Representation of the femme fatal in sci-fi films, how has the femme Dissertation

Representation of the femme fatal in sci-fi films, how has the femme fatale changed from the 20th centaury to the 21st centaury - Dissertation Example But from literature, the femme fatale has inevitable seeped into other forms of art as well. In film, for instance, the role of the femme fatale has become a recognizable trope in certain genres, even inviting variations like spoofs or parodies of it. In film, the genre of film noir has generally monopolized or been associated traditionally with the use of the femme fatale. Film noir makes room for two kinds of female archetypes: the sweet, dutiful, loving and reliable women and the deceitful, mysterious, subversive and manipulative femmes fatales (Dirks, ‘Femme Fatale’, n.d.). An instance of a film where one finds both kinds is Double Indemnity (1944), where Phyllis Dietrichson, the homicidal wife who feigns interest in and plots with the insurance agent to kill her husband is the typical femme fatale while her step-daughter Lola Dietrichson, loving, honest and helpless, represents the only other type of woman that film noir allows for. The appearance and function of th e femme fatale in films has evolved over the years, and film noir is no longer the genre that monopolizes the use of this figure. Science-fiction films have also been repeatedly invoking the figure of the femme fatale over the years to complement their other thematic concerns. How, why and where this use of the femme fatale has taken place will be evaluated in the course of this paper. What evolving roles has the femme fatale been invoked to perform; what common patterns and departures from such patterns have occurred in their representation; what universal concerns, if any, has the femme fatale stood for: these are a few of the questions which this paper will seek to answer. The femme fatale must first be defined for us to be able to identify her in different works of art. There are certain characteristics that are popularly recognized as being typical of the femme fatale. Tim Dirks’s description of femmes fatales as ‘mysterious, duplicitous, subversive, double-crossin g, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women (‘Femme Fatale’, n.d.)’ puts in place some of these commonly accepted associations of the femme fatale. However, there is no real consensus among either critics or moviegoers of what exactly defines the femme fatale. The term is flexible and allows for a wide range of interpretations. There can be elements of the femme fatale in some characters that do not otherwise wholly conform to the stereotype and vice versa. To begin our exploration into the role of femmes fatales in science fiction films over the years it is instructive to first attempt providing an introduction to, if not a definition of, the femme fatale through the eyes of various critics and scholars over time. This attempt at defining femme fatale has been a long ongoing process in film studies, and not often with much success. There are often inherent obstacles in the act of defining itself. As critic Linda Ruth Williams declares that though most critics try to provide a ‘psychoanalytic or socially informed’ analysis of the femme fatale, what happens more often than not is succumbing to the impulse to ‘

