Latest news with #TiffanyJenkins
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
A closet of one's own
We all need privacy – to misspeak, to err, to be intimate To hold one opinion but voice another, is this inauthentic? To conduct oneself as if one is being permanently surveilled, does that help democratic life? In her book Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life, British sociologist Tiffany Jenkins traverses centuries, to explain how the private and the public developed into two distinct realms, and how this historic achievement is now in mortal danger. Spark of conscience | From the Protestant iconoclasm of Martin Luther to the extensive adventurism of Henry VIII, the 16th century germinated the independence of 'inward things' from traditional authority. Hobbes's 1651 magnum opus Leviathan presented hypocrisy – the gap between public utterance and private belief – as key to protecting the social order from anarchy. The 1650 Toleration Act passed by Cromwell's parliament made strides towards making religion a private matter. Age of separations | The first modern biography, Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), the first modern autobiography, Rousseau's Confessions (1782), the first novel, Richardson's Pamela (1740), literacy rate for men in London approaching 80%, it was all of a piece with thinking for oneself. Simultaneous to the strengthening private sphere, was the rise of public life. Coffee houses were popping up everywhere. These were a male space, like the Atheninan agora. Male and female roles became sharply different. A woman effectively became her husband's property when she married. In 1801 the first census rolled out after an acrimonious five-decade resistance that it would 'molest and perplex every single family in the kingdom'. Drawing the line between a public realm open to state intervention and a private domain beyond it became the question of the age. Across the pond, the skepticism that met govt-led research was belied by the enthusiasm that met George Gallup, who founded his polling company in 1935. Americans liked answering questions about themselves and reading the results. As Kinsey discovered, they were also more than ready to share their sex 'histories'. Bernays' Propaganda (1928) proposed 'the engineering of consent', whereby these masses could be controlled by an 'invisible' govt, with insights from psychology and natural science. The personal is the political | This was Betty Friedan, Kate Millett and other second-wave feminists' counter to the 'interior colonisation' of women. But politicising the private sphere also meant depoliticising the public sphere. Redirecting scrutiny from social and economic structures of society to personal relationships placed an intolerable burden on everyone involved in such political practice, the book argues. Relatedly, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's criticism of the Roe vs Wade ruling was that abortion rights should not be a privacy issue but a matter of equal rights. Either way, the public-private separation forged in the 18th century weakened by the end of the 1970s. Let's talk about sex | Monica Lewinsky's was the first massive news story to break online. The Kenneth Starr report was accessed by 20mn Americans within 48 hours of its release. Fast forward to the normalisation of Pornhub and OnlyFans as examples of 'creator economy'. By now, threats to privacy are almost exclusively framed in terms of data and digital security. But, the book underlines, the protection of individual privacy ultimately depends on a clear boundary between private and public domains, which must be defended both online and offline. Strangers are not intimates. Why treat them like that? Protect your inner life instead. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A New Trustee at the British Museum Is Opposed to Returning the Parthenon Marbles to Greece
Among of the new trustees appointed to the British Museum is an academic expert opposed to the return of antiquities taken from their country of origin in colonial contexts, such as the museum's most contested holding, the Parthenon Marbles. Dr. Tiffany Jenkins, a broadcaster and sociologist, is one of several new trustees with a four-year term for the popular London institution. The four other new trustees are TV broadcaster and writer Claudia Winkleman; journalist and conservative politician Daniel Finkelstein; historian and podcaster Tom Holland; as well as former BBC radio news anchor Martha Kearney. George Osborne has been chairman of the British Museum's board since 2021. More from Robb Report Neil Armstrong's Omega Speedmaster Professional Could Fetch Over $2 Million at Auction One of the Country's Best Craft Distilleries Just Dropped an Stellar New Bottled in Bond Rye Whiskey Stevie Wonder Once Called This SoCal Estate Home. Now It Can Be Yours for $15 Million. Jenkin notably is the author of the book Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended up in Museums… and Why They Should Stay There, which examines the complex issue of how objects such as the Parthenon Marbles are assimilated into collecting institutions. The topic includes the rise of repatriation claims, to which Jenkin responded that museums are under no obligation to return or repatriate such artifacts even when appealed. The Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, are a frieze of sculptures that once adorned the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. They were removed between 1801 and 1815 by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman empire, which occupied Greece then. Elgin claimed an Ottoman leader granted permission for their extraction, and the British Museum ultimately acquired the sculptures in 1816. Disputes over their rightful ownership between the UK and successive Greek governments have been ongoing for four decades. Last July, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy announced a desire to 'end the needless party politicization of these appointments and draw on the widest pool of talent,' including more people from outside of London and South East England. The board's other 15 members included the Indian-American Amazon executive Priyanka Wadhawan, economics professor Abhijit Banerjee, economist Weijian Shan from China as well as the Colombian-American philanthropist Alejandro Santo Domingo. Best of Robb Report The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way) In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties Click here to read the full article.
