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“A single one-off transaction can be an adventure in the nature of trade. Beyond that, I have found it impossible to find any single statement of law which is applicable to all the cases in circumstances”, said Sir Nicolas Browne in 1986. This quote adequately summarises the challenges in determining if a transaction can be a venture in the nature of trade. In 1955, the Royal Commission on the Taxation of Profits and Income identified six badges of trade. Now, HMRC lists nine badges for the same – 

1. Profit Seeking Motive 
2. The Number of Transactions
3. The nature of assets 
4. Existence of similar trading transactions or interests 
5. Changes to the asset
6. The way the sale was carried out
7. The source of finance 
8. Interval of time between purchase and sale 
9. Method of acquisition

However, the presence of these badges alone isn’t sufficient to establish trade. To define if a transaction is the nature of trade, these badges are applied depending on the specific situation within a case. This essay will explore how case law within the UK shapes the applicability of badges of trade to determine if a transaction is an adventure in the nature of trade. Here, we will take trade to include any trade, manufacturer or concern in the nature of trade. 

The intent behind the transaction is of utmost importance when determining if it is one of trade. If an asset is acquired to make a profit, it indicates trading activity. However, this alone is not enough, as is evident in the case Salt v Chamberlain, where share trading for profit motive was taken to be capital gains and not trade. Similarly, in Degorce v Commissioners, a distinction was established between the commerciality of a person investing and the commerciality of a trade undertaken. However, depending on the circumstances, if an asset was purchased not with a profit motive, it can still be an adventure in the nature of trade. In Taylor v Good, a house was purchased from the market for inhabitation. However, the wife disapproved of the building. Therefore, the couple built residential properties on the site and accepted an offer. The court held that even though the initial intent was not for profit, it qualified as trade because the house was acquired from the market and an intent for profit was realised later. 

The above examples are of one-off transactions but the number of transactions poses another crucial step in amounting a transaction to trading activity. A single transaction can be considered an adventure in the nature of trade ( CIR V Livingston and Others). However, it is more signifying if there is a repetitive pattern. Such is evident in Pickford v Quirke, where the repetition of selling mills made it an adventure in the nature of trade. What also helps in identifying trade is if the transaction followed the operations which are commonly followed in that line of business. In CIR v Livingston, three individuals caught a cargo vessel, repaired it and then sold it at a profit. Even if the transaction was one-off, they followed the traditional methods of carrying out trade within this business and hence it was held that the transaction qualified as trade.

The nature of the asset itself also causes complications when determining if the asset was bought for trade. Examples of such assets include personal assets and investment which has the potential to generate income. A landmark case which elaborates further upon this is Marson v Morton. Here, the land was purchased as an investment and then later sold. As the transaction was not related to his normal trade as a potato merchant, the one-time transaction was not considered to be a trade. Here, the transaction included some of the badges of trade, moreover, more was needed to be deemed as trade. On the other hand, in Wisom v Chamberlain, the profit after buying silver bullion to counter devaluation was considered to be a trade. The case also brings forth the significance of the source of finance and the interval of time. The silver was brought with a partial loan which implicates the need for the sale of the asset to repay the debt in a short period. This shows that the badges of trade are moulded to apply to the specific nature of the case. No one badge can determine if the transaction is in the nature of trade. This is highlighted by HMRC as well. It states that the weightage of each badge upon a case depends on the circumstances of the case.

It is important to note that the badges are not the sole determinant for the presence or absence of trade. In Eclipse 35 v Commissioners, their activity was found to be a mere device to gain fiscal activity. This decision was made not based on the badges of trade but due to the definition of trade itself which stipulates that the trade should be bilateral (Ransom v Higgs). Here, they concluded that no meaningful commercial good or service was offered to Disney by Eclipse 35, thus concluding that the transaction was not a trade. Here, many badges of trade were present but it is evident that case law shapes the use of the badges. 

As can be concluded, there is no one law which can define if a transaction is a venture in the nature of trade. It is case law which constructs and gives meaning to the phrase. The badges are there for direction, but their weightage in every instance is dependent on the unique circumstances of the particular case. 

Bibliography

• “BIM20205 – Meaning of Trade: Badges of Trade: Summary – HMRC Internal Manual – GOV.UK.” Accessed November 7, 2023. https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/business-income-manual/bim20205.

• Court, The Supreme. “Eclipse Film Partners No 35 LLP (Appellant) v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Respondent) – The Supreme Court.” Accessed November 7, 2023. https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2014-0114.html.

• dls. “Wisdom v Chamberlain (Inspector of Taxes): CA 8 Nov 1968.” Swarb.Co.Uk (blog), January 1, 2022. https://swarb.co.uk/wisdom-v-chamberlain-inspector-of-taxes-ca-8-nov-1968/.

• GOV.UK. “Patrick Degorce v The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs: [2015] UKUT 0447 (TCC).” Accessed November 7, 2023. https://www.gov.uk/tax-and-chancery-tribunal-decisions/patrick-degorce-v-the-commissioners-for-hm-revenue-and-customs-2015-ukut-0447-tcc.

• Loutzenhiser, Glen, and John Tiley. Tiley’s Revenue Law. 10th edition. Oxford ; New York: Hart, 2022.

• taxationpodcasts. “Marson v Morton.” Accessed November 7, 2023. https://taxationpodcasts.com/tag/marson-v-morton/.

• vLex. “Pickford v Quirke (Inspector of Taxes).” Accessed November 7, 2023. https://vlex.co.uk/vid/pickford-v-quirke-inspector-805000173.

• vLex. “Salt v Chamberlain.” Accessed November 7, 2023. https://vlex.co.uk/vid/salt-v-chamberlain-803633577.

• vLex. “Taylor v Good (HM Inspector of Taxes).” Accessed November 7, 2023. https://vlex.co.uk/vid/taylor-v-good-hm-806981325.

• vLex. “The Commissioners of Inland Revenue v Livingston and Others.” Accessed November 7, 2023. https://vlex.co.uk/vid/the-commissioners-of-inland-805835509.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, thanks to its oil and gas reserves. As it stands, the oil and gas sectors account for nearly 30% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and around 40% of its total exports (Trading Economics). Despite the rising supply of oil, the long-term profitability of these exportations is questionable in light of rising environmental concerns and efforts to tighten environmental standards on fossil fuel industries. Moreover, “this combination of rising supply amid the global push to reduce reliance on fossil fuels is expected to continue,” predictively leading to the so-called ‘age of oil abundance,’ under which the wealth of the UAE is vulnerable (Mirzoev et al.). This reality suggests that oil-dependent economies in the Middle East “could run out of money long before they run out of oil” (Dudley), according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Therefore, there is a need for the UAE to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil and gas exports. 

Following this logic, shifts in the current global economic landscape call for developing non-oil sectors. The COVID pandemic served as a wake-up call. Following an unprecedented demand shock in 2020, there was a collapse in oil prices (Johnston) which resulted in the shrinking of the UAE’s GDP by 6.1% (Coface for Trade), translating into a -4.96% GDP growth rate in 2020 (Macrotrends). Similarly, the rise of emerging economies, such as China and India, has created new opportunities for trade and investment that the UAE could capitalize on. Technological advancements have enabled FDI exchanges with these economic superpowers. For instance, negotiations with China in May of this year totalled around 11 billion dollars and were largely based on “new economic sectors, trade, transportation & technology” (United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy).

Accordingly, economic recuperation has been strategized around aggressive action to diversify the UAE’s economy. Adaptation has occurred at the Emirate level, as they have shaped their efforts according to their levels of oil reserves. In fact, “about 96% of the country’s roughly 100 billion barrels of proven oil reserves are located in Abu Dhabi.” Thus, other Emirates, such as Dubai, Sharjah and Ras-Al-Khaimah have focused on developing their non-oil sectors more attentively. Tourism is among the leading non-oil sectors, contributing 11.6% to the UAE’s GDP in 2019 (Ibid). Hence, the UAE’s next step forward is through the development of sustainable tourism. 

Here sustainable tourism is taken to mean the practice of establishing a balance between socio-cultural, environmental and economic characteristics of tourism development. This balance is found to conserve biodiversity and minimize the impact of tourism on the environment. The UAE has already undertaken many projects to further this goal, notably through the use of technology. Indeed, the UAE is currently investing heavily in boosting innovation and digital transformation. Its current focus is promoting the integration of Artificial Intelligence and 4IR tools in the tourism sector to promote sustainability. As put by Falasi, Director General of UAE HR, the digitalization of tourism is essential as it adds value to the region’s diverse environment, while increasing its attractiveness (Innovation & Digitization in Tourism’ Forum Discusses Ways to Achieve Sustainable Growth in the Middle East Tourism Sector through Technology & Digital Solutions).

Therefore, this paper will evaluate these efforts at the country level, attempting to answer the following research question: How did the UAE shape its diversification agenda around a model of sustainable tourism enabled by AI? To develop an answer, the first two parts will discuss the UAE’s short and long-term responses to declining oil prices, which included diversifying into sustainable tourism and technology-driven non-oil sectors. Subsequently, a third part will examine the growth of these non-oil sectors and their contributions to the economy, assessing the success of the UAE’s diversification strategy. Finally, the paper will focus on analyzing the possible challenges to the economic diversification strategy and will focus on highlighting the need for continued innovation and investment in infrastructure, education, and technology.

1. The UAE’s Short-Term Responses to Declining Oil Prices: Diversification Efforts into Tourism

There has been a robust acceleration of non-oil sectors since the pandemic in the UAE. The country’s non-oil trade performance garnered the world’s attention when it jumped by 28% in 2021 and has been growing ever since (United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy). Research and Education for Expo 2020 Dubai unveiled the importance of ecotourism, as 44% of tourists stated that sustainability significantly influenced their behavior and reason to come to Dubai (Yousuf Lootah). Similarly, many reports (such as that of Tripadvisor) highlight the importance of sustainable tourism and authentic local experiences (Ibid.). Tourism is amongst the leading non-oil sectors in the UAE. It contributed $1 trillion to world GDP in 2021 after the drop in 2020, thus the UAE is using this sector to diversify its economy (World Travel & Tourism Council). To further this trajectory, the UAE embarks on the ambitious task of investing heavily to promote its cultural heritage, adventure tourism and natural beauty. For this goal, Dubai and the rest of the Emirates have enacted numerous policies to provide exquisite travel experiences while keeping up with sustainable principles. 

The UAE wants to uplift itself among the top global leaders in tourism. This aim requires substantial economic funding. Economic growth is the first step necessary to come to par with the monetary requirements for such goals. H.E. Bin, the Minister of Economy, pointed out the importance of strategic partner networks and trade at the heart of UAE’s non-oil export globalization policy (Ibid). Thus, the country is targeting investors to sustain growth and fund technological advancement. Indeed, in 2022, it took the first step to achieve these goals by launching Freelance, Green and Golden Visas to attract entrepreneurs. Even more, the establishment of Free Zones further incentivises entrepreneurs and businesses to set up companies within the UAE.

Owing to such policies, the UAE can maintain the required sum to uplift itself among the top global leaders in tourism. To further this sector, Emirates bears measures to enhance infrastructure to conform to its sustainable goals. Dubai has undertaken the Dubai Sustainable Tourism initiative to achieve a net-zero carbon economy. Hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are required to abide by sustainable guidelines established by the government to attain a net-carbon economy (Government of Dubai). In 2017, the carbon calculator came into play to measure the carbon footprints of hotels. The calculator learns algorithms to optimize energy usage and aids hotels with implementing necessary initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint. Established educational programs also benefit people within the tourism industry to learn how to initiate ‘Green teams’ and implement procedural plans to promote sustainability and preserve biodiversity (Ibid).

