Tactics to reconstruct the completed buildings due to shifting of Case Study

Tactics to reconstruct the completed buildings due to shifting of project layout by the government agency - Case Study Example As the 5 individual buildings were privately owned and the external road works was under the auspices of the government, it means that the real situation at hand had to do with an amicable private-public sector engagement. A major climax of the private-public sector engagement came about when the client who is on the government side issued notice to the contractor to re-establish the settings of the all the 5 buildings to ensure that they do not conflict with the external road. It is important to note that construction had also started for all the buildings. Once the notice was received by the contractor to re-establish the settings of the road, he engaged with the owner and informed him about the demolition, a situation that merited claim for additional time and cost for the project. As a person tasked with the responsibility of Senior Contracts Administrator, I had a role of reporting to contractors Project Manager. This means that my role was very crucial in ensuring a successful engagements and negotiations between the owner and the contractor. The private-public sector engagement widened the stakeholder base of the project, giving rise to both external and internal stakeholders. Externally, representations from the GRA, beneficiaries of the external road, financiers and third party quality control administrators on the project were all stakeholders. Internally, the project owner, people living in the community, contractor, all employees under the cont ractor, including project manager, and other internal auditors and inspectors were part of the project’s stakeholders. Given the nature of the stakeholders, the stakeholder theory which sees the true ownership of a project as belonging to all people who may be directly or indirectly affected by the project applied. As part of the principles of construction and

MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM CHANGE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM CHANGE - Essay Example The advantage is in terms of faster communication and effective information processing, which all becomes possible when firms have diversified information management systems (Dupouet 2013, pp. 6-15). Theoretical View According to modern business theorists, modernisation has brought volatile environments for businesses. Such environments are trendy and hence demand change in the organisation systems. The ability to adjust to the change has become prerequisite (Nowduri 2010). Without modification the firms cannot progress or even survive in the globalised business order. According to Bate’s study in 1994, there are two levels of organisation change: incremental and transformational (Macredie et al. 2005). The incremental change is stage-wise and is based on minor modifications just as change of an information system, processes or structure. Transformational change is radical and depends on the level of incremental change achieved within the organisation system (Marco 2012, pp. 2 20-229). Changing the information setup is a part of the organisation change process and to implement it, there are several issues that organisations have to address (Clarke 2012, pp. 79-81). This report will bring insight into theMIS change process in terms of two organisational setups including NHS (National Health Service) and Amazon. This is to bring a clear viewpoint on information system change by having a practical example of organisations presently operating. Information System Change in Amazon DATA Amazon is a leader in electronic sales and retail works on electronic data and information (Matthews 2012). The company has acquired electronic modules to manage customer based data. The nature of data is electronic, for which Amazon administrators utilise the excessive content management process (Soderstrom 2012). The reliance is highly on e-commerce and electronic management systems where information is spread to appear for international customers and the market. Amazon being a true market seller has brought diversified data management systems (K Laundon & J Laundon 2012, pp. 4-20). To manage online service activities, the enterprise has deployed advanced communication networks. These activities include site management, communication, interaction, flexible merchandising and transaction processing, which all have become possible by Amazon’s online information management system (Gorman 2012). The enterprise works on self-deployed information systems, and also has acquired commercial licensed systems for extensive information processing. This is all to ensure effective data management and communication, which are essential features of Amazon as an international business organisation (Gorman 2012). The real and most apparent change brought by Amazon was its transition from a small business enterprise into a large data holding corporation. It was all because of modifications made on the information side and in the World Wide Web business. Keeping data o f million customers at one time were not possible if Amazon had not planned its e-commerce activity. To organise the e-commerce operation, Amazon deployed an international data management mechanism (Pratt & Adamski 2011, pp. 1-30). This managed data of millions of customers at one time of operation and at a single time of retrieval. All of this was done in short time and with a maximum coverage of benefits. The design

Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research Designs Essay Example for Free

Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research Designs Essay The experimental research design is one of the most reliable quantitative designs available. Basically, it requires that the researcher conduct an actual experiment in order to prove the research hypothesis. Similar yet fundamentally different from the experimental design is the quasi-experimental design. his paper discusses the procedure in conducting an experimental design research and differentiates it from a quasi-experimental research design. Examples of each are given to facilitate further comparison and contrast. The first step in conducting an experimental research design is to identify the independent and dependent variables. According to Random House’s dictionary of statistical terminologies, â€Å"the dependent variable is the event studied and expected to change when the independent variable is changed. † (Random House, 2001, p. 534). In Butler and Lijinsky (2005) which is an example of experimental research, the independent variable was the type of rat while the dependent variable was the toxicity level. This meant that the research seeks to verify whether different types of rats would have different acute toxicity levels. After the identification of the independent and dependent variables, the next step is to randomly select a sample for the experiment. To randomly select a sample means to make sure that all of the members of the population have an equal chance of being selected (Corder Foreman, 2009). For example, when seeking to study a school population as is the case in of Stevens Slavin (1995), random sampling is conducted by placing all of the possible respondents in a list and selecting from that list randomly. In this way, each student has an equal opportunity to be selected for the study. Lastly, once the experiment is conducted, a secure atmosphere is generated wherein the effect of other factors are minimized (Mertens, 1998). Going back to Butler and Lijinsky (1995), the experiment was conducted in a secure atmosphere where the only variables were the type of rat and the toxins induced to them. All other factors such as the food they were given, the space of their cages and so on were kept the same for the different types of rat. In a quasi-experimental approach, an experiment is also conducted and dependent and independent variables are also selected. Measures to keep all other variables constant are also taken. However, the defining difference between the tow is that quasi-experimental designs do not conduct random sampling (Mertens, 1998). For example, the quasi-experimental research conducted by Dutton (1986) simply a sample from those that were available. This is not random sampling and therefore the design cannot be considered as experimental but it does fit the quasi-experimental description. In conclusion, it is clear that while experimental and quasi-experimental research designs are similar, they do have an essential difference. References Butler, A, and Lijinsky, W. (2005). â€Å"Acute toxicity of aflatoxin G1 to the rat† Journal of Pathology, 102 (4), 209-212. Corder, G. , Foreman, G. (2009). Nonparametric Statistics for Non-Statisticians: A Step-by-Step Approach. Wiley. Dutton, D. (1986). â€Å"The Outcome of Court-Mandated Treatment for Wife Assault: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation. † Violence and Victims, 1(3) 163-175 Mertens, D. (1998). Research methods in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative qualitative. Sage. Random House. (2001). Random House Websters Unabridged Dictionary. Random House, Inc. Stevens, R. , and Slavin, R. (1995). Effects of a Cooperative Learning Approach in Reading and Writing on Academically Handicapped and Nonhandicapped Students. The University of Chicago Press.

