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What makes a love song? OUP staff have their say

The “love song” is undoubtedly timeless, pervading over the centuries–the themes of beauty, time, passion and heartache can be seen very early on in William Shakespeare’s sonnets, (among some of the first expressions of the love song), and with these universal ideas of love remaining ever-significant subject matter of popular music today.

But what makes a love song? We all respond to and interpret the love song in our own personal way, and romance was certainly in the air for OUP staff when we asked them to share with us their favorites; from the unique and obscure to the classic power ballads of the modern age. Be sure to share with us your own favorite songs and spread the love this Valentine’s Day.

Anna-Lise Santella, Grove Editor

It’s not a conventional love song, but my favorite song to play on Valentine’s Day is Jobim’s “The Waters of March.” So many love songs are about the moment of discovery, of new love, but this is a song about a life spent together, of secrets and inside jokes, joy and sorrow, the passage of time. All the domestic details leave only a vague outline of the story behind them, leaving you to fill in the gaps, like you’re in on the secret. There are dozens of wonderful recordings in both English and the original Portuguese, but I’m especially fond of Holly Cole’s version which trades in the traditional samba feel for a waltz.

Richard Carlin, Executive Editor, Music and Art

“Memories of You” by Eubie Blake and Andy Razaf–a classic love song that calls for a singer with great chops. And a lovely sentiment.

Suzanne Ryan, Editor in Chief, Humanities

“Ich liebe dich” (aka Zärtliche Liebe). A sweet, direct, earnest statement– it’s one of the most genuine, uncomplicated expressions I’ve heard in song, and I always have to listen to it (or sing it) twice, once is never enough. Composed by 25 year old Beethoven, and amazing to hear this early work considering how his composing developed and is most commonly characterized. I like to imagine the young man in love for the first time with all the hopes of a happy future.

Jamie Kim, Editorial Assistant

Cheesy, but “The Nearness of You” rendition by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Celine Aenlle-Rocha, Marketing Coordinator, Academic & Trade Marketing

“It’s All Coming Back to me Now” is a power ballad written by Jim Steinman, and made famous by Celine Dion. Jim Steinman is one of the great ballad composers of the 80s and 90s. A lot of his songs are based on Wuthering Heights and about the passionate (if sometimes unhealthy) love of Victorian novels. This is my favorite cover of what I think is the most romantic song ever written.

Elena Jones, Marketing Assistant, Academic Central Marketing

“Tender,” because everyone loves a bit of Blur! This song can make me smile, laugh and cry in equal measure. “Tender” was inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel Tender is the Night, the title of which was taken from Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats, a romantic poet.

Elanor Caunt, Music Marketing Manager

I am not really into love songs in a big way. However, I think my pick would be a modern love song, “I won’t give up” by Jason Mraz. This was the song I had for my wedding dance and totally captures the sentiment of that moment and nowadays, it also expresses exactly how I feel about my son. The lyrics sum up the endless, eternal nature of a love that never gives up but keeps on fighting and trying, even through all the twists and turns of life. I think the music that the lyrics are set to is perfect because it just allows the power of the words to jump out.

Erin Fegeley, Marketing Manager

My favorite love song is “Nothing can change this love” by Sam Cooke. My now husband was playing it when he proposed to me and it was the song we played for our first dance at our wedding this summer.

Katie Bennett, Marketing Assistant, Americas

I grew up listening to 50s and 60s music with my dad, then 70s Motown with my mom—they were 15 years apart, so the generational gap in music was really wide. From that 30 year period of music, I’d have to say my favorite love song is “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by the magical Stevie Wonder. Though I must say, I’m really loving this new version by an artist from my hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Steven Filippi, Marketing Assistant, Global Online Product Marketing

“Starlight” by British alternative rock band Muse is my favorite song, and it just so happens to also be about love. Or escape. Or forgetting about the problems of world. Or all of the above. It is emotional and catchy, and like much of Muse’s music, has lyrics relating to space and the unknown. However, unlike the dystopian themes of other songs, “Starlight” is Muse at their most hopeful.

Panumas King, Marketing Executive, Global Academic Marketing

“My Heart Will Go On” from the soundtrack to Titanic is sung beautifully by Celine Dion. This is a classic love song about how true love never dies no matter if the other person has gone and is no longer with you.

Elizabeth Furey, Social Media Manager

Elton John’s “Your Song” is my favorite. I’m really a lyrics person, and I think these lyrics are so charming. They don’t try too hard to impress—quite the opposite. The speaker is so humble and self-conscious about expressing himself, literally second-guessing himself in the lyrics, forgetting the color of his beloved’s eyes, etc. I’m also very much a sucker for any songs that are self-aware and “Your Song” is self-aware in such a sweet and perfect way.

Honestly, I think “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys is the greatest pop song ever written. The fact that it’s a love song is kind of secondary to it being a great song in general. It’s got a jovial, juvenile, carousel music aesthetic that is just irresistible. That aesthetic betrays the overall message of the song, which is pretty pessimistic and dramatic. But this betrayal only reflects the nature of love—yes it’s scary and risky but it’s also a joy.