Minority Group and Multiculturalism Essay Example for Free

Minority Group and Multiculturalism Essay This research was commissioned by the Transatlantic Council on Migration, an initiative of the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), for its seventh plenary meeting, held November 2011 in Berlin. The meeting’s theme was â€Å"National Identity, Immigration, and Social Cohesion: (Re)building Community in an Ever-Globalizing World† and this paper was one of the reports that informed the Council’s discussions. The Council, an MPI initiative undertaken in cooperation with its policy partner the Bertelsmann Stiftung, is a unique deliberative body that examines vital policy issues and informs migration policymaking processes in North America and Europe. The Council’s work is generously supported by the following foundations and governments: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Open Society Foundations, Bertelsmann Stiftung, the Barrow Cadbury Trust (UK Policy Partner), the Luso-American Development Foundation, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and the governments of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. For more on the Transatlantic Council on Migration, please visit: www. migrationpolicy. org/transatlantic.  © 2012 Migration Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Migration Policy Institute. A full-text PDF of this document is available for free download from www. migrationpolicy. org. Permission for reproducing excerpts from this report should be directed to: Permissions Department, Migration Policy Institute, 1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, or by contacting [emailprotected] org. Suggested citation: Kymlicka, Will. 2012. Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. Table of Contents Executive Summary. 1 I. Introduction.. 2 The Rise and Fall of Multiculturalism. 3 . II. What Is Multiculturalism?.. 4 A. Misleading Model. 4 . B. Multiculturalism in Context 5 . C. The Evolution of Multiculturalism Policies.. 7 III. Multiculturalism in Practice. 10 A. The Canadian Success Story 10 B. The European Experience. 13 . IV. The Retreat from Multiculturalism.. 14 A. Rhetoric versus Reality .. 14 B. Proliferation of Civic Integration Policies. 15 . V. Conclusion:The Future of Multicultural Citizenship. 21 Appendices 26 Works Cited 28 About the Author.. 32 MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE Executive Summary Ideas about the legal and political accommodation of ethnic diversity — commonly termed â€Å"multiculturalism† — emerged in the West as a vehicle for replacing older forms of ethnic and racial hierarchy with new relations of democratic citizenship. Despite substantial evidence that these policies are making progress toward that goal, a chorus of political leaders has declared them a failure and heralded the death of multiculturalism. This popular master narrative is problematic because it mischaracterizes the nature of the experiments in multiculturalism that have been undertaken, exaggerates the extent to which they have been abandoned, and misidentifies not only the genuine difficulties and limitations they have encountered but the options for addressing these problems. Talk about the retreat from multiculturalism has obscured the fact that a form of multicultural integration remains a live option for Western democracies. This report challenges four powerful myths about multiculturalism. First, it disputes the caricature of multiculturalism as the uncritical celebration of diversity at the expense of addressing grave societal problems such as unemployment and social isolation. Instead it offers an account of multiculturalism as the pursuit of new relations of democratic citizenship, inspired and constrained by human-rights ideals. Second, it contests the idea that multiculturalism has been in wholesale retreat, and offers instead evidence that multiculturalism policies (MCPs) have persisted, and have even grown stronger, over the past ten years. Third, it challenges the idea that multiculturalism has failed, and offers instead evidence that MCPs have had positive effects. Fourth, it disputes the idea that the spread of civic integration policies has displaced multiculturalism or rendered it obsolete. The report instead offers evidence that MCPs are fully consistent with certain forms of civic integration policies, and that indeed the combination of multiculturalism with an â€Å"enabling† form of civic integration is both normatively desirable and empirically effective in at least some cases. To help address these issues, this paper draws upon the Multiculturalism Policy Index. This index 1) identifies eight concrete policy areas where liberal-democratic states — faced with a choice — decided to develop more multicultural forms of citizenship in relation to immigrant groups and 2) measures the extent to which countries have espoused some or all of these policies over time. While there have been some high-profile cases of retreat from MCPs, such as the Netherlands, the general pattern from 1980 to 2010 has been one of modest strengthening. Ironically, some countries that have been vociferous about multiculturalism’s â€Å"failure† (e. g. , Germany) have not actually practiced an active multicultural strategy. Talk about the retreat from multiculturalism has obscured the fact that a form of multicultural integration remains a live option for Western democracies. However, not all attempts to adopt new models of multicultural citizenship have taken root or succeeded in achieving their intended effects. There are several factors that can either facilitate or impede the successful implementation of multiculturalism: Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future 1 MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE Desecuritization of ethnic relations. Multiculturalism works best if relations between the state and minorities are seen as an issue of social policy, not as an issue of state security. If the state perceives immigrants to be a security threat (such as Arabs and Muslims after 9/11), support for multiculturalism will drop and the space for minorities to even voice multicultural claims will diminish. Human rights. Support for multiculturalism rests on the assumption that there is a shared commitment to human rights across ethnic and religious lines. If states perceive certain groups as unable or unwilling to respect human-rights norms, they are unlikely to accord them multicultural rights or resources. Much of the backlash against multiculturalism is fundamentally driven by anxieties about Muslims, in particular, and their perceived unwillingness to embrace liberal-democratic norms. Border control. Multiculturalism is more controversial when citizens fear they lack control over their borders — for instance when countries are faced with large numbers (or unexpected surges) of unauthorized immigrants or asylum seekers — than when citizens feel the borders are secure. Diversity of immigrant groups. Multiculturalism works best when it is genuinely multicultural — that is, when immigrants come from many source countries rather than coming overwhelmingly from just one (which is more likely to lead to polarized relations with the majority). Economic contributions. Support for multiculturalism depends on the perception that immigrants are holding up their end of the bargain and making a good-faith effort to contribute to society — particularly economically. When these facilitating conditions are present, multiculturalism can be seen as a low-risk option, and indeed seems to have worked well in such cases. Multiculturalism tends to lose support in high-risk situations where immigrants are seen as predominantly illegal, as potential carriers of illiberal practices or movements, or as net burdens on the welfare state. However, one could argue that rejecting immigrant multiculturalism under these circumstances is in fact the higher-risk move. It is precisely when immigrants are perceived as illegitimate, illiberal, and burdensome that multiculturalism may be most needed. I. Introduction Ideas about the legal and political accommodation of ethnic diversity have been in a state of flux around the world for the past 40 years. One hears much about the â€Å"rise and fall of multiculturalism. † Indeed, this has become a kind of master narrative, widely invoked by scholars, journalists, and policymakers alike to explain the evolution of contemporary debates about diversity. Although people disagree about what comes after multiculturalism, there is a surprising consensus that we are in a post-multicultural era. This report contends that this master narrative obscures as much as it reveals, and that we need an alternative framework for thinking about the choices we face. Multiculturalism’s successes and failures, as well as its level of public acceptance, have depended on the nature of the issues at stake and the countries involved, and we need to understand these variations if we are to identify a more sustainable model for accommodating diversity. This paper will argue that the master narrative 1) mischaracterizes the nature of the experiments in multiculturalism that have been undertaken, 2) exaggerates the extent to which they have been abandoned, and 3) misidentifies the genuine difficulties and limitations they have encountered and the options for addressing these problems. 2 Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE Before we can decide whether to celebrate or lament the fall of multiculturalism, we need first to make sure we know what multiculturalism has meant both in theory and in practice, where it has succeeded or failed to meet its objectives, and under what conditions it is likely to thrive in the future. The Rise and Fall of Multiculturalism The master narrative of the â€Å"rise and fall of multiculturalism† helpfully captures important features of our current debates. Yet in some respects it is misleading, and may obscure the real challenges and opportunities we face. In its simplest form, the master narrative goes like this:1 Since the mid-1990s we have seen a backlash and retreat from multiculturalism. From the 1970s to mid-1990s, there was a clear trend across Western democracies toward the increased recognition and accommodation of diversity through a range of multiculturalism policies (MCPs) and minority rights. These policies were endorsed both at the domestic level in some states and by international organizations, and involved a rejection of earlier ideas of unitary and homogeneous nationhood. Since the mid-1990s, however, we have seen a backlash and retreat from multiculturalism, and a reassertion of ideas of nation building, common values and identity, and unitary citizenship — even a call for the â€Å"return of assimilation. † This retreat is partly driven by fears among the majority group that the accommodation of diversity has â€Å"gone too far† and is threatening their way of life. This fear often expresses itself in the rise of nativist and populist right-wing political movements, such as the Danish People’s Party, defending old ideas of â€Å"Denmark for the Danish. † But the retreat also reflects a belief among the center-left that multiculturalism has failed to help the intended beneficiaries — namely, minorities themselves — because it has failed to address the underlying sources of their social, economic, and political exclusion and may have unintentionally contributed to their social isolation. As a result, even the center-left political movements that initially championed multiculturalism, such as the social democratic parties in Europe, have backed 1 For influential academic statements of this â€Å"rise and fall† narrative, claiming that it applies across the Western democracies, see Rogers Brubaker, â€Å"The Return of Assimilation? † Ethnic and Racial Studies 24, no. 4 (2001): 531–48; and Christian Joppke, â€Å"The Retreat of Multiculturalism in the Liberal State: Theory and Policy,† British Journal of Sociology 55, no. 2 (2004): 237–57. There are also many accounts of the â€Å"decline,† â€Å"retreat,† or â€Å"crisis† of multiculturalism in particular countries. For the Netherlands, see Han Entzinger, â€Å"The Rise and Fall of Multiculturalism in the Netherlands,† in Toward Assimilation and Citizenship: Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States, eds. Christian Joppke and Ewa Morawska (London: Palgrave, 2003) and Ruud Koopmans, â€Å"Trade-Offs between Equality and Difference: The Crisis of Dutch Multiculturalism in Cross-National Perspective† (Brief, Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen, December 2006). For Britain, see Randall Hansen, â€Å"Diversity, Integration and the Turn from Multiculturalism in the United Kingdom,† in Belonging? Diversity, Recognition and Shared Citizenship in Canada, eds. Keith G. Banting, Thomas J. Courchene, and F. Leslie Seidle (Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy, 2007); Les Back, Michael Keith, Azra Khan, Kalbir Shukra, and John Solomos, â€Å"New Labour’s White Heart: Politics, Multiculturalism and the Return of Assimilation,† Political Quarterly 73, No. 4 (2002): 445–54; Steven Vertovec, â€Å"Towards post-multiculturalism? Changing communities, conditions and contexts of diversity,† International Social Science Journal 61 (2010): 83–95. For Australia, see Ien Ang and John Stratton, â€Å"Multiculturalism in Crisis: The New Politics of Race and National Identity in Australia,† in On Not Speaking Chinese: Living Between Asia and the West, ed. I. Ang (London: Routledge, 2001). For Canada, see Lloyd Wong, Joseph Garcea, and Anna Kirova, An Analysis of the ‘Anti- and Post-Multiculturalism’ Discourses: The Fragmentation Position (Alberta: Prairie Centre for Excellence in Research on Immigration and Integration, 2005), http://pmc. metropolis. net/Virtual%20Library/FinalReports/Post-multi%20FINAL%20REPORT%20for%20PCERII%20_2_. pdf. For a good overview of the backlash discourse in various countries, see Steven Vertovec and Susan Wessendorf, eds. , The Multiculturalism Backlash: European Discourses, Policies and Practices (London: Routledge, 2010). Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future 3 MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE away from it and shifted to a discourse that emphasizes â€Å"civic integration,† â€Å"social cohesion,† â€Å"common values,† and â€Å"shared citizenship. †2 The social-democratic discourse of civic integration differs from the radical-right discourse in emphasizing the need to develop a more inclusive national identity and to fight racism and discrimination, but it nonetheless distances itself from the rhetoric and policies of multiculturalism. The term postmulticulturalism has often been invoked to signal this new approach, which seeks to overcome the limits of a naive or misguided multiculturalism while avoiding the oppressive reassertion of homogenizing nationalist ideologies. 3 II. What Is Multiculturalism? A. Misleading Model In much of the post-multiculturalist literature, multiculturalism is characterized as a feel-good celebration of ethnocultural diversity, encouraging citizens to acknowledge and embrace the panoply of customs, traditions, music, and cuisine that exist in a multiethnic society. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown calls this the â€Å"3S† model of multiculturalism in Britain — saris, samosas, and steeldrums. 