principle, the IAWJ emphasises that the absence of codified sextortion law disrupts the legal system and places victims in a perilous position.

Legal Implications for Victims and Perpetrators

The failure to grant sextortion a clearly delineated statutory basis in national legislature compels the judiciary to rely on intuitive application of cyber crimes’ definitions or other genderbased violence laws and interpretation through analogy.

Such practice has inevitably generated a discrepancy in the prosecution of crimes which, in an ideal world, would have fallen under a sextortion provision, yet in the court are assigned to existing criminal provisions in an almost intuitive exercise.

Subsequently, victims are abandoned in a confusing state of limbo and distrust towards the authorities. Therefore, the

24 — A Call for Legislative Action: Combating Sextortion in the Digital Age

recognition and integration of sextortion within the national legal and institutional framework is essential for the protection of human dignity and legal certainty.

The data collected by the Brookings Institution represents an alarming exposé of the sentencing gap evident in how US federal judges approach cases of sextortion (9). For example, an online sex predator can expect the average sentence of approximately 8 months in a state court, and a sentence of almost 30 years in a federal court for the same act. The sentencing gap is further widened by considerations of the age of the victim (10). In cases where minors were victimised, the predator will be accused of child sexual exploitation and child pornography, criminal charges which bring about a minimum sentence of 15 years. Overall, child sextortionists face an average sentence of 31 years in a federal court. In the meantime, adult victims of sextortion see their tormentors being charged with the mean sentence of just over three years, because judges are constrained to rely on stalking, computer hacking, or identity theft, all of which carry far more lenient sentences. Indeed, many cases of sextortion include online exploitation of children for purposes of sexual gratification, hence displaying the core elements of child pornography.

However, the arbitrary application of domestic laws will inevitably undermine the principle of legality and corrode the public trust in the justice system.

A comparison between the cases of two notorious sextortionists, Lucas Michael Chansler and Luis Mijangos, provides a quintessential illustration of the sentencing gap that emerged in the absence of an appropriate legal framework that would recognise sextortion. The online sex predator Lucas Michael Chansler targeted over 260 girls as young as 13 through social networking sites by posing as a teenager (11). Once he gained their trust, he would persuade the girls to expose themselves on video chats he secretly recorded. He then used the surreptitiously obtained material to threaten the girls with exposure unless provided with more graphic images. In 2010 he was indicted and received a sentence of 105 years in prison for child-pornography charges (12). Only one year later, Luis Mijangos was accused of victimising more than 100 young women by hacking into their laptop webcams, discovering nude pictures of them and sometimes posing as the victims boyfriend to gain their trust (13). Mijangos then threatened his victims with posting the compromising pictures online unless they were willing to provide him with more pictures of similar sexual content.

Although the modus operandi deployed by the two predators are almost identical, the outcome of his case was radically different. Lucas was charged for wiretapping and computer hacking and was sentenced to 6 years in prison (and a photoshoot with GQ, which gave him the title of “the world's creepiest hacker”) (14,15). An assessment of these two cases in parallel reveals two cogent conclusions; firstly,

the targeting of adult women victims is systemically undervalued in sentencing judgements relative to similar conduct against minors; secondly, the sentencing gap will only continue to widen and undermine the value of witness testaments until the judges’ toolbox will be refurbished with a new legal provision defining the crime of sextortion, its components, and an adequate punishment. The American “Interstate Sextortion Prevention Act” of 2016 was a logically anticipated attempt at amending inconsistent prosecutions and was expected to initiate the integration of sextortion into federal law (16). However, up to this day, there is no legislative initiative commensurate with the proportions and the impact of the crime.

"the targeting of adult women victims is systemically undervalued in sentencing judgements relative to similar conduct against minors" Conclusion

The Internet and its diverse web platforms have always required its users to be equipped with vigilance and a befitting amount of apprehension in order to withstand any attacks on their privacy and integrity. At this moment, against the backdrop of global connectivity and overbundance of personal information floating around, cybercrimes seem to have reached new milestones of flagrant violations of data privacy, encroaching on human dignity and autonomy. Nevertheless, domestic authorities make little effort to develop laws and techniques to face new forms of cybercrimes, such as sextortion.

Despite its widespread occurrence and painful impact on human dignity, national legal systems have, in this instance, failed at their fundamental task: providing legal certainty and a reliable safety net for victims. Subsequently, sextortion finds itself in a state of limbo, as the urgency of the situation has galvanized law enforcement agencies and judiciaries into action, yet the legislation remains passive on the matter of criminalization. Hence, while there is no crime of sextortion explicitly laid down in national legislation, legal actors and judges will continue to rely on a patchwork of laws which will only produce deplorable and perhaps indefensible disparities in sentencing. Therefore, as progressively more parts of society seep into the online world, it is high time for a new legislative proposal to be introduced, which would reflect that development and stay faithful to the victims’ sufferings.

Cyber Security & Human Rights — 25

References 1 “Sextortion and the Lucas Chansler Case,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, accessed 11 April 2018, https://www.fbi.gov/audio-repository/news-podcasts-inside-sextortionand-the-lucas-chansler-case.mp3/view.

2 U.S. Department of Justice, “The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction,” Report to Congress issued in April 2016, last accessed 11 April 2018, https://www.justice.gov/psc/file/842411/download.

3 Europol, “Online sexual coercion and extortion as a form of crime affecting children,” Law Enforcement Perspective issued in May 2017, last accessed 11 April 2018, https:// www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/online_sexual_coercion_and_ extortion_as_a_form_of_crime_affecting_children.pdf.

4 Benjamin Wittes, Cody Poplin, Quinta Jurecic, and Clara Spera, “Sextortion: Cybersecurity, teenagers, and remote sexual assault,” The Brookings Institution Report of May 11, 2016, last accessed 11 April 2018, https://www.brookings.edu/ research/sextortion-cybersecurity-teenagers-and-remote-sexual-assault/.

5 Kaven Waddell, “How Should ‘Sextortion’ Be Punished?,” The Atlantic, May 11, 2016, last accessed 4 December 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ archive/2016/05/how-should-sextortion-be-punished/482325/.

6 International Association of Women Judges, “Combating Sextortion: A Comparative Study of Laws to Prosecute Corruption Involving Sexual Exploitation,” page 9, last

"Despite its widespread occurrence and painful impact on human dignity, national legal systems have, in this instance, failed at their fundamental task: providing legal certainty and a reliable safety net for victims."

accessed 2 December 2018, https://www.trust.org/contentAsset/raw-data/588013e62f99-4d54-8dd8-9a65ae2e0802/file.

7 Cooper Quintin, “Sextortion Scam: What to Do If You Get the Latest Phishing Spam Demanding Bitcoin,” EFF, July 31, 2018, last accessed 2 December 2018, https://www. eff.org/deeplinks/2018/07/sextortion-scam-what-do-if-you-get-latest-phishing-spamdemanding-bitcoin.

8 International Association of Women Judges, “Combating Sextortion: A Comparative Study of Laws to Prosecute Corruption Involving Sexual Exploitation,” page 20, last accessed 2 December 2018, https://www.trust.org/contentAsset/raw-data/588013e62f99-4d54-8dd8-9a65ae2e0802/file.

9 Benjamin Wittes, Cody Poplin, Quinta Jurecic, and Clara Spera, “Closing the sextortion sentencing gap: A legislative proposal,” The Brookings Institution Report, May 11, 2016, last accessed 4 April 2018, https://www.brookings.edu/research/closingthe-sextortion-sentencing-gap-a-legislative-proposal/.

10 Benjamin Wittes, Cody M. Poplin, Quinta Jurecic, Clara Spera, “Sextortion: The Problem and Solutions”, Lawfare, May 11, 2016, last accessed 4 April 2018, https:// www.lawfareblog.com/sextortion-problem-and-solutions.

11 Crimesider Staff, “FBI seeks 240 victims of man imprisoned for sextortion,” CBS News, July 8, 2015, last accessed 5 December 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbiseeks-240-victims-of-man-imprisoned-for-sextortion/.

