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September 1, 2025

Yaba’s grip: how cheap methamphetamine is fuelling Thailand’s addiction crisis

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Joseph Janes, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Swansea University

Yaba, a cheap and potent methamphetamine-caffeine pill often dubbed “crazy medicine”, has become one of Thailand’s most pressing public health crises. Easy to produce and widely available, yaba is used by everyone from factory workers seeking stamina to partygoers chasing a high.

With its low price, intense effects and highly addictive nature, yaba is one of the most commonly abused stimulants in southeast Asia – and its spread shows no sign of slowing. Yaba’s rapid rise over the past 30 years as a street drug marks a troubling evolution.

Originally introduced to east Asia during the second world war to enhance soldiers’ endurance, methamphetamine has become known as “nazi speed” in some circles. And what began as a wartime stimulant is now at the heart of a regional addiction crisis.

A typical yaba pill contains around 30% methamphetamine. When mixed with caffeine it acts as a powerful central nervous system stimulant. The drug delivers a quick and intense burst of energy, euphoria and heightened alertness, often accompanied by reduced appetite.

Users often crush and smoke the pills, though some swallow them whole. The high lasts for hours, followed by a comedown marked by exhaustion, insomnia and paranoia.

Despite its dangers, yaba is alarmingly accessible. In some areas, a single pill costs as little as 10p, making it available to the region’s poorest and most vulnerable. Yaba is now the most widely abused form of methamphetamine in Thailand and its neighbouring countries, including Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Its use is particularly prevalent among young people, and its popularity is rapidly growing.

A Sky News report on yaba, August 2025.

The golden triangle and the yaba boom

The golden triangle, where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet, has long been notorious for its role in the global opium trade. But today, it’s at the heart of Asia’s methamphetamine crisis.

According to the UN, the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs in the region have grown exponentially, with methamphetamine seizures in 2024 hitting a record 236 tonnes, a 24% increase.

Much of this production is centred in Myanmar’s Shan State, where ongoing conflict has created the ideal conditions for industrial-scale drug operations. Armed groups, often relying on drug profits to fund their military activities, operate in regions beyond government control. These lawless areas, combined with relative stability in others, have allowed for the large-scale manufacturing of yaba and other methamphetamines.

Thailand continues to serve as both a primary transit route and an end market for yaba. In 2024, Thai authorities seized over 139 million yaba pills. But despite record-breaking seizures, the actual volume of yaba reaching the streets is believed to be far higher, highlighting the limitations of enforcement efforts alone.

While Thailand leads the region in drug seizures, efforts are outpaced by the scale of the trade. Smugglers, often armed, transport hundreds of thousands of pills at a time, exploiting porous borders – particularly between Thailand and Myanmar. Thai authorities find themselves in a constant game of whack-a-mole. When they shut down one trafficking route another quickly emerges.

Meanwhile, trafficking routes are diversifying. New land corridors now link Myanmar with Cambodia through Laos, while maritime networks are expanding across Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. These changes have turned a local problem into a transnational crisis.

A Vice documentary, The Meth Warlords of the Golden Triangle.

Thailand’s response to the yaba crisis has been a mix of hardline enforcement and hesitant reform, with mixed results. A controversial policy has allowed possession of up to five yaba tablets, distinguishing users from traffickers.

A government-backed proposal to cut this to one tablet has been approved in principle and is awaiting enactment. So, the five-pill rule is still in force. Though a step toward decriminalisation, it’s a policy which has failed to offer a coherent strategy for treating addiction.

Indeed, investment in drug treatment and harm reduction has been sluggish. Formal rehabilitation services remain scarce and unevenly distributed. Without accessible, evidence-based support, many users end up cycling between incarceration and relapse.

In the absence of government-led solutions, some communities have turned to grassroots alternatives. Across Thailand, Buddhist monasteries have become unlikely centres of detox, blending ritual with rudimentary treatments.

These detox programmes often involve communal steam baths followed by the ingestion of a secret herbal concoction that is said to purge toxins through vomiting. Though lacking clinical oversight, they offer discipline and belonging for those with nowhere else to turn.

Lessons

Yaba’s rapid spread is not just Thailand’s problem but a symptom of a broader, global failure. Conflict-driven economies, porous borders and the worldwide demand for cheap synthetic drugs have created the perfect conditions for yaba to thrive. When chemicals are easily sourced, production is decentralised and law enforcement is overwhelmed, illicit drug markets grow faster than they can be contained.

Thailand’s experience highlights the shortcomings of the decades-long “war on drugs”. Despite record seizures and intensified enforcement efforts, the yaba trade continues to expand. It’s cheaper, faster and more deadly than before. Criminal networks adapt faster than authorities can act, while users are often criminalised rather than supported.

What’s needed now is not more punishment, but a serious, coordinated effort that includes public health infrastructure and evidence-based harm reduction strategies.

Buddhist monasteries should not have to serve as a stand-in for state-funded addiction treatment. The resurgence of the golden triangle as a global synthetic drug hub is a warning that the world cannot afford to ignore.

Joseph Janes 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. Yaba’s grip: how cheap methamphetamine is fuelling Thailand’s addiction crisis – https://theconversation.com/yabas-grip-how-cheap-methamphetamine-is-fuelling-thailands-addiction-crisis-262765

September 1, 2025

Democrats dig in with a new type of campaign against Trump

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dafydd Townley, Teaching Fellow in US politics and international security, University of Portsmouth

Over the past few months, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has increasingly become a focal point for the Democratic party’s resistance to the US president, Donald Trump.

And a poll taken in August 2025 gave Newsom a bump in support from Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, going from 11% in June to 19% in August. He was the only potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate who saw gains in the survey.

Touted by many as a potential replacement for the ailing Joe Biden as the 2024 Democrat presidential nominee, Newsom didn’t have a chance to stand as Biden passed the mantle directly to Kamala Harris.

But in the past few months the charismatic former mayor of San Francisco has been increasingly outspoken in his criticism of the Trump administration. On August 27 he said Americans needed to “wake up” to threats he said were posed by the current administration.

Part of Newsom’s approach has recently been to adopt the same mass communication methods as Trump has. This is not the highbrow intellectual route that Democrats have taken in the past. This is AI slop – the low-quality, mass-produced online content generated by artificial intelligence, designed to manipulate social media platform’s algorithms for greater exposure.

New social media style

Over the past few weeks, Newsom’s team has released numerous social media messages mimicking and mocking Donald Trump.

For instance, this month, Newsom’s staff posted a message on X featuring an AI-generated image of the governor wearing a crown on the cover of Time magazine, accompanied by the caption: “Long Live the King.” The following day, the same account reposted an AI-generated image of a muscular Newsom holding the American flag with the caption: “In Gavin We Trust.”

The approach seems to be popular. Newsom’s team also released parody-Trump merchandise with reports suggested that it raised US$100,000 (£73,900) online on its first day of release. And Newsom’s use of this AI-produced content may well be redefining how Democrats attack Republicans in the future.

Newsom made no excuses for taking such a route. When questioned by Fox LA about this new approach recently he said: “I’ve changed, the facts have changed; we (the Democrats) need to change.”

The California governor is not the only Democrat to stand up to Trump. While Democrats in Congress are hamstrung by the Republican majority in both the House and Senate, elected Democrat officials in state governments are working hard to limit Trump’s influence.

