What is a SWOT analysis?

SWOT Analysis stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and threats. It is a strategic planning tool which is used by businesses and organization to set a comprehensible rationale of the project. [1]This analysis is not only aimed at analyzing the internal factors but it also scans the external environment. Strengths and weaknesses are usually taken as internal environmental factors while opportunities and threats are viewed as external environmental factors. It helps a company in formulating strategies and utilizes the firm’s resources in the accurate vicinity.Strengths would highlight the areas where investments should be made to further enhance the product or service and make it as a competitive advantage for the company, e.g. low cost. Weaknesses would tell a firm that improvement is required in a particular area, e.g. weak distribution network. Opportunities would define the areas which are not being targeted by the company and investing in that area would bring cha nces of growth and profit, e.g. an unmet customer need. There may be some changes in the external environment which can be a threat for a company, e.g. a new substitute product.[2] SWOT analysis should be performed for every area of the businesses and it should be repeatedly done for every market.What is its purpose in strategic planning?Strategic planning basically helps a business to set its overall objectives and then build a comprehensive plan to accomplish those objectives.[3] In doing so, SWOT analysis performs an important function by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses and spotlighting the opportunities and weaknesses. Through this in-depth market analysis, companies can set their goals in the right direction.Do you have to conduct a SWOTT Analysis to have an effective strategic plan? Why or why not.Yes, it is necessary to perform a SWOT analysis for building an effective strategic plan. The reason is that it tells a company what has been done well, so as to focus in t hat area to earn higher profits. Then it highlights the internal harmful factors that can be improved by a company. Not only this, it gives insights for better opportunities in the market. [4] SWOT Analysis also informs about potential threats for a business. It is an immense planning tool that will help in building a winning strategic plan for a company.Week 2 DQ 2What are the key planning factors for competitive success?Key planning factors for an organization will differ from company to company. However, we can perform a general industry analysis, along with competitor analysis and macro environment analysis. These factors drive the strategy of a company, so it is important to understand then properly. For achieving competitive success, type of business must be taken into account. Some suggested key planning factors for competitive success are: ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Focus on strategic planning ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Right implementation of the strategyà ‚ ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Time management of the entire project ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using project management techniques for effective planning ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Research and development ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Acquiring land and maintaining liquidity ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Well-constructed product ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Establishing efficient channels of distribution ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Providing after-sales support ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communicating every decision to everyone in the organization ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Involvement of every employee in decision marking[5] ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Teamwork and Collaboration between all departments ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Following principles of EthicsProvide an example of an organization that has achieved competitive success through planning.An example of an organization that has achieved competitive success through planning is â€Å"Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬ . It is a leading nutrition and health company. They have diversified into new areas by creating value for their products.   They were able to achieve that through long term planning by creating value for their shareholders, employees, consumers, and business partners. They strategically planned for the development of their research centers across the globe which is now one of their competitive advantages. Their entry into different countries and creating products with respect to the tastes and culture of that country was also a part of their strategic planning process. This planning is helping them to achieve their long term vision, i.e. creating shared value for society and shareholders.[6]Provide an example of an organization that has failed to achieve competitive success as the result of failed planning.An example of an organization that has failed to achieve competitive success as the result of failed planning is Hershey’s. It is a leading manufacturer of chocolates, confectionaries and beverages in United States of America. Hershey’s was in process of implanting an ERP Solution and they decided to choose SAP ERP. But this implementation failed and caused heavy loss to the company in terms of profits and sales. The reason was not any technical mistake by the vendor but poor planning by Hersey’s. They choose wrong time for implementation when business was at its peak. They made a blunder of restructuring the business process and changing it in a wrong way without doing strategic planning.They spend most of the time on ERP implementation which interrupted the day to day operations of the business, creating confusions for the employees. They might have avoided this issue if they remained focused and planned out all activities properly before implementation. They should have set their priorities in a strategic manner by looking at the business prospects from all angles.[7]B ibliography:What is SWOT Analysis(2010), Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-swot-analysis.htmStrategic Management(2010), Retrieved from http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/Strategic Planning(2010), Retrieved from http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1079687246&type=RESOURCESRoger Lever (Dec 10, 2008), Retrieved from http://strategic-business planning.suite101.com/article.cfm/use_swot_analysis_for_strategic_planningKey Success Factors in Strategic Planning By Bill Birnbaum, CMC(2009) Retrieved from http://www.birnbaumassociates.com/key-success-factors.htmRetrieved from http://www.nestle.com/AllAbout/AllAboutNestle.htmAnalyzing ERP failures in Hershey, Retrieved from http://www.erpwire.com/erp-articles/failure-story-in-erp-process.htm[1] What is SWOT Analysis(2010), Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-swot-analysis.htm [2]Strategic Management(2010), Retrieved from http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/ [3] Strategic Planning(2010), Retriev ed from http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1079687246&type=RESOURCES [4] Roger Lever (Dec 10, 2008), Retrieved from http://strategic-business planning.suite101.com/article.cfm/use_swot_analysis_for_strategic_planning [5] Key Success Factors in Strategic Planning By Bill Birnbaum, CMC(2009) Retrieved from http://www.birnbaumassociates.com/key-success-factors.htm [6] Retrieved from http://www.nestle.com/AllAbout/AllAboutNestle.htm [7] Analyzing ERP failures in Hershey, Retrieved from http://www.erpwire.com/erp-articles/failure-story-in-erp-process.htm