To go a step further, the UAE is making use of technology. Technological advancement is the answer for the UAE to facilitate its aim of shedding the image of being energy-focused. This shift stems from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technological advancement to improve sustainable tourism. For this, the UAE became the first country to appoint a Minister of Artificial Intelligence (Galeon). The minister oversees and helps develop the UAE’s National AI strategy, which includes using AI to drive sustainability through smart cities, energy management and environmental protection. The government is also funding Research and Development and encouraging innovation in this field to promote new advancements within the field of tourism (United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy & Remote Work Applications Office).

A great example of enhanced public experience is the use of ‘Smart Tourism Platforms’ such as ‘Habibi AI’, which specializes in providing personalized recommendations to tourists. A prominent advantage of such platforms is that tourists are recommended places which are not popular destinations, thus reducing overcrowding and congestion. Therefore, tourists can explore more cultural and heritage sites which are unfrequented (Habibi AI). Such platforms also help tourists to plan their trips effectively, thus reducing fossil fuel emissions. With such tourism practices through AI, the Emirates is placing itself among the leaders of sustainable tourism while promoting sustainable development. 

The UAE also has AI waste management systems in place. They promote sustainable tourism by aiding in reducing waste and increasing recycling waste. This system plays upon satiating the tourist’s need for eco-tourism while also improving the aesthetics of the city. Since 2018,  hotels and restaurants have pledged to use AI programs such as ‘Winnow Vision’,  which strives to eradicate food waste. It collects data on the type of food wasted and creates algorithms to aid restaurants in reducing this waste. This program reduces carbon dioxide levels generated otherwise due to food wastage (Sheldon). Such methods enhance visitors’ experiences by reducing litter and providing a more pleasant environment. 

Known for its deserts, the UAE has limited freshwater resources. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority uses AI to learn algorithms for proactively maintaining the Emirate’s water network. Such systems are essential to ensure a high criterion of reliability and accountability of water quality (Gulf News Report). This system furnishes a crucial water supply for outdoor activities while securing a sustainable supply. In its objective to be the new technology hub of the world, this posits a necessary precursor. 

As stated previously, systems have been introduced in the UAE to facilitate its diversification from an oil-based economy. The UAE is working on innovation in tourism to enable its growth as the world leader in sustainable tourism. For this, the UAE has established many long-term goals to cater to the growing demand for sustainable tourism. 

2. UAE’s Long-Term Strategy to Diversify its Economy: Strengthening Non-Oil Revenues 

As the rest of the world gathers resources to compete in the highly anticipated “AI race” (Ball) sparking harsh debate on its potential usage and consequences, various countries stand out for their policies towards this new technology. While China is getting ahead of the US in the development of AI technologies (Lee 4) and Italy has become the first Western country to ban ChatGPT (McCallum), the UAE have, as mentioned before, become the first country in the world to create a Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence (Galeon). As part of the newly launched UAE Centennial Plan 2071, created by the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Minister’s intention is to “double the contribution of the digital economy to the UAE’s non-oil GDP from 11.7 per cent to over 20 per cent within the next 10 years” (UAE Government).

Aiming at becoming the best country in the world by its 100th anniversary in 2071, the UAE has made various plans to adapt to climate change and, most importantly, to the depletion of its oil reserves by 2060 (Abu Dhabi Media Office). As part of the 50 year long vision implemented by the Centennial Plan, the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi has launched its Environmental Centennial Plan 2071, according to which environmental protection, the economy and foreign investments will be interlinking and sustaining each other through technology and innovation. This could potentially place the UAE at the top of the list featuring the most prominent global economic players in the next few decades. 

One sector in which such codependency is going to be the most evident is, indeed, sustainable tourism. In particular, the Emirate of Dubai – and its homonymous capital city – has been putting significant amounts of effort, as seen in the previous section, into promoting its image as one of the world’s leading tourist destinations. Directed as a private company by a tribal dynastic government, Dubai defied many a touristic theory preconception, becoming an “illusory hyper-realistic” metropolis (Anthonisz and Mason) that attracted 14.36 million overnight visitors in 2022 (Tourism) and is projecting 25 million a year by 2025 (Wam 2018). With its luxury hotels and resorts, its claims to become the city with the least carbon footprint in the world by 2050 (Wam 2016) and propaganda of tolerance and stability, Dubai is set to lead the way into a futuristic and avant-garde approach to tourism in the UAE, supported by artificial intelligence. The goal, as described in the website of the Minister of State for AI, is to globally become “first in customer-support AI, creating integrated and personalized services for tourists in the UAE” (Strategy). As shown in various studies (Hussein Al-shami et al., Samala et al.), and as aforementioned, AI can support hotel management and other touristic services operators in tailoring the experience they offer to each client, reducing food waste and easing communications between the staff and the client. The touristic sector contributed to 12.1% of the UAE’s GDP in 2022, and is forecast to rise by 4.9% per annum to AED 264.5 billion (USD 72 billion), which would be 12.4% of GDP in 2027 (Travel and Tourism). The Ministry for AI predicts that the implementation of AI in tourism and retail could generate further 42 billion AED in the sector by 2030. It is thus no surprise that the government considers it one of the most vital sectors to develop within the Centennial Plan 2071, and one of the principal targets for AI implementation.

The Centennial Plan 2071, however, does not only refer to sustainable tourism, and is not the sole program that the UAE has prepared to diversify its economy. With the general aim to increase the UAE’s soft power on the rest of the world, it focuses on imbuing society with specific moral values, tied to the UAE’s culture and notions of sustainability. Focusing on non-oil revenues and improving education, the plan revolves around technology and innovation, including therefore AI. Within this framework, the government has proposed various goals to reach within 2030, such as the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030, the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy and the Environment Vision 2030 (Abu Dhabi). Specifically, all these initiatives aim at making the UAE a central industrial and digital economic hub in order to increase non-oil profits and to attract foreign investments and visitors while at the same time moving away from fossil energy. AI will be used in the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy to organize and coordinate the autonomous transport systems, which would cut carbon emissions from private conventional movements, accidents and costs, thus reducing by 12% environmental pollution in Dubai (2021-2030). This is expected to generate 22 billion AED in revenues, and to have a positive impact on tourism in the city: in fact, by facilitating transport in the city, investing in sustainability and reducing emissions, the usual drawbacks of choosing a metropolis as a touristic destinations will significantly decrease, thus becoming more attractive to any visitor.

The UAE is moving towards an economic model based on non-oil revenues, investing in human capital, new technologies and self-promoting propaganda to entice foreigners (especially Western visitors and investors) with promises of safety, sustainable development, stability and a moral society (“We the UAE 2031”). As sustainability takes root as one of consumers’ highest concern and in the light of rapidly depleting oil deposits, the UAE seeks diversification and support from AI and other novel technologies. Nevertheless, given that most of the sources on the topic come from the government, as media censorship in the country is extensively used (HRW), this paper will also aim to research the results of the policies that have been presented so far. The UAE is an autocratic dynastic monarchy (Krane 10), and thus can afford to release few details in regards to their policies without any opposition source investigating. Therefore, the next section will look at specific examples and case studies to estimate whether governmental plans have been successfully implemented and to what degree were its goals achieved.

3. Assessing the Success of the UAE’s Diversification Strategy: Examining the Growth

The UAE’s international perception is a positive indicator of its success. Indeed, it is seen as “the (business) capital of the Gulf-region,” with the potential to “become a post-oil metropolis of the twenty-first century” (Dijkhuizen). To better understand this statement, an assessment of the UAE’s diversification strategy will be attempted through an evaluation of its current projects and economic outcomes. For this purpose, three of its influential cities, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah, will be investigated. 

The Abu Dhabi government aspires for an economic transformation that will favor the creation of “an ideal business environment, reducing the reliance on the oil sector.” In line with this standard, according to the city’s most recent Statistical Yearbook, there were 18,452 new business licenses in 2019, as compared to 11,249 in 2018. From this same database, as regards tourism, the number of hotel guests increased by 2.1% and the number of rooms by 3.9% (Statistics Centre). 

In hand with this growth, there is a commitment to environmental preservation that is reflected through the development of the Estidama framework, Arabic for ‘sustainability’, and specifically, the Pearl Rating System (PRS) that it comprises. It was launched in 2010 by the ‘Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities (DPM)’ to address four pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, social and cultural. Today, it stands as a mandatory guideline for all new buildings in Abu Dhabi, from their design to their operation. Thus, it is “the first mandated sustainability rating system in the Arab region” and “tailored to the Middle East region” (Emirates Green Building Council). Focusing on the environmental aspect, the PRS, enforces an integrated development process that preserves the region’s natural systems, the connectivity of outdoor and indoor spaces, and energy efficiency. Additionally, it stresses the use of renewable resources and the conservation of energy through “passive design measures” that encourage innovation (Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council). 

The same goal for renewable energy inspired the development of Masdar city in Abu Dhabi, a city which combines “passive and intelligent design” to demand “40% less energy and water than local and international baselines” (Masdar City). From its launch in 2008, Masdar has responded to the dual objective of constituting a sustainable environment and serving as a hub for emerging eco-friendly technologies and research. The former has been tackled by having ‘air-to-water’ technology, namely the ‘SOURCE’ device, be its water supply, and a 10-megawatt array of solar panels (that produces 17,500MWh of electricity per year), be its electricity source. Notably, it also features autonomous vehicles, from the developer ‘NAVYA’ that mobilize visitors around the city in a safe manner. The latter objective is portrayed through the Bustami Smart Home Farming Showcase, where sustainable farming solutions are explored, as well as its educational outlets, integrated in communal spaces like the Central Park for tourists to visit. Today, new partnerships are being forged on its behalf, as it becomes a pioneer among the clean-tech clusters. Indeed, it has gained substantial media attention, with the Economist and CNN discussing extensively about Masdar City (Dijkhuizen). 

The economic consequences of the development of these initiatives for Abu Dhabi has aided its diversification in a manner that also makes contributions to sustainable human development. These efforts are visible in the decreasing carbon dioxide emissions, and the increase in the Emirate’s renewable energy, reaching 2,163,799MWh in 2019 (Statistics Centre). 

In Dubai similar achievements have taken place through its aspiration to attract tourists by becoming a ‘Smart City,’ leading its government to invest in technology and make infrastructural changes. Since 2011, the Dubai government has pushed ‘Green Building Regulations’ (GBR&S) as mandatory ecological standards for all new buildings in Dubai since 2014. They lay out instructions for optimizing energy, and reducing resource consumption as well as improving public health and general welfare (Maleki). To make these regulations enforceable under the Emirate’s jurisdiction and its ‘Free Zones,’ a similar approach to Abu Dhabi’s Pearl Rating System was upheld with the introduction of the  ‘Al Sa’fat rating system’ in 2016. Today, a building rating system is in place, where a ‘Silver’ rating is the mandatory baseline and additional requirements must be fulfilled to achieve the ‘Golden’ or ‘Platinum’ Sa’fa. 