When Trump federalised the California National Guard to end public protests against the activities of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (Ice), Newsom and California’s attorney-general, Rob Bonta, sued Trump, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, and the Department of Defense.

Newsom and Bonta argued that the president had exceeded his constitutional authority, as such action had been taken without the governor’s consent. Newsom defiantly declared that: “The president is not a king and is not above the law.”

An appeals court allowed Trump to retain control of the National Guard while the lawsuit continued. The federal trial opened in San Francisco on August 11, and a judgment had not been released as this article went live.

California governor Gavin Newsom has been testing out a new style of social media, and it’s getting noticed.

In Chicago

As well as ordering the Department of Defense to create specialist National Guard units to deal with civil unrest, Trump has also threatened to use troops in other Democrat-controlled cities such as Baltimore and New York, where he also claims that state governments are failing to deal with crime waves.

On August 26, in an eloquent but defiant speech, Illinois governor JB Pritzker warned Trump not to send troops to Chicago: “Mr President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Pritzker said.

Mirroring Newsom’s claims of executive overreach, Pritzker said that Trump’s determination to use troops to reduce crime figures in Democrat-controlled cities around the country was to “lay the groundwork to circumvent our democracy, militarise our cities and end elections”.

“If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is, a dangerous power grab,” Pritzker said.

Trump has used the National Guard as a law enforcement tool in Washington DC, another Democrat-controlled city, since the middle of August. The US president sent troops, complete with armoured vehicles, to the nation’s capital, where he claimed violent crime was out of control. While the troops were initially unarmed, in the past week officials have said that guard members have been authorised to carry either their M17 pistols or M4 rifles.

According to figures released by the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, violent offences were at their lowest level in 2024 in 30 years. The pattern appears to be continuing in 2025, with violent crime down 26% compared to this time last year and robberies falling by 28%. The Democrat mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser, called Trump’s deployment of troops an “authoritarian push”.

It turns out the use of troops in Washington DC has not gone down that well with Americans. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll during the last week in August, only 38% of Americans supported Trump’s actions, with 46% opposed.

After what had seemed to be a good start to the year for Trump, his job approval rating is fragile. With the midterms just over a year away, the Republicans need to keep one eye on the polls if they wish to retain their majorities in the House and Senate.

Whether Newsom’s pushback against the administration is the start of his campaign for 2028 is unclear, but it would do him no harm to establish himself as a national political figure, a portrayal with which he can build a campaign for 2028.

Dafydd Townley 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. Democrats dig in with a new type of campaign against Trump – https://theconversation.com/democrats-dig-in-with-a-new-type-of-campaign-against-trump-263869

September 1, 2025

Research shows children’s wellbeing drops when they start secondary school – here’s why

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Paty Paliokosta, Associate Professor of Special and Inclusive Education, Kingston University

For many pupils, the move to secondary school is a moment of anticipation – new friends, new subjects, and a growing sense of independence. But research in England shows this transition often comes with a hidden cost: a sharp and lasting decline in wellbeing.

Data from a 2024-2025 survey carried out by education support and research company ImpactEd Group with over 80,000 pupils shows a drop in children’s wellbeing between year six – the last year of primary school – and year eight.

This report found that enjoyment of school plummets, feelings of safety decline, and belief that their efforts will lead to success (known as self-efficacy) drops significantly. Children receiving free school meals were also less likely to say they enjoyed school, with this gap continuing to widen into secondary school.

This isn’t just adolescent growing pains. Secondary school pupils in the UK are more miserable than their European peers. Data from the Pisa programme, which assesses student achievement and wellbeing internationally, shows that in 2022 the UK’s 15-year-olds had the lowest average life satisfaction in Europe.

It’s a systemic problem – but one that can be changed.

Difficult transitions

Moving to secondary school involves much more than a change of location. Pupils must adapt to new teachers, routines, academic demands and social dynamics. And this takes place while they are going through puberty, one of the most intense periods of emotional and neurological development.

Research on school transitions stresses that success depends not only on a child’s “readiness,” but also on the school system’s capacity to support them.

Unfortunately, many schools prioritise performance metrics over relationships. This may leave many pupils – particularly those who are neurodivergent, have special educational needs, or who come from minoritised backgrounds – feeling disconnected and unsupported. This can deeply affect their wellbeing.

One major barrier to belonging is the use of zero-tolerance behaviour policies. These strict approaches to discipline – silent corridors, isolation booths, high-stakes punishments such as suspensions – are becoming more common in large secondaries and academies. Advocates have claimed these policies create firm boundaries in schools. But for many pupils, especially those with ADHD, autism, or a history of trauma, they may instead create anxiety, alienation and disengagement from school.

Children with special educational needs are excluded from school at some of the highest rates in the country. According to the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, a collaborative network of over 300 organisations including mental health organisations and youth support services, many of these children are not “misbehaving,” but expressing unmet emotional and mental health needs. Punitive responses frequently worsen their difficulties.

Pupils on stairs at school — The environment of secondary school can be very different to that of primary education.
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

Schools that adopt behaviour policies that focus on emotional literacy and building trust have reported success in building a caring environment.

A hidden curriculum

While these challenges affect many students, working-class pupils often face a more acute and entrenched form of educational alienation. A deeper look into the structure of secondary education in England reveals systemic inequalities that shape how different children experience school.

According to Professor Diane Reay, a leading expert on education and social class, the British school system continues to fail working-class children. Her research suggests that schools in disadvantaged areas are more likely to feature rigid discipline, “teaching to the test,” and a narrow, fact-heavy curriculum. In such spaces, there is little room for creativity, critical thinking, or personal expression.

Instead of feeling seen and valued, many working-class students may experience school as a place of constant control and low expectations. They are more likely to encounter deficit narratives: being told what they lack, rather than having their strengths recognised or nurtured.

This dynamic plays out most starkly during the transition to secondary school. Pupils from working-class backgrounds often enter year seven already disadvantaged – socially, economically, and in terms of cultural capital. This means that in unfamiliar settings where middle-class norms dominate, they may not speak the “right” way, dress the “right” way, or know the unspoken rules. These students frequently find themselves on the outside looking in.

Beyond class, issues of race and cultural background also play a key role in how pupils experience school. Students from minority backgrounds often also encounter what researchers refer to as the “hidden curriculum”.

This is a set of unspoken norms that reflect white, middle-class values, and which they may be unfamiliar with. This affects everything from which stories are told in the curriculum to how the behaviour of students is interpreted by teachers.

The year-seven dip is not inevitable. But reversing it requires more than tweaks to transition plans or behaviour policies. It demands a fundamental shift in how we understand inclusion, belonging and educational success. Schools need to put policies in place that help students feel safe, connected and empowered to manage conflict. And they should recognise that working-class and marginalised pupils face systemic barriers, and commit to dismantling them.

Dr Paty Paliokosta is an Associate Professor in Inclusive Education and leads the Inclusion and Social Justice SIG at Kingston University, London. She co-leads the National SENCO Advocacy Network.

– ref. Research shows children’s wellbeing drops when they start secondary school – here’s why – https://theconversation.com/research-shows-childrens-wellbeing-drops-when-they-start-secondary-school-heres-why-260737

September 1, 2025

Warming temperatures affect glaciers’ ability to store meltwater, contributing to rising sea levels

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Danielle Halle, PhD Candidate, Glaciology, University of Waterloo

In higher elevations, firn, frozen water that is something between snow and ice, covers the top of glaciers. Firn plays a critical role in regulating glacial meltwater and sea level rise.