Scientific Method and Criminal Investigator

Methods Used as a Criminal Investigator Cynthia Scaff Kaplan University CJ210: Crime Scene Investigation Professor Post March 26th, 2013 Unit-5 Methods Used as a Criminal Investigator Throughout its history, criminal investigation has been built upon a methodological foundation that has become increasingly refined and reliant on science. Moreover, a good investigator often adopts a particular mindset when approaching criminal investigations. Among the most effective approaches to investigation involves the use of the scientific method, which is simply a time-tested means of gathering reliable facts.Gathering information is the key to all good investigations, and so understanding the three sources of information is of great concern to any investigator. All of these items add up to a well-rounded and thorough investigation, and thus they will all be addressed herein. First, an exposition on the methods of inquiry are in order. The two overarching methods of inquiry are 1) those that re construct and examine past events and 2) those that discover or generate new information (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). These two are actually interrelated, and there is a good deal of overlap between them.Any number of disciplines in both the hard and soft sciences can be employed in the service of an investigation, including those, which would not necessarily seem related to a police investigation, like entomology, meteorology, etc. Thus, understanding the behavior of insects that inhabit a body or the effects of weather on a body might provide crucial details about the precise date and time of a murder, for example. In fact, a wide array of disciplines is often applied to a complex investigation when used in conjunction, can provide a great deal of information about a case.As well as utilizing the methods of inquiry, the best criminal detectives also generally approach a case with a particular mindset. In essence, the investigative mindset is part schema (innate perspective based on a broad knowledge of the world) and part active thought process. What it amounts to is an open-mindedness and (preferably unbiased) skepticism that allows the investigator to remain open to anything unusual in a case or anything that leads to a better understanding of the facts and circumstances—evidence—related to or surrounding a case (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).The investigator with this mindset will therefore approach a case looking for evidence that seems contrary to how things should be according to his or her knowledge about the world and understanding of how things generally go under normal circumstances. She is also looking for information that fits what is already known about the case, but the investigator must be careful here not to come at it with preconceived notions about the guilt or innocence of anyone directly involved in or a tangential to the case.For the gathering of evidence, the best approach is usually the application of the scientific method, define d as such: â€Å"a method of investigation in which a problem is first identified and observations, experiments, or other relevant data are then used to construct or test hypotheses that purport to solve it (Scientific method, 2009). † The problem to be identified in this case is the investigator’s hypothesis about what took place at the crime scene and who was involved in it. Ergo, a good investigator moves from inductive reasoning—guesswork, hunches, suspicions, etc. toward deductive reasoning, which is the use of specific data applied to the situation to see if everything fits with what she believes to have happened. In Osterburg and Ward’s Criminal Investigation, the authors give an example in which a woman was murdered in her apartment in conjunction with a romantic dinner. Going on a hunch, the investigator suspects an ex-boyfriend to be the culprit. He then gathers data to see if his suspicions are reinforced by the facts available to him (Osterbur g & Ward, 2010).There are three sources of evidence that an investigator may draw from. The first of these is people. The relevant sources here are all of the people directly connected to a case (witnesses, suspects and of course surviving victims) and friends, relatives and various associates of suspects and victims (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). Although people can be open and helpful in a case, some of them may lie; distort facts or even refuse to cooperate altogether, creating a conflict for the investigator.Witnesses may also be confused about what they actually observed as memory is not always reliable and can even be biased by personal, professional or societal schemas. Learning how to get people to cooperate with police and sorting out lies, half-truths, mistakes or previously overlooked information is essential to criminal investigation. Ongoing surveillance of the people involved may also shed light on a case. The second source for investigators to consider is physical evidence .In police work, the two main disciplines employed in the examination of this data are forensic medicine and criminalistics. The condition, location and position of human remains; materials and fibers located at the crime scene; the trajectory of bullets and the type of bullets used; the pattern or spatter of blood; impressions made by fingerprints, shoes or tires; the presence of contraband (such as illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia or illegal weapons)—these are all types of physical evidence that might be used to reconstruct a crime or other past event (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).In considering this evidence, the investigator will ask herself questions related to the crime, such as: What is this item doing here? Why is the blood pattern directed this way? Does this evidence support or contradict my hypothesis about a suspect? And so on. Finally, records and documents are a prime source of evidence for most investigations. Although technically records are physical evidence, t hey are a special form of physical evidence, in that they are in widespread use and are used, stored and accessed both privately and professionally specifically for their informational value.It is no wonder then that they often contain or form important, highly specific evidence for an investigator. Documents such as a driver’s license, social security card or state ID card will help the police identify an unknown murder victim, for example. Criminal records of a murder victim may also provide clues about the nature of his murder, such as whether or not he was involved in the illegal drug trade, which may lead to a suspect. Phone records may even indicate that two people have been in contact when one or both have denied that they know each other (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).Records may be stored as a hard copy on paper, plastic or some other medium, or they may be stored digitally, as on a computer hard drive or CD. In the end, it is apparent that science and a scientific perspec tive are highly important to police investigations. The two methods of inquiry provide a basis for understand what happened and how it happened. Encountering an investigation with the proper mindset will offer a higher success rate. In addition, of course, the application of the scientific method is indispensable, as is understanding and exploiting the three sources of evidence.With a strong foundation in these principles, a criminal investigator is well on her way towards making headway in an investigation. References Osterburg,  J. W. , & Ward,  R. H. (2010). Criminal investigation: A method for reconstructing the past. Albany, NY: LexisNexis/Anderson Pub Scientific method. (2009). Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved March 29, 2013, from Dictionary. com website: http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/scientific method

Lab report (Should we mine this ore) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

(Should we mine this ore) - Lab Report Example The experiment results proved that absorbance is proportional to the concentration. In relation to these, the experiment is related to Beer-Lambert Law which is the Beer-Lambert Law (A= Æ bC) is a combination of molar absorptive (e), sample concentration(C), solution thickness (b), absorbance (A). In this experiment, a standard curve was applied to determine and express the relationship between two quantities. In this case, the essay data is plotted to determine the concentration of the given substance .The Beer-Lambert Law can prove that the solution’s concentration is directly proportional to the solution’s absorbance. The Beer-Lambert Law is expressed as below: Furthermore, Absorbance= -log (%T) +2 is as well referred to as Beer’s Law. Percent transmittance and absorbance on the other hand was as well considered in this experiment. Absorbance represents the logarithmic measure of the level of light absorbed at a given wavelength as light passes through the solution. Furthermore, matter and light interaction also enabled us to further understand the basics of the lab experiment. Through Louis de Broglie theory and quantum physics, it is noted that matter and light interact through transmission, emission, reflection and absorption. Through data collection from multiple experiment trails, it can be employed to determine the percent transmittance. By definition, the percent transmittance is the intensities ratio of light through a medium to the initial light intensity. It can as well be employed to determine the relationship between the wavelengths and intensity passing through the solution. Percent transmittance is expressed as below: To determine the best acid to use from the analysis of the provided acid with the ore, firstly, 6M of the 3 acids and 3M of one acid were used to make 4 solutions with Cu (NO3)2.3H2O.In this case, 3M and 6M represented very strong acid concentration. The Cu(NO3)2.3H2O amount used that

Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and Essay

Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Evaluate this statement in two areas of knowle - Essay Example People need to only reflect on how whoever writes history develops greater power and it becomes too painfully real how knowledge enhances different forms of power, including political and economic power. How people acquire knowledge and define it, however, is highly debated. The rise of emotional intelligence, for instance, questioned knowledge as pure logic. Feminists aim to call emotions and perceptions as equally valuable sources and components of knowledge. Some also argue of the unification of creative and critical thinking, because they are related and more effective in generating knowledge together (Mayfield 4; Paul and Elder 118). This paper evaluates this belief using the areas of knowledge of ethics and sciences. Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Ethics refer to the people’s guiding principles of what is right or wrong (Means 52). Ethics uses both critical and creative thinking skills. This paper first defines and diffe rentiates critical thinking and creative thinking. In the traditional TOK Diagram, see figure 1 below, the ways of knowing are through emotions, reason, sense perception, and language. Creative and critical thinking are both ways of knowing, but they are closely interrelated (Paul and Elder 118). Critical thinking analyzes and evaluates a particular material, while creative thinking concerns inventing something new (Mayfield 4). Creativity, however, has a â€Å"critical component,† and not just portraying â€Å"imagination† or â€Å"inventiveness† (Paul and Elder 118). In business, for instance, creativity is valuable if it leads to innovation of products, services, processes, and systems. Creativity must also have a critical output too. In connection to the TOK diagram, critical thinking primarily involves reason and language, or the right side of â€Å"knowing† in the TOK diagram. Creative thinking uses emotion and sense perception, or the left side of â€Å"knowing.† Reason and language are often used by sciences, but ethics employ emotion and sense perception too. But clearly, the diagram is a circle. It shows the unity of all forms of knowing for all areas of knowledge. Ethics uses reason and language too. It must be reasonable to be embraced by people, and it must also use persuasive language to convince people of its effectiveness in differentiating right from wrong. Knowers should be able to use all four ways of knowing to arrive at a balanced and ethical decision or option (Paul and Elder 118). Figure 1: Traditional TOK Diagram Ethics cannot be arrived at by using only emotion and sense perception; it also needs the guidance of reason and language. An example is the ethics developed by Immanuel Kant. Kant argues that people should be responsible for their moral actions and they have a duty to act morally (Bartlett 224). This is based on both the emotions of doing what is right and the reason for choosing right over w rong. Emotions are important to ethics, because some people need to feel that they are doing the right thing. For instance, merely following instructions from a superior can seem right, but it can also feel wrong. This can be related to employees of Enron, who followed their corrupt executive managers, because they also wanted to be rich and improve the stock price of Enron. It seems right to be doing this for the company, but it feels wrong, because they are duping their shareholders, as well as their diverse stakeholders. Perceptions are further

Women in the Second World War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women in the Second World War - Essay Example This essay will compare and contrast the wartime experiences of these three great women. Therese Bonney achieved world fame as a photo journalist during the Second World War. She is greatly popular for her work which revealed the havocs of war on an innocent group of people. She initially acquired attention for her revelation of the war between Russia and Finland. Being the only correspondent who was there, she had the whole account to herself and was honored with the White Rose of Finland for her courage. Throughout the Second World War she toured all over western Europe capturing the miseries of the affected children in her photographs which she soon after included in her master work ‘Europe’s Children’. It was her objective to aid in building international ties between European populations, specifically the Americans and French. She also joined the Red Cross campaigns throughout France. She was grandly celebrated in the United States and Europe. Just like Bonney, Toni Frissell became a major female figure in photo journalism during the World War II. She voluntarily shared her photographic talents to the American Red Cross in 1941. Afterward she served the Eight Army Air Force and became the certified photo journalist of the Women’s Army Corps. She photographed a vast number of images of soldiers, nurses, and abandoned children for the services of the aforementioned organizations. Her moving pictures of African American air fighters and military women were employed to promote public support and sympathy for African-American and women in the service. Her only difference with Bonney is the extent of her fame. She is widely known locally but she did not achieve the same international fame that Bonney achieved. Meanwhile, a remarkable woman who became renowned during World War II, Janet Flanner, raised her name to the pedestal through writing. Janet

Sony and Samsung Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sony and Samsung - Essay Example Samsung has continually invested more than any of its rivals on its research and development, rising during the past couple of years to almost 9 percent of its revenue. It has a large and growing force of designers and engineers working in 17 research centers located all around the world (see Exhibit 6). Yun has also forced Samsung's own units to compete with outsiders in order to speed up the process for developing innovative new products. Samsung has also created the post of chief design officer to make sure that designers can get their ideas to top managers. Yun appears to be well aware of the challenges that lie ahead for Samsung. He understands that his firm must keep investing heavily into R&D and keep developing new factories in locations that offer lower costs. Sony probably restructure for a number of reasons. Companies typically restructure when they need to correct poor financial performance or to capitalize on market opportunities or to strengthen corporate value. Each of the five main change programs presented reasons why they were introduced. The changes are clearly sub-headed in the case and you'll find that towards the end of each main section, reasons are given for the next change in line. Just go through each section meticulously, and select a few relevant points to include. Centralized decision-making t... Companies typically restructure when they need to correct poor financial performance or to capitalize on market opportunities or to strengthen corporate value. Each of the five main change programs presented reasons why they were introduced. The changes are clearly sub-headed in the case and you'll find that towards the end of each main section, reasons are given for the next change in line. Just go through each section meticulously, and select a few relevant points to include. 3. To what extent did Sony's restructuring efforts centralize or decentralize decision-making within Sony Centralized decision-making tends to come from a particular group or at a particular location, usually from the senior team/HQ and is typical of hierarchical structures where information is passed down through the layers from the top. Decentralized decision-making suggests greater autonomy and the delegating of decision-making to lower levels of management or to different strategic business units. Sony seems to drift in and out of different approaches to decision-making - sometimes a centralized, sometimes a more decentralized approach. Scan the case and look for information relating to how decisions are made and look for some relevant points to include. At a couple of places in the case, there is direct mention of the terms decentralization and centralization. 4. How culturally diverse do you think the different Sony businesses were, for example, consumer electronics, entertainment, insurance, etc Include just a few brief points here and one or two assumptions. Is there likely to be different cultures in operation due to the nature of the businesses involved Would you expect a different level of cultural awareness and sensitivity in the

Stewardship, Sustainability and Faith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Stewardship, Sustainability and Faith - Essay Example g to this model, God definitely rewarded us with power over our environment, but as long as we use it as sensible stewards, using our power with sympathy and kindness. This is the point of view that is favored within conservative and evangelical communities, to the point that this branch of Christianity decides to deal with the environmental concern (McFague 2000). The New Testament refines these ideas and attaches a radical necessity with its explanation of stewardship. This radical quality is an important alternative to several of the more severe moral perspectives in traditional environmental ethics. The story of the talents and story of the good steward in the Bible sum up the idea (Vischer 1997). The protection of what is entrusted to use requires an understanding of the creator’s orders for the environment. We should be aware of the laws, needs, and limits of the planet for us to know how to use them well. The parable of the talents tells us that we who are chosen with the environment will be asked to explain our duty to take care of the planet (McFague 2000). The stewardship perspective says that the environmental and moral limitations are valued, and it attaches the duty to share out the fruits equally. Ecological sustainability has been identified as addressing the requirements and demands of the present without giving up the capacity of future generations to fulfill their needs. Religion can contribute well to the concept of sustainability—by extending the point of view to all those expectations and thoughts that reach outside the practical and social abilities of human beings—hence by leading the way towards God and to a truth that we do not have control of, or protect the earth on our own (Bakken, Engel, & Engel 1995). An equally balancing connection hence exists between the idea of Christian duty for creation and sustainability. Our duty for creation, on the one hand, has to pursue the direction of sustainability so as to become socially