Amelia Carruthers, Marketing Executive, Online Products

“Brandy Alexander” by Feist always reminded me of my partner (of nearly seven years)–my very own Brandy Alexander. It’s particularly reminiscent of the long times we used to spend apart, and the fun we’d have together. As the song says, “always gets me into trouble” and together we’ve got up to the best combination of mischief and adventures–touch wood keeping trouble to a minimum!

Pete Barklem, Senior Marketing Executive

“Absolute Beginners” by David Bowie. This is what happens when Bowie decides to sit down and write a fairly literal love song. Good job, and a great antidote to the previous year’s “Dancing in the Street.”

Hayley Ryan, Marketing Assistant

“Home” by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. To me it perfectly describes what love is and how it feels–love feels like coming home and being with your person.

Lauralee Yeary, Editorial Assistant

I’ll always list a song by Arthur Russell as my favorite re: love. He understood the state/act so deeply, equally ebullient and painful. This track is probably his most widely known and was rerecorded several times until his death in 1992. It’s a simple but tender moment, elasticized over minutes – a couple on their way to a beach, talking mileage and the bliss of proximity. There’s also a fantastic documentary, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, featuring Russell’s partner and stories about the love that inspired this song.

Katherine Byrne, Associate Marketing Manager

“A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square” is a classic, and is one that’s been performed by legends such as Vera Lynn, Nat King Cole, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra and Rod Stewart. Every powerful love song should have a story to it, and this is my example of one that’s timeless.

“Your Hands are Cold” from Pride and Prejudice film soundtrack: What counts as a love song? This may test the limits slightly, as there are no words; however, I think this piece captures “falling in love” in Austen’s famous novel beautifully.

Jessica Green, Marketing Assistant (Humanities)

“Hoppípolla” which is Icelandic for “hopping into puddles” by the band Sigur Rós, whilst is not a directly a love song, always makes me think of the fluttering and momentous feeling of falling in love. The lyrics are not easy to dissect (they are quite nonsensical and my understanding of Icelandic few and far between!) however to me it sounds exactly how love (in its many forms) should feel.

I also often sway towards songs that refuse to sugarcoat love, and that are somehow as uplifting as they are poignant. I may be a little biased here because of my weakness for feel-good folk pop, but The Lumineers recent album “Cleopatra” highlights wholeheartedly the often bittersweet realities of love and relationships. The title track, “Cleopatra” is one of my favorite on the album – which can be interpreted in multiple ways, but for me it’s about the sentimentality of the lover’s lament; of chances missed, and opportunities for redemption in love – all timeless subject matters of the ‘love song’!

An OUP approved playlist for further listening:

Image Credit: Paper, Romance, Symbol, Valentine, Love by DariuszSankowski. CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay.

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Love and Tinder: hookup culture at universities [excerpt]

Since its launch in 2012, Tinder—the controversial dating app—has been cause for conversation. Tinder was among one of the first apps with swiping capabilities, which allows users to swipe either right or left on a series of profile pictures from people nearby. Two users who swipe right on one another’s profiles will “match,” which gives them the ability to start a conversation.

In the below excerpt of The Happiness Effect, author Donna Freitas reflects on her interviews with university students who shared their experiences on Tinder.

In an online survey, students were asked to name all of the social media platforms they use on a regular basis. Of the students who answered this question, only 9% said they use Tinder regularly.

Because Tinder uses GPS, you can pretty much limit your choices to people on campus. And that’s what the few students who use it do. They use it to flirt. Say there’s a cute guy in your physics class but you’ve never actually met him? Maybe he shows up on Tinder when you’re playing around on it some Friday night with your friends. This allows you to swipe right on his photo—and hope that maybe he’s already done the same on your photo). Either way, voila: once you swipe right, you’ve let him know you might be interested.

Flirting accomplished.

Maybe nothing happens from there—maybe he never responds, maybe he does but you never actually talk to him in person. Or maybe next time you see him you actually have a conversation because you’ve established a connection on Tinder. Tinder can provide an opening to talk to someone you’ve always thought was attractive. Students certainly find it incredibly difficult to establish that opening—actually going up to someone on campus you already find attractive and saying hello, in person, boggles their minds. Of course, once a connection is established on Tinder, if it leads to anything it will likely be a hookup, not a date. Hookup culture dominates campuses. Dating (at least of the more traditional sort) is nearly nonexistent, even if students would prefer that not to be the case. It’s definitely true that college students don’t know how to date anymore. But it’s also true that most college students would like to date if they could. Tinder can help alleviate their fears and anxieties around that initial meeting (though it doesn’t always function this way).

Cellphone by Pexels. CC0 public domain via Pixabay.

But what I want to emphasize here is that the reputation Tinder has in the media, and the fears stoked by alarmists—that Tinder simply facilitates sex between strangers—does not seem to apply on college campuses. For those who do occasionally use Tinder to find hookups, it’s almost always hookups with other students. Moreover, for college students, hookups are a broad category—they can be anything from kissing (and it is often just kissing) to sex. So even if a student uses Tinder to spark a hookup, that hookup may simply lead to an evening of making out with another student.

