Ambivalent Conquest

Ambivalent Conquest An Overview of the Book In the Ambivalent Conquest, the author, Inga Clendinnen examines the Mayan trials initiated by Diego De Landa when he visited the Yucatan in 1561. Landa’s inquisition was motivated by reports of human sacrifice purportedly performed by the Mayans, whom he believed had been converted to Christianity[1].Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Ambivalent Conquest specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Landa set out to eliminate the pagan practice of sacrifice of young women from a region that was under his control. He had brought Christianity to the natives and instituted a royal court to try Spanish soldiers who had committed crimes against the natives[2]. However, the relapse into pagan worship made him to set up harsh trials against the natives in a bid to root out the practice. Clendinnen attempts to explain Landa’s actions when he served as a rights activist and as an inquisitor. The author uses Landa’s pieces of writing, including the ‘Relacion’, to explore why Landa advocated for justice for torture victims (natives), but later punished the natives who offered human sacrifices[3]. In the book, Clendinnen analyzes the different issues raised by historians and scholars about Landa’s inhumane actions against the natives. She carefully explores the historical contexts, incidents, and controversies surrounding the Mayan culture and way of life. Overall, the book provides a compelling argument on the subject of Landa’s role before and after Yucatan’s Spanish invasion. Clendinnen’s Main Argument The book presents the author’s narrative in a clear and unequivocal manner. The author’s monogram is clear, detailed, and replete with facts. However, the information bountiful information provided makes it difficult to understand the book’s thesis. The book’s chapters, the monogram, and the conclusio n do not explain the author’s central argument. Clendinnen’s main argument relates to her attitude and views about the Mayan culture. The author writes that Landa treated the Maya people with love and thus, felt betrayed when they left Christianity and returned to their heathen practices[4]. Thus, in a bid to correct them, he instituted harsh inquisition trials against them. In the author’s view, Although Landa did not intend to the Maya people, his punishment was unjustifiably severe. She argues that the inquisitions gave Landa another opportunity to redeem the lost souls of people he considered his sons and daughters. Previously, Landa had sought justice for the Maya people who had been tortured by the Spanish military and thus, his inquisition trials were not meant to eliminate them, but rather to save them[5].Advertising Looking for book review on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn Mor e This interesting argument underscores the author’s perspectives on Landa’s actions towards the Maya people. She argues that Landa’s actions during the Mayan trials, though very severe at the time compared to other inquisitions, were justified. To reinforce this argument, the author describes the procedures were used during the inquisition and observes that Landa was fair in deciding who to be punished. Moreover, the author seems to believe that Landa had the authority and jurisdiction to oversee the trials. The inquisition was instituted in 1230 C.E. to fight paganism and heathen practices in parts of Europe[6]. It, however, led to the persecution of small religious sects by the Catholic Church. The Dominicans and Franciscans later dominated the inquisition, but received orders from the Papal Bull[7]. At the time, Landa was an appointed Franciscan Order who had arrived in Yucatan in 1549. He initiated the trials in 1561 without waiting for the orders o f the appointed Bishop who was on his way to the Yucatan. The author argues that Landa’s actions were excessively severe and cannot be construed as disciplinary. Methods and Evidence The author uses Landa’s own books on his Yucatan trip to explore his perspective on the inquisition trials. She uses the Landa’s book titled the Relacion de la Cosas de Yucatec to explain Landa’s perspective about the trials and his earlier opposition against the Spanish incursion in Yucatan. This primary source allowed the author to articulate Landa’s perspective on the subject. Clendinnen also presents her narrative through a monograph on Landa’s actions between 1517 and 1570. In the monograph, she provides detailed information and her perspective on this historical subject. Thus, her use of various primary sources, including those authored by Landa lends credence to her analysis of the historical injustices meted against the Maya during Landa’s inquisi tion trials. Moreover, Clendinnen’s monograph on this topic gives important insights into the Mayan culture and life. She presents her perspective in a way that does not criticize prevalent social, religious, and political conditions during this time. Strengths and Weakness of the Book In this book, Clendinnen attempts to explain Landa’s actions when he championed for the rights of the Maya people and when he established trials against them. One of the strengths of this book relates to the author’s use of primary sources of information, including books authored by Landa, to support her argument.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Ambivalent Conquest specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As aforementioned, this makes her argument compelling to the reader. Among the sources used is Landa’s ‘Relacion’ in which he explains the rationales for his ambivalent conquest. The author also explores the controversial issues surrounding this conquest. Another major strength of the book is the inclusion of the author’s monograph. The monograph presents the historical facts and perspectives without condemning the Catholic Church, the Spanish military, the Dominicans, or the Franciscans. The monograph is also presented in a clear and readable manner. The narrative captivates the reader, as it is straightforward. However, some aspects of this book make it inadequate. One of the weaknesses of this book is that the author’s thesis is not clear. Although Clendinnen organizes her narrative into different chapters, a monograph, and a conclusion, she does not clearly state her argument from the outset. Her failure to state the book’s thesis made her argument vague and equivocal. Clendinnen at some point writes that the Mexican Provincial Council had by 1555 put in place clear policies and procedures on how inquisitions are conducted, which Landa should have followed[8]. However, she does not provide a relevant citation to support this assertion. Clendinnen portrays Landa as a patriarchal leader whose actions were so severe and inhumane. It is difficult to determine whether the Yucatan leaders were familiar with the Mexican Council’s inquisition order. Despite Clendinnen’s assertion, Landa may not have been familiar with such an order, which explains his inhumane actions. Significance of the Book The book’s account of Landa’s actions reveals the historical injustices meted against the Maya people. It shows Landa’s role in liberating them from the Spanish incursion, his missionary work, and inhumane trials against the natives who had strayed to heathen practices. It underscores Landa’s sincere quest for the revival of the Mayans, which, however, subjected them to torture and inhumane treatment. Bibliography Clendinnen Inga. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniards in Yucatan, 1517-1570.Advertisin g Looking for book review on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Footnotes Inga Clendinnen. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniards in Yucatan, 1517-1570. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 17 Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, 25 Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, 25 Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, 121 Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, 78 Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, 43 Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, 71 Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, 212

Youth Justice Policy in Britain (1945-1981) †from Punishment to Welfare The WritePass Journal

Youth Justice Policy in Britain (1945-1981) – from Punishment to Welfare Introduction Youth Justice Policy in Britain (1945-1981) – from Punishment to Welfare    Community Care (2010) â€Å"Ministry of Justice to take control of Youth Justice Board†, 20th May, Thursday, Available at: communitycare.co.uk/Articles/20/05/2010/114543/ministry-of-justice-to-take-control-of-youth-justice-board.htm Retrieved 03.03.2012 Greenaway, J.R., Smith, S. Street, J. (1992) Deciding Factors in British Politics, London: Routledge   ch. 2   pp. 29-39, ch 3. Guardian (2011) â€Å"What next for youth policy†?, August, 25, Available at: guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/blog/2011/aug/25/tony-blair-youth-policy-intervention-reform Retrieved 03.03.2012 Politics UK (2011) â€Å"Comment: What is causing the riots in London?, Nick Cowen, Monday, 8th of August, Available at: politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2011/08/08/comment-what-is-causing-the-riots-in-london Retrieved 03.03.2012 Thorpe, D.H, Smith, D., Green, C.J, Paley, J.H (1980) Out of Care: The Community Support of Juvenile Offenders Allen and Unwin Youth Justice Board (2008) â€Å"A Brief History of the Youth Justice System†, Available at: http://labspace.open.ac.uk/file.php/5193/YJ_k523_1/sco.htm Retrieved 03.03.2012