Aside from building regulations, the idea of ‘Smart Dubai’ has progressed in the area of transport. The Dubai government has facilitated BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) as a means of public transportation that emits no emissions and takes tourists to the city’s main spots (Maleki). Similarly,  its RTA (Roads & Transport Authority) has committed to an ‘Environmental Stewardship’ leading to an 18% decrease in energy consumption in 2021 when compared to its 2016-2019 rates. For example, said decrease was facilitated by efforts to automate public parking machines, invest in hybrid vehicles for the Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC), and deploy electric abras for tourists visiting the city’s annual ‘Global Village’ (RTA). 

Ras Al Khaimah, being less touristy than Abu Dhabi and Dubai, has focused its economic transition in construction. For instance, its own Green Building Regulations,’ named Barjeel, outline a strategy for energy and water savings. Its application became mandatory in 2019 for all new buildings in the Emirate. There are two levels of requirements, the fundamental and the comprehensive regulations. The former are rather simple and target smaller buildings whereas the latter address complex buildings. The Barjeel energy standards include a threshold for u-values for external walls and roofs, and a maximum Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) for windows. These fixed values are in place to reduce the heat gain through the building’s façades. Moreover, because of the very warm weather of the UAE, air conditioning is indispensable, and thus there are regulations for buildings’ indoor conditions or ‘envelope’ performance. In particular, cold air leaks ought to be minimized. Further, there is a Barjeel Water Budget Calculator, which demonstrates a buildings’ baseline water consumption. And as for water heaters, the use of Solar thermal or thermodynamic solutions to supply “at least 75% of the annual domestic hot water demand”(Government of Ras Al Khaimah) is emphasized. 

Clearly, in the UAE, most initiatives in motion tackle the infrastructure of cities, refining its buildings’ compliance with set sustainable goals by Emirati. Nonetheless, there are eco-friendly tech-intensive projects developing in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which serve to attract tourism, obtain foreign investment and move away from the country’s oil-dependency. 

4. Challenges and Imperatives for the UAE’s Economic Diversification: the limits of AI as an engine of sustainable tourism development 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been increasingly integrated as part of the UAE’s diversification strategy and, more precisely, to develop the sustainable tourism industry. The need to improve operational efficiency, enhance customer experience, and find innovative ways to create new revenue streams are the main reasons behind this decision. However, and inevitably, the use of AI as an engine of sustainable development in the United Arab Emirates has limits and challenges that are important to acknowledge when discussing the future of this technology as a tool for large-scale economic diversification in the context of the UAE. This part of the paper will explore three main challenges that J. Bulchang-Gidumal explores in his paper “Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality” (2020) which are: the relationship between tourists and AI, the phenomenon of substitution of humans by machines, and finally touching upon the ethical issues related to AI.  

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of modern society, providing numerous benefits and risks to users in various industries, including tourism. For tourists, AI can offer several benefits, such as helping them navigate unknown environments, reducing anxiety and fear, and creating unique and memorable experiences. However, there are also risks associated with AI, including concerns over surveillance, the potential for an AI divide, and the possibility of a society fully guided by technology.

One of the primary benefits of AI for tourists is its ability to assist them in navigating unfamiliar surroundings. By utilizing AI-powered navigation tools, tourists can find their way around new locations with ease, reducing their anxiety and fear. Furthermore, AI can help tourists discover new and exciting experiences, such as personalized recommendations for local attractions, restaurants, and events. However, the use of AI in tourism also raises several concerns, with privacy being a significant issue. AI systems have the capability to gather vast amounts of data, including personal information, and analyze it to derive patterns and information. As such, there is a risk of potential threats to privacy and data security, which can create fear and distrust among tourists. The fear of surveillance is another concern that arises with the use of AI in tourism. With the increasing reliance on AI-powered surveillance tools, tourists may feel uncomfortable with the constant monitoring and surveillance, leading to a negative impact on their travel experience. The potential for AI to be used for nefarious purposes, such as targeted advertising or tracking individuals’ movements, further amplifies these fears. Another significant risk associated with AI in tourism is the potential for an AI divide to emerge. As with the digital divide at the beginning of the century, there is a risk that certain segments of the population will be left behind due to their reluctance to participate in AI environments. This divide could arise due to the perceived risks associated with AI, including concerns over privacy and data security. Lastly, the growing use of AI in tourism raises questions about the future of society and the role of technology in our lives. There is a concern that the increasing reliance on AI could lead to a society fully guided by technology, where human interaction and decision-making become obsolete. This could have significant implications for the tourism industry, with tourists potentially having to choose between highly automated, efficient, and cost-effective services or luxury, human-based services.

Since the First Industrial Revolution, machines have been replacing humans in simple, routine tasks. However, the growth of AI and AI-empowered technologies has led to a new generation of machines, such as service robots, that can compete with and replace humans in almost every possible task. This puts the previously immune tourism sector at risk, with estimates suggesting that 25% of the hospitality workforce could be replaced by robots in the next decade. This displacement of workers is a major concern not only because of the loss of jobs but also because of the loss of a sense of belonging. While machines are good at algorithm-based and repetitive tasks, humans excel in generalization, perception, creativity, and interaction with the real world. Although initial consensus suggested that low-skilled jobs were more at risk, job polarization seems to point to a situation in which low- and high-skilled jobs are the safest from automation, with medium-skilled jobs being the most prone to being replaced by technology. In service contexts, technology can be used to enhance employees and liberate them from routine tasks, allowing them to provide better service. However, the challenge for the tourism industry is to maintain its sense of hospitality, which is one of its defining features.

AI is expected to have a significant impact on all areas of society, comparable to the impact of machines and computers during the Fourth Industrial Revolution. However, this creates ethical challenges that need to be addressed. Loss of privacy and fear of a society completely guided by technology are two of the main concerns. Another critical issue related to the widespread use of AI is bias, which is present in all humans and can be amplified by the powerful capabilities of AI algorithms. To address this, it has been recommended that AI systems should be transparent, robust, and predictable to prevent biased structures from being replicated. Additionally, these systems must be able to make balanced decisions that benefit all participants, and if super intelligence is developed, ethics should be an essential feature of AI systems.

Overall, the paper’s focus on sustainable tourism and AI only covers one area in which the UAE wishes to invest in order to expand its economic diversification process. The reason is tied to the lack of literature on the matter, as most analyses in the UAE context focus on the implementation of AI in sustainable tourism, rather than on its effect on economic heterogeneity and withdrawal from oil dependence (Hussein Al-shami et al., Samala et al). Furthermore, other sources on the topic focus rather on digital and knowledge economy and finance, research, industry and aviation, which includes space technology (Antwi-Boateng and Jaberi). The lack of fact-checking alternative sources to governmental news limits the scope and effectiveness of the paper’s argument. Therefore, in the future, further research should be done on the field, possibly publishing the findings outside of the UAE, in order to get a more balanced view on the extent of the Emirates’ policies success.

Nevertheless, a certain narrative emerges from the examination of governmental sources regarding the UAE’s vision for economic diversification. The government, both on a single Emirate and national levels, has a clear vision on how to effectively reach a high degree of independence from revenues coming from oil exports. In the short term, its policies on how to complement sustainable tourism with AI stretch from food waste to personalized recommendations to tourists, positioning the UAE and Dubai in particular as one of the top tourist destinations in the Middle East. Tourism, and consequently sustainable tourism, being one of the UAE’s highest income sectors and a key target in the diversification process, is the object of more and more strategies planned to be implemented in the long term future. In fact, reducing carbon emissions, achieving higher pervasiveness of AI technology in all sectors of the economy, i.e. in the touristic one, and attracting foreign investment will place the UAE not only amongst the best touristic destinations in the world, but also among the most powerful and influential countries in terms of economic and soft power. Developments in infrastructure and transportation policy, paired with the arrangement of smart projects, such as the Smart Dubai initiative and Masdar City, have already produced favorable results in terms of lowering emissions and attracting tourists and business. An evaluation of these developments paints a promising picture for the UAE’s economic diversification, as it heads towards a tech-oriented economy.

Nonetheless, AI’s benefits are counterbalanced by its risks. Foreign tourists, especially those coming from liberal countries with low degrees of governmental control on the population, might feel reluctant by the idea that a country not as transparent, such as the UAE, may collect their personal data in order to provide higher quality services. In terms of soft power, both tourism and data gathering are essential: the more people visit the UAE and find a society with a high level of development, tales of tolerance and active efforts towards sustainability (destination branding tactics), the more the UAE can channel soft power to get visitors to empathize and appreciate the country, and the more data it can gather to get the upper hand on rival nations. Therefore, this paper prompts the international community to keep monitoring the development of technology vis à vis sustainable tourism in the UAE.

– Ananya Goyal, Francesca Pilia, Maria Sofia Malavar, Qamar Mouncef

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“The Google of today is a monopoly gatekeeper for the internet and one of the wealthiest companies on the planet,” states the suit against Google. Filed in October 2020, the lawsuit stipulates Google’s abuse of exclusive deals with companies like Apple and Samsung (to be the primary search engine) to dominate the market. The charges against Google state that it uses unlawful anti-competitive tactics to further its monopoly for search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising. Nick Srnicek in ‘Platform Capitalism’ traces the historical emergence of advertising platforms based on the pivotal role of advertising to prioritise growth over immediate profits. Companies like Google and Facebook earn more than 80% of their revenue through advertisement. This revenue has been possible due to the preciseness and sheer amount of accumulated user data they have. There is a shift from mass production to data dominance, decentralisation of production and fragmentation of labour. Srnicek argues that digital platforms have changed the way the global economy operates. It characterises winner-takes-all dynamics, precarious labour, and a never seen integration of online and offline platforms. Thus, this shows a new era of capitalism by using data as a dominant source of economic growth. Therefore, data collection has become a necessary precursor such that platforms (digital infrastructures enabling two or more groups to interact) like cloud, lean, industrial, etc., aim to collect the most data possible. Srineck argues that raw data has become so valuable that companies are more focused on the volume than the quality of the data. He explores this relationship between dynamic contemporary capitalism and different forms of platforms tracing its historical trajectory. However, due to the briefness of his book, it falls short of answering the various questions which arise while tracing this history. 

Between 1945 – 1970, owing to the War and the following recessions, increased competition, and rising labour costs, there was a decline in manufacturing profitability. Hence, this decline commenced the search for other profitable avenues. He annotates the ‘dot com’ spike in the 90s to asset-price Keynesianism operated with low-interest rates. The dot com eventually gave rise to a privatised internet infrastructure. Srnicek argues that after the 2008 crisis, a similar low interest-rate environment followed. This rate was essentially due to interventionist forces such as World Bank. He asserts that low yield on numerous assets followed this low-rate environment, paving the way for riskier investments, such as upcoming tech companies. These investments gave way to a paradigm shift in the advancement of technology. Many platforms emerged using data for diverse purposes. Srnicek goes deeply into platform typology and identifies five different types of digital platforms. However, his focus on platforms as economic actors alienates how these platforms are transforming and affecting societies globally. 

Srnicek explains his assertions ontologically while respecting historical timelines. He divides his book into three equally thought-provoking parts to discuss the past, present and future. Despite being a valuable introduction to integrating contemporary capitalism into everyday lives, it fails to delve deep into the problems that arise along it. Owing to his focus on economic assessment, social issues that arise become an afterthought. Hence this review will highlight how Srineck obscures the effect of platform capitalism in transforming societies globally due to its narrow approach. He defends his narrow approach by distinguishing his work from existing studies. In his view, other works have neglected economic issues or have not considered the history of capitalism and digital economies. Thus he aims to provide economic yore of platforms while showing the use of digital platforms as profit generators. He believes his approach is necessary as our conceptualisation of history and the future shape our thinking for developing political tactics to transform society. Nevertheless, he doesn’t provide more detailed strategies for the same. This review will focus on how his lack of engagement in what exceeds the parameters of its economy-centric assessment has led to dissociation with broader societal issues. 