4 Multiculturalism takes these familiar cultural markers of ethnic groups — clothing, cuisine, and music — and treats them as authentic practices to be preserved by their members and safely consumed by others. Under the banner of multiculturalism they are taught in school, performed in festivals, displayed in media and museums, and so on. This celebratory model of multiculturalism has been the focus of many critiques, including the following: It ignores issues of economic and political inequality. Even if all Britons come to enjoy Jamaican steeldrum music or Indian samosas, this would do nothing to address the real problems facing Caribbean and South Asian communities in Britain — problems of unemployment, poor educational outcomes, residential segregation, poor English language skills, and political marginalization. These economic and political issues cannot be solved simply by celebrating cultural differences. Even with respect to the (legitimate) goal of promoting greater understanding of cultural differences, the focus on celebrating â€Å"authentic† cultural practices that are â€Å"unique† to each group is potentially dangerous. First, not all customs that may be traditionally practiced within a particular group are worthy of being celebrated, or even of being legally tolerated, such as forced marriage. To avoid stirring up controversy, there’s a tendency to choose as the focus of multicultural celebrations safely inoffensive practices — such as cuisine or music — that can be enjoyably consumed by members of the larger society. But this runs the opposite risk 2 For an overview of the attitudes of European social democratic parties to these issues, see Rene Cuperus, Karl Duffek, and Johannes Kandel, eds. , The Challenge of Diversity: European Social Democracy Facing Migration, Integration and Multiculturalism (Innsbruck: Studien Verlag, 2003). For references to â€Å"post-multiculturalism† by progressive intellectuals, who distinguish it from the radical right’s â€Å"antimulticulturalism,† see, regarding the United Kingdom, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, After Multiculturalism (London: Foreign Policy Centre, 2000), and â€Å"Beyond Multiculturalism,† Canadian Diversity/Diversite Canadienne 3, no. 2 (2004): 51–4; regarding Australia, James Jupp, From White Australia to Woomera: The Story of Australian Immigration, 2nd edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007); and regarding the United States, Desmond King, The Liberty of Strangers: Making the American Nation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), and David A. Hollinger, Post-ethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism, revised edition (New York: Basic Books, 2006). Alibhai-Brown, After Multiculturalism. 3 4 4 Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE of the trivialization or Disneyfication of cultural differences,5 ignoring the real challenges that differences in cultural and religious values can raise. Third, the 3S model of multiculturalism can encourage a conception of groups as hermetically sealed and static, each reproducing its own distinct practices. Multiculturalism may be intended to encourage people to share their customs, but the assumption that each group has its own distinctive customs ignores processes of cultural adaptation, mixing, and melange, as well as emerging cultural commonalities, thereby potentially reinforcing perceptions of minorities as eternally â€Å"other. † This in turn can lead to the strengthening of prejudice and stereotyping, and more generally to the polarization of ethnic relations. Fourth, this model can end up reinforcing power inequalities and cultural restrictions within minority groups. In deciding which traditions are â€Å"authentic,† and how to interpret and display them, the state generally consults the traditional elites within the group — typically older males — while ignoring the way these traditional practices (and traditional elites) are often challenged by internal reformers, who have different views about how, say, a â€Å"good Muslim† should act. It can therefore imprison people in â€Å"cultural scripts† that they are not allowed to question or dispute. According to post-multiculturalists, the growing recognition of these flaws underlies the retreat from multiculturalism and signals the search for new models of citizenship that emphasize 1) political participation and economic opportunities over the symbolic politics of cultural recognition, 2) human rights and individual freedom over respect for cultural traditions, 3) the building of inclusive national identities over the recognition of ancestral cultural identities, and 4) cultural change and cultural mixing over the reification of static cultural differences. This narrative about the rise and fall of 3S multiculturalism will no doubt be familiar to many readers. In my view, however, it is inaccurate. Not only is it a caricature of the reality of multiculturalism as it has developed over the past 40 years in the Western democracies, but it is a distraction from the real issues that we need to face. The 3S model captures something important about natural human tendencies to simplify ethnic differences, and about the logic of global capitalism to sell cosmopolitan cultural products, but it does not capture the nature of post-1960s government MCPs, which have had more complex historical sources and political goals. B. Multiculturalism in Context It is important to put multiculturalism in its historical context. In one sense, it is as old as humanity — different cultures have always found ways of coexisting, and respect for diversity was a familiar feature of many historic empires, such as the Ottoman Empire. But the sort of multiculturalism that is said to have had a â€Å"rise and fall† is a more specific historic phenomenon, emerging first in the Western democracies in the late 1960s. This timing is important, for it helps us situate multiculturalism in relation to larger social transformations of the postwar era. More specifically, multiculturalism is part of a larger human-rights revolution involving ethnic and racial diversity. Prior to World War II, ethnocultural and religious diversity in the West was characterized by a range of illiberal and undemocratic relationships of hierarchy,6 justified by racialist ideologies that explicitly propounded the superiority of some peoples and cultures and their right to rule over others. These ideologies were widely accepted throughout the Western world and underpinned both domestic laws (e. g. , racially biased immigration and citizenship policies) and foreign policies (e. g. , in relation to overseas colonies). 5 6 Neil Bissoondath, Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (Toronto: Penguin, 1994). Including relations of conqueror and conquered, colonizer and colonized, master and slave, settler and indigenous, racialized and unmarked, normalized and deviant, orthodox and heretic, civilized and primitive, and ally and enemy. Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future 5 MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE After World War II, however, the world recoiled against Hitler’s fanatical and murderous use of such ideologies, and the United Nations decisively repudiated them in favor of a new ideology of the equality of races and peoples. And this new assumption of human equality generated a series of political movements designed to contest the lingering presence or enduring effects of older hierarchies. We can distinguish three â€Å"waves† of such movements: 1) the struggle for decolonization, concentrated in the period 1948–65; 2) the struggle against racial segregation and discrimination, initiated and exemplified by the AfricanAmerican civil-rights movement from 1955 to 1965; and 3) the struggle for multiculturalism and minority rights, which emerged in the late 1960s. Multiculturalism is part of a larger human-rights revolution involving ethnic and racial diversity. Each of these movements draws upon the human-rights revolution, and its foundational ideology of the equality of races and peoples, to challenge the legacies of earlier ethnic and racial hierarchies. Indeed, the human-rights revolution plays a double role here, not just as the inspiration for a struggle, but also as a constraint on the permissible goals and means of that struggle. Insofar as historically excluded or stigmatized groups struggle against earlier hierarchies in the name of equality, they too have to renounce their own traditions of exclusion or oppression in the treatment of, say, women, gays, people of mixed race, religious dissenters, and so on. Human rights, and liberal-democratic constitutionalism more generally, provide the overarching framework within which these struggles are debated and addressed. Each of these movements, therefore, can be seen as contributing to a process of democratic â€Å"citizenization† — that is, turning the earlier catalog of hierarchical relations into relationships of liberaldemocratic citizenship. This entails transforming both the vertical relationships between minorities and the state and the horizontal relationships among the members of different groups. In the past, it was often assumed that the only way to engage in this process of citizenization was to impose a single undifferentiated model of citizenship on all individuals. But the ideas and policies of multiculturalism that emerged from the 1960s start from the assumption that this complex history inevitably and appropriately generates group-differentiated ethnopolitical claims. The key to citizenization is not to suppress these differential claims but to filter them through and frame them within the language of human rights, civil liberties, and democratic accountability. And this is what multiculturalist movements have aimed to do. The precise character of the resulting multicultural reforms varies from group to group, as befits the distinctive history that each has faced. They all start from the antidiscrimination principle that underpinned the second wave but go beyond it to challenge other forms of exclusion or stigmatization. In most Western countries, explicit state-sponsored discrimination against ethnic, racial, or religious minorities had largely ceased by the 1960s and 1970s, under the influence of the second wave of humanrights struggles. Yet ethnic and racial hierarchies persist in many societies, whether measured in terms of economic inequalities, political underrepresentation, social stigmatization, or cultural invisibility. Various forms of multiculturalism have been developed to help overcome these lingering inequalities. The focus in this report is on multiculturalism as it pertains to (permanently settled) immigrant groups,7 7 There was briefly in some European countries a form of â€Å"multiculturalism† that was not aimed at the inclusion of permanent immigrants, but rather at ensuring that temporary migrants would return to their country of origin. For example, mothertongue education in Germany was not initially introduced â€Å"as a minority right but in order to enable guest worker children to reintegrate in their countries of origin† (Karen Schonwalder, â€Å"Germany: Integration Policy and Pluralism in a Self-Conscious Country of Immigration,† in The Multiculturalism Backlash: European Discourses, Policies and Practices, eds. Steven Vertovec and Susanne Wessendorf [London: Routledge, 2010], 160). Needless to say, this sort of â€Å"returnist† multiculturalism — premised on the idea that migrants are foreigners who should return to their real home — has nothing to do with multiculturalism policies (MCPs) premised on the idea that immigrants belong in their host countries, and which aim to make immigrants 6 Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE but it is worth noting that struggles for multicultural citizenship have also emerged in relation to historic minorities and indigenous peoples. 8 C. The Evolution of Multiculturalism Policies The case of immigrant multiculturalism is just one aspect of a larger â€Å"ethnic revival† across the Western democracies,9 in which different types of minorities have struggled for new forms of multicultural citizenship that combine both antidiscrimination measures and positive forms of recognition and accommodation. Multicultural citizenship for immigrant groups clearly does not involve the same types of claims as for indigenous peoples or national minorities: immigrant groups do not typically seek land rights, territorial autonomy, or official language status. What then is the substance of multicultural citizenship in relation to immigrant groups? The Multiculturalism Policy Index is one attempt to measure the evolution of MCPs in a standardized format that enables comparative research. 10 The index takes the following eight policies as the most common or emblematic forms of immigrant MCPs:11 Constitutional, legislative, or parliamentary affirmation of multiculturalism, at the central and/ or regional and municipal levels The adoption of multiculturalism in school curricula The inclusion of ethnic representation/sensitivity in the mandate of public media or media licensing Exemptions from dress codes, either by statute or by court cases Allowing of dual citizenship The funding of ethnic group organizations to support cultural activities The funding of bilingual education or mother-tongue instruction Affirmative action for disadvantaged immigrant groups12 feel more at home where they are. The focus of this paper is on the latter type of multiculturalism, which is centrally concerned with constructing new relations of citizenship. 8 In relation to indigenous peoples, for example — such as the Maori in New Zealand, Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Australia, American Indians, the Sami in Scandinavia, and the Inuit of Greenland — new models of multicultural citizenship have emerged since the late 1960s that include policies such as land rights, self-government rights, recognition of customary laws, and guarantees of political consultation. And in relation to substate national groups — such as the Basques and Catalans in Spain, Flemish and Walloons in Belgium, Scots and Welsh in Britain, Quebecois in Canada, Germans in South Tyrol, Swedish in Finland — we see new models of multicultural citizenship that include policies such as federal or quasi-federal territorial autonomy; official language status, either in the region or nationally; and guarantees of representation in the central government or on constitutional courts. 9 Anthony Smith, The Ethnic Revival in the Modern World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981). 10 Keith Banting and I developed this index, first published in Keith Banting and Will Kymlicka, eds. , Multiculturalism and the Welfare State: Recognition and Redistribution in Contemporary Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). Many of the ideas discussed in this paper are the result of our collaboration. 11 As with all cross-national indices, there is a trade-off between standardization and sensitivity to local nuances. There is no universally accepted definition of multiculturalism policies and no hard and fast line that would sharply distinguish MCPs from closely related policy fields, such as antidis