It does this by absorbing meltwater, the water released by melting glaciers. The ability of the firn layer to absorb meltwater — its “sponginess” — can be determined by the amount of pore space available, which is impacted by several variables such as temperature, firn grain size and presence of ice layers within the firn layer. A more spongy firn layer allows for more meltwater to be stored as it trickles down and refreezes when it reaches colder temperatures at depth.

Layers of firn can exist between refrozen ice layers. The greater the number of refrozen ice layers there are embedded within the firn layer, the more intense a melt period has been. These layers can act as a barrier against meltwater being stored within the spongy firn layer, forcing the meltwater to flow to lower elevations, eventually exiting the glacier as runoff into the ocean.

Glacial loss

The Devon Ice Cap is located within Inuit Nunangat, the homelands of the Inuit. It is one of the largest ice caps in the Canadian Arctic at approximately 14,000 square kilometres in area and with a maximum thickness of approximately 880 metres.

The Devon Ice Cap is one of many ice masses that play a vital role in the Arctic ecosystem, including in the nearshore marine ecosystem.

a map showing the location of the Devon ice cap — A 1969 map of the Devon Ice Cap, Nvt.
(Glacier Atlas of Canada/Government of Canada)

Our research team found that the Devon Ice Cap in Nunavut experienced a decrease in the amount of refrozen glacial meltwater in its firn layer. This was caused by the cooler-than-average summer air temperatures the region experienced in 2021.

Air temperature and glacier melt are closely related, and our research shows how the firn layer is affected by climate changes. It also highlights the fact that climate change does not happen in a linear fashion. Rather, temperatures fluctuate while trending globally towards glacial loss.

Comparing data

We observed how much ice was in the firn layer by extracting six shallow firn cores from different elevations in 2022 and comparing them to cores extracted in 2012.

We found that at the lowest elevation sites on the ice cap (1,400 metres above sea level), where air temperatures are expected to be warmer than at higher elevations, the amount of refrozen meltwater content decreased by nearly 30 per cent. Conversely, at the highest elevation site (1,800 metres above sea level, where temperatures are colder), the decrease was about 11 per cent. These changes occurred despite higher average summer temperatures between 2012 and 2022.

a researcher site on ice — Documenting the different layers of the firn cores collected fromt the Devon Ice Cap in 2022.
(B. Danielson), CC BY

Greenland Ice Sheet

A similar pattern was also observed on the Greenland Ice Sheet in 2019. Researchers there found less glacial meltwater had refrozen within the firn layer along several points.

The decrease in frozen meltwater seen in the Greenland Ice Sheet’s firn layer had also occurred during a time of less surface melt. Less surface melt in one year can help to increase meltwater storage in the firn layer in following years.

Overall, it was found that in the long term, the Greenland Ice Sheet is more sensitive to warming than cooling. In other words, one extreme year of summer heat had a greater impact on the amount of meltwater compared to other cooler years when meltwater was temporarily stored.

Eventually, the Greenland Ice Sheet and other ice masses across the globe will reach a peak refreezing point, where meltwater can no longer be stored within the firn layer because so much has already accumulated, creating an impermeable layer of ice. Instead of this water being stored in the firn layer, it will run through and off the glacier.

Future measurements

Our findings show how the firn layer responds to one summer of below-average air temperatures. A reduction in the amount of refrozen glacial meltwater stored means an increase in the glacier’s capacity to store meltwater for the next season. This demonstrates the firn layer’s ability to potentially reduce meltwater runoff during a given year.

The future of the glaciers and ice caps in the Canadian Arctic will depend on changes in global temperatures and how glacial physical processes respond. The Canadian Arctic consists of 14 per cent of the world’s glaciers and ice caps by volume, and melting glaciers in the region are projected to be one of the greatest contributors to sea-level rise in the next century.

A better understanding of firn processes and changes in porosity will help researchers quantify how much and when sea level rises are expected from the Canadian Arctic glaciers.

Danielle Halle receives funding from POLAR knowledge Canada, Northern Scientific Training Program, Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the University of Waterloo.

Wesley Van Wychen 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. Warming temperatures affect glaciers’ ability to store meltwater, contributing to rising sea levels – https://theconversation.com/warming-temperatures-affect-glaciers-ability-to-store-meltwater-contributing-to-rising-sea-levels-240628

September 1, 2025

New study shows how Amazon trees use recent rainfall in the dry season and support the production of their own rain

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Magali Nehemy, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth & Environmental Science, University of British Columbia

The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical forest, home to unmatched biodiversity and one of the planet’s longest rivers. Besides the Amazon River, the Amazon rainforest also features “flying rivers:” invisible streams of vapour that travel through the atmosphere, fuelling rainfall both within the forest and far beyond its boundaries.

The forests play a central role in this system. Much of the moisture that rises into the atmosphere comes from transpiration. Trees pull water from the soil through their roots, transport it to the leaves and release it as vapour. That vapour becomes rainfall — sometimes locally, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away.

In the dry season when rain is scarce, up to 70 per cent of rainfall in the Amazon comes from this moisture-recycling generated by the forest itself. This raises a key question: where do the trees find the water to keep the cycle going during the driest months?

Our study in the Tapajós National Forest

In our recent study, colleagues and I set out to answer this question. In 2021 during the peak of the dry-season, we conducted fieldwork in the Tapajós National Forest, in Pará state, Brazil on the traditional territory of the Mundurukú people.

We worked across two contrasting sites: a hilltop forest with a deep water table (about 40 metres), and a valley forest near a stream where groundwater is much shallower.

The results were surprising. Most water used for transpiration in the dry season did not come from deep reserves, but from shallow soil. In a year without extreme drought or floods, 69 per cent of transpiration on the hill and 46 per cent in the valley came from the top 50 centimetres of soil.

Our research also found that water stored in the shallow soil had fallen on land recently, specifically during the dry season. In other words, the forest rapidly recycles the rain: it falls, infiltrates shallow soil, is absorbed by roots and is released back into the atmosphere, fuelling new rainfall — right when the forest needs water most.

The role of tree diversity

Not all trees contribute to this cycle equally. The Amazon’s diversity means species use different strategies to access water stored in the soil. Our study showed that a key factor is “embolism resistance,” a measure of how well a tree can keep water moving through its tissues during drought.

Trees that are more resistant in preventing air blockages in their water transport system are able to keep drawing water from soil and releasing moisture into the atmosphere, even in the driest months.

Drawing water from dry soil is like a tug-of-war, where water is the rope: the soil holds onto the water while the roots try to pull it free. The drier the soil, the stronger the pull required.

Species with high embolism resistance can keep transpiring as soils dry, therefore they can rely on recently fallen rain in shallow soil. Less resistant species are more drought-sensitive and will rely more on deeper roots to reach stable reserves, or other strategies.

Our study shows that the higher the resistance to embolism, the higher the proportion of shallow water a tree uses, and therefore the more recent rainfall from the dry season is returned to the atmosphere. This is the first evidence that rapid recycling of dry-season rainfall through transpiration is strongly supported by embolism resistance.

The challenge ahead

Rainforests are facing significant threats of human encroachment and deforestation. Recent policy changes in Brazil risk accelerating deforestation in sensitive areas such as the Amazon, the Cerrado savannah and Atlantic Forest — all vital for the water cycle.

