Thursday, December 26, 2019

Prejudice and Discrimination Essay - 913 Words

Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice: 1) an opinion formed without careful thought.2) an unreasonable or unfair feeling (in favour of, or against something). Discrimination : 1) to be the difference between. 2) (with favour of, against ) to treat favourably or unfairly. These are the dictionaries definitions of what the two words mean, obviously very briefly. Different forms of prejudice and discrimination are the underlining of racism, sexism, ageism, nationalism and more, but these are the key elements of prejudice and discrimination. All around the world different people of different religions, race etc are troubled with these issues everyday against each other and from others, no matter†¦show more content†¦Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that help should be given without regard to race. In a sexist society Jesus treated women with dignity and respect; e.g. The woman at the well; (John 4) Christians do not accept discrimination. From people I have asked, and from what I have read I have concluded that a Christian, or somebody with Christian morals would offer a victim of prejudice or discrimination, and help them to deal with it, in the ways of dealing with the effects of the actual event or actions of somebody else in a compassionate way. The perpetrator should also be helped in a way to guide them and help them understand the views and emotions of the victim. Saying this, many Christians deal with it in another way. Many Christians are police officers, but discriminating is a criminal offence, and the perpetrator can be tried for it in a court of law. This means the Christian is punishing the perpetrator, and will be further punished by a court. Discrimination can also be misunderstood. A recent article in the newspaper showed that a Pakistani person felt that he had been discriminated against, as somebody had called him a Paki. This man had taken the other man to court, under the charge of discrimination. The judge, whoShow MoreRelatedDiscrimination And Prejudice And Discrimination1638 Words   |  7 PagesDiscrimination comes in a number of forms. We have age discrimination, employment or job discrimination, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, reverse discrimination, sexual discrimination, and others. Prejudice is a negative attitude toward a socially defined group and toward any person perceived to be a member of that group (Burgess, 2003). The purpose of her research was to talk about discrimination and prejudices and the affect they have on our day to day lives. She also defines prejudiceRead MoreDiscrimination And Prejudice And Discrimination1608 Words   |  7 PagesDiscrimination comes in all forms. Th ere is age discrimination, employment or job discrimination, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, reverse discrimination, sexual discrimination, and then there is also positive discrimination such as a guy letting an attractive woman out in traffic; he is then positively discriminating against her. Prejudice is a negative attitude toward a socially defined group and toward any person perceived to be a member of that group. The purpose of my research isRead MorePrejudice And Discrimination : Prejudice Essay1527 Words   |  7 PagesPrejudice and Discrimination Prejudice and discrimination can take several different forms. The first item I would like to delineate in this essay is the correlations between prejudice, racism, and discrimination. Prejudices quite often stem from ignorance or a lack of understanding. Essentially, prejudice strips away any individualism that belongs to a person and creates a negative opinion as soon as a connection is made to the group with which the person belongs. This happens because the prejudiceRead MorePrejudice, Discrimination, And Discrimination1050 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is Aversive Prejudice/Discrimination All types of prejudice vary in some ways , some people are very blunt and some people merely whisper under their breath or secretly avoid the people they dislike. This falls more in between those line with this being an example of averise racism specifically â€Å" Aversive racists, in contrast, sympathize with victims of past injustice,support principles of racial equality, and genuinely regard themselves as non-prejudiced, but at the same time possess conflictingRead MoreDiscrimination And Prejudice And Discrimination Essay1672 Words   |  7 PagesPeople can be can be prejudice or be discriminatory towards anyone for any reason. Prejudice and discrimination are two very different things, prejudice is the unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of their race, sex religion, etc. Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. It can occur anywhere, in the workplace , shops, restaurants, schools or just walking down the street. OneRead MoreDiscrimination And Prejudice : Discrimination1719 Words   |  7 PagesKendrah Lopez CS – 420 12 Sep. 2017 Discrimination and Prejudice Discrimination and Prejudice I chose discrimination and prejudice for my multicultural paper, because I feel that discrimination and prejudice is the main reason for all the hate in the world. People are discriminated against because of reasons such as race, ethnicity, religion, looks, sex, sexual orientation, class, and other ridiculous reasons. I feel that if discrimination could be eradicated, then this world would be a peacefulRead MoreDiscrimination : Prejudice And Discrimination Essay2081 Words   |  9 PagesRunning Head: PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION 1 PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION 8 Prejudice and Discrimination: What?s the Difference? Emily B. Hutchins Salem College Prejudice and Discrimination: What?s the Difference? Prejudice and discrimination are two different actions with similar meanings. A person can have prejudice without acting in a discriminatory manner; however, if someone is discriminating against someone, they have prejudices. A prejudice can start from a stereotype andRead MorePrejudice and Discrimination1551 Words   |  7 PagesAnalytical Factsheet on Prejudice amp; Discrimination on Class Inequality Section 1: Executive Summary This essay is about prejudice and discrimination occurring in Singapore context to address Class discrimination. This essay will also show reasons to why prejudice and discrimination occurs and the effects of such inequity can cause to the society. In this case studies possible measures and solutions will be highlighted and suggested. Section 2: The issues and who are involved This essay willRead MorePrejudice, Discrimination, And Institutional Discrimination Essay1438 Words   |  6 Pagestoday’s society may believe that prejudice and discrimination mean the same thing and most people may not pay attention to the fact that there is a huge difference between the two terms. The main difference between these terms is, prejudice is a negative idea about a certain group of people or people of a particular race. The person usually doesn’t act on the idea, they mainly just keep it to themselves. Most would describe it as being a â€Å"pre-judgement†. Discrimination, on the other hand, is far muchRead MorePrejudice and Discrimination Essay1621 Words   |  7 PagesBethany Norris – Unit 1 – Prejudice and Discrimination Part One Prejudice: The dictionary defines prejudice as an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge. This means that a person may form an opinion on a person or a particular group of people without having any facts or knowledge about that person or group. Prejudice is normally perceived as being bad but there are some instances where prejudice is an aid to survival for example

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Overview of Community Corrections in USA - 1191 Words

Community Corrections Community Corrections are the non-prison penalties that are enforced on convicted, sentenced or arrested adults (i.e. 18 or above) for making crimes. Community corrections are basically planned for the crimes that are petty as compared to the serious offences that are murder, kidnapping or so on. The crimes that are supposed to receive less severe punishment are given in charge of community corrections. These programs focus on non-violent offenders and punish them with probation, house arrest, victim integrated rehabilitation or release them on bail and thus saving them from sentencing of getting in prison. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2012) The aim behind these community corrections programs is to give a second chance to the petty offenders and help them becoming the productive citizen of the country. Since, most of the people in the community start treating the people who once been prisoned as like an alien; they are not chosen for the jobs they deserve nor given the respect. Such behavior worsens the attitude of these people. Moreover, most of the people become psychological patients after coming out of the jail. The community corrections programs aims at providing non-violent offenders a favorable environment to build their confidence. They are saved from prison and given a chance to live a normal life. Since, the environment of jail is tormenting and instead of becoming a better person, the people with minor offences become more negative.Show MoreRelatedImpact of the Usa Patriot Act2309 Words   |  10 PagesAbstract The primary concern of this paper is to establish the impact of the USA Patriot Act on local law enforcement and its potential for net widening. This paper will cover three primary areas to provide a proper public safety case analysis. First the paper will describe the public safety agency and its roles in relation to the USA PATRIOT ACT. Then the paper will provide a detail explanation of the leadership, management, and administration roles of the public safety agency chosen. Finally thisRead MoreWhy Funding For Nih Should Continue1475 Words   |  6 PagesWhy funding for NIH should continue, and corrections to Dr. Not A Scientist’s scientific knowledge April 17, 2017 By: Hena Arel Ahmed-Said While it is accurate that the budget proposal by President Trump included cuts to programs such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) budget,8 there are many discrepancies in Dr. Not A. Scientist’s (Dr. N.A.S) article which I will be addressing. As stated in Dr. N.A.S’s op-ed, one of NIH’s goal is to utilize research and scientific resources in order toRead MorePrison Education Essay4573 Words   |  19 PagesResearch (NCUR) 2009 University of Wisconsin La-Crosse La-Crosse, Wisconsin April 16 - 18, 2009 Prison Culture, Education, and Recidivism Rates Caleb L. Fry and Lauren T. Rios Department of Anthropology Lake Tahoe Community College One College Drive South Lake Tahoe, California 96150 USA Faculty Advisor: Daryl G. Frazetti Abstract Given the number of inmates in the prison system and the high level of recidivism, it is important to seek out possible solutions to this growing problem. By implementingRead MoreEvaluation Of Robinson s Juvenile Recidivism Prevention Center3541 Words   |  15 Pages INTRODUCTION Overview Mentoring is an effective way to prevent at-risk youth especially from getting involved in delinquency and also to help already delinquent youth/ juvenile offenders to change their lives for the better. RJRPC mentoring program targets non-violent, non-serious, non-sex juvenile offenders aged between 10 and 18 who live on the South West area of Napa City and who are referred to RJRPC by the Family Court and the Napa County Juvenile Probation and Corrections Department. TheRead MoreHealthcare Privacy And Security Laws3468 Words   |  14 Pages HEALTHCARE PRIVACY SECURITY LAWS IN USA, EUROPEAN UNION, INDIA E-HEALTH TERM PROJECT BY SUSHMITHA SAI KARI VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY OVERVIEW: Protecting data in the healthcare is extremely important as it contains valuable information about the patient like personally identified health information. The information is vital, as it exhibits a strong relationship between doctor and patient for dealing with any issues the patient might have. It provides, absolute care, and gives betterRead MoreLego Case6045 Words   |  25 Pagesdecision become a successful strategy. LEGO Goals focus on increasing, developing and expanding â€Å"direct to consumer† activities. The company has three main divisions in order to secure a successful implementation: â€Å"Market and Product† division, â€Å"Community, Education and Direct† and Operation division. This report discusses the 7 S model analyses: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills. Excelling in this areas, LEGO became the fourth biggest toy manufacturer in theRead MoreImpacts of Global Financial Crisis on Hrm Policies8256 Words   |  34 Pageswell senior learning and talent professionals.  The discussions at this event focused primarily on the opportunities HR faces in changing how business was accomplished in their organizations, the role HR plays in connecting their companies’ various communities, and how HR could support critical business decisions.   Although these two events seem miles away from each other in their discussions and participants, in reality they share a closer connection than many would suspect. The common challenges andRead MoreGender Imbalance Of Primary Schools : An Exploration Of Different Social Theories Essay4262 Words   |  18 Pagesand gravitational forces are at work. Conspiracy theories (counter theories) are more to the contrary. Counter theory thinking can be linked to Conflict Theory, which is often linked with the work of German socialist Karl Marx (1818-1883). 8.0 An Overview of Common Social Theories †¢ Symbolic Interaction Theory †¢ Conflict Theory †¢ Gender Schema Theory †¢ Functionalist Theory †¢ Feminist Theory †¢ Critical Theory †¢ Labeling Theory †¢ Social Learning Theory †¢ Structural Strain Theory †¢ Rational ChoiceRead MoreReed Supermarket Case32354 Words   |  130 Pagessensory and celebrity branding; aims to be a ‘true’ global marketing book, with cases and exhibits from all parts of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Far East, North and South America; provides a complete and concentrated overview of the total international marketing planning process; many new up-to-date exhibits and cases illustrate the theory by showing practical applications. Outline As the book has a clear decision-oriented approach, it is structured according to theRead MoreJhgj12333 Words   |  50 Pagesframework overrides any specific IFRS. 2 C. Horngren, â€Å"Uses and Limitations of a Conceptual Framework,† Journal of Accountancy (April 1981), p. 90. 1 2–2  · IFRS Supplement to an existing framework of basic theory. For example, Sunshine Mining (USA) sold two issues of bonds. It can redeem them either with $1,000 in cash or with 50 ounces of silver, whichever is worth more at maturity. Both bond issues have a stated interest rate of 8.5 percent. At what amounts should Sunshine or the buyers of