Using Nature to Relieve Stress Essay -- Emotions Environmental Essays

Using Nature to Relieve Stress Hectic and busy lives seem to be the norm and a major part of today’s world. People are always rushing to get things done, whether it is a project deadline or just keeping up with the pace of life. These time constraints are usually related to external influences in our lives – work, school, traffic, family, friends and/or life in general. All these factors create drama in life and lead to stress; however, some people have higher levels of stress than others. Stress is not healthy; in fact, it has been proven to cause serious health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, depression and even death. Sometimes, people just need to get away from the stresses of life, do something different and just RELAX!!! This may involve taking a day off from work or the stressor in life, going to the beach or some other place, getting a massage, or anything else to escape the stressor. What many people do not realize is there is something usually not far away that c an relieve stress – nature. For many people nature is the number one way to relieve stress. There are numerous videos, cassette tapes and CD’s on the market that show nature scenes and/or play nature sounds. One might ask why. Well, the answer is that nature tends to be peaceful, calm and relaxing. It is a place where someone can get away from the madness of a busy life. There are many companies and individuals trying to sell all kinds of things to get people to relax and â€Å"de-stress† their lives. In addition to the videos, tapes and CD’s, there is an abundance of marketing strategies to relieve stress including: counseling, exercise or health clubs, pills, massage therapists and health spas. All this â€Å"stuff† can becom... ...ess, which in itself, may create more stress from the financial burden. Nature is basically free – all one has to do is get there. For most people, it is right in their back yards, and they may not even be aware that it is so close. Many large cities are creating greenways and natural areas with trails so that people can escape the hectic rush of city life and get back to nature. This is also a positive way of helping with pollution by having more trees to provide oxygen. You can just sit and relax, let your senses soak up nature, or take the verbal approach and scream out your stress. Whatever you choose to do, don’t bash nature as a way to relieve stress until you try it. Ultimately, stress is harmful and can have long-lasting physical and emotional effects on a person. Just do it - believe it or not, nature may be the one thing that can relieve stress.

Oscar Wilde and the Aestheticism Movement Essay

The arts in addition to crafts movement was the main clause of reform design in the 19th century that describes the era of its greatest advancement, roughly between 1870 and 1920 (Campbell, 2006). The two major stylistic advancements of this movement’s philosophy are the Aesthetic Movement and Art Nouveau. Aesthetic Movement of the 19th century, according to Lambourne, (1996) is a movement that existed in the 1870s to 1880s, which made itself noticeable through the fine in addition to decorative arts and architecture in both Britain and the United States. Its influence in Europe was so great that it is had to describe. In response to what was perceived as evidence of philistinism in art and design, it was typified by the cult of beauty and as well an emphasis on the sheer pressure to de obtained from it (Lambourne, 1996). Championing of the aesthetic movement was done by the writers and critics Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Walter Patel (1839-94), and Charles Swinburne (1837-1909) (Campbell, 2006). These artists in conjunction with craftsmen of aesthetic movement sought to lift up the form of furniture, ceramics, wall papers, books, glass, textile and metalwork to the level of fine art. They tended to hold that Arts should offer purified sumptuous pleasure instead of conveying moral over-romantic messages. He was concerned with the impact of moralizing on art as a result of his view of art as a separate form of life (Gere and Hoskins, 2000). Wilde, in particular, did not agree to Ruskin and Arnold’s utilitarian view of art as something moral or helpful. He believed that art did not play educational role; it only needed to make beautiful statements. He argued that beauty is the only thing that cannot harm (Raby, 1988). Just like other aesthetes, Wilde denied the social value of literature and art. Wilde stated that the most important things in life are autonomy from moral fetters as well as the limitations of society (McDermott, 2007). Wilde was deeply concerned with the soul of man. This made him to constantly complain about poverty in is his work. Wilde, as McDermott, (2007) asserts, argued that the life of an artist is more important than any form of art that he/she develops He also noted that life itself is an art and that true artists present their lives as their finest productions (Raby, 1988). Wilde had used aesthetic decorations throughout his youth. He had devoted so evidently and uncompromisingly to living his art. He considered his own life as a form of art (Raby, 1988). Wilde together with other aesthetes established the cult of beauty, which they regarded as the principle factor in art. They took nature as rough and deficient in design when compared to art. They adopted the principle of art for arts sake and established art over everything else. Wilde, as Raby (1988) argues, set out to widen this principle to that of life for the sake of art. In oxford as indicated by Campbell (2006), Wilde astonished the religious dons with his inappropriate approach towards religion. He was also heckled at his weird clothes. The use of peacock feathers in addition to blue and white china typified the aesthetic interiors. Wilde gathered blue China as well as peacock feathers, which he decorated his room with and later on his velvet knee-breeches which attracted much attention. Wilde worked as a reviewer of art and conducted lecturers in the U. S and Canada (Raby, 1988). He had a luxurious taste for everything and, after conducting a series of lectures his listeners changed to a new set of standards for designing their homes (Lambourne, 1996). The amalgamation of Wilde’s exposure through the famous media in addition to the wealth of specialist furnishing as well as beautifying manuals assisted in simulating the public in the novel style. Manufacturers were also quick to take up the new trends in decorative styles (McDermott, 2007). Wilde created a series of discussions as well as essays that advanced his view on the supremacy of art. His views concerning art were basically chatty and positive. Wilde published lyrics along with poems in magazines from the time when he entered college. He included serious articles on parenting, politics and culture to his dialogues of fashion and arts. Wilde typified, through his own words, the response against the rudimentary primaries of a doubtless more reputable but definitely less cultivated era (McDermott, 2007). Most of Wilde’s work conformed to aesthetic principles. It revealed an over balance of curiosity in both subject and styles, and a response to the restriction of outward practical things (Gere and Hoskins, 2000). Philosophy of Esthetic Movement, as stated by Lambourne, (1996) was spread to the United States by William Morris. Wilde, as stated by Raby (1988), made a lecture tour of the United States in 1882. Despite the fact that he satirized for his effeteness and pomposity he increased awareness of the Aesthetic Movement. The highest profile figure of Aesthetic Movement was Oscar Wilde; he gave approval to himself as the center of an aesthetic experience that was to some extent exaggerated, absolutely exclusive as well as completely dedicated to the pursuit of art and beauty (Raby, 1988). Wilde was the spokesman for Aesthetic Movement through his excellent humor and conscious posing. He made himself a convenient vehicle through which the Aesthetic Movement was extensively advertised (Campbell, 2006). Wilde had an unwavering faith in his mission. He clearly stated that he had no fears regarding the future (Raby, 1988). Gere and Hoskins (2000) states that through Wilde’s presentation, aestheticism developed to a cult of artificiality. The popular plays produced by Wilde, according to Spektor (2009), were comedies of conduct that were closer to Restoration comedies than the Victorian plays. Until the time he was tried Wilde carried the Aesthetic Movement as an excellent performance piece, an approach that was supported by the British society, due to the fact that he never seemed to take himself too seriously. Wilde the aesthete introduced an experience for continental values and finally what Victorian society basically held to be continental profligacy (Raby, 1988). Much early criticism of aestheticism summed up the conventional Victorian move of calling Aesthetic Movement dissolute; both for its stress on art as an unethical venture and for its inflections of homosexuality (Spektor, 2009). Contemporary critics have tried to contextualize the aesthetic movement by considering literary, social, as well as artistic movements that resulted in aesthesis along with those that were later influenced by it. In the process, they have a propensity of primarily looking at its representations of sexuality and gender instead of on the form and qualities of the art under discussion. Paradoxically, the modern criticism almost at all times put both art as well as homosexuality back into the Victorian culture. This explains how cultural stance of aestheticism and its approaches about sexuality and gender were determined by the principles of the larger Victorian society (McDermott, 2007). Lambourne (1996) states that Wilde became one of the most celebrated playwrights of the late Victorian phase in Britain with a series of social satires. Wilde claimed to have taken a firm position in symbolic relation to the art and culture of the 19th century. Actually he manifested the conclusion of the novel sensibility which surfaced through the second half of the 19th century (Lambourne, 1996). Without Wilde the Aesthetic Movement of the 1880s and the Decadent Movement of the 1890s would not have been as famous as they came to be (Gere and Hoskins, 2000). Wilde’s personal life was subject to rumors. His years of success came to a dramatic end when his close relationship with Alfred Douglas resulted in his trial on charges of homosexuality which was by then illegal in Britain (Lambourne, 1996). Lambourne (1996) states that after being sentenced to a two year term imprisonment for homosexual activities, the period of British fashion history was successfully brought to an end until the revival of the male dandy after the Second World War It was until Walde’s trial that aestheticism, effeminacy and homosexuality came to be recognized as inextricably connected categories (Spektor, 2009). The trial of Wilde cemented an already developing link between effeminacy and homosexuality. Before the trials, aesthetes were infamous because of their effeminacy. However, it was taken as a product of the complex, upper-class standard of living they professed. Homosexuality was an issue alluded to in their work, but it was not evidently linked to effeminacy. It was after this trial that the radical type of the effete, effeminate and homosexuals became easily distinguishable to the public at large. Walde’s influence remains strongly in modern male fashion (Spektor, 2009). Reference: Campbell G. , (2006), The Grove encyclopedia of decorative arts, ISBN 0195189485 Oxford University Press US Gere C. , and Hoskins L. , (2000). The house beautiful: Oscar Wilde and the aesthetic interior, ISBN 0853318182 Lund Humphries Lambourne L. , (1996), The Aesthetic Movement, ISBN 0714830003: Phaidon McDermott C. , (2007), Design: the key concepts, ISBN 041532016X: Routledge Raby P. , (1988), Oscar Wilde, ISBN 0521260787: CUP Archive Spektor N. , (2009), â€Å"The Picture of Dorian Gray† and the Aesthetic Movement in England at the Turn of the Century, ISBN 3640319567: GRIN Verlag