Oil and us foreign policy in middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Oil and us foreign policy in middle East - Essay Example Significance of Study The Middle East is one of the most strategic places that have attracted many nations from most parts of the world with regard to both commercial and political interest. Middle east is actually at the centre of world attention and always captured on the global news bulletin all around the world for both political social and economic reasons. This shows that Middle East is a key partner in the global economy. Its role in the global commercial and political ties cannot be undermined. Oil and petroleum are key element in the economies of all the nations of the world and changes in economic trends for various nations are often linked with changes in the oil prices in the world market. The major reason is that petroleum products are a major source of energy for both household and firms in all parts of the world. Cars, motor vehicles, airplanes and many machines rely heavily on fossil fuel as a source of their power. Thus, the demand for petroleum products is almost co nstant and increases steadily as global demand rises. The United States is then submerged in crude oil. Up from 2008 to 2013, domestic oil production in United States went up by 2.4 million barrels in a day this was the biggest in the country’s history. ... q or Saudi Arabia still have a big impact.  That is one conclusion of a major new report by a commission of  former generals and senior officials, backed by Securing America's Energy Future (SAFE). Wallander Celeste in his article explains that many experts who have worked for the U.S. government believe that there has been careless talk in the recent days that America can now ignore Middle East1. These middle east nations have come together to consolidate their power by forming the Organization of petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which provides the oil producing nations a strong bargaining power to negotiate for the best deal in their commercialization and sale of crude oil. OPEC sets the production quotas and support in the provision of earning levels and standards for producing nations. This goes a long way to determine the prices of petroleum products. It is worthy to note that after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the bipolar global ideological war ended and th e United States and the Capitalist West emerged as the global leaders1. Currently, the United States leads the global economic order. Due to this, the United States plays a vital role in putting in place measures to ensure that OPEC and other nations are meeting all necessary requirements to ensure a reasonable and stable price for crude oil. Since the United States plays a fundamental leadership role in dealing with OPEC countries the volatility of Middle Eastern nations causes major fluctuations in oil prices, there is the need to understand the foreign policy of the US in the Middle East. The essence of this study is to identify the main ways the United States keeps oil prices stable to maintain stable oil prices. This will provide significant information and guidance on the core indicators

Wal-Marts approach to Purchasing and Supply-Chain Management Essay

Wal-Marts approach to Purchasing and Supply-Chain Management - Essay Example This report stresses that Wal-Mart is a retailer of consumer goods. Its ultimate strategy is to offer products at low prices thus becoming a common primary area of interest among various business experts in terms of costs. This low pricing strategy is the core competitive strategy for the retail store. However, besides this, its purchasing and supply-chain management have great contribution too; the actual business world William. The Wal-Mart failed in Germany because the management wanted to implement the United States model to the Germany market. The Wal-Mart management pressured the executives in Germany to enforce management styles of American in the workplace. For instance, workers were forbidden dating colleagues in the organization’s influential positions or flirt with colleagues Huff Post Business This paper shows that the presented activities, Wal-Mart are trying to employ in order to create there competitive advantage primarily using it’s purchasing and supply-chain management for this reason have proved effective. It was found that these activities with information technology have helped Wal-Mart create a competitive advantage over other players in the retail chain store industry. Therefore, to gain competitive advantage in an industry an organization will need to choose the right business models and adopt the right technology to develop a competitive advantage in the industry.

Urban Design, Architecture, Art in Rome Essay Example for Free

Urban Design, Architecture, Art in Rome Essay Rome was one of the prominent cities to show a distinct example of urban architecture. As according to Frechtling (2001), urban design had always been attached to the Romanesque tradition wherein the arrangements of their architectural designs usually form single composition (p. 2). The roman architecture had significantly been influenced by the vast traditional constructs of architecture through the Etruscan perspective, and combined with their use of arch, which showed relevance to their Greek adaptation of columns. Added by Crouch (1993), the very process of urbanization in the Roman perspective entailed the arrangements of elements in order to attain maximum beauty and agreeable provisions (p. 10). Romans were the first to consider the utilization of construction techniques in order to further manipulate large interior spaces and monumental architecture. Much of these were evident in their building designs and those established monuments (Buden, 2000 p. 10). One of the historically recognized urban designs of the Roman period was Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio or the Capistoline Hill. The plateau of Piazza del Campidoglio had been the centre of Roman political atmosphere throughout the Middle Ages. The transformation that Michelangelo rendered to the Campidoglio in offering to the Pope Paul III during 1538 has become the prominent highlight of renaissance architecture, more significantly in the rise of urban design application. As supported by Watkin, the design of Michelangelo’s Capitoline Hill had greatly impacted the designs of urban perspective. The most significant characteristic in his Piazza del Campidoglio was the presence of spatial manipulation of voids and masses in his urban design. The concept of architectural design employed by Michelangelo had been the center of commotion with respect to the influence of his piazza design in the aspect of urban art. Furthermore, the features he had utilized in his piece had significantly triggered the argument on the type of design era symbolized by his concept. Within the study, the main scope was to scrutinize and analyze the presence of urban design patterns in the architectural art of Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio. The study centered on the idea of urban designing in architecture in the highlights of historical trends developed from baroque, medieval and contemporary designs. Furthermore, the study developed an argument within the architectural concepts of Michelangelo to further illustrate how it influenced the styles, symbolism and trends of urban designing in architecture. Discussion Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio In the Piazza del Campidoglio designed by Michelangelo in Rome in the sixteenth century, the grand flight of steps, which leads to the square, is in fact situated on the axis in considerable distance from the steps to the building, and its great width that provides it certain autonomy (Meiss 1990 p. 67). Michelangelo design his piazza in an orderly state with five entrances and three palaces. In the section of Senator’s Palace constructed during the medieval era and located on the east side and Conservator’s Palace on the south side were formed in 80 degree angles, which created a trapezoid-shaped piazza. In addition, this constituted an even more inlaid pavement that highlighted an oval pattern embossed in the middle of the piazza. With this architectural design, critiques (Watkin, 2005; Meiss 1990) had very well linked this idea of Michelangelo in providing a sense of baroque style in his piazza architecture. According to Crouch (1993), the Roman architectural design mainly depended in two primary urban patterns, specifically the regular rigid mostly associated with veteran’s colonies and the towns that developed from them, and the jostle of monumental buildings set close together and at angles to one another without a regular pattern of streets to set them off (p. 10). In addition, the concept of Piazza del Campidoglio comprised the initial ideas of Etienne Duperac, who greatly contributed to the first blueprint of the site. After which, it is Michelangelo who admonished the modification and transformation of these engravings. The architectural design of Michelangelo comprised the square that should be composed of three distinct palaces and a balustrade wherein he would also place five roads or flights of steps that should lead to the square. The presence of oval feature in the piazza’s design somehow illustrated the idea of baroque implications, most significantly with the oval-ended pedestal designed by Michelangelo himself. Added by Braunfels and Northcott (1988), the oval in which the statue had been erected was also part of the motive in illustrating the Capitoline Hill. Within the interiors of the Campidoglio, Michelangelo provided an intensively designed double-ramped staircase in front of the remodeled Senator’s Palace. He employed organization in the blueprint of the Capitoline Hill that does not close the aspect of tradition. According to Watkin (2005), Michelangelo very well adapted this from the designs of the facade of a palace under a theatrical design featured in civic ceremony. He also added that the flanking palaces on either side of the piazza had also created an evident impact in urban designing (p. 235). Considering the square character of Michelangelo’s piece, he very well emphasized the coherent spatial allowances and diversion of architecture in this Campidoglio. He incorporated steep topography and irregular shaped site with an intention of creating an illusion of spatial characteristics. Michelangelo altered the distinct features of the facades and alignments of the three surrounding buildings in order to transform the area from a derelict piece of land to an organized elemental fashion. As supported by Trancik (1986), Michelangelo evidently took the advantage of the triangular site in order to further form elliptical paving pattern to establish a stable center of the piazza (p. 65). Originally, the design of the Campidoglio was only two buildings; however, in order to provide more control and distinction in the spatial character of the central piece, Michelangelo had admonished the construction of the third building. In analyzing the placement and order of the building, the two buildings present at the sides of the oval shaped increment were two stories and slightly offset to 80 degrees. On the other hand, the Palazzo del Senatore or the Senate Palace that provided the most essential part in spatial enclosure had constituted three stories. The reconstruction of the Facades of the conservatoria had been reconstructed from 1563 to 1564, while the Senate Palace took from 1598 to 1612. According to Rubenstein (1992), the main characteristic the Piazza was emphasized in the placement of the central, slightly-sunken, and paved star-shape symbol that surrounded the plaza and provided linkage to other surrounding areas (p. 8). This urban design placement had created an oval volume of space that further increased the spatial feature of the trapezoid enclosed by the three surrounding sites. The concept of design utilized by Michelangelo had significantly provided unity and coherence in the overall design.