Critically Acclaimed Supreme Court Cases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critically Acclaimed Supreme Court Cases - Essay Example One of the most critically acclaimed Supreme Court cases, that supported the rights of citizens against unwarranted searches, a right is given to citizens by the 14th Amendment. This issue initiated as a New Jersey student was found smoking in the bathroom. When caught, the student refrained from confessing and then her locker was unlawfully searched and arrested by the principle. Yet, the student’s 4th Amendment rights were exploited. The question remained, do students have the same 4th Amendment rights as other citizens? Does the school, a government institute has to follow the idea of â€Å"reasonable and probable cause†? The school administrators insisted that the students violated the school code and have extensive power to discipline the conduct of any student who breaches the code. The defense side of T.L.O argued that administrators cannot act as parents and our employees. Hence, they cannot breach the privacy and must respect students’ rights. In a heate d debate, the court favored the student by stating that schools must be obligated to follow the 4th amendment and are limited by the Constitution. Yet, the rights of young students are not the same as adults. The school can initiate searches but must have solid evidence to rationalize their cause. This is critical as many students are not susceptible to random locker checks as it would violate their rights. It protects the students of their privacy, but at the same time gives them some leeway to engage in illegal activity.

The elderly man Essay Example for Free

The elderly man Essay My response to situation number four is not to charge the elderly man. First and foremost, a prosecutor’s duty entails determining what cases should be prosecuted. In effect, this means, acting as a â€Å"strainer. † This means that decisions are based on several factors such as â€Å"limited resources, difficulty in enforcement, and not to mention political and public pressures† In deciding against prosecution, the following factors were taken into consideration: age, public interest, and rehabilitation from imprisonment. From the nature of the case and the age of the accused, there would be little reason to imprison him. In addition, looking at the factual circumstances surrounding the commission of the crime, there is little reason to do so. The fact that he immediately turned himself in shows his understanding of right and wrong, in the same breath making a choice to commit such wrong to free his wife from her disease. Moreover, I took media attention in consideration. Being published on the front page of a newspaper indicates a high public in the case, which is the very basis for enacting laws. The article will elicit two kinds of reaction from the public. The first reaction is negative in that people would disagree to the act of ending his wife’s life, but the other reaction could be an outpouring of sympathy for an elderly man who only wanted his wife’s suffering to end. To quote the assigned text, â€Å"in some situations, prosecutors do not charge because of an outpouring of public sympathy or support for the accused, perhaps because of the type of crime or identity of the victim. † Furthermore, based on a study that looks at the prosecutor as â€Å"operating in an exchange system†, whether between the prosecutor and police officers or the courts, in which case considerations may include jail overcrowding and docket backlog, a prosecutor would think twice whether or not charges should be pressed. On the basis of the above reasons, taxpayers’ money would be better spent prosecuting individuals whose malicious or negligent actions have caused pain and suffering to the victims and their families.