Discuss symbolism and its effectiveness in the Iliad Essay

Symbolism plays a crucial role in The Iliad. Take for instance when Achilles already knows why Apollo is angry, but decides the fact should be stated by someone other than himself. He knows that Agamemnon will become angry once the truth is revealed. I believe that in this instance he is trying to keep his rage in check by avoiding a direct confrontation with Agamemnon so although the symbolism of anger is present it is kept under wraps. Calchas also fears for his life because he also knows Agamemnon’s fury is unyielding at times. However, with a great deal of encouragement from Achilles, Calchas â€Å"spoke out, bravely: ‘Beware-The god’s enraged because Agamemnon spurned his priest'† (106). When the truth is exposed, Agamemnon becomes extremely angry and he and Achilles argue. The argument becomes so heated that Achilles is tempted to kill Agamemnon. Achilles questions himself, â€Å"Should he draw the long sharp sword slung at his hip, thrust through the ranks and kill Agamemnon now†Ã¢â‚¬â€œor check his rage and beat his fury down†Ã¢â‚¬  (108). Here, Hera has Athena intervene to keep Achilles from killing Agamemnon, which shows how the gods control Achilles’ destiny. The argument between Achilles and Agamemnon clearly shows that the two men have different opinions about the power of the gods, what is holy or unholy, and what is proper treatment of other men. These differences are one source of Achilles’ rages likewise the issues pertaining to power and gods are being symbolised. Achilles is also angry at having to fight another man’s battle. The Trojan War is being fought because Paris stole Helen, Agamemnon’s sister-in-law. In his argument with Agamemnon, Achilles points out â€Å"It wasn’t Trojan spearmen who brought me here to fight. The Trojans never did me damage, not in the least† (107). Achilles’ rage heightens in the argument and he declares â€Å"No, you colossal, shameless–we all followed you, to please you, to fight for you, to win your honor back from the Trojans—Menelaus and you, you dog-face! † (108). Achilles is also angry because even though he and many other soldiers are there risking their lives for Agamemnon and Menelaus, Agamemnon is sly enough to avoid personal injury. Achilles says to Agamemnon, â€Å"Never once did you arm with the troops and go to battle or risk an ambush packed with Achaea’s picked men–you lack the courage, you can see death coming† (109). The Trojan War is being fought for personal reasons. Achilles’ rage at this point stems from the injustice that he is risking his life for someone else’s cause and also for the fact that Agamemnon is a coward. The argument between Achilles and Agamemnon has deep-seeded roots of jealousy, another and symbol emotion that stirs anger. Agamemnon knows that Achilles has the respect of the soldiers and the gods; therefore, Agamemnon is always striving to prove his superiority and powerfulness to Achilles. Agamemnon agrees to give Chryseis back to the priest, but then takes Brisies from Achilles. Achilles allows Agamemnon’s men to take Brisies without a fight in order to maintain the respect of the gods; however, after Brisies is taken, Achilles becomes so enraged and heartbroken that he reaffirms his declaration not to fight anymore. Achilles declares that Agamemnon is to blame for the doom of the Achaean army â€Å"if the day should come when the armies need me to save their ranks from ignominious, stark defeat† (112). Jealousy, then, can be viewed as another source of Achilles’ rage. The issues being symbolised here are emotional and touching. Achilles is heartbroken and calls on his mother, the goddess Thetis. She is sorrowful when she hears Achilles’ prayers and weeping. Achilles knows that he is going live a short life and now feels that his life has no honor. He feels that the gods have forsaken him by allowing Agamemnon to humiliate him. Achilles wants his mother to collect on an old debt from Zeus. Thetis is saddened by Achilles’ heartbreak and confirms his destiny, â€Å"‘Doomed to a short life, you have so little time. And not only short, now, but filled with heartbreak too'† (114). She leaves Achilles to go ask Zeus to let the Trojan army win as long as Achilles is not fighting. Achilles is â€Å"left alone, his heart inflamed for the sashed and lovely girl they’d wrenched from him against his will† (115). Achilles’ lost love and broken heart are another source of his rage. The effect is symbolism is tangible. Rage is being symbolised through love and the impact leads to a broken heart. Achilles’ heart remains rigid against Agamemnon even when three of his dearest friends come and ask him to fight again. Phoenix, Ajax, and Odysseus plead with Achilles to join the battle again, but he refuses. The three make the argument that even if Achilles is angry with Agamemnon, he should still come back to the fighting to help his friends whose lives will be lost if he does not. Achilles’ dearest friend, Patroclus, decides to take Achilles’ armor and join the fighting. Patroclus is wounded in battle and then is killed when â€Å"Hector waiting, watching the great-hearted Patroclus trying to stagger free, came rushing into him right across the lines and rammed his spearshaft home. † (159). It is Patroclus’ death that brings Achilles back to the war. Now his rage is aroused by his desire to obtain revenge against the Trojan army and, more specifically, Hector. Achilles’ armor is lost because Hector and the Trojans take it from Patroclus’ dead body. This action inspires Achilles to seek Thetis’ help again. She has Hephaestus make new armor for Achilles. The new armor is magnificent. It is â€Å"a great and massive shield, blazoning well-wrought emblems all across its surface† (173). Thetis and other gods encourage Achilles to fight now. Apollo taunts Achilles while Hector holds fast outside the city gates. It is King Priam who first sees Achilles coming and is filled with fear for Hector. Achilles appears â€Å"blazing like the star that rears at harvest, flaming up in its brilliance far outshining the countless stars in the night sky (177). Hector is filled with fear as Achilles approaches the city. Achilles then chases Hector around the city three times. It is divine intervention by Athena that causes Hector to finally stop and face Achilles. Zeus decides who will die in the fight as he â€Å"held out his sacred golden scales: in them he placed two fates of death that lays men low† (181). The scales are tipped in Achilles’ favor and Hector looses his life. It is very clear that the gods control Achilles’ destiny and influence the factors that create his rage. Why is Achilles enraged? His rage is a personal choice. He decides to confront Agamemnon. He decides to withdraw from the war. He decides to join the war after Patroclus’ death. However, the gods do their parts in making sure that his destiny is carried out. Thetis has new armor made for him and encourages him to fight. Apollo taunts him. Athena intervenes, first to make sure he does not kill Agamemnon and then later to make sure that he does kill Hector. Zeus weighs his fate. Rage is the spawn of many emotions. Injustice, jealousy, un-holiness, revenge, and heartbreak are emotions that sparked Achilles’ rage. Homer’s tale, the Iliad, shows how Achilles’ rage is his destiny. Symbolism is very effective throughout the novel. It is linked to emotions, love and rage. Works Cited Homer. â€Å"The Iliad. † The Norton Anthology World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall. 7th ed. Vol. 1. W. W. Norton & Company. New York, London, 1999. 104-209. Spark Notes the Iliad by Homer Spark Notes edition January 10, 2002 The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, Volume 1 by Sarah Lawall Norton; 8 edition August 15, 2005 Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers by John Schilb Bedford/St. Martin’; 3 edition October 25, 2005.