Female Genital Mutiliation

Female Genital Mutiliation Female Genital Mutilation According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, means partial or complete non-therapeutic removal or injury of each of the external female genitals for religious or cultural reasons (utz-billing Kentenich 225). FGM is an injury, physical and mental harm towards women and girls. Female Genital Mutilation has existed for over two thousand years, and over 125 million women and girls have experienced FGM in about 30 countries (Wilson 2013). It happens to 2 million girls every year (utz-billing Kentenich 226). FGM is performed mainly in Africa. (utz-billing Kentenich 226). A narrative coming from the article from Bulletin of the World Health Organization describes a real story, â€Å"I was just seven years old when I was cut,† said Leyla Hussein, a British woman of Somali origin. â€Å"The first thing I hears was my sister screaming. Then it was my turn. Four women held me down while they cut my clitoris. I felt every single cut. The pain was so intense – I blacked out.† (Shetty,Priya 6). Instruments that are used to execute FGM are unsterilized knives, razors, scalpels, pieces of broken glass, and so forth, or sterilized instruments under medical conditions (utz-billing Kentenich 226). The ages of girls/women when they undergo circumcision differ regionally (utz-billing Kentenich 225). In Ethiopia and Nigeria, 7- to 8-day-old babies are mutilated. In Somalia, Sudan and Egypt, girls, between 5 and 10 years old, experience circumcision. In some regions in East Africa, women undergo the circumcision during the wedding night, in some regions in West Africa during their first pregnancy (utz-billing Kentenich 225). There are four types of FGM in practice. Type one (clitoridectomy) means â€Å"removal of the clitoral foreskin†; type two (excision) stands for â€Å"removal of the clitoris with partial or total excision of the labia minor†; type three (infibulation) stands for â€Å"removal of the clitoris and the labia minora and majora†; other types such as â€Å"pricking, piercing of clitoris or vulva, scraping of the vagina†, and so forth, are classified as type four (utz-billing Kentenich 226). Many of women and girls who have undergone some forms of FGM suffer severe mental, physical and social consequences. Women will suffer different types of physical consequences of FGM, such as â€Å"bleeding, wound infections, sepsis, shock, micturition problems, fractures, and so forth, as well as undertaking chronic physical problems like â€Å"anemia, infections of the urinary tract, incontinence, infertility, pain, menstruation problems, dyspareunia, and so on (utz-billing Kentenich 225). Mental consequences of women after undergoing FGM include the feelings of â€Å"incompleteness, fear, inferiority and suppression† that have a great impact on the whole life of women (utz-billing Kentenich 227). FGM also causes sexual problems such as loss of sexual desire caused by dyspareunia and reduced or no ability to have an orgasm are confirmed (utz-billing Kentenich 227). According to the record from Utz-billing and Kentenich, women have some symptoms of â€Å"chronic irritability and nightmares’, and woman also have a higher risk for â€Å"psychiatric diseases† such as â€Å"depressions, psychosis, neurosis and psychosomatic diseases† (utz-billing Kentenich 227). Ground on the interview study done by 47 women in Senegal, over 90 % of patients count FGM as a traumatic experience and depict feelings of â€Å"helplessness, fear, horror and severe pain†; 78% did not expect the intervention; nearly 80% had â€Å"severe fear or affective disorders† after FGM (utz-billing Kentenich 227). FGM is deeply rooted in the tradition and culture of a society (utz-billing Kentenich 225); in some cultures or societies, FGM is being performed since the mists of time. Female Genital Cutting is a social norm, which means that men and women often support FGM without question since it is a conventional practice that has occurred in communities from generations to generations (orchid project website). FGM serves the encouragement of the patriarchal family system and can be an instrument for birth control (utz-billing Kentenich 226). FGM is considered as being closely connected with cleanliness, virginity, healthiness, beauty and morality (orchid project website). In some societies, the mutilated genital is a symbol of feminity, of transition from girl to woman and of beauty (utz-billing Kentenich 226). In some communities, the girl who does not experience circumcision is considered as â€Å"unclean and sexually promiscuous†(orchid project website). On the other side, many communities believe that a girl needs to be cut in order to marry well; even though mothers do not want their daughters to be mutilated because of her own painful experience, she is less likely to quit the practice as a result of â€Å"social sanctions in place† (orchid project website). In other words, the girls who are cut will have a good marriage because the goal is to guarantee moral behavior and faithfulness of women to their husband, and it also promotes purity and enhances fertility (utz-billing Kentenich 226). On this basis, FGM also serves for protection of the woman from suspicions and disgrace (utz-billing Kentenich 226), and the girls will be thought to be cleaner, more fertile and will be a virgin until her wedding night (orchid project website). In addition, economic reasons play an important role in practicing FGM. â€Å"Parents get money for the pride proportionally to the degree of the operation† (utz-billing Kentenich 226). Women who experienced FGM have good incomes and have a high social status (utz-billing Kentenich 226). Based on the research which a total of 500 Nigerian women answered the reasons for FGM done by utz-billing Kentenich, we could know that 95% response that FGM is executed for cultural and traditional reasons; 49% said that FGM helps to prevent promiscuity; 18% answered that not mutilated vulva is ugly; 11% believed that FGM prevents the death of male newborns; 9% claimed that the reason to perform FGM is due to pressure of relatives; 6% reported religious reasons (utz-billing Kentenich 226). Concerning human rights, none of the cultural, religious, or social reasons for the performance of FGM could be accepted, since FGM has no health benefits and always leave women with lifelong physical and emotional trauma, and FGM objects women the right of freedom from bodily detriment. FGM is already condemned by many international organizations; the fight to end FGM is now global, with international agencies such as WHO, the World Medical Association, the UNESCO, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICER), and so forth (utz-billing Kentenich 228), and has strong support from governments. Looking back to history, international pressure to end FGM has been aggrandizing since 1997, when the WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA issued a joint statement calling on governments to ban the practice (Shetty,Priya 6). The commitment was renewed in 2008 and, in 2012, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to enhance efforts towards the elimination of FGM (Shetty,Priya 6). Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Belgium have specific laws that ban FGM (utz-billing Kentenich 228). Africa, Egypt, Benin, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bisson, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and the Central African Republic are in the course of e liminating the practice of FGM with specific laws (utz-billing Kentenich 228). Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia also have laws against FGM (utz-billing Kentenich 228). For instance, in Germany, FGM is regarded as a simple, dangerous, serious bodily injury, manslaughter, or maltreatment of wards; offenders who execute FGM can be sentenced to 15-year imprisonment (utz-billing Kentenich 228). Throughout history, the very first international seminar about FGM was held in 1979, â€Å"recommending the adoption of clear national policies, establishment of national commissions, intensification of general public awareness, and TBA education† (Wilson 27). After several decades of doing cross-agency evaluated studies, papers, and articles recommending methods to eliminate FGM, and holding many conferences, six key factors for waiving FGM have become well recognized by NGOs and government bodies as good practice. These six key elements are â€Å"a non-coercive, non-judgmental human rights approach†, â€Å"community awareness raising of the harmfulness of the practice†, â€Å"the decision to abandon needs to be collective†, â€Å"requirement of community public affirmation of abandonment†, â€Å" intercommunity diffusion of the decision†, and â€Å"a supportive, change-enabling environment† (Wilson 27). Based on the six key factors mentioned above, ascertaining the most effective and suitable strategies for eliminating FGM has become a controversial issue referring to moral, disease, and legal models (Wilson 27). Furthermore, according to Diop, in order to effectively end FGM, â€Å"human rights-based education programs should be continued, legislation against FGM should be enforced and funding both locally and nationally