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August 18, 2025

How Trump’s separate meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy have advanced Russian interests

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By James Horncastle, Assistant Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser University

The current phase of the war in Ukraine continues unabated into its fourth year, with grinding offences and strikes against civilian infrastructure increasingly the norm.

It is, for Ukraine, arguably the most vulnerable that it has been since 2022.

These developments have prompted calls among world leaders to end the conflict. On the surface, United States President Donald Trump’s meetings with both the Ukrainian and Russian leaders suggests a balanced approach. In reality, however, Trump’s actions primarily benefit Russia.

The Alaska summit

After the recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Trump declared that their summit had been “very useful.” When asked how he would rate the meeting on a scale of one to 10, the president declared the meeting “was a 10 in the sense we got along great.”

While Trump and Putin may have hit it off, the issue with such an assessment is that it failed to address the underlying reason for the meeting: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In this regard, the meeting was far more useful for Putin and Russia than Ukraine and its allies.

Putin managed to stoke tensions, and potentially divisions, among Ukraine’s principal supporters by not including Ukraine in the summit. No other countries participated in the summit.

This format caused considerable consternation in Ukraine, where it was feared that Trump would make an agreement without Ukrainian consent, as well as in Europe, where Russian aggression and revisionism is a more direct threat.

Prior to Trump assuming power for a second time in 2025, Ukraine benefited from a largely united front among NATO and the European Union. This unity has declined over the last several months, and the Alaska summit reinforced this decline to Russia’s benefit.

Ceasefire demand evaporated

Putin and his negotiators managed to obtain a major concession from Trump at the summit as Trump renounced his own recent calls for a ceasefire.

For Ukraine and its allies, achieving a ceasefire was a fundamental requirement for any peace negotiations in 2025. This precondition has become more significant as Russia ramps up its attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilians.

Lastly, the very nature of the Alaska meeting itself helped legitimize Russia in international opinion.

Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has courted international opinion. It’s been more successful than most people in Europe and North America realize as significant portions of Asia, Africa and Latin America remain ambivalent or even support Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Nonetheless, Russia was always restrained by the condemnation it’s received from multiple international organizations, most notably the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.

Trump welcoming Putin on American soil, when the Russian leader is under what amounts to a de facto travel ban by the International Criminal Court, undermines these institutions’ condemnations.

Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington

The benefits that Putin obtained from Trump in Alaska demanded an immediate response by Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promptly arranged a White House meeting with Trump in the aftermath of the Alaskan summit. And he didn’t arrive alone: European leaders accompanied him to show solidarity with Ukraine.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted the European leaders weren’t on hand to prevent Trump from bullying Zelenskyy, as occurred during their last Oval Office meeting.

That’s probably only partly true. Several European leaders — ranging from the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to French President Emmanuel Macron — almost assuredly accompanied Zelenskyy to prevent Trump from forcing the Ukrainian leader into concessions that are detrimental to their interests as well.

Trump’s pre-meeting social media post undoubtedly heightened their concerns. In the post, he placed the burden of peace on Zelenskyy and argued that Ukraine must accept the loss of Crimea and never accede to NATO.

Carefully orchestrated

Ukrainian officials sought to carefully orchestrate Zelenskyy’s one-on-one Oval Office meeting with Trump. Zelenskyy wore a suit and delivered a letter from the Ukrainian first lady to Melania Trump.

These and other efforts aimed to stroke Trump’s ego, and the president’s response — in particular agreeing with a reporter that Zelenskyy “look(ed) fabulous” in a suit — suggests it was a success. The same American reporter criticized Zelenskyy for failing to don a suit during his ill-fated February White House visit.

Notably, Trump did not rule out a role for American soldiers in helping to maintain peace in Ukraine during the meeting. Outside observers believe an American presence in Ukraine to maintain any eventual peace is a fundamental requirement for its success.

Unfortunately, while Trump did not immediately oppose the idea, he did not make any firm commitment either. Trump’s propensity to reverse course on statements that he makes in the moment, furthermore, undermines any firm takeaways from the meeting.

Hope versus reality

Any direct American involvement in Ukraine would also undermine his support among his political base. One of Trump’s key campaign promises was not to involve the U.S. in “endless foreign wars.”

A move by Trump to deploy American soldiers to Ukraine would be politically tenuous, as fractures are already emerging among his political base over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Trump’s cordial meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders may fuel hope among Ukraine’s supporters in the coming days. But any optimism should be tempered by the damage done by Trump’s meeting with Putin. Trump reportedly interrupted the meetings in Washington to call Putin.

Trump’s unwillingness to make firm commitments at the meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders means that Russia, on the balance, has succeeded in advancing its interests to the detriment of Ukraine and the prospects for a long-term, sustainable peace.

James Horncastle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How Trump’s separate meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy have advanced Russian interests – https://theconversation.com/how-trumps-separate-meetings-with-putin-and-zelenskyy-have-advanced-russian-interests-263372

August 18, 2025

Una nueva esperanza para los afectados por epidermólisis bullosa o ‘piel de mariposa’

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Marta García Domingo, Profesora Titular de Universidad. Área de Trabajo Social y Servicios Sociales, Universidad de Jaén

Según la organización Rare Diseases International, se estima que existen más de 6 000 enfermedades raras, y que, en conjunto, afectan a unos 300 millones de personas en todo el mundo. Las cifras reflejan no solo la variedad de este tipo de patologías, sino también la magnitud del desafío global que representa su diagnóstico, tratamiento y comprensión.

La epidermólisis bullosa es una afección genética, crónica e incurable, caracterizada por una extrema fragilidad de la piel y las mucosas. Provoca la formación de ampollas y erosiones ante el mínimo traumatismo y puede dar lugar a complicaciones extracutáneas graves.

Metafóricamente, esta fragilidad se compara con la delicadeza de una mariposa, y de ahí que reciba el nombre coloquial y más conocido de “piel de mariposa”. Aunque pueda sonar lejana, cualquier persona podría ser portadora del gen sin saberlo: se estima que una de cada 227 lo es. Según cálculos estadísticos, en España podría haber entre 500 y 1 000 personas con epidermolisis bullosa.

El impacto social en el núcleo familiar

Un estudio reciente que hemos realizado en la Universidad de Jaén ha evidenciado el profundo impacto multidimensional que genera esta dolencia en el núcleo familiar. Desde el nacimiento, la enfermedad exige cuidados continuos y complejos: curas diarias que pueden durar varias horas, una alimentación especializada, visitas médicas frecuentes y un sinfín de gestiones burocráticas para acceder a recursos o tratamientos.

Ante estas circunstancias, las relaciones de pareja suelen resentirse por el estrés continuo y la falta de espacios compartidos. Los vínculos intrafamiliares se tensan por la sobrecarga emocional, el reparto desigual de responsabilidades y la imposibilidad de planificar o vivir con normalidad. El aislamiento social se convierte en una constante, ya sea por las limitaciones impuestas por el cuidado diario o por la escasa comprensión del entorno, que suele desconocer la enfermedad y minimizar sus consecuencias.