‘Platform Capitalism’ focuses on market dependency as precipitating optimisation of labour processes to reduce production costs. This narrative annotates competition as a core capitalist tendency while limiting the role of government and society. Srnicek demonstrates the drive of capital accumulation through the interdependence between technology and finance by tracing history. Corporations are undergoing restructuring to culminate in technology-enabled outsourcing and manage their supply chains through subcontracting. Further, financial markets and instruments are vital in shaping this restructuring. But Srnicek does not pay heed to the effect of financialisation on human resource management. He does not discuss the consequences on labour during shifts in corporations’ core activities from production to rent-seeking.An example of this omission is in the discussion of unions in 1980. While Srnicek acknowledged that unions were under attack in the 1980s, he did not address the role of concerted government efforts that led to these attacks. The Reagan Administration authorised welfare retrenchments and anti-union stances. These authorisations supported flexibility in the market and the expansion of contingent labour markets. Hence showcasing that Srnicek overlooked the interplay between government policies and corporate practices that have shaped labour organisations and working conditions in capitalist economies.

After going back in history, ‘Platform Capitalism’ portrays the present as defined by corporate tax evasion, cash gluts and income insecurity. It challenges neo-liberal thought by portraying how platforms concentrate economic power, commodify data, relies on precarious labour and focus on rent-seeking. Srnicek goes against the views of Christian Fuchs, who argues that the unpaid labour of users of internet services contributes to a company’s value production. He rightfully argues that the users do not follow a Marxist ‘framework of labour,’ which states that labour creates a surplus within a market. He advocates that most data gets filtered through extractive apparatus and not used for valorisation. However, this goes against his previous assertions of companies profiting from the data volume rather than the data quality. If his argument is held true, it purports the understanding that data collection is consensual and ethical. Just because consumers are not ‘free labour’ does not equate to the fact that their data is not taken advantage of. “People think Google Search is great because it’s free, Gmail because it’s free, Google Maps is great because it’s free, but Google didn’t become a trillion-dollar monopolist by giving out freebies all day. This data is valuable,” explained Mike Davis from the Internet Accountability Project. Platforms use the data collected to either generate revenue or attain goals. 

One example is the case of Cambridge Analytica, which allegedly exploited and unethically used personal data to influence electoral results. Although some people value the personalisation of content, they aren’t aware of how their data gets used to manipulate their preferences. Srineck touches upon new privacy controls to be imposed by the state to regulate data use. A study at Wharton showcases that even with options to ‘opt-out,’ one’s browser size, screen resolution, etc., can be tracked to create a unique identification. This identification gets formed because inaccurate or insufficient data can reduce the bottom line of platforms. Evidently, ‘Platform Capitalism’ fails to delve deeper and showcase the dangers of collecting raw data even in light of government-prodded regulations. This question needs to be raised and investigated further. Effectively now, with the rise of A.I., whose potential is concretely unknown.

Marx wrote – the wage most harmonious with capitalism is the piece wage (based on output, as opposed to the time wage). Outsourcing labour and contracting out services has been the cornerstone of capitalist growth since the 1970s. Today, independent contracts have gone one step further. A frequent occurrence is the use of Uber. People can use the digital platform to call a taxi and get information about the destination. Also, one can order food with the same platform. Such lean platforms, driven by diversified amenities, digital intermediary technologies, and venture capitalism, have considerable social impact and illustrate platform capitals prevalent today. Srnicek elucidates the rise of independent workers with the example of Uber. He examines the high cost that drivers incur but doesn’t delve into the subject further. His analysis highlights the expansion of labour supply on a global level due to lean platforms. However, he does not explore gig economies and the exploitation of labour that occurred due to them. Platforms such as Uber and Airbnb rely on independent contractors, who are not considered labourers. ‘Platform Capitalism’ briefly touches upon the subject but does not explore it further. Worldwide worker resistance to regulations against encroachments by platforms such as Uber posits an essential dimension to explore. 

A thought-provoking assertion of Platform Capitalism is the contrast between Fordism and the contemporary economic paradigm of post-Fordism. He highlights the shift from Fordism to a contemporary capitalistic model. Data, globalisation, flexibility and monopolistic tendencies drive this model in contrast to nation-oriented, rigid production lines and traditional employment contracts. Mergers now are not horizontal (homogenous companies), vertical (same supply chain) or conglomerate (complementary) but more rhizomatic, driven by competition. An intriguing example of rhizomatic mergers is Alibaba. Alibaba is violating anti-trust laws through mergers and acquisitions to further its monopolistic ambitions. It is using M&A to create limited competition, inevitably harming smaller businesses. The gravity of the methods used by Alibaba is evident in the Chinese Communis Pary feeling threatened by its influence. Thus bringing to light the importance and the sway of digital platforms over society now and potentially in the future as well.

Srnicek’s theory of left accelerationism mirrors his book ‘Platform Capitalism’. He proposes to use the acceleration of technology for the collective good and tries to break away from the link between technological growth and capitalism. He stipulates that in the future, the platform will see a ‘post-advertisement environment’ where there is a shift from consumer ownership to access. Most analyses poetically take a data-driven economy to be insatiable. But Srnicek is amongst the few to highlight that the data bubble will burst, and companies will search for other monetisation methods. For this, he explores different alternatives, such as stricter regulation and collectively owned platforms. But he stops short of exploring the kind of post-capitalist platforms necessary. He is lucid on how a state’s resources will mobilise to build postcapitalist platforms. Additional analysis necessitates how these platform co-ops will differ from private platforms. Niels van Doorn also expresses concerns about using state resources to create postcapitalist platforms without them becoming part of the surveillance state apparatus. Platforms are shifting from exploiting legal loopholes to actively seeking influence over governmental policymaking. Thus platforms are not only based on competition but are also gaining influence over regulations and policies. Thus it is necessary to move from considering platforms as a mode of production to a way of social reproduction.  

The elephant in the room in ‘Platform Capitalism’ is the lack of mention of climate change. Digital fast fashion platforms like Shien exploit labour and produce copious amounts of CO2. Climate change is a very immediate issue of concern. With the emergence of the digital market, climate degradation has only increased. The consumption of electricity, hardware material for the platforms and the manufacturing of products are detrimental to the environment. In 2019, e-waste rose by 21% in 5 years to 56.3 million tons. With a global online market ready for companies like Shien, it is meaningful to consider its environmental impact. This climate effect is of immediate social importance. It necessitates finding a patch through which digital platforms can contribute to this cause. Srnicek does not address how global platforms affect the environment, what can undergo to make them more sustainable and their societal implications. 

To fully understand the impact of platforms on our lives, it is necessary to expand the parameters of Nick Srnicek’s Platform Capitalism to consider how platforms as new institutional forms are reshaping the relationships between the market, the state, and civil society. By doing so, one can develop more comprehensive political tactics to address the challenges and opportunities presented by ‘Platform Capitalism’. 

– Ananya Goyal

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What is success? Money? Fame? Love? Success for me is when you are content and happy with yourself. How can one achieve this level of contentment? That is a formidable question, as there is no one true answer. Or perhaps there is. I have my theory. To me, the answer is surrender.

People often misjudge what it means to surrender. Whenever I posit this theory in front of people, they accuse me of giving up. But does surrender mean giving up? I do not claim that I have achieved the state of surrender. I am not confident that I can. But I am sure, and it is evident that I have never given up. Even when I should, because mostly, it hurts more to hold on than to let go. To me, surrender is not running after the result. Doing is only half the battle, as the result is never in our hands. You can lose after doing everything, and surrendering is accepting that. Rather than focusing on the outcome or failure, what more you could have done, it is necessary to focus on yourself. I don’t always follow this belief either. I think about where I failed and what I could have done differently. I blame myself for everything that went wrong and then try to change based on it. But again, changing yourself because of something is not the answer. It is crucial to acknowledge that change and growth mean two different things. You must grow, but not for something. It is easier said than done. It does not happen in a day, month or year. I challenge this thought all the time. Recently, I went through a painful breakup. I did everything to stop it from crumbling, but I couldn’t. It took me a while to comprehend that doing does not guarantee the result. I could have done more, and this would still have been inevitable. It is not because I didn’t do enough or could have done things differently. It is because there is something inside me that I still need to work on. It is accepting that things ran their course, and I cannot stick to someone like my lifeline. It is learning to move on and focus on yourself.  

I am thankful that I went through this experience. It forced me to look in the mirror. Mindset is everything. If you are running after the result, you will never achieve it. Desperation for something renders all you have done to be useless. Because when in desperation, you focus on the outcome, not the journey. You are neither learning nor growing but working to hold on to something that’s not yours. It is easy to shun surrender by thinking narrowly. I need to catch the bus, hence I am running to it. But what if the bus leaves before you can reach there? You will have to surrender to this fact. Surrender is not about not doing or giving up. It is accepting that, in the end, you cannot change the result. People believe that they create their destiny. I do not deny that. I also believe in it. But I don’t believe in working desperately to achieve said destiny. Understandably, this does not make much sense right now, but I will share an example. When I have an interview for a university, a job, etc., I do not prepare for it. I give the interview based on what I already know. If I am suitable for it, then who I am should be enough. Learning things a day before will not help me. Of course, if you want to become a doctor, you must study medicine. But even after giving it your all, you might not be able to become a cardiologist. Sometimes, good isn’t good enough. It’s imperative to accept this truth. I keep this mindset for a lot of things. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for my last relationship. I stopped believing I was enough and started focusing on what I could be to keep it. I desperately tried to make sure it lasted. Began to do things for it and not for me. And this is what I needed to learn. I can’t make something last. Happily ever after is when you accept the inevitability and unpredictability of life.

In 1982, Ronald Reagan, in a speech before the British Parliament, said, “What I am describing now is a plan and a hope for the long term—the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.” This quote encapsulates the anti-communist sentiment prevalent in the US during the Cold War. Marla Stone and Giuliana Chamdes, in their academic article, ‘Naming the Enemy: Anti-communism in Transnational Perspective,’ trace the historical emergence of anti-communist ideology worldwide. Published in 2018, ‘Naming the Enemy’ aims to further academic research within the discrete ideology of anti-communism while also appealing to a broad audience aroused by the history and emergence of anti-communism. ‘Naming the Enemy’ builds upon Stone’s research in political history and Giulanana’s focus on internationalist movements. It focuses on the diverse actors, ideologies, and motivations involved in anti-communist activities across different historical periods and geographical contexts that contribute to the development and impact of anti-communism as a global phenomenon. The unequal and asymmetrical relation between the communism/anti-communism binary is at the crux of the article. They promulgate a transnational approach by examining motivations of driving actions to highlight the multifaceted nature of anti-communism and its use to legitimise government measures in the 20th century. Thus, Garnering a range of locations enclosing colonised India, Italy, France, Britain, the United States and Colonial Madagascar, Stone analyses different articles to showcase the use of the ideology for furthering political agenda in the West. ‘Naming the Enemy’ states, “1945 was an important turning point” for the trajectory of anti-communism, yet, it does not delve further into it. The author’s primary focus on the interwar period poses methodological limits as it restricts the analysis of economic, political and social influence after the interwar period upon anti-communism. Thus it fell short in exploring further augmentation between the binary of communism/anti-communism. This paper will highlight how further analysis of anti-communism during the cold war is necessary to access the anti-communism/communism binary. 