for initiatives to end FGM should be increased† (Priya Shetty 7). Adopting a commonly stands, some argue that practicing FGM should be condemned and punished by legislation; however, formal legislation is considered as a poor instrument in terms of cultural change (Wilson 27). Moreover, the legislative approach does not work effectively. The situation is that several sovereign states have legislation which outlaw the practice of FGM, either as a specific criminal act or as an act of bodily hard or injury, and many states have an extraterritoriality clause which makes it unlawful for their citizens to go abroad to let FGM practice (Brown, Katherine, David Beecham, and Hazel Barrett 3). UK’s Female Genital Mutilation Act (2003) only applies to those who have permanent residency rights, so people having temporary residency visas, such as students, undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, and so forth, are uncommitted (Brown, Katherine, David Beecham, and Hazel Barrett 3). Therefore, as Diop said, legislation against FGM should be tougher and b e enforced so that FGM can be effectively solved. In other words, what governments should do is to implement appropriate legislation and policies to keep girls from being taken overseas and undergone the circumcision. Simple education campaigns that are designed to impart knowledge on the disadvantageous health outcomes of FGM can be problematic as well, although these education campaigns do a little work (Wilson 27). Women in some countries are not given the same educational opportunities as men. In other words, women have very little power; if they want to end the cycle of mutilation, they would be left behind and would be in trouble (Emily Deruy News). Since FGM is deeply rooted in the tradition and culture of a society, women fear that if they do not make their girls cut, these girls would not be good for marriage, which would make their lives be full of exclusion and poverty in many places (Emily Deruy News). Advocating education can be a possible solution for ending FGM. Education could lead women to the labor market, which would have an impact on weakening traditional family structures. School should be playing an important part in raising awareness of FGM. An education program adopted by every school can provide a breakthrough in cultural attitudes (Nursing Standard 35). School can also impart knowledge to girls from people from different cultures and from mentors who do not support FGM; in the meanwhile, girls may be less likely to continue the cycle of mutilation (Emily Deruy News). Not only women and girls should be educated, but also men and boys should be educated. Educating men and boys about the harm and risk of FGM is considerable. One report released by UNICEF presents data demonstrating that in many countries where FGM takes place â€Å"most women and men think the practice should end† (Priya Shetty 6). But the problem is that even though men want the FGM to end but th ey have to follow it because of social reasons (Emily Deruy News). On this point, the status of women should be increased via education so that women could have abilities to fight for themselves; however, increasing the status of women is also a complex and deep problem involving culture, societies, and tradition. Public declaration for ending FGM could be a possible solution. According to David Adam, â€Å"by spreading the message of abandonment along their social networks, neighboring communities are introduced to the idea of abandonment, often reducing or even removing resistance to the idea† (Priya Shetty 7). This solution works effectively. For example, the very first public declaration took place in Senegal in 1997, and since then the number of community abandoning FGM has grown exponentially (Orchid Project website). Moreover, communities in Guinea, Somalia and the Gambia have done public declarations of abandoning practice, which is good, and other communities are declaring as well (Orchid Project website). In addition, FGM messaging that encourages abandonment can be introduced in the social media, which could draw attention to people all over the world and let people start focusing on FGM (Orchid Project website). Also religious leaders, government officials, celebrities, and superstars can take good advantage of their influential voices in order to contribute to support FGM abandonment (Orchid Project website). Not only NGOs and governments want to abandon FGM, but also churches in Kenya are uniting in effort to end female genital mutilation. The Kenyan bishops and other faith groups are combined together to form a committee to help to end the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (National Catholic Reporter 6). Since â€Å"the church is interested in promoting values and cultures that will enhance human life†, what they have done is to sign the national plan for the clergy to outlaw the execution of FGM, and they consider FGM as a â€Å"retrogressive† practice which â€Å"degrades a woman’s life†(National Catholic Reporter 6). So the churches in Kenya think that FGM must be stopped. In short, compared to what NGOs and governments have done, churches do not have great influence on ending FGM, but churches play a helpful role in assisting to end FGM. Overall, those people and organizations that do not support FGM are always trying to find some ways to stop FGM; however, what they have done does not effectively play a part in ending practices in short term, but their efforts do work. Whereas, the progress in ending FGM is slow. On the basis of data from Priya Shetty, the rates of FGM in a few countries are decreasing. In Kenya, these rates in women aged 15- to 49- year-old fell from 38% in 1998 to 26% in 2008; in the Central African Republic, rates fell from 43% in 1994 to 24% in 2010 (Shetty,Priya 6). After several decades of effort by every single movement of abandoning Female Genital Mutilation, according to the UNFPA/UNICEF Joint Program, 10,000 communities have abandoned Female Genital Mutilation all over the world, which is a good sign (Orchid Project website). This phenomenon occurs in the countries, such as Senegal, Mauritania, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Nigeria (Orchid Project website). This data tells us that attitudes towards FGM have been changing in countries, even though it is not that obvious; however, this means even if the execution of FGM is still universal, there is a change in opinions taking place, which could help to pave the way for further action (Orchid Project website). In the light of Orchid Project website, some countries in West Africa made huge progress on FGM abandonment. For instance, over 5,500 villages have abandoned FGM in Senegal (Orchid Project website). It is still sad to know that more than 3 million female infants and children are at risk for undergoing FGM annually (Sipsma 120). The existence of FGM gives these innocent girls and women lifetime pain and injury. I think the existence of FGM is so ridiculous, and it is also ridiculous that women and men in some regions still subject to practice because of tradition, culture, and society, even though they all think FGM should end. Good thing is that some West Africa countries, like Senegal, stop executing FGM and attitudes towards practicing FGM is changing as well. According to this current trend, I could say confidently that ending FGM is a long-term program and is just around the corner, if every single person, NGO, and government continues to work on the projects of ending FGM whole-heartedly. Work Cited Brown, Katherine, David Beecham, and Hazel Barrett. The Applicability Of Behaviour Change In Intervention Programmes Targeted At Ending Female Genital Mutilation In The EU: Integrating Social Cognitive And Community Level Approaches. Obstetrics Gynecology International (2013): 1-12. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. Churches Unite In Effort To End Female Genital Mutilation. National Catholic Reporter 39.26 (2003): 6. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. Emily Deruy, â€Å"How Realistic Are the New ‘Solutions’ to the Female Genital Mutilation Epidemic?† ABC News (2013). http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/realistic-solutions-female-genital-mutilation/story?id=19750777singlePage=true> Web. 11 Dec. 2014 â€Å"Orchid Project†, http://orchidproject.org/category/about-fgc/why-fgc-happens/> Shetty, Priya. Slow Progress In Ending Female Genital Mutilation. Bulletin Of The World Health Organization 92.1 (2014): 6-7. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. Sipsma, Heather L., et al. Female Genital Cutting: Current Practices And Beliefs In Western Africa. Bulletin Of The World Health Organization 90.2 (2012): 120-127F. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. Utz-Billing, I., and H. Kentenich. Female Genital Mutilation: An Injury, Physical And Mental Harm. Journal Of Psychosomatic Obstetrics Gynecology 29.4 (2008): 225-229. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. Wilson, Ann-Marie. How The Methods Used To Eliminate Foot Binding In China Can Be Employed To Eradicate Female Genital Mutilation. Journal Of Gender Studies 22.1 (2013): 17-37. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