The same dread that college students feel about online dating–the sense that meeting someone with whom you have no prior real life connection is reckless—applies to Tinder as well. Students may indeed want to have sex and hook up, but they do not want to have sex and hook up with anonymous strangers. They want to have sex and hook up with that hot guy from American lit, or that hot girl from chemistry class. Even if they have no prior formal introduction or relationship with that person, the very fact that this person is a known quantity—they attend your college, you have a class with them, maybe even some of your friends know this person or know the friends of this person—changes the dynamic entirely. For better or for worse (and I would say for better overall), this makes the person with whom you are flirting and with whom you might like to meet up “safer.” They are “safer” in the eyes of students because you are going to see them again in class, because you can get a sense of their reputation from others before anything happens between you, because you likely already know where they live or can find out easily if you don’t, and because you will have further access to them if need be since they live and go to school on your campus and are bound by its rules and authorities. Granted, this is not a guarantee that a hookup will turn out well, and it’s certainly not a guarantee against sexual assault. But, despite fears expressed in the media, students almost never use Tinder to meet total strangers.

Tinder, for those who are on it, is simply a useful tool for showing interest, possibly for flirting, and definitely for a quick ego boost if someone needs one. Is Tinder a part of hookup culture on campus? Definitely. It depends upon the campus, since Tinder is more popular on some campuses than others. And hookup culture was dominant on college campuses long before Tinder was invented. Hookups happen regardless of apps and social media, so while social media may play a role in hookup culture, it certainly didn’t create hookup culture. And if social media were to disappear tomorrow, the effect on hookup culture would be pretty much nonexistent.

Featured image credit: Untitled image by freestocks.org. CC0 Public domain via Pexels.

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Tearing the heart out of Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day each year brings with it accusations of shameless appropriatation of sacred rituals by retailers.

But of course, there is nothing new in the commercialisation of rituals and traditions. Following enforcement of Confucianism in the Ming and Qing dynasties of China, the nuo exorcism ritual was re-created as an ‘‘often expensive personal experience performed by nuo Masters for a group of households (Li, 2016).” Today, the Chinese ritual of Singles Day, on 11 November (11-11), an event reportedly entirely invented by the billionaire entrepreneur and founder of ecommerce site Alibaba, Jack Ma, generates £14bn annually from Chinese consumers, many of whom ritually purchase 4 dough sticks (‘11-11’) for breakfast, but for no other apparent reason.

Just so with St. Valentine’s Day, which traces its origins back to the attempts to ‘Christianise’ the pagan festival of Lupercalia, when at the end of the 5th century Pope Gelasius settled on 14  February as the appropriate date. However, it was not embraced commercially until the 19th century with the advent of pre-printed and decorated cards.

How big is St Valentine’s Day today? Has it been fully ‘captured’ by retailers around the world and how has social media transformed the experience? Certainly, the event – celebrated not just in the UK, but in the US, France & Australia amongst other places – has extended beyond the simple exchange of cards into gift-giving behaviours reinforced by moral and peer group pressure, particularly amongst certain age and lifestyle groups and in particular settings such as the workplace.

Jewellery, chocolates, and flowers remain the persistent conventional favourites – with less valuable gifts tending to be bought at the last moment. In-store promotions and conventional advertising pile on the pressure to conform, and are increasingly imaginative in their attempts to associate particular kinds of gifts with the day.

The celebration of St Valentine’s Day echoes many of the contemporary trends we can see more broadly in the market place.

This year, one growing trend is towards greater personalisation: a personalised ‘message in a bottle’; your significant other’s name spelled out in sweets; or the opportunity to name a star after a loved one, all figure in the 2017 list. And the gifting of experiences, rather than of simply products, are also still popular, with gifts going beyond the usual spa visits and fine dining to include a glamping break for two, and a Segway rally adventure. Nor is such gift-giving restricted to human relationships: this year, the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in London is offering tickets to a ‘Feline Lonely’ event at which would-be pet owners can acquire one of the home’s 3,000 cats.

Social & mobile media, so ubiquitous in every other aspect of our lives, have also begun to exert their influence on the 14 February. Brands themselves have been quick to extend their Valentine’s promotional activity to social media platforms.

Lush’s #loveislove LGBT campaign proposes that ‘love transcends gender’ in featuring same-sex couples enjoying Lush bath bombs. Interflora has reinvented the role of flowers in proposals of marriage, by crowdsourcing ideas for the ‘ultimate proposal’ (whether through skywriting or guerilla performances). The public has voted for its favourite amongst the last four and the winning ‘creative proposal’ will be secretly filmed and released online in time for Valentine’s Day. Let’s hope they say ‘yes!’

It would seem that complaining about the commercialisation of St Valentine has become as much of a ritual as the day itself and in the use of new technology, personalisation, mobile phones, and pets, the celebration of St Valentine’s Day echoes many of the contemporary trends we can see more broadly in the market place. So I just haven’t the heart to criticise it.

Featured image credit: Cake Pop Valentines by White77. Public Domain via Pixabay.

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How dangerous is technology?