Defining Globalization In An Operational Way Politics Essay

Defining Globalization In An Operational Way Politics Essay It is often very difficult to trace the origin of concepts and ideas in social sciences because the concepts, theories and ideas are the products of collective activities. Therefore, it would be very difficult to identify the first use of term globalization while according to Malcolm Walters, the author of book Globalization, Roland Robertson was the early user of this term (Walters, 1995)  [1]  . Apart from the fact, who has used this term for the first time, at the emergence of twenty first century globalization in the form of concept, and slogan is used frequently as compared to any other term. In Singapore, almost everything has significance with globalization from the inflow of foreign capital, technology, workers, music, movies, culture etc. Some people consider the globalization as a train with no brakes crushing everything coming in its way and some people consider it as a benefit to get on the train towards economic growth and modernization. Concept of Globalization According to the meanings in the Oxford Dictionary, the term glocal and the noun glocalization are created by contracting both global and local together so as to make a blend (Robertson, 1995, p. 28)  [2]  . The term was transformed on Japanese word dochakuka which basically meant to adapt the farming tactics depending on the local condition of individual. Within a business world, the concept was adopted so as to refer to global localization and the idea and term of globalization originally comes from Japan (Robertson, 1995, p. 28)  [3]  . However, the term glocalization was frequently used since late eighties, there were various relevant terms existed that were used by social scientists and are still continued to use. It was claimed by various sociologists that subjects and areas like sociology and political sciences were the products of western social experiences when such fields and areas were transported to non western or non European contexts there was a need for indigen ization. The idea of indigenization created a debate among scientists because it raises basic questions regarding the application of these concepts and ideas. One of the basic concerns of globalization is that it opens the doors of doubts regarding the originality of cultures. In longer term perspectives of globalization, the locality and local are considered to be the outcomes of globalization as it is difficult to find any culture that can be viewed as isolated from the procedures of globalization (Khondker, 2004, pp. 1-9)  [4]  . The influence of globalization on culture depends on the consideration of individual about the local cultures to be protected from the external influences or the creation of new cultural activities results from the mixing of ideas and concepts from various cultures. In fact there are some cultures as discussed above that are isolated and cultural interaction though relations of trade have occurred for thousands of years. Therefore, it can be observed that the values are key to assessing the influence of globalization on the individuals lives around the globe. At the instance, it is viable to spread the concept of globalization in such a way that the conflict between various values is highlighted as they play their role in specific circumstances. Hence, the McDonaldization or Americanization of the world presents the procedure of globalization that is driven by the consumer culture of America rolling over other various cultures (Rothenberg, 2003)  [5]  . Economic Phenomena and Globalization While the US Senate pushes a bill to complete a 700-mile-long fence along the Mexican border, Saudi Arabia is finalizing plans for a similar project: a 560-mile-long, US$12 billion dollar electrified fence along its border with Iraq. Both fences are being built to keep outsiders out, to foil illegal immigrants, refugees, black-market weapons dealers, drug runners, and in Saudi Arabias case, terrorists. The US and Saudi Arabia have decided that the consequences of not building a fence are more costly than ever before, thanks to globalization, which has made borders more penetrable by more people.  [6]   Though globalization and its causes and effects are integral to reporting issues like these, the definition of the word is widely debated. Is it widespread economic liberalization? Are national frontiers simply irrelevant? (Barber, 1996)  [7]  . Scholars have developed many definitions, but no matter which definition is chosen by a journalist for a story, the definition should be operational. It should allow for in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis, so that causes and effects can be identified. Specifically, in international reporting, an operational definition of globalization should help a journalist answer important questions regarding the role of borders, domains, consciousnesses, actors, and consequences in a story (Holm, 2006).  [8]  Are fences on state borders a sign that globalization is weakening, or an example of globalizations sometimes localizing effects? In other words, the globalization might be considered and classified functionally relevant to the series of economic procedure. Such procedures include the liberalization and deregulation of markets, privatization of assets, retreat of state functions in terms of welfare, diffusion of technology, foreign direct investment etc. The term refers to the spread of sales, production facilities, manufacturing processes all around the world that can reconstitute the international division of labor. The prior decades of globalization has been witnessed by various analysts and often the discussion of globalization has been condensed into the discussion of national income that is measured in terms of growth. Connecting the amalgamation of globalization to the economic procedures, a broad statement made by Robert Z. Lawrence that in general terms the economic amalgamation leads towards the convergence with poor economies growing more fast as compared to the rich economy (Lawrence, 1996)  [9]  . It was also noted by the Harvard economist, Jeffery G. Williamson and the President of the Economic History Association, both argued that the globalization leads towards convergence as observed and evidenced in the historical decades. The essence of the argument was regarding the bottom line in terms of the living standard gap between developed and under developed countries reduces with the passage of time and hence the convergence indicates the destruction of this gap in terms of percentage (Williamson, 1996, p. 278)  [10]  . Globalization in Technological and Social Revolution It is considered to be inconsistent to ignore the more theoretical perspective in terms of the matter evidenced as a decisive shift away from industrial capitalism to a postindustrial conception of economic relations. The identical economic phenomena identified earlier are essential not only due to the reason of their representation of unique cluster of activity but also due to the representation of a new form of activity. This concept suggests an outstanding revolution among the techno-industrial higher classes that are mainly driven by the technological enhancements ultimately rendering the entire globe as a single market. It is a comprehensive vision in terms of globally cohesive production, specialized but interdependent markets of labor, privatization of state assets at faster pace, tangle linkage of technology across the conventional national borders. Furthermore, it is also argued that the development of entire new and recent economy has been evidenced along with a typical shi ft that is influencing the way of considering the wide variety of social and economic relations (Castells, 1991)  [11]  . Jan Aart Scholtes definition of globalization cannot clarify globalizations role in events like these. He sees globalization as a shift in the nature of social space due to the increase of transplanetary connections and the development of supra-territorial connections between people; he does not leave room for globalization as a force that can lead to or bolster the local (Scholte, 2005).  [12]  In addition, the space has been condensed due to the technological development even though the influence of such condensability most probably to enhance the diversity that is captured within the context of glocalization. The general reorganization of economic activities are considered to be in progress at regional levels while on the other hand, the eruption of information or communication and commodities or services flows is emerging across the various cities, regions and nations. The term glocalization is sometimes associated with the globalization as there is some conflict between thes e terms in terms of compliment or confliction. The context that glocalization is the localization of economic and political relation while shifting the authority from national level downward in such a way that heighten the responses of globalization and the conflicts with other perspectives suggesting that both are opposes on the basis of analysis and examination (Higgott Reich, 1997)  [13]  . Globalization, he says, involves reductions of barriers to transworld connections (Scholte, 2005)  [14]  . Boundaries have become defined under different criteria in a transplanetary, supra-territorial world. Not only do states borders mean less, but new types of borders exist; you can be online or offline by the click of a mouse, for example. And technology has also made supra-territoriality a possibility: global telecommunications, the Internet. Quantitatively, he says, there are more transplanetary links, the effects of relations are bigger, and the interactions are happening faster. Transplanetary relations, although they have been going on for centuries, are denser than those of any previous epoch (Scholte, 2005)  [15]  . Qualitatively, it is the supra-territorial nature of social space that is unique to the present era. Supra-territorial relations are those social connections that substantially transcend territorial geography (Scholte, 2005)  [16]  . One major sourc e of conflict lies within the context that globalization reduces the essence of geography while on the other hand, glocalization enhances it as a opposing tendency and geographical association in a sense of region and trading becomes the vital importance. Another source of conflict as suggested by Ruigrok and Rob van Tulder as they defined globalization and glocalization in terms of conflicting strategies of firms. It was also suggested that globalizing firms trail a strategy that endeavors for a worldwide division of labor in the firm while on the other hand, glocalizing firms trail an alternative strategy in which the firms find ways to imitate production within various regions while avoiding the risk associated with the establishment of trade blocs. Hence, glocalizing firms find ways to generate an interfirm division of labor that is geographically concentrated (Ruigrok Tulder, 1995, pp. 46-131)  [17]  . In most general terms, the globalizing firms are labeled multinational corporations as the glocalizing firms find various ways to imitate depending on the regions and with this difference, both behave in different manner. Multinational firms most probably decentralize production and sales but the decision making remain steadily centralized in a categorized structure. In behavioral terms, it is reflected in susceptibility to retain the overwhelming majority of Research Development facilities with specific exceptions at home (Louis W. Pauly, 1997)  [18]  . Moreover, the significance of revolution in the most positive form is reflected in the claims of Peter Schwartz and Peter Leyden that offers the prospects of four decades of prolonged growth and noteworthy transformation which is inspired by the deregulation and technological enhancements in terms of computers, telecom, biotech, nanotech, alternative energy etc (Schwartz Leyden, 1997, p. 116)  [19]  . Scholte points out four other notions of globalization as internationalization, liberalization, universalization, and westernization, and he describes these definitions in contrast to his. If defined as one of these four notions, he contends, the term globalization adds nothing new to previous understandings of the world, whereas his definition adds the concept of supra-territoriality. Scholte warns that the four definitions also hold implicit dangers because of their foci, which are narrow. If people see globalization as only economic liberalization, they will miss other important factors that make up globalization. Such limitations are dangerous according to Scholte because they blind people to the discontinuity in the underlying character of social geography (Scholte, 2005)  [20]  . If we define globalization in one of these four narrow terms, we merely rehash old knowledge and lose a major opportunity to grasp-and act upon-certain key circumstances of our times (Scholte, 2005)  [21]  . But can Scholtes definition and his new contribution, supra-territoriality, help us grasp and act upon key circumstances of our times? In international reporting-which should help us to at least grasp key circumstances-it is, to some extent, helpful to understand globalization as a respatialization of social life based on transplanetary and supra-territorial connectivity. Scholtes definition is especially useful to understand the use of framing in reporting. Globalization and Terrorism In chapter one of Framing Terrorism, Norris, Kern, and Just explain that journalists need frames to convey dominant meanings, to make sense of the facts, to focus the headlines, and to structure the story line (Norris, Montague, Marion, 2003)  [22]  . Frames help organize and prioritize stories in the nebulous realm of all news. Frames are powerful features of reporting, and can influence social space by agenda-setting, cognitive priming, and evaluation, especially when a large portion of the population has access to news and repeatedly experiences the same frame. More quickly and more widely than ever-because of mass-communications and instant transmissions-framing can link vaguely related issues with the magic of one term. 9/11, for example. It has been observed that America is at war with terrorists for over a long period of time. United States has never realized the magnitude of war until September 11, 2001. The conflict had been establishing since 1983 Marine Corps barracks bombings in Lebanon and few analysts predicted the hostility coming their way. A concept has been hypothesized by contemporary theorists renowned as the fourth generational warfare with the blurred distinctions between war and peace, civilian and military, and national and transnational groups. The global war on terrorism fits in such concept with the adversary using asymmetrical capabilities in surprising ways to devastating effects. It has been clearly understood by United States when coupled with the mass destructive weapons (Lind, Nightengale, Schmitt, Sutton, Wilson, October 1989, pp. 22-26)  [23]  . According to Norris, Kern, and Just, the event of 9/11 created a critical culture shift in the predominant news frame used by the American mass media for understanding issues of national security, altering perceptions of risk at home and threats abroad (Norris, Montague, Marion, 2003)  [24]  . Even if the real threat of terrorism did not change, the power of framing has kept the fear of terrorism ripe in the US, through the war on terrorism frame, still used daily in US international reporting. The widespread fear instigated by framing has consequently allowed the US government to restrict some civil liberties through the Patriot Act. Supra-territorial and transplanetary connections in mass communications have allowed the US government, in conjunction with US reporting, to efficiently frame international reporting