Juveniles and Crime

Juveniles and Crimes Brandi Haney CJS/200 Sean Wallace March 3, 2013 Juveniles and Crimes Information Juveniles commit a lot of crimes and much of it is because of influences and or surrounded lifestyles. Majority of the crimes committed by juveniles are violent crimes but the main ones involve drug abuse and simple assault. Juveniles account for 17 percent of all arrest according to the FBI and 15 percent of those arrest were due to violent crimes. ( Juvenile Crime, 2001 2003)Overall the crimes rates have decreased, but the females who were under 18 and minorities had higher crime rats than men did and they were the contributing factor to the majority of the arrest. In 2001 there was an increase in drug abuse violations. Increase of violations would mean an increase arrest rate and also no decrease in the crime rate. It would only add to it. The all time high for simple assault was in 2001 and females made up 28 percent of all juvenile arrest. Males were only 8 percent of the overal l juvenile arrest.The juvenile arrest that happened involved primarily white youth. The y accounted many Hispanics as white youth as well. JUVENILE AND ADULTS COURTS Juveniles Court Juveniles courts vary majorly from adults courts. Juveniles process is as listed; detention hearing then fact finding hearing, after that they have the petition and respondent and next they have the adjudication and finally the involved/ delinquent. The juveniles usually and generally will not get a jury. Their court hearings are closed off to the public for the convenience of their privacy and mainly due to their age.Bails are generally not allowed nor set for juveniles/minors. For minors to get out of jail before their entire process is over they must prove to the judge that they are not a flight risk and that they are not a danger or threat to society and their community. When juveniles commit smaller mes a lot of the time they are punished worse than an adult would be for the exact same crime/offense . When a juvenile is punished by probation they are usually put on probation for a longer period than an adult would be.The stipulations to their probation would be a longer list as well. For example they would have to follow a curfew and they would have to respect their parents, and keep their grades up, attend one or more extra curricular activity, and they would have to possibly attend counseling. If they were to break these stipulations than they would have to report to their judge once again and possibly have their probation sentence lengthened or they would get what they call a probation violation and have to just serve their length of a sentence.For many of the cases on minors and juveniles being found delinquent and serving your time with no breaks it a lot of the time is better for them because while their sentence may be long their sentence is only until the are approximately in their twenties and as an adult they would serve a life sentence for some things and â€Å"plea s† may have been even worse. There are time when a juvenile may be tried as an adult. The circumstances would be a felony drug offense, sex crimes, murders, and attempted murders. Between the ages 13 and 17 you can be and have the potential to be tried as an adult and serve an adult term.DELIQUENCY AND STATUS OFFENSES Delinquency is a minor crime committed by the youth (young people). This definition is directed towards the young people but this does not mean that an adult can not be caught or punished for the same crime that a minor will be in trouble for. A status offense is an action prohibited to a specific class of people and mostly is applied to crimes omitted by minors. VARIABLES THAT CORRELATE TO JUVENILE CRIMES While there are many things that correlate to juveniles committing crimes there is in my opinion still no excuses. One thing that correlates to the crimes is child maltreatment.When they child is not taken care of they tend to veer off and find other means of l iving and making ends meet. Another variable is alcoholism and drug use. A parent or parents is a child’s biggest role model and so are their siblings and any other older siblings. If a child grows up always seeing nothing but alcohol around the house and their family getting high off of pills and smoking than they are naturally going to take that lifestyle in and think that it is normal and okay and they will think that everyone else around them lives the same lifestyle.Bullying has in my world been a major variable. Whens someone is bullied they think that they need to find their own happy place and they claim that committing crimes does that for them. For example when a person gets in a fight or steals something and all the attention is turned on them, that is the highlight of their lives because everyone always bullied them. Single or no parent homes is probably one of the biggest variables. Like I mentioned before a parent or parents are a child’s biggest role mod els. A child’s mind is like a sponge and they always play the game of monkey see monkey do.This will never go away even when they are all grown up and moved out. I was a child that was in a single family home and there was nothing I would of ever wanted more than a multi parent home. I needed both of them for different reasons and I never had the choice, which led me in to depression and lack in schooling. There are a few more variables too and they are poverty, gang membership, idolizing criminals, trauma, school dropouts, and truancy. RECOMMENDATION I have many recommendations but the one I want to start with is â€Å"stop letting the juveniles get away with breaks and shorter punishments†.Now that I am all grown up I know that I hated to be punished but in all reality the longer I was punished the more I replayed why I was punished and told myself not to do it anymore. We need consistency. They need to make sure they stick to exactly what they say they are going to do to the child. We need to have better structured probation officers and counselors. Many of them do not care about the well being of the child they are just there to get paid and â€Å"claim† they helped the child. REFRENCES Google. com Studymode. com My step mother a criminal rehabilitator counselor