Technological advances have provided immense improvements in our lives, but often with a hidden cost. Even the historic skills of bronze and iron working were driven by a desire not only for ploughs and tools, but for better weapons of war. This is still the case for much of modern science. Technical knowledge has helped to combat diseases, improve health, provide more food, offer faster travel, or ease hardship, and this is progress. We like novelty and innovation, but forget they happen at the limits of our understanding. We rarely see, or cannot predict, potential dangers. Innovation and knowledge are expanding at unprecedented rates, but we individually understand an ever-smaller percentage of the total.

The numbers of our daily exchanges of emails, phone calls, texts, photographs, and blogs was unimaginable just a few years ago. We receive them but ignore, delete, or forget them far faster than we did with hand-written letters and photographs. Technological progress means the life expectancy of stored data is rapidly shortening as our computer systems evolve and old data are incompatible with the modern storage and software technologies. We have photos of grandparents but do not expect electronic pictures to survive for our grandchildren. Stone carvings did not say much, but they exist.

Unexpected dangers lie in our reliance on computers and communications that are dependent on electrical power, optical fibre links, and satellites. Satellites are crucial for communications yet they have a finite life expectancy, and can fragment into thousands of high speed components that will destroy other satellites. This is a runaway situation, and current plans to improve data rates by doubling the number may mean satellite-based technology is doomed within a few decades. Failed satellites already contribute to a myriad of orbiting fragments, so further collisions are inevitable. Chunks as small as a mobile phone, at orbital speeds, can have kinetic energy 500 times greater than a military tank shell. Impacts are spectacular. Satellite technology may self-destruct; only the time scale is uncertain. Political, or terrorist, acts could rapidly remove satellites.

Such dangers are predictable, unlike natural phenomena such as sunspot emissions which strike the Earth. They make beautiful aurora in the night sky, but have destroyed power networks. We are vulnerable as we are totally dependent on electrical power, electronics, and satellites. Major solar emissions that intersect our Earth’s orbit are inevitable, and they can cause a total loss of power in advanced societies, including the destruction of satellites. The consequences are so horrendous that few people wish to consider them.

Networking by Comfreak. CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay.

The tangible benefits of technological progress are wonderful, but are matched by irreversible damage to our global resources. To support almost eight billion people, our attempts to provide sufficient food are made with limited regard to the land or other creatures, and we have destroyed cultures and hundreds of languages. Crop yields and health care have advanced with the aid of drugs and chemicals but they are not, and cannot be, confined to their original locations. Food and water supplies are seriously contaminated with a cocktail of chemicals and drugs which no earlier civilization has ever experienced. Despite warnings and research, the potential for allergies, ill health, and mutagenic and fertility changes are ignored by the majority. Humans have always been concerned with the present, self-interest, and profit. This is why we have advanced. The difference now is that we have outgrown our potential resources.

Technologies isolate many people from society, especially the poor or elderly. Our dependence on computers offers an obvious example as the changing systems are expensive or too complex for such people. Instead of benefitting them, they are side-lined. Further, the technologies are invariably designed by, and for, the young, who cannot appreciate how age has reduced sight, sensitivity to pale colours in display contrast, or manual dexterity. Lack of understanding can equally increase vulnerability to computer scams on their data and money. Technology is spawning an exponential growth in cyber-crime. This is globally running at many billions of dollars per year, and steeply rising.

I am highlighting dangers of new technologies that are often unexpected and unforeseen. They are hidden by very positive aspects of new science, but are placing advanced civilizations in danger of a sudden and total collapse. My comments are not anti-technology, but are intended to raise awareness of our vulnerability to the dangers that exist. It is absolutely essential that we recognise this and actively make contingency planning to minimise undesirable consequences. There is urgency, otherwise advanced civilizations will crash within decades. Over exploitation of resources can be addressed if we have the political will. It needs governments with intelligence to recognise that there are natural disasters, such as the sunspot emissions, that are inevitable. These can strike at any time, and we must have contingency measures in place.

Featured Image credit: Satellite by PIRO4D. CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay.

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Who’s your literary valentine? [quiz]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that pretty much everyone is in want of a literary valentine. Characters from classic literature have a way of capturing our hearts. Whether you’ve always had a crush on Heathcliff or are still seeking the Dorian Gray to your Basil Hallward (or the Juliet to your Romeo), this quiz is for you. We’ll set you up on a blind date with what might be the literary love of your life—they’ll meet you in the classic literature section of your local bookstore. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Featured image credit: “Book” by Congerdesign. CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay.

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It’s time to talk about power, part I

When I teach Constitutional Law as a political science course to undergraduates, most students arrive dedicated to the popular American constitutional trope known as ‘checks and balances.’ They are not alone. Immediately after the 2016 election, defenders of the Electoral College repeated the standard laudatory claims about its value everywhere from the American Prospect to the Washington Post, L.A. Times, and Boston Globe.

In these arguments, the Electoral College is one of the many features of our Constitution that effectively neutralizes power by balancing the rights of the minority against those of the majority. Too much majority power, after all, is the path to tyranny.