A disrupted water cycle with less rain threatens biodiversity and natural habitats, as well as water security food supplies.

Local and Indigenous communities are the most directly affected, but the impacts extend far beyond. The flying rivers also carry Amazonian moisture to southern and central parts of Brazil, supporting agriculture in major grain-producing regions. Less forest means less rain, threatening crops, food security and the economy.

This delicate balance is threatened by deforestation. When forests are cut down, fewer trees release moisture into the air through transpiration, reducing the formation of local and nearby rainfall during the dry season.

Forest loss weakens the very system that sustains rainfall — the recycling of water through transpiration. Our study shows that embolism-resistant trees play a central role by quickly returning dry-season rainfall to the atmosphere, where it fuels new rainfall.

The message is clear: without the forest, there is no rain, and without rain, no forest. The quick recycling of dry-season rain keeps the Amazon alive through its driest months. It also plays a crucial role in triggering the return of the wet season. If the forest loses its ability to recycle this water, the entire hydrological cycle risks collapse.

Brazil will host the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP30, in November. As policymakers gather, preserving rainforests like the Amazon must be among the issues at the top of the agenda.

The world’s forests are complex and biodiverse places with delicate natural systems that sustain them. The Amazon truly functions as a rain-making engine that helps sustain life, inside and beyond the forest.

Magali Nehemy 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. New study shows how Amazon trees use recent rainfall in the dry season and support the production of their own rain – https://theconversation.com/new-study-shows-how-amazon-trees-use-recent-rainfall-in-the-dry-season-and-support-the-production-of-their-own-rain-263525

September 1, 2025

How a 300-year-old Scottish country estate escaped the wrecking ball

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Kevin James, Professor, History, University of Guelph

Duff House, near Aberdeen in Scotland, in May 2011. (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY

Between 1945 and 1974, Scotland lost a proportionally higher number of country houses than England — 175 of these stately formerly aristocratic homes (think Downton Abbey) were demolished, according to Country Life magazine in August 1979.

It noted that despite recent interventions to support them, several grand houses in Scotland continued to be threatened by the wrecking ball.

In my ongoing research and in a podcast for Scottish History Out of Order, I have looked into how the fortunes of the buildings often mirrored those of the families themselves. Their vast wealth from land holdings were hit hard, especially by heavy taxation that began in the period after the First World War.

This resulted in a large-scale liquidation of many stately residences that dotted the countryside on the British Isles. Many were demolished and others sold. A few lived on as residences — physical reminders of the once-mighty power of the families who lived there.

Duff House defies demolition

But in remote northeastern Scotland, there was an exception to the rule.

The construction of Duff House, an aristocratic residence for Lord Braco (later the first Earl of Fife), began in 1735. Since then, it has lived many lives and defied demolition. And its many stories reveal a great deal about the precarious identity of a former illustrious stately home.

The house’s first public life was as a gift. In 1906, the Duke and Duchess of Fife (a royal princess as the eldest daughter of King Edward VII), offered it to the nearby burghs of Banff and Macduff.

A black-and-white photo shows a man in military garb and a woman in a gown and tiara. — The Duke and Duchess of Fife circa 1911.
(Wikimedia Commons), CC BY

Not long after the two burghs received the gift, they began to worry about its costly upkeep. In fact, the duke’s representative in 1907 offered to take back the property if it were a burden for the burghs.

Community officials insisted they wished to keep Duff House. But a use had to be found that imposed no costs to community residents. A few options were weighed: A hotel? Or, even better, a hydropathic establishment, known as a “hydro,” a popular form of hotel that attracted well-heeled patrons to participate in a strict regime of water-based “treatments?” Patrons could imagine themselves as lords and ladies of the manor for a few days, at least.

This is when Duff House’s public life began — not as a hydro in the end, but as an opulent hotel.

Tepid demand

Demand was underwhelming. Distant from urban centres and markets and based in a sprawling one-time private home that required extensive adaptations, a hotel was a costly undertaking. In fact, just as the (much more successful) golf course on the grounds opened, Duff House Hotel was entering into a series of loss-making years.

It ultimately led the hotel company to exit and a new business to emerge: a sanatorium for the treatment of gastric illnesses. Unlike the hotel, it seems to have attracted stable and even growing patronage, even through the First World War.

Had Duff House finally found a profitable purpose? At the end of the war, the sanatorium moved to North Wales to be closer to its main clientele, leaving people to ask what was becoming a familiar question: what was to be done with Duff House?

The Second World War

The 1920s and ‘30s brought a few efforts to revive the building as a hotel, albeit on a much more modest scale. Those efforts, like the hotel ventures before them, failed.

The Second World War saw the state requisition of private property on a massive scale as the home front was mobilized in support of the conflict. Large country estates, in public and private hands, offered expansive grounds and large buildings that were adapted for a variety of uses, including hospitals and sites for convalescence.

Many properties like Duff House were enlisted in the war effort. Initially used to detain German prisoners-of-war (during which a German bomb fell on the building and killed several Germans held there), Duff House subsequently served as a barracks for British, Polish and Norwegian soldiers.

The house’s wartime role ended with the conflict. It fell derelict, with Scots Magazine calling it in July 1949 a “decomposing white elephant.” It had come a long way from the halcyon days in which a royal princess called it home.

Preservationist groups lobbied the government to intervene: would it not be
appropriate, they asked, to designate it a site of historical and architectural importance? The response was yes. But formally recognizing the building’s significance underscored the longtime dilemma: how to make it affordably accessible and maintained?

Costly repairs

In the 1950s, the Crown assumed ownership of the house amid pressure to improve its condition despite the high costs of doing so.

The late 1950s and ’60s brought about new discussions and debates over the property’s future: A private residence (perhaps even for foreign royals)? Local government offices? An archive? A site for temporary record storage? An overseas club or a hotel (again)? Perhaps even flats or offices?

By the mid-1970s, a decision was taken that it be used exclusively for public purposes. Duff House was to become a landmark public site, at considerable cost.

During the ’70s, the house inched toward reopening its interior to the public after a period of repair and preservation that lasted more than two decades.

As it operates today — a country house gallery operated by Historic Environment Scotland in partnership with other organizations — Duff House offers visitors insights into the opulent life of an aristocratic home.

Unearthing Duff House’s past

There are faint echoes of its many other more recent lives: Polish writing on some of the walls, a wall painting of a Norwegian flag and evidence of interior adaptations.

They are critical parts of its past, though they are less visible to the eye than the elegant interior décor.

It takes some imagination to conjure the former derelict building, or a barracks, but Historic Environment Scotland is working to unearth them and feature them alongside the opulent draperies and fine furniture.

Duff House’s history is a reminder that not all country homes faced the same 20th-century fate.

For all its trials and incarnations, from failed business to barracks to dereliction and now revival, Duff House still managed to escape the wrecking balls that claimed many similar buildings in a century that was as unkind to country houses as it was to the titled owners whose wealth declined with them.

Kevin James receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

– ref. How a 300-year-old Scottish country estate escaped the wrecking ball – https://theconversation.com/how-a-300-year-old-scottish-country-estate-escaped-the-wrecking-ball-263582

September 1, 2025

Teachers are key to students’ AI literacy, and need support

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Sue Mylde, Doctoral Student, EdD., Learning Sciences, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary

With the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), teachers have been thrust into a new and ever-shifting classroom reality.