and quickly assert influence over civil society. The terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre was considered to be a significant and more deadly demonstration of various trends that have emerged in the period of post-Cold War. It was not considered to be a turning point that signaled and indicated the initiating of new decade of internationalization. It is obvious that terrorists always had evil objectives as demonstrated on September 11, 2001 in terms of capability to carry out deadly determinations anywhere across the entire globe with vast and major influences. Contradicting the capabilities of terrorists requires the re analyzing of strategic backgrounds and the response of United States towards such strategies. Moreover, the United States has been forced to consider the national interests and estimate the strategies of national security as a result of September 11, 2001. The most major trends having devastating influence on the strategic framework and background includes collapse of the bipolar system, reviv al of globalism, and rise of Islamic extremism. The convergence of such trends enabled various nations to experience peace, strength and increasing affluence along with various challenges. The strong repercussion have created against the considerations of various societies in terms of increasing consistency among nations and cultures that challenge to devastate and destroy the traditional local values. The terrorism has been lifted globally due to these trends and due to which it is essential for United States to re-assess the strategy (Terrorism, November 2002)  [25]  . Meanwhile, supra-territorial and transplanetary connections have benefited terrorists, as well. Al Qaeda has used the Internet to spread its message through websites and videos, and global television has allowed an array of terrorist messages to be spread to homes everywhere. Political terrorism is theater, Michael Stohl writes in Demystifying Terrorism, and terrorists are primarily interested in the audience (Stohl, 1988)  [26]  . To spread its messages, to reach audiences, to travel anywhere in a day, to take advantage of the fact that people travel en masse, to develop financial portfolios and make money through the global black-market drug and weapons rings, terrorists have relied on the density of transplanetary and supra-territorial nature of todays globalized space. But do terrorists do what they do just because that can? What are their motives? Are they just madmen? How do terrorists in Afghanistan differ from terrorists in Indonesia or India? What regions are especially conscious of terror-related problems? Why does Saudi Arabia think a fence can keep terrorists out? What are the consequences of not answering these questions? In international reporting, an understanding of Scholtes definition can help identify a storys potential frames (9/11, the War on Terror) and can even describe why some things are able to happen (terrorists are able to have a more wide-spread effect on the global stage). But in international reporting, Scholtes broad definition can only answer a slice of specific questions. It does not lead a journalist to answer important questions regarding the role of borders, domains, consciousness, actors, and consequences in a story. Contradictions and Uncertainties of Globalization Borders, in Scholtes definition, are broken down in the process of globalization, just as all barriers are reduced, and this result in more transworld social contacts (Scholte, 2005)  [27]  . With globalization, he says, people become more able-physically, legally, linguistically, culturally and psychologically-to engage with each other wherever on planet Earth they might be (Scholte, 2005)  [28]  . Besides the fact that he remains unclear about how these barriers break down, an increasing ability to engage with each other would not necessarily lead to further globality. As drug-runners and migrants have greater cross-border mobility thanks to quick transport and communications, more are crossing the US border with Mexico; in response, the US builds a fence, a literal enforcement of its traditional borders. And Saudi Arabias most recent answer to terrorism is the same: enforce traditional borders. Globalization actually links the people all around the world as a result of which new commonalities emerges into experiences with their differentiating and producing new inequalities. Similarly, when it connects the isolated regions to global network parts of the world, it ignores other regions. The events reveal the contradictions and conflicts at the core of globalization and the technologies of information, communication, and transportation facilitating the globalization can be used to damage it, and generating instruments of devastation along with the production (Kellner, 2002, pp. 285-305)  [29]  . Consequently, it has been argued that in order to theorize globalization properly it is essential to conceptualize the various contradictions that are generated by the combination of globalization of technological revolution and restructuring of capital, as a result of which conflicts are generated between capitalism and democracy. In the global economy, globalization involves the production of logic of capital with the spread of democracy in information, finance, investing and dispersal of technology. Thus, globalization is a mixture of capitalism and democracy in which the logic of capital and market system enter more fields of global life in terms of democracy spreads, more political areas and spaces of daily life are opposed by democratic demands and forces. It is observed that sometimes globalization promote democracy and sometimes it constrains it by either equating capitalism and democracy, or in a problematic manner (Friedman, 1999)  [30]  . Assessing of Matter At international level, developing and developed countries have differentiating concerns on wide basis. In developing countries, the importance is on development at any cost by indicating that the developed countries industrialized at time when there was no repute for environmental concerns and labor standards were also offensive. All such things were maintained by developing countries in order to receive assistance as little opportunities and chances were available but were needed to develop in any way. Moreover, developing countries have asked international community to postpone or cancel their astounding debt. Such countries are basically compelled to repay the loans that were taken by previous dictatorial regimes or suggested by the donors to finance development schemes (Chapter 11 Globalization)  [31]  . Additionally, if the world is becoming respacialized according to transplanetary and supra-territorial connections, is any compression of social space equally important among all domains? An African-American crude-oil trader with the Internet has more global impact than his familys remote Ugandan village with an Internet connection. But which domains of social space are more affected by respacialization, and compared to what? Is the crude-oil trader any more effective with blue-tooth technology, than he had been with wired technology? Is the village able to use their Internet connection in a way that will change their lives? Scholtes definition does not leave room for economies of scale or the ingrained character of traditional life in parts of the world. Traditional life and identities establish regional consciousnesses that determine agendas. How does a respacialization of social life change consciousnesses? The EU exists, and Europe has asserted itself as a unified economic power. Has this changed the way Germans think of themselves? How has it changed the German agenda? Scholtes definition doesnt consider the subtle interplay of identities as important in forming policies, whether the world experiences more connectivity or not. Just as domains are not equally important, neither are actors. On whom should international