Problems of the Bangladesh Ready Made Garment sector Essay Example for Free

Problems of the Bangladesh Ready Made Garment sector Essay In recent time it is argued that the crisis in the Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector is not only limited to the wages and allowances of the workers. Productions and exports of the factories have decreased and the price of the apparels is decreasing in the international market. The owners of this industry allege that, the supply of gas and electricity is not continuous, because of which they are to use generators to keep the production process of the factories uninterrupted, resulting in the increasing cost of productions. But it is urgent to reduce the cost of production to comply with the foreign buyers demand and the competitive international price. Moreover, serious and untoward incidents in the form of chaos and confusions are frequent in this sector on the basis of rumours and petty demands of the workers. It has become a way of frequently destroying factories by spreading news of misbehaviour of the factory owners with the workers. Even if such allegations are true, it cannot also be denied that there occur frequent abnormal deaths of workers in the garments factories. Major shocking incidents like the collapse of Rana Plaza in Savar on April 24 2013 killing 1130 workers and crippling about another 1500 of 2438 rescued alive and with about 316 missing. Fire incidents in Tazreen Fashions in Ashulia on November 24 2012 killed at least 112 workers. It is also alleged that kidney diseases are widespread among the garments workers as they are discouraged to drink water during duty hours, since this may cause them to repeatedly go to the urinal causing a loss to work time. In fact the garments workers sweat their blood in producing garments in the factories and it is alleged that for months after months the owners do not come to the factories; the factories are usually run by the salaried officials who habitually misbehave with the hard working labourers of the factories. It is immoral to consume the fruits of the workers by sitting idle without their consent; although it is usual in capitalism that its highest executives spend their time sitting on public committees, and have to have deputies to do their work (Lewis, W. Arthur, 1954, Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour). In the face of movements of the apparels workers for raising wages and other demands in 2006, the Export Development Bureau and Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) sources said that apparels prices in the international market are gradually falling. Available statistics show that apparels prices increased gradually from the year 1994-95 to 2000-01 with a slight fall in the year 1995-96 compared to the immediate past year after which price jumped. Then from the year 2001-02 prices fell continuously without break up to the last available year 2009-10 (July to November). This caused the apparels owners unwilling to accept Taka 5,000 from Tk. 1662 as minimum wage suggested in the New Wage Structure 2010 for the garments workers, because this will, in their view, adversely affect the garments sector. The owners proposed Taka 2,513 as minimum wage for the second time in 2010. Afterwards government interventions made the BGMEA accept the New Wage Structure July 29 2010 with Taka 3,000 as minimum wage. If it is just, there is no question; but if unjust, in that case Al Quran reads: Woe unto the defrauders, those who when they take the measure from mankind demand it full, but if they measure unto them or weigh for them, they cause them loss (Quran, 83:1-3). Recently, after the collapse of the Rana Plaza, the government has decided to form a Wage Board to look after the minimum wages of the apparels workers with possible annual increases in that. The Garments Owners claim that, a certain quarter has started hatching conspiracies to destroy the RMG sector of the country. The external miscreants by intruding the RMG establishments in the guise of workers have started misdeeds. They are being instigated and used by certain interested quarters from outside. The concerned parties have identified six causes behind their attempts to destroy the RMG sector. These are: (a) The foreign buyers recent inclination to Bangladesh, (b) The instigation of some external powers, (c) The assistance of local influential quarters and the so called labour leaders, (d) The intrusion of the jutting outs miscreants in to the garments factories, (e) The differences of opinions of the political miscreants centering the occupation of the Jhut sector, and (f) The internal feud among the labour leaders. The actual workers have no affiliations with these factors and the garments establishments are getting jobs these days. May be there are conspiracies to harm the RMG sector of Bangladesh. But when the disturbances in this sector erupt tens of thousands of workers come down on the streets which are pictured in the national and international electronic and print media. It is illogical to conclude that all of them are miscreants. There may be some who fan the fire of discontents in the minds of the deprived workers. If the workers are satisfied with and had there been no serious discontents in their minds about what is going on in this sector, it would have been almost impossible to drag down on the streets tens of thousands of innocent content workers by a single or a series of mobile calls of the miscreants from out side; and at the same time the disguised miscreants inside the factories could do little harm to this sector. Our habit is to expect too much from law and law enforcing agencies. We forget that they have some natural limits to their capacities. They can at best suppress the problems for the time being but not permanently cure the actual problems prevailing in the factories. It is the owners of the factories who can play the pivotal role in bringing about peace in the factories by allowing the workers their due share to their produce in the form of satisfactory wages and allowances by cutting down the excess greed for profiteering and the workers active participations in decisions making. It is not permissible by good sense to earn excessive profits by coercing the workers by the owners or by the purchasers of apparels by foreign rich buyers. Good sense prefers to advise the business community to ascertain a mid-course between the highest and the lowest margin of profits for success of this industry like any other industry. The garments owners will have to understand that the minimum wage of a garments worker is Taka 3,000. Actually new wage rate is basically Taka 2,000, of the remaining Taka 1,000, Taka 800 is house rent allowance and Taka 200 is medical allowance, which like other allowances are not usually included in the basic wage/pay in any other services. The minimum basic pay excluding other allowances for a government employee is Taka 6,545). It is difficult for the workers to survive with this meagre amount of money under the prevailing high prices of daily necessities. As a result suppressed despair and discontent is naturally there in the minds of the workers which burst out from time to time, as we see, in the factories causing unrest and disturbances. To control this is beyond the capacity of the law enforci ng agencies and the government cannot and should not always shoulder such selfish interests and responsibilities of the private factory owners at ublic costs even though the factory owners pay taxes. They are to solve their own problems by consoling the workers by allowing them satisfactory wages, security and congenial working environments. Governments can at best assist them in these regards. It is also alleged that, some interested international quarters are hatching conspiracies to divert the attention of the buyers from the Bangladesh apparels industry. These interested quarters want widespread unrest should spread and prevail in this industry so that the buyers rush to them for buying apparels and become beneficiaries. Under different pretext the rival competing countries are deeply feeding fuel behind different movements of the garments workers to engage in destructive activities such as breaking of and torching spree to garments factories. It is also alleged that the factories which are being broken now, their wages and allowances are satisfactory, id est. he compliance factories are being mainly targeted for attack. Garments owners and exporters also allege that, in the name of just wages for the workers some private organizations are instigating the workers to create trouble in the factories. The officials of these Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) spread discontent among the workers under different pleas and they send the news of such unrest to even different international media. Such news makes the foreign buyers worried in this peak period (Mach-August) and the buyers may turn their face from Bangladesh. If under such circumstances workers unrest spread wide, the garments sector will not survive. So in the prevailing circumstances, owners and exporters of apparels have been thrown into panic. The BGMEA leaders claim that, the wage payments of the workers in factories have not been stopped even in the period of international recession. They say: presently it is the occupiers of Jhut trading, along with other problems, which create unrest in the garments industries not the actual workers. Leader of the Combined Garment Workers Federation (CGWF) maintains that, the problems can be solved through mutual understanding and not by shutting down the factories. The CGWF leader indicates that there are some pending problems of the actual workers also in the garments factories. These problems are to be solved by the factory owners either individually at the factory level or collectively at the sector level as a whole, so that the national and international self seekers cannot utilize the innocent workers to serve their heinous designs. On the other hand, some of the privileged labour leaders of the garments industries frequently or occasionally visit various foreign countries under the patronage of some interested national and international quarters. They have amassed huge amount of money and property and ride costly cars. They are also accused of blackmailing both the factory owners and the workers of this sector and causing disturbances that erupt from time to time in this successful sector of the Bangladesh economy. However, we want an end to the recently become shaky condition of the Bangladesh RMG sector and it to stand erect with factory owners own consciousness and sense of responsibility and active surveillance and assistance of the government to this vital sector directly employing 4. 0 million workers, 20 million people indirectly depending on it and earning about US$19 billion foreign exchange per annum amounting to about 78% of total foreign exchange earnings of the economy, so that it does not has to accept the fate of the once prosperous jute industry of the country.