But this conventional view is simply wrong. Checks and balances are not the neutralization of power, but the exercise of it. And our failure to understand this basic fact about our political system is a large part of what ails American politics today.

What Americans affectionately call “checks and balances,” political scientists call “veto points”—features of the political process where a political minority can stymie and even block the majority. The Electoral College is the most obvious of these points but there are many others, including equal representation in the Senate, judicial review, bicameralism, separation of powers, and federalism.

The laudatory image of checks and balances as a system that helpfully constrains all groups in equal fashion lacks any account of actual power. ‘Checks and balances’ flattens the interests of all social, economic, or political minorities, as though they are all created equal, with the same need to ‘check’ the majority.

But political power is not evenly distributed in society. On the contrary, as a general matter, power tends to concentrate in the hands of the few—the wealthy, the politically connected, and the cultural and socially influential. This simple fact is largely buried beneath the language of American constitutionalism, however. Every loser in the political arena is treated as potentially at risk from the winners. At risk of what, exactly, is never very clear, but James Madison and the dangers of ‘mob rule’ loom large in our national consciousness, at least among elites.

Do national political majorities threaten the well being of every political minority? Do they routinely pose an existential threat to the lives and livelihood of the minority? Appeals to the value of ‘checks and balances’ assume that when majorities are blocked it serves to ensure that those in the endangered minority have their say.

Contrary to the popular trope, our system of checks and balances does not avoid tyranny, promote liberty, or balance various interests.

But that is not at all what happens. When veto points are activated, political minorities don’t just have a say, they get their way. The losers override the winners.

Which political interests, which political minorities, have access to these veto points?

As it turns out, political majorities—sometimes very large majorities—are often blocked from enacting policies that threaten the economic or social interests of powerful political minorities. These seemingly endangered, at-risk minorities consist largely of titans of industry, wealthy citizens, and powerful social and cultural leaders.

In other words, contrary to the popular trope, our system of checks and balances does not avoid tyranny, promote liberty, or balance various interests. It reinforces existing power hierarchies by providing opportunities for the powerful few to thwart the preferences of the less powerful many.

Some will argue that this is consistent with the intent of the Framers of the Constitution, who worried about the unpropertied masses. They sought to ensure the stability of the political and economic systems by limiting the power of mass publics.

That may be true. But I am not interested in discerning what the Framers intended or debating how the Constitution should be understood today.

Rather, I simply want to shed light on who actually wins and loses in this system today. And the reality is that checks and balances provide more opportunities for the well heeled and politically connected to protect their interests than it does for ordinary people to look after theirs.

Examples abound. The Electoral College is the most odious of veto points in the American political system, and in 2016, a stark example of how the power of wealth defeated the political majority. But in our nearly 230-year history, different popular and Electoral College outcomes have occurred only five times.

There are more common, but less recognized, veto points that routinely keep political majorities from governing, like equal representation in the Senate, judicial review and separation of powers/bicameralism. These institutions all fall within the category of ‘checks and balances’ and are lauded in knee-jerk fashion with little attention to their consequences.

From health care to lead in the water, and fair immigration policy to gun violence, the American system of checks and balances far too often delivers benefits to the few at the expense of the many.

Featured image credit: East front of the US Capitol by USCapitol. Public domain via Flickr.

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Lord Mansfield, the transvestite Chevalier d’Eon, and privacy

It is elementary that judges must adjudicate fairly between the litigants making and defending a claim. For this, judges are helped by the litigants and their advocates. But judges must also be fair to witnesses, and to third parties who may be affected by a trial, even if they are not present. For this, judges are on their own. Aggrieved litigants have clear rights of appeal. If witnesses or third parties are aggrieved, it may be much more difficult for judges, first to appreciate that fact in good time, and then, to find a remedy.

This difficulty was the subject of a successful appeal by two witnesses in family proceedings in W (A Child), Re [2016] EWCA Civ 1140. The trial judge had, without prior notice, announced a very serious adverse finding against two witnesses. A police officer and a social worker, as well as against the local authority, which was a litigant. The Court of Appeal held that the judge’s action breached the two witnesses’ Art 8 rights to respect for their private lives. The judge had also acted in breach of the witnesses’, and the local authority’s, right to a fair trial, both under Art 6, and at common law. The Court of Appeal ordered that the judge’s adverse findings should be treated as if they had never been made in any form. Having found that there was a wrong, there had to be a remedy, even if, as in this case, it was a remedy that had never been granted before.

Judges rarely go so badly wrong. But even Lord Mansfield did, and he may be the greatest English judge of all time. He started a judgment (Da Costa v Jones (1778) 2 Cowper 7 29 735–6; 98 ER 1331) saying “sorry” to a transvestite French person, le Chevalier d’Eon, who had not been present at a trial. He said it three times in the first three sentences.