12 “FBI appeals in Chansler web ‘sextortion’ case,” BBC, July 8, 2015, last accessed 5 December 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33438500.

13 Nate Anderson, “How an omniscient Internet ‘sextortionist’ ruined the lives if teen girls,” Ars Technica, July 7, 2011, last accessed 5 December 2018, https://arstechnica. com/tech-policy/2011/09/how-an-omniscient-internet-sextortionist-ruined-lives/.

14 Greg Risling, “Hacker gets 6-year sentence in ‘sextortion’case,” NBC News, January 9, 2011, last accessed 5 December 2018, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44364150/ns/ technology_and_science-security/t/hacker-gets--year-sentence-sextortion-case/#.

XA6PFWhKjb0.

15 David Kushner, “The Hacker is Watching,” GQ Magazine, January 11, 2012, last accessed 5 December 2018, https://www.gq.com/story/luis-mijangos-hacker-webcamvirus-internet.

16 Benjamin Wittes, “House Legislation on Sextortion Introduced,” Lawfare, July 14, 2016, last accessed 5 December 2018, https://www.lawfareblog.com/house-legislationsextortion-introduced.

Author: Iris Loois Illustrator: Olivia D'Cruz

Spartacus as the New Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Gladiators as Sportsmen and the Conceptualization of Sport in the Roman World The name ‘Spartacus’ might be best known from the (in)famous film Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960), where a gladiator frees himself and other slaves, and leads a revolution to freedom. To compare such a historical character to Dwayne Johnson, a famous contemporary professional wrestler and nicknamed “The Rock”, might seem like far-fetched. Nevertheless, if we look at the early days of Spartacus’ and Dwayne Johnson’s careers, they both have a history of extreme physical activity – both have fought champions in their own respective arenas, both enjoyed the attention of the audience whilst they faced their opponents. Yet one is recognised as wrestler, ergo as sportsman, and the other as a slave who broke free…

28 — Spartacus as the New Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Greek athletes – the epitome and original standard of sportsmen – and Roman gladiators did not share the same status when it came to their profession and how it was perceived. One was labelled ‘sport’ and its participants ‘sportsmen’, the other was, at best, seen as perhaps a distant branch. The frame of this dreadful and distasteful form of entertainment celebrated by the people of Rome, has downgraded the status of gladiators even in contemporary times.

This popular frame prevents gladiators – who performed great physical activity in a match against their opponents – from being seen as the precedent of today’s sports heroes. Why are gladiators not considered sportsmen? Why are gladiatorial matches not considered sport?

The Origin Story: What Is Sport? Who Are Sportsmen?

Continuing the comparison, the professional Greek athlete was most likely someone of the upper-class level of society (or someone with an elite-status), fixed on winning in the sports festival and bringing home honour, fixed on rewards, and on leaving behind a statue of himself identifying and tying the stone individual to the legend (1). However the word ‘athlétés’ comes from ‘competitor for a prize’. Thus, at its etymological roots, an athlete in the Greek World (which is one of the leading indicators on what defines sport and sportsmen) was a universal term for anyone competing for a prize. In contemporary views, ‘sport’ is a far more widely used term. Whoever practices a ‘sport’ immediately becomes a ‘sportsman’. ‘Sportsman’ has even become a synonym for athlete, whilst this term holds quite a different meaning in its original context.

Not everything is a sport, although it might require physical activity or use the element of competition. The Gladiatorial matches follow along the lines of agon and athlos – respectively ‘competition’ or ‘contest’ and ‘prize’ from Ancient Greek vocabulary – which capture the two key concepts of sport in the Ancient world: the promise of reward and the measurement of one’s self against

others. Thirdly, sport is based upon an agreement of rules, which lay down the borders and the framework in which the sport takes place, differing per sport.

These make up the three main elements of an activity before it can be considered a sport and its participants sportsmen.

Status And Identity: Who Were Gladiators?

All gladiators had to swear an oath (the sacramentum) – to place their body and soul in the hands of their master (the lanista), and “submit to be beaten, burned, or put to the sword” (2). As soon as they swore the oath and gave up their person into servitude, it was up to the lanista to decide to keep a gladiator new name, or a nickname.

Nicknames tied to fortune or virtue were popular, (e.g. Draucus confirms the bearer of it to have speed and agility).

This same practise is seen with athletes and sportsmen (e.g. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), and it was not uncommon to have two of them share the name – e.g.

Draucus the retarius and Draucus the Egyptian pancratiast (3).

But not everyone who stood on the sands of the arena was a gladiator.

There are the noxii, the slaves sold by their master to entrepreneurs who stocked the amphitheatre shows. As an act to warm up the crowd, they met their fate usually in the morning – the afternoon belonged to the gladiators.

Others had protection, training and some expectation of leaving the amphitheatre alive (4): The untrained slaves and men condemned ad ludum gladiatorum are summarised by the term gregarii.

If one excelled within this role, it was possible that he was offered a place in the ludus, the training centre for gladiators. Slaves condemned to go to a gladiatorial school were forced to survive three years in the arena as an active fighter, and then two more years in service of the ludus. The auctorati, “paid contractors”, were volunteers who chose this life. More interesting, the Greek term for gladiators who came from volunteers was ἀπεγράψατο εἰς μονομάχους – ‘ἀπoγράφεσθαι’ being a term also used to enrol athletes (2). Not everyone

These three elements of rules, contest (agon) and prize (athlos), were first combined and coined in Ancient Greece, in such a way that this is what makes sport. The combination, and specifically these Greek terms, provide the basis of what sport is and how it developed.

There is a difference between a nickname and a slave name. When someone was made a slave, they received a name picked out by their master. This could be any name, or a nickname. The nickname was given on the grounds of victories of the gladiator, or to inspire admiration and popularity amongst the crowd.

As they were not trained as gladiators, they acted on a single notion: the instinct to survive. However passionate and exhilarating the fighting became due to the notion of one’s life on the line, it paled to the fighting of trained gladiators. Simply because it was not worth it to watch single combats of gregarii, they fought as groups, and left the man-to-man combats to the gladiators.

History — 29

“Taking on a Greek identity separates the ‘beasts’ from the civil.”

agreed with this ‘too honourable’ a title: “Other terms used by Greek authors are less honourable and instead suggest a contractual relationship for financial recompense” (2).

Because the lifestyle was looked down upon, gladiators suffered heavily from infamia: a social status linked to the ‘degrading’ careers such as gladiator and lanista, and it included the loss of reputation (fama), of good name (existimatio), and of legal limitations and social disgrace. Although eternal fame was an possible prospect, too (including riches and freedom), the status of infamia sadly did not change.

Mark Golden states that Greek gladiators might have their epitaphs in Greek and take a Greek (nick)name to stress the comparison to Greek athletics – arguably, this would link gladiators to the (higher) status of athletes (3).

Moreover, in the Eastern Roman Empire there were more shared similarities between gladiators and athletes: they performed in the stadium, which fulfilled the role as arena for gladiatorial

combats as well as the venue for athletic competition (as opposed to these events being held in two separate places).

Moreover, gladiators held the title of ‘monomachoi’, “Single fighters” and took place in the agônes (athletic contests, often associated with sportcentred festivals). They were referred to as “athletes of Ares”, who competed (athlein) for prizes (athla) (5). Similarly, the trainers for these gladiators, were given the title of epistatês, which covered the training of athletes as well as gladiators (as opposed to the Roman title of doctor, a trainer specific for gladiators).

Plutarch, in Moralia, states how some gladiators are “not utterly bestial, but Greeks”, meaning they could be worse (6). Taking on a Greek identity separates the “beasts” from the civil (much like the term ‘barbarians’ in its Greek use): being compared to the Greeks is being recognised to have the same (high) values and norms.

Arguably, this was due to a lack of space to hold both events separately, or because the stadia were simply the designated area for such events. Vice versa, the dictator Sulla had Greek athletes play in the Ludi victoriae Sullenae “Games for Sulla’s victory”, organized in a similar fashion as the gladiatorial games would (with the emphasis on entertainment and celebration, instead of sport) (3).