Leer más:
El albinismo es mucho más que falta de pigmentación

La intensa carga emocional, atravesada por sentimientos de culpa, tristeza, ansiedad e incertidumbre, se ve agravada por la escasa información y sensibilización sobre la enfermedad.

También es significativo el impacto económico, con un aumento de gastos asociados al cuidado y una reducción de ingresos, especialmente por la renuncia laboral de las madres, que suelen asumir el rol de cuidadoras principales.

El sistema sanitario tiende a centrarse en lo visible: en la herida, en la piel. Y deja fuera del foco aquello que también necesita atención urgente: el bienestar familiar.

Llega la terapia génica

La buena noticia es que, por primera vez, la ciencia ha logrado ofrecer una solución más allá del alivio sintomático para quienes viven con epidermólisis bullosa. En febrero de 2025, la Agencia Europea del Medicamento aprobó la primera terapia génica para tratar una de sus formas más graves: la epidermólisis bullosa distrófica.

Este avance, fruto de años de investigación y ensayos clínicos, representa un hito histórico. No es una cura definitiva, pero sí un paso gigante hacia un tratamiento más específico, menos invasivo y potencialmente transformador. Por primera vez, no se trata solo de aliviar el dolor, sino de corregir una parte del origen del problema.

El fármaco, comercializado bajo el nombre de Viyuvek, ha sido desarrollado por el laboratorio estadounidense Krystal Biotech. Consiste en un tratamiento tópico que promueve la producción de colágeno tipo VII, proteína esencial para la cohesión de la piel.

Esta acción directa sobre la causa genética de la enfermedad ha demostrado efectos concretos: una mejora notable en la cicatrización de las heridas y disminución del dolor crónico asociado.

Una esperanza que plantea nuevas preguntas

La aprobación de Viyuvek abre un escenario lleno de posibilidades. Por primera vez, una terapia tiene el potencial de intervenir directamente sobre la causa de la enfermedad, y no solo sobre sus síntomas. Esto puede traducirse en una mejora significativa de la calidad de vida: menos heridas, menos dolor, mayor autonomía y menor impacto en el núcleo familiar.

Sin embargo, también surgen preguntas importantes: ¿podrán acceder a este tratamiento todas las personas que lo necesiten? ¿Estarán los sistemas sanitarios preparados para incorporarlo? ¿Cómo se regulará su uso y financiación en diferentes países?

El tiempo dirá si Viyuvek se convierte en una opción accesible de forma global o si su implementación dependerá de factores como la estructura del sistema de salud, los recursos disponibles o la voluntad política.

Frente al dolor, la incertidumbre o la falta de recursos, el tiempo y la inacción también dejan huella.

Las personas firmantes no son asalariadas, ni consultoras, ni poseen acciones, ni reciben financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y han declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado anteriormente.

– ref. Una nueva esperanza para los afectados por epidermólisis bullosa o ‘piel de mariposa’ – https://theconversation.com/una-nueva-esperanza-para-los-afectados-por-epidermolisis-bullosa-o-piel-de-mariposa-258732

August 18, 2025

Cómo aprender a cuidar nuestros cuerpos desde una pedagogía sensible

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By María Esther Prados Megías, Licenciada en Educación Física. Profesora Titular. Área Didáctica de la Expresión Corporal. Doctora en Antropología Social y Cultural, Universidad de Almería

“Ahora me veis así, delgaducho, pero cuando estaba en el insti estaba gordito… ¡Os podéis imaginar cómo se metían conmigo! Siempre estaba llorando, incluso en mi casa, pero cuando nadie me veía (…) Un día en una clase de Educación Física hicimos juegos con mimo, imitar, mirarnos al espejo, gritar juntos… Estas actividades me dieron la oportunidad de hacer cosas juntos sin medirme con nadie, de moverme a la vez que hacía algo diferente; sentía que cuidaba mi cuerpo, que me daba alegría moverme; algo me pasó que empecé a valorar mi cuerpo de otra forma, así como soy. Recuerdo que me fui a casa pensando en algunas preguntas que nos hizo la profe sobre la actividad y llegué a la conclusión de que ¿quién ha dicho que hay cuerpos perfectos?” (Fede, 2024).

“Yo soy más lenta, menos ágil, más enclenque. Un día en clase de gimnasia hicimos ejercicios muy divertidos con pañuelos de colores y de respiración. Me concentré y sentí que mi cuerpo flotaba. Fue chulo sentir que a los demás también le pasaba lo mismo que a mí. Entonces ya no importaba mi lentitud, ni mi torpeza. Sentía alegría por mí y por los demás. Fue la primera vez que no sentía miedo en gimnasia, que formaba parte del grupo” (Blanca, 2024).

Fede y Blanca nos relatan uno de los episodios vividos en su etapa de secundaria, algo relativamente reciente y presente para ambos. Hoy se están formado para ser maestro y maestra de Educación Física en primaria. Como otros compañeros, han participado en una de las investigaciones que desarrollamos en la formación inicial del profesorado, en las que buscamos maneras de enseñar más “sensibles”, inclusivas y amables en Educación Física.

El relato biográfico

Esta investigación utiliza el relato biográfico, en este caso relatos escolares, como instrumento para la obtención de información. El alumnado puede narrar alguna experiencia o recuerdo relacionado con su cuerpo en clases de Educación Física en cualquiera de las etapas educativas o formativas.

A través del relato se reflexiona sobre su experiencia vivida y encarnada. Al compartir sus experiencias, cada estudiante toma conciencia de qué ha vivido, de quién fue y quién es ahora.

Profundizar en lo que nos ha sucedido, en lo que nos duele, en lo que sentimos o pensamos también es aprender. Los relatos permiten, además, comprender el contexto sociocultural y educativo en el que hemos crecido y su papel en nuestras creencias. Por eso, los relatos ofrecen claves para reflexionar sobre el sistema educativo.

Del positivismo corporal a la pedagogía sensible

El denominado “positivismo corporal” ha derivado en el consumo de “lo sano” a partir de hábitos y prácticas estéticas, de alimentación y físico-deportivas. Se busca una “buena imagen corporal” que guste a los demás, siempre bajo cánones dominantes y mercantilistas. Estas prácticas y preocupación por el cuerpo han aumentado entre los jóvenes, incluso en edades tempranas.

Leer más:
Jóvenes, anuncios y perfección física: una mezcla explosiva

En gran medida, los discursos de la positividad corporal abogan por prácticas individualistas orientadas en el “tú puedes si quieres”. ¿Y si no se consigue?

Cuerpos sensibles que sienten

La propuesta de una pedagogía sensible invita a plantear prácticas educativas en las que el alumnado pueda acercarse a la experiencia “sintiente” de su cuerpo. Un cuerpo que es sensible a las diferencias, a lo distinto, a la diversidad de expresiones. Un cuerpo que duele, que a veces grita, que otras veces fluye, que a veces es torpe y otras inmensamente fuerte.