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Critdiscanalysis Doc free essay sample

My current research is on processes of social change in their discourse aspect (Fairclough 1992 is an early formulation of a version of CDA specialized for this theme). More specifically, I am concerned with recent and contemporary processes of social transformation which are variously identified by such terms as ‘neo-liberalism’, ‘globalisation’, ‘transition’, ‘information society’, ‘knowledge-based economy’ and ‘learning society’. I shall focus here on the version of CDA I have been using in more recent (partly collaborative) work (Chiapello Fairclough 2002, Chouliaraki Fairclough 1999, Fairclough 2000a, 2000b, 2003, 2004, Fairclough, Jessop Sayer 2004). Methodologically, this approach entails working in a ‘transdisciplinary’ way through dialogue with other disciplines and theories which are addressing contemporary processes of social change. Transdisciplinary’ (as opposed to merely ‘interdisciplinary’, or indeed ‘postdisciplinary’, Sum Jessop 2001) implies that the theoretical and methodological development (the latter including development of methods of analysis) of CDA and the disciplines/theories it is in dialogue with is informed through that dialogue, a matter of working with (though not at all simply appropriating) the ‘logic’ and categories of the other in developing one’s own theory and methodology (Fairclough forthcoming a). The overriding objective is to give accounts – and more precise accounts than one tends to find in social research on change of the ways in which and extent to which social changes are changes in discourse, and the relations between changes in discourse and changes in other, non-discoursal, elements or ‘moments’ of social life (including therefore the question of the senses and ways in which discourse ‘(re)constructs’ social life in processes of social change). The aim is also to identify through analysis the particular linguistic, semiotic and ‘interdiscursive’ (see below) features of ‘texts’ (in a broad sense – see below) which are a part of processes of social change, but in ways which facilitate the productive integration of textual analysis into multi-disciplinary research on change. Theoretically, this approach is characterized by a realist social ontology (which regards both abstract social structures and concrete social events as parts of social reality), a dialectical view of the relationship between structure and agency, and of the relationship between discourse and other elements or ‘moments’ of social practices and social events (discourse is different from – not reducible to – but not discrete from – ‘internalizes’ and is ‘internalized’ by (Harvey 1996) – other social elements). I shall proceed as follows. In section 1 I shall give summarise main theoretical features of this version of CDA. In Section 2 I shall discuss the view of methodology, including methods of data collection and analysis, referring specifically to an aspect of ‘transition’ (and ‘globalisation’) in central and eastern Europe and more particularly in Romania: the project of developing ‘information societies’ and ‘knowledge-based economies’. I shall develop this example in Section 3, discussing the recontextualization of discourses of the ‘information society’ and ‘knowledge-based economy’ in a Romanian policy document. . Theoretical issues The term ‘discourse’ is used in various ways within the broad field of discourse analysis. Two are of particular relevance here. First, ‘discourse’ in an abstract sense as a category which designates the broadly semiotic elements (as opposed to and in relation to other, non-semi otic, elements) of social life (language, but also visual semiosis, ‘body language’ etc). I prefer to use the term ‘semiosis’ (Fairclough, Jessop Sayer 2004) to avoid the common confusion of this sense of ‘discourse’ with the second, hich I retain: ‘discourse’ as a count noun, as a category for designating particular ways of representing particular aspects of social life (eg it is common to distinguish different political discourses, which represent for example problems of inequality, disadvantage, poverty, ‘social exclusion’, in different ways). The category of ‘discourse’ in this second sense is defined through its relation to and difference from two other categories, ‘genre’ and ‘style’ (see below). The realist social ontology adopted here treats social structures as well as social events as parts of social reality. Like a number social theorists, such as Bourdieu and Bhaskar (Bourdieu Wacquant 1992, Bhaskar 1986), I assume that coherent accounts of the relationship between social structures and social events depend upon mediating categories, for which I shall use the term ‘social practices’, meaning more or less stable and durable forms of social activity, which are articulated together to constitute social fields, institutions, and organizations. There is a semiotic dimension at each of these levels. Languages (as well as other semiotic systems) are a particular type of social structure. I use the term ‘order of discourse’ (the term is Foucault’s, but it is recontextualized within this version of CDA in a distinctive way, see Foucault 1984, Fairclough 1992, 2003) for the semiotic dimension of articulated networks of social practices (for instance, the political field is partly constituted as a particular order of discourse, so too are specific governmental, educational or business organizations). I use the term ‘text’ in an extended way for the semiotic dimension of social events – the written documents and websites of government are ‘texts’ in this sense, as also are interviews and meetings in government or business organisations (Fairclough 2003). The term ‘text’ is not really felicitous used in this way, because one cannot shake off its primary association with written texts, but it is difficult to find a preferable general term. Social practices and, at a concrete level, social events, are articulations of diverse social elements, including semiosis. One might for instance see social practices as including the following elements (though there is clearly room for argument about what the elements are): Activities Social relations Objects and instruments Time and place Social subjects, with beliefs, knowledge, values etc Semiosis These elements are dialectically related (Harvey 1996). That is to say, they are different elements, but not discrete, fully separate, elements. There is a sense in which each ‘internalizes’ the others without being reducible to them. So for instance social relations in organizations clearly have a partly semiotic character, but that does not mean that we simply theorize and research social relations in the same way that we theorize and research language. They have distinct properties, and researching them gives rise to distinct disciplines. Conversely, texts are so massively ‘overdetermined’ (Althusser Balibar 1970, Fairclough, Jessop Sayer 2004) by other social elements that linguistic analysis of texts quickly finds itself addressing questions about social relations, social identities, institutions, and so forth, but this does not mean that linguistic analysis of texts is reducible to forms of social analysis. Nevertheless, the dialectical character of relations between elements underscores the value and importance of working across disciplines in a ‘transdisciplinary’ way. Semiosis figures in broadly three ways in social practices (and the articulations of practices which constitute social fields, institutions, organizations) and social events. First, it figures as a part of the social activity, part of the action (and interaction). For instance, part of doing a job (for instance, being a shop assistant) is using language in a particular way; so too is part of governing a country. Second, semiosis figures in representations. Social actors acting within any field or organization produce representations of other practices, as well as (‘reflexive’) representations of their own practices, in the course of their activity, and different social actors will represent them differently according to how they are positioned within fields or organizations. Third, semiosis figures in ways of being, in the constitution of identities – for nstance the identity of a political leader such as Tony Blair in the UK is partly a semiotically constituted way of being (Fairclough 2000b). Semiosis as part of social activity constitutes ‘genres’. Genres are diverse ways of (inter)acting in their specifically semiotic aspect. Examples are: meetings in various types of organisation, political and other forms of interview, news articles in the press, and book reviews. Semiosis in the representation and self-representation of social practices constitutes â⠂¬Ëœdiscourses’. Discourses are diverse representations of social life. For instance, the lives of poor and disadvantaged people are represented through different discourses in the social practices of government, politics, medicine, and social science, as well as through different discourses within each of these practices corresponding to different positions of social actors. Finally, semiosis as part of ways of being constitutes ‘styles’ – for instance the styles of business managers, or political leaders. The semiotic aspect of a social field or institution or organization (ie of a specific articulation of social practices) is an ‘order of discourse’, a specific articulation of diverse genres and discourses and styles. At a higher level of analysis, part of the analysis of relations between different social fields, institutions and (types of) organization(s) is analysis of relations between different orders of discourse (eg those of politics and the mass media). An order of discourse is a social structuring of semiotic difference – a particular social ordering of relationships amongst different ways of making meaning, ie different discourses and genres and styles. One aspect of this ordering is dominance: some ways of making meaning are dominant or mainstream in a particular order of discourse, others are marginal, or oppositional, or ‘alternative’. For instance, there may be a dominant way to conduct a doctor-patient consultation in Britain, but there are also various other ways, which may be adopted or developed to a greater or lesser extent alongside or in opposition to the dominant way. The dominant way probably still maintains social distance between doctors and patients, and the authority of the doctor over the way interaction proceeds; but there are other ways which are more ‘democratic’, in which doctors play down their authority. The political concept of ‘hegemony’ can usefully be used in analyzing orders of discourse (Butler et al 2000, Fairclough 1992, Laclau Mouffe 1985). A particular social structuring of semiotic difference may become hegemonic, become part of the legitimizing common sense which sustains relations of domination, though hegemony is always open to contestation to a greater or lesser extent. An order of discourse is not a closed or rigid system, but rather an open system, which can be changed by what happens in actual interactions. In critical realist terms (Fairclough, Jessop Sayer 2004), social events are constituted through the intersection of two causal powers – those of social practices (and, behind them, of social structures), and those of social agents. We may say that social agents produce events in occasioned and situated ways, but they depend on social structures and social practices do so – the causal powers of social agents are mediated by those of social structures and practices, and vice-versa. Texts in the extended sense I described earlier are the semiotic elements of social events, and it helps to highlight the productive activity of social agents in making texts if we think of them in process terms as ‘texturing’: social agents draw upon social structures (including languages) and practices (including orders of discourse) in producing texts, but actively work these ‘resources’, create (potentially novel) texts out of them, rather than simply instantiating them. Analysis of texts includes ‘interdiscursive’ analysis of how genres, discourses and styles are articulated together. These are categories which are distinguished and related at the level of social practices (as elements of orders of discourse). At the level of social events – texts – they are drawn upon in ways which give rise to hybridity or ‘mixing’ of categories, ie a text may be hybrid with respect to genres, discourses and/or styles (for instance, the ‘marketization’ of higher education is partly a matter of texts which ‘mix’ the genres and styles, as well as more obviously the discourses, of education and of the market, Fairclough 1993). Analysis of texts also includes linguistic analysis, and semiotic analysis of for instance visual images (contemporary texts are characteristically, and increasing, ‘multimodal’ with respect semiotic systems, Kress van Leeuwen 2000). Interdiscursive analysis is a central and distinctive feature of this version of CDA. It allows one to incorporate elements of ‘context’ into the analysis of texts, to show the relationship between concrete occasional events and more durable social practices, to show innovation and change in texts, and it has a mediating role in allowing one to connect detailed linguistic and semiotic features of texts with processes of social change on a broader scale. Social change includes change in social practices and in the networking of social practices, how social practices are articulated together in the constitution of social fields, institutions and organizations, and in the relations between fields, institutions and organisations. This includes change in orders of discourse and relations between orders of discourse (and so changes in genres, discourses and styles and relations between genres, discourses and styles). Moreover, changes in semiosis (orders of discourse) are a precondition for wider processes of social change – for example, an elaborated network of genres is a precondition for ‘globalisation’ if one understands the latter as including enhancement of possibilities for ‘action at a distance’, and the spatial ‘stretching’ of relations of power (Giddens 1990). And in many cases, wider processes of social change can be seen as starting from change in discourse, as I argue below. I said above that the relationship between semiosis and other elements of social practices is a dialectical relationship – semiosis internalises and is internalised by other elements without the different elements being reducible to each other. They are different, but not discrete. If we think of the dialectics of discourse in historical terms, in terms of processes of social change, the question that arises is the ways in which and the conditions under which processes of internalisation take place. Take the concept of a ‘knowledge-based economy’. This suggests a qualitative change in economies such that economic processes are primarily knowledge-driven, and change comes about, at an increasingly rapid pace, through the generation, circulation, and operationalisation (including materialization)of knowledge in economic processes. Of course knowledge (science, technology) has long (indeed, one might say always) been ignificant in economic change, but what is being suggested is a dramatic increase in its significance in comparison with other factors (including financial capital and labour force) – though the extent to which this is an actual change in reality rather than a fashionable rhetorical construal of reality remains contentious. The relevance of these ideas here is that ‘knowledge-driven’ amounts to ‘discourse-driven’: knowledge is generated and circulates as discourses, and the process through which knowledge (as discourses) be come operationalised in economies is precisely the dialectics of semiosis. Discourses include representations of how things are and have been, as well as imaginaries – representations of how things might or could or should be. The ‘knowledge’ of the knowledge-based economy includes imaginaries in this sense – projections of possible states of affairs, ‘possible worlds’. In terms of the concept of social practice, they imagine possible social practices and networks of social practices – possible articulations of activities, social subjects, social relations, instruments, objects, space times, values. These imaginaries may be operationalized as actual (networks of) practices – imagined activities, subjects, social relations etc can become real activities, subjects, social relations etc. Operationalization includes materialization of discourses – economic discourses become materialized for instance in the instruments of economic production, including the ‘hardware’ (plant, machinery, etc) and the ‘software’ (management systems, etc). Discourses as imaginaries also come to be enacted in new ways of acting and interacting, and such enactments are in part ‘intra-semiotic’: discourses become enacted as genres. Consider for instance new management discourses which imagine management systems based upon ‘teamwork’, relatively non-hierarchical, networked, ways of managing organisations. They may become enacted semiotically as new genres (within new networks of genres), for instance genres for team meetings. Such specifically semiotic enactments are embedded within their more general enactment as new ways of acting and interacting in production processes. Discourses as imaginaries may also come to be inculcated as new ways of being, new identities. It is a commonplace that new economic and social formations depend upon new subjects – for instance, ‘Taylorism’ as a production and management system depended upon changes in the ways of being, the identities, of workers (Gramsci 1971). The process of ‘changing the subject’ can be thought of in terms of the inculcation of new discourses – Taylorism would be an example. Inculcation is a matter of people coming to ‘own’ discourses, to position themselves inside them, to act and think and talk and see themselves in terms of new discourses. A stage towards inculcation is rhetorical deployment: people may learn new discourses and use them for certain purposes (eg procuring funding for regional development projects or academic research) while at the same time self-consciously keeping a distance from them. One of the complexities of the dialectics of discourse is the process in which what begins as self-conscious rhetorical deployment becomes ‘ownership’ – how people become un-self-consciously positioned ‘within’ a discourse. Inculcation also has its material aspects: discourses are dialectically inculcated not only in styles, ways of using language, they are also materialised in bodies, postures, gestures, ways of moving, and so forth (which are themselves semioticized to various degrees, but without being reducible to semiosis). There is nothing inevitable about the dialectics of semiosis (the ‘dialectics of discourse’, Harvey 1996) as I have described it. A new discourse may come into an institution or organisation without being enacted or inculcated. It may be enacted, yet never be fully inculcated. Examples abound. For instance, managerial discourses have been quite extensively enacted within British (as well as other national) universities (eg as procedures of staff appraisal, including a new genre of ‘appraisal interview’), yet arguably the extent of inculcation is limited – many if not most academics do not ‘own’ these management discourses. We have to consider the conditions of possibility for, and the constraints upon, the dialectics of discourse in particular cases. This has a bearing on theories of ‘social constructionism’ (Sayer 2000).