30 — Spartacus as the New Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Gladiators And Their Functions In Society

Gladiators have, through time, fulfilled multiple functions. Under the empire, Marcus Aurelius subscribed gladiators into the army (calling them “the Obedient”, which emphasizes their near slave-status) (2). This shows that next to their ‘decorative’ functions, gladiators did have the strength and skill to fulfil the role of soldier, too, although they remained gladiators, with the corresponding status.

Alison Futrell, in The Roman Games, argues how gladiators might have had a ritual purpose, at least during the Republic: “… their general taught them [the Romans] that a soldier should be rough to look on, not adorned with gold and silver… So the Romans made use of the splendid armour of their enemies to do honour to the gods… [and] equipped after this fashion the gladiators who furnished them entertainment at their feast, and bestowed on them the name of Samnites.” (7).

“Gladiators fulfilled the role of actors in mock-plays where words were absent and actions told the tale (and the consequences).”

As opposed to soldiers, who prefer ‘iron and courage’, gladiators received outfits made of gold and silver – seen as lesser than the equipment of the Roman soldier. So they are lesser than soldiers, and not worthy of real equipment. Moreover, putting on the armour of Roman enemies (the Samnites), gladiators fulfilled the role of actors in mock-plays where words were absent and actions told the tale (and the consequences). Here, the goal of ‘entertainment’ is evident. Thus it is possible to say that gladiators have had multiple functions and were thus perceived in many different ways: as a source of income, as idols, as actors, and as soldiers. Then why not as sportsmen?

The Gladiatorial Fight

Gladiators were divided in different groups or types, in order to distinguish between who was fighting in the arena, with what gear, and what tactics.

This class-system was not based on ranks, but on skills and fighting-style.

Classes we know of are bestiarus, dimachaerus, gallus, hoplomachus, laquearius, murmillo, parmularius, provocator, retarius, rudiarius, samnite, scutarius, secutor, and thraex. It was the skill and the training with the weaponry that distinguished gladiators from others entering the arena – they knew how to fight, but moreover, they knew how to put on a show (2). This separates them from the noxii and gregarii. This division allows the lifestyle of gladiator to be seen as a profession: it demands meeting certain requirements and standards before anyone can be labelled as ‘gladiator’.

Another element is the “rules” for gladiatorial fights, as seen on epitaphs from gladiators: “… Autolykos. I took such care, and wished to save (my opponent); but although victorious, I died contrary to fate.” (8).

“I am Locrian Aias whom you behold, nor the son of Telamon, but the one who was pleasing in the stadia in martial contest, who mightily saved many souls out from under necessity…” (8).

There is a specific mention of having not hurt or killed the opponent in the epitaph of Autolykos. Gladiators took pride in avoiding death where it was not necessary: it shows a moral code amongst (some) gladiators.

Furthermore, referees (summa rudis and secunda rudis) were present. These technical experts were tasked to stop the fight before a fatal blow is struck (9). Instead of conquering the opponent through killing, the aim shifted towards having the opponent signalling for submission: ad digitum.

The use of referees and a moral code amongst the participants is evidence of a set of (in)formal rules in gladiatorial matches. While with sports, competition is meant to not necessarily lethal, but if it is, it is accidental. With gladiatorial

Other terms used for the types are partes, odines, classes, or manipuli. (2)

Even in combat sine missione (“without release”) which required a very clear confirmation of a gladiator defeating his oppo-nent, ad digitum was allowed (9).

History — 31

“With gladiatorial games, if you break it, you buy it.” games, if you break it, you buy it – if a gladiator is killed, the gladiator is “bought” from the lanista (as if he were alive) as financial compensation. If a gladiator is returned alive, only the rent is owned. This decreased the chance of gladiators dying, even more so if they were famous (and thus more expensive if they died) (2).

Eventually the gap between the status of gladiators and athletes was bridged when the events which hosted the activities (the munera or gladiatorial games and Greek sports festivals, respectively) either slowly disappeared, spread or were combined. This resulted in a close similarity between athletics and gladiatorial fighting, especially since gladiators had tried to gain the same (higher) status as Greek athletes by representing themselves as such.

Nevertheless, it is very unlikely gladiators and athletes were seen as similar in both Roman and Greek society. Regardless of the similarities on the ground of rules, competition and prize, the characteristics of slavery and the gladiators low status within Roman society, made gladiators unfit to be seen as sportsmen.

Conclusion

Gladiator’s status in Roman society – in contemporary view – is a dual one: on the one hand they are glorified, on the other, degraded and diminished. There is emphasis on their slave-status, they suffer from infamia and are excluded from career-perspectives and climbing the social ladder – which prevents them from being seen as sportsmen – yet at the same time the profession is popular and glorified (10).

Because of shared similarities between gladiatorial fighting and

athletics, this combination was possible: both required excessive physical strength, both were guided by rules and referees, both incorporated the elements of reward and competition, but more importantly, both were able to entertain crowds. Following this contemporary perspective, these requirements for sport set in today’s society would qualify gladiatorial games as gladiatorial sport – a term often used by contemporary historians. More importantly, gladiatorial games are a subject an sich: they are a concept of its own, with noticeable but not wholly comparative aspects with the Greek and contemporary mindset on sports and sportsmen.

In conclusion, one could refer to gladiators as sportsmen, as long as they are aware of the discussion and arguments behind using that term.

This had led to historians labelling gladiators nonetheless as sportsmen and gladiatorial events as sport (such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica) (11). In the end both Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Spartacus may have been similar in practising great physical activity (with the elements of rules, competition, and prize) and both can be seen as sportsmen according to contemporary requirements.

Nevertheless, the difference in status and how they were perceived and what they achieved is what makes one a professional wrestler, and the other a runaway slave.

References 1 David C. Young, “Professionalism in Archaic and Classical Greek Athletics,” in Sport in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Volume 2: Greek Athletic Identities and Roman Sports and Spectacle, ed. Thomas F. Scanlon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 82-85.

2 Michael Carter, “Gladiatorial Ranking and the “SC de Pretiis Gladiatorum Minuendis” (CIL II 62 = ILS 5163),” Phoenix, vol 57, no. 1/2 (Spring-Summer, 2003): 88, 99, 104-106.

3 Mark Golden, Greek Sport and Social Status. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008), 74-77, 79-80.

4 Seneca, “Gladiatorial Contests” in Moral Epistles, trans. Steven Kreis. Accessed on July 1, 2018. http:// www.historyguide.org/ancient/seneca.html.

5 Zinon Papakonstaninou, Sport in the Cultures of the Ancient World: New Perspectives (London: Routledge, 2013): 161.

6 Plutarch, Moralia, trans. Gregorius N. Bernardakis, accessed June 7, 2018, http://data.perseus.org/ citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg139.perseus-grc1:1099b.

7 Alison Futrell, The Roman Games (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 5.

8 Louis Robert, Les gladiateurs dans l’Orient grec (Paris: Champion, 1940), 113-115, 223-225, no. 285 and no. 55.

9 Michael Carter, “Gladiatorial Combat: The Rules of Engagement,” The Classical Journal, vol. 102, no. 2 (Dec.-Jan., 2006/2007): 102.

10 Tertullian, “Chapter 22,” in De Spectaculis, trans. The Tertullian Project, accessed June 29, 2018, http:// www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/anf03-09.htm#P976_398741.

11 “Gladiator,” Roman Sports, Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed July 1, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/ sports/gladiator.

Book Review: and Poems fro Russian Revolu edited by Bor

Author: Dora Vrhoci Illustrator: Marina Sulima

Category — 33

1917: Stories om the ution, ris Dralyuk

34 — 1917: Stories and Poems from the Russian Revolution

Between Darkness and Light; the Simultaneously Apocalyptic and Purifying Nature of the Russian Revolution

The volume’s editor Boris Dralyuk is the Executive Editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books. He is a literary translator and holds a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His works were published in a number of globally-recognized journals, such as Times Literary Supplement, The New Yorker, London Review of Books, World Literature Today, and many more (1).