reports focus? Scholtes definition gives us no clues: who are those responsible for the respacialization of social life? Does it matter? And who are affected? Certainly not everyone, and certainly not in the same ways. Scholte admits this: the trend has not touched all of humanity to the same extent (Scholte, 2005)  [32]  . But how can this be measured based on Scholtes definition? This most important part of globalization, Scholte only touches upon. He writes, The growth of transplanetary and supra-territorial connections empowers some people and disempowers others (Scholte, 2005)  [33]  . If globalization creates inequalities, how great are these inequalities? Can we do anything about them? How can journalists begin to discuss them in a story? Scholtes definition leaves many questions unanswered, though these are what build stories. Other, more operational definitions of globalization have been developed and used by journalists and social scientists, on which journalists depend for measures of their subjects, audience, and their own effects. In Hans-Henrik Holms The Effect of Globalization on Media Structures and Norms, for example, this definition of globalization was used: the intensification of economic, political, social and cultural relations across borders (Holm H.-H. , 2001)  [34]  . Although it is not a universally accepted definition, the definition focuses on structural and technological elements and so can serve as a crucible, leading to new developments and insights. By including economic integration in the definition, Holm can deduce that globalization has had an effect on Danish media. One of many examples: Internationalization has pushed the media business towards larger and larger units (Holm H.-H. , 20 01)  [35]  . Holm could maneuver between qualitative and quantitative analysis and come to specific conclusions about how globalization has affected editorial choice in Danish media. In other studies, globalization as a term is more useful if it is not defined by the study. In Andreas Schucks study of vote choice in the Dutch EU constitution referendum, participants were asked their opinion of globalization, among other factors. This part of the study tried to find how some factors affected vote intention before the start of the campaign, and results indicated that people who had a fear of globalization were more likely to intend to vote no. (Schuck, September 2006)  [36]  According to Schuck, this is one of the first studies of its kind to take participants views of globalization into account, even though the term was undefined by the study (Schuk, September 2006)  [37]  . The participants relied on their own understanding of the term, however foggy. Requiring that participants defined globalization in Scholtes terms would have been counterproductive, not only because it would have been time-consuming to explain Scholtes definition. Even if the participa nts learned and understood the concept according to Scholte (or anyone else), the study then would not have revealed how public perceptions of globalization affects voters decisions. Conclusion Ultimately, globalization is not only a condition, but it is also a tool. By using the word in clearly decided ways-defining it or leaving it to subjects in a study or interview-globalization can lead journalists to understand and tell their stories more effectively. But globalization should not be over-estimated, as Holm points out in his study. When globalization is clearly defined, it is often found that the local, the traditional, is still important. One of his conclusions, in fact, is that classical news criteria are still the best predictors of what news will be chosen and used(Holm, 2006)  [38]  . And as the case

The Dark Side Of The Nation Cultural Studies Essay

The Dark Side Of The Nation Cultural Studies Essay This paper chooses two articles namely Indian Country: Essays on Contemporary Native Culture by Valaskakis and Himani Bannerjis The Dark Side, of the Nation: Essays on Multiculturalism, Nationalism and Gender, to try and compare and contrast the theoretical approach that the authors of the two articles have used. In the first article Indian Country: Essays on Contemporary Native Culture, by Valaskakis, the author uses a cultural studies approach to present a distinctive view on Native cultural conflict and political struggle both in the United States and Canada. She reflects on traditionalism and treaty rights, Indian princesses, museums, art, powwow, media warriors and nationhood. Writing on Land in Native America by Valaskakis, the author depicts the Indian Country as concurrently evoking collective experience, a sacred space and physical land in which the individual interacts within these dominions. In the second article The Dark Side, of the Nation: Essays on Multiculturalism, Nationalism and Gender, by Himani Bannerji, she presents an anti-racist, feminist, Marxist assessment of multiculturalism as a means for the white Canadian select few to oppress immigrants, whites, non-whites, women, and other minorities. She notes how the selected few use constructions like community and culture to dominate while hiding at the back of the liberal-democratic nuances of multiculturalism. In the Valaskakis essay, The Paradox of Diversity, the author notes how the language of multiculturalism (i.e. women of color, visible minority) restrains nonwhite persons. The difficulty is not that such identifiers be present, but that they indicate a need to manage and control non-white Canadians. The contradiction is that multicultural language serves the objective of Whites to track ethnicity and race rather than the interest of noticeable minorities. The authors of these narratives are trying to defi ne what indigenous thought is by putting forward extensive arguments based on the various societies each has focused on. In this paper, we try to explore on each authors point of view with an aim of getting a clear meaning of indigenous thought. Both authors have critically approached their argument and have presented it in a clear and flowing manner that has assisted in the effective construct of the authors theories as well as their overall thought process in the paper. The most basic idea in both the papers is the presentation of the indigenous thought and the critical race theory. The indigenous thought: So what do I mean when I talk about Indigenous thought? First, let us start with what indigenous thought is not: Indigenous thought is not the self-serving and naive idea that anybody who digs his or her hands in the dirt has indigenous understanding. I am referring to the modern-day knowledge that arises from countless generations of people living in relation to a particular land and seeing it as the foundation of all their relations. By land, I reach further than any simple material idea to the emotional, intellectual and spiritual dimensions thereof. Land includes streams and rivers, wind and air as living beings in our existence. Indigenous thought is founded in a profound understanding that we all exist in relation to land. Whether we are dwellers of the city in deep denial or Aboriginal people drawing on old customs to regenerate new awareness, we exist in relation to land. We bundle up when the snow comes, we protest when spring is delayed, we breathe deeply and refurbish our souls when the sun warms us into a new season. For an effective statement on Indigenous thought, I draw on the writing of Valaskakis, Gail Guthrie in her essay Claiming Land in Native America. She argues that land is hardly ever understood as a discursive place of Indian experience imagined, lived and remembered and an enduring place of Native political possibility. According to Valaskakis, the continuing contests that yarn through the connotation of constructed representations and endorsed ideologies of Native people and other North Americans involve underlying issues and images of land in Canada and the United States: continental