Weekend Box: Davos ‘23, Jacinda Arden Resigns & more
Welcome to the Weekend Box, Audley’s weekly round-up of interesting or obscure political, business and cultural news from around the world.
Image credit/World Economic Forum on Flickr/License
DAVOS ‘23: IT’S SNOW LAUGHING MATTER
Today is the last day of the World Economic Forum, which once again convened the world’s top business leaders and policymakers in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. With war in Europe continuing and geopolitical cracks showing, it met under the theme "Cooperation in a fragmented world."
While the conference never escapes criticism that it is a talking shop for the world’s 1 percent, it has been an important week for diplomacy. President Zelensky and his ministers have used the conference to redouble pleas for more advanced weapons and “increased global pressure” on Russia. Whilst this was reinforced by the NATO Secretary General in his address, cooperation only stretches so far, with German chancellor Olaf Scholz remaining tight-lipped on his country’s support. Meanwhile, China's Vice-Premier Liu used Davos to welcome foreign investment and declare the country open for business after pandemic isolation.
Climate change was also at the top of the agenda this week. A blistering speech from the UN Chief placed the blame at the feet of green-washing corporates and there was an even greater scolding from recently-detained Greta Thunberg who declared it was ‘absurd’ to listen to the Davos delegates, rather than climate change activists. The climate change discussion at Davos has not been without rivalry. On Wednesday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen took on President Biden’s green subsidy package which offers tax breaks to US-based green tech. This has sparked widespread concerns that plans for investments in Europe will be sucked away, and the president used her address to announce plans to invest in climate-friendly businesses and water down state aid regulations.
Aside from geopolitics and the deals that will be cut in the snowy town, the theme of cooperation has also been tested within WEF’s organising team. There have been reports of mutiny, with calls from the WEF’s team for a succession plan for 82-year-old Chairman Klaus Schwab. This is the first time Schwab, who founded WEF in 1971, has been criticised for his leadership style and an unwillingness to consider a future for WEF without him in it. Only time will tell if these rumours amount to a rethink of the Forum’s future.
Image credit/Governor-General of New Zealand/License
PM JACINDA ARDEN: PRIME TIME TO RESIGN
By now we are all familiar with the concept of burnout, the stress-induced exhaustion which the World Health Organisation classified as an occupational phenomenon in 2019, and there are probably few jobs more stressful than being a head of government. This week New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has seen her share of stress in her tenure, has announced that she will step down from her role, with burnout being the main reason.
Speaking to press at the Labour party caucus meeting the prime minister announced that she would “not be seeking re-election,” explaining that she “no longer [had] enough in the tank” to do justice to her role. The prime minister attempted to pre-emptively quash speculation about a possible ‘real reason’ for her decision, saying, “after going on six years of some big challenges, I am human.”
While some have responded to the surprise announcement by celebrating her career, others have less charitably suggested that she has chosen to resign rather than suffer defeat in October’s general election. While praised early for her response to the 2019 Christchurch shooting and 2020’s rigorous lockdowns, her popularity subsequently plummeted as New Zealanders came to resent the stringency of her government’s Covid response and the economic impact on the country. The prime minister also experienced public harassment and received death threats as anti-vax and anti-lockdown groups emerged in response to New Zealand’s lockdowns.
David Seymour, leader of the libertarian party ACT, described the prime minister as “a well-meaning person” whose “idealism collided hard with reality.” This summary of her legacy is perhaps not so well meaning, especially from a political opponent. While Jacinda Ardern’s reputation has undoubtedly suffered, she told the press that she wants to be remembered for the ideals she has strived to embody as a leader: “that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused; that you can be your own kind of leader[.]”
Image credit/Callum Darragh on Flickr/Public domain
UN’S MOST SENIOR WOMAN MEETS TALIBAN
Since August 2021 when the Taliban stormed Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul and returned to power, there has been a sharp decline in the humanitarian rights and political status of women and girls within Afghanistan.
Women have been restricted from primary school, secondary school, university and most workplaces, and must be chaperoned by a male whenever they leave the house. Afghanistan is now the only country in the world where girls are banned from school based on their gender.
In alienating women from public life, the Taliban are equally silencing their political participation. There are no women within the Taliban’s cabinet, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs has been disbanded, female government salaries were halted last year and female judges, barristers and lawyers have had to flee the country, or give up their position.
Despite international condemnation, there has been very little movement on these policies from the Taliban. The most recent edict to ban all female aid workers has prompted five major NGOs, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, and Care International to speak out. They declared that “they cannot continue their work without our female staff.”