In 1917: War, Peace, and Revolution (2017), David Stevenson opens the introductory chapter of his book with the following sentence: “The 1916-17 winter was among the harshest in European memory” (4). And indeed, the symbolic weight of the year 1917 in Russian and world history makes it a most-memorable year of the beginning of the twentieth century: 1917 simultaneously brought an end to the three-century-old Romanov dynasty, and marks the beginning of a tumultuous period of wars, political turbulence and changes in the infant Soviet state.

In an article published for the centenary of the Russia Revolution in 2017, The Guardian similarly describes the effects of the revolutionary period in Russia, focusing particularly on its devastation: “The Bolshevik revolution plunged Russia into a five-year civil war more terrible in its losses and effects than the First World War that had brought down the autocratic tsar; 10 million lives were lost, against two million during the war with Germany” (5).

When the Bolsheviks took power and established a provisional government in 1917, this way temporarily stabilizing the chaotic political climate which resulted from the abdication of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, the artistic circles of Saint-Petersburg and Moscow responded to the revolutionary events with an explosion of creative manifestations.

Some members of the artistic community interpreted the events of 1917 as the beginning of Russia’s future success on the international political scene, seeing, at the same time, the ending of the Romanov imperial rule as a break with Russia’s ‘backward’ tradition. Others perceived the revolution as an apocalyptic event signaling Russia’s forthcoming doom. Caryl Emerson adequately describes the artistic atmosphere of that period as producing works “without perspective, full of potentials and unclear about actuals” (3).

Boris Dralyuk’s volume 1917: Stories and Poems from the Russian Revolution (2016) is essentially an attempt of collecting the scattered artistic responses to the cataclysmic year of 1917. The collection of prose and poetry pieces reflecting diverse writers’ perception of the famous revolution creates a panorama of images describing the revolutionary events. Emerson fittingly describes Dralyuk’s anthology as a bold attempt “to confirm us within the belly of the beast [=the revolution], to push us up against its heartbeat” (3).

The pieces constituting Dralyuk’s collection are written between February 1917, when the revolutionary forces in Saint-Petersburg and Moscow overthrew the Romanov dynasty, and late 1919, when the Bolsheviks ultimately seized power against the White Army in the Russian Civil War of 1917-21.

In defining the aim of compiling his collection, Dralyuk writes that he wanted “not so much to tell the story of the revolutionary period” but to “steep the reader in its tumult– to recreate the heavy brew of enthusiasm and disgust, passion and trepidation that intoxicated Russia and the world as the events unfolded” (2).

Indeed, Dralyuk’s collection successfully reconstructs the tumult of 1917 and presents it through the eyes of some of Russia’s best-known writers and poets, such as Marina Tsvetaeva, Anna Akhmatova, Boris Pasternak, Sergey Esenin, and Mikhail Bulgakov. It also contains pieces from authors which are less known, such as Alexander Kuprin, Valentin Kataev, and Alexander Grin.

The collection is organized in two parts: A “poem-chronicle” which structures the poems into six thematic circles (“Stolen Wine”, “A Distant Voice”, “Wake Me Tomorrow”, “Iron Flowers”, “Purifying Fire”, and “Our March”), and a prose section with seven additional thematic chapters (“The Break”, “The Red Train”, “The Guillotine”, “Apocalypse”, “Of Dragons and Men”, “Blue Banners and Scarlet Sails”, and “Future Prospects”). Each of the sections in Dralyuk’s anthology contains “a common theme, attitude or striking image” (2).

Considering the collection’s fragmentary nature, the present book review primarily

Book Review — 35

creates an overview of a few selected segments from Dralyuk’s collection, chosen on the basis of their contrasting vision of the revolution. Some of the segments paint an apocalyptic vision of the revolution, whereas others portray the revolution as a glimmer of hope for the development of the newly-formed state, as well as a way of purifying Russia’s culture of its imperial past. While other segments of the collection will not be discussed in detail, the book review will, at least, offer a brief description of their central themes and motifs.

“Wallowing like pigs in filth and blood”; “I’m due to be guillotined tomorrow.”

The first section of the “poem-chronicle” is titled “Stolen Wine” and contains a unique bundle of poems which describe the revolution as a chaos-driven event in which the Russian masses, in the words of Maxim Gorky, have been “robbing wine cellars, getting drunk, banging each other over the head with bottles, cutting their hands with fragments of glass, and wallowing like pigs in filth and blood” (2).

The poems in this section share a common goal of illustrating the wine riots that were a result of the dry law under which Russians have been living since the beginning of the First World War (2). The chaotic revolutionary atmosphere comes to the fore in Dralyuk’s description of the riots as events in which wine was “mingling with blood” (2).

The poems in this section also project the dehumanized nature of the Russian mob which paraded the streets of Moscow and Saint-Petersburg during the revolutionary period. The poems suggest that the revolution stripped the masses off of their humanity, engaging them into a carnivalesque celebration of the changing political regime.

The visual image of wine flooding the streets of Saint-Petersburg is uncannily reminiscent of historical pictures of the city’s struggle with devastating floods. Probably the most well-known poetic description of these floods comes from A. S. Pushkin’s poem The Bronze Horseman (1833), in which the protagonist Evgeny loses his mind as a result of a flood that took away the life of his beloved.

The irrational nature of the revolutionary events further comes to the fore in the section “The Guillotine” which portrays the ease with which the Soviet regime ideologically constructed its enemies. Teffi’s (a pseudonym of the Russian humorist writer Nadezhda Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya) 1918 tale of the same title describes the condemned existence of the upper classes and interprets the members of the Russian bourgeoisie as “tools complicit in their own destruction” (2). The absurdity of the events together with their effect on the human soul is reflected in the characters’ indifference towards the announcement that they will soon be guillotined. The following extract from Teffi’s short story emanates this sense of indifference: “What’s the rush?” we said. “Stay awhile!”

“No, I can’t. I’m in a hurt. I only popped in to say goodbye. I’m due to be guillotined tomorrow.”

“But Vera, darling!” we exclaimed. “What a wonderful coincidence, we’re all scheduled for tomorrow!” (2) Similar motifs of dehumanization and indifference connect the writings of the prose sections “Apocalypse” and “Of Dragons and Men”. While the section “Apocalypse” depicts the revolution as a sign of Russians “abandoning their faith”, the section “Of Dragons and Men” illustrates “the arbitrariness of dictatorial rule” (2). Yefim Zozulya’s story The Dictator: The Story of Ak and Humanity (1919) demonstrates the loss of individuality, the trivial value of human life in the Soviet regime, and the terror of The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (Cheka), the Soviet secret police. The story contains a fictional “Catalogue of the Superfluous” in which the author satirizes the Soviet regime by adding descriptions of individuals which are considered trivial in the eyes of the governmental system.

Superfluous Number 14741: “Physical condition medium.

Is in the habit of visiting acquaintances who don’t want him and feel no interest in him. In the blossom of youth, he seduced some girl and abandoned her. The greatest event in his life was furnishing a home for the women he married. Weak-headed.

When asked to tell the most interesting thing he knows of life, what he has managed to see, he related his visit at the Hotel Ritz in Paris. The simples of creatures. The lowest of the common sort. A weak heart.

Within 24 hours.” (2)

36 — 1917: Stories and Poems from the Russian Revolution

“We’ll Burn Up Raphael for Our Tomorrow’s Sake”

“We’re seized by mutinous and zealous drunkenness.

Let them decry: ‘You’re beauty’s executioners!’

We’ll burn up Raphael for our Tomorrow’s sake, Trample art’s flowers and destroy museums.” (2)

In contrast to the literary pieces discussed in the previous section, the poems of the section “Iron Flowers” capture the enthusiasm and emanate the optimism that the revolutionary events raised among the proletariat. Most of the poems in this section were written by working-class writers who contributed to the establishment of the movement known as Proletkult, or, simply, proletarian culture (2). They are also indicative of the trends that will dominate the Soviet cultural scene from 1932 onward, when Socialist Realism became the official aesthetic doctrine of the Soviet Union.