territory- privatized, settled, developed, explored, reserved, mapped, idealized, imagined and contested. According to Valaskakis, the Native claim to recognize rights to the land is a lawful move to resolve the wrongs of the past; but to Native people, land claims have at all times represented more than territorial access to resources and expansion. The Natives claim that the land belongs to them, for the Great Spirit gave it to them when he put them there. The Natives believe land to be their ancestral right and this gives them the rightful ownership of the land since their fore fathers found the land and settled in it before anyone else. The Natives say they were free to come and leave and to exist in their own way and they were free to practice whatever it was that they believed in. However or rather unfortunately, the white men who belonged to another land, came upon them, and forced them to live according to their ideas and practices. The political struggle over land is covered in a complex of contradictory representations, different cultural constructions and oppositional discours es. For example, when we look at the Cree dispute over the extension of hydroelectric projects in Northern Quebec, the interwoven discussions that disclose native and nonnative relationships to the land are both essential and complex. It is a struggle that has unraveled a complex braid of conflict between radically different knowledge systems and representations about the land and territory, progress and survivability, rights and justice- the latter two couplets hitched to differing commitments of nationhood and its attendant cultural and political desires(Valaskakis 90). According to Valaskakis, in the combined heritage of struggle and resettlement of reservations, land allotments and resource exploitation, the meaning of land that comes out in the lived understanding of present practice of Native people is interwoven with images of enduring indigence, forced acculturation and painful displacement. Land is essential in the modern-day culture of Native America; and today, its meanin g is discussed in the discursive building of emerging heritage, contingent history and modern practice in the stories Native people tell that convey empowerment linked in expression to Native political struggle and traditional practice with nonnative and with one another. Today, the Native sense of unity is an idiom of collectivity that goes beyond place-centered society to the oneness of pan-Indianism. As new formations of Native community emerge in the academic, professional, social and urban areas of Indian Country, Native identity and culture are recreated in narratives of past practices and places, transformed and experienced today in pan-Indian rhetoric and rituals. These are not the homesick words of cultural tourists or the heartbreaking pleas of homeless migrants who are removed or displaced from their cultural or territorial roots, but the voices of Native North Americans who identify home in the emergent re-territorialized creations of Indian Country. These stories that reclaim place and people, reconfigure land as terrain, terrain that represents not only communal, spiritual experience but also familiar colonial experience. What makes us one people is the common legacy of colonialism and Diaspora. Central to that history is our necessary, political, and in this century, often quite hazardous attempt to reclaim and understand our past- the real one, not the invented one (Valaskakis 98). This reveals a continuing disagreement over the meaning of land in Native and North America. Land is linked to contingent identity and history absorbed in the discussion of territory and spirituality, worked in the power of privilege and politics. The meaning of land appears in the cultural practice and historical specificity of Native North American life worlds. It is endorsed and worked upon every time Native people fish or hunt, visit the graves of ancestors, plant gardens, offer tobacco to spirit rocks or recognize the interrelatedness of these understandings of everyday life. However, the meaning of land is also articulated in the stories people tell about ceremony and heritage, places and people, loss, conflict and travel. The ownership of land and the meaning of land was not only expunged and devalued in the policies that came forward to eradicate or acculturate Indians. Native practices and expressions entail not only space but also time, both of which are essential to the political and spiritual construction of Native culture. The Native perceptive of space emerges as a governing construct that not only establishes time but also builds Native ideology, community and spirituality in relation to land. Both tribal cultures and the Native perceptive of shared relations are situated in space rather than time. Indian religion, ideology and history, come out in interaction with a given land and its life forms, in a lived reality of space that is hard to differentiate in the non-Native analysis. A Native communitys experience or observation of land, environment and place, gives rise to the Indian spiritual stories and myths that create the tribal sense of the past. Land, as noted by the author is the essential issue defining possible ideas of Native America, whether in the past, present or future. An intensely held sense of unity with given geographical en vironments has provided and continues to give the spiritual reinforcement allowing cultural unity across the entire variety of indigenous American societies. Critical Race Theory: Analyzing the critical race theory, we see that it draws upon paradigms of inter-sectionalism. Recognizing that racism and race work with and through ethnicity, sexuality, class and nation as systems of power, contemporary critical race theory often depends upon or looks into these intersections. The opening essay in the Dark Side, of the Nation: Essays on Multiculturalism, Nationalism and Gender The Paradox of Diversity, portrays a critical race theory. Bannerji argues that the label women of color a slogan herself uses is caught up in many of the dynamics that anti-racist feminists are fighting. Reviewing both British and US literature on multiculturalism and race, the author explains how the official policy of multiculturalism of Canada despite its significance, actually worsens the absurdity of this originally American expression. Bannerji argues that the term women of color is a pleasant and vague label that extended throughout option politics in the 1980s and 1990s. It signaled to race as color, created a name for building alliance among all women, and gave a feeling of vividness, brilliance or brightness of a celebration of a difference. However, this dialogue tightens political agency and becomes a piece of thought that removes class and the critical and hard edges of the notion of race. Using Louis Althussers concept of ideological state apparatuses, Bannerji examines how the discourse of diversity allows the Canadian state to cope with real economic, cultural and social tensions while retaining its vital capitalist, liberal individualism and camouflaging its historic colonialism and explicitly racist past. Taking her cue from Antonio Gramsci, the author argues that these dynamics of state supervision need to be evaluated in relation to civil society and everyday values, practices and ideas that include classifications of people. Thus, a phrase like women of color that may hold a remedy to liberal pluralism actually becomes a re-named edition of plurality, so vital to politics and concept of liberalism in which a color-coded self-discernment, an identity declared on the semi logical foundation of ones skin color, was rendered pleasant through this philosophy of diversity. While the central argument of the essay is that the discussion of multiculturalism, with women of color as an indicative example, obscures the daily and political actualities of women facing the racism of white