Monday, December 2, 2019

La Noche Boca Arriba Essays - DraftOlney Goin, Corn Tellado

La Noche Boca Arriba Farnaz Falsafi Espa?ol 312 30/10/00 ?La noche boca arriba? La imaginaci?n del ser humano es como una llave a otro mundo. Nos permite construir nuestras propias experiencias adem?s de las que ocurren en el mundo real. Es natural utilizar la mente para inventar nuestro mundo ideal, aunque usualmente no es una realidad obtenible. En el cuento ?La noche boca arriba? por Julio Cort?zar, se puede ver esta transformaci?n, en que un hombre al borde de la muerte flota entre dos mundos separados, uno de la realidad y el otro s?lo el producto de su imaginaci?n, para tratar de escapar el destino inevitable. El car?cter principal experimenta dos mundos en su mente. El autor usa la estructura narrativa y la idea de la fantas?a (el sue?o) para dar un sentido de confusi?n de la identidad. Primero, Cort?zar escribi? el cuento con un estilo diferente y t?pico de su estilo. El autor usa los sue?os en sus obras para mostrar los aspectos irracionales de la existencia humana. Este cuento es como un espacio libre para ni?os, donde el lector puede explorar y experimentar el cuento sin las usuales restricciones de la literatura. Por ejemplo, en este cuento mezcla lo real y la fantas?a. En esa manera, el autor ha roto las reglas de la literatura para demostrar ciertos aspectos de ser humano. La historia es narrada en la tercera persona. Eso es importante para el desarrollo del cuento, porque en tercera persona, el narrador puede saber todo de lo que el car?cter est? experimentando y sintiendo. Tiene una perspectiva de un omnipotente y por eso puede cuenta la historia mejor. Otra cosa es un choque que el lector siente cuando lee. Cuando el lector empiece a leer el cuento, al principio parece ser como tantos otros cuentos. Pero el autor r?pidamente da una choque al lector. Cort?z ar hace un cambio entre los sue?os de un hombre; del un hospital hoy en d?a, y una selva durante la ?poca de los aztecas. Las dos son tan distintas hasta que producen esta afecta. El cuento trata de los sue?os, y por eso se puede decir que juega con las ideas que los sue?os vienen de nuestros propios mentes. Adem?s de la estructura narrativa, Cort?zar manipula la idea de la fantas?a. ?l usa la fantas?a para distinguir entre las dos identidades del hombre. El hombre, casi muerto en la cama de un hospital, empiece tener las pesadillas v?vidas. En sus sue?os, el hombre est? en el tiempo de los aztecas. Est? en la selva durante la noche y sabe que tiene que escapar a los aztecas para que no le sacrifiquen. Las pesadillas del hombre son tan descriptivas y tan reales hasta que sus sue?os son otro mundo en s?. En su sue?o el hombre est? en el pasado, en una selva y tiene miedo. Hay un olor muy extra?o y fuerte que el hombre casi no puede aguantar. Cort?zar usa el olor muchas veces para representar el miedo de la persona. El empleo del olor es un ejemplo de las im?genes que Cort?zar cre? en la historia. En el sue?o el narrador dice, ?Pero el olor ces?, y en cambio vino una fragancia compuesta y oscura como la noche en que se mov?a huyendo de los aztecas? (90). La fragancia crea una imagen de la noche y el miedo del hombre en la selva. Es interesante que el hombre falta de olfato cuando est? en el hospital, comparado con los olores muy vividas en la selva. La presencia de olores en s?lo uno de los mundos es muy importante porque da un sentido que la imaginaci?n no puede alterar tan f?cilmente como los otros. Esto explica en el cuento cuando el hombre est? confundido ?porque [el mundo de su sue?o] est? lleno de olores y ?l nunca sue?a olores? (90). En el sue?o el hombre empieza a correr y se despierta en la realidad, en la cama del hospital. Cada vez que el hombre duerme tiene la pesadilla, y cada vez la pesadilla avanza a un estado m?s horrible, hasta que los aztecas capturarlo y van a sacrificar el hombre. Los dos mundos comparten unas semejanzas importantes. En ambos casos, el hombre llega a su destinaci?n