Many of the writers belonging to the Proletkult movement were Bolsheviks disillusioned by the movements of the intelligentsia in the first revolution of 1905 (2). Some famous names include Maxim Gorky, Alexander Bogdanov, and Anatoly Lunacharsky. Members of the Proletkult wanted to stimulate political activism among the proletariat, cultivating, this way, “a distinct proletarian culture”, which would “awaken the workers’ class-consciousness by inspiring a sense of independence and pride” (2).

Dralyuk describes the poets of the Proletkult as “quite conservative”, even though they expressed their revolutionary spirit in futuristic literary pieces reflecting the proletariat’s wish to abandon the old, ‘bourgeois’ culture, and open the avenue for a new culture based on the motifs of industrialization and optimism brought by progress and modernity (2).

The image of ‘burning up Raphael’ so as to “cast off the oppressive burden of tradition” in Vladimir Kirillov’s poem We (1917), as well as the image of the workers forging their own “iron flowers beneath a workshop’s smoky dome” captures the futuristic hue of the revolution and illustrates the hope with which the revolutionary events instilled the proletariat.

Conclusion: A Window to the Past

Boris Dralyuk’s collection of poetry and prose pieces depicting the chaotic events of 1917 introduces the reader with a unique and highly diverse mosaic of visions of the revolution as seen through the eyes of some of the most recognizable names of Russian literature.

Although successfully mapping the diverse artistic reactions to the revolutionary year of 1917, Dralyuk’s collection may not appeal to readers that are looking for a more comprehensive overview of literary pieces depicting the Russian revolution. At the same time, the fragmentary nature of the collection may leave the reader with a sense of ‘incompleteness’: Several sections contain only a few pieces of writing, ending just at the moment when the reader starts craving for more. Due to its fragmentary character, the collection essentially creates a distant, helicopter view of the revolution and may not manage to pull the reader into the heart of the revolutionary events entirely.

Nonetheless, the anthology’s fragmentary nature aside, Dralyuk’s collection is a remarkably well-edited volume containing artistic works created not only before or after the revolution, but also during the dynamic events themselves. The selection of literary pieces in the collection, at the same time, is an ominous reminder that the temporal distance between the revolutionary events and our day-to-day reality amounts to only 100 years, with 2017 marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution. By reflecting on the hopes, fears, and reactions of individuals who experienced the revolution on an almost first-hand basis, the collection can be seen as a small window to the past which gives us an opportunity to understand the profound complexity of the radical social, political and cultural changes brought by the year 1917.

All in all, while Dralyuk’s anthology may not serve as a comprehensive guide to the Russian Revolution, his collection is an ideal starting point for readers with little or scarce knowledge of early twentieth-century Russian literature, and it is very likely to spark their interest for the revolutionary year of 1917.

Book Review — 37

References 1 “Boris Dralyuk.” Los Angeles Review of Books. https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/boris-dralyuk/#.

Accessed 3 October 2018.

2 Dralyuk, Boris (Ed.). 1917: Stories and Poems from the Russian Revolution. London: Pushkin Press, 2016.

3 Emerson, Caryl. “Writing in the heat of crisis: Caryl Emerson on literature written in the Russian Revolution: ‘without perspective, full of potentials and unclear about actuals’.” The Times Literary Supplement, 15 Feb. 2017, https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/literature-russian-revolution/.

Accessed 23 September 2018.

4 Stevenson, David. 1917: War, Peace, and Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

5 “The Guardian view on Russia’s revolutionary centenary: it shook the world–then it failed.” The Guardian, 6 Nov. 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/06/the-guardian-view-on-russiasrevolutionary-centenary-it-shook-the-world-then-it-failed. Accessed 23 September 2018.

Am

merican Jesus American Celebrity Culture and Worship Explored through LaChapelle's Photographs Author: Rebecca Heuvelmans Illustrator: Veronica Gorii

The opening piece of the LaChapelle exhibition in the Groninger Museum, – American Jesus: Hold Me, Carry Me Boldly – combines highly unlikely elements ever to be found together in a natural context (1). American Jesus depicts Jesus Christ holding a restless Michael Jackson in his arms in the middle of a tropical rainforest. Whilst Jesus looks up to the sky with his eyes wide open, Michaels’ face hangs down with his eyes closed. The picture is modelled after the classic Christian image, ‘The Pièta,’ where Mary holds Jesus in her arms (2). Both Jesus and Michael’s faces are equally illuminated by harsh beams of light, giving them a halo like glow which reminds of the depiction of Christian saints. This portrayal makes one wonder which of the two is the divine subject of the picture, the King of Pop or the King of Kings?

40 — American Jesus

The connection between religious worship and celebrity culture is highly debated within the scholarly field.

Amongst these scholars, Pete Ward, in his book Gods Behaving Badly: Media, Religion, and Celebrity Culture, combines several scholarly researches in this field to explore – among other things – celebrity worship’s connection to religion (3). Nathalie Heinich is even more critical of the way scholars throw around the word ‘religion’ when discussing celebrity culture (4).

Moreover, Ward and Heinich vary in their judgement of Chris Rojek’s argument that celebrity worship has replaced religious worship in certain aspects (5). According to Rojek, “rites of ascent and descent” that belonged to religion in the first place, “have been taken over and recast by celebrity culture” (5). LaChapelle’s works connect well with this ongoing scholarly debate, since he plays with this idea of the celebrity as a religious figure in a very direct and tangible manner. In this essay, the main focus will be placed on several pictures by LaChapelle where celebrities are depicted in a ‘saint-like manner,’ with a special focus on Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur. However, this essay will also discuss the Jesus Is My Homeboy series, where Jesus is portrayed in contemporary times with the use of well-known biblical settings. This series provides the basis to construct how LaChapelle’s depicts Jesus as ‘one of us,’ whilst also constructing him almost like an idolized celebrity. The critical arguments established by Wards, Heinich and Rojek will further serve as useful theoretical tools to discuss the connection between religion and celebrity culture in American society.

Ultimately, through portraying celebrities as saints, and Jesus as a man of the people fraternizing with certain

contemporary crowds who idolize him, LaChapelle limits the space between those who are and those who are not commonly accepted as divine subjects of worship. LaChapelle plays with the ambiguity of religious worship and celebrity worship, in line with the notion that people have found some sort of replacement for religion in celebrity worship, as suggested by scholars such as Rojek.

The Celebrity As A Contemporary Saint

LaChapelle’s work is controversial in many ways, and certainly makes its audience think about divisive topics such as gender, consumerism and of course religion and celebrity culture. Not only does LaChapelle take photographs, but he edits them afterwards, adding different dimensions to the photo and often giving it a surrealistic and sometimes magical vibe. Several examples can be found of LaChapelle combining these aspects, where he photographs a celebrity in some seemingly religious setting and edits the photos, giving it that well-known ‘LaChapelle touch’. One of the main celebrities LaChapelle photographed over the years is Michael Jackson.

In 1990, LaChapelle shot Archangel Michael – “And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer” which depicts Michael Jackson as an angel with wings who is standing on top of a demon, surrounded by rocks and water (6). He captured Michael again in 2007, where Michael holds hands with a life-size Maria statue with a Catholic sacred heart on his chest and a white dove and clock in his right hand (7). The famous rapper Tupac Shakur, was another cultural icon photographed by LaChapelle. In 1996 in California, LaChapelle shot

American Studies — 41

Death Is Not The Greatest Loss In Life.