Psychology and Language: Research Proposal Essay

The relationship between psychology and language is a moot point among some scholars. However, when the two disciplines are taken into account in terms of their contrast and comparison, it merges jarringly clear that a relation exists between them. The two are either inextricably bound, or one of the discipline is overly dependent on the on the other. This study is aimed at unveiling the relations that exist between the two. And for this to be realized, the opinion of various targeted respondents will have to be solicited through interviews. Besides, scholarly opinion will also be collected and collated from publications, both recent and past. Their review will therefore assist to come up with a condensed conclusion about the study. In essence, this research will bring to the connection between the two disciplines, how one influences the development of another. Literature Review The relationship between language and psychology can hardly be gainsaid. Various scholars have delved into this discourse, offering their varied opinion supported by their informed arguments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to some theories, language do exists as a system of signs, the meaning and implications of which are entirely dependent on their relation to other signs of the system, and of the structure of linguistic expressions in which they occur. Other theories have it that language is a system of syntactic forms which come ready made in the mind of the speaker from birth, and which gives speakers the competence to generate and understand infinitely many different propositions. And this is independent of the experience and knowledge that speakers have of that which they speak or of the context in which the propositions are generated and understood. (Paetorius, 98)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The study of languages, otherwise termed as linguistics can sometimes be a technical discipline with a reality and a vocabulary of its own. This best explains why psychologists have often waited for linguists to offer them education on the meaning of language.   This meaning helps the psychologists in the quest to further study its comprehension, processing and acquisition. (Tomasello, 1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Grammar of Autobiography, Quigley aptly relates the two disciplines by arguing that psychology operates in an unstable, developing world that is open to change as a consequence of our communicative activity, rather than in the independent knowable reality of cognitive psychology. He adds that linking psychology with our social world is hardly a new phenomenon. Instead, proposing language as the mediator between the two is novel. (6) Currently, language isn’t only representative but also formative. It does functions to construct situations as they are, instead of just to reporting them. He argues that our thoughts aren’t just the source of our talk; they are constituted and/or formulated in our talk. Since psychology is the science of the mind, then the objects of psychology is not individuals but what goes on in the space between them. While studying the relation between words and world, it is not cognition but language that gives us the world. (6) In Language as Social Action: Social Psychology and Language Use, another scholar, Holtgraves, point out that language use is interpersonal in many ways. For one, it is a rich source of identity- relevant information. This is because many aspects of language use, for instance accent, speech rate and politeness level, provide crucial information that can be used by others in forming impressions of people. (6) Besides, many of these variables can be changed strategically as means of managing the impressions that people convey to others. Holtgraves therefore concludes that the use of language plays a significant role in both person perceptions; how people perceive one another and impression management: how people vary their talks strategically to achieve particular effects. (6) From the above discourse we can infer that the correlation between psychology and language is best demonstrated by the fact that words, which are the predominant tools of human communication bear meaning which are not independent from the though process of individuals. Michael Forrester argues in Psychology of Language: A Critical Introduction, that there has always existed a link between psychology and philosophy which has been close and occasionally complementary. And this is particularly the case within psychology of language, especially when the question of meaning arises. Therefore it is hard, even impossible to discuss to discuss language as such without looking into the nature of meaning. This makes it difficult o consider key topics in language for instance, communication, language acquisition and comprehension, without the understanding of what is at issue when people use the word ‘meaning’. (56) Forrester adds that the use of a word or a phrase in appropriate way makes one immediately accountable for whatever they say. As a result, we assume that people mean what they say and also intend others will understand the acceptable meaning of the utterance and act accordingly. Therefore, language without meaning is not language at all. This overview study of meaning, otherwise termed as semantics, makes it clear that although there are particular gains in adopting approaches where appropriate, any consideration of what language user mean when they make an utterance in context imputes us to go beyond truth-conditional semantics. In sum, the contemporary study of semantics can hardly be taken without due consideration of the function of language. (56) One universal design feature of language is that their meaning bearing form is that they are divided into two different subsystems: the open class otherwise known as the lexical and the closed class otherwise refereed to as the grammatical. The difference between the two is that open classes do have many members and can easily add many more. These include nouns, verbs and adjectives. On the other hand, closed classes have relatively few members and are hard difficult to augment. They consist of such bound forms as inflections as found in verbs and such free forms as prepositions, conjunction and determinants. The meaning that open-class forms do express are virtually unrestricted, whereas those of closed-class forms are highly constrained both as the conceptual category they can refer to and as to the particular member notions within any such category. (Tomassello, 15) In essence language has a more profound implication s fro our social existence. It plays a role in virtually every aspect of our dealings with others.   Therefore understanding what we are doing when we use language can help us to understand what it means to be a social being. (Holtgrave, 8)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Possibilities have been explored for studying language at its functional roots as well as its structural realization. This is in the sense that human speech may be formed by general adaptive semantics at the limbic core of the brain as it is then articulated within specific sensory and motor routines of the neocortical shell. (Givon and Malle, 71) This argument can be made on anatomical grounds, interpreting function through the density of connections. It can also be made on psychological grounds, interpreting the excitability of limbic-cortical connections as reflective of the process of memory consolidation. (Givon and Malle, 71)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Research Hypothesis The conduction of this research will involve both the independent and dependent variables. The independent variables in this study are language as a tool that facilitates communication and psychology as the science of the mind. On the other hand the dependent variables are language speakers, communication and psychologists.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The independent variable in this study are related to the dependent variable in that, it is from the language speakers that the in-depth meaning of words is unveiled, further revealing the underlying intentions behind the spoken words. This relations goes ahead to shed additional light on how the mind is the source of words. Therefore, the spoken word does betray the intention of the mind. The other independent variable, in this case the psychologists, through their informed opinions help to shape the realism and surrealism of the link between psychology and language. Research Methods Research Design The relevant data that will facilitate the comprehensive conclusion of this study will be gathered by the use of both qualitative and quantitative techniques. In essence, both primary and secondary data will be whereas probability and non-probability methods of sampling will be employed in selecting the representative sample of the population.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Target Population. The study will be conducted nation-wide amongst language students (those learning a new language), language teachers, linguists and psychologists. The targeted respondents will fall within the age bracket of 16 and 60 years of age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Data Collection Instruments For constructive findings to be reached, this study will warrant that various instruments of data collection be employed. For one, quantitative data will be collected by the use of structured interviews: questionnaires will be served to the targeted populations, with questions bearing some slight differences according to the specific ages or occupation of the respondents. Other quantitative data will be gathered by the use of service statistics, which will compare the results of a particular previous relevant studies conducted nationwide. Secondary data sources from books, magazines, journals and legal documents will also offer quantitative data. On the other hand, qualitative data will be gathered through unstructured interviews, whereby experts in law and sociology will be interviewed. Qualitative data will also be gathered from focus group discussions, direct observation in the court proceedings and juvenile jail routine, and content analysis of published material.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Expected Results This study will likely reach the following results: It is anticipated that most respondents will concur with the fact that there is a relation between language and psychology; this response is likely to come from linguists, language scholars and psychologists, who through in-depth study have come into access of this relation. The relationship between language and psychology can easily escape the knowledge of many. This is expected to be the confession of many language speakers who have never had the opportunity through study to both consider how the two disciplines differ and compare. They of course will confess their ignorance about the subtle technical similarities and difference between the two disciplines. However, given a chance to muse over it, the above respondents will readily agree that there is a relation between the two disciplines. This will come easily since they can visualize the link between their thoughts and words. The literature from which the secondary data in this study will be gathered will likely demonstrate views of the correlation between the two disciplines. Some scholars will definitely beg to differ with this argument, though they are not going to outnumber those who support the argument that indeed a relationship exists between the two. Reference Michael Tomassello, The New Psychology of Language: Cognitive and Functional Approaches   to Languages   Structure, 1. Nini Praetorius, (2003) Principles of Cognition, Language and Action, 98.   Thomas M. Holtgraves (200) Language as Social Action: Social Psychology and Language Use,   6, 8. Givon and Bertram F. Malle (2002) The Evolution of Language out of Pre-Language, 71. Jean Quigley, The Grammar of Autobiography, 6. Michael A. Forrester, (1996) Psychology of Language: A Critical Introduction, 56.   