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Rationalism in Philosophical Traditions

Rationalism in Philosophical Traditions Rationalism is the philosophical stance according to which reason is the ultimate source of human knowledge. It stands in contrast to  empiricism, according to which the senses suffice in justifying knowledge. In one form or another, rationalism features in most philosophical traditions. In the Western tradition, it boasts a long and distinguished list of followers, including Plato, Descartes, and Kant. Rationalism continues to be a major philosophical approach to decision-making today. Descartes Case for Rationalism How do we come to know objects - through the senses or through reason? According to  Descartes,  the latter option is the correct one. As an example of Descartes approach to rationalism, consider polygons (i.e. closed, plane figures in geometry). How do we know that something is a triangle as opposed to a square? The senses may seem to play a key role in our understanding: we see that a figure has three sides or four sides. But now consider two polygons - one with a  thousand sides and the other with a thousand and one sides. Which is which? In order to distinguish between the two, it will be necessary to count the sides - using reason to tell them apart.For Descartes, reason is involved in all of our knowledge. This is because our understanding of objects is nuanced by reason. For example, how do you know that the person in the mirror is, in fact, yourself? How does each of us recognize the purpose or significance of objects such as pots, guns, or fences? How do we distinguish one similar object from another? Reason alone can explain such puzzles. Using Rationalism as a Tool for Understanding Ourselves in the World Since the justification of knowledge occupies a central role in philosophical theorizing, it is typical to sort out philosophers on the basis of their stance with respect to the rationalist vs. empiricist debate. Rationalism indeed characterizes a wide range of philosophical topics. How do we know who and what  we are?  Ã‚  Rationalists typically claim that the self is known through a rational intuition, which is irreducible to any sensorial perception of ourselves; empiricists, on the other hand, reply that the unity of the self is illusory.  What is the nature of cause and effect? Rationalists claim that causal links are known through reason. The empiricists response is that it is only because of habit that we come to be convinced that, say, fire is hot.How do we know which actions are ethically correct?   Kant argued that the ethical worth of an action can be understood only from a rational perspective; ethical evaluation is a rational game in which one or more rational agents envisage their actions under hypothetical conditions.   Of course, in a practical sense, it is almost impossible to separate rationalism from empiricism. We cannot make rational decisions without the information provided to us through our senses, nor can we make empirical decisions without considering their rational implications.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Sex Education in schools essays

Sex Education in schools essays The good news is that the teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is the lowest its been since the early 70's, primarily due to teens increased and improved use of birth control. The bad news is that one million U.S. teens still get pregnant each year, and 78 percent of those pregnancies are unintended. The fact is that most young people in the United States begin having sex in their teens and they need honest and straightforward information about sex in order to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy. Obvious, right? Well apparently not to President Bush, who asked Congress for a 33% increase in funding for abstinence-only sex education, which would forbid teachers to talk about how contraception works or where to get it. Abstinence-only programs keep teens in the dark about sex; they have not been proven to delay or reduce sexual activity; and they fail to provide accurate information about preventing pregnancy and disease. Comprehensive sexuality education, on the other hand, teaches that sexuality is healthy, normal part of human being. It teaches students about the advantages of abstinence, while also giving them the realistic information they need about the prevention of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Studies show that balanced programs that promote both abstinence and safer sex are most effective and allow young people to make responsible choices. In California, teen birth rate has dropped more than 40 percent over the last decade. The credit goes to a state-sponsored program that provides information on sexual abstinence and birth control. Teen birth rate has fallen from 11th nationwide in 1991 to 21st in 2002, according to the California Wellness Foundation. California is the only state that refuses to accept federal sex-education money, which requires public schools to teach only sexual abstinence and avoid providing information on contraception ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Strategic Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Marketing - Essay Example For marketers operating in a business-to-business environment, this means merging product use and industry sector segmentation with other facets that are associated with purchasing decisions. These can include factors such as the criteria for procurement, and decision motivations that will determine the out-sized purchases made by the organization. For example, the trend towards more use of subcontractors generates market for those suppliers. However, the retailers require a strategic marketing vision in order to make out or perceive these new markets before their business rivals also identify them and take the opportunity (Manning and Reece, 2003). Consumer marketers have to consider the use of demographic and geographic segmentation; along with psychographic segmentation such as attitudes, values, consumer lifestyles, and the motivation for product usage. For example, the aging population segment generates an increased demand for a wide range of goods. It also forms market niches t hat are big enough to make marketing as well as product development a worthwhile endeavor. These same factors can also contribute to the decrease in demand for other items. Occasionally, rather than increase sales or advertising efforts, it is more advisable to desert a declining market. Without strategic marketing tactics, an organization can actually waste valuable assets or miss a rare opportunity to take advantage of prevailing favourable conditions. The strategic marketing plan procedure usually has three stages. These are segmenting the market, profiling the market segments, and the creation of a market segment marketing strategy. Creating Value to Customers in Strategic Marketing The value in a manufactured product is usually defined by the reaction of customers to it. It is essentially a matter of the customer’s perception. If the product is perceived by the consumer as possessing value then that discernment will lead to a procurement. Customer value may also develop from having employed the product over and over again with pleasing results. Customer value in its most fundamental form refers to the difference between the price of a product and the benefit the customer gets from the product. Today's customers are much more informed as a result of the easily available modes of electronic communication that are available (Cravens and Piercy, 2008). As such, they usually purchase the goods that they sense are worth the cost required to attain them. Customers usually know precisely what they want to buy and will not waste time with low value products. It is important for marketers to have products that can be considered as unique. This is something that can make the product be viewed as being of utmost value, resulting in a higher price being appropriate. In their mission to communicate information to consumers pertaining to products, sales professionals frequently oversell and fail to notice the consumers’ real needs. Consequently, the produc t presented is of hardly any value to consumers. The greatest challenge that marketing professionals have to confront today is rising beyond the ordinary noise level, getting access to their targeted market, and eventually buying influence. Qualified leads are just harder to come by in today’s market which is saturated with the pitches of dedicated marketers. The convergence of rich media, digital graphics, direct response tools, email,

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Labour market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Labour market - Essay Example Labour market flexibility refers to the ability and the willingness of labour to respond to changes in the market condition, including changes in the demand for work force and the wage rate. The labour market flexibility is an imperative aspect of how labour markets adjusts to supply and demand, it is therefore has a key role to the supply side of the macroeconomics. A flexible labour market is when firms are under fewer regulations concerning the labour force and therefore, can set their own wages, change their work hours and fire employees (Michie & Sheehan 2003, P.131). In contrast, a labour market with low flexibility is bound by some rules and regulations such as requirements from trade unions and minimum wage restrictions. It is good to note that, labour market institutions were seen to block the clear functions of the market by weakening the demand for work force, thus making it not attractive to hire workers by pushing up the wage or by distorting the labour supply, leading t o impairing the equilibrium of market function mechanism (Benner 2003, P.629). The most distinction of labour market flexibility is based on strategies companies use, and they can be grouped into four: External numerical flexibility, it refers to the number of workers from the external market or the adjustments of labour intake. It can be achieved by employing workers temporarily or on fixed contracts, therefore, the employer can hire and fire employees according to the company’s needs, by following the protection legislation. Internal numerical flexibility, it is achieved by adjusting schedules or working hours of workers employed in the firm. It includes part time, overtime and shifts. Functional flexibility, it is where the employees can be transferred to different tasks within the company, it mostly deals with organization of operations in a firm. Financial flexibility, it is where there are differences

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Difference Between Leadership and Management Essay Example for Free