Do the Benefits of Joining the Euro Outweigh the Disadvantages Essay Example

Do the Benefits of Joining the Euro Outweigh the Disadvantages Essay Example Do the Benefits of Joining the Euro Outweigh the Disadvantages Paper Do the Benefits of Joining the Euro Outweigh the Disadvantages Paper The changeover to euro notes and coins is now complete across a eurozone of 300 million people, for the majority of British people the debate over whether to adopt the single currency is just getting started. For most people in the UK the decision will not be an easy one. With those who have already decided, there will be people who argue that the introduction of the single currency is just the next step in the development of a truly single market which will lead to greater economic prosperity, stability and security for Europes inhabitants, and that by joining the euro, Britain would get a part in what could eventually become the worlds most powerful economic zone. Others believe that a successful common market is not dependent on the adoption of a single currency, which they see as merely another step towards the political union of Europe. This, they say, will lead to a loss of national sovereignty, weakening the voice of the British electorate. By presenting some of the arguments put forward by both sides of the debate over British membership of the euro, my aim is not to promote one set of arguments over the other, but to introduce some of the key campaign issues, which are being promoted. Research Methodology To find out the views and opinions of the people living in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, I carried out primary research in the form of a short questionnaire and gave it to a random sample of 40 people. A sample of the questionnaire can be found on page 1 of the appendix along with the results in figures alongside the questions, and graphs to illustrate the results on page 2. I also got secondary information from the Internet. Samples of these can be found on page 3 of the appendix. Advantages of joining the euro: 1. The first significant advantage which membership to the Euro brings is the fact that it will eliminate transaction costs of converting national currencies, with savings estimated at around  £2 billion annually. The first implication of this is lower prices to EU consumers of products imported and exported within the EU. As a result of this, the rate of inflation should fall, relative to the percentage change of price in imported products. Reduced transaction costs for traders, 2. Firms will incur lower costs of production as a result of the elimination of transaction costs, making export and import markets more efficient. The next step of the decrease in costs to countries exporting products within the EU could be that prices of domestically produced products may fall to compete with cheaper imports from other EU countries. 3. Euro zone multinationals are likely to benefit from substantial economies of scale as many barriers to trade within the Euro zone are removed. The occurrence of economies of scale is attributable to a decrease in average cost resulting from an increase in output. As a result of a decreased average cost to Euro-zone firms, again prices will be lower to Euro-zone consumers. 4. Firms will no longer be able to segment markets and charge different prices in different currencies. Because of the relative price stability associated with the adoption of the Euro as a result of price transparency, it is unlikely that Euro-zone firms would be able to legitimately charge different prices to consumers in different countries, thus the producer surplus attributable to price discrimination would fall substantially. 5. As a result of price discrimination, competition within the Euro-zone is likely to rise, as firms will be encouraged to lower prices and work towards productive efficiency in order to increase profits. 6. The UK is likely to benefit from lower inflation often associated with Euro-zone countries as a result of the implementation of tight monetary and fiscal policy. As a result of this, The Bank of England monetary policy committee are likely to be able to decrease short-run interest rates in order to maximise economic growth as well as to increase investment by firms, resulting in a shift to the right in the economys production possibility curve. 7. A loss of inward investment if we fail to join. This popular argument fails to distinguish between the loss of such investment due to the overvaluation of the pound, and the loss of it due to non-membership of the Euro. These are quite separate issues, and the former seems considerably more likely to be significant. In fact the Invest in Britain Bureau announced in March 2000 that Britains stock of inward investment rose by 25% (to about  £250b) in the first twelve months of the Euro. Although this investment represents decisions taken before 1999, it had been known for some years that Britain would not be in the first wave of members. 8. Exchange rate stability for over half of UK trade. This would encourage higher levels of trade, as exporters and importers realised that their profit margin could no longer disappear with an unanticipated exchange rate movement. Remember though that we have a major trade deficit with the EU, and that imports as well as exports will experience this new exchange rate stability. Remember also that 47% of our trade is not with the EU, and that the Euro itself has been unstable against other currencies. An appreciation of the Euro against the dollar subsequent to our joining would do the UKs important trade with the USA no favours. 9. UK firms would probably enjoy reduced borrowing costs, encouraging investment and growth, as British interest rates fell to European levels, and UK homebuyers would enjoy cheaper mortgages. It is true that industrial investment in this country has been persistently handicapped by the short term use of interest rates against inflation, but even the present level of interest rates in the UK appears to have set off house price inflation in the south. 10. Rip-off Britain: Those firms that currently price discriminate between different European markets would find it difficult to sustain this practice as price transparency increased. Some profits could be lost by UK firms, but consumers could benefit. Disadvantages of joining the euro: 1. As with ERM membership in 1990-2, a major concern of some economists is that membership of the Euro would deprive the UK of an independent monetary policy, and subject it to a possibly inappropriate monetary regime. If Euro interest rates were lower than seemed appropriate for the UK, as according to the Bank of Englands Monetary Policy Committee they are at present, an inflationary increase of the UK money supply could only be prevented by a tougher than desired fiscal stance, aimed at reducing the Public Sector Net Cash Requirement (PSBR). Because the UK economic cycle tends to follow the USA, it is hard to see how the one size fits all monetary policy of the European Central Bank would be in the UKs interest. 2. As an abundance of economic data suggests, many interest rates in large European economies are far lower than the UKs rate. If the UK economy were forced into implementing a lower and arguably unsuitable interest rate, then this would most likely lead to severe demand pull inflationary pressures induced by excess aggregate demand. If the UK were granted no powers to intervene, the likelihood is that the UK government would have little choice but to leave the Euro in order to prevent the disastrous scenario of hyperinflation. 3. As with decimalisation in 1971, converting to a new currency offers an opportunity to retailers to round up prices and take advantage of the confusion. The depreciation of the pound required to secure entry at a viable exchange rate would also cause import price inflation. 4. In practice, it could be argued that the Euro is likely to be far less stable than many of the European currencies it replaces, including Pound Sterling. As a result of this, it would make it extremely difficult for British firms to make financial forecasts and plans because of the volatility of the demand for imports, as well as the demand for exports outside of the Euro-zone. If the demand for products produced by British exporters is price elastic, then an increase in price caused by fluctuations in the Euro exchange rate will lead to a substantial fall in demand, and a possible threat of insolvency. 5. One-off costs of converting IT systems and coin machines, and training staff, have been estimated at up to  £36 billion. These costs would be encountered by UK firms after their competitors in the existing Euro-zone had bedded in the new systems, and thus UK firms would be at a competitive disadvantage for a couple of years after joining in addition to paying the capital cost. Although derided by Gordon Brown as not worth the paper its written on, this estimate seems not unreasonable and no alternative estimate has been offered by the proponents of entry. 6. Stock market decline: It has been estimated that  £300 billion could be moved from UK stocks into European stocks as a result of portfolio adjustments which will be required as a result of entry by market tracking funds. Such a decline would put upward pressure on interest rates and make it more difficult for UK firms to borrow in order to invest. UK fund managers will also have to follow the precedent of European fund managers who used to speculate in European currencies, before the creation of the Euro put a stop to that (except with regard to sterling) and forced them to conduct their arbitrage in other markets, thus involving the movement of funds out of the Euro zone. More funds would therefore flow out of the Euro zone and into the dollar and yen, putting more downward pressure on the Euro. 7. Fraud and crime: The Euro notes come in great variety and are not even all on the same paper. Detecting forgeries could be greatly complicated. At 500 Euros the largest note could be particularly attractive to criminals. 8. Higher levels of unemployment would follow an inability to continue to match economic efficiency with the Euro zone, and the UK could not, as in the past, be rescued by currency depreciation. Euro membership is legally irrevocable. For more arguments for and against joining the euro, specifically regarding the economy, and business and trade, turn to page 11 of the appendix. The Five Tests The 1997-2001 Blair government established five conditions that must be satisfied before joining 1.Convergence of business cycles, enabling the UK to be comfortable with Euro interest rates 2.Enough flexibility in the Euro system to deal with problems 3.The impact on firms choosing to invest in the UK 4.The impact on the competitive position of the UK financial industry 5.The impact on growth, stability and jobs It can be seen that the majority of these tests are subjective questions that perform a political rather than economic function; that is, they allowed the government to put off a decision that was likely to be unpopular. Several of the tests are unquantifiable matters of opinion, and will probably be subjected to anecdotal rather than scientific evidence in any referendum campaign. Conclusion: Overall, the benefits of United Kingdom joining the euro do outweigh the disadvantages. Plus the adoption of the Euro is likely to result in a stable trading climate within the Euro-zone, allowing firms to make long-term decisions and realistic financial projections. Implementation of the Euro is likely to mean that both the UK, and the collective Euro-zone will have increasing influence in the world economy, and this will reduce the volatility of the Euro, thus promoting long-term trade with countries external to the Euro-zone. A further reason once more promoting the adoption of the Euro is the fact that British firms are likely to become more productively efficient as a result of the reduction in average cost arising from the incurrence of substantial economies of scale.