Theories of Development in Class

Theories of Development in Class 1). We have discussed numerous theories of development in class: modernization, dependency, World Systems, neoliberalism, and post-development. Select three of these theories and compare them with reference to: a) the key features; b) explanations of under- and uneven development; c) types of development practices (i.e. how do you do development?); d) identify major criticisms of these approaches. Use plenty of examples to support your points. Development, as a multifaceted, complex issue, has been subject to several attempts to mold a common practice based on a definitive theory. One of the most historically prolific of these was Modernization theory. Modernization theory, as noted by Chant and McIlwaine (2009), is not exactly a singular theory in itself, and more of a complex range of approaches that follow a similar base pattern. An early iteration of this theory is known as evolutionary theory. Evolutionary theory was developed in 19th century Britain by prominent sociologists, who, after examining Darwins theory of evolution, concluded that a pattern of development for various civilizations could be based in a set path evolution. This set path, based upon European civilizations as the final step in the development process, requires that traditional societies change their orientation away from family, community, and cultural religion in order to develop into a European-styled modern society that is based in rationalism and capitalistic gain(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). This evolution theory culminated into Modernization theory. Essentially, a developed society is defined by its use of modern technology to advance a Western export-focused industrialized economy(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). Walt Rostow, a main proponent of Modernization, expanded upon this idea by providing a series of natural steps that a society must go through in order to become fully developed, delineated as a unilinear model of development(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). In the first stage of this model, a society simply exists in a primitive state, where trade is localized and based off a barter system, and religion drives cultural activity. The society then evolves in the second stage to a state of potential development, where capitalistic entrepreneurship and the formation of the state begins in their early stages(RGS 2017). The society then advances to the third step, noted by Rostow as Take-Off. This take-off stage is characterize d by the society transitioning to a capitalist urban industrial economy, with development of state supported infrastructure and agricultural hinterlands. The society then develops to the fourth stage, characterized by diversified economic sectors and advanced transportation networks, as well as advanced educational institutions (RGS 2017). The fifth and final of Rostows steps is aptly titled age of mass consumption, where the society becomes economically consumer based and a welfare system develops. These steps are the tenets of modernization theory, and were commonly thought of as the most effective path to development in the colonial West pre-1970(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). A society will remain impoverished and underdeveloped due to its failure to industrialize in the fashion of Western nation. For example, one could argue that the African nation of Botswana is finally developing and gaining wealth due to their evolution from a traditional tribal society into a nation-state that is rooted in global industrialism. One could then argue that Africa is characterized by uneven development due to the fact that not all nations have gone through the steps of Modernization (Chant and McIlwaine 2009). However, in the 1970s, during the rise of communism and withdrawal of Western colonization, Dependency theory rose in prominence to counter Modernization. Dependency theory is another attempt to explain the patterns of development in various global nations. Dependency theory is noted by Chant and McIlwaine (2009) as separated in three major schools of thought-Classical, Latin-American Structuralism, and Neo-Marxism. Classical Dependency theory, formulated by Paul Baran (1957), rests on the idea that capitalism explicitly hinders development in the Global South. He argues that the Western world relies on developing nations to remain impoverished and unstable as they are an indispensable hinterland of raw resources and manufacturing that the rich, consumerist economies of the West rely on (Baran 1957). Since the basis of capitalism is to generate profit, Western nations exploit underdeveloped nations in order to generate maximum profit. Hence, Global North continues the cycle of poverty in the Global South in order to cement a pattern of exploitation (Baran 1957). An offshoot of Classical Dependency Theory is Latin-American Structuralism -Dependency. This theory, presented by Chant and McIlwaine (2009), is based on the idea economic structuralism, which is a strain of thought schools that claim that development processes must involve changes in underlying social and economic structures of a country. In the context of Latin America, their structural disadvantage in the global economy, beginning in the 1930s, was due to dependence on Western trade markets for exports and imports of goods, as well as competition with other primary raw resources exporting regions(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). What would happen, historically, is that Latin American countries would raise their prices for raw materials too high for Western trade markets. Hence, those markets would go elsewhere for Latin American raw goods such as coffee, bananas, agriculture, and more (Chant and McIlwaine 2009). This put Latin America in a postion of retaining their status of cheap exporters, unable to develop due to lack of substantial capital and reliance o n expensive foreign imports. Chant and McIlwaine (2009) define this relationship as a core-periphery model. The core is the developed West, functioning as exporters of high quality consumer goods that developing periphery nations import. The periphery nations are underdeveloped exports of raw materials to the core countries (RGS 2017). It is by this model that core countries become incredibly rich, and become the controllers of the trade market with the periphery, which must remain in an exploited state to retain the wealth of the core(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). The relationship between the United States and Latin America exemplifies this. The United States, the wealthy core, exploits the periphery, Latin America, for chap raw materials in order to import expensive consumer goods and financial loans. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, made several loans to Latin American Nations, in exchange for the removal of import tariffs and structural social services(Potter et. al 2012). Thi s has led such nations to rely on the United States for imported goods, and has contributed to the lack of development in Latin America(Potter et. al 2012). The neo-Marxist school of dependency theory attempts to provide a solution to this phenomenon. Chant and McIlwaine (2009) state that Neo-Marxist Dependency theory is based on the concept that Western imperialism that occurred in numerous regions of the global South laid the foundations for economic exploitation in the age of global capitalism. Neo-Marxists conclude that the only way for a developing nation to escape the core/periphery cycle of exploitation was to remove itself from the system of global capitalism by adopting communism as its primary economic system(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). Dependency theory is incredibly different from Modernization in that it uses the West as a cause for underdevelopment instead of a model to emulate. Modernization uses Europe and United States as guides to facilitating similar development, while Development theory takes an approach that is from the perspective of the Global South(RGS 2017). Another major theory in development is Neoliberalism. Based on the economic philosophy of Adam Smith and Milton Freidmann, neoliberal development theory states that free, unregulated trade between nations facilitates development and economic growth (RGS 2107). Neoliberalism also touts that large corporations and businesses can generate more profit without government regulation, thus generating more revenue in all countries they operate in. Eventually, any country can become wealthy and developed via open trade relations with numerous countries(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). The cause of uneven development is rooted in overextended regulatory governments that inhibit the market, breed corruption, and prevent transitions to consumerism. The inhibition of the free market is noted as the root cause of poverty in underdeveloped countries(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). This concept is strikingly different from Dependency theory. Dependency theory alludes that it is free, unregulated trade itself t hat causes exploitation and underdevelopment, while Neoliberalism offers it as a path to prosperity. Neoliberal development theory drives the actions and policy of major institutions such as the IMF and World Bank(Potter et. al 2012). Ideally, a poor country would open its market to multinational corporations and nations, engaging in free trade and eventually retaining capital in order to develop. While all of these development theories offer reasonable explanations for the state of global development, they are not without fault. Modernization theory, for example, is flawed as it is inherently Eurocentric. Modernization also promotes rapid industrialization, which could severely harm the environment(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). Dependency theory also has several criticisms. Dependency theorists often offer solutions to underdevelopment via methods such as trade barriers, communist revolution, and government regulation(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). Trade barriers often make the cost of living for a nations citizens higher, and government regulation can stifle the market. And, after the fall of the USSR and similar states in the 1990s, Marxist revolution in the Third World seems unlikely(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). Neoliberalism cannot offer a problem-free solution either thought. As noted by Chant and McIlwaine (2009), major criticisms of neoliberalism include exploitation by corpora tions, debt repayment, loss of food sovereignty, reliance on imports, and loss of social services due to lack of government spending(Potter et. al 2012). Overall, while these theories are by no means perfect, they offer robust and critical frameworks for understating the future paths of developing nations. 