Difference Between Leadership and Management Essay What is leadership? What is management? Leadership and management are two words that are considered synonymous but describe two distinct concepts. Both are needed in a successful organization. Leadership and management together will build and maintain a successful organization. Interest in leadership in the American culture increased in the early twentieth century and continues to development in context. Behavioral theories evolved to today’s transformational leadership and visionary leadership. All the theories are attempting to identify leadership traits and behaviors. Leadership Term Paper: Excerpt If the role of situations is vital in matters of self-control, how much more significant must it be in connection with social control and leadership. If character varies from situation to situation, then it is fair to assume that leadership likewise varies. Consistency of behavior is doubtless a leadership trait, but behavior may vary according to situations, even on the part of any person. A person may be generally consistent in some situations and inconsistent in others. It is apparently necessary, therefore, to study situations in relation to personality reactions in order to account for ability, or for failure, to lead. Leadership Term Papers: Excerpt Situational leadership often explains leadership unevenness. A person may use leadership technique in a situation for which it is not intended with the result that it does not work well, or it fails. Every after dinner speaker has told more than one joke which he thought appropriate but which fell flat, because there were situational factors that the speaker did not suspect. Whenever a situation contains factors that a leader does not take into consideration, his leadership is endangered. A wise leader knows his situations, or else his leadership displays much unevenness. Leadership Research Paper: Excerpt The situational nature of leadership explains why a leader sometimes seems to contradict himself and to act like a hypocrite even though he loathes hypocrisy. It often happens, as any leader in an administrative position can testify, that a person may act sincerely and honestly in each of two different situations and find that he has contradicted himself, simply because the two situations are contradictory in certain particulars. Loyalty in one situation may contradict loyalty in another. A leader who desires to please is especially subject to this dilemma. Leadership vs. Management There are several distinctions between thoughts of management and leadership; some of the key points are discussed below. I believe that effective management ceases to reach its potential without respected leadership. Although leadership and management are necessary ingredients to creating actualized organizations. 1.Management implements the structures and tasks to create a holistic team of productive employees, while leadership sets the vision and creates an atmosphere where the teams commit to the mission and are encouraged to reach their potential. Management is more of a hands-on approach to ensure leaderships vision and strategy is in congruence with the companies operations. One of the goals of management is to ensure the organization effectively deploys of resources. One of the major goals of leadership is to assist customers and employees to understand the values and mission of the organization while having the responsibility of ensuring those constituencies are committed to the organizations value offering. I feel that leadership responsibility is to identify what the change initiatives need to be in conjunction with employees, customers and suppliers while managements responsibility is to ensure effective implementation of those initiatives. According to Senge; profound change initiatives invariability lead people to a heightened sense of meaning and aspiration. Leadership has the responsibility to ensure the opportunity for meaning and aspiration occur within the organization, great leaders strive to continually inspire such. Management has the opportunity to see to it that meaning and aspiration is actually being achieved while leadership creates the atmosphere for it to thrive. 1.Management challenges the vision of the company, which was created by leadership as to ensure the desired results are being achieved, while leadership identifies continual opportunities for a greater vision. According to Nonaka (quoted from Dance of Change), â€Å"A company is not a machine but a living organism. Much like an individual, it can have a collective sense of identity and shared purpose†¦ a shared understanding of what the company stands for†. Leadership must create opportunities for that shared vision and collective sense of identity to emerge. Leadership can inspire this to happen through management developing initiatives within cross-department relationship building and teamwork building. Management has the responsibility to ensure this takes place while leadership sets the strategy and places the goals high on the corporate agenda. Leadership sets the priorities, while management gets the priorities done. Among many other tasks, Leadership has the responsibility to: 1.Develop an overall strategic vision for the organization or team 2.In conjunction with the organization, drive the desired results 3.Enable an atmosphere which encourages cross-functional teamwork 4.Be in-touch with the organization at all levels 5.Asks the high-level questions and ensures the answers are understood by all in the organization 6.Encourages the organization to explore alternatives and better ways of doing business 7.Assists the organization to see the big picture In contrast among other tasks, management has the following responsibilities: 1.Management includes the actual coordination of processes and work-flows 2.Includes the process of evaluating resources, assessment and measurement of various pieces throughout the organizations 3.Management includes ensuring that all feedback, comments, and innovative change initiative ideas are brought to the forefront of the decision making process 4.Seeks to make the planning process a more successful endeavor 5.Helps to implement the answers to the big questions into best practices for the organization The Role of Leadership in Strategy The role of leadership in strategy includes many facets some that are tangible and some that are not. For example the role of leadership in strategy is to determine what the big picture is and to ensure the organization has a plan for discovering those answers to the big questions. I believe the role of leadership in developing strategy is to create many areas of possibility for the organization and to create an atmosphere where employees feel committed to creating those possibilities. The example provided by Senge about what was happening in South Africa in the early 1990s is a great one. Leadership of South Africa was trying to develop a set of alternative stories about what might happen in South Africa. They came together and developed several stories and tried to examine what the country will look like in the future. Leadership in fact, was trying to shape and define the story and to have this story be as positive as possible for the country. I believe the same high-level story development is the main responsibility of leadership in strategy for an organization at all levels. The role is for the leadership to define how they want the company to interact in the world and to develop a story that is much bigger than the organization. This story must be believed by all participants in the organization and must be walked the talk by leadership. For example the role of leadership in defining one of the key tenants for Whole Foods is â€Å"We Sell the Highest Quality Natural and Organic Products Available†. The role of leadership in developing this strategy is key to the companies fundamental belief system, and many of the employees and customers are committed to this strategy. The role of leadership is to create the vision and ensure it is in real congruence with the organizational realty. How is leadership critical to realizing strategy? I believe without leadership, strategy cannot be truly realized for a sustainable period. For example if there lacks a person or people who rise above and create the vision and see to it, that it is a manifestation throughout the organization, the strategy will be lost at sea. The waves of business cycles and changing resources will ensure the strategy is tossed and turned and will not go on a path toward true-fulfillment of the highest levels of success. Leadership sets the stage for strategy by asking the core questions, shaping the vision, and allowing for an atmosphere, which encourages the awareness and commitment to the strategy. Leadership is critical: 1.It creates a vessel for continuous improvement and adaptation of strategy 1.Ensures the proper questions are asked and answered 2.Creates an atmosphere for growth and change 3.Demonstrates effective behavior 4.Tries to get the highest potential out of resources 5.Creates the strategic vision 6.Brings together key aspects of the strategy The world we live in is changing at an alarming rate as a result of all the new discoveries that have been made over the years. These new discoveries have been aided by the availability of better learning facilities and equipment. These were not available in the early days. As scientists continue to discover and invent new equipment, the world is adapting them and incorporating them in the societies. As a result, the world we are living in is heavily dependent on inventions and machines to carry out tasks. Moreover, as a result of the advanced technology, people are getting more intelligent hence they are able carry out more researches of their own as well as make their own new inventions. In the medical world this has eased management as well as other treatment methods such as surgery.

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Civil Rights Movement: The Struggle Continues Essay -- Racism, Civ

Civil rights are the rights to personal liberty and are provided by the law. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights promises everybody civil rights. But many people, including lots of black people, have been denied their civil rights. Black people, and also some white people who help them, have struggled for these rights for a long time. Many people have helped and many kinds of groups have been formed to help win equal rights for everyone. Things are a lot better used to be, but the struggle is not over.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Soon after the Declaration of Independence was signed there were groups that tried to end slavery. They were in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland, and Connecticut. It took a long time to win freedom for slaves. Lots of slaves were taken to freedom in the North on the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad is the name of the system that slaves traveled in secret from one place to another. They usually hid during the day and traveled at nighttime. Some slaves even fought to be free. Nat Turner was a preacher that led a slave revolt in Virginia in 1831. But they all ended up being executed..   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed slaves in the Confederate states. But it did not guarantee anyone an education, a job, or a place to live. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution made slavery illegal. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments were passed later, and they were supposed to give blacks all their civil rights, especially the right to vote.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Reconstruction period was 1865 – 1877. During this time many black people had important government jobs. Louisiana, South Carolina, and Mississippi had black lieutenant governors, and Mississippi’s speaker of the house was black. The superintendent of public education in Florida was black. The South had 22 black representatives in Congress.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  White Southerners who hated blacks started the Ku Klux Klan in 1866. It was also called the KKK. They tried to stop black people from voting and having other civil rights. They would wear white sheets and masks with pointed hoods. They would beat up blacks and public officials. They would burn crosses by the houses of people they wanted to scare. The KKK was declared illegal in 1... ... bad that they boycotted all the buses in Montgomery. They lost so much money that the law was changed so blacks cold sit anywhere just like whites. During the boycott was when Dr. martin Luther King Jr. became an important black leader. He didn’t believe in using violence. He received the Nobel Peace Prize. But in 1968 he was assassinated and there were riots in 50 states because the blacks were so angry and frustrated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From that time until now there have been new laws passed and things have gotten better. But even now blacks and other minorities are involved in the civil rights movement. Lots of like Spanish Americans, Jews, Orientals, Native Americans, immigrants, homosexuals and others are involved now. The leaders, black and white, sometimes don’t agree on how to win civil rights. Most people are working peacefully, but others, that are called militants, think peace hasn’t worked and that violence is necessary. Many people think that blacks still do not receive fair treatment from authorities like the police. Even now the civil rights movement is still working for equal rights for all like we were promised in the Declaration of Independence.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Quality revolution Essay

Managers involved in helping their organizations improve quality are frequently puzzled over which approach to use. Some organizations adopt an eclectic approach using components of the three philosophies and combining what they consider to be the best from the best. Other organizations select the Crosby, Deming, or Juran approach and remain loyal to it; all their education, training, and implementation efforts reflect support for that one approach. There are organizations that switch in midstream (e.g., begin with Crosby, move to Juran, and then move to Deming). These organizations expect dramatic improvements in a short period of time and their obsession with immediate results forces them to try different approaches on a trial-and-error basis, without thought to a long-term strategy. The key to successful implementation of quality principles and methods is tied to leadership. In fact, lack of management and leadership commitment is considered by Crosby to be the number one cause of quality improvement failure. According to Juran, every successful quality revolution has included the active participation of upper management. There are no exceptions. Deming agrees. He says the transformation is top management’s job and it cannot be delegated. Quality is not a quick fix to address management problems. It is not a program, but a transformation. As part of this effort, top managers must recognize the need for assessment, strategic planning, and the development of a long-term, integrated organization-wide approach. Leadership is needed to establish policies defining the positions the organization will take in regard to quality Leadership is also needed to cultivate a customer orientation and provide all employees with ongoing education and training. These arguments notwithstanding, success or failure will rest upon the correct assessment of how to achieve customer-defined quality criteria and the kind of leadership required to get the organization mobilized in the most cost-acceptable way. â€Å"The approaches of Crosby, Deming, and Juran do not represent â€Å"programs† in the usual sense of the word, but they do not have starting and ending dates.† â€Å"The key successful implementation of quality principles and methods is tied to leadership. â€Å"