Un cuerpo que atiende a los sentidos y percepciones y a la forma en cómo nos podemos acercar a otro modo de tocar, ver, oler, sentir, escuchar y moverse de formas distintas, hacia el propio cuerpo y hacia el de los demás.

Leer más:
¿Es posible una educación física que vaya más allá de lo puramente físico?

Por ejemplo, como nos contaba Blanca en otro fragmento de su relato:

“Aprendiendo una danza en clase me di cuenta de lo importante que era la unión, pero sobre todo puse atención a una consigna que la profe decía: date cuenta, pon atención al

Este testimonio puede servir de ejemplo al profesorado para comprender la importancia de plantear actividades “sensibles”, es decir, propuestas que no se apoyan tanto en estándares educativos basados en clasificaciones, mediciones, resultados, rúbricas o rankings.

Habitar el cuerpo en la escuela

Los resultados de este estudio abogan, sobre todo en las etapas de escolarización obligatoria, por incluir en las clases de Educación Física propuestas que inviten a habitar el cuerpo, es decir, a sentirlo, a tomar conciencia de los diversos estados en los que está y a buscar formas de expresión en movimiento que narren lo que les sucede a las personas. Entre múltiples posibilidades, destacamos:

Crear espacios para visibilizar de forma segura, amable y respetuosa los cuerpos en movimiento. Es importante invitar al alumnado a relacionarse a través de la expresividad, la creatividad y el lenguaje no verbal como una forma pacífica y sensible de comunicación. Para profundizar en ello, el profesorado puede buscar diversas propuestas. Dejamos algunos materiales que se pueden consultar como: el proyecto EmoCrea del Cabildo de Canarias, el proyecto Bientratar o consultar libros como Educar con co-razón, Pedagogías Sensibles: sabores y saberes del cuerpo y la Educación, o Pedagogías corporales: una mirada interdisciplinar.
Proponer la escritura, leer personalmente o en voz alta –respetando el anonimato si así se desea– “relatos escolares” o generar performances, para que el alumnado pueda compartir su experiencia vital.

Se trata de aprender a conocernos desde las múltiples experiencias que conforman nuestro mapa corporal. Podemos ser “torpes” en un toque de dedos en voleibol y al mismo tiempo tener gran sentido del ritmo; ser muy ágiles haciendo una finta con el balón y al mismo tiempo no coordinar un juego de malabares. Cada persona ha de encontrar la forma propia para expresarse corporalmente. Dominar o no una acción no ha de ser motivo para catalogarnos ni física ni personalmente.

Al igual que somos diversos, las formas de expresión de nuestros cuerpos en movimiento son múltiples, como múltiples son las experiencias que nos van construyendo. Una pedagogía amable en Educación Física se vincula con aspectos como trabajar la paciencia, el silencio, el ritmo de cada persona, la conciencia corporal, comprender los límites, decirle palabras amables al propio cuerpo y al de los demás, mirarlos con respeto y compasión.

María Esther Prados Megías no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. Cómo aprender a cuidar nuestros cuerpos desde una pedagogía sensible – https://theconversation.com/como-aprender-a-cuidar-nuestros-cuerpos-desde-una-pedagogia-sensible-245594

August 18, 2025

Terapia a través del móvil para mujeres vulnerables en España y Perú

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Yolanda García Vázquez, Profesora de Trabajo Social, Universidade de Vigo

En Chitapampa y en Chinchero, Cusco, en el corazón de los Andes a unos 5 000 metros de altitud, un grupo de mujeres quechuas reciben el primer mensaje de voz en sus teléfonos móviles. “Buenos días, soy Yolanda, aprovecha el día, tiene 24 horas. Cuanto más tiempo dediques a actividades buenas y saludables, mejor te sentirás”. Previamente, en días anteriores, nos hemos conocido y compartido experiencias dentro de su comunidad. Durante varios meses las mujeres quechuas locales recibieron mis mensajes de voz y texto.

Es una muestra de cómo puede funcionar el servicio terapéutico especializado a través de telefonía móvil que hemos diseñado desde las universidades de Vigo, Santiago de Compostela, Cuzco y Apurimac para atender problemas de ansiedad, angustia, depresión, estrés o soledad de mujeres indígenas. Gracias a él, muchas mujeres de Perú reciben terapia a través de mensajes diarios enviados a su teléfono móvil personal.

Además de los mensajes personalizados, las usuarias del sistema de comunicación tienen la opción de participar en terapias de grupo cara a cara. En estas sesiones ofrecemos orientación, acompañamiento y consejos.

Les ayudamos a organizarse, a planificar, a mejorar sus relaciones sociales, a establecer metas realistas, a cuidar su dieta y a dar seguimiento a la medicación recetada por su médico. También atendemos aspectos relacionados con su actividad física diaria y brindamos apoyo para buscar equilibrio emocional y una mejor salud mental.

A más conexión, más salud

El sistema diseñado pone en evidencia barreras y limitaciones lingüísticas o culturales, así como falta de recursos y de destrezas para el uso de los dispositivos. Pero también constata impactos positivos sobre la salud de las mujeres participantes.

Dicho impactos incluyen una reducción del aislamiento, aumento de la adherencia a la medicación y mejora de la toma de decisiones. Las mujeres han expresado su satisfacción con la experiencia, aunque prefieren combinar la atención a través de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (TIC) con la presencialidad cara a cara.

Cuando las personas saben que pueden comunicarse con otras personas a través de mensajes de texto, vídeo o voz, se sienten conectadas. Este hecho tiene un impacto positivo en su salud general.

Ventajas de las TIC

Los teléfonos móviles se han convertido en la vía más accesible para la interacción mediada en la historia mundial. Los mensajes de texto representan una de las formas más utilizadas de comunicación. Su uso se ha generalizado en la terapia cognitivo-conductual, centrada en cómo están interconectados los pensamientos, los sentimientos y los comportamientos.

Resulta innegable que la comunicación cara a cara sigue siendo irreemplazable. Esta propicia una comunicación empática y genera un ambiente de confianza entre los profesionales de los servicios sociales y las personas usuarias. Pero se complementa con las formas de comunicación en línea para facilitar la atención personal.

Una de las ventajas que aporta el uso de las TIC reside en la gestión de datos y recursos. Por un lado, ofrecen un sistema de comunicación directo, rápido y sin intermediarios con las personas usuarias de los servicios sociales. Por otra parte, facilitan un acompañamiento social frecuente para informar, asesorar, aconsejar, orientar u apoyar las intervenciones individuales o grupales.

Hay que destacar también una reducción del número de visitas presenciales a los centros de salud gracias a la atención en línea.

Mujeres vulnerables

Las terapias psicosociales mediante comunicación móvil resultan especialmente eficaces para mejorar la salud mental, física y social de las mujeres vulnerables. Al impacto positivo en los problemas en el estado de ánimo, la ansiedad, la angustia, la soledad o el aislamiento, se suma la intervención para afrontar cuestiones como el desempleo, las adiciones y los abusos, entre otras.