The authors use the works of Michele Terretta, Colleen Woods and Michele Louro to portray further how France, the UK and the US used anti-communism as a means to cease the dissemination of communism in their colonies by prescribing communism to be the “enemy”. ‘Naming the Enemy’ showcases the political dismissal of communist ideology within colonies. Western powers legitimised using acts of violence, criminalisation and surveillance systems to dismiss anti-colonial movements. Thus furthering their hypothesis of the unequal weightage given to anti-communism over communism in the West. The interlocked fear of prevalent overlap between communism and anti-imperialism became the cornerstone for the prescription of the criminalisation of communism. Madagascar, the Philippines (the US refused to call it colonial),  and India were all key exporters of raw materials and agriculturally exploited by the Western powers. However, the article takes a Western perspective. It talks about colonial interventionism but fails to showcase the view of the colonised on communism. The sentiment of the colonised could have further aided in showcasing the binary between the ideologies. The question of Madagascar showcases this Western perspective. Didier Ratsiraka (earlier popular and then turned unpopular) came to power in Madagascar (1975) and introduced socialist policies aligned with the Soviet Union. Similarly, Jay Dee, in his paper, describes the importance of the influence of communism over the masses. Many African countries, such as Ghana, influenced by social justice and anti-colonial ideology, were suppressed by interventionist forces such as the US and France. During the cold war period, they aligned with the Soviets upon the link between imperialism and capitalism. This example shows that elements of communist thought initially appealed to the masses. The uprisings in sub-Saharan Africa were crushed due to the threat of growing communist influence. Parallely, in India, influenced by communism, emerged the Communist Party of India. During the cold war, during the non-alignment movement, India had stronger economic ties with the Soviet Union than the US or the UK. Thus, assuming a Western perspective compromises the further understanding of the binary within the two ideologies. 

Political agenda and economic incentives are inherently interconnected and provided the foundation upon which anti-communism was purported in the 20th century. The colonial excursions in these places were seen as ‘civilising missions’ and thus were legitimised. However, one of the primary reasons for the colonisation of these areas was their perceived economic advantages. Propertied classes viewed communism as a threat to their liberty. Using the work of Kathryn Olmsted, the article highlights the emergence of private intelligence organisations countering communism. The New Deal was widely rejected as it was perceived as socialist. The paper’s timeline limits it from exploring the relationship between anti-communism and economic ideologies. The Western economy was underlined with Fordism and saw a shift from Keynesian economics to integrating varying neo-liberal ideologies between 1930-1980. The welfare state led by market capitalism purported to assign anti-communism with freedom and higher living standards. Economic supremacy became the core of the Western ideology of anti-communism, centred around the Marshal Plan and Truman doctrine. This is seen in the case of Yugoslavia, whose economy improved with Western aid after breaking away from the Soviet Union. Hence, further analysis of the interrelation between anti-communism and economic ideologies proves a necessary backdrop to understanding the transnational popularity and acceptance of anti-communism. 

A thought-provoking assertion of the article was its examination of the emergence of right-wing politics (Fascism, Nazism) due to shared allegiance against communism. It describes the end of World War II as a turning point in the ideology of anti-communism due to the break in the link between Global Jewry and communism. Carl Schmitt’s friend/enemy binary reconciles enmity as politics-inducing and helps mobilise society. This view was also seen in Greece during 1944, as anyone not supporting the EAM was seen as the enemy. However, it is imperative to point out the limitation of this view. The aftermath of the apartheid saw reconciliation and racial inclusivity under Nelson Mandela. Enmity was not the sole constructer of political strategy at the time, even though widely utilised. 

Owing to its transnational nature, the adoption of anti-communism was different in every geo-political area. The UK did not have an analogue to US McCarthyism. Jennifer Luff largely annotates this upon the view of communism as a democratic threat in the US as opposed to the protection of civil liberties after World War II in the UK. Yet, despite the US’s apparent stance on anti-communism, it had cordial relations with communist politicians in France and Italy. Thus revealing the fluidity of adherence to the ideology based on its perceived advantage. Only after public and political right-wing pressure did the US take a strong view against it. This is parallel to the fluid nature of Fascism by Mussolini and Communism by Stalin to purport their propaganda. However, the stark difference is the favoured perception and acceptance of anti-communism. 

Stone and Giuliana have provided an ontologically explained ideological development and advancement of anti-communism. Their transnational perception and communication of anti-communist rhetoric are convenient in its historical context to show the binary. However, due to its methodological limitations, ‘Naming the Enemy’ avoids the gridlocks posed by the rise of new economic and social models (Truman Doctrine, Neo-Liberalism, etc) which mobilise society and are deep-rooted in understanding the political and cultural implications of the ideology. This also limits the authors from exploring a more non-western perspective to further highlight the binary prevalent between communism and anti-communism.

– Ananya Goyal

Author’s Note

The article does not focus on the definition of communism or anti-communism but on the binary between the two. Anti-communist ideology in the paper is portrayed to be based on being the saviour from communism. Hence, the paper does not define the two ideologies and focuses on analysing the binary by going beyond what is written in the article. 

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• Introduction 

According to a report from the French Ministry of Justice, the number of women lawyers has increased dramatically in the last decades. In 2009, women were for the first time more numerous than men in the profession. In 2019, women represented 56,4% of French lawyers, while they were still a minority in other legal careers: 48% of the total number of notaries, and only 27,4% of judicial auctioneers. However, this finding is not isolated amid justice: more and more judges are also women. In 2017 already, they represented 66% of the field. We can therefore describe this phenomenon as being a general tendency, commonly referred to as the “feminization of justice”. In this essay, we decided to determine whether or not the increase in the number of women in the judicial field represents a decline in gender inequalities in France. This issue was explored by sociologists such as Mustapha Mekki, whose work is one of the bases of this essay. To explore our subject, we will use a different and more restricted insight, focusing on the law profession. Our research is based on field observations in French Courts. We went to the judiciary Court of Paris, as well as to both the judiciary Court and Tribunal des Prud’hommes in Reims. Our research presents a set of quantitative and qualitative data collected by each of us during these observations. Since one of the writers of this paper, Ananya does not speak French, it limited her ability to understand the actual proceedings of the case. However, because of this limit, she was able to truly focus on body language, gestures as well as the way the lawyers acquit themselves. This helped us better understand the professional relations between men and women. To discuss the potential persistence of gender-based inequalities in the lawyer profession, we articulated our essay following two main parts. Firstly, based on our observations, we explore more deeply the feminization of the lawyer profession. We define it as being a “social fact” and try to determine if there is a gender-based distribution of judicial cases among lawyers. Secondly, we focus on the gender inequalities which remain in the professional relations between lawyers, and we wonder what factors could explain them. Finally, as a conclusion, we study the sociological implications of our research on the macro level.

I/ The feminization of the lawyer profession and the decrease of gender inequalities in treatment

1-  The feminization of the lawyer profession as a social fact testifying of a decreasing gender-based inequality

To answer our question about feminization and inequalities in the law profession, we went to different courts. In each court, we observed trials on different topics: correctional trials, immediate appearances, and claims opposing firms, or individual citizens. We also discussed with some lawyers the feminization of the profession, and their experience concerning the possible inequalities that women can be subjected to. In this part, we will focus on the percentage of women we observed in each court and prove that our conclusion is supported by previous studies on the same subject, such as Mustapha Mekki’s work. Firstly, we went to the judiciary Court of Reims situated in the center of the city. The judiciary Court is specialized in civil disputes, generally opposing two private agents who are not attributed by the law to another civil jurisdiction, in other words treating cases related to the penal field. In the judiciary Court, decisions are made by a collegial group, composed of three judges. We went as well to the judiciary Court of Paris, situated in the 17^th arrondissement of the city. As regards the tribunal of Prud’hommes, situated in rue Chanzy in Reims, the court specializes in judging individuals’ disputes caused by an employment contract of private right, in other words, cases related to the industrial and professional fields. In both kinds of court, each individual, or company, is represented by one lawyer. To have the most significant and representative sample possible, we went to the courts at different times of the day, which corresponds to different kinds of trials: in the judiciary Court for example, the civil disputes take place in the morning, and the correctional trials in the afternoon. It is a way to be more certain about the conclusion that we can draw. Since the feminization of the judicial profession is the starting point of this research, we must demonstrate that we did see a significantly higher number of women lawyers than of men lawyers during our observations. We will thus detail our findings for each court. After sharing our notes we computed the number of lawyers we saw, differentiating them according to their gender, to see if there is a predominance of women in the profession. In total during the trials, we saw 31 lawyers whose 25 were women and only 6 were men. Thus, if we convert these numbers into percentages, we obtain significant results: 80,6% of the lawyers that we saw were women and only 19,4% were men. Therefore, there are three times more women in the law profession than men. This answers positively our previous question about the feminization of the lawyer profession. Nevertheless, if there is for sure a feminization of the judicial branch, our results have to be nuanced. Indeed, the proportion of women in the profession can change across cities, and we could not of course observe the total number of lawyers in Reims. During our study, we saw 31 lawyers, whereas 266 lawyers are currently active in the city. Thus, our sample shows that there is a feminization of the profession, but we cannot conclude that 80% of lawyers in Reims or France are women. Indeed, based on previous calculations on this topic made by “le Barreau d’avocats de Paris”, 56,4% of lawyers are women whereas ten years ago only 50% of lawyers were women. These percentages help us to assume that there is an increasing number of women lawyers in the last few years. As mentioned in the introduction of this paper, Mustapha Mekki did conduct a study relative to the feminization of the judicial profession. He explained that this phenomenon was also correlated with the fact that there was an increase in women who came to get a professional jobs. Indeed, for a long time, women were meant to be housewives: they were assigned to take care of children and the house. Based on different socialization and previous social norms women were traditionally allocated to reproductive and domestic labor within the household. However, these social norms and the general society’s mentality concerning women progressively changed. In the 1960s women started to get professional jobs, which also impacted the judicial sector. Thus, the feminization of the law profession appears as being a social phenomenon exceeding the individual in itself. Even if it is, of course, the women’s studies and competencies that bring them to become lawyers, we consider the dramatic increase in the number of women among lawyers as being first and foremost the result of exterior factors, marking the evolution of the social perception of women. In other words, the evolution of women’s role in society. In Suicide, a Study in Sociology, Durkheim makes the same conclusion about suicide. About this social phenomenon, he explains that it “does not principally depend upon the congenital qualities of individuals but upon causes exterior to and dominating them”. Thus, as Durkheim does with suicide, we will consider the feminization of the lawyer profession as a “social fact” to establish a link between the conclusions drawn from our observations, on the micro level, to a general statement on society, on the macro level. By discussing with women lawyers that we saw during our observation, we have realized that the lawyer profession is not the only judicial profession that experienced a significant increase in the relative number of women. Indeed, as they explained, more and more women become judges, which contributes to reducing the inequalities in numbers of treatment between women and men lawyers. One of the women lawyers who was working for more than thirty years discussed with us the phenomenon of feminization of the profession, and the evolution of inequalities. She argued that, since the beginning of her career, she saw an ever-increasing number of women integrating into the profession. She added that this feminization was also a way to reduce inequalities since it makes the work of women lawyers appear as more credible and valuable than before. Therefore, the increasing number of women lawyers would testify to the progressive disappearance of gender-based inequalities in the law profession.