Sunday, November 10, 2019

To what extent was Lenin crucial to the Bolshevik

To what extent was Lenin crucial to the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917? On 24th October 1917 the Lenin and the Bolsheviks led a revolution in Russia. The Bolshevik Red Guards led a revolution against the Provisional Government by seizing control of stations, telephone exchanges, post offices, the national bank and the Winter Palace in Petrograd. Now Lenin set about creating the world's first communist state. Although he was a strong influence, he was not solely responsible for the outbreak of revolution.There are other important causes of the Bolshevik seizure of ower, such as the weakness of the Provisional government and Kerenskys mistakes. Also other important factor was the actions of Trotsky and the timing and luck of the Bolsheviks. However, Lenin was, toa large extent, crucial to the Bolshevik seizure of power because he presented his April thesis, which gave the people of Russia an awakening to the communist aim. Lenin was important to the Bolshevik seizure of pow er as he was able to manipulate public opinion using slogans and propaganda.This was also shown early in the year, before Lenin's return to Russia from Switzerland. The Bolsheviks in Russia had printed in ‘Pravda' (their newspaper) that their members and followers should support the Provisional Government, and also that they had given serious thought to the idea of combining with the Mensheviks. This was all very contrary to what Lenin wrote in his ‘April Theses' which clearly laid out his views and beliefs on the subject. A key point of his ‘April Theses' was â€Å"No Support for the Provisional Government†, yet without him his party were proposing just that.Lenin as an individual was able to force the Bolsheviks to follow his beliefs nd goals and without him they may never have chosen this course of action at all. Through his April thesis, particularly the slogans â€Å"Peace, Bread, Land† and â€Å"All Power to the Soviets†, he was able to h arness the support of the Russian people. These slogans appealed to the majority, the peasants and the workers. The support of the people was an extremely important factor, as this is the support which determined that there would be little resistance to the Bolshevik revolution.This shows Lenin's importance in the occurrence of the October Revolution. Lenin's character as an individual was a vital reason to the success of the Bolsheviks. Prior to the February Revolution, the Bolshevik party was not the most powerful. Lenin was strong, determined and dedicated to the revolution. His speeches were inspiring. The â€Å"April Theses† forced through key policy decisions. Lenin rewrote Marx's ideas, he believed the Bourgeois revolution can be followed immediately by a socialist revolution. Which was different to the Bolshevik views but after he presented his ideas he won over the Bolsheviks.Lenin's leadership, and his usage and manipulation of events taking place in Russia after hi s return, facilitated their ability to seize control. The failure of the Provisional government was also a key reason why the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917. In February, the constitutional monarchy reluctantly granted in 1905 by the Tsar collapsed following riots over food shortages and the continuing slaughter of Russian soldiers in the World War l. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate and a provisional government came into power I . existed to till the void ot ower in the chaos of rioting and the Bolsheviks did not accept any part in it. Disassociating himself and the party from the Provisional Government was to prove a wise decision by Lenin. Despite early acceptance of the Provisional Government by the people, it soon lost popularity in the face of Russia's continuing presence in the war and loss of life. They also became unpopular when took the peasants land This made Russia a fertile ground for Bolshevik revolutionary ideas. The Bolsheviks came to power at an espe cially volatile time in Russian history – the ProvisionalGovernment was weak-willed, disorganized, and ripe for Bolshevik insurrection. Kerenskys mistakes, as a leading member of the Provisional Government, were also a important reason in the Bolsheviks seizure of power. He served as Minister of War under Prince Lvov before becoming leader of the Provisional Government in July 1917. Kerensky, as a Menshevik, was a moderate socialist who saw a need to work with the Liberals in order to bring about change. He was a superb speaker but he struggled to remain in control of events during the summer of 1917: the June offensive.His attempt to revitalise the Russian army against Germany failed and the confusion caused by his role in the Kornilov Affair greatly undermined his position. General Lavr Kornilov replaced the commander-in-chief, Brusilov, after the failed June Offensive. A myth that was present in 1917 was that Kornilov planned a coup d' ©tat against the provisional govern ment. When Kornilov ordered troops into Petrograd, not on the bases of this myth but as he was concerned of a left-wing radical plot against the government, Kerensky panicked fearing a military takeover.Kerensky arrested Kornilov, who was innocent and loyal, and armed groups of workers, many Bolsheviks. This was a vital for the Bolsheviks, and their future success in seizing power, because they are now seen as defenders and their numbers increased. They were also still armed from the Kornilov affair. Kerensky and the Provisional government were now completely undermined. Trotsky and the timing of the uprising are also a key reason by the Bolsheviks were able to seize power in October 1917. The Bolsheviks claimed they were acting on behalf of the Soviet who were in oalition with the Provisional government.Although Kerensky was aware the Bolsheviks were planning some kind of takeover, he did not take any pivotal action. The takeover was organised and almost bloodless. The planning of the takeover was the responsibility of Trotsky, a leading Social democrat who had Joined the Bolsheviks in May. This was a plan of Lenin's, as he hoped it would hide the Bolshevik involvement. The planning was handed over to the military revolutionary committee of the Petrograd Soviet, who Trotsky was chairman. Trotsky was responsible for the akeover being carried out smoothly and efficiently.Trotsky played an important role in organising the Bolshevik seizure of power. In conclusion, toa large extent Lenin was crucial to the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917. Lenin was a brilliant leader – a professional revolutionary who was ruthless, a brilliant speaker, a good planner with ONE aim: to overthrow the government. The Bolsheviks were well-led. Lenin used both the war and the failure of the Provisional government to his advantage by saying how he would stop the war and take over from the ProvisionalGovernment who didn't seem to be listening to the people. His strong p ersonality and ty to communicate well witn the people gave the Bolsheviks many supporters in the revolution and so ultimately gave them the upper hand against the Provisional Government. Lenin changed the Marx theory, by skipping capitalism – Marxist Leninism, therefore Communism was now seen as conceivable. The Bolshevik party was the only party that opposed the Provisional government, as the provisional government was unpopular, the Bolsheviks once again gained a lot of support.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Comparison Between Kes and Billy Elliot Essays

Comparison Between Kes and Billy Elliot Essays Comparison Between Kes and Billy Elliot Essay Comparison Between Kes and Billy Elliot Essay Both films central ideas are based around the theme of hardship in the North during the late 20th century (1950-1990). Both directors have chosen to specifically highlight the lack of opportunity there is for someone to excel and have a job that matches their talents. Both boys find something that they are passionate about but it is extremely hard for them to break out from the norm of after finishing school (at a considerably much younger age than we would finish) was being sent off to the mines. It is interesting to note that even though the films span the gap between Yorkshire in the late 1960s to around 1984-85, the way the people live their lives and their standards of living seem not to have changed very much at all. Apart from the addition of very few cars, the houses and livelihoods of the people appear almost exactly the same.British New Wave Cinema was concerned with the realism of the situation in the North and directors such as Ken Loach (Kes) tried to make this very obvi ous in his film. The work of directors working in the British New Wave era drew attention to the reality of life for the working classes, especially in the North of England, giving rise to the expression, Its grim up north. This particular type of drama, centred around class and the nitty-gritty of day-to-day life, was also known as the kitchen sink drama. This kitchen-sink drama is especially obvious in Kes because the style and cinematography of the film is very natural and realistic. In fact, Ken Loach used hardly any professional actors but instead hired relatively unknown and sometimes just people from the surrounding area with no acting experience in the film. The style of the filming is also very real, containing relatively few obviously symbolistic sections and having minimal editing but instead long drawn out shots without cuts to a different perspective. This added to the sense of reality and made the film seem almost too simple as if you were seeing it through someones ey es and not through multiple cameras.Both Billy Casper and Billy Elliot are similar characters. They both seem to wear virtually the same clothes everyday, consisting of a school uniform and their recreation clothes. These clothes get worn and worn again no matter what the boys have been doing in them. They also seem to only just fit both the Billys. This is probably to suggest that they cannot afford and new clothes. They do not wear any brand names also implicating their poor financial status. Another similarity between the boys is their broken household. Caspers father is not talked about or featured at all, meaning his mother and the two boys have to sustain themselves. As we see, this is the root of Billys thieving and the reason for his having to take on a paper round. It also explains why it is so important for him to be employed and why he may have to accept his fate of having to work in the mines. This is also the case in Elliots household. During the course of the film we h ear quite a lot about the death of Billys mother and how this has affected the family.However, as a difference to Kes, the film focuses much more on how the death of this figure in their lives affects them emotionally, as appose to the neutral feeling Kes gives about the absence of Caspers father. One might guess that this has been done to conform to the types of film being made at the time. Audiences in the 1990s and 2000s needed a character to sympathize with and this addition of feeling, empathy or emotion into Billy Elliot gives the audience this. It means that Billy Elliot cannot really be classed as a British New Wave film because the film has been romanticised to a certain extent and therefore has moved away from the harsh reality of films like Kes and Billy Liar (1963) which truly have their roots in British New Wave.Another similarity between Kes and Billy Elliot is the storylines of the two films. Both the Billys find something they are truly passionate about, a rare occur rence in a society with little scope for experimenting, and follow whatever this obsession passion is about. For both boys their hobby is rather like a release from the monotony of the life they had known and this makes them want to continue their hobby purely for the need of change and excitement in their lives. This is wonderfully represented in the British New Wave genre. Because the genre typically focuses on the nitty-gritty of day-to-day life the audience are given an insight into this monotonous existence and so when the characters find their passion, want them to continue and be successful because they can sympathize with the needs of the character.Nevertheless the outcomes of the two plots are very different. In Kes, there is not a happy ending. This fits perfectly into the ideals of British New Wave cinema. It is real-life and in real life there are no happy endings. Moreover, we are not told the end of Caspers story, and the film ends in an almost finished manner, the aud ience left to speculate what kind of life Billy will go on to lead. Unfortunately, the audience assumes from what they know of the opportunity for differentiation in his culture, that he has eventually to face up to his fears and work down the mines. Interestingly, this suspicion of Caspers fate is possibly even confirmed by the film Billy Elliot, in that standards of living and the general kind of lives Northern people are able to lead have hardly changed at all after more than 15 years. On the other hand, we do get to find out what happens to Billy after his journey to discovery in dance. The end sequence pictures the happy romanticised ending that a modern audience expects (and unfortunately usually gets). This again goes against the ideas of British New Wave cinema.DIFFERENCES:One of the major differences between Kes and Billy Elliot is the representation of the conflict between social classes. In Billy Elliot the dance teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson is portrayed as being from a slight ly more upper class circle than Billy. This can be seen in the area that she lives in. when both Billy and his dad go to see her separately the differences between their two homes and neighbourhoods are glaringly obvious. Even more so, the divide between social classes being portrayed here is shown when Mrs. Wilkinson appears to be completely alienated, nervous and scared when visiting Billy in his tough, dog-eats-dog world.One of the central ideas of British new wave cinema is giving a voice to the working class. Britain today is still a society in many ways defined by class, but in the 1950s divisions were far more rigid as can be seen in the large division between Mrs. Wilkinsons and Billys world. The new wave films and the sources that inspired them gave a voice to a working-class that was for the first time gaining some economic power. In Billy Elliot, the point that had been trying to be made in British new wave cinema of the 50s and 60s was being reiterated and applied to the new generation. The director of Billy Elliot maybe wanted to prove that even though economy had moved on leaps and bounds for the southern population, it was still unmoving up in the north. The director gave these people a voice in Billy Elliot.Kes hardly shows the distinction between the classes at all, only touches on it with the inclusion of characters such as the careers advisor and the friendly teacher (who can be identified as higher class by the ownership of a car). However, the conflict and stark differences between these classes are not explored in this film. This was the case in many new wave films. Interestingly, only Room at the Top (d. Jack Clayton, 1958) and Look Back in Anger (d. Tony Richardson, 1959) look directly at conflict between working-class and middle-class characters. The later films concentrate on conflicts within the working-class contrasting rough (the very poor, unskilled, criminal and hedonistic represented by characters like Arthur Seaton in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (d. Karel Reisz, 1960) and Colin Smith and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, d. Richardson, 1962) with respectable (skilled, aspirational, educated and moral such as the heroes of John Schlesingers films: Vic Brown in A Kind of Loving (1962) and the life that Billy Fisher in Billy Liar (1963) appears to lead).