European Nationalism in Africa

European Nationalism in Africa Free Online Research Papers A careful examination of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost shows the fascinating ways in which fact and fiction intertwine. Hochschild describes the nature of Belgian King Leopold the II’s acquisition and enslavement of the Congo, one of the most violent examples of Colonialism. This is in turn the central theme of Heart of Darkness, as Conrad observed its effects first-hand. Just as Hothschild relates that the reign of Leopold cost the lives of millions of Congolese, so too does Conrad portray the devastation that his â€Å"Company† has created in the Congo. There are interesting similarities in the perceptions that the novelist and the historian have on the subject. Both books point to an arrogant, racially motivated air of superiority that illustrates the way that Europeans chose to advance their nationalistic colonial aims. The egotistic perspective of European colonialists is embodied by the racial prejudices they had toward the natives of the African continent. In Heart of Darkness, this sentiment is pervasive; the way in which the natives are summarily dismissed as being unworthy of consideration is complete throughout the novel. The narrator, Marlow, is shown to be more contemplative and sensitive than the rest of the Company, yet he continually shows a disregard for the lives and well being of the native people. When Marlow first reaches the Outer Station, he notices a number of natives lying among the trees, waiting to die. There is no great sense of compassion in Marlow as he describes these â€Å"black shadows of disease and starvation† (Conrad 14). In fact, all of his descriptions seem to dehumanize the people in this passage, using such descriptions as â€Å"moribund shapes,† â€Å"black shapes† and â€Å"bundles of acute angles.† These descriptions give the reader a sense of the way in which the natives are devalued by the European traders, as even the man who the reader will regard as the conscience of the novel dismisses the plight of these enslaved people. For Marlow, and in turn for all of the men of the Company, the natives become part of the background, as Marlow struggles to refute the â€Å"suspicions of their not being inhuman† (Conrad 32). The attitude toward the native Africans that pervades the European men in Heart of Darkness is also prevalent in King Leopold’s Ghost. Hochschild first draws the overlap between the fictional characters in Conrad’s fiction with real people and events, showing that the fiction accurately mirrors the historical events. Hochschild recounts the story of George Washington William, an early proponent of sovereign rights. His argument that the Congo state was guilty of â€Å"crimes against humanity† (Hochschild 112) was rebuffed by King Leopold, and his untimely death brought an end to this movement. In fact, the conceit of European colonialists led them to feel that they were actually suffering more than the enslaved natives. Hochschild gives an example of this in the form of Raoul de Premorel, who ran a Congo rubber-collecting post. In his memoirs, de Premorel describes punishing the leader of a mutiny, concluding ultimately that â€Å"sometimes I think it is I w ho have suffered most† (Hochschild 295) for having to mete out punishment against men struggling to free themselves from enslavement. In a sense, European arrogance allowed the oppressors to perceive themselves as victims. The disregard for African life was perpetuated by Imperialist greed for the natural resources of the region. Foremost among these was, at least initially, the lust for ivory. Conrad writes, â€Å"The word ivory rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it.† (20), Hochschild refers this notion to a historical perspective. He describes the trickery King Leopold perpetrated to gain a foothold in the Congo- the false threat of Arab slavers- that allowed him to exert his influence to harvest ivory, and later rubber. In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz becomes the evolutionary conclusion to this greed and plundering. Conrad alludes to this with the physical movement of the story, from the Outer Station to the Central Station to the Inner Station, where Kurtz is located. It is a symbolic movement as well, as the Company members espouse more genteel descriptions of their business in Africa as â€Å"trade;† this notion become harsher, more brutal as the reader travels into the Inner Station, to Kurtz’s world. Even dying, Kurtz cries out, â€Å"Oh, but I’ll wring your heart yet† (Conrad 63), suggestive of the utter completeness of the devestation of the land and people of the Congo. Kurtz embodies the core of the Belgian endeavor in Africa laid bare, a pure exploitation that doesn’t care about preservation of a people and their culture. Hochschild expresses Conrad’s rendering of the individual and cultural destruction in the Congo through a sense of the legacy of colonialism in Africa. He describes in great detail the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Brussels. However, as he writes, â€Å"in none of the museum’s twenty large exhibition galleries is there the slightest hint that millions of Congolese met unnatural deaths† (Hochschild 293). Hochschild also relates that this omission is not unique to Brussels, as other European capitals have forgotten this chapter in their history as well. Hochschild clearly illustrates the way in which European Colonialism has purposely forgotten the havoc it wrought. Hochschild also alludes to this in an alternative way, describing how Belgium went from oppressor to victim in the eyes of the world when Germany invaded them, precipitating the events of World War I. The utter arrogance and complete disregard for African life is shown in the fact that there is no acknowledgement of the devastation, in terms of human loss, on the Congo in specific or Africa as a whole. The other aspect of this legacy is the way that violence and exploitation has survived in Africa. Hochschild recounts the way in which school textbooks selectively erased the horrors of the rubber trade by omitting them from the curriculum. He also shows that western interference also prevented sovereign rule from establishing itself in the Congo, as colonial forces opposed Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister after Belgium ceded control, ultimately aiding in his assassination by supporting rebel forces. Hochschild then asserts that the CIA aided in establishing the regime of Joseph Mobutu, who would not oppose the perpetuation of a colonial economy, as Lumumba did. This shows how the colonial arrogance of the west was perpetuated even after rule of the Congo was returned to Africans. There is a clear overlap in both of these books in the way the authors describe the conceit of European colonialism in Africa, both in scope and meaning of the destruction it brought to Africa. In both books, the reader gets a sense of a basis for this exploitation, which clearly stemmed from the notion of the natives being â€Å"inhuman.† Conrad details this directly, and Hochschild alludes to it in the way the history of this exploitation has been erased from African history. In the end, it is apparent that Belgium and the other European colonial exploiters cannot look at their actions, as Kurtz does, and unflinchingly acknowledge them. It is easier to deny this dark legacy. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Ed. Stanley Appelbaum. New York: Dover, 1990. Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold’s Ghost. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Research Papers on European Nationalism in AfricaMind TravelBringing Democracy to AfricaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoCapital PunishmentThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite Religion19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era