Este es el planteamiento de una investigación de Mujeres Lab, una plataforma integrada por investigadoras de España y Latinoamérica que ya está desarrollando herramientas en línea.

La web Mujeres Vulnerables Lab en Perú, centrada en la atención psicosocial para acompañamiento de mujeres vulnerables indígenas, está ya operativa y trabaja con la comunidad quechua de Chitapampa y el distrito Chinchero.

Más que una alternativa a la intervención cara a cara

Desde una perspectiva basada en el pragmatismo, la investigadora Camilla Granholm, de la Universidad de Helsinki, considera que existe un espacio para desarrollar servicios sociales mediante la atención combinada cara a cara y en línea.

Pese a la evidencia investigadora, los profesionales de los servicios sociales muestran poco interés en integrar las tecnologías de la comunicación en su práctica diaria.

Estos formatos en línea se consideran útiles solo para casos de personas dependientes y con restricciones de movilidad, cuidadores de enfermos crónicos o adolescentes. También para personas que viven en zonas rurales remotas. Todas ellas tienen en común problemas de aislamiento y movilidad para desplazarse y recibir atención cara a cara.

Sin embargo, los formatos de atención psicosocial en línea también son útiles para mujeres víctimas de violencia de género, mujeres migrantes o mujeres desempleadas de larga duración.

Futuro interdisciplinar

Resulta necesario identificar beneficios y desafíos para aplicar las TIC en la atención psicosocial a personas en situación de vulnerabilidad. Existe un déficit de información para entender la alfabetización digital y la accesibilidad, así como el valor de la terapia virtual para mujeres vulnerables.

El estudio de dichos beneficios y desafíos nos ha permitido detectar una oportunidad a través de la interdisciplinariedad. El software especializado para el acompañamiento social y apoyo terapéutico del futuro tendrá que ser desarrollado por profesionales de los servicios sociales en colaboración interdisciplinar con ingenieros informáticos, profesionales sanitarios, trabajadores sociales, psicólogos y otros científicos sociales.

La digitalización debe ser una parte fundamental de la formación y cualificación de los profesionales de los servicios sociales del mañana. No solo en cuestiones de uso, sino también en términos éticos y de protección de datos. Esto debería ser objeto de más estudios.

Líneas de investigación

Respecto a los avances necesarios para mejorar el acompañamiento social y apoyo terapéutico para personas en situación de vulnerabilidad es importante diseñar investigaciones interdisciplinares y multidisciplinares que permitan:

Identificar, clasificar buenas y malas prácticas en diferentes tipos de personas vulnerables.
Facilitar la transferencia de resultados de investigación a los gestores de las políticas públicas y profesionales de los servicios sociales.
Desarrollar investigación experimental o cuasi experimental con grupos de intervención y control.
Impulsar una red de universidades y empresas interesadas en el estudio de las TIC como instrumentos facilitadores del acompañamiento social y el apoyo terapéutico.
Desarrollar una línea de investigación internacional multidisciplinar en TIC y personas vulnerables.
Comparar el marco jurídico en diferentes países y su práctica profesional.

Más acompañadas y con más frecuencia

El acompañamiento social y atención terapéutica con uso de las TIC disminuye la vulnerabilidad social. La atención en línea, complementaria a la atención presencial, facilita la prevención, inclusión o rehabilitación psicosocial.

Las TIC son un instrumento innovador en las terapias de acompañamiento frente a la exclusión social y patologías de salud. Además, permiten el acceso a las terapias de acompañamiento social con una frecuencia diaria en las comunidades aisladas, rurales y urbanas, así como en colectivos bajo situación de vulnerabilidad.

Yolanda García Vázquez no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. Terapia a través del móvil para mujeres vulnerables en España y Perú – https://theconversation.com/terapia-a-traves-del-movil-para-mujeres-vulnerables-en-espana-y-peru-261729

August 18, 2025

Air Canada flight attendant ‘unlawful’ strike exposes major fault lines in Canadian labour law

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Gerard Di Trolio, PhD candidate, Labour Studies, McMaster University

Air Canada flight attendants say they will continue to defy a government back-to-work order after the federal labour relations board declared the strike “unlawful.” The walkout, which began early on Aug. 16, grounded hundreds of flights and left passengers stranded.

Less than 12 hours into the strike, the federal government intervened in the dispute between Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants. Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to impose binding arbitration and order employees back to work.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) condemned the move, accusing the government of “crushing flight attendants’ Charter rights.”

Air Canada reportedly encouraged the government to intervene, while CUPE pushed for a negotiated solution, arguing binding arbitration would ease pressure on the airline to negotiate fairly.

After a Sunday hearing, the Canada Industrial Relations Board released an order reiterating flight attendants should “cease all activities that declare or authorize an unlawful strike of its members” and “resume the performance of their duties.”

As an expert in unions and the politics of labour, I see this dispute as highlighting several fault lines in Canada around work, how we value it and the ways the law affects workers.

Mark Carney’s labour dilemma

Prime Minister Mark Carney currently faces the first labour crisis of his term. Carney had worked alongside labour leaders in the face of United States President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, even appointing Lana Payne, president of the Unifor trade union, to the new Canada-U.S. Relations Council.

The federal government’s decision to invoke Section 107 to send Air Canada and its flight attendants to arbitration continues a growing trend of its increasing use.

Section 107 has been part of the Canada Labour Code since 1984. It was rarely used for decades, but became more common last year when Justin Trudeau’s government invoked it several times to end work stoppages at ports, rail yards and Canada Post.

This is part of a longer history. Dating back to the 1970s, federal and provincial governments started interfering with free and fair collective bargaining through back-to-work legislation or by imposing contracts on public sector workers.

What has changed in recent decades is the federal government’s growing creep into the private sector. Under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, there were increasing threats to use back-to-work legislation, targeting CN Rail, CP Rail and Air Canada. These interventions were justified as protecting an economy emerging from a global financial crisis. The Harper government followed through with back-to-work legislation in the Air Canada and CP Rail cases.

If the Carney government continues to use back-to-work legislation, it could alienate unions that once saw him as a potential ally. Yet the public may be more receptive to it, given the country’s economic weakness and continued Trump threats.

The Air Canada strike could effect the trajectory not only of the government, but also the labour movement as well. It’s a strike that has major consequences for all workers in Canada, and its outcome will signal to workers across the country what they can expect in these uncertain times.

Defying the law is rare

CUPE’s decision to defy the Canadian government’s use of Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code comes with big risks but also potential victories.

A union or workers defying the law is hardly unprecedented, but is increasingly rare in an era where unions have been in an overall decline in Canada and globally.

The risks are significant for workers: heavy fines, termination of employment or even jail time for flight attendants and union officials.

If CUPE is successful, it would have a galvanizing effect, sending a message to workers across the country that they can stand up not only to their bosses, but to the state, in order to improve their labour circumstances.

However, for any kind of unlawful strike to be successful, there must be an incredible amount of unity among the workers. While CUPE leadership and the Canadian labour movement are strongly supportive of continuing the strike, rank-and-file flight attendants must be willing to stand their ground.