privilege. Bannerji is not reproving or simplistically discarding it. Rather, she is evaluating under what circumstances this discourse has developed, and most notably, revealing how it might limit future struggles and possibilities. Bannerjis discussion of the label women of color demonstrates that the language, descriptions and categories we use are not just ideological expressions of power entrenched in economic disparities. Rather, they construct meanings themselves. They are a realistic activity and serve to either control power relations or offer new possibilities. Bannerji explains in the essay that to imagine a society entails making a project in which difference could be appreciated. She also assumes that the source of this divergence is just cultural difference. However, this hindrance is the outcome of a difference that has its roots in race. It is at this point that multicultural discourse is created. As mentioned by the author in the essay this multicultural discourse is founded on the difference, a difference that is created by contrast and comparison of the possible Canadian subjects: But color was translated into the language of visibility. The latest Canadian subject covering social and political fields was appellated visible minority, accentuates on both the aspects of being non-white and, therefore, visible in a manner whites are not and of being politically minor players (Bannerji 30). Although the vocabulary, of discrimination and exclusion has changed in the Canadian framework, the cause of the problem remains the same, and as a result, continues to have an effect on the everyday lives of immigrant communities in Canada. In addition, the terms of diversity and multiculturalism are exclusively agreed upon by the power that is dominant and, therefore, set up an uneven power imbalance. Based on Bannerjis essay, one could argue that the reputation of Canada as an ideal multicultural civilization is nothing more than a false impression of social and political acceptance and not in actuality a certainty on the ground. In addition, in this false impression of tolerance and acceptance of ethnic minorities, the cultures of immigrants who are white from the preferred class of immigrants, are much more renowned than that of nonwhite immigrants. As argued by the author and others like her, discussion of multiculturalism has resulted in definitional authority over nonwhite im migrants living in Canada with consideration to their socio-political and ideological location in society. Their distribution as visible minorities in Canadian society officially reduces them to a class that is deemed less powerful and, therefore, mediocre to the dominant White class. By bringing both, the critical race theory and indigenous thought together, I intend to outline the central doctrine of an emerging theory that I would call Tribal Critical Race Theory to tackle the issues of Indigenous People in the United States. I have put up this theoretical framework because it allows me to tackle the complicated relationship between the United States federal government and Native Indians. This theory emerges from both indigenous thought and Critical Race Theory and is entrenched in the manifold, historically and geographically located ontology and epistemologies found in aboriginal groups of people. Despite the fact that they diverge depending on space, place, time, individual and tribal nation, there emerge to be familiarities in those epistemologies and ontologisms. This supposition will be entrenched in these familiarities while at the same time recognizing the variation and range that exists between and within individuals and communities. While critical rac e theory serves as a framework in and of itself, it does not deal with the particular requirements of tribal people because it does not address Native Indians liminality as either political and racialized human beings or the experience of colonization. Teaching both methodologies will involve covering various issues such as the United States policies toward Indigenous peoples, which are rooted in imperialism. We will also look at White domination, and a passion for material gain. We will also look at how aboriginal peoples have a desire to attain and build tribal autonomy, tribal sovereignty, self-identification and self-determination. We shall also look at the concepts of knowledge, power and culture and how they take on a new meaning when scrutinized through an Indigenous lens. This theory will look at the educational and governmental policies toward Indigenous people and how these policies are intimately linked around the problematic objective of assimilation. While critical race theory argues that racial discrimination is widespread in society, combining both critical race theory and indigenous thought methodologies emphasizes that colonization is prevalent in society while also recognizing the role that racism played. Much of what Tribal critical theory offers as an investigative lens is a more culturally nuanced and a new way of probing the experiences and lives of tribal peoples since making contact with Europeans over 500 years ago. This is central to the distinctiveness of the place and space American Indians inhabit, both intellectually and physically, as well as to the distinctive, sovereign relationship between the federal government and American Indians. My hope is that Tribal Critical theory can be used to tackle the variation and range of experiences of people who are American Indians. In page 115 Valaskakis quotes Gerald Vizenor and writes, The literature of dominance, narratives of discoveries, translations, cultural studies, and prescribed names of time, place and person are treacherous in any discourse on tribal consciousness (Valaskakis 115). Thus the Tribal Critical Theory provides a theoretical lens for dealing with many of the issues facing Native Indian communities today, including issues of language loss and language shift, management of natural resources, the lack of students graduating from Universities and colleges, the over representation of Native Indians in special education and supremacy struggles between State, tribal and federal tribal governments. Ultimately, Tribal Critical theory holds a descriptive power; it is potentially an improved theoretical lens through which to illustrate the lived experiences of tribal people. Tribal Critical based on a sequence of ideas, traditions, epistemologies, and thoughts that are augmented in ethnic histories thousands of years old. While I draw on ontologisms, traditions, older stories, and epistemologies, the grouping itself is new. As such, I anticipate that this article will instigate a procedure of thinking about how Tribal Critical Race Theory may better serve researchers who are unsatisfied with the methods and theories currently offered from which to study Native Indians specifically in educational institutions, and the larger society more generally. By drawing my attention to the distinction between Native Indian place-based and Western time-oriented understandings of the world, I have to learn not only the rather obvious scrutiny that most Indigenous societies embrace a strong connection to their homelands, but also the position occupied by land as an ontological outline for understanding relationships. Seen in this light, it is a deep misunderstanding to think of place or land as simply some material item of deep importance to Indigenous cultures (although it is important); instead, it should be understood as a ground of relationships of things to each other.  