Solons Reforms and the Rise of Democracy in Athens

Solons Reforms and the Rise of Democracy in Athens First coming to prominence (c. 600 B.C.) for his patriotic exhortations when Athens was fighting a war against Megara for possession of Salamis, Solon was elected  eponymous archon  in 594/3 B.C. and perhaps, again, about 20 years later. Solon faced the daunting task of improving the condition of: debt-ridden farmerslaborers forced into bondage over debt, andthe middle classes who were excluded from government, while not alienating the increasingly wealthy landowners and aristocracy. Because of his reforming compromises and other legislation, posterity refers to him as Solon the lawgiver.   Such power I gave the people as might do, Abridged not what they had, now lavished new. Those that were great in wealth and high in place, My counsel likewise kept from all disgrace. Before them both I held my shield of might, And let not either touch the others right.- Plutarchs Life of Solon The Great Divide Between Rich and Poor in Athens In the 8th century B.C., rich farmers began exporting their goods: olive oil and wine. Such cash crops required an expensive initial investment. The poorer farmer was more limited in choice of crop, but he still could have continued to eke out a living, if only he had either rotated his crops or let his fields lie fallow. Slavery When land was mortgaged, hektemoroi (stone markers) were placed on the land to show the amount of debt. During the 7th century, these markers proliferated. The poorer wheat farmers lost their land. Laborers were free men who paid out 1/6th of all they produced. In the years of poor harvests, this wasnt enough to survive. To feed themselves and their families, laborers put up their bodies as collateral to borrow from their employers. Exorbitant interest plus living on less than 5/6ths of what was produced made it impossible to repay loans. Free men were being sold into slavery. At the point at which a tyrant or revolt seemed likely, the Athenians appointed Solon to mediate. Relief in the Form of Solon Solon, a lyric poet, and the first Athenian literary figure whose name we know, came from an aristocratic family which traced its ancestry back 10 generations to Hercules, according to Plutarch. Aristocratic beginnings did not prevent him from fearing that someone of his class would try to become tyrant. In his reform measures, he pleased neither the revolutionaries who wanted the land redistributed nor the landowners who wanted to keep all their property intact. Instead, he instituted the seisachtheia by which he canceled all pledges where a mans freedom had been given as guarantee, freed all debtors from bondage, made it illegal to enslave debtors, and put a limit on the amount of land an individual could own. Plutarch records Solons own words about his actions: The mortgage-stones that covered her, by me Removed, the land that was a slave is free;that some who had been seized for their debts he had brought back from other countries, where so far their lot to roam, They had forgot the language of their home;and some he had set at liberty, Who here in shameful servitude were held. More on the Laws of Solon Solons laws do not appear to have been systematic, but provided regulations in the areas of politics, religion, public and private life (including marriage, burial, and the use of springs and wells), civil and criminal life, commerce (including a prohibition on export of all Attic produce except olive oil, although Solon encouraged the export of artisans work), agriculture, sumptuary regulation and discipline. Sickinger estimates there were between 16 and 21 axones that may have contained 36,000 characters total (minimum). These legal records may have been placed in the Boulouterion, Stoa Basileios, and the Acropolis. Although these places would have made them accessible to the public, how many people were literate is not known.   Sources: J.B. Bury. A History of GreecePlutarchs Life of SolonRichard Hookers (wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/ATHENS.HTM)  Ancient Greece: AthensJohn Porters SolonUniversity of Keeles Classics Departments  Athenian Democracy  (www.keele.ac.uk/depts/cl/iahcla~7.htm - accessed 01/02/2000)History of Greece Vol II, by George Grote (1872).

Acquire the varied competence skills in service to older adults Personal Statement

Acquire the varied competence skills in service to older adults - Personal Statement Example All this results in that in the process of communication I teach them to look for the right decisions in every aspect of their life. For example, a lot of older adults do not pay enough attention to their diet, but I urge them to place an emphasis on that part of their activities (Niedert, 1998, 190). While talking to an older adult I am able to build a relationship that is full of trust which ultimately leads towards contributing to the personal grown of a person and acknowledgement of the necessity for introspection (Magniant, 2004, 180). In other words, I try to direct the attention of this people to the treasure of wisdom that they have. In addition to that, I focus a lot of our communication to finding opportunities for active lifestyle if the health condition permits. For example, I encourage adults to see travel more as this might be a wonderful experience for them (Patterson, 2006, 4), leading to widening of their outlook. I often analyze what a particular older adult values a lot in his or her life and determine if one is able to benefit from a religious approach towards understanding getting older. In some cases, Bible studies appear to be quite encouraging and motivating for the people to understand the meaning of their life and what waits for them (Dunson, 1999, 1). While interacting with an older person, I usually try to put emphasis on the need to exercise one’s will when it comes to improving one’s life. For example, a lot of people might face problems with alcohol and become slaves of the bottle at the final stage of their lives (Barry & Oslin, 2001, 19). However, it may be avoided if a person knows the true power of one’s will. Finally, while helping an older adult, I try to utilize a systemic approach towards evaluating different aspects of one’s life which provides me with a broad picture of the environment that one is surrounded

Analysis of Environmental Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Analysis of Environmental Issues - Essay Example This has led to a rise in the processes of energy production. The mining and burning of coal account for a few processes which are used for the purpose of energy production. The impact of coal on the environment is an issue of environmental concern. It serves as a threat to the environment owing to the production of hazardous substances which tend to alter the normal environment as well as lay effects on the health of the individuals (Finkelman et al 1999; Hill 2010). The burning of coal takes place in houses for domestic purposes in third world countries where there is the unavailability of gas. This is accompanied by the use of coal as an energy source for industries across the world. The process of coal mining precedes the process of coal burning. It is the procedure used for the extraction of coal. The processes of coal mining, as well as the burning of coal, lead to the release of harmful substances into the environment. These include carbon dioxide, nitric oxide and sulfur diox ide which are all harmful to the environment (International Labour Office et al 1994). Coal mining should be a regulated process and the sites should be away from places where people reside. Strict regulations should also be followed in these areas to prevent exposure to individuals. Ash should be deposited in safe sites where they are away from the water reservoirs to prevent contamination.