Even in a legal strike, unions only take the step of stopping work if they have an overwhelming amount of the membership on board. That need for solidarity is even greater for illegal action.

The reason why Canada has laws allowing unions, workplace safety and strikes is because of industrial militancy that often defied the law to force governments to enact legislation allowing for unions and strikes.

The flight attendant strike could be a barometer of increased labour organizing and action experienced across Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether that momentum for the labour movement can continue.

Work and gender

Another key issue at the heart of the strike is the gender wage gap, which continues to be an issue in Canada. While it has narrowed during this century, women in Canada still earn on average 12 per cent less than men. This gap is even wider for women who are newcomers, Indigenous, transgender or living with disabilities.

This disparity is closely tied to sectors where women are overrepresented, such as flight attendants, a workforce overwhelmingly made up of women. Across the Canadian workforce, 56 per cent of women are employed in the “5 Cs”: caring, clerical, catering, cashiering and cleaning. These occupations tend to be precarious and underpaid.

While airlines are part of transportation, the work that flight attendants perform is unmistakably service-based and covers much of the 5 Cs, including emotional labour and customer care.

For Air Canada flight attendants, the situation is compounded by the fact they are paid only while the plane is in motion, meaning they often perform unpaid work.

The gender dynamics become even clearer when comparing the treatment of flight attendants with that of Air Canada pilots.

In 2024, Air Canada pilots — who are mostly men — won a 26 per cent wage increase in the first year of their new contract and a 42 per cent increase overall. Air Canada’s most recent offer to its flight attendants was only an eight per cent increase in year one and 38 per cent overall.

“Air Canada’s male-dominated workforce received a significant cost-of-living wage increase. Why not the flight attendants, who are 70 per cent women?” Natasha Stea, president of the CUPE division that represents the Air Canada flight attendants, said in an Aug. 15 CUPE article.

In this context, the Air Canada strike is also a spotlight on systemic gender inequality, the undervaluing of service work and the fight for fair compensation in occupations dominated by women.

Gerard Di Trolio is a member of CUPE 3906 as a teaching assistant and sessional instructor at McMaster University.

– ref. Air Canada flight attendant ‘unlawful’ strike exposes major fault lines in Canadian labour law – https://theconversation.com/air-canada-flight-attendant-unlawful-strike-exposes-major-fault-lines-in-canadian-labour-law-263325

August 18, 2025

Trump-Putin summit: Veteran diplomat explains why putting peace deal before ceasefire wouldn’t end Russia-Ukraine war

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Donald Heflin, Executive Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and Senior Fellow of Diplomatic Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin leave at the conclusion of a press conference on Aug. 15, 2025 in Alaska. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

If you’re confused about the aims, conduct and outcome of the summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025, you’re probably not alone.

As summits go, the meeting broke with many conventions of diplomacy: It was last-minute, it appeared to ignore longstanding protocol and accounts of what happened were conflicting in the days after the early termination of the event.

The Conversation U.S.’s politics editor Naomi Schalit interviewed Donald Heflin, a veteran diplomat now teaching at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, to help untangle what happened and what could happen next.

It was a hastily planned summit. Trump said they’d accomplish things that they didn’t seem to accomplish. Where do things stand now?

It didn’t surprise me or any experienced diplomat that there wasn’t a concrete result from the summit.

First, the two parties, Russia and Ukraine, weren’t asking to come to the peace table. Neither one of them is ready yet, apparently. Second, the process was flawed. It wasn’t prepared well enough in advance, at the secretary of state and foreign minister level. It wasn’t prepared at the staff level.

What was a bit of a surprise was the last couple days before the summit, the White House started sending out what I thought were kind of realistic signals. They said, “Hopefully we’ll get a ceasefire and then a second set of talks a few weeks in the future, and that’ll be the real set of talks.”

Two men in dark clothes hugging each other. — UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, here embracing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London on Aug. 14, 2025, is one of many European leaders voicing strong support for Ukraine and Zelenskyy.
Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images

Now, that’s kind of reasonable. That could have happened. That was not a terrible plan. The problem was it didn’t happen. And we don’t know exactly why it didn’t happen.

Reading between the lines, there were a couple problems. The first is the Russians, again, just weren’t ready to do this, and they said, “No ceasefire. We want to go straight to permanent peace talks.”

Ukraine doesn’t want that, and neither do its European allies. Why?

When you do a ceasefire, what normally happens is you leave the warring parties in possession of whatever land their military holds right now. That’s just part of the deal. You don’t go into a 60- or 90-day ceasefire and say everybody’s got to pull back to where they were four years ago.

But if you go to a permanent peace plan, which Putin wants, you’ve got to decide that people are going to pull back, right? So that’s problem number one.

Problem number two is it’s clear that Putin is insisting on keeping some of the territory that his troops seized in 2014 and 2022. That’s just a non-starter for the Ukrainians.

Is Putin doing that because that really is his bottom line demand, or did he want to blow up these peace talks, and that was a good way to blow them up? It could be either or both.

Russia has made it clear that it wants to keep parts of Ukraine, based on history and ethnic makeup.

The problem is, the world community has made it clear for decades and decades and decades, you don’t get what you want by invading the country next door.

Remember in Gulf War I, when Saddam Hussein invaded and swallowed Kuwait and made it the 19th province of Iraq? The U.S. and Europe went in there and kicked him out. Then there are also examples where the U.S. and Europe have told countries, “Don’t do this. You do this, it’s going to be bad for you.”

So if Russia learns that it can invade Ukraine and seize territory and be allowed to keep it, what’s to keep them from doing it to some other country? What’s to keep some other country from doing it?

You mean the whole world is watching.

Yes. And the other thing the world is watching is the U.S. gave security guarantees to Ukraine in 1994 when they gave up the nuclear weapons they held, as did Europe. The U.S. has, both diplomatically and in terms of arms, supported Ukraine during this war. If the U.S. lets them down, what kind of message does that send about how reliable a partner the U.S. is?

The U.S. has this whole other thing going on the other side of the world where the country is confronting China on various levels. What if the U.S. sends a signal to the Taiwanese, “Hey, you better make the best deal you can with China, because we’re not going to back your play.”

Police dressed in combat gear help an old woman across rubble left after a bombing. — Ukrainian police officers evacuate a resident from a residential building in Bilozerske following an airstrike by Russian invading forces on Aug. 17, 2025.
Pierre Crom/Getty Images

At least six European leaders are coming to Washington along with Zelenskyy. What does that tell you?

They’re presenting a united front to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to say, “Look, we can’t have this. Europe’s composed of a bunch of countries. If we get in the situation where one country invades the other and gets to keep the land they took, we can’t have it.”

President Trump had talked to all of them before the summit, and they probably came away with a strong impression that the U.S. was going for a ceasefire. And then, that didn’t happen.

Instead, Trump took Putin’s position of going straight to peace talks, no ceasefire.