The public, including many students, now has widespread access to GenAI tools and large language models (LLMs). Students sometimes use these tools with schoolwork. School boards have taken different approaches to regulating or integrating tech in classrooms. Teachers, meanwhile, find themselves responding to these paradigm shifts while juggling student needs and wider expectations.

The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) has called on the federal government and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada to work with provinces and territories to enact enforceable policies that protect student privacy and data security, regulate how AI is used in classrooms and promote responsible and ethical use of AI systems.

The federation acknowledges AI tools have the potential to enhance teaching and learning; it also express concern about regulatory gaps that leave students exposed to risks like data breaches, algorithmic bias and decline in education standards.

As researchers whose combined work focuses on professional learning and AI in education, as well as professional practice standards and innovations in education, we believe commitments are needed not just in the form of policies, but also procedures and practices which develop AI competencies for teachers. We argue these should span both initial teacher education programs and ongoing professional learning.

Many questions raised for teachers

AI raises many questions about the purpose of education, including questions around academic integrity and how education can uphold fairness and equity. Questions include:

How can students successfully navigate the use of these tools safely, effectively and ethically?
How can schools prepare students for the future as organizations and institutions scramble to determine how to respond to or integrate aspects of AI?
Will harnessing AI’s potential impact critical thinking and other cognitive skills?

Teachers are uniquely positioned to help guide students as they grapple with the existential and social implications of AI alongside practical concerns for their own and students’ futures. Teachers cannot face this complex challenge alone — they need support and to feel skilled and empowered to fulfil this important role.

Empowering teachers

There’s a growing international consensus echoed by calls to action that teachers are essential players as learners develop AI literacy.

The CTF calls for the role of teachers “in creating caring, human-centred classrooms” to be prioritized “in all AI policy development to ensure Canadian students enjoy their right to a quality education.”

As provinces establish their own recommended approaches around AI and education, education and government agencies are partnering to support innovation and programs for the development of AI literacy.

Guidance created through government, research and not-for profit tech partnerships or tech company partnerships can also be consulted.

Despite growing resources, the development of AI technology continues to outpace implementation support and essential training for teachers. This widening gap between teacher competencies and the demands of an AI-infused classroom is unsustainable.

This is not merely about keeping pace with technology; it’s about equipping teachers to guide the next generation in a world transformed by AI.

People meeting around a table. — Teachers need tailored professional education, support and learning opportunities to make informed choices about AI in their classrooms.
(Allison Shelley/EDUimages), CC BY-NC

Equipping teachers

A holistic approach to prepare teachers for different issues at stake with AI-enhanced classrooms is needed.

Teachers need:

1. Supported forums to address critical awareness of AI’s impacts: Teacher education and professional development spaces could allow forums for teachers to address issues such as: helping students examine AI’s societal impacts, including the ethics of AI use; environmental concerns; privacy concerns, misinformation, labour displacement and bias; how AI works within social media algorithms; personalized advertising; social-emotional support chatbots. These conversations are central to AI literacy.

2. Foundational knowledge of AI: Teachers need a baseline understanding of how AI works, including its limitations, biases and design. They don’t need to be computer scientists, but they do need to be aware of what tools are available to them, learn how to make informed pedagogical and ethical choices about potentially using AI and understand how to use tools.

3. To be equipped with strategies to meaningfully integrate AI into teaching and learning, which requires asking why and when to integrate AI in learning.

4. Design-based professional learning: teachers need time and space to learn from each other. AI is evolving quickly, and teachers need professional learning communities where they can share ideas, design and test new approaches, and reflect on their experiences. Effectively using GenAI tools requires varied knowledge. Research-practice partnerships where researchers and practitioners work together, and professional learning that is responsive to teachers’ specific contexts and practices hold promise for developing AI competencies. This could look like using AI as a professional learning tool to design activities that foster creativity or exploring using AI to support differentiated learning and promote inquiry.

By empowering teachers with skills and confidence in AI use, they can continue to guide students and shape students’ critical and responsible engagement with this technology.

A shared responsibility

Teachers cannot do this alone. Successfully integrating AI into education requires a concerted and collaborative effort from all stakeholders within the educational ecosystem. This vital partnership includes governing bodies, school boards and school leaders and teachers and researchers, who are instrumental in leading this transformation.

Together, these partners can help establish clear, strategic mandates for AI integration and dedicate robust funding for essential tools and comprehensive training and research to foster innovative spaces where educators and researchers can experiment and study practices.

Research is needed to assess the broader effects of AI use, for example, on critical thinking and cognitive offloading, to evaluate and understand the impacts of this technology in education. Supports are needed to ensure that AI adoption is not haphazard, but strategic and equitable across all jurisdictions.

Implementation should also consider teacher burnout and the existing responsibilities that teachers carry. What can be removed, and what robust supports can be provided so teachers can take this on without compromising their well-being or effectiveness?

Professional learning for educational uses of AI is already taking root through informal peer-to-peer networks and diverse formal experiences. These include academic institutions, bodies like the not-for-profit organizations International Society for Technology in Education or the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute
and charitable organization Let’s Talk Science among many others. These existing pathways can be leveraged and scaled with targeted support to bridge the current preparation gap.

It’s time for policymakers to recognize that investing in teachers is one of the most powerful ways we can invest in our students and in a better future for all of us.

Barbara Brown receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Sue Mylde 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. Teachers are key to students’ AI literacy, and need support – https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-key-to-students-ai-literacy-and-need-support-260390

September 1, 2025

Une nouvelle étude replace la révolte et le rôle des esclaves africains dans l’histoire agricole du sud de l’Irak

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Peter J. Brown, Honorary Fellow in Archaeology, Durham University

Des récits écrits racontent l’histoire de la révolte des Zanj, une révolte d’esclaves qui a eu lieu à la fin du IXe siècle dans le sud de l’Irak.
Parmi les insurgés figuraient des Africains, réduits en esclavage, qui travaillaient dans divers secteurs de l’économie locale.

Dans la plaine inondable du sud de l’Irak, on peut encore voir des milliers de digues et de canaux. On pense depuis longtemps qu’il s’agit des vestiges d’un vaste système agricole construit par ces esclaves. Leur construction et l’agriculture pratiquée ici pourraient avoir été à l’origine de la rébellion qui, selon une hypothèse largement répandue, aurait conduit au déclin rapide de la ville historique de Bassorah et de l’économie locale.

Pour la première fois, notre étude archéologique fournit une chronologie plus précise de l’agriculture dans cette région. Elle permet également de mieux comprendre l’impact de la rébellion des Zanj sur la région.

Nous avons daté quatre des 7 000 vestiges de remblais abandonnés qui couvrent une grande partie de la plaine inondable du Chatt al-Arab, attestant d’une période d’expansion agricole.

Notre étude révèle que ce système agricole a été utilisé pendant beaucoup plus longtemps qu’on ne le pensait auparavant. Ce qui remet en question l’impact de la rébellion sur l’agriculture et l’économie locale.

Nos conclusions enrichissent notre connaissance de l’histoire paysagère du sud de l’Irak. Elles rappellent aussi l’importance historique de ces éléments, longtemps négligés.

Le mystère des digues abandonnées

Des ouvrages de terrassement à l’abandon et en cours d’érosion jonchent la plaine inondable du Chatt al-Arab, le fleuve formé par la confluence du Tigre et de l’Euphrate. Celui-ci traverse le sud de l’Irak avant de se jeter dans le golfe Persique et l’océan Indien.