2- The absence of a gender-based distribution of judicial cases among lawyers

To assert this finding, we found it interesting to determine whether or not there is a distinction based on gender in the distribution of judicial cases between lawyers. An increase in the number of women in the law profession does not necessarily mean a decrease in gender inequality if we take the example of the attribution of cases. This interrogation is founded on the concept of occupational segregation: the traditional assumption, which we will discuss later, that women tend to be for example more present in professions involving contact with people while men are more oriented towards commercial and financial matters, due to their over-representation in the mathematical and scientific studies. Bourdieu calls such determined inclinations the habitus: women tend to develop expectations according to their gender-based position in the social structure and restrain their objectives depending on what is possible for them at the society’s level. Then, their taste is conditioned by society. Then, we make the hypothesis that women are more assigned to civil cases, which are more related to human relations, and men to professional cases, involving conflicts between firms or within them. Our supposition concerning the repartition of cases naturally leads us to expect that we will find more women in the judiciary Court and more men in the Court of Prud‘hommes. However, our diverse observations in both courts, the Judiciary Court and the Court of Prud’hommes testify that, on the contrary, the distribution of cases does not depend on the gender of the lawyer. Indeed, following our observations, we counted 7 women and 4 men in the judiciary court, while we observed that 18 women and 2 men were pleading in the tribunal of Prud’hommes. These results do not significantly support our hypothesis, since the relatively small number of men observed in the Court of Prud’hommes can be attributed to the feminization of the lawyer profession we previously discussed. Furthermore, if this result was significant enough to be considered in our research, it would show the exact reverse of what we wanted to assert, namely the over-representation of women in the industrial and professional cases in the Tribunal des Prud’hommes. To further support our finding, which is the apparent absence of gender inequalities in the distribution of cases, we discussed with three different women lawyers to give us their opinion on this subject. Through these informal discussions, they all agreed that no distinctions were made in the repartition of different cases. They explained that the repartition is usually made randomly when a new case arrives in the cabinet: the lawyer with the less work at the moment takes it and then constructs a defense for the client. Moreover, our assumptions are supported by the work of Mme. la Bâtonnière Laurence Junod-Fanget, who conducted research on gender equality in the lawyer profession at the Barreau de Lyon, a city situated in the south of France. By asking a large sample of lawyers in the town, she came to the following percentage concerning the proportion of men and women lawyers concerning social rights: 25% of women were assigned to social rights against 21% of men. Because these results do not indicate a significant difference, just like ours, they support our conclusion that there is no distinction based on gender concerning the repartition of cases. Thus, this first phase of our study leads us to consider that the law profession is exempt from any formal inequality. We understand formal inequality as a significant difference in representation or treatment based on gender, and that can be empirically proven statistically. Indeed, we have seen that nowadays women are more numerous than men in the law profession and that no gender distinctions are made concerning the repartition of cases. This positive conclusion decided us to go further by analyzing lawyer behaviors during trials, and discussing with lawyers inequalities in a broader sense. By discussing the repartition of the cases more broadly, women lawyers state that in the commercial tribunal, which we had not the opportunity to go to during our observation, cases are often more assigned to men lawyers because they are considered more competent in financial affairs than women. We will not further discuss these results since they are not part of our research and observations; however these statements lead us to nuance our conclusion about the “perfect equality” between both genders, men and women in the law profession, since as we mentioned previously, our findings are limited by the restricted number of Courts in which we could lead our observations. The very consideration that women are less valuable and competent to defend clients in the commercial tribunal shows that inequalities are still present within the lawyer profession. In this research, we understand gender as a social and symbolic system, which means that it is a definite social order involving a distinction and hierarchy between the sexes. To deepen our study on gender-based inequality, we are going to analyze in the second part of this essay the lawyers’ behavior we could observe. We will use it to verify our hypothesis. Indeed, we consider each of our observations on lawyers not as being individual characteristics, but rather the result of a social system; not a single anomaly but the production of society itself. This is also the assumption of Bourdieu’s concept of habitus: as we explained, the women lawyers’ behavior we are going to study is both a characteristic of their gender as a whole and an individual trait. The lawyers’ habitus is both shaped by society and contributing to shaping it; they are both determined by society and determining it. We study a social fact translated by individual behaviors: our research is thus not only significant at the individual level but also at the level of society. Thus, we will study individual behaviors to wonder if the decrease of formal gender inequalities in representation and cases’ attribution is proof of a real and significant withdrawal of gender inequalities in the law profession. 

II) The persistence of informal gender-based inequalities as a result of a gender-differentiated socialization 

1- The gender-based inequalities in professional relations

However, more informally, women still have to prove their legitimacy as lawyers. This statement is the result of our observations of different trials, both of men lawyers’ and women’s lawyers’ advocacies. Even though, of course, there is no formal discrimination institutionalized in the law, it nevertheless still exists. In a study carried out in 2019, it was found that even though 66% of the total associates in large firms in France were women, only 33% of them were in a partner position. So was the case a few years ago when 52.7% of associates in large firms in Paris were women out of which only 12.5% were partners. As is evident, there is a continuous gender-based disparity. The reason behind this discrepancy is the ever-present glass ceiling effect. This phenomenon is aptly named to showcase how minorities, and particularly women, can be significantly represented in a profession at the same level as men but will be far less numerous in the top ranks of management in large corporations. As an example, in the academic field, women are overrepresented among undergraduate and master’s students (57%) but then gradually disappear, until being only 14,8% among chief academic officers and University provosts. Such a phenomenon is common in many sectors, including the law profession. Therefore 

Thus, research shows that men with more than five years at the Bar have twice more chances to become a partner as women. There are certain competencies, qualities, and abilities that a candidate needs to fulfill to attain a position. Even still, the assessment of their fulfillment is subjective, owing to the lack of transparency, and can be influenced by gender-based prejudice: as a result, men will generally be preferred for top positions. Because of such prejudice, which we will detail later in this essay, women lawyers often explain that they have to prove their competence more than men to feel legitimate. To collect empirical evidence for this assertion, we discussed this topic with women lawyers in the context of our observations. One of them told us that she had been the target of remarks or behaviors aiming to make her appear less credible than men. In addition, we could assert the merits of this assertion during one of our observations in the Tribunal des Prud’hommes. The male lawyers, sitting in the gallery, were snickering and making disrespectful remarks mocking the fact that their female colleague went over the time that she had been allotted for her statement. They rolled their eyes at the lawyer and acted contemptuously in open court, while their behavior could be noticed by anyone assisting the trial. This clearly shows that even though there are no inequalities by law, that does not mean that women do not face discrimination.

To see the true effect of the glass ceiling, we chose to draw a comparison between France and Switzerland. We chose Switzerland to draw a comparison with France because it is another European country that follows the civil law system, and also because even though it has less number of female lawyers than France, it still poses better opportunities for women to become partners. This factor helps us in understanding the extent to which the glass ceiling effect is pertinent to French female lawyers. In Switzerland, the chances of a female lawyer becoming a partner are considerably higher compared to France: in 2011 already, half the partners were women. In France, women who have been in the Bar for less than 10 years see their likelihood of becoming a partner lowered by 66%, even though France has a higher proportion of female lawyers. This justifies the focus of our research on France by pointing to the fact that the glass ceiling effect is significantly prominent in this country. Most women during their career are ‘pulled sideways’, having to leave their jobs when they are pregnant for example, whereas men are ‘pulled up’, leaving their job because of instances such as a promotion. Men usually use the reason of family responsibility to express their desire to get promoted whereas, for women, it is the reverse since it is usually seen as a reason not to get promoted. The effect of the maternal wall is everpresent. Women often face this stark obstacle where they are considered not to be as capable after starting a family. This could contribute to the reason why, in France, 45% of women intend to leave the Bar to start a family. Even if we did not, unfortunately, have the resources to be able to research to deepen these results, the impact of this inequality is non-negligible and deserves to be mentioned. 

Furthermore, other gender-based inequalities within the lawyer profession and in professional relations must be evoked. A woman lawyer we interviewed stated her distaste for how men blatantly disrespect female lawyers by calling them ‘Madame’ instead of ‘Maitrer’ which is the accepted practice. Such behavior makes women lawyers feel less legitimate since it aims to remind them that they are first of all women. It denies them equality with men because they are not called the way they are, even though it is the official appellation of any lawyer. Another noticeable inequality related to language is that the Presidents on trial are always called “Monsieur le Président” even if they are women, just as if women were not considered in the profession. In this case, however, this is the official appellation, but the authors of this paper do believe that language matters and can be considered as a factor of informal inequality. The lawyer with whom we discussed this also explained that she saw the lawyers’ gowns as being protective barriers for women. According to her, it keeps men from making sexist comments: thus, the traditional lawyers’ gown, identical for men as for women, prevents any potential discrimination that would be based on women’s outfits, or physique. She contrasted with the fact that men wear their robes as a sign of pride whereas for them it signifies protection and equality. This enforces our thesis that, even though there is a feminization of the profession, women are still facing sexism daily. 

Another gender-based inequality we have noticed is the predominance of women lawyers chosen to defend men accused of sexual harassment. Thus, one of the women lawyers with whom we discussed testified that law firms choose women as a priority for this kind of case. The main reason is that, because of their gender, they appear as “having a better understanding” of the subject and are more credible in defending a man accused of such crimes. This testimony was also supported by one of our observations in the judiciary Court of Reims. During this trial, the defendant was accused of exhibitionism on the public highway, notably toward the police. Moreover, he was accused of sexually harassing his neighbor. His lawyer was a woman. This goes to showcase the informal inequality which persists inside this profession. Besides, if we take a closer look at this particular trial, the rhetoric of the lawyer while defending her client deserves to be analyzed. Indeed, to defend her client she essentially referred to his private life and his emotions. She evoked the complicated relationship between the defendant and his major son, that he did not see anymore, his alcoholism and bipolar, and that he had been potentially the victim of acts of violence himself when he was a child. What is even more interesting is that she also mentioned arguments as subjective as his deep loneliness, the fact that he was “of goodwill, but unlucky”, or even his real will to get away. The link between these elements and our research is that these exact kinds of arguments were observed in other women lawyers, while they were not seen in men lawyers’ advocacies. Thus, even though there is on paper perfect equality between men and women in the law profession, we assert that, in reality, there are informal inequalities that these women face daily. Besides, these inequalities, such as the difference in arguments between men and women, testify to a completely diverging perception of the profession. Even more, they are witness to a gender-based inequality that exceeds the lawyer profession itself.