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Horde, Trooper, and Towards

Horde, Trooper, and Towards Horde, Trooper, and Towards Horde, Trooper, and Towards By Maeve Maddox Some usage errors are so widespread that readers begin to wonder if they’re mistaken about the correct form. horde/hoard A reader came across the phrase â€Å"hoards of databases† used to mean â€Å"many databases.† He thought the usage was incorrect, but as the usage was printed in â€Å"a best selling book from quite a famous publisher,† he doubted his own judgment: â€Å"My question is: is the incorrect usage becoming acceptable nowadays?† No, horde and hoard still have different meanings. The context calls for â€Å"hordes of databases† because the meaning is â€Å"a vast number.† The earliest use of horde was to refer to a large number of tribal people, but now it is used to refer to things as well as people. The noun spelled hoard means â€Å"an accumulation of something of value that has been hidden or put aside until wanted.† In early use, hoard meant anything hidden, like treasure. Beowulf’s dragon sleeps on a hoard. See â€Å"Hordes of People Shouldn’t Hoard.† trooper/trouper Another reader questions the following headline in her local newspaper: Three-year-old Martinsburg girl battling leukemia a real trooper Asks the reader, Shouldn’t that be ‘trouper’? Yes, it should. A troupe is a performing group, like a ballet troupe or an acting troupe. The word trooper refers to military or paramilitary personnel. Although one does expect troopers to be tough and hardworking, trouper is the word that is used with the meaning â€Å"a brave, hardworking, persistent, dedicated person.† See †Trooper or Trouper?† toward/towards Finally, a reader is puzzled by an interview with an American speaker who was present when the bombs went off at the 2013 Boston Marathon: He keeps saying towards, for example, â€Å"Several people have asked me why I ran towards the smoke.† The usual take on the difference between toward and towards is that toward is American usage and towards is British usage. Fowler called towards the preferred usage and toward either â€Å"literary or provincial.† I usually write towards, but dutifully remove the s when revising. I suspect that other American speakers do also. The American AP Stylebook states flatly, â€Å"toward: not towards.† The Chicago Manual of Style adds a note about other directional words: The same is true for other directional words, such as upward, downward, forward, and backward, as well as afterward. The use of afterwards and backwards as adverbs is neither rare nor incorrect. But for the sake of consistency, it is better to stay with the simpler form. If you are writing for an American publication, go with toward. See †Running Toward the House or Towards the House?† 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 Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Computer Terms You Should Know75 Synonyms for â€Å"Talk†Mankind vs. Humankind

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Key Developments within the Global Airline Industry Essay

Key Developments within the Global Airline Industry - Essay Example The researcher states that the growth of the airline industry is averaged at 5 percent annually through the estimates have changed due to changing economic conditions and differences in air travel safety across continents. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the industry experienced a $ 4 billion decline in profitability in 2011. Surprisingly, analysts point that global air travel passengers will hit a mark of 3.5 billion passengers annually in2015 which is a 30 percent increase from the current figures. IATA clarifies that increase in global fuel costs will impact negatively on the profitability of many airlines since it is estimated that global airlines will experience about $ 1.6 billion fuel cost increases. Accordingly, fuel costs account for about 35 percent of airline costs currently, up from 15 percent in 2000. Numerous uncertainties such as the recent global financial crisis and global terrorism have negatively affected the profitability of the in dustry. The developments have led to shifts in t global air travel services provision as major global players have intensified competition in the new centers of production. Additionally, the emergence of new international financial hubs such as China has led to movements of major airlines from their home markets to new high growth markets. Transnational corporations like the World Trade Bank and International Monetary Fund have facilitated globalization through the elimination of barriers in trade and investment flows among the nations. There are numerous factors affect the competitiveness of the airline in the domestic market. Some factors include the level of technological innovation, the influencing factor creation, and organization of the airline. According to Porter’s diamond model, the structure of the industry, the rivalry of the firms, the factor conditions, demand in the market and supportive industries are the important internal factors that determine the success of the firm in the domestic or national market.

Friday, November 1, 2019

How the revolution affect the cultural and human relationship Essay

How the revolution affect the cultural and human relationship - Essay Example This was initiated in between 1966-1976 by Mao Zedong the chairman of the Communist Party of China at the time. The movement had significant influence on the people of China an estimated a quarter of the entire humanity today socially and also economically. In Liangs autobiography the revolution affected his family and his adequate access to education in their hometown of Changsha as a result its turbulent political campaigns. The effects of the revolution are seen in the entire life of Liang Heng starting from his family break up, being sent to the countryside for "re-education and later on as Liang works as a factory worker (Liang, 1983). Despite the revolution starting as a political campaign in the Peoples Republic of China, the revolution had immense effect on the cultural and human relationships with the people of China as Liang Heng writes in his book "Son of the Revolution" (Liang, H. 1983). Among the effects on the cultural relationships is seen in the education system. The revolution affected the intellect in the society as they were the ones running the central government operations at all levels of administration. Liangs father and mother had attained a high school education by this time. The revolution saw many young and energetic Chinese make an effort to attain higher education to be considered for better employment including Liangs himself. The cultural relationship between education and revisionist was changed during the revolution. Many saw higher education later on as a gateway to satisfactory job and decent housing (Jiang, 2007). The revolution affected the human relationship within many Chinese families including Liangs family. During the Hundred Flower Campaign Liang Hengs mother was sent away for labor reform as it was called during the time of the revolution (Liang, 1983). This was mainly due to Liang Hengs comment. This brought about the first division of

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Job Satisfaction Perceived Efficacy Correlation Dissertation

Job Satisfaction Perceived Efficacy Correlation - Dissertation Example Population and Sample The population for this study included all 139 South Dakota public school special education administrators, including full-time, part-time, and mixed responsibility special education administrators. The information used in the study was gathered from the South Dakota Department of Education 2010-2011 Educational Directory. Data Collection Data collection included the use of three separate surveys. Paul Spector’s Job Satisfaction Survey was used to collect job satisfaction data. Chen, Gully, and Eden’s New General Self-Efficacy Scale was used to collect perceived self-efficacy data. Finally, a researcher-developed demographic survey was utilized to collect demographic data. The survey was posted electronically and all 139 public school special education administrators in the state of South Dakota were invited to participate via email. Names and email addresses of special education administrators were gathered from the South Dakota Department of Educ ation 2010-2011 Educational Directory. A cover letter (see Appendix G) with instructions on how to access the electronic survey was sentto all public school special education administrators in the state of South Dakota, via email. ... The invitees completed 35 useable surveys, accounting for a study response rate of 25.2 percent. Demographics Selected demographic characteristics of the study respondents are presented in Table 4.1. The two largest groups of respondents were aged 36-50 and 50 and over, with each category making up 40 percent of the respondents, while those aged 35 or younger represented 20 percent of the respondents. The majority of respondents were female, representing 71.4 percent. It is important to note that all demographics were computed using the responses provided by respondents. Not all respondents completed all questions. Masters Degrees represented the highest level of education for 40 percent of respondents, which was the largest group. Those holding a Bachelors Degree accounted for 22.9 percent of the respondents. Both the Education Specialist and Doctorate degree each represented 20 percent of the respondents. The current certification question allowed respondents to check all that appl ied so that some respondents selected multiple current certifications. The largest number of respondents, 57.6 percent, responded that their current certification was Special Education Director. Pre-K-8 Principals accounted for 11.4, while 7-12 Secondary Principals comprised 6 percent of respondents. Similarly superintendents also accounted for 6 percent of respondents. One respondent selected Superintendent and Special Education Director, one respondent chose PK-12 Principal, Superintendent, and Special Education Director as his or her current level of certification, one respondent chose PK-8 Principal and Superintendent as his or her current level of certification, and one respondent selected PK-8 Principal, Superintendent and