On remarque notamment des groupes de crêtes linéaires massives et surélevées, dont certaines s’étendent sur plus d’un kilomètre, disposées en formations régulières. Parmi ces éléments, on peut retracer les vestiges de canaux asséchés et de petits canaux secondaires adjacents.

Aujourd’hui, l’agriculture dans la plaine inondable est limitée à une bande d’environ 5 km autour du fleuve. Mais les vestiges abandonnés témoignent d’une agriculture dans le passé sur une zone beaucoup plus vaste. On ignore ce qui y était cultivé, mais il s’agissait probablement de céréales comme l’orge ou le blé, de dattes ou de canne à sucre.

Les récits des voyageurs qui ont visité la région, ainsi que les cartes historiques, indiquent que le modèle agricole moderne existe, pratiquement inchangé, depuis au moins le XVIIe siècle. Les éléments que nous voyons aujourd’hui dans le paysage ont donc dû être construits, utilisés et abandonnés à une époque antérieure.

De nouvelles méthodes scientifiques permettent désormais de dater plus précisément ces aménagements et de replacer cette phase d’expansion agricole dans son contexte historique.

En 2022, nous avons creusé de petites tranchées dans quatre des digues pour prélever des échantillons de sol. Grâce à une technique appelée luminescence stimulée optiquement, nous avons pu analyser chaque grain de sable. Cette méthode calcule le temps écoulé depuis leur dernière exposition à la lumière du soleil. Comme nos échantillons provenaient de l’intérieur des digues, où la lumière ne pénètre pas, ils nous indiquent le moment où le sol a été déposé pour construire ces ouvrages.

La rébellion des Zanj

Jusqu’à présent, aucune étude de terrain significative n’avait été menée pour étudier ces vestiges. Cependant, ces traces d’agriculture prémoderne ont souvent été associées à un épisode historique précis, mais sans preuve concrète. Des documents datant du début de la période islamique (du milieu du VIIe siècle au milieu du XIIIe siècle environ) décrivent en détail une révolte d’esclaves dans le sud de l’Irak à la fin du IXe siècle, entre 869 et 883.

La rébellion des Zanj a vu de grands groupes d’esclaves se rebeller contre les forces du califat abbasside qui régnait sur la majeure partie du monde islamique. La rébellion a donné lieu à des épisodes violents, notamment le pillage de la ville voisine de Bassorah et des affrontements avec les forces du calife envoyées pour réprimer la révolte. Cela a plongé le sud de l’Irak dans le chaos.

Illustration d'un navire transportant des hommes africains captifs, certains montant à bord de bateaux tandis que des hommes en tuniques tentent de les contrôler et qu'un autre navire s'approche. — Un navire négrier arabe dans la mer Rouge dans les années 1500 ou 1600.
New York Public Library

L’identité du peuple zanj impliqué dans le soulèvement a fait l’objet de débats. « Zanj » est un terme arabe utilisé tout au long de la période médiévale pour désigner la côte swahilie de l’Afrique de l’Est, bien qu’il ait également été utilisé pour désigner l’Afrique de manière plus générale. En conséquence, les Zanj ont généralement été considérés collectivement comme des esclaves transportés vers le sud de l’Irak depuis l’Afrique de l’Est.

Si les preuves de la traite des esclaves entre l’Afrique et l’Irak au début de la période islamique ne font aucun doute, l’ampleur de ce commerce a été remise en question. Sur la base de preuves génétiques et de la logistique nécessaire pour transporter un grand nombre de personnes vers le Golfe, il a été soutenu que la majorité des esclaves africains au moment de la révolte provenaient d’Afrique occidentale et d’Afrique centrale occidentale via les routes commerciales sahariennes, plutôt que de la côte est de l’Afrique.

Par ailleurs, la révolte n’était pas uniquement composée d’esclaves africains, car des paysans locaux se seraient également joints aux insurgés. Le groupe rebelle était donc hétérogène.

On dispose de peu d’informations sur la vie des Zanj avant la révolte de 869. Leur présence en Irak est attestée depuis plusieurs siècles, et des soulèvements de moindre ampleur avaient déjà éclaté dès la fin du VIIᵉ siècle. Toutefois, les sources concernant les conditions de vie des esclaves avant le IXᵉ siècle sont extrêmement rares.

Certains étaient chargés de tâches telles que le transport de la farine. D’autres étaient répartis en groupes de 50 à 500 personnes dans des camps de travail situés dans la plaine inondable. Nous ne disposons d’aucune information sur la vie dans ces camps, mais les sources écrites suggèrent que les esclaves étaient maltraités par les « agents » qui les surveillaient. À part pour l’agriculture, il est difficile d’expliquer pourquoi de tels camps auraient existé dans cette zone.

Ce que l’on sait des Zanj correspond à l’ampleur des vestiges visibles aujourd’hui. De très nombreux bras étaient nécessaires pour transporter la terre et construire les digues, puis pour cultiver les champs. Cela devait être un travail exténuant.

Questions sans réponse

On a souvent supposé que la rébellion des Zanj avait entraîné un déclin important de l’économie de la région, y compris des activités telles que l’agriculture. Nos résultats indiquent cependant que les travaux de terrassement datent de la période postérieure à la rébellion.

Si certains échantillons datent de la période immédiatement après la rébellion, d’autres remontent à un ou deux siècles plus tard, aux XIe, XIIe ou XIIIe siècles. Ces structures ne semblent donc pas avoir été créées en une seule fois, mais sur une longue durée, peut-être selon le rythme des cycles agricoles annuels.

Les échantillons que nous avons datés ne reflètent donc pas les débuts de l’agriculture dans cette zone, mais offrent une sorte d’instantané du travail en cours. Comme certains aménagements datent de peu après la révolte, il est probable que les esclaves mentionnés dans les sources écrites aient participé à leur construction. Mais l’agriculture a bel et bien continué dans la région pendant une très longue période après la fin du soulèvement.

Pourquoi une si vaste zone agricole a-t-elle ensuite été abandonnée ? On l’ignore encore. Les causes possibles vont du changement climatique aux pandémies, en passant par des bouleversements économiques et politiques plus larges. D’autres recherches sont nécessaires pour répondre à cette question.

Mais en établissant un lien plus précis entre ces caractéristiques du paysage et leur contexte historique, nous nous rapprochons un peu plus de la compréhension des processus sociaux et économiques qui ont eu lieu dans le sud de l’Irak au cours de la période médiévale.

L’archéologie ajoute une autre dimension à ce que nous savons déjà d’un événement historique tel que la rébellion des Zanj.

Peter J. Brown bénéficie d’un financement de la Fondation Gerda Henkel.

– ref. Une nouvelle étude replace la révolte et le rôle des esclaves africains dans l’histoire agricole du sud de l’Irak – https://theconversation.com/une-nouvelle-etude-replace-la-revolte-et-le-role-des-esclaves-africains-dans-lhistoire-agricole-du-sud-de-lirak-263950

September 1, 2025

Le travail du sexe dans le Sénégal colonial était contrôlé par la France : un livre en retrace l’histoire raciste

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Caroline Séquin, Associate Professor of Modern European History, Lafayette College

Desiring Whiteness est un livre primé de l’historienne Caroline Séquin. Il explore les histoires entremêlées du commerce du sexe et de la politique raciale en France et dans l’empire colonial français, en particulier au Sénégal. Nous lui avons posé cinq questions sur son étude.