I don’t think they liked it. I think they’re coming in to say to him, “No, we have to go to ceasefire first. Then talks and, PS, taking territory and keeping it is terrible precedent. What’s to keep Russia from just storming into the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – next? The maps of Europe that were drawn 100 years ago have held. If we’re going to let Russia erase a bunch of the borders on the map and incorporate parts, it could really be chaotic.”

Where do you see things going?

Until and unless you hear there’s a ceasefire, nothing’s really happened and the parties are continuing to fight and kill.

What I would look for after the Monday meetings is, does Trump stick to his guns post-Alaska and say, “No, we’re gonna have a big, comprehensive peace agreement, and land for peace is on the table.”

Or does he kind of swing back towards the European point of view and say, “I really think the first thing we got to have is a ceasefire”?

Even critics of Trump need to acknowledge that he’s never been a warmonger. He doesn’t like war. He thinks it’s too chaotic. He can’t control it. No telling what will happen at the other end of war. I think he sincerely wants for the shooting and the killing to stop above all else.

The way you do that is a ceasefire. You have two parties say, “Look, we still hate each other. We still have this really important issue of who controls these territories, but we both agree it’s in our best interest to stop the fighting for 60, 90 days while we work on this.”

If you don’t hear that coming out of the White House into the Monday meetings, this isn’t going anywhere.

There are thousands of Ukrainian children who have been taken by Russia – essentially kidnapped. Does that enter into any of these negotiations?

It should. It was a terror tactic.

This could be a place where you can make progress. If Putin said, well, “We still don’t want to give you any land, but, yeah, these kids here, you can have them back,” it’s the kind of thing you throw on the table to show that you’re not a bad guy and you are kind of serious about these talks.

Whether they’ll do that or not, I don’t know. It’s really a tragic story.

Donald Heflin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Trump-Putin summit: Veteran diplomat explains why putting peace deal before ceasefire wouldn’t end Russia-Ukraine war – https://theconversation.com/trump-putin-summit-veteran-diplomat-explains-why-putting-peace-deal-before-ceasefire-wouldnt-end-russia-ukraine-war-263314

August 18, 2025

Malgré les critiques, on utilise encore le terme « anomalies » dans le contexte éducatif

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Roberta Soares, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

On peut s’étonner que le ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario continue d’utiliser le terme « anomalie » pour désigner des élèves dans le cadre de l’éducation spécialisée, malgré les critiques à l’égard de ce terme considéré capacitiste. Employé 87 fois dans un guide officiel encore en circulation, et désormais intégré à la Loi sur l’éducation, ce terme peut véhiculer de la stigmatisation.

Le document en question, « Éducation de l’enfance en difficulté en Ontario de la maternelle et du jardin d’enfants à la 12ᵉ année – Guide de politiques et de ressources » (2017), ne comporte d’ailleurs aucune définition explicite du terme « anomalie ». La mention « ébauche » figure sur la page de couverture, mais une note publiée sur leur site Web indique que, bien que le document n’ait pas été mis à jour, l’expression « enfance en difficulté » a été remplacée par « éducation spécialisée » depuis le début de 2025.

Professeure en éducation à l’Université d’Ottawa, je donne des cours aux futures personnes enseignantes, notamment concernant les questions portant sur l’éducation inclusive et le soutien à l’apprentissage. J’utilise la sociologie de l’éducation dans une perspective critique pour comprendre des enjeux d’équité, de diversité, d’inclusion, de justice sociale et de décolonisation liées aux différentes catégories sociales.

Déjà des milliers d’abonnés à l’infolettre de La Conversation. Et vous ? Abonnez-vous gratuitement à notre infolettre pour mieux comprendre les grands enjeux contemporains.

Des élèves atteints d’« anomalies » ?

Le document en question reprend la définition de l’élève « en difficulté » tirée de la Loi sur l’éducation, où il est décrit comme étant « atteint » d’« anomalies ». Plus précisément, il rappelle que cette loi, toujours en vigueur (première version en 1990, dernière mise à jour en 2025), identifie cinq catégories d’« anomalies » pour les élèves dits « en difficulté » : comportementales, communicationnelles, intellectuelles, physiques et multiples.

Selon ce document, il s’agit d’un outil d’« identification » des élèves « ayant des besoins particuliers » concernant « l’enfance en difficulté ». Même si aucune définition générale du terme « anomalie » n’y est proposée, dans les définitions des catégories d’« anomalies », on retrouve des termes tels que « difficulté », « trouble » et « handicap », ainsi que certains termes, tels que « grave », « degré » ou « manque », pour souligner leur intensité.

En 2018, dans sa Politique sur l’éducation accessible aux élèves handicapés, la Commission ontarienne des droits de la personne a mis en garde contre l’usage du terme « anomalie » pour désigner les situations de handicap, estimant qu’il s’agit d’une perspective capacitiste. Pourtant, le terme « anomalie » continue à être utilisé dans les documents gouvernementaux, notamment dans les règlements associés à la Loi sur l’éducation de l’Ontario, comme le Règlement 181/98, où il sert à catégoriser des élèves dans le contexte de l’éducation spécialisée.

Cet enjeu est important parce que les documents gouvernementaux ont une fonction d’orientation, voire normative. Ils servent de lignes directrices pour les institutions dans l’élaboration de leurs politiques et de leurs pratiques.

Pourquoi le terme « anomalie » peut-il être considéré comme capacitiste ?

Le terme « anomalie » peut être considéré capacitiste pour différentes raisons. Voici quatre raisons pouvant être centrales :

Renforcement du modèle médical : le terme « anomalie » provient du discours médical et diagnostique. Il est utilisé pour signaler des « défauts » ou des « irrégularités ». Il implique une déviation par rapport à la norme, renforçant une dichotomie entre « normal » et « anormal ».
Pathologisation de la différence : les systèmes éducatifs contribuent à pathologiser la différence. Ces individus ainsi qualifiés sont vus comme ayant des « problèmes » à corriger ou à gérer, plutôt que comme ayant des droits et des manières légitimes d’être et d’apprendre.
Contradiction avec le modèle social du handicap : le modèle social met l’accent sur le fait que ce sont les barrières systémiques qui produisent le handicap. Ainsi, l’emploi du terme « anomalie » localise le « problème » dans l’individu. Il s’agit d’une pensée déficitaire des élèves, autrement dit, d’une tendance à culpabiliser les élèves de leurs échecs.
Stigmatisation dans le langage : l’utilisation de ce langage courant peut avoir des connotations stigmatisantes, puisque le terme peut être associé à un mauvais phénomène. Par exemple, le dictionnaire définit l’« anomalie » comme étant un « écart » par rapport à la norme, une « exception à la règle », une « irrégularité », une « déviation » du « normal ». Bref, c’est l’« anormal ». C’est pourquoi les termes ici qui sont naturalisés (ex. « anomalie ») sont placés entre guillemets.

Alors, que peut-on faire à ce sujet ?

Je fais une invitation.