Chevalier d’Eon, by Thomas Stewart. CCO public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The defendant in that case had undertaken to pay to the plaintiff £300 “in case the chevalier should at any time prove to be a female”. The jury award the plaintiff £300 at a trial held in the autumn of 1777. But soon afterwards Lord Mansfield was sorry he had not stopped the case. He took the extraordinary step of informing the defendant’s counsel that there might be a ground for defeating the claim which had not so far been raised. It was that the case should not have been allowed to proceed, because of the affect it had on the Chevalier d’Eon. So, in January 1778, the defendant made an application for a new trial, to “arrest the judgment”. This time three other judges sat with Lord Mansfield.

The plaintiff argued that the judgment should stand. There was nothing unlawful in a woman having dressed as a man, or “having fought the battles of her country [i.e. in the army], or served it as a Minister of State”, as the Chevalier had. The plaintiff argued that the evidence in the case (i.e. that the Chevalier was female) had been furnished by the Chevalier in a dispute which “she” had had with another person, and in any event, the case did not affect her. It was a matter of public knowledge that “she” had held the offices “she” had held. (The evidence that she was female could not be set out in the judgment without infringing the Chevalier’s rights).

Lord Mansfield gave the judgment. The case:

Had made a great noise all over Europe… I was sorry that the nature of the action had not been more fully considered. I was sorry… that the witnesses who were subpoenaed had not been told they might refuse to give evidence if they pleased… I have since heard that many of them were confidential persons, servants, and others employed in the way of their profession and business [including “his physicians”]. Had any of them demurred, it would have opened the nature of the action… It is a disgrace to the judicature.

He went on to say that if the Chevalier had applied at the trial to stop the case, he, as the judge would “instantly” have stopped it. People who otherwise have no interest in such a question cannot, just by making a wager, be entitled to ask the court to try whether a woman has committed adultery, or had a child when unmarried, or had some defect in her body. Third persons are not to be allowed to “wantonly expose others to ridicule and libel” in the form of an action.

Lord Mansfield did not need the Human Rights Act, nor Articles 6 and 8 of the ECHR. He was giving effect to common law rights.

Lord Mansfield did not need the Human Rights Act, nor Articles 6 and 8 of the ECHR. He was giving effect to common law rights. The judge’s duty to protect the rights of witnesses and third parties, as well as the rights of the litigants, does not derive from Arts 6 and 8. On the contrary, those common-law rights are one of the sources for Arts 6 and 8. Perhaps the Court of Appeal in Re W could have reached the same result independently of Art 8.

It is not just by means of libel and privacy actions that reputation and privacy are protected. Witnesses and third parties adversely affected by litigation rarely do ask the judge to protect their rights. As Lord Mansfield shows, it is the duty of judges to act of their own motion – and to do so belatedly if they omit to do so as soon as they should.

Featured image credit: “Old Bailey Microcosm” by Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Pugin. CC0 Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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How to write dialogue

I’m sitting at my computer early in the morning and my wife walks in.

“Good morning,” she says. “Is there any more coffee?”

I nod. “Do you want some?” I answer.

“I’ll get it,” she says. “What are you working on?”

“A blog post on dialogue,” I reply sleepily.

“Good luck,” she laughs, heading for the kitchen.

That’s pretty bad dialogue. It has no apparent purpose and too many words: adverbs like sleepily, redundant dialogue tags like answer, reply, and laughs, and nothing that really advances a plot or develops a character. It’s too much like real conversation.

Guides for writing dialogue often advise you to study real conversations and then make your dialogue like that, but without the boring parts. However you still have to decide which parts to leave in, what to omit, and how to tag your dialogue. I enjoy coffee shops as much as anyone, but I have another approach for dialogue: dissecting the ways in which good writers put words in their characters’ mouths.

Here is John Straley starting a conversation between Miles McCahon and an Alaskan state trooper in Cold Storage, Alaska:

“McCahon!” Brown barked, as if giving Miles permission to have the name. He jutted out his hand. “How are ya?”

“I’m doing well thanks,” Miles began. He was about to mention the fine weather for flying and maybe add something about going fishing if there was time.

“Two things,” Brown lumbered on…

We immediately get a sense of trooper Brown’s brusqueness—he barks, he juts, and he lumbers on, clipping words and sentences. Miles McCahon is more formal and polite: he says doing well rather than doing good and is inclined to chat (though the dialogue would surely drag if Straley had actually had the pair talk about the weather and fishing).

Here is Lisa Sandlin in The Do–Right establishing the relationship between her characters, the private detective Tom Phelan, and his new secretary Delpha Wade, just released from prison:

“Why don’t you call me Tom?”

Miss Wade sat down in the secretary chair and scooted up to the desk…

Sandlin goes on to describe the tension in Wade’s face and posture and her reply:

“First names maybe doesn’t look so good for your clients,” she said, indicating the door, as if clients were piled up on the stairs, clutching little paper numbers in their fists.

The dialogue contrasts Phelan’s attempted friendliness with Wade’s wariness. Sandlin omits dialogue tags like she said when it’s clear who is speaking. But here she includes one as a means to connect the dialogue to Wade’s action of looking at the door: good dialogue lets us see characters as well as hear them.

Two more examples. In Laura Rider’s Masterpiece, Jane Hamilton depicts a conversation early in the novel when the title character tells her husband about her sexual fatigue, using the analogy of a horse that can no longer jump:

“No more jumping?” He said. “Not ever?”