The Greatest Loss – Is What Dies While Still Alive, which is a quote by Tupac (8). In this picture, Tupac is lying on the ground with only a silk like fabric covering himself. His hands are in the shape of a triangle, which is the signal of Illuminati, and behind his head is an aureole – a classic Catholic symbol to portray saints. In Ward’s Gods Behaving Badly, Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur are also prime examples when discussing celebrity worship (3). Michael Jackson’s death, like that of Tupac, was very unexpected, both of which shocked their large fan bases (3). Creating shrines has become a regular way of dealing with celebrity deaths; especially in the cases where a celebrity dies young, their fans use religious imagery to deal with the loss (3). When talking to Tupac fans after his passing, Ward found that the fans identified with him and felt that he represented some sort of “collective ‘us’” (3). Michael’s dedicated fan group, “The International Group of the Anointed Michael Followers,” went even further by saying that they worshiped Michael not because of his relatability, but because he was a “unique being” (3). However, most people do not like to acknowledge their devotion in a ‘religious understanding,’ and critics such as Nathalie Heinich question if this type of worship even counts as being particularly religious at all (3,4).

Jesus Christ As A Contemporary Celebrity

Not only does LaChapelle work with the provocative notion of celebrities as saints, but he also turns this argument around and plays with the idea of what Jesus would be to people in modern times if he was alive right now. The Jesus Is My Homeboy series consists of

six pictures, which feature Jesus wearing traditional clothing in contemporary settings, but often with some hint to a well-known biblical scene. The pictures convey that people nowadays would still similarly idolize Jesus as his followers did as described in the Bible.

An example of this can be seen in the picture Anointing, which recreates the scene of Mary Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet (9).

In an interview with Nosheen Iqbal for The Guardian, LaChapelle stated that “[i]f you really want to shock people in the art world, talk about Jesus or God” and even said that “[y]ou could take a dump on a gallery floor and they won’t care. That’s art …” (10). This statement could perhaps be understood as if he created these pieces with the mere intention of provocation for the sake of provocation. However, he goes on by making some more serious reflections about the meaning behind his work.

LaChapelle mentioned that the reason behind wanting to create Jesus Is My Homeboy, is that he wanted to portray Jesus with the people he would think “Jesus would hang with, if he was back.

And it wouldn’t be the aristocrats or the rich people, but the disfranchised.”

(10). Last Supper, for example, portrays a scene that is an obvious recreation of the famous last supper, but, in this case, it takes place in a small living room surrounded by ‘gangster-like’ figures (11). Jesus himself is depicted in quite a traditional Christian way, with his long hair, robe, open hands and the halolike glow around his head. LaChapelle made a very conscious decision to let Jesus be surrounded with only those our society often views as outcasts. In doing this, LaChapelle makes the disparity between ‘normal people’ and Jesus seem much smaller, making him more

42 — American Jesus

relatable, which is a prime reason why people worship celebrities according to Ward (3). The way in which Jesus is depicted also prompts settings in which celebrities can find themselves, as can be seen in Evidence Of A Miraculous Event and Sermon (12,13). Evidence Of A Miraculous Event depicts Jesus in his underwear in an almost empty room surrounded by three persons laying beneath his feet and two persons holding his hand. This scene reminds one of groupies going home with an artist in some obscene room, full of admiration for their star. Sermon portrays a similar admiration that people express towards Jesus. The people surrounding him all have their hands up in an asking like manner, as if they are looking for guidance. Through making Jesus a “man of the people” and depicting him with “fans,” LaChapelle turns Jesus Christ into some sort of contemporary superstar, perhaps signaling that the way people would admire Jesus if he were back on earth is not so different from people admiring celebrities now.

The Scholarly Discussion Regarding Celebrity And Religious Worship

Religion, according to LaChapelle, is a guide that “all our ancestors had for countless generations” (10). However, in recent years, he argues “the reason has been subtracted from our lives, which has left us with this void that we’ve filled with materialism” (10). In Celebrity, Chris Rojek similarly argues that the “‘post-God’ celebrity is now one of the mainstays of organizing recognition and belonging in secular society” (5).

Celebrities, in a way, appropriate that role from religious institutions in the sense that they “offer peculiarly powerful affirmations of belonging and recognition

and meaning in the midst of the lives of their audiences” (5). Celebrities participate in this so-called “cult of distraction,” where their existence has to distract the public from the realizations of “structured inequality and the meaninglessness of existence following the death of God” (5). Celebrities fill this gap as “heroic role models in an age of mass standardization and predictability” (5). Ward also mentions several of Rojek’s statements in his own book, and makes similar arguments regarding why people like to identify with, and look up to, celebrities. Ward argues that we like the idea of a flawed God who reflects a part of ourselves and who we can judge when they fail (3). To quote Ward directly: “[i]f celebrities are saints, then they are saints who we know have fallen, or will eventually fall, from grace” (3). However, not everybody agrees with the assumed role of celebrities as a ‘replacement strategy’ for religious institutions (5).

Heinich strongly disagrees with Rojek’s interpretation that celebrity culture has taken the place of religion and argues that if Rojek makes religion to mean a sense of “recognition and belonging,” then almost all human practices could be considered religious (4). Moreover, the “rites of ascent and decline” that Rojek ascribes to the ‘holiness’ of idols, can be found in other areas as well, which again shows, according to Heinich, that the use of the word ‘religious’ when describing these notions is too broad (4).

LaChapelle’s Vision And Intentions

Reflecting once more on the works of LaChapelle, and given his own aforementioned statement, LaChapelle clearly plays with the role that celebrities play in our lives as saint-like figures to whom we relate and look up to. He is

American Studies — 43

also clearly intrigued by the similarities between popstars and Jesus Christ, as can be deducted from looking at his portrayal of Jesus Christ in the Jesus Is My Homeboy series. Furthermore, he replaced Jesus Christ with Michael Jackson and Mary with Jesus Christ in his American Jesus piece, clearly drawing similarities between the importance of Michael Jackson and Jesus Christ for American culture. In a statement regarding his piece American Jesus, he said; “Michael has always been this huge figure in my life – bigger than just the music” (2). LaChapelle did personally know him quite well, and this statement clearly suggests a certain admiration towards the star which went further than an admiration of merely his career achievements (2).

The grandeur of this work and the other pieces of Michael Jackson, along with those of Tupac, suggest that LaChapelle indeed recognizes the extent of the level of admiration fans have of their idol.

However, LaChapelle also reflected on the downside of his role in “promoting” celebrity worship. In the interview with Nosheen Iqbal for The Guardian, he states that; “I love glamour and fashion and beauty – that has been with civilizations forever, but I needed to get away from the propaganda of that. When I quit everything, I never wanted to shoot another pop star as long as I lived, I was tortured by them” (10). Even LaChapelle himself questioned if he really brought “culture down” after someone commented “[t]he person who gave us Paris Hilton and destroyed our culture is now gonna go live in the jungle” (10).

Conclusion

This essay, like the wide arrange of theories regarding celebrity worship’s ties to religion, does not end with one all-compassing answer concerning the extent to which celebrity worship and religious worship can be considered to be similar. Hopefully, this essay contributes to the conversation and can serve as a starting point for others to look at the more literal depictions of celebrities as saints and the way celebrities’ (media) representation contributes to people’s feeling towards a celebrity. LaChapelle is, of course, quite unique in how far he goes in portraying celebrities as divine beings, but even so, – given the fame of his images, – there is something in this concept that seems to capture people’s interest. Whilst he participates in the glorification of these stars, arguably he can only do so successfully if people actually connect something they were already feeling with the pictures he creates. Whether the portrayal of celebrities as saints and Jesus as a celebrity is an accurate representation of the similarities of celebrity worship compared to religious worship, remains up for discussion.

However, LaChapelle definitely made this conversation a lot more tangible and colorful through his explicit portrayal of some of America’s biggest idols, from Jesus Christ to Michael Jackson.

References 1 LaChapelle, David. American Jesus: Hold Me, Carry Me Boldly, Hawaii. 2009. Groninger Museum, Groningen.

2 Liebman, Lisa. “A Look Inside David LaChapelle’s Final Published Collection.”

VanityFair, accessed May 15, 2018. https:// www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/12/davidlachapelle-photo-collection 3 Ward, Pete. 2011. Gods Behaving Badly: Media, Religion and Celebrity Culture. Waco: Baylor UP. Accessed June 12, 2018.

4 Heinich, Nathalie. 2014. “Limits of Religious Analogy: The Example of Celebrity.” Social Sciences 3, no.1 : 71-83. Accessed June 13, 2018.