Haber Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, Examples

Haber Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, Examples The verb haber has two different uses and meanings, as well as two different conjugation patterns. Haber is used as an impersonal verb to mean there is or there are, and it is also used as an auxiliary verb. This article includes haber conjugations as an impersonal verb in the indicative mood (present, past, conditional, and future), the subjunctive mood (present and past), the imperative mood, and other verb forms. You can also find the conjugations in which haber is used an auxiliary verb. Haber as an Impersonal Verb Haber can be used as an impersonal verb that is translated to English as there is or there are. The fact that it is an impersonal verb means that there is no subject, and it is thus only conjugated in the third person singular form. For example, Hay un estudiante en la clase (There is a student in the class) or Hay muchos estudiantes en la clase (There are many students in the class). This form of haber can also mean to take place, Habr una reunià ³n maà ±ana (A meeting will take place tomorrow), or to occur, Ayer hubo un accidente (Yesterday an accident occurred). The verb haber is also used in several idioms, such as haber de and haber que, which are both followed by an infinitive verb and express the need to do something. The tables below show the conjugations of haber, and you will notice that since it is an impersonal verb, haber cannot be used in the imperative mood. Also, you can see that with this meaning of haber, in all the different verb tenses, only the third person singular form is used. Haber Present Indicative The form of haber in the present indicative tense is completely irregular. Hay there is/there are Hay una fiesta en mi casa.Hay muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber Preterite Indicative This verb is also irregular in the preterite indicative tense. Hubo there was/there were Hubo una fiesta en mi casa.Hubo muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber Imperfect Indicative The imperfect indicative conjugation of haber is regular. Habà ­a there was/there were Habà ­a una fiesta en mi casa.Habà ­a muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber Future Indicative The future indicative of haber is irregular because instead of using the infinitive as the stem, haber, you need to use the stem habr-. Habr there will be Habr una fiesta en mi casa.Habr muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber PeriphrasticFuture Indicative Remember to conjugate the periphrastic future with the present indicative conjugation of the verb ir (to go), followed by the preposition a and the infinitive of the verb. Va a haber there is going to be/there are going to be Va a haber una fiesta en mi casa.Va a haber muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber Present Progressive/Gerund Form The gerund or present participle is formed with the ending -iendo (for -er verbs). It can be used to form the present progressive, although the verb haber is not very frequently used in this way. Present Progressive ofHaber est habiendo There is being/There are being Est habiendo una fiesta en mi casa.Est habiendo muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber Past Participle The past participle of haber is formed with the ending -ido. Present Perfect of Haber ha habido There has been/There have been Ha habido una fiesta en mi casa.Ha habido muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber Conditional Indicative Just like the future tense, the conjugation of the conditional is irregular, since it uses the stem habr-. Habrà ­a there would be Habrà ­a una fiesta en mi casa si no estuvieran mis padres.Habrà ­a muchas muchas fiestas en mi casa si no estuvieran mis padres. Haber Present Subjunctive The conjugation of haber is irregular (similar to the present indicative conjugation). Haya that there is/that there are Mis amigos quieren que haya una fiesta en mi casa.Mis amigos quieren que haya muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber Imperfect Subjunctive Notice that there are two options for conjugating the imperfect subjunctive. Option 1 Hubiera that there was/that there were Mis amigos querà ­an que hubiera una fiesta en mi casa.Mis amigos querà ­an que hubiera muchas fiestas en mi casa. Option 2 Hubiese that there was/that there were Mis amigos querà ­an que hubiese una fiesta en mi casa.Mis amigos querà ­an que hubiese muchas fiestas en mi casa. Haber Conjugation as an Auxiliary Verb Haber is the most common of the auxiliary verbs in Spanish, as it is used to form the perfect tenses. It is the equivalent of the English have as an auxiliary verb- but it shouldnt be confused when using have with the meaning to possess, which is usually tener. The tables below show the compound tenses in which haber is used as an auxiliary verb. The examples use the past participle of the verb hablar (to talk) to demonstrate the auxiliary function of haber. Present Perfect Indicative Yo he hablado I have talked Yo he hablado con el jefe. Tà º hashablado You have talked Tà º has hablado todo el dà ­a. Usted/à ©l/ella hahablado You/he/she has talked Ella ha hablado italiano. Nosotros hemoshablado We have talked Nosotros hemos hablado por telà ©fono. Vosotros habà ©is hablado You have talked Vosotros habà ©is hablado conmigo. Ustedes/ellos/ellas hanhablado You/they have talked Ellos han hablado un rato. Pluperfect Indicative Yo habà ­a hablado I had talked Yo habà ­a hablado con el jefe. Tà º habà ­ashablado You hadtalked Tà º habà ­as hablado todo el dà ­a. Usted/à ©l/ella habà ­ahablado You/he/she had talked Ella habà ­ahablado italiano. Nosotros habà ­amoshablado We had talked Nosotros habà ­amos hablado por telà ©fono. Vosotros habà ­aishablado You had talked Vosotros habà ­ais hablado conmigo. Ustedes/ellos/ellas habà ­anhablado You/they had talked Ellos habà ­anhablado un rato. Future Perfect Indicative Yo habrà © hablado I will have talked Yo habrà © hablado con el jefe. Tà º habrshablado You will have talked Tà º habrs hablado todo el dà ­a. Usted/à ©l/ella habrhablado You/he/she will have talked Ella habrhablado italiano. Nosotros habremoshablado We will have talked Nosotros habremos hablado por telà ©fono. Vosotros habrà ©ishablado You will have talked Vosotros habrà ©is hablado conmigo. Ustedes/ellos/ellas habrnhablado You/they will have talked Ellos habrnhablado un rato. Conditional Perfect Indicative Yo habrà ­a hablado I would have talked Yo habrà ­a hablado con el jefe si hubiera tenido tiempo. Tà º habrà ­ashablado You would have talked Tà º habrà ­as hablado todo el dà ­a si te hubieran dejado. Usted/à ©l/ella habrà ­ahablado You/he/she would have talked Ella habrà ­ahablado italiano si hubiera aprendido bien. Nosotros habrà ­amoshablado We would have talked Nosotros habrà ­amos hablado por telà ©fono si no fuera tan tarde. Vosotros habrà ­aishablado You would have talked Vosotros habrà ­ais hablado conmigo si en realidad lo quisierais. Ustedes/ellos/ellas habrà ­an hablado You/they would have talked Ellos habrà ­anhablado un rato si no tuvieran que marcharse. Present Perfect Subjunctive Que yo haya hablado That I would have talked A Carlos le sorprende que yo haya hablado con el jefe. Que tà º hayashablado That you would have talked A mà ­ me molestà ³ que tà º hayas hablado todo el dà ­a. Que usted/à ©l/ella hayahablado That you/he/she would have talked A Marà ­a le gustà ³ que ella hayahablado italiano. Que nosotros hayamoshablado That we would have talked A Pedro le encantà ³ que nosotros hayamoshablado por telà ©fono. Que vosotros hayishablado That you would have talked A la maestra le gustà ³ que vosotros hayishablado conmigo. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas hayanhablado You/they would have talked A Juan le agradà ³ que ellos hayanhablado un rato. Pluperfect Subjunctive Option 1 Que yo hubiera hablado That I would have talked Carlos esperaba que yo hubiera hablado con el jefe. Que tà º hubierashablado That you would have talked A mà ­ no me parecà ­a que tà º hubieras hablado todo el dà ­a. Que usted/à ©l/ella hubierahablado That you/he/she would have talked Marà ­a no creà ­a que ella hubierahablado italiano. Que nosotros hubià ©ramoshablado That we would have talked A Pedro le hubiera gustado que nosotros hubià ©ramoshablado por telà ©fono. Que vosotros hubieraishablado That you would have talked A la maestra le sorprendà ­a que vosotros hubieraishablado conmigo. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas hubieranhablado You/they would have talked Juan preferà ­a que ellos hubieranhablado un rato. Option 2 Que yo hubiese hablado That I would have talked Carlos esperaba que yo hubiese hablado con el jefe. Que tà º hubieseshablado That you would have talked A mà ­ no me parecà ­a que tà º hubieses hablado todo el dà ­a. Que usted/à ©l/ella hubiesehablado That you/he/she would have talked Marà ­a no creà ­a que ella hubiesehablado italiano. Que nosotros hubià ©semoshablado That we would have talked A Pedro le hubiera gustado que nosotros hubià ©semoshablado por telà ©fono. Que vosotros hubieseishablado That you would have talked A la maestra le sorprendà ­a que vosotros hubieseishablado conmigo. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas hubiesenhablado You/they would have talked Juan preferà ­a que ellos hubiesenhablado un rato.