“I can’t,” Laura said. “I love you, but I can’t.”

“What if we take down a few of the fences on the course? Lower the bars? Shorten the moat by the boxwoods? How—how about trying a–?”

“I’m sorry,” Laura said, and in the moment she did feel a little rueful. “Charlie, I am sorry, but can’t you see? I’m out to pasture.”

The metaphor of horse–jumping is not really natural intimate conversation, but it works here as a literary rendition and clues readers to the oddness of the marriage. The repetition of said (and its absence in the sentence that Laura interrupts) creates a pace that allows the dialogue to speak for itself, without the author being too present.

And finally, in Victor Lodato’s Mathilda Savitch, two young girls are discussing a boy:

“What do you think of Kevin Ryder?” I said.

“Guukh,” Anna said. “Horrible.”

“Why?” I said.

She looked at me like I was off my rocker. “The clothes,” she said. “The hair.”

“Who does he think he is?” She said. “The devil?”

“He’s pretty nice,” I said.

A plot point (Kevin) is revealed and Anna and Mathilda’s characters come to life in their difference of opinion. The dialogue here is natural, down to the choked out guukh, the fragments, and the emphatic hair. There is a dash of sound, but not so much as to over–season the dialogue.

If you want to learn dialogue, take some apart. You get a feel for how good dialogue can draw the reader into the action of a story and into the characters, without distracting too much. That way you can enjoy your coffee in peace.

Featured image credit: “Conversation” by Thomas Szynkiewicz. CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

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The nature of addictive disorders

What are addictive disorders? Are they indeed disorders? The nature of problematic psychoactive substance use continues to be a matter of controversy among the public and politicians; even among health professionals there is little consensus. Some have a view that repeated use of a substance (or gambling or gaming) represents personal choice (a “free-will decision”) even when problems are occurring. Some consider it reflects the social and interpersonal influences on consumption or that it provides pleasure when life is hard. Many schooled in the field of behavioral psychology recognize the important contribution of learned behavior and also the more subconscious influences of classical conditioning (think of Pavlov’s dogs salivating at the prospect of food). Some conclude that these social and psychological influences result in a habit, which can be unlearned just as other habits respond to this approach. Many, particularly those in recovery from a substance problem, consider it a disease with a biological foundation and that those affected will respond differently to substances than others and over time will develop an addictive disorder. No wonder people are confused!

How do we make headway through these conflicting notions? In truth, each of them contributes something to our understanding of the nature of addictive disorders and we should not summarily reject any of them. The key issue is that the nature of these conditions changes over time. On the first occasion somebody takes a substance or gambles or plays an on-line game, it is their choice. They may be encouraged to do so by their peer group or the people they are with at the time. Moving from occasional use to repeated use typically involves social and psychological processes whereby further use is encouraged by a positive experience of the substance but also by the interaction of others who are drinking, smoking marijuana, or gambling together. Substance use and related activities are “socially infectious” conditions.

Repeated use of a substance may not remain something that is a flexible behavior which can be changed when circumstances change. The reason for this is that it affects nerve circuits and nuclei in the brain. Psychoactive substances do this because they get through the blood-brain barrier and cause changes directly. In the case of gambling, gaming, and other repetitive behaviors, there is internal release within the nuclei of chemical transmitters. Repeated exposure to external substances and internal chemicals affects the vital functions of these nuclei (such as reward functions and survival responses such as the fight-flight reaction). As a result, adaptive changes occur in the nerve circuits in these nuclei, which mean they are in an altered state, which scientists call “allostasis”. The allostatic state means that a powerful internal drive develops which drives forward the use of that particular substance (or engagement in gambling or gaming ever onwards).

Hands one Medical Products by EmilianDanaila. CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay.

The driving force is the central feature of what becomes an addictive disorder. Disorder is defined as a set of symptoms and features which has a known cause or predisposing factors, and has a distinctive course or “natural history.” When the internal drive has developed, repeated substance use becomes the norm to maintain the allostatic state; no more is it a free-will decision. If substance use does not continue, the person feels its lack – hence the common statement that addicted people make, that “I need to take [the substance] in order to feel normal”.

Importantly, the changes which occur in the brain nuclei are long-term ones; indeed they may be permanent. Much is known now about the mechanisms involved. Heightened dopaminergic neurotransmission arising from repetitive substance use in turn induces the formation of new nerve fibers and synaptic connections (these are termed “neurogenesis” and “neuroplasticity”) and so the brain becomes “hard-wired” for substance use. No longer can that person have a single glass of an alcoholic drink and then stop; the “volume control knob” is no longer functioning. The default for that person is to drink heavily and indeed they may do so until they pass out or there is no more alcohol available.