Comment le travail du sexe était-il réglementé en France ?

Un nouveau système de contrôle du commerce du sexe a été mis en place sous le Consulat de Napoléon au début des années 1800. Il a d’abord été mis en œuvre à Paris, puis dans toute la France. Connu sous le nom de réglementarisme, il tolérait le commerce du sexe plutôt que de l’interdire. Mais à certaines conditions.

Il accordait des licences aux maisons closes, à condition que les femmes qui vendaient des services sexuels (on supposait que les hommes ne le faisaient pas) soient enregistrées auprès de la police des mœurs. Elles devaient se soumettre à un examen gynécologique régulier afin de détecter toute infection sexuellement transmissible (IST) qu’elles pourraient transmettre par inadvertance à leurs clients.

À l’époque, la syphilis constituait une grave menace pour la santé publique. Les médecins ne savaient pas comment la traiter. Les femmes atteintes d’une IST ou qui enfreignaient les dispositions du réglementarisme étaient internées dans des hôpitaux ou des prisons sans procès en bonne et due forme.

Les historiens ont montré à quel point le réglementarisme était un système arbitraire et imparfait. Il visait principalement les femmes de la classe ouvrière pour le plaisir des hommes hétérosexuels.

Quelle forme a-t-il pris dans les colonies comme le Sénégal ?

Après l’abolition de l’esclavage en 1848, les autorités coloniales françaises ont adopté le même régime régime réglmentariste qu’en France.

L’empire français comprenait alors la Martinique, la Guadeloupe, la Guyane française, la Réunion et certaines régions côtières de l’Algérie. À cela s’ajoutaient des comptoirs commerciaux français au Sénégal et en Inde, ainsi que plusieurs protectorats dans le Pacifique.

Au Sénégal, le réglementarisme a donc été adopté à Saint-Louis et sur l’île de Gorée. Les Français y avaient construit des comptoirs commerciaux qu’ils ont transformés en territoires coloniaux à peu près à la même époque.

Le réglementarisme était un moyen de contrôler le corps des femmes anciennement esclaves. Les autorités coloniales les considéraient comme une menace pour la santé publique des hommes français présents dans la région. Elles craignaient qu’après l’abolition, les femmes se tournent vers le commerce du sexe pour survivre. Cela contribuerait à la propagation des IST. Elles ont étendu ces politiques à tout le Sénégal colonial à la fin du XIXe siècle.

Comment les travailleuses du sexe sénégalaises ont-elles réagi ?

Pas comme l’auraient souhaité les autorités coloniales. Beaucoup de femmes africaines accusées de se livrer au commerce du sexe ont échappé aux contrôles de santé obligatoires ou à l’enregistrement par la police. Elles ont par exemple déménagé dans d’autres régions pour éviter d’être repérées.

Et bien que le nouveau décret colonial autorisât la création de maisons closes, il semble qu’il n’y en ait eu aucune dans la colonie avant le début des années 1900. Les autorités déploraient régulièrement le fait que les femmes africaines qui se prostituaient le faisaient « clandestinement ». C’est-à-dire en dehors des maisons closes agréées et du contrôle colonial.

Il ne faut pas ignorer le fait que certaines de ces femmes ont probablement été accusées à tort d’être des travailleuses du sexe. Le genre et les préjugés raciaux ont influencé la façon dont les autorités médicales et coloniales percevaient les femmes noires.

Je n’ai trouvé aucune preuve de l’existence de maisons closes employant des femmes africaines à Dakar ou dans le reste du Sénégal colonial. Toutes les maisons closes agréées employaient des femmes européennes et leurs services étaient réservés exclusivement aux hommes européens.

La réputation sexuelle des femmes blanches importait beaucoup aux autorités coloniales, car elle était censée refléter la supériorité morale française. Néanmoins, elles toléraient leur activité sexuelle, car les tenanciers de maisons closes refusaient l’accès à leurs établissements aux clients africains masculins. Cela contribuait à empêcher les relations sexuelles interraciales.

Les relations sexuelles avec une travailleuse du sexe blanche étaient préférables aux relations sexuelles ou conjugales avec des femmes africaines. Étant donné l’idée largement répandue à l’époque selon laquelle les hommes avaient des besoins sexuels naturels, les maisons closes étaient perçues comme un « mal nécessaire » pour maintenir l’ordre social, moral et racial.

La réglementation du commerce du sexe est donc devenue un outil essentiel pour le maintien de la domination coloniale. Celle-ci s’appuyait de plus en plus sur des hiérarchies raciales strictes et la préservation de la blanchité française.

Quelle est la situation actuelle ?

Le régime réglementarsite a été légalement aboli en France – et au Sénégal colonial – en 1946. Cependant, quelques années après la décolonisation et l’indépendance du Sénégal en 1960, une nouvelle loi a été adoptée par les autorités sénégalaises. Elle obligeait les travailleurs du sexe à s’enregistrer (auprès des autorités médicales plutôt que de la police) et à se soumettre à des contrôles réguliers pour dépister les IST. Celles qui ne se conformaient pas à cette loi risquaient d’être emprisonnées.

Ce système est très similaire au système réglementariste mis en place pendant la période coloniale et qui est toujours en vigueur aujourd’hui.

Cette approche diffère de celle adoptée par d’autres pays africains anciennement sous domination coloniale française, qui associaient le réglementarisme à l’oppression coloniale. Après leur indépendance, ces pays ont pris des mesures pour l’éliminer. Certains chercheurs ont toutefois salué les lois de type réglementariste du Sénégal comme l’une des principales raisons pour lesquelles le pays affiche le taux de VIH le plus bas du continent.

Que souhaitez-vous que les lecteurs retiennent de votre livre ?

La réglementation du commerce sexuel ne visait pas seulement à contrôler le corps et la sexualité des femmes. Elle visait également à contrôler les relations raciales.

À partir de la fin du XIXᵉ siècle, alors que les discours coloniaux devenaient de plus en plus hostiles aux relations intimes entre Blancs et Noirs, les autorités françaises ont utilisé la prostitution pour limiter l’émergence de liens durables entre groupes raciaux. Ces relations menaçaient, selon elles, de brouiller le mythe de la « blancheur française » en donnant naissance à des enfants métis.

Les règles sur qui pouvait vendre ou acheter des services sexuels variaient entre la France et le Sénégal colonial. Mais au fond, la même logique raciale structurait les maisons closes, qu’elles soient métropolitaines ou coloniales.

Mon livre contribue donc à un corpus de recherches en constante expansion qui a démystifié le mythe de l’aveuglement de la France à la couleur de peau, en révélant comment la réglementation du commerce du sexe n’était qu’un des nombreux moyens utilisés pour produire et maintenir les différences et les hiérarchies raciales au cours du siècle qui a suivi l’abolition de l’esclavage.

En ce sens, la France n’était pas une exception, mais plutôt similaire à d’autres nations impériales comme les États-Unis, où le contrôle de la sexualité et du mariage conjugalité est devenu crucial pour le projet racial de suprématie blanche au lendemain de l’abolition de l’esclavage.

Caroline Séquin 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. Le travail du sexe dans le Sénégal colonial était contrôlé par la France : un livre en retrace l’histoire raciste – https://theconversation.com/le-travail-du-sexe-dans-le-senegal-colonial-etait-controle-par-la-france-un-livre-en-retrace-lhistoire-raciste-264069

September 1, 2025

Actionnaires et climat : un capitalisme de transition est-il possible ?