5 Rojek, Chris. 2001. Celebrity. London: Reaktion Books Ltd. 6 LaChapelle, David. Archangel Michael - “And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer.”

1990. In Good News of Great Joy For All part II. Köln: TASCHEN GMBH, 2017.

7 LaChapelle, David. Oh Happy Day!!, Hawaii.

2007. In Good News of Great Joy For All part II. Köln: TASCHEN GMBH, 2017.

8 LaChapelle, David. “Death Is Not The Greatest Loss In Life. The Greatest Loss – Is What Dies While Still Alive” – Tupac Shakur, California. 1996. In Good News of Great Joy For All part II. Köln: TASCHEN GMBH, 2017.

9 LaChapelle, David. Anointing. 2003.

Groninger Museum, Groningen.

10 Iqbal, Nosheen. “Photographer David LaChapelle: ‘I never wanted to shoot another pop star – I was tortured by them.’” The Guardian, accessed May 15, 2018. https:// www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/ nov/21/david-lachapelle-photographer-hawaiiwarhol 11 LaChapelle, David. Last Supper. 2003.

Groninger Museum, Groningen.

12 LaChapelle, David. Evidence of a Miraculous Event. 2003. Groninger Museum, Groningen.

13 LaChapelle, David. Sermon. 2003. Groninger Museum, Groningen.

Utopias That Bite Devising and Inspiring Long-Term Change

Since the fall of the U.S.S.R. in 1989, utopianism – previously imagined as a belief that the future can fundamentally surpass the present, increasing altruism and securing relative order – has lost its edge. The “simple faith in free-market ‘growth’ and progress” is waning as people begin to realize that maybe, just maybe, it is impossible to reconcile the unrestrained expanding population with the continuous depletion of our finite natural resources. Yet, “confidence in a new and different society is dead.” A new consensus has emerged: “There are no alternatives.” Where does this idea come from?

Does not utopia scream equality, harmony and peace? We live in an age wherein utopian proposals are, from the outset, set aside as childish, unrealistic or even dangerous. Utopia’s name and image is tainted. Nonetheless, I argue for the return of utopianism to the social and political landscape.

Author: Tess Beukema Illustrator: Marina Sulima, Olivia D'Cruz, Veronica Gorii

46 — Utopias That Bite

“81% of millennials do not believe in today’s politicians.”

Utopianism – previously imagined as a belief that the future can fundamentally surpass the present, containing vice, expanding altruism and securing relative order – has vanished (1). Ipsos Mori’s 2015 survey showed that the majority of young people, especially in developed nations, believe that they will have a worse future than their parents’ generation.

People are sceptical of the positive impacts of businesses, and Deloitte’s Millennial Survey pointed out that just 19% of millennials endorses today’s political leaders and governmental institutions. The “simple faith in free-market ‘growth’ and progress,” as Gregory Claeys explains, is waning as people begin to realize that maybe, just maybe, it is impossible to reconcile the unrestrained expanding population with the continuous depletion of our finite natural resources (2). Yet, we refuse to look at the alternatives. Do alternatives even exist in our current day and age? The last concrete attempt at ‘revolution’ was a bloody failure, literally and figuratively, and collapsed in 1989. Other smallscale utopian experiments, think of 19th century Brook Farm in America for example, generally did not last longer than a generation or two until people lost sight of their principles or simply gave up. In the broader spectrum, however, people have lost faith in utopia as well. Regardless of our current disbelief in the concept of utopia, I want to propose its return to the social, but also to the eco-political landscape. In an age tormented by global warming, terrorism, poverty, and rampant social inequality, utopianism could offer us answers. By means of exploring how we lost faith in utopia, I will diagnose our society as ill in its pursuit of normalcy and ridicule of the ‘different’. I will unravel the benefits of utopianism in its dual role as social critique and, next, by evaluating the role of utopia as an open eye for possibility. “Confidence in a new and different society is dead,” Russell Jacoby writes in his 2005 novel Picture Imperfect: Utopian Thought for an Anti-Utopian Age (3). A new consensus has emerged: “There are no alternatives.” Where does this idea come from? Does not utopia scream equality, harmony and peace?

Losing Faith: A Diagnosis

Faith in utopianism has declined as a consequence of several global, or Western, trends of the past 50 years (1). First, and foremost, the recent history of failed utopian projects at the hands of Hitler, Stalin and Mao, logically warped our perceptions of what utopia actually entails, and, leads to. Utopianism, when pursued, can prove ‘literally fatal,’ as Isaiah Berlin, himself having witnessed the 1917 revolution in Russia, famously said (4). When improvement becomes salvation, salvation inevitably leads to impatience, mutating even the most ambitious and free utopias into nightmarish dystopias. “Some paradox of our natures,” American literary critic Lionel Trilling describes, “leads us, when once we have made our fellow men the objects of our enlightened interest, to go on to make them the objects of our pity, then of our wisdom, ultimately of our coercion.” Radicalism, therefore, ultimately leads to totalitarianism if viewed in this light. However, utopia, as a working concept, is not meant to be complete, flawless, or final (2).

Already in the 1950s the end of idealist, or utopian, thinking was predicted. ‘Constancy’ was to be the new standard, which was found in our own system. “Imperfect and unjust as Western society is in many respects,” Raymond Aron wrote in 1955, “it progressed sufficiently (…) so that reforms appear more promising than violence and unpredictable disorder” (1). What is so relevant

“Utopianism, when pursued, can prove ‘literally fatal.’” about this quote is its accuracy in predicting the self-fulfilling nature such a hypernormalising attitude captures. Hypernormalisation, a term coined by anthropologist Alexei Yurchak in 2006, aims to explain the “paradoxes of life in the Soviet Union” in its Autumn years. “Everyone knew the system was

Philosophy & Anthropology — 47

failing,” he explains, “but as no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo, politicians and citizens were resigned to maintaining a pretence of a functioning society.” Over time, the ‘fakeness’ became so ordinary that it was accepted by everyone as real.

In our society, the same effects of hypernormalisation are visible. The BBC documentary HyperNormalisation (2016) by Adam Curtis, explores the ways in which the world’s economic and political leaders have been constructing a stable ‘fake world’ of consumerism and prosperity after giving up on the complex ‘real world’ in the 1970s (5). Imagining

“People no longer hearken back to a golden age.” anything other than the existing state of affairs is written off as utopianism. We, thus, live in a world that feigns perfection. Or, at any rate, acts as if the now is “the best we can get” to keep our system operational. “People no longer hearken back to a golden age,” Gregory Claeys explains in Searching for Utopia, “we would rather shop.” Consumerism is our new utopia of choice after globalisation, secularisation and diminishing nationalism robbed us of our old communal safety nets. The free market will bring us wealth, prosperity and progress. Adam Smith promised us an ‘invisible hand’ will stabilise the system and economists and politicians tell us trickle-down economics provides a better quality of living for everyone (2,6). Or, that is what we told ourselves. If nothing will become better than the ‘now’ – a view shared by many if we can believe the many (inter)national surveys on the topic – what do we need utopianism for?

Showing What Is Missing

Utopianism is, first and foremost, a form of social critique by highlighting ‘what is missing,’ to use Lewis Mumford’s words from The Story of Utopia, or to illustrate what is ‘wrong’ with the socio-political landscape at the time (3). One must certainly refer to Thomas More’s Utopia, written in 1516, which follows this exact function (7). Utopia, as both a title and place name, refers to the two-part structure in the book by playing with the words eutopia, ‘good place’ and utopia, ‘no place’. Book I, which involves a dialogue between several characters, consists of a written correspondence regarding the political and organisational issues of the imagined island.

Irrespective of the contentious ‘real purpose’ of the text – that being satire, doubt or a serious premeditated solution to England’s afflictions – “a social critique is undoubtedly offered in Utopia.”