The Guardian
23-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
British Museum is right to keep Parthenon marbles, says new trustee
The latest appointments to the British Museum's trustees include an academic expert opposed to the restitution of stolen antiquities. Dr Tiffany Jenkins, author of Keeping Their Marbles, will join new trustees including TV broadcaster and writer Claudia Winkleman, Lord Finkelstein, a Conservative peer who was an adviser to prime minister John Major, the historian and podcaster Tom Holland and the former BBC radio news anchor Martha Kearney for a four-year term. The chair of trustees is George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor of the exchequer. The Parthenon, or Elgin, marbles are the ancient Greek sculptures that once decorated the temple on the Acropolis in Athens. They were removed between 1801 and 1815 by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman empire, who claimed he had permission to take them, although no supporting document has been found. The sculptures were acquired by the British Museum in 1816, but their rightful ownership has been disputed since the 1980s. In her book Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended up in Museums… and Why They Should Stay There, Jenkins examined the influences behind the high-profile battle to return museum artefacts in an attempt to repair historical wrongs. Her views are at odds with those of another well-known historian and broadcaster, Dr Alice Roberts, who recently met the Greek culture minister, Lina Mendoni, while filming her series on Ancient Greece for Channel 4. Earlier this month Roberts told Radio Times: 'They belong back in Athens. It's not equivalent, but I imagine we might be upset in England if another country had significant bits of Stonehenge and wouldn't give them back. But actually the argument goes deeper than that. There's a pressing need to recognise some of the questionable practices of the past, which often went hand in hand with the history of colonialism.' Last month, Greece elected a new president, Constantine Tassoulas, who is a prominent advocate for the return of the marbles. A former culture minister, Tassoulas played a key role in revitalising efforts to reclaim the 2,500-year-old sculptures. Until recently, the British response has been based on the idea that the removal was legal, and that the British Museum is the safest custodian. But the argument shifted in recent years as Greece moved away from simply claiming ownership. The question is often now framed as one of 'reunification', involving sharing the legacy. This attitude was emphasised by the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who suggested that art can be kept in a different country without losing its significance. But in 2023, Rishi Sunak, who was prime minister at the time, cancelled a meeting with Mitsotakis at the last minute in a move interpreted as a way to avoid the issue. Jenkins, an honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh, was congratulated on her appointment by Claire Fox, her colleague at the Academy of Ideas. This thinktank, founded by Fox 25 years ago on the closure of Living Marxism, is non-party political but promotes what it describes as 'a robust stance on contentious issues'. Also welcoming the appointment was author and presenter Timandra Harkness, who told the Observer that Jenkins was solely concerned with the serious business of protecting history and would 'not be joining the board to fight any external battles'. Additionally, there was criticism that the new trustees are all white. 'If no one black or brown from outside London applied to become a trustee, they should have gone out to look for someone. They are out there,' said one leading cultural figure who wanted to remain anonymous but who is dismayed by the lineup. The museum's board of 20 trustees does contain a mix of cultural backgrounds, including the Indian-American Amazon executive Priyanka Wadhawan and economist prof Abhijit Banerjee as well as the economist Weijian Shan from China and the Colombian-American philanthropist Alejandro Santo Domingo. Last July, culture secretary Lisa Nandy announced a drive to attract the widest pool of talent to the public appointments system. Announcing the appointments, culture minister Chris Bryant said: 'Public appointees help to lead some of the UK's best-known institutions, and these immensely talented individuals with a wide range of personal and professional experience will make great contributions to how they are run and help to promote British soft power abroad.'