2-  The persistence of gender-based inequality in the lawyer profession as produced by society

               As we have seen, the feminization of the lawyer profession does not induce a decrease in gender inequalities within this very profession. What we can therefore wonder about is how the persistence of these inequalities can be explained. As we have seen, we have noticed during our observations that the behavior, rhetoric, and attitude of lawyers are very distinct whether they are men or women. While men tend to be very comfortable and at ease, laughing and using irony, women are far more restrained, often hesitating and using their notes. Furthermore, we have perceived a difference in their very posture, since men are deeply rooted in the ground, stable, and using their hands while talking, while women are generally balanced from one foot to another and talk with a lower tone. Another fact we have noticed is the different attitudes of lawyers toward the defendants. Men lawyers are generally more distant from their clients and use arguments predominantly objective facts and statistics. On the contrary, even if women do use facts and statistics as well, they mostly refer to the subjective feelings and perceptions of their clients, evoking for example their mental condition, familial situation, and past difficulties that could explain their present appearance, just as we saw in the case of the man accused of sexual harassment. In doing so, they aim to create the compassion and empathy of the judge while the use of facts aims, on the contrary, to convince rationally. For example, during one of our observations, we assisted in a trial relating to evictions. The lawyers and the judge were women. The last appearance was one of a young man around eighteen years old. He had a procuration from his mother who was unable to attend for health reasons. Despite the lawyer’s defense, the judge finally declared that the eviction was inevitable. It is interesting to consider that this judgment was made with regret: the judge and the lawyer kept talking with the defendant, advising him to find informal solutions, such as talking to his mother or asking for family help. They stayed very close to him in an informal way and comforted him while he was crying. Our question is therefore to determine whether or not a man would have behaved in such a way. According to our observations, men lawyers never demonstrated empathy or regret for their clients, at least in public, staying very distant and professional. How can the specificity of women of such behavior be explained? As we saw, the lawyers’ behavior is what Bourdieu calls their habitus, which links individual actions and society. Therefore, the position adopted by the authors of this paper is that the habitus’ origins and the roots of inequality must be found in childhood, during primary socialization.

Thus, very early children undergo the first step of socialization, mostly in their families. They are confronted with formal rules defining the way to behave in society and informal practices by imitating their relatives’ behavior. Primary socialization differs according to gender: formal rules are meant to teach children how to behave in a “normal” way. This implies the conformation to assigned gender identity markers: typically, relatives will offer girls dolls and propose them to dance, while they will offer boys toy cars and register them for football.These gender identity markers are enforced by informal learning: girls will instinctively imitate the women members of their family, such as their mother, while boys will learn by observing male members of the family, such as their father. This includes the imitation of a specific behavior: girls will learn to be more empathic, soft, and affectionate, than boys who will learn to be tough and virile, both assimilating formal rules and informal gender behaviors. In doing so, they reproduce the gender-differentiated behavior of their parents and assimilate assigned gender roles that will shape their behavior in society and their habitus: this phenomenon is described by Erving Goffman who uses the theatrical metaphor. Women, just like any other society member, are perpetual actors who conform to the role they were given because of their gender, which influences their relations and determines their position in society. This is later pursued during secondary socialization: according to their assigned empathic and soft behavior, girls are oriented towards more literary and humanitarian professions, in which they are in touch with children or people. They will be encouraged to become teachers or nurses for example. With the glass ceiling we previously evoked, women are also less present in skilled jobs and qualified positions. This is the case of the judiciary: the numerical inferiority of women until 2009 shows the result of primary and secondary socialization, directing women towards less skilled professions. However, today we realize an evolution of gender roles and of the view of women, which led to a feminization of many professions, including the judicial professions, to the point that women became even more numerous than men. Nevertheless, the divergences in socialization between men and women lead to a different apprehension of the job: women are still expected to be more comprehensive, empathic, and soft, in one word “mothering”, while men must be convincing, striking, and eloquent. Women are therefore closer to their clients than men and feel even more responsible for finding solutions, and not hurting them. This explains to us the difference in behavior between men and women lawyers, but also the persisting informal gender inequalities in the professional relations between lawyers. A possible counter-argument to our explanation would be to argue that these differences in behavior between men and women are not entirely, or even not at all, the product of socialization but in part or completely natural. To this contradiction, we answer that the attribution of gender roles, and the assimilation of gender identity markers are not at all natural, since it is not a common denominator to all societies. To support our argument we use the observations of Margaret Mead, a pioneer of anthropology in the United States. She particularly challenged the common belief of a biological distinction between men and women. In her book Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935), she focused on the social construction of norms. By studying three different people she demonstrated that gender roles are understood very differently, and vary according to a society’s culture and customs: for example, she observed that in the Tchambuli people, the roles assigned to men and women seemed to be the reverse than in Western societies: the men stayed at home while women were assigned to work and accomplish the practical tasks. Thus, the findings we collected during our observations do effectively support our hypothesis that gender inequalities in the law profession are due to gender-based differentiated socialization and not biological difference. This differentiated socialization can be more or less acute, depending on the society’s culture and history: thus, we have shown previously that there is more gender-based inequality in France than in other European countries such as Switzerland. However, these inequalities are more informal than formal or institutionalized. A limitation of this research could be that we do not consider the differences within the very groups that are the object of this study. This consideration relates to the intersectionality concept, introduced in the 1980s by the scholar and civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw. Thus, if we focus on the diversity within the very group of women, we make the constatation that, according to our observations, we did not observe a single Black woman lawyer. Therefore, if there are still informal inequalities between men and women, these inequalities are sharper for Black women, who are just not represented at all in our sample, and therefore significantly underrepresented in the lawyer profession as a whole in France.

• Conclusion

This sociological research aimed to prove whether or not there are gender inequalities in the law profession. To do so we have conducted observations and collected quantitative data and qualitative data through informal discussions with lawyers. Moreover, we have used some previous research on this subject to support and complete our analysis. In this essay, we have first detailed the current context of the judicial field, which is a significant feminization in general and, more related to our research, of the lawyer profession. We have also described the feminization of the lawyer profession as a social fact, following Durkheim’s definition. Then, we tried to determine whether or not there is a difference in the repartition of 

cases between men and women, based on gender prejudice. Our results draw a negative conclusion and refute our hypothesis, which we previously defined as the presence of formal gender-based inequalities. However, according to further observation, the feminization of the lawyer profession and the absence of gender-based repartition of judicial cases do not mean that there is no gender-based inequality at all. Following Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, we use lawyers’ behavior to demonstrate this assumption. Thus, our observations empirically support the existence of a more informal inequality between men and women lawyers in professional relations since we prove that women are often not considered credible or legitimate, and are regularly mocked or ignored. Having stated this, we tried to enlarge the scope of our analysis by explaining the possible reasons for such a difference. We stated that socialization, and more specifically the primary socialization that takes place during childhood, is since the beginning gender-differentiated and, for that reason, creates an informal inequality in the very attitude and perception of the profession of lawyers. Finally, we evoke the intra-group differences through the intersectionality concept, and demonstrate that they are almost void: if white women still face gender-based inequalities, Black women are completely absent from our women sample. Therefore, we state that Blackness increases the level of inequality, in particular in representation, faced by a woman lawyer.  However, these results must be nuanced by considering some limitations. First, our observations were only conducted in only two different cities, Reims and Paris, and in two different kinds of courts, the Judiciary Court and the Tribunal des Prud’hommes. Secondly, they were also conducted in a relatively short period, the observations being distributed over two months. Finally, we had only the opportunity to discuss the subject of our research with women lawyers, not with men lawyers, which would have been interesting to have a maybe diverging view on gender-based inequalities. As we asserted that the feminization of the law profession is a social fact, according to Durkheim, we do believe that the results of our research do not only inform us on gender-based inequalities in the law profession, but also in society as a whole. As we stated at the end of our essay, the differentiated socialization that inculcates specific gender roles, is for us the root of the persisting inequalities between men and women, despite the feminization of the lawyer profession. These inequalities are therefore less formal than a concrete difference in salaries or the allocation of cases but do exist, in particular in professional relationships or the relationship with clients. They are based on gender prejudice and the assimilation of gender-assigned identity markers during socialization: for example, the women have to be more empathic, and men more convincing and relentless. For us, these inequalities are not only significant at the micro-level but also at the macro-level: they are at the basis of society. Gender, as understood in society today, is a social and symbolic system shaping assigned gender roles and justifying the gender-based inequalities women keep facing in their professional midst. 

– Ananya Goyal, Audrey Bonn and Solene Jourdan

Bibliography 

• Reports
•  “Statistics on the lawyer profession”, Pôle d’évaluation de la justice civile. Direction des Affaires Civiles et du Sceau, Ministère de la Justice. October 2019. http://www.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/1_1_commentaire2019_avocats.pdf

• Infostat Justice, statistical information bulletin, no. 161. Ministère de la Justice.  April 2018. 20http://www.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/stat_Infostat_161.pdf

• Ordre des Avocats de Reims – Grand Public – Des avocats au coeur de votre vie quotidienne. http://www.avocats-reims.fr/. Consulté le 17 avril 2022.

• https://www.conferencedesbatonniers.com/images/Accueil_site/2018/Rapport_egalite_HOMMES-FEMMES_2017.pdf

• Books
•  Mekki Mustapha, Mission de recherche Droit et justice, and Mekki Mustapha. La féminisation des métiers de la justice. Paris: Mission de recherche Droit et Justice, 2010.

• Emile Durkheim, Suicide: A Study in Sociology (Taylor and Francis, 2005)

•  Bourdieu Pierre, and Nice Richard. Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge New York Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

•   Goffman Erving. Interaction Ritual : Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. New York: Pantheon Books, 1982.

• Mead Margaret. Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies. New York (N.Y.) London Toronto [etc: Harper Perennial, 2001.

• Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Stanford law review 43, no. 6 (1991): 1241–1299.

• Academic articles
• “ This Is an Earlier Version of Boni-Le Goff I., Le Feuvre N., Lépinard E., Mallard G., Morel S. ‘Do Gender Regimes Matter? Converging and Diverging Career Prospects Among Young French and Swiss Lawyers.’ in Marta Choroszewicz and Tracey Adams, Gender, Age, and Inequality in the Professions, London: Routledge, 2019,” n.d.

• “Female Lawyers Hit French Glass Ceiling.” Accessed April 11, 2022. https://www.globallegalpost.com/news/female-lawyers-hit-french-glass-ceiling-88740210.

• “French Women More Successful at Lawyering Too? – The Careerist.” Accessed April 12, 2022. https://thecareerist.typepad.com/thecareerist/2012/03/tracking-women-partners.html.

• Galligan, Yvonne, Renate Haupfleisch, Lisa Irvine, et al. “Mapping the Representation of Women and Men in Legal Professions across the EU. Brussels : European Parliament. 2017.,” n.d.

• Ganguli, Ina, Ricardo Hausmann, and Martina Viarengo. “Around the World in the Legal Profession: Women Get in, but Not Up.” VoxEU.Org (blog), July 9, 2020. https://voxeu.org/article/gender-norms-and-leadership-roles-legal-profession.

• EverydayHealth.com. “The Glass Ceiling Effect And Its Impact On Women.” Accessed April 12, 2022. https://www.everydayhealth.com/womens-health/glass-ceiling-effect-its-impact-on-women/.

• Lectures

• Cousin, Bruno. Lecture 3: social norms, culture, socialization. Presentation during the Sociology class at Sciences Po. Reims, France, February 2022.

• Cousin, Bruno. Lecture 5: Gender, race, intersectionality. Presentation during the Sociology class at Sciences Po. Reims, France, February 2022.