À qui ? À l’ensemble des acteurs et actrices sociaux impliqués à divers niveaux : les élèves et leurs pairs, les familles, les organismes communautaires, les universitaires, les écoles, les conseils scolaires, les gouvernements provincial et fédéral et, plus largement, la société dans son ensemble.

À faire quoi ? À adopter une posture non capacitiste à l’égard de la vie des individus, et en particulier ici, des élèves.

Comment ? Par une réflexion critique sur la reproduction des systèmes oppressifs tels que le colonialisme, le racisme, etc., surtout en tenant compte des recherches qui mettent en évidence la surreprésentation des élèves issus de groupes minorisés (ex. élèves noirs, élèves immigrants, etc.) dans l’éducation spécialisée.

Je recommande notamment la mise en place de formations à ce sujet pour les divers groupes impliqués, ainsi que la révision des documents officiels, en reconnaissant que le langage façonne les pratiques et les manières de penser et d’être des individus.

Roberta Soares ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Malgré les critiques, on utilise encore le terme « anomalies » dans le contexte éducatif – https://theconversation.com/malgre-les-critiques-on-utilise-encore-le-terme-anomalies-dans-le-contexte-educatif-260629

August 18, 2025

Cop30: the accommodation crisis plaguing Brazil’s upcoming UN climate summit

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Bruno Soeiro Vieira, Professor Adjunto, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA)

Cop30, the UN climate summit scheduled to take place this November in the Brazilian city of Belém, is embroiled in a controversy that has nothing to do with solving the planet’s environmental problems. Currently occupying debate about the conference is what Brazil’s press is calling the “hosting crisis”.

André Corrêa do Lago, president of Cop30, said that countries have been pressurising Brazil to move the UN climate conference from Belém to another city because of the “exorbitant prices” being charged for hotels. Some governments have even considered not taking part in the conference or reducing their delegations. But the Brazilian government has dismissed this possibility.

How did this happen? A very low number of available beds, the raising of room rates to a premium by hotel chains, and historical prejudice have all led to the perfect storm of the current crisis.

At the end of the 17th century, Belém had three times as many inhabitants as São Paulo. The state capital of Pará was also one of the first cities in the country to have public energy, powered by gas. The city was also experiencing the first rubber extraction boom.

But with the subsequent decline of rubber, Belém and other cities in the Amazon lost their prominence. Today Belém is a city of the developing world which, like many others, including Baku in Azerbaijan which hosted the Cop29 summit last year, faces a host of infrastructure problems.

In addition to the obvious lack of urban infrastructure which generates and deepens social inequalities, there are other problems. The hotel network is too small to accommodate a demand for more than 50,000 beds, the amount of people expected for Cop30.

The problem has been cascading, but it all started with the city’s hotel chains. From the start of the year, hotels began to increase the prices of accommodation, and raise prices even higher for the period of the event.

The problems with lack of affordable hotel accommodation and the state of the city’s infrastructure are of great concern. But any public and media discussion of the issues tends to end up belittling the city and the entire Amazon region, revealing an internal colonialism that has always existed in Brazil.

Behind the criticism of infrastructure and hotel prices often lies an enduring and historic prejudice that assumes that an Amazonian city could never host an event of this size and importance.

Possible solutions

It could be argued that there has been a historical inertia, or even lack of oversight on the part of national and state governments for not having foreseen these issues and taking steps to pre-empt them.

In the short term, price regulation is necessary, which the state can’t impose because it lacks the legal authorisation to do so. The consumer secretariat even requested that hotels provide information on room rates. But this request was ignored, with chains claiming that this is a market issue, a view endorsed by the Brazilian Hotel Association.

The federal Brazilian government has responded by bringing two ocean liners to the city, which will provide around 6,000 beds. The government has also created an online accommodation platform which will make 2,500 rooms available.

There are other options available. The UN could, for example, offer a greater subsidy to delegations from developing countries, in order to guarantee a greater number of participants. Accommodating delegates in neighbouring cities is another alternative.

With time running out, there is a risk that the event won’t be attended as well as it is hoped. And the presence of the largest number of countries and delegates at Cop30 is fundamental to legitimise the decisions that will be taken.

The people of Pará are hospitable and enjoy receiving visitors, and the area is rich in culture, architecture and cuisine. This is not a time for greed, but for welcoming people and showing them the city, its way of life and what the Amazon needs. After all, the people who understand the Amazon best are the Amazonians.

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Bruno Soeiro Vieira does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Cop30: the accommodation crisis plaguing Brazil’s upcoming UN climate summit – https://theconversation.com/cop30-the-accommodation-crisis-plaguing-brazils-upcoming-un-climate-summit-263165

August 18, 2025

In Jane Austen’s Persuasion, respite is a key ingredient for romance

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Barbara Cooke, Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer in English, Loughborough University

It’s that time of year again. Flight costs are up, schools are out, and anyone lucky enough to afford a break is heading – literally or metaphorically – for the hills. Some might harbour visions of a beautiful stranger alone in a beach or bar, someone who takes a keen interest in them, gives them the best two weeks of their lives then disappears into the sunset. This is probably what most of us imagine when we think of a holiday romance: something magical and fleeting, but removed from everyday life.

One writer, however, proved in novel after novel that a change of scene can also inspire a lasting change of mind. It might shake the blinkered out of an unhelpful way of seeing the world, or reveal hidden depths in overlooked friends and acquaintances. It can take people away from those who do not appreciate them, and introduce them into new communities in which they thrive.

Jane Austen’s heroines are a nomadic bunch, by and large. The author is known for psychological development, but the emotional and educational progress of her romantic plot lines is almost always kick-started by a series of more literal journeys. Movements between home, “seasons” in the city and prolonged visits to family and friends map out narrative progress towards love.

Following the footsteps of one Austen protagonist, Anne Elliot of Persuasion (1817), reveals how the different narrative locations she inhabits present different opportunities for her to grow in confidence and reclaim a love that she thought lost forever. At the same time, they also enable Frederick Wentworth, her erstwhile fiancé, to reconsider his false assumptions about her and see her in a more truthful (not to mention more flattering) light.

It’s something I explore in my soon-to-be-published book, Love and Landscape: Iconic Meeting Places in Classic and Contemporary Literature.

This article is part of a series commemorating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Despite having published only six books, she is one of the best-known authors in history. These articles explore the legacy and life of this incredible writer.

When we meet Anne at the beginning of Persuasion, she clearly needs to get out more. She is 26 and unmarried, having been convinced at 19 by her snobbish family to end her engagement to Wentworth.

Now, she is unloved and overlooked by her father and elder sister Elizabeth and, when her family’s profligate spending means they must rent out their home and seek cheaper accommodation, it is a blessing in disguise for Anne.

She goes first to visit her other, married sister in the Somerset village of Uppercross. Mary is as self-centred as Elizabeth and their father, but does at least love and appreciate Anne. Mary’s sisters-in-law, Louisa and Henrietta Musgrove, live nearby with their parents and are fond of her too. Crucially, this kinder branch of Anne’s family is also connected to the now-Captain Wentworth, who has made a good career for himself in the Napoleonic wars and is warmly welcomed into their circle.