6. Explain the evolution of the current global monetary and financial markets. Discuss the power and limitations of the nation-state to control money across borders. Consider how increased financialization has impacted development in the US and beyond. The modern global economy is more complex than ever, with a massive variety of theories as to how it has evolved to its current state. In order to understand the modern market, one first must understand the role of the state in the global economy. After the Treaty of Westphalia, the concept of sovereignty became fixed in the political psyche of the anarchic world system. The term anarchic world system refers to the fact that the international political system of states, not ruled by a governing body, is inherently anarchic. It is in this anarchy that states define themselves as sovereign entities, and, thusly, exist(Lansing 1907). Sovereignty is a states possession of total authority within a geographic territory. There are two types of sovereignty in political theory-external and internal. External sovereignty concerns the relationship between a sovereign power and other states in the international community (Lansing 1907). States with external sovereignty are recognized by other st ates as being a sovereign entity in the international system. Internal sovereignty, defined by law theorist Robert Lansing, is that which is inherent in a people of any state, or vested by its rulerin its fundamental laws (Lansing 1907, 13). Simply put, internal sovereignty is simply the right of a state to govern itself and control its economy. So, with internal and external sovereignty of states established, an international economic system began to form under the theory of capitalism(Potter et. al 2012). Briefly described, capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned by an individual entity, with economic growth proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market (Seo 2009). The global economy has functioned in a capitalistic sense since the eighteenth century, and has driven everything from Western imperialism to the economic restructuring of the 1940s. It is within this economic context that Seo (2009) offers a succinct examination of the modern financial market. Seo (2009) states that in the years following World War Two the Western world established an international monetary system based on the Bretton Woods Model, a fully negotiated monetary order intended to govern monetary relations among independent nation-states by basing currency exchange rates on gold(Seo 2009). Institutions were established to enforce and enhance this new economic system, such as the IMF, World Trade Organization, and World Bank. However, in the 1970s, the United States, the primary global power, moved it currency off the Bretton Woods System(Seo 2009). With the rise of globalism and the internet in to 1990s, the current world economy is run on neoliberal free trade based in major financial and multinational corporation hubs such as Wall Street, London, etc (Seo 2009). Another fact of the global economy is the financial power of the state. The modern nation-state receives capital via rece iving loans from other states, as well as making loans in order to influence economies (Seo 2009). This system allows for a state to regain a small amount 0f economic control outside its sovereign border. For the United States, economic growth is driven not just by industrial exports or consumer services. Krippner (2005) makes an interesting argument that the American economy is not only driven by finacialization, but that finacialization has altered the pattern of modern development. Financialization, defined by Krippner (2005), is a pattern of capital accumulation though which profits primarily accumulate via financial channels rather than trade and manufacturing channels. Krippner specifies financial channels as activities relating to the provision (or transfer) of liquid capital in expectation of future interest, dividends, or capital gains(Kirppner 2005). Essentially, modern American economics are driven by profits made off financial activities. Krippner (2005) notes this trend increasing as manufacturing industry left America in the 1980s, depleting profits from exports. However, financialization has major implications for US and international development. Krippner (2005) notes that financialization raises two major issues-who controls the modern corporation, and could globalization aid in eroding the autonomy of the states control over their economy? When focusing on global financialization, Akerman et. al (2015) state that the global economy is controlled by corporate-state oligarchs. Historically, a group in power in a state tended to be in possession of the nations natural resources. This was usually the state government before the industrial revolution. As states industrialized their economies and grew a developed business sector, capitalist elites began to hold economic power on par with the state, as they controlled profits from manufacturing and processing natural resources(Akerman et. al 2015). With the emergence and rise of the multinational corporation, power has shifted again. Akerman et. al (2015) define these corporate/statesman cabals as capitalist oligarchies. These oligarchies are not bound by a state, and, hence, drive economics outside o f the state through globalization. This is will often lead to the financialization of a states economy, as a state must allocate more labor as a country industrializes, this implies more capital per worker in the manufacturing sector and lowers profits (Akerman et. al 2015). Second, foreign export capital increases supply and conversely lowers the relative price of manufacturing goods. This incentivizes the economy to move away from manufacturing and into financialization(Krippner 2005). This has impacted development in a major way. 8. You have just been elected prime minister of a newly independent country former colony. What strategies will you use for development? What dimensions of development will you deem most important and how can you measure changes? What theories will inform your practices? What issues and challenges might you face as a post-colonial area? Is it important to craft inclusive development projects in your country and if so, how would you create more inclusive policies (in terms of identity, geography, rural-urban etc. )? If I was the prime minster of a newly independent former colony, I would implement a variety of diverse, inclusive policies and theories in order to create a best-practice solution for how to facilitate development in this country. As a former colony, my nation would face some very unique challenges. As noted by Potter et. al (2012), countries occupied by imperialist powers were often controlled by foreign governments that not only forced Western cultural values upon their populace, but often exploited the labor and ignorance of these peoples (Chant and McIlwaine 2009). When the imperialist power pulls out of an occupied state, they will often leave the country in the hands of a small native ruling class that continues trade with the former occupying power. Because of cultural suppression, tensions often then simmer over and the colonial country falls into economic and political instability(Chant and McIlwaine 2009). My first goal would be to avoid this common situation. In order to accomplish economic security and structural stability, I would draw on guiding principles from Neoliberal theory and Post-Development theory. Neoliberal theory encourages free market trade and industrialization, which I feel would be needed to establish my country in the global corporate hegemony. Free trade would encourage my nation to break out of locked trade relationship with the former colonial power and create markets with other nations. This would be done by drawing on the neoliberal multiplier effect. Sao (2009) describes this this effect is a cycle that is started by reducing import tariffs and export taxes in order to introduce a wide range of global consumer goods into my economy at a low cost. This leads to consumption, which encourages the economy to grow. The growth the economy would attract multinational corporate investors and businesses, leading to reskilling of the workforce. As the workforce expands, immigration to my nation would rise, creating an even more diver se and larger labor pool. This encourages job creation, and promotes entrepreneurship and innovation in order to remain competitive(Sa0 2009 and RGS 2017). This is a positive feedback loop, which would bolster my economy in the short term. However, I would also incorporate elements of Post-Development theory as well. Potter et. al (2012) address that wealthy capitalists and investors cannot lift the poor out of poverty by virtue of their existence. Post-Development theory moves past Western ideals of development by focusing on local community knowledge and support to revitalize a depressed economy (Potter et. al 2012). Because my nation, as former colony, would likely be suffering from a severely fractured cultural identity, creating economic policy based on local needs would help facilitate the repair of cultural identity while focusing economics on s smaller-scale. This would be accomplished with the maintenance of government-supported social services and institutions. I would mea sure this economic dimension of development by monitoring my nations GDP, GNP, household income, and tax revenues. While the economy is certainly an important dimension of new development, others are equally as important. A few that I would intensely and immediately focus on would be education, infrastructure, healthcare, and sustainable cities. I would utilize government spending and stable structure with proper representation from local citizens in order to create an education system and transportation/utility infrastructure. I would likely use taxes to fund these endeavors. I would measure the growth of these sectors by monitoring graduation statistics and public health and safety statistics (Stasczak 2015). Another important dimension of development in my new nation would be the creation of sustainable urban centers. With the impeding threat of climate change and urban migration rates, creating carefully planned, sustainable cities is incredibly important. I plan to measure the carbon output of my cities in order to gain an understanding of how sustainable and environmentally healthy they are . Healthcare is another dimension of development that is crucial to the success of my nation. A healthcare system must be inclusive of all populations and provide immediate access. I would create a single-payer healthcare system, which is currently used in Singapore. Single-Payer healthcare is a system in which the state, rather than private insurers, pays for all healthcare costs, and assess healthcare standards though federal regulations(Akerman et. al 2015). I feel this would be the most equal system of healthcare delivery, as it provides fair access to impoverished and rural communities. Another fact of my nations economic development that would need to immediately be addressed would be currency creation and exchange rates. Staszczak (2015) notes that politicalinstability in developing nations can often perpetuate for decades due to the fact that currency has very low value in global market. Therefore, my nation would need to enter to global market swiftly and establish itself i n order to maintain a valuable, stable currency. This would be incredibly difficult to accomplish in tandem with every other immediate development factor I would need to address. However, with the creation of inclusive policy, my efforts would be more likely to succeed. Some inclusive projects I could incentivize could be local agriculture, education accessible to rural citizens, and facilitating local arts. This helps create a common national identity that is separate from a colonial identity, aiding in national unity. CITATIONS OF NON-CLASS SOURCES: Akerman, A., Naghavi, A., Seim, A. (2016). OLIGARCHIES AND DEVELOPMENT IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY: A TALE OF TWO ELITES. Economic Inquiry, 54(1), 229-246. doi:10.1111/ecin.12284 Lansing, R. (1907). Notes on Sovereignty in a State. The American Journal of International Law, 1(2), 297-320. STASZCZAK, D. E. (2015). Global instability of currencies: reasons and perspectives according to the state-corporation hegemonic stability theory. Brazilian Journal Of Political Economy / Revista De Economia Polà ­tica, 35(1), 175-198.

