Post-Modern Scene of Hong Kong Society from Food Literature

The characteristic of Hong Kong culture, the identity of Hong Kong citizen is always a hot topic. In the decade, post-modern has become a new verb to describe Hong Kong. So, this treatise is going to find out if Hong Kong is in post-modern period and emotions of authors and citizens, through the picture of Hong Kong society in food literatures. Methodology This treatise alms to find out the picture of Hong Kong post-modern society from Hong Kong Diet Literature. In this treatise, the definition of â€Å"diet literature† Is generalized to all texts using â€Å"Food† as the theme of literary writing.And the narrowed definition of â€Å"Hong Kong Diet Literature† is all texts using â€Å"Food† as the hem of literary writing, which written and published in HOOK by Hong Kong authors, writing Hong Kong places. By observation, Hong Kong diet literature is absented in the study of Hong Kong literature history. The phenomenon, â€Å"Food† is being popular as a theme in HOOK literature, Is worth to be concerned; it Is proved by using the record from the categories of food culture In the online bookstore, Hong Kong Cookbooks Ltd..As the study Is to find out the picture of Hong Kong post-modern society, post-modern theories by Jacques Deride and Jean-Franà §ois Leotard are used. In this treatise, first, would describe the characteristics of postmodern and a city in post-modern period. Second, shows the velveteen of Hong Kong literature and the relationship with the society. Then show the change of the writing methods and styles in Hong Kong food literatures, by the comparison of the most representative and popular authors in different decades. Thirdly, shows the analysis of post-modern phenomenon shown in literatures. At the end, a respond will be made in conclusion. . Theories of Post-modernism First of all, we should definite clearly about the term â€Å"Post-modern† and â€Å"Post- dermis†; † ‘Post-modern' Is a historic concept, slaying the post-industrial society or the era of Information In the postwar period of World War II. â€Å"; † ‘Post- modernism' is a cultural ideological trend of western society†¦ It is an offspring of morels anon Leganes Walt mayoralty Ana auto It † (Roding, 1 differences between Modernism and Post-modernism are, modernism advocates rationality, eccentricity of metaphysics, integrity; Post-modernism is the opposite of modernism.Theories of Post-modernism are based on two important philosophers: Jacques Deride (1930 – 2004–), â€Å"There is nothing outside of the text. (Deride, 1965), his idea means written text, also everything beside text owns and exhibit their meanings in context; also he advocates â€Å"There is nothing outside context†, means text would have different meaning interpreted by different contexts, and the context would interpreted by another context; which means there is no truth, or only one trea tise to explain a thing, nothing is immobile.It is a critique of modern rationalism empire. Jean-Franà §ois Leotard (1925 – 1998) â€Å"Under this modern society and culture-?post-industry and post-modern culture, the legitimacy of science are questioned in different ways. Meta-narration has lost its credibility, whether it is a unified approach adopted. ‘ (Williams, 1998) In the post- modern society, there are no â€Å"only truth† (meta-narrative), only mint-narratives, language games which have their own rules, vales; it is full of differences.Science, emphasizing evidence, rationality, and accuracy is not a meta-narrative anymore, it is only a small-narrative, as the others. Everything is uncertain, â€Å"Emotion is evidence or a description of incomplete-events in any kind of language games or 1998) also it is evidence to determine â€Å"the boundary between two language games. (Williams, 1998) II. Delimiting meta-narrative in Hong Kong On society aspect After 1 July 1997, meta-narrative â€Å"one country, two systems† has been intervened by China; lots of historical buildings had been broken down; also, financial tsunami, CARS led to great unemployment.In 1 July march in 2003, a large public had attended to the march, opposing the legislation of the Basic law Article 23; over million people were protesting for liberty and democracy. Protestors were come from different social communities, such as businessmen, retired people, young couples and democrats, with anger and anxiety. â€Å"Hong Kong people march†, 2003) Different communities–language games, march in 1 July continually each year; the false utopian meta-narrative and the disappearance of memorable buildings and places create a crake between modern society, which bring Hong Kong in to a post-modern period.On literature In ass's, ass's, there are binary oppositions in Hong Kong literature, they are: rightist/ leftist, elegance/earthliness, realism [moderni sm. (Lung,2008); The concept of the binary between elegance and earthliness of popular culture, high-end and low-end is stall De accuses In Hong Kong, alter literature(cueing ) Nine concept Is developed by a group of intellectual, who brought it to the organizational structure. Besides, traditional study of literature and the study of culture are opposed to each other. In this recent decade, literature becomes important in cultural studies under a multicultural society.The boundary between two studies has become vague; the argument between elegance and earthliness is doubted in cultural studies, while there are different groups of people in popular, the studies would be confined by the boundary. (Chemung & Chug, 2007) Ill. Picture of post-modern society from food literature Development of food literature The change of Hong Kong food literature is very significant, but did not be noted by cultural scholars. In the past, food literature is published in the form of recipes, which is in struction of cooking without