Place is a way of experiencing, relating and knowing the world and these ways of knowing often direct forms of resistance to authority relations that threaten to destroy or erase our senses of place. This, I would argue, is exactly the understanding of place or land that not only fastens many Indigenous peoples critical assessment of colonial relations of command and f orce, but also our visualizations of what a truly post-colonial affiliation of nonviolent coexistence might look like. Summary: By studying Valaskakis essay Land in Native America, I have been able to examine the role that place plays in fundamental Indigenous activism from the perspective of the native Indian community. I have to understand that even though native Indians senses of place have been tattered by centuries of capitalist-colonial displacement, they still serve as a familiarizing framework that guides radical native Indian activism today and presents a way of thinking about relations between and within individuals and the natural world built on values of freedom and reciprocity. I have learnt that one of the most important differences that exist between Western and Indigenous metaphysics rotates around the central significance of land to Indigenous modes of thought, ethics and being. I have come to learn that when ideology is divided according to Western European and Native Indian traditions this essential difference is one of great philosophical significance. Native Indians hold their lands Place s as having the uppermost likely meaning, and all their declarations are made with this reference point in mind. While most Western societies, by distinction, tend to get the meaning from the world in developmental or historical terms, thereby placing time as the description of central significance. Valaskakis essay The Paradox of Diversity, has expanded my understanding on race and racism. Although it has become everyday to converse about the diversity of Canada and other western cultures that have resulted from recent patterns of international migration, this article has drawn my attention to the idea that observing only country of origin or ethnicity offers an incomplete and ultimately deceptive approach to understanding present-day diversity. Conclusion: In conclusion, through the article, I have learnt some of the ways in which the removal of power relations in the creation of multicultural communities from above is mostly felicitous for the states and ruling classes which express their socioeconomic and ideological interests. This article has enabled me to examine what the idea of diversity does politically. I have come to learn that it is an evocative term that indicates heterogeneity without authority relations by abstracting difference from social and history relations. The term contains an unbiased appearance that is attractive for practices of control as the classed, gendered and raced social relations of influence that generate the differences drop out of sight, thus facilitating the blaming of individuals for their own disadvantage. This article has made me understand how the created relations between heterogeneity and homogeneity, or diversity and sameness, rely on the underlying idea of an essentialised edition of a colonial European turned into a Canadian. This Canadian is the agent and subject of Canadian nationalism and has the right to make a decision on the degree to which multicultural others should be accommodated or tolerated.

The Benefits of Animal Research, Testing, and Experimentation Essay

Animal rights are held entirely too high in regard. Many activist do not realize the benefits of testing on animals. They claim that it is "unethical" or "cruel" to perform experiments on such creatures. The truth is, the world as a whole has advanced tremendously in the past century due to animal experimentation. We are affected every day by at least one thing that has been influenced by animal testing. Many of the things we take for granted would not exist if it were not for experimenting with animals. The medicine that we need, the education that we receive, and the products that we use are just a few of the benefits that these animals bring to us. We should look at animals, not as poor defenseless creatures that are subject to cruel experiments, but as heroes that have improved almost every aspect of our life in todays society. In contrast, opponents to animal testing believe that animals have a right to live as a human being. The rights of animals are even claimed in the "Universal Declaration of the Rights of Animals" proposed by the International League of the Rights of Animals. There are also opposers who believe that it is wrong to hurt any living creature. People such as Michael Fox, a professor at Queen's University of Kingston Ontario, has based his theory of the unjustification of animal experimentation on "the principle of maleficence." This principle states that it is simply wrong to harm creatures that do not want to hurt you. The problem with this statement is that we value the life of an animal lower than a human life. Some experiments can only be done on animals. For example, we could not subject a human to a potential toxin or other harmful chemicals. Some other experiments measure life expectancy and would... ...ause the actual virus is introduced into the blood stream. However, in the end the death of the animal is justified by the lives of the humans it saves. There is always a price to pay for the benefit for mankind. We should care for all animals living on this planet. However, the sacrifice of animals for the benefit of mankind surpasses all doubt whether or not animal experimentation is ethical. They have helped us more than we can ever imagine. Thanks to animals, we have advanced in all areas of living. Our medical standards are higher and our education is better. Animal testing has made available more products and improved technology. Although from the animals' perspective it might seem harsh and inhumane, from the scientist's point of view, one can clearly see that these animals are heroes that have helped the human race survive and advance in our world today.

The Jealous Husband by Robert Browning :: essays research papers

The Jealous Husband That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now: Frà   Pandolf's hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands. 5 Will't please you sit and look at her? I said Frà   Pandolf'; by design, for never read Strangers like you that pictured countenance, The depth and passion of its earnest glance, But to myself they turned (since none puts by 10 The curtain I have drawn for you, but I) And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, How such a glance came there; so, not the first Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas not Her husband's presence only, called that spot 15 Of joy into the Duchess's cheek: perhaps Frà   Pandolf chanced to say 'Her mantle laps Over my lady's wrist too much,'; or 'Paint Must never hope to reproduce the faint Half-flush that dies along her throat';: such stuff 20 Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough For calling up that spot of joy. She had A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. 25 Sir, 'twas all one! My favor at her breast, The dropping of the daylight in the West, The bough of cherries some officious fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule She rode with round the terrace—all and each 30 Would draw from her alike the approving speech, Or blush, at least. She thanked men—good! but thanked Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame 35 This sort of trifling? Even had you skill In speech—(which I have not)—to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say, 'Just this Or that in you disgust me; here you miss, Or there exceed the mark';—and if she let 40 Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse –E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without 45 Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet The company below, then. I repeat, The Count your master's known munificence 50 Is ample warrant that no just pretense Of mine for dowry will be disallowed; Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed At starting, is my object. Nay, we'll go Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though, 55 Taming a sea horse, thought a rarity,