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Yves Rannou, Enseignant-chercheur en Finance, Clermont School of Business

Les actionnaires sont-ils des alliés des militants de la lutte contre le changement climatique ? Dans une vision classique, la recherche du profit et les comportements vertueux semblent opposés et la question posée relevait de la rhétorique. Pourtant, la réalité est bien plus complexe, plus subtile.

Après plusieurs mois de backlash anti-critères environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance (ESG) qui a conduit de nombreux gérants d’actifs états-uniens à quitter les alliances sur la neutralité carbone, 26 fonds de pension britanniques, australiens, européens et états-uniens, représentant 1 500 milliards de dollars d’actifs sous gestion, ont publié une déclaration commune, il y a six mois, enjoignant les gestionnaires d’actifs à améliorer leur prise en compte du climat dans leur politique de vote.

Quelques semaines après, le fonds de pension britannique The People’s Pension nommait le gestionnaire d’actifs européen Amundi et l’Américain Invesco pour superviser 85 % de son portefeuille de 40 milliards de dollars. Jusque-là, ces sommes étaient gérées par State Street, troisième plus grand gestionnaire d’actifs des États-Unis, qui s’est depuis retiré de tout activisme climatique.

Une nouvelle approche de l’activisme actionnarial

Traditionnellement, l’activisme actionnarial était vu comme une action individuelle étudiée au niveau d’une relation entre un actionnaire engagé, qui cherche à accroître sa rentabilité financière de l’exercice de sa voix, et une entreprise cible dans laquelle il a investi. Toutefois, cette vision dyadique ne permet plus de rendre compte de l’activisme actionnarial lié aux enjeux ESG. Parmi ces enjeux ESG, les risques climatiques sont au centre de préoccupations des investisseurs.

Parce que ces risques sont complexes du fait de leur nature systémique avec des liens étroits avec d’autres enjeux ESG, tels que la biodiversité et la juste transition climatique, ils nécessitent des moyens humains et des compétences techniques importantes. Par conséquent, l’actionnaire engagé n’agit plus seul, mais de manière collective au sein de coalitions impliquant tous les investisseurs du secteur de la gestion d’actifs.

Dans une étude publiée dans la revue British Journal of Management, nous ouvrons la boîte noire de ces coalitions en adoptant une vision systémique en vue de mieux comprendre comment elles se structurent et comment elles évoluent dans le temps. Nous soulignons le rôle essentiel des plateformes et d’alliances sur la neutralité carbone – que sont Climate Action 100+, les Principes pour l’investissement responsable, le réseau Eurosif et sa branche française : le Forum pour l’investissement responsable. – dans la structuration de ces coalitions et de leurs demandes.

Un cadre narratif commun

Ces initiatives contribuent à élaborer un cadre narratif commun à l’action collective à mener. Elles apportent notamment un éclairage sur la trajectoire carbone des entreprises et sur la faisabilité des plans de transition climatique échafaudés par les entreprises lorsqu’ils existent. À cette fin, elles se basent sur des modélisations de trajectoire bas carbone par secteur établies au niveau mondial (par ex. : Science Based Target Initiative (SBTI)) ou des méthodes d’évaluation des plans de transition climatiques élaborés au niveau national (par ex. : Accelerate Climate Transition (ACT), développé par l’Agence de la transition écologique [Ademe], en France).

En plus de ces plateformes, les coalitions font appel à l’expertise de cabinets de conseils spécialisés (par ex. : Ceres, I Care and Consult, Carbon4Finance), de juristes spécialisés, d’agences en conseil de vote (par ex. : ISS, Glass Lewis), mais aussi d’ONG spécialisées et militantes (par ex. : Reclaim Finance, Share Action, Follow This).

Trois cadres

Notre travail qualitatif a permis d’identifier trois cadres qui structurent l’activisme climatique des actionnaires.

La recherche de transparence : certains actionnaires exigent des données précises sur les émissions de gaz à effet de serre, notamment celles liées à la chaîne de valeur (les fameuses émissions « Scope 3 »). C’est un point de départ important, mais désormais pleinement intégré dans la régulation européenne (via la directive européenne Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, CSRD), ce qui en atténue la pertinence et l’intérêt.
La matérialité financière : ce cadre repose sur l’idée que le climat représente un risque financier. L’entreprise est invitée à se transformer pour préserver sa valeur économique à long terme. C’est une approche qui séduit une majorité d’investisseurs institutionnels, car elle parle leur langage.
La double matérialité : ici, l’entreprise est aussi responsable de son impact sur l’environnement et la société. Ce cadre, plus exigeant, mobilise une nouvelle génération d’investisseurs centrés sur l’impact réel de leurs placements, au-delà du seul rendement.

Logiques multiples

Contrairement à une idée reçue, les investisseurs ne s’enferment pas dans une logique unique. Au contraire, leurs stratégies de dialogue avec la direction ou le conseil d’administration des entreprises ciblées, avant ou durant la tenue des assemblées générales des actionnaires, sont évolutives et interconnectées. Ils modulent leurs approches selon les contextes et les résistances rencontrées. Par exemple :

si les démarches centrées sur la matérialité financière ne donnent pas de résultats, certains peuvent revendre leurs actions (« stratégie d’exit ») ;
à l’inverse, face à des enjeux sociétaux profonds, d’autres préfèrent maintenir la pression via un dialogue soutenu et des résolutions répétées (« stratégie du voice »).

France 24, 2025.

Ces stratégies ne sont pas indépendantes : elles interagissent, s’adaptent, évoluent.

Nous avons ainsi observé des effets d’entraînement : un groupe d’investisseurs mobilisé sur le climat peut, au fil des échanges, élargir son champ d’action à des enjeux qui y sont liés, comme la biodiversité. Ce basculement stratégique a plusieurs implications concrètes.

De nouvelles approches

Du côté des investisseurs, l’enjeu n’est plus seulement de dénoncer ou de sanctionner, mais de coconstruire des plans de transition crédibles avec les entreprises en intégrant des indicateurs d’impact en ligne avec les exigences de double matérialité de la Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Pour les entreprises, il ne suffit plus de publier des rapports de durabilité. Il faut démontrer, plan d’action climatique à l’appui, comment l’entreprise entend contribuer à la neutralité carbone, et avec quels résultats concrets.

Rendre contraignants les votes annuels sur les plans climatiques des entreprises – via un mécanisme institutionnalisé de type Say-on-Climate (SOC) – suscite des réserves du côté des instances de régulation française et européenne. Une telle mesure pourrait entrer en contradiction avec les exigences de la directive européenne CSRD. Elle risque aussi de produire l’effet inverse de celui recherché : freiner l’adoption de stratégies climatiques de long terme et affaiblir le dialogue entre entreprises et investisseurs.

Notre recherche montre que le capitalisme actionnarial peut devenir un levier de transformation systémique, à condition de favoriser des alliances, de développer des outils d’évaluation, et de façonner de nouveaux récits pour accélérer la transition. Dans un monde où chaque tonne de CO₂ évitée compte, leur rôle est loin d’être négligeable.

Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.

– ref. Actionnaires et climat : un capitalisme de transition est-il possible ? – https://theconversation.com/actionnaires-et-climat-un-capitalisme-de-transition-est-il-possible-260968