author's feelings; the most famous and representative author is called Chain Mongo Yang (1910 – 1997).His prose published in a book â€Å"Bible of Eat†, first posted in newspaper column, got popular because of the principle and stories of food and cooking. (Chain, 2007) Authors' feelings and his/her point of views are reflected in nowadays food literature using colloquial language; ampere with literature written by Chain Mongo Yang, the tone of voice is more casual nowadays, and the main purpose is to express authors' feelings rather than instructing reader. â€Å"There is nothing outside of the text. † Each author is a small- narrative, part of Hong Kong; the study of their works can help to make a more holistic picture of Hong Kong culture.A. The past is always better Nostalgic â€Å"Nostalgic describes an emotional structure. In the formation of a larger cultural context, nostalgic has social and psychological stability and re-ne gotiation function on human cognition and position on the world. (Lie, 2004) â€Å"It's feeling more than ‘substantial old†. In Haying Au Youngest (Ar J) and Lung Aka Skunk's(Lung) writings, they recall the past by using a lot of food symbols, like stall, hot pot, herbal tea; to express their helpless feelings about the current social changes, and cherish the past as the past is always better. Then his eyes with a bit confused, winked his eyes, again, even shook his head unconsciously. Oh, no, this is not a (dish of) â€Å"salt and pepper fresh squid† I used to. Of course we cannot go back, especially when we are fortunately living in this era of horn-sighted speeding, among the personnel of social blundering. We proved impossible to preserve landmarks around the streets, only some vague shadows, distracting thoughts; it is only an echo of a particular verbose complaint which has just finished. † (Au Young, 2007) Ar J saw disappointment from his friend's ey es and actions, because the taste can no longer be reproduced.The evaluation of taste may be affected by personal feelings. Ar J and his friend got emotion in this rapid changeable era. â€Å"In the last day of the old Star Ferry Pier, I parked my car especially at the Central Star Ferry Car Park for the sake to take Star Ferry at the old Star Ferry Pier. It's still in Green Ana went colors, out I Tell strange suddenly, sort Ice-cream was gone, Toulouse ending of the ride was doomed†¦ Finally the new Star Ferry Pier was opened, more food stores opened than before, but they all can be bought in Central Airport Railway Station, soft ice-cream will not come back.I am not nostalgia whether the building of Star Ferry Pier is old or new, I would like to keep the way we were. † (Lung, 2005) The 48-years-old old Star Ferry Pier had been destructed by government under Hong Kong citizens' dissatisfaction and opposition, which increased public awareness of local culture conservatio n, also undermined public trust in government. Lung deliberately took a ride in the last operation day of the old Star Ferry Pier, the new ferry pier was built, but the absence of soft ice-cream, Lung was lost in the imagination of the old days.Emotion is the only evidence â€Å"Emotion is evidence or a description of incomplete-events in any kind of language games or girds. â€Å"(Williams, 1998) The destruction of old buildings, reconstructed by new commercial buildings shows the opposition between Ar J , his friend and the immemorial world; Lung and the government. Old building is a signifier which has an inter subjectivity function, representing the intercommunicate and sharing, and is the common knowledge and experience in a group of people with same cultural background can cognizance.Roland Berates reported â€Å"For many individuals who are there, so in itself contains 1999) However, those â€Å"stable† signifier are erased; Flattened and oversimplified signifier ar e only plays and unstable in this rapid consumerism era. Sense of loss, the emotions expressed is the only articulate evidence. B. Contradiction between language games Western and Local † I have not eaten traditional pancake (Boo-change) for a long time. Thought it had been lost, and no one will do; because today pizza is much popular†¦ Pancake' sounds old, outmoded, who will to eat? Also, nowhere sell. Fast-food chain restaurants launched nostalgic tea meals: fried sweet potato, red and white-steamed clay-pot cake, four stuffed treasures, and salt pancake†¦ Their salt pancake of course does not as delicious as childhood, perhaps its deliciousness is scored by memories†¦ Pan cake has a tenacious 2008) Under the influence of western fast-food culture, western fast-food becomes the main stream; the raise of sense of local identity, create a wave of nostalgia in Hong Kong food industry.Pack Way Lee used salt pancake-?†Boo Change† which means â€Å"thin - support† as a signifier, to signify the tenacious vitality of local culture, which would not be buried so easy. The legislation of western culture has been doubted, the wave of nostalgic tea meal is a way to decentralized the eccentricity of western fast-food. Commerce and Culture In the era of globalization and the development of high-technique, the exchange of economy, culture has become easier and faster; boundaries between countries are Duller c, local culture Decodes ten capital In ten commercial game. Across the road in front of Lung Fun Restaurant, is King Way restaurant, introduced red bean paste moon cake, which is regarded as exceptional alternative moon cake. But in these last ten years, moon cake has dazzling means. Moon cake is getting more and more unlike moon cake. Crystal moon cake is glutting in the market, now chocolate is used as a moon cake, I very much doubt it is moon cake or cake (xi being). Cakes are supplied over 365 days; Moon cake, the real role in legend is, as a media to pass the message of uprising when full moon.