We now have a situation where a persistent driving force exists for that substance – and closely related substances. It results in the persistent use of the substance to the extent that the body’s natural defense mechanisms are overwhelmed and an array of disease states occurs. For alcohol, these can include liver disease, heart disease, muscle disorders, and endocrine abnormalities due to the direct toxic effects of alcohol. For cigarette smoking, the diseases (lung disease and various cancers) occur because of the other constituents of tobacco rather than the addictive substance which is nicotine. The addictive effects of codeine-containing tablets often reflect the toxicity of the other constituent such as ibuprofen in those who take Nurofen Plus (peptic ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding) and liver disease due to paracetamol in people taking Panadeine in its various strengths. Addictive disorders also cause physical diseases due to the person fueling their addiction to the detriment of their personal care, thus allowing diseases which might have been identified at an early stage to become advanced and untreatable. Mental disorders; various forms of brain damage; and personal, financial, work, and family problems occur typically in people who have addictive disorders. Consequently, life begins to unravel.

Addictive disorders have one more characteristic, which is why they are such powerful and destructive conditions. They play tricks with the conscious mind. The “internal driving force” tends to disturb the person’s logic so that he or she tends to blame others or external circumstances for their predicament. A further development of this is “denial”, where the person understates the extent or impact of their substance use and may reject that it is a problem. Not for nothing are these disorders described as “sneaky” and “baffling”.

It is important that health professionals keep abreast of the developments in the biology of the brain which explain the powerful and often subconscious nature of addictive disorders. Most crucially, there should be an understanding of the need for the patient to abstain from the addictive substance or behavior and to rebuild their life based on that. When a powerful engine is out of control, it is essential to deprive it of fuel. On the basis of sobriety, the underlying issues (often stemming from adverse experiences in childhood or the nature of their upbringing) can be addressed so that the patient experiences a sense of healing and the ability to move forward and be in the “driving seat” of their lives.

Featured image credit: Illegal drug addiction and substance abuse by epSos.de CC BY-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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The impact of cybersecurity on international relations

The hack of the Democratic National Committee by the Russian government and the subsequent publication of confidential emails during the 2016 US presidential election elevated cyber security in the context of international affairs to an unprecedented level in the public’s consciousness, not only in the United States but around the world. In fact, it had already become clear that cyber security had risen to the pinnacle of world politics when US President Obama went in front of television cameras in December 2014 to publicly accuse the North Korean government of hacking Sony Pictures Entertainment. Very few policy issues ever rise to the level of the president of the United States, and even fewer elicit the president’s public statement about them. In a remarkable development, within only a few years the debate about cyber security shifted from efforts by experts to raise awareness among senior officials (such as Richard Clarke’s 2011 Cyber War monograph co-authored with Robert Knake), to an agreement between the United States and China and a G20 statement with explicit language about cyber security norms in 2015.

This development isn’t surprising. The Internet has expanded rapidly since its commercialization in the mid-1990s. In the early twenty-first century, a third of the world’s population has access to the technology, with another 1.5 billion expected to gain access by 2020. Moreover, the “Internet of Things” will lead to an exponential number of devices being connected to the network. As a result, the economic and political incentives to exploit the network for malicious purposes have also increased, and cyber security has reached head-of-state-level attention. In parallel, publications on the topic by academic, policy, industry, and military institutions have multiplied. Scholars within the international relations (IR) discipline, particularly its subfields of security studies and strategic studies, increasingly focus on the technology’s implications for national and international security. This includes studying its effect on related concepts such as power, sovereignty, global governance, and securitization. Meanwhile, the meanings of cyber security and information security have been highly contested. Broad definitions of the concepts incorporate a wide range of cyber threats and cyber risks, including cyber warfare, cyber conflict, cyber terrorism, cyber crime, and cyber espionage as well as content online, while narrower conceptualizations focus on the more technical aspects relating to network and computer security.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, September 2016 by  Kremlin.ru. CC-BY-4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

While scholars take technology’s implications for international security increasingly seriously, they continue to disagree about the level and nature of the threat as well as the appropriate policy responses that governments and other stakeholders should adopt. Most prominently, scholars debate whether cyberwar will or will not take place. Gradually, this scholarship and its state-centric focus is being complemented by a growing research agenda studying the threat posed by non-state actors and the proliferation of cyber capabilities.

States also have very different perspectives on cyberspace and its appropriate use, with an increasing number developing offensive cyber capabilities. Cyber security has become an integral part of governments’ national defense as well as foreign and security policies and doctrines, contributing to the construction of cyber security as a new domain of warfare. Efforts to develop rules of the road for cyberspace focus on the applicability of existing international law, potential gaps, the development of norms, confidence-building measures, and postulating deterrence postures. In short, as Joseph Nye succinctly argues, a cyber security regime complex has evolved, encompassing multiple regional and international institutions that play pivotal roles in shaping policy responses. Consequently, there is a growing consensus that resilience is emerging as one of the core pillars of the overarching cyber security regime while the hack-and-leak operation during the US elections revived the decades-old debate about the relationship between information operations and cyber operations.

Ultimately, if the events of the past few years have revealed anything, it’s that cyber security and its impact on international relations is evolving quickly and will remain at the top of world leaders’ agendas. Meanwhile, it remains an undertheorized field presenting an opportunity for academic research, but also poses significant challenges given the speed of change.

Featured image credit: code html java script by markusspiske. Public domain via Pixabay.

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