Anne’s first move having brought her into better company, she then makes a second journey, with this group, to the coastal town of Lyme Regis. Here, the fresh sea air restores her faded youth, and Wentworth is gratifyingly present when a passing stranger looks at her “with a degree of earnest admiration”.

Anne however is more than a pretty face, and her stay at Lyme also allows her to show off her pragmatism and good judgment when Louisa is knocked unconscious by a bad fall. Wentworth, who blames himself for the accident, benefits directly from Anne’s taking charge of the situation.

Their last move, to Bath, shows the nascent couple carving out small opportunities for intimacy among crowded ballrooms and claustrophobic family gatherings.

When they are finally able confirm their mutual affection, they engineer a retreat to a gravel walk which is only “comparatively quiet and retired”, and count on their fellow walkers being too wrapped up in their own business to pay them much attention.

In Northanger Abbey (1817), Austen’s most satirical novel, it is observed that “if adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad”. In Persuasion, Anne’s particular adventures bring her into a more supportive community, reinvigorate her youth and give her the chance to prove her worth.

In Austen’s footsteps

Over the past two centuries, a huge variety of writers have forged their own romantic plot lines from paths first cut by Anne Elliot, Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey and Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice (1813).

For those whose stories feature marginalised characters, for example, the value of a sympathetic and supportive community becomes even more important. So it is that author Sarah Waters imaginatively reconstructs pockets of Victorian London in Tipping the Velvet (1998) in which queer characters are visible and able to celebrate their love. The South London barbershops and jazz clubs of Open Water (2022) offer a similar respite for Caleb Azumah Nelson’s young Black lovers, who crave spaces in which they can be themselves away from the prejudices and false assumptions of mainstream society.

Jane Austen’s novels perform a kind of romantic alchemy in which travel is the catalyst. From Lyme to Bath, Hertfordshire to the Peak District, her protagonists move through a holiday atmosphere, but the transformations they undergo along the way are anything but fleeting. There might be a depressing uniformity in marriage as the inevitable, final destination, but we are left in no doubt that these are marriages – like Austen’s legacy – are built to last.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

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Barbara Cooke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. In Jane Austen’s Persuasion, respite is a key ingredient for romance – https://theconversation.com/in-jane-austens-persuasion-respite-is-a-key-ingredient-for-romance-263070

August 18, 2025

Six tips from the middle ages on how to beat the summer heat

Source: The Conversation – UK – By James Clark, Professor of Medieval History, University of Exeter

Summers in the 1500s were hot. Wikimedia

England has entered its fourth heatwave of 2025. Historical comparisons for our current weather situation have seemed to beach at 1976.

Seared into the memory of many Britons over 55, that was the year when temperatures stuck at 30 degrees and there was no rain for nearly 50 days in a row. As a result, the UK government was forced to ration water. But Britain’s longest dry spell of the 20th century was not the worst for the wider continent.

For heat intensity and human cost across Europe we need to return to 2003. Back further, the heat and drought of 1911 easily eclipsed 1976 for European impact and before that 1757. And, above all, 1540, when there was no rainfall for almost the entire year. German chroniclers recorded that it was possible to walk across the Rhine.

Reaching further into the medieval past, the North Atlantic region passed through a climate anomaly between the 10th and 13th centuries. Research temperatures rose to around one degree celsius above the level that was typical at the turn of the 21st century.

Medieval Europeans became accustomed to hot, dry seasons – and they knew how to endure them.

Sadly, their experience cannot set us on a different course but it may have something to teach us about how to survive. Researchers are beginning to recognise that there are lessons for our own sustainability in the middle ages’ management of the environment, agriculture and food production. The same may be true in how they lived and worked under the sun.

Here are six tips from the middle ages to beat the heat:

1. Work flexibly

In June, July and August, start work at the first light of dawn, advised the 14th-century shepherd, Jehan de Brie, author of Le Bon Berger (The Good Shepherd).

Medieval artwork of serfs working in a field — Work would begin and end earlier to avoid the worst heat of the day.
Wikimedia

In fact, all three medieval estates – those who worked, prayed and fought – compressed their tasks to the cooler morning hours in the long summer days. Clergy adapted their services to fit a shorter night and longer day and after Corpus Christi (June) their worship year wound down. Knighthood curbed its taste for tournaments. They would never lift a lance in August.

2. Wear the right hat

Although hardly a habit unique to the middle ages, it is only in the past half-century or so that the hat has lost its status as a staple, everyday item.

Hats were worn daily for practical as well as social reasons in European society.

Medieval images, manuscript illuminations, murals and panel paintings, gesture at the endless variety of shaped hats, soft caps and hoods they reached for as a matter of course. For high summer, the half-metre brim of a hat like the Swedish Lappvattnett hat may have been the norm.

3. Eat to lower body temperature

In the unrefrigerated world of the middle ages, food could still be cool. Salad leaves (known then as salat) were preferred because they were palatable and digestable in the heat.

Fish and meat dishes were cooled down for the season by being doused with verjuice (pressed, unripe grapes), vinegar and perhaps even pomegranate juice.

4. Try wild swimming

Swimming was an increasingly common, communal recreation in later medieval Europe. When monasteries allowed their inmates periods of downtime, besides blood-letting, they encouraged river and sea swimming for health, hygiene and general fitness.

A man falling into water and then drowning. — A woodcut fro Everard Digby’s book on swimming.

In late medieval European cities crowded with tens of thousands, the breadth and depth of the Danube, Rhine, Seine and Tiber were an essential lifeline. The medieval theologian Everard Digby’s manual on the Art of Swimming, first published in 1587, described what may have long been a common sight – leaping and diving through the water “just like the summer’s roach”.

5. Use aftersun

Look after those burns. The monks of Citeaux Abbey were chronicled gathering herbs and roots in summer to salve their “perished skin”.

A 10th-century book of remedies, Bald’s Leechbook , recommended stalks of ivy sauteed in butter to apply to burns. Later, the recommendation was rosewater distilled from the flower’s petals.

Today we would say a bottle of aftersun or aloe gel will do.

6. Flee

When Emperor Charles V (king of Sicily and Naples from 1516 to 1554) found himself in a sweltering Rome with his young children, who were struggling in the rising temperatures, he made the household leave the city. High society generally left city palazzos to go up country and into shadier climes.

The author Giovanni Boccaccio recalled in his Decameron how the “dames of the city fly off” in summer to their country houses. King Richard II
(1377 until 1399) of England built a summer house at Sheen Palace (now Richmond palace) on the banks of the Thames to escape the close climate of the capital.

Even round-the-clock monastic institutions sometimes broke up and decamped to outlying country priories. Of course, it was rarely an option for those beneath them on the social scale.

James Clark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Six tips from the middle ages on how to beat the summer heat – https://theconversation.com/six-tips-from-the-middle-ages-on-how-to-beat-the-summer-heat-263290