Albeit, there has been a huge backlash from the international community for the past year, with the UN aid chief Martin Griffiths claiming that women’s role within aid agencies is “non-negotiable.” It was not until this week that some aid agencies were reporting to have resumed certain duties, signalling perhaps a slight tempering of the Taliban’s original ruling.
What appears to have changed their mind: a woman. On Wednesday, we saw the UN’s Deputy Secretary General Amina J. Mohammed fly to Afghanistan to negotiate with the Taliban on their latest position. Although most of the conversation has been kept confidential, the assurances resulting from the meeting were that there would be some exemptions to the edict, such as healthcare.
To most of us, this concession may seem inconsequential, but for many women in Afghanistan, the work of female aid workers resuming their responsibilities means the difference between life and death.
An aid worker who is often present at these negotiations on international human rights said: "If there are women in the room, there is a greater chance that the uncomfortable conversations about women will take place.” This week’s activity appears evidence for this. Long may it continue.
Image credit/Rasheedhrasheed/License
GEN Z: WORKING IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
Among the topics at Davos this week was ‘What business needs to know about Gen Z’, based on a survey conducted by the Oliver Wyman Forum. The answer seems to be, ‘quite a lot’. This generation works to live, reversing the previous habits of many. Old rules and expectations no longer apply, and on issues such as working from home, bosses need to tread carefully to attract and retain the best talent.
Generation Z are those born between 1997 and 2012. They will comprise 27% of the workforce by 2025. This survey focused on young British and American workers aged 18-25, many of whom started work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Working from home suited many, allowing them a degree of autonomy to combine something fulfilling like exercise, or devote time to a ‘side hustle’ – almost half have one, mainly for financial reasons.
This more conditional relationship with their employer reflects a greater sense of confidence and empowerment. They want jobs that provide personal fulfilment or give them time to seek it outside of work, and they expect in-work benefits that support holistic wellness and inclusivity. If denied it, they may well leave: 62% are actively or passively looking for new jobs.
Post-pandemic, many employers are trying to get their staff back in the workplace, for some of the time at least. The Times reports that the number of fully remote jobs advertised in the UK fell for the eighth consecutive month in December, down to 11%. Employers may feel increasingly emboldened when negotiating, but caution is advised: a recent LinkedIn survey found that over a third of UK workers would quit if told to return to the office full-time.
Gen Z may demand that balance, along with a different kind of office regime, but many do seem to recognise that the workplace is somewhere where they can learn and develop through being among others: 42% of those seeking new jobs look for leadership, teamwork and management training in their package.
To get the best from Gen Z, the survey report advises managers to collaborate: “[E]xperiment, ask for feedback and see what works. That’s what Gen Z values and does.”
Image credit/Scott Ableman on Flickr/License
MLK ARM STATUE GETS THE COLD SHOULDER
‘The Embrace’, a memorial statue to Martin Luther King Jr, has been unveiled in Boston. Privately funded to the tune of $10m, it depicts two pairs of arms, King’s and his wife Coretta Scott King’s, as seen in a photo of the couple after his Nobel peace prize win in 1964. To the great amusement of online communities, photographs of the statue at certain angles have gone viral, with viewers claiming it looks more like a lewd act than an embrace.
Beyond its potential phallic resemblance, the statue has sparked a more serious public debate. Seneca Scott, an activist and cousin of Coretta Scott King, published an article criticising the statue not only for its visual ambiguity but for its existence as a whole. Calling it an example of “performative altruism” from the “woke left,” he argued that the statue will bring “few, if any, tangible benefits to struggling black families.”
Scott’s question is, effectively, what is the point of ‘The Embrace’? Perhaps his answer can be found in the artist, Hank Willis Thomas’ response. He told the Guardian, “I don’t feel like [responding to Scott] other than sending Seneca love and gratitude for highlighting The Embrace.”
Highlight it he did. Art in any form is subjective, so it’s no surprise that statues are often topics of public debate (think of the bronze bust of Cristiano Ronaldo or the naked Mary Wollstonecraft), but few have inspired this much discussion about their subject’s legacy.
If Thomas’ intention was to spark conversation about King, perhaps ‘The Embrace’ has got it right. As Martin Luther King III, who attended the unveiling, said to CNN: “Opinions are like butts. Everybody’s got one… People will be debating about it for a long time.”
And that’s it for this week. I hope you found something of interest that you might want to delve into further. If so, please get in touch at cwilkins@audley.uk.com.
For now, that’s the weekend box officially closed.