Gregory Claeys mentions the displacement of thousands of peasants to make place for largescale sheep farming, which resulted in extensive unemployment, inflation and increasing capital punishment to keep the begging and stealing poor in check as the incentive for More’s text. More was very alarmed at these developments and commented on them explicitly, “There are dreadful punishments enacted against thieves,” More tells Hythloday in a letter, “but it were much better to make such good provisions by which every man might be put in a method how to live, and so be preserved from the fatal necessity of stealing and of dying for it.” Similar commentaries on, at that time, contemporary social problems are common themes in utopian thought and literature (2). Plato’s The Republic, as an example, was a critique, among other things, of democracy. Athens, in the second half of the 5th century BC, underwent a recent defeat against the Spartans, deteriorating power as a polis, and Plato’s mentor Socrates was condemned to death by a public forum of citizens (8). Hence, The Republic propagates a non-democratic society wherein just philosopher-kings rule and make most, if not all, important decisions. Even more recent utopian visions such as Karl Marx’s Das Kapital,

48 — Utopias That Bite

start off with a lengthy analysis of the state society is in to diagnose what is wrong, before showing what is possible (3). Similarly, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, which warns us of society’s obsession with capitalism and behavioural manipulation.

When applying this critical lens to our own societies, we can directly see a few points of improvement. The market-system, to take one, drives individuals to accumulate property, status and power at the expense of others, in so doing, maximising inequality and selfish behaviour: all enemies of utopian, or ideal, societies. The ‘havenots’ are increasingly unable to keep up, and the ‘haves’ start to, literally, build walls to keep the ‘have-nots’ out. Inequality, as measured by the InequalityTrust, is one of the main reasons behind violence and poverty, while more equal societies are proven to be (mentally) healthier and more innovative (6). Thomas More, in his Utopia, decided to solve the fundamental issue of inequality by abolishing money and private property, while Karl Marx, for example, created communism. Regardless of whether we like these solutions or not, utopias require “a concrete condition to negate”, or a position against which to situate itself to brand itself as a feasible alternative (1). However, despite our loss of longing and fulfilment, which is a shame to creative and ingenious thinking according to Jacoby, utopianism does not constitute impractical unreasonableness or mere dreaming. By forcing us to look in the mirror – regardless if it paints a satirical or painfully realistic picture – we can attempt to change our dismissive attitudes and take the next step: to fight our wish to be misled and to start envisioning a more equal, harmonious, or a more sustainable utopia (3,9,10).

Showing What Is Possible

Are we even capable of using the idea of utopia in a more constructive way to deal with problems of the present? Nowadays, the world has lost its, perhaps utopian, ability to identify what is wrong or what is missing in order to improve and to instigate ‘real’ progress. “We … live in an age of resignation,

“We live in an age of resignation, routine, and, perhaps alarm.” routine, and,” Jacoby adds, “perhaps alarm.” We see a system that is not working but we have collectively decided to not do anything. Instead we decide to shop, as Claeys put it. To buy that new iPhone. To work for a good job instead of working to better the lives of other people. To blissfully ignore. We have become used to shutting our eyes and ears to the issues that currently permeate our social, political and economic systems, that even if someone were to point them out, we would not believe them (5). People proposing alternative ideas are called ‘crazy’, ‘conspiracy theorists’ or, a more common example in our current day and age: ‘an annoying vegan’. Stability is preferred over social upheaval, and capitalism, despite its many flaws to which we close our eyes, is seen as the only viable means of structuring the economy, politics and, increasingly, our lives (6).

Utopias differ greatly in their realistic attainability, seriousness, or precise time, place and location, hence, the famous “once upon a time” line. Yet, they provide us with a possible other human fate, that offers long-term solutions to the issues and problems that threaten the world today (4). Book II of More, for example, does this exquisitely by describing Utopia’s economic system, the island, and social structures, in detail. Jacoby calls this a ‘blueprint utopia’ (3). Tommaso Campanella’s The City of the Sun, written in 1602, belongs to this tradition and brings even More’s island to shame: “[The people] wear white under-garments to which adheres a covering, which is at once coat and legging, without wrinkles. The borders of the fastenings are furnished with globular buttons, extended round and caught up here and there by chains… (3,11).” Well, you get the idea. Yet, highly structured utopias such as these irrevocably risk

Philosophy & Anthropology — 49

being abused, and, are not attractive to most people today. “[U]topians like Plato and [More] were mistaken in trying to design such a system,” Lester H. Hunt explains when referring to their universal approaches, “There can’t be one sort of society that is optimally good for everyone: People are just too different" (12).

Even so, I argue for the utopian spirit these idealised utopias proliferate. A utopianism that does not busy itself with the exact measurements of the readings quarters and the number of hours per workday, but listens to utopianism as a belief in betterment and change (3). In other words, utopia as a method for brainstorming improvement of long-term global problems, not as a clearly defined goal that needs to be realised or salvaged.

Responsible Utopianism

What differentiates utopianism from mere dreaming or fantasy is its capacity to link itself to reality. Utopias are not perfect, nor finished and complete, but if they are imagined communities, Claeys states, “they are specifically more equal imaginary communities.” With our current intellectual and imaginative stagnation – or even ‘death’ if we may believe Russell Jacoby – devising change, even within our current system, becomes tough (1). Without the capacity to even imagine anything other than the status quo, it will be extremely hard, or even impossible, to come up with long-term solutions to persistent problems such as climate change, world poverty and social inequality. To do this, it is necessary to diagnose the root of the problem and to work from this onwards to practical solutions. It is to our individual, but also to societal, and global interest that we regain our sense of imagination and will to better the future. It is our future, but all of us have the responsibility to give it shape. It does not have to be similar to Thomas More’s Utopian society, nor to Marx’s Revolution, but, “the old ideal worlds can lend us hope, inspiration,” and, “a sense of what to aspire for as well as what to avoid” (2). Utopia needs to be viewed as a way of thinking, not necessarily as a completed project.

Without a ‘utopian impulse’ politics and future visions turn stale and remains hopelessly toothless.

References 1 Jacoby, R. The End of Utopia: Politics and Culture in an Age of Apathy. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

2 Claeys, G. Searching for Utopia: The History of an Idea. New York, New York: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 2011.

3 Jacoby, R. Picture Imperfect: Utopian Thought for an Anti-Utopian Age. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.

4 Rothstein, E., and H. Muschamp. Visions of Utopia. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

5

HyperNormalisation. Directed by Adam Curtis. 2h 46m. BBC, 2016. Youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fny99f8amM (Accessed 10 June, 2018).

6

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward. Directed by Peter Joseph. 2h 41m. Gentle Machine Productions, 2011. Netflix NL.

7 More, T, and C. H. Miller (Translator). Utopia. New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, 2014.

8 Rubin, G. “Historical context for Plato,” Columbia College, CUNY. https://www.college. columbia.edu/core/content/republic/context (Accessed 14 June, 2018).

9 Levitas, R. “Looking for the blue: The necessity of utopia.” Journal of Political Ideologies 12, no. 3 (October 2007): 289–306.

10 Wright, E. O. Envisioning Real Utopias. London ; New York: Verso, 2010.

11 Campanella, T. The City of the Sun. Waiheke Island: Floating Press, 2009.

12 Hunt, L. H. “The Quest for Utopia.” In Anarchy, State, and Utopia: An Advanced Guide.

Chichester, West Sussex, UK; Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2015.

Colophon Editorial Board Piotr G.S. Schulkes President Umme Aiemun Organisational Officer Madalina Nicolai Design Dora Vrhoci Blog and Website Graphic Design Jelmer Tjoelker Illustrators Marina Sulima marinasulima.myportfolio.com Olivia D'Cruz www.behance.net/dcruzolivi94b7 Veronica Gorii www.rrroni.com Cover Jelmer Tjoelker Marina Sulima Olivia D'Cruz Veronica Gorii

We thank our reviewers, the Council of Experts, the Honours College team, Geja Duiker and the Minerva Art Academy for their work and support. We acknowledge the University of Groningen Honours College for their financial support.

Issue 12 / February 2019 / ISSN 2214-6083 Edition: 500 copies Honours Review is a publication of students at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

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