On-tap Inspiration Online

On-tap Inspiration Online On-tap Inspiration Online On-tap Inspiration Online By Ali Hale Do you ever find that you have an hour or two free to write, but you just can’t get inspired? Whether you want a compelling idea for your next short story, a topic for your blog or a starting prompt for a poem, your brain just seems to be blank. If only there were some way to get inspiration on-tap†¦ Thankfully there is! It’s called the Internet, and it’s jam-packed with ways to find your next great idea†¦ Twistori Twistori finds Twitter feeds which contain certain words: love, hate, think, believe, feel and wish. To use it, just click on one of the words on the left-hand side, then watch text stream up your screen. If you click rapidly on several words, you can come up with some brilliant juxtapositions – often, putting together two very different thoughts can result in a great piece of writing. These are just some of the lines I saw. Any of these spark off some (maybe slightly crazy) ideas? I think Im inheriting a cat tomorrow I feel like Im riding my exercise bike to nowhere. Why cant I get frequent rider miles and fly to Italy with them? I can tell its already going to be a crazy super long week. I wish I could duplicate myself!! I hate birthdays and i hate signing cards and celebrating them at work. Imagination prompt generator The Imagination prompt generator gives you a random prompt every time you click. Good for non-fiction writers, especially personal essayists. Just click on the ‘Next prompt’ button. If you find writing on one prompt two easy, pick two to combine in the same piece. Here’s a few it came up with for me, and my thoughts on how they could be used. â€Å"List five books that youve read this year.† – If you’re a blogger, pick books on your topic and write a review of them for your blog. â€Å"Without my life partner, Id† – This would be a personal, reflective piece, perhaps something for your journal. It could even be suitable to send to a magazine. â€Å"Can you live without electricity for a month?† – Questions like this one could lead to an article on how dependant we are on electricity, or even a piece of fiction about a TV-and-computer-addicted teenager being taken on a very â€Å"low-tech† family holiday†¦ Random Word Generator combined with Flickr Open these two sites in different tabs or browser windows. The Random Word Generator will give you a word – and Flickr will find you an image. Get your word by hitting ‘New Word’ (it’s easiest to use nouns, but other types of word can yield interesting results.) Then type that word into the search box on Flickr. Pick one of the images that comes up – to get the best of the lot, sort by ‘Most interesting’. Don’t spend too long choosing your image, just pick one, click on the thumbnail in the search results to see the big version, and gaze at it for a while. This could yield ideas for a poem, story, article, even a letter or journal entry. We Feel Fine We Feel Fine asks the question â€Å"What are you feeling?† and finds answers from thousands of blogs. It is a rich source of emotions and ideas, and lots of fun to play with. Give it a minute to load, then click on one of the floating coloured blobs. (You can also change mode to ‘Murmurs’ to see a list of streaming text – try out the different options in the bottom left corner.) You’ll get thoughts like these: â€Å"i sometimes tend to dwell on not having the life i wish i had and then i hear stories like these and it makes me very grateful for everything i have† – This could be a great starting point for a blog post on gratitude, or perhaps for a story where a character undergoes a complete shift in their state of mind when they learn about someone else’s troubles. ‘i feel like for the first time my outlook on life has vastly improved’ – This raises a lot of questions: why has the speaker’s outlook improved? How were things different before? This could make a good start – or even a whole theme – for a story. ‘i don’t feel too guilty about it because i don’t cook breakfast for people who don’t get out of bed before nine thirty’ – You could take this in several directions; perhaps a short story about a mother exasperated with her layabout teenagers, an article about sleeping habits and waking-up times, or a blog post on how to become an early riser (though that topic’s been fairly well covered.) What are your favourite sites for online inspiration? Those are just a few sites that I love, and I’m sure there’s dozens of great ones I’ve not even discovered yet. Share your favourites in the comments below (and if you’re willing, let us know what they’ve inspired you to write!) Or if you try out one of the above sites, tell us what you come up with†¦ Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing LightThe Parts of a WordPresent Participle as Adjective

The Emergence of Industry Clusters Theory & Evidence Essay

The Emergence of Industry Clusters Theory & Evidence - Essay Example On the other hand, the term ‘industry cluster’ is referred to as the geographic absorption of interconnected businesses, suppliers and associated organisations in a particular field (Cilibrasi & Vitanyi, 2005). The industry clusters are primarily considered so as to enhance the productivity and the profitability of the organisations which would augment the corporate image and the customer loyalty among other competitors in the markets. It would be beneficial for an enterprise to cope up with the competitive challenges of the varied situations and conditions. Therefore, it is also known as competitive cluster or Porterian cluster (Sandiego Association of Governments, n.d.). In addition, an industry cluster also enhances the probability of skilled workers at a quite lower rate as compared to other market scenarios, infrastructure facilities, and distribution facilities among others. Apart from this, an industrial cluster also reduces the business and the financial risks as well as offers flexibility in the management decision processes of the enterprises thereby improving the profit margins of the organisations. ... This assignment is divided into five phases including introduction, key particulars related to industry clusters, relevant theories on the origin and emergence of industry clusters, plans and policy recommendations and finally conclusion. Key Particulars Related To Industry Clusters Industry cluster is defined as the group of interrelated companies and industries mainly found in the micropolitan areas, but each cluster is unique in size, core potencies and dealings. The industry clusters are the groups of firms in a specific geographical region that share a universal market, technologies, workers’ skill and are also linked with the buyer-seller relationships. It makes an area competitive as well as a viable location for the development of varied industries. According to Klepper (2010) industry clusters are vibrant entities which might change depending upon the existing industries or on the exterior conditions. These are the geographic deliberations of competing, opposite, or i nter-reliant firms and industries that might perform business operations with each other or with exterior enterprises. The firms present in the cluster may be aggressive and cooperative in nature. This is due to the fact, that at the initial stages of development, the area or market is entirely new and the rivals are also quite less as compared to others. Thus, it can be affirmed that no explicit benefit is offered by any specific region or market at the preliminary stages of development of clusters. However, after the establishment of the cluster, the area becomes competitive as well as feasible for business prospects which enhance the economic growth of the area. As a result, it attracts new industry entrants, which increases the competitiveness of the region. This can also be

Moral laws of the jews and gentiles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Moral laws of the jews and gentiles - Essay Example Paul writes to the Roman â€Å"For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves† (Roman 2: 14). In Romans 2: 25, He writes â€Å"For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision† (Romans 2: 25). This article explains the moral law between the Jews and the Gentiles, the relationship between Romans 2: 14-15 and 25-29, and the meaning of circumcision in the last passage. The Jews believed they were holy people who are entitled to their privileges by right, while they were rebellious and unrighteous. Paul, however, reminds them that God will judge everyone in accordance to their true characters. Paul advises the Jews to do the things contained in the law by nature. Everybody will be judged by law, and only law observers will be justified. He further clarifies that the same principles applies to the Gentiles too. The Gentiles have not written and revealed laws like the Jews, therefore, they should observe, and abide by the laws contained in the moral principles of the laws of Moses. This implies that they are a law to themselves. Their moral sense and consciences are a law. Paul does not imply that this is the law among the Gentiles, but suggests that the ethics of the law should apply to some of the Gentile’s natural characters. In Romans 2: 25-29, Paul clearly prevents Jews’ objection, those who set holiness in circumcision, and the logical observation of the law. He highlights that physical circumcision is not of any significance in an individual’s spiritual life, unless its inner interpretation is considered. He condemns those who are circumcised, but do not fulfill what circumcision signifies. According to Paul, circumcision signifies cleanliness of the heart, and adherence to the principles of the commandment of the law. Any uncircumcised man, according to the flesh, who is

Poverty, Income Inequality, and Community Crime Rates Research Paper

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Course Project Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Formation of Business Idea Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

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Effect of luxury cars on the uk market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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Comparison-Theory of Evolution vs Creationism Theory Essay Example for Free

Comparison-Theory of Evolution vs Creationism Theory Essay In this essay I will compare the Theory of Creationism and the Theory of Evolution. While there are many that deeply believe in each of these theories, they present stark differences in thinking, and in individual beliefs. Let us begin by looking at Creationism. This particular theory has not a single shred of evidence to support it, yet vast populations are willing to die rather than denounce it. It has been referred to as â€Å"The Truth†. The basic belief of this theory is that â€Å"The Lord God†, or a â€Å"Supreme Being† created the universe and everything in it. It is believed that we as humans were made in the image of â€Å"God†. God created man, and called him â€Å"Adam†. Adam was lonely and The Lord then took a rib from Adam while he slept, and with it he created woman. God called her â€Å"Eve†. The creation of the universe and everything in it took six days. On the seventh day, God rested. In stark contrast to the Creationist Theory, we have what is called the Theory of Evolution. Charles Darwin is credited with first proposing this theory, which also includes something known as ‘natural selection†. First things first, let us examine evolution. Darwin believed that we as humans, as wells animals and even plants are constantly changing. His belief and that of many others is that with every generation slight modifications are inherent, thus producing better and better offspring. By this this he means better adapted to survive and flourish. If it could ever be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. † (Charles Darwin). To summarize, the basis of theory here is the guiding force or â€Å"natural selection† preserves beneficial variations, therefore each generation exhibits new and more complex organisms. 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Not only is the opportunity to study God-related ideas not permitted, but evolutional ideas have not been proven either. Since evolutionists are not willing to abandon the naturalistic axiom they are forced to make one final observation. They must assume that science will inevitably discover the origin of life in the future. Therefore nothing has been proven-only assumptions have been made. Many scientists however have already accepted that evolution can be proved, yet I have not seen evidence of either theory. It is because of the lack of evidence that I make an observation myself. In other words, I presume to know one thing: Our beliefs are of a personal nature. They are not to be criticized or debated. Not an ounce of proof is necessary. Neither is the application of any type of axiom. No matter if an individual chooses either of the theories discussed in this paper, or proposes a theory of their own, or decides that no theory is even adequate-whatever one believes can never be wrong. While many would like to impose their beliefs on others, it is not an acceptable practice on any level. To attempt to do so has far reaching consequences and many times results in catastrophic illness, heartbreak and death. I find it unconscionable, yet it is occurring in many parts of the world even as this essay is written. Decisions can only be made for oneself. If only every person everywhere would stop to consider this, it is this author’s opinion that the world would be a much happier place.