Monday, October 28, 2019

Impact of Public Debt on the Economic Growth Essay Example for Free

Impact of Public Debt on the Economic Growth Essay Government debt is also known as public debt. It is the debt owed by a federal government to the internal or external sources. It is required when the stocks of government securities are insufficient to cover previous budget deficits. Budget deficits occur when the level of government expenditures exceeds its revenues. Based on macroeconomic theory, the level of government expenditure must be positive with the economic growth. The higher the expenditure, the higher will be the economic growth. Government expenditure can be divided into productive and unproductive expenditure. Productive expenditure will be contributed to the economic growth in a few years’ time. Meanwhile, the unproductive expenditure will lead to the decline in the economic growth. Productive expenditure comprise of education and health. Besides, the unproductive expenditure consists of expenditure like pension and subsidies. Meanwhile, high budget deficit will reduce the level of economic growth. In order to finance additional expenditures, the government will borrow money from internal sources. Since the demand of the loanable funds is also derived from the private sector, additional demand from the government will boost the interest rate. Consequently, high interest rate will distort the level of investment. Finally, the lower level of investment will lead to lower economic growth for the country. In addition, high public debt will also result to a financial crisis. If a country is experiencing a trend of an increasing public debt, the investors may be worried about the capabilities of that country to pay its debt. Apart from that, they will ask for higher interest rate as a safety and profitable measures for them to keep financing the deficits. An increase in interest rate can distort the level of economic growth and would create financial crisis. Besides, it is also acts as an obstacle to the development because it will weakens the government’s ability to achieve macroeconomic stability. It comprises the stability of inflation, interest rate and exchange rate target. It will also create adverse incentives associated with future taxes. High debt also will stop the social and developmental progress. Malaysian economy may not be able to achieve high and sustainable economic growth in the long-run if the federal government keeps borrowing money from the domestic sources in order to finance the budget deficit. However, there is no such evidence to conclude that the external debt can distort the economic growth in the long-run.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Pursuit of Social & Religious Justice :: Essays Papers

The Pursuit of Social & Religious Justice The pursuit of social and religious justice has been part of our societal structure since the beginning of time. The most recent, large scale, attempt at the â€Å"purification† of the human race, in the ‘name’ of social/religious justice, was put into motion by Osama bin Laden, who caught the eyes of the world by having some of his followers kill thousands of American civilians. This event was a life changing experience for me. Watching an airplane crash into the second twin tower, before anyone had any idea what was happening on September 11, 2001 opened my eyes, and many others’ eyes, to the outside world; it made me wonder, â€Å"why?† It made me think about how the world sees America. This paper will not delineate why there are lunatics intent on the extermination of certain races, religious followers, or any other group of people; what it will do is explore the basic teachings of the most influential prophets of the three main mo notheistic religions, as well as discuss historical â€Å"Holy† wars, in an attempt to show that these proclaimed â€Å"Holy† wars are in fact political wars – and not within the practices of the basic religious beliefs. It will then offer some suggestions as to implementing positive future strategies for social/religious justice. In the very beginning, men did not worship any God, but merely envisioned some higher force, which influenced much of their life. As Karen Armstrong puts it,â€Å"...he is strangely absent from their daily lives: he has no special cult and is never depicted in effigy† [1]. As man evolved, so did his belief system. Before monotheism entered their lives, they worshipped idols, demi-gods and many gods who were believed to be a part of a unity shared among the gods, nature and mankind. The development of the three monotheist religions occurred in a sequential order. The first believed prophet was Moses, born around 800BC. Moses had lived a privileged life as the son of a royal Egyptian family. He was not originally accustomed to the worship of one God, known to some as Yahweh, but that changed one day as he herded his father-in-law’s sheep.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Civil War and Appalachia

Eric Lane English 1020 Tim Parker 11/9/12 The Civil War and Appalachian Geography Did Appalachian geography have an effect on the civil war? Every major war in history has two things in common: a winner and a loser. There are many factors of war that decide the winner and the loser, some going unnoticed. The geography of a war has an impacting affect on the war and is sometimes overlooked, often leading to one side's downfall (Falls 5). Appalachia has a fluctuating geography, for it ranges from eroded down, plain-like areas, to mountains areas of up to almost 7000 feet (â€Å"The Appalachians†).The Civil War had many battles located in Appalachia, an area stretching from southern parts of New York, all the way down to northern Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi(â€Å"The Appalachians†). Appalachian geography was home to many battlefields of the Civil War, but could this geography actually have had an overall impact? Throughout history, many substantial wars have been dis puted on various types of terrain around the world. Halvard Bugaug and Scott Gates support this and have made a claim in the article, â€Å"The Geography of Civil War†, that geographical factors play a critical role in determining how a war is fought and who will prevail.The two most important factors they give are terrain and climate. In the article, Bugaug and Gates both reference the book History of Warfare, written by John Keegan, to give examples of how these factors effect wars. Keegan gives many samples of previous generals who have ignored these factors and lead to their catastrophic downfall. One commonly known example given is the French army lead by Napoleon. Napoleon lead his fearfully large army into Russia, not taking into account Russia's fiercely cold weather.Although they fought, and won, battles located in Russia, the cold weather began to take its toll on Napoleon's army, causing them to be greatly weakened. This weakened state of his army, in turn, lead to the French being defeated and losing the war(Bugaug 418). However, the geography does not always have a negative effect. Keegan also gives samples of ‘gifted' generals who took these factors into account, allowing them to use these factors to their advantage(Bugaug 419). Cyril Falls, professor of Military History at the University of Oxford, acknowledges this as well in her journal Geography and War Strategy.The journal discusses how world geography should be a subject of study for a commander and how this geography should shape their war strategies. Mapping out and understanding the terrain of a battleground before the battle begins is crucial to achieve military success(Falls 5). A general understanding of the battleground gives opportunities to change and adjust military strategies and tactics, which could give an army the edge needed to be victorious (Falls 6). Falls then adds that using the available natural resources located in the geography of an area has its benefits as well.These resources can be distributed accordingly, supplying the army and possibly allowing them to stretch their campaign(Falls 9). Alex J. La Rocque, writer of the journal â€Å"The Role of Geography in Military planning has a similar viewpoint. La Rocque acknowledges that the existence of this relationship between geography and military science is not new. He says that environmental factors, such as relief, climate and weather, vegetation, drainage characteristics, and cultural features can cause military tactic and strategic problems.These elements of the environment have played important roles in all wars from those in which the stone hammer was the principal weapon down to the present time(La Rocque 70). La Rocque states that the essential difference between the requirement of geography in tactical planning and strategic planning is similar to the same difference that exists between mapping areal categories on large-scale maps and mapping areal categories on small scale maps. The mapper's requirement in presenting information on maps at different scales is determined by his objective.Appalachia has many different geographical conditions that make it eligible to have an effect on the civil war. The appalachian area has many mountain ranges and plain-like areas. The entire system is almost 2000 miles long and 300 miles wide and ranges from northern Mississippi all the way to southern New York(â€Å"The Appalachians†). These mountains are known as a â€Å"barrier† running east to west as it forms a series of alternating ridglines and valleys oriented in opposition to any road running east-west.The Appalachian Plateau is the westernmost part of appalachia and is bounded by a steep slope on the east called the Allegheny Front(â€Å"Appalachia and the Ozarks†). This front is the most significant barrier to western movement in the country of the Rocky Mountains(â€Å"Appalachia and the Ozarks†). The topography of this region ha s been created largely through steam erosion of the horizontal beds of the interior lowland. The following map will show the appalachian region. Many encounters of the civil war were located in this region, as shown in the map Civil War Battlefield map following.Comparison of the two maps shows that many battles were located in appalachia and its geography, giving it potential to have an effect on the war. Wilma A. Dunaway, in his archive, â€Å" Slavery and Emancipation in the Mountain South: Sources, Evidence and Methods†, provides examples of how the Union(the North) and the Confederates(the South) strategically used the Appalachian area. Dunaway states that the mountainous areas of West Virginia allowed for guerrilla warfare attacks. Both armies grew fatigued from traveling up and down the mountains, leaving them open for attack(Dunaway).In addition, both armies targeted various sites within the region as strategic occupancy points because they were located on major river s, were railroad junctures, or were the sites of important resources such as the national rifle works, saltworks, mineral springs, or mines(Dunaway). Farms and livestock were also destroyed and/or pillaged to also be somewhat beneficial to the armies(â€Å"Appalachia†). One specific battle located in Appalachia is the Battle of Gettysburg. The battle was located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and lasted for a total of 3 days.After the first day the Confederate army was outnumbering the Union and looked as if a victory was inevitable. The Union, after a surprising loss on the first day, was devastated that they had lost nearly half of their troops and retreated up to Cemetery Hill and Gulp's Hill. There they prepared as much as possible with the little time they had for an oncoming Confederate attack. Barricades and various other fortifications were built on the higher grounds, giving Union troops the advantage that was pivotal in the battle.The Confederate soldiers now had to fi ght the rest of the gruesome battle now traveling uphill. The video from the History Channel, â€Å"The Battle of Gettysburg†, showed images of many soldiers struggling to fight the battle at this disadvantage. They had trouble seeing distances up the hills and were even known to have had friendly fire on themselves thinking that it was the enemy. After the second day of battle the union was still shorthanded and outnumbered, although they fought off the confederate push.The Confederate General, Robert E. Lee, made the decision to lead a large force to attack the Union line. Union artillery, who had an extreme range advantage, had what was called â€Å"target practice† on the confederate troops, greatly weakening the force. By the time they were in range of the Union line, Confederate troops had been torn apart to the point that retreat was the only option, giving the Union the victory of the Battle of Gettysburg. The battle was the bloodiest ever fought on american so il.The Battle of Gettysburg rallied the North and is what turned the tide of the Civil War. They had the confidence that they could defeat the fearful general Robert E. Lee. The geography of appalachia provided the North with the edge that they needed to take the battle which, in turn, shaped the outcome of the Civil War. Wars are an important part of history that have shaped the way we live today. War has many factors that decide the winner and the loser, and geography is one that should not be forgotten.Geography has caused aided many armies to victory, and taken many armies to defeat. Appalachian geography varies much over its large spam and proved to be a major factor. The Battle of Gettysburg was a pivotal battle that the North won, due to the large hills that they used to their advantage. Should that geographical advantage be taken away, odds are that the South, outnumbering the North, would have won that battle and changed history. This leads to the question, did Appalachian geography have an affect on the Civil War?