Book Review – Capitalism and Freedom

“Brother, can you spare a dime?” this song, written by Jay Gorney in 1931, summarises the economic condition of the US at the time. High unemployment and poverty were ever-present. Minority groups faced even harsher economic turmoil due to discrimination and fewer employment possibilities. In the 1930s, there was a rise in government interference owing to Keynesian thought. Roosevelt introduced the First and the Second New Deals as a solution for it. The orthodox theory at the time was that of Keynes. It stated that a free economy would constantly create cycles of boom and bust and thus highlight the need for government interference. During the 1930s, the presiding belief was that deficit spending was a way out of the Depression. Like his teachers at the University of Chicago, Friedman favoured the Keynesian theory. However, ‘the end of the War “cured” him of Keynesian thinking’. In the 1940s, neo-liberalism emerged in reaction to The New Deal Welfarism in the US, the British Keynsian state and socialist Europe. The idea was to re-invent liberal philosophy and go against interventionist forces, which Friedman embarks upon in his book Capitalism and Freedom.

The economic unrest after the Great Depression garnered the basis for the political debate against government intervention during the 1950s. Amid the tumultuous 1960s, when the United States was wrestling with Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the rise of the counterculture, “A long-delayed product of Series of Lectures” by Milton Friedman was collated and first published in 1962. He argued that the prolongation of the depression and its subsequent consequences were a direct result of government mismanagement as opposed to Keynesian reasoning. In Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman captures the essence of libertarian principles and how they should apply to governmental control, going against political expediency. He exerts his principle convictions about civil and economic liberties to public institutions and governmental activities. Friedman embarks on an ambitious task of exploring the role of private enterprises operating within a free market to achieve economic freedom. What makes his work compelling is that he went against the dominating ideology at the time and challenged the role of the government within society. For this, he amalgamates historical examples to showcase the unnecessary intervention of the government in areas such as postal services, rent control, etc.

His assertions in the book are thought-provoking, but one may doubt how his liberal ideas adhere to the current society. Broadly these limitations can be encompassed by methodological and particularly implicative limitations.  His methodology takes broad principles and applies them to particular cases. This paper will highlight how Friedman’s methodology leads to the oversimplification of concepts and doesn’t account for the intricacies of contemporary society. One example is in the juxtaposition between increasing corruption and reduced government power. Friedman argues for the need for a government to “set the rules of the game”. This argument distinguishes his work from that of others such as Mises, Rand and Rothbard, as they advocate for an economy governed solely by laissez-faire. He erects his system upon the framework that a government is needed only when the market fails. Such intervention is limited to areas of technological monopoly and neighbourhood effects. He eliminates the idea of coercive monopoly and states that economic power will be a check upon the government. Such a government would have to be elected by the people. These election campaigns need substantial funding and thus be financed by the small percentage of people in high-income classes. They will influence candidates to advance their interests, which furthers inequality and centralisation of power in the hands of the wealthy. Hence a competitive capitalistic country would still create a centralised body of high-income citizens.

The aforementioned goes against his ideal of proportional representation. He acknowledges the presence of corruption but believes the answer lies in property rights and the law and not interventionist forces. However, in the previously stated argument, there will be corruption (as private individuals influence governmental decisions due to affluence) on private and public spectre unless there is a governing body. An example of this argument is of the US in 2014 when 90% of the population did not influence political decisions. It is possible to challenge the US not to be the capitalist state described by Friedman. But his utopic ideas don’t yet conform to real-world intricacies. The US ranks amongst the top 20 most economically free countries according to the Wall Street Journal (based on the work of Friedman). Therefore, it poses a just example.

Even still, Friedman believes that the market is self-correcting and most regulation is counter-productive. He also builds a case for radical movements in capitalistic societies to be funded by the elite few. Yet, he doesn’t touch upon instances that can’t be self-corrected, has significant neighbourhood effects, and are not financed frequently by the wealthy. One such example is financing campaigns for climate change which do not get funded by most rich people as they directly gain from the carbon emissions emitted by them. Such externalities necessitate the need for a government to counter detrimental effects which do not fall under the profit-making scope of businesses. Another failure of deregulation, pointed out by Appelbaum, is the Savings and Loan failure of 1980. S&L was caused owing to deregulation and failed due to “the belief that financial markets could regulate themselves”.

In 1913, Wilson established the Federal Reserve. In 1931, Britain went off the gold standard, which led to a high gold stock to Federal Reserve ratio. Friedman largely annotates the severity and length of the Great Depression to the failure of proper action by the Federal Reserve. Friedman’s opposition to governmental discretion in monetary policy stems from his belief in the quantity theory of money. The theory suggests that as a consequence of changes in the money supply, there will be an impact on prices and economic activity. Parallel to Hayek, Friedman argues that a government of laws should establish policies that lead to fixed and predictable changes within the money supply and avoid inflation. This view touches upon Friedman’s theory of monetarism which posits that the quantity of money in circulation is a crucial determinant of economic growth and stability.

Friedman was a firm proponent of a floating exchange system against a fixed exchange system. He contended that it allows countries to adjust their economic policies, inducing stability and efficient international trade and finance. Friedman’s inferences are made digestible due to the historical context of the Gold Pool crisis, which effectively resulted in a shift towards a floating exchange rate.

Liberalism, as outlined in Capitalism and Freedom, garnered the attention of economists, philosophers and policymakers. A good reason for this is his belief that market capitalism efficiently allocates resources and promotes equality. Friedman purports the idea with the example of the Virginia system to perpetuate school segregation. He ontologically elucidates the integration of Virginia’s schools into its voucher system. Such an inference is misleading as it does not garner the effect of the monumental ruling of Brown v. Board of Education (1954). His belief is rooted in the philosophical notion of the invisible hand by Adam Smith. It posits that the best interest of society gets realised unintentionally through the pursual of self-interest. He states that – “there is one and only one social responsibility of business to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits”. Assuming businesses engage in activities without deception or fraud, market forces will naturally lead to social welfare.

He argues that social welfare is achieved by pursuing free market capitalism, even if the two are seemingly at odds. However, he fails to consider ethical principles such as justice, prudence and benevolence, which partake in Smith’s views. He misinterprets his argument from maximising gross-domestic product to the promotion of societal interest. As pointed out by Smart, Friedman does not justify the equation between having choices and the disposition to achieve one’s wants. Large corporations greatly sway the free market, hence inhibiting the ability of others to access it. Also, his arguments stem from the inherently flawed assumption that everyone is satisfied at the end of a transaction. As pointed out by Nico, the free market is not free from coercion. It can also still have negative consequences outside the trade, thus requiring a regulatory body.

In his analysis, Friedman goes against government redistribution as it creates disincentives for individuals to innovate and impedes economic growth. He also disagrees with occupational licensure as they create unnecessary barriers to entry, leading to higher prices for consumers. Besides, licensure does not necessarily ensure quality and disproportionately affects minorities and low-income households. It is to note that in occupations such as car washing, needing a licence (as in California) can be considered to be a barrier to entry. His argument stems from his belief that reputation and reliability would aid market forces in creating an efficient outcome, thus de-necessitating government regulation.

The mere admission that regulatory bodies are inadequate to promote social equality is not an accurate litmus test to prove that capitalism will reduce market-oriented social discrimination. To argue that monopolies are primarily subject to such discrimination is erroneous. Friedman hypothesises that freedom is a necessary precursor to equality. In his view, the force used to achieve equality will never achieve it, and the force introduced itself would get corrupted. He argues for the laws of laissez-faire to promote equality. In his view, there should be no corporation tax to solve the problem of monopolies. People divert their resources to avoid taxation gridlocks by undertaking arbitrary immoral discourses. By doing so, people’s resources are better-made use of than finding ways to evade said tax. It is evident in history that morality does not always precede human rationale. People spend more on personal gratification than social causes such as climate change and medical advancement. The consumers are also affected as the service quality they receive depends on their ability to spend. Perhaps an example can be seen within medical services. The determining factor for services received would not be one’s medical needs but their ability to pay.

Friedman coined the phrase “The Miracle of Chile”. Chile is amongst the first guinea pigs to test Friedman’s theories. In 1973, after the military coup, the ‘Chicago Boys’, under Pinochet’s regime, implemented free market capitalism in Chile as guided by Friedman. These implementations led to an increase in economic growth but also led to increased inequality. His regime was also responsible for human rights violations, thus proving what happened in Chile was most certainly not a miracle. Hayek argues that it is the outcome of individual choices and sometimes a necessary intermediary step. However, growth in Chile has been going down for the past 15 years, proving that this is not the case. Social justice cannot get sidelined when exploring models to regulate the economy. The cumulative effect of Capitalism and Freedom and Friedman’s other ideas has influenced US policies ever since. His hypothesis of self-correcting free markets gave birth to the Steagall Act in 1999. It allowed Commercial banks to take on riskier investments. In line with Friedman’s views, lending standards were relaxed, and the housing market emerged deregulated. The Steagall Act and deregulation led to housing bubbles. These bubbles inevitably burst, leading to the 2008 crisis.

Friedman’s libertarian views are convenient in their historical context to show that capitalism is better than other economic models. In the past, the welfare system failed due to interventionist forces. Excessive taxes have led to tax evasion, redistribution rewarded laziness, and licensure heightened costs. Nevertheless, the 2008 crisis and the 80s S&L show that Freidmen’s free market capitalist society does not function. There is a need for regulation or a new version of capitalism. Friedman’s neoliberal capitalism is irreconcilable with societal intricacies and far from the ideal solution. In its more contemporary backdrop, his ideas do not hold.

– Ananya Goyal

Bibliography

• Appelbaum, Binyamin. The Economists’ Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society. First edition. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019.

• Badia, Meher. “A Criticism of Milton Friedman’s ‘Capitalism and Freedom.’” Medium (blog), June 4, 2020. https://medium.com/@meherbadia/a-criticism-of-milton-friedmans-capitalism-and-freedom-59dead1ddff.

• BBVA. “BBVA Agrees to Join the Code of Good Practice to Support Customers with Difficulties Making Their Mortgage Payments in Spain.” NEWS BBVA, November 30, 2022. https://www.bbva.com/en/bbva-agrees-to-join-the-code-of-good-practice-to-support-customers-with-difficulties-making-their-mortgage-payments-in-spain/.

• Friedman, Milton, and Rose D. Friedman. Capitalism and Freedom. 40th-anniversary ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.

• Gilens, Martin, and Benjamin I. Page. “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens.” Perspectives on Politics 12, no. 3 (September 2014): 564–81. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592714001595.

• “Rules and Regulations: For Car Washing and Polishing.” Accessed March 20, 2023. https://www.dir.ca.gov/DLSE/Car_Wash_Rules_Regs.html#:~:text=Who%20must%20obtain%20a%20Car,8%2C%20Section%2013680%20through%2013693.

• Skousen, Mark. “Milton Friedman, Ex-Keynesian | Mark Skousen,” July 1, 1998. https://fee.org/articles/milton-friedman-ex-keynesian/.

• Smart, Barry. Economy, Culture, and Society: A Sociological Critique of Neo-Liberalism. 1. publ. Theorizing Society. Buckingham: Open Univ. Press, 2003.

• Stiglitz, Joseph E. Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy. Pbk. ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 2010.

• ProMarket. “The Complicated Legacy of the ‘Chicago Boys’ in Chile,” September 12, 2021. https://www.promarket.org/2021/09/12/chicago-boys-chile-friedman-neoliberalism/.

• “The Great Depression and the New Deal.” Accessed March 15, 2023. https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/soc_sec/hgreat.htm.

• Vorster, Nico. “An Ethical Critique of Milton Friedman’s Doctrine on Economics and Freedom,” Summer 2010, 163–88. https://www.proquest.com/docview/607267869.