Undercurrents of Imperialism and Colonialism in Star Trek :: Movie Film Essays

Undercurrents of Imperialism and Colonialism in Star Trek Star Trek mirrored the Cold War/Vietnam paranoia of the late sixties—in command of the Enterprise, the Federation had an uneasy peace with its adversaries, the Klingons and Romulans (there were many episodes that came down to Kirk vs. the Klingons). In one episode Kirk and his Klingon counterpart each tried to influence an emerging culture to see things their way—remember Vietnam, Chile, and El Salvador? In another, Kirk and Spock were sent to spy on the Romulans so they could steal their cloak (stealth?) technology. And there was Kirk: yellow shirt torn across his chest, with blood on his forehead or across his cheekbone. There would be a weapon in his hand—something primitive, a knife perhaps—and he would circle the battleground (often an arena for those barbaric aliens) staring intensely at his opponent. In the background there would be dramatic music (what comedian Dana Gould refers to as the â€Å"Star Trek fist fight theme†). Suddenly the comb atants would join in their deadly dance until, inevitably, Kirk would stand victorious over his enemy, a powerful example of a superior culture. Indeed, Kirk often displayed cultural superiority over his amorous conquests; he was irresistible to alien women because he was such a fine example of a superior culture. The lusty-busty alienettes would flock to him (much to the distress of their fellow aliens) and Kirk would show them what it meant to be in the Federation. Meanwhile, in the real world, the Cold War raged on. And Star Trek’s masters used characters like Chekov to ridicule the Soviet Union. Remember his accent? And what about all his claims of Russian cultural superiority? What about the fact that he would say—straight faced—that the Russians invented the phone, that Shakespeare was Russian, and that Russia was the source of all culture, while Kirk (and his audience) knew that all the things Chekov claimed as Russian were part of our dominant West; knew that Chekov, and by extension Russia, was one big joke. But the fact that he was there at all (as a minority) reassured an American audience that the United States was superior and that its culture, not Soviet Marxism, was the way things should be. This brings us to Picard’s Star Trek, as different from Kirk’s as 1995 is from 1968.

Chaucer’s Use of Clothing: an Effective Rhetorical Device Essay

Chaucer’s Use of Clothing: an Effective Rhetorical Device In Literature, as in real life, characters are sometimes judged by their appearance. The description of clothing provides detail and comment on those wearing them. Chaucer’s uses of artifice in The Canterbury Tales function as gauges of the social status and economic wealth, and emotional condition of each pilgrim. Artifice effectively provides a badge of humanity, symbolic of each character’s fallibility. Yet clothing simultaneously imposes upon the characters literary stereotypes, which they consequentially adopt. Unable to transcend these ascribed roles, the pilgrims sometimes find themselves bound by literary stereotypes and narrative function, which they tend to fulfill rather than reject. Although Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales transcend a Romantic stereotype, his characters often do not. They find themselves bound to the conventions of Romance, as they are bound by the clothes that define them. Chaucer’s materialistic focus enhances this metaphor and d econstructs the purism of Christianity throughout their physical journey. This aspect of characterization functions to illuminate the meanings inherent in the costumes of the secular pilgrims, revealing the extent of their conformity, through their dress, to 14th century social, political, and religious norms. The General Prologue provides a great deal of information regarding the Knight’s appearance. The Knight entitled by rank to wear the finest of garments and clothes, is dressed in armor that is shabby, rusty, and possibly useless. The fact that he humbly adorns the uncomfortable suit, and even carries his bloodstained sword, indicates the knight’s sense of honor and tradition, but also shows the means by which... ...ce his own disapproval. His criticism is apparent, yet he doesn’t make harsh or subjective judgments. Instead, Chaucer simply describes what each character looks like physically and what they’re doing; and then leaves the reader to question what the character should be, compared to what they are. Chaucer explicitly chose to describe the pilgrims and make them the focal point of the entire pilgrimage, as opposed to the journey itself. Further, the minimal presence of beneficial divine intervention emphasizes the significance of each characters’ decisions (as they apply to their own ascribed roles). Materialistic metaphor functions to convey these roles, and ultimately evaluates each pilgrim. Consequentially, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales provides clarification of his sociological perspective on Romanticism, through the observation of humanity’s adherence to moral norms. Chaucer’s Use of Clothing: an Effective Rhetorical Device Essay Chaucer’s Use of Clothing: an Effective Rhetorical Device In Literature, as in real life, characters are sometimes judged by their appearance. The description of clothing provides detail and comment on those wearing them. Chaucer’s uses of artifice in The Canterbury Tales function as gauges of the social status and economic wealth, and emotional condition of each pilgrim. Artifice effectively provides a badge of humanity, symbolic of each character’s fallibility. Yet clothing simultaneously imposes upon the characters literary stereotypes, which they consequentially adopt. Unable to transcend these ascribed roles, the pilgrims sometimes find themselves bound by literary stereotypes and narrative function, which they tend to fulfill rather than reject. Although Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales transcend a Romantic stereotype, his characters often do not. They find themselves bound to the conventions of Romance, as they are bound by the clothes that define them. Chaucer’s materialistic focus enhances this metaphor and d econstructs the purism of Christianity throughout their physical journey. This aspect of characterization functions to illuminate the meanings inherent in the costumes of the secular pilgrims, revealing the extent of their conformity, through their dress, to 14th century social, political, and religious norms. The General Prologue provides a great deal of information regarding the Knight’s appearance. The Knight entitled by rank to wear the finest of garments and clothes, is dressed in armor that is shabby, rusty, and possibly useless. The fact that he humbly adorns the uncomfortable suit, and even carries his bloodstained sword, indicates the knight’s sense of honor and tradition, but also shows the means by which... ...ce his own disapproval. His criticism is apparent, yet he doesn’t make harsh or subjective judgments. Instead, Chaucer simply describes what each character looks like physically and what they’re doing; and then leaves the reader to question what the character should be, compared to what they are. Chaucer explicitly chose to describe the pilgrims and make them the focal point of the entire pilgrimage, as opposed to the journey itself. Further, the minimal presence of beneficial divine intervention emphasizes the significance of each characters’ decisions (as they apply to their own ascribed roles). Materialistic metaphor functions to convey these roles, and ultimately evaluates each pilgrim. Consequentially, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales provides clarification of his sociological perspective on Romanticism, through the observation of humanity’s adherence to moral norms.