Coke Cola Face Csr Problem in India

(1)Indian government traditionally undervalue the business activities. Politics and leisure are gained more value than work. While in U. S. , American dream emphasis on working hard for personal value, business and politics gain the same social respect. (2)India has many political and legal issues with foreign investors. Indian law to some extent is ambiguous when handling the lawsuits with foreign investors,which may have been the reason causing problems for Coke’s operations in India? 3) Both countries may have different ways of doing businesses. Foreign investors should consider the fact that every culture is different and they need their own practices (polycentric), if Coke still thinks its American style of business operation is better and practices it in India(ethnocentric), the consumers in India will regard those practices as wrong and inappropriate. This could also have been the reason why India blame on the water contamination and shortage caused by Coke.Coke and Pep siAs the Indian people interpret silence as guilt, thus the representatives of Coke should response quickly: firstly, to apologize for the destroying of water resources in India, and then do some compensation for the local people. secondly,find ways independently or Corporate with authoritative NGOS to solve the problem. It is very important for Coke to built good reputation and consumer loyalty in international market. thirdly, learn from what Pepsi does: doing CSR such as digging village wells, trying best to reduce water waste,etc. these measures could help to interact with local people, improve relationships with government and the public.From global standardization to localization Change the style of advertisement to fit the flavor of Indian people. Add some Indian cultural factors to the can package. Take more CSR as what Pepsi did. Improving relationships with Indian government and the public. Start to communicate with local consumers, and response quickly. Because in India, keep silence means guilty,even though India and U. S. both speak English, because of different value, culture and social environment, miscommunication may exists; on the plus side, it is the best way to understand the need or complain of Coke's consumers. 1) MNCs should overcome Parochialism–view the world through their own perspectives, and the simplification–the process of exhibiting the same orientation toward different culture groups. Because doing things the same way in foreign markets as they are done in domestic markets may arise more conflicts when involving in cross-cultural management. In this case, Coke prefers individualism to achieve their own value in India, while India is a society respect more about politics than business, Coke did not improve the relationships with bureaucratic offices and finally it brings trouble to Coke about the pesticide findings.MNCs should set up unique human resource management system to fit for local employees, improve communi cation effectiveness to reduce misunderstanding among multicultural groups in the company, for example, to provide language and cultural training, to improve feedback system. Internally, to select CSR practices that fit with the company's existing capabilities; externally, work with NGOS, pragmatically respect local culture and protect the environment.

Amazon Inc Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Amazon Inc - Research Paper Example In its recent endeavors, the company has been performing as a proven technology leader and has developed e-commerce innovations such as personalized shopping services, I-click ordering easy-to-use and other browse features. The company offers faster and safer credit transaction facility to its customers, and e4-mail communication with customers and direct shopping at competitive price worldwide (Amazon.com, Inc., 1998). The primary purpose of this paper is to identify Amazon’s current and future challenges along with the requisite competencies needed for its success. Current and Future Challenges Amazon has been successful in satisfying its customers’ needs with lower prices, vast selection and speedy delivery facilities. Nevertheless, the company has been currently facing intense competition from other online book merchants, mainly due to ease in new entry and low level of switching costs in the industry. Furthermore, the challenges in the form of competition are expec ted to increase in the future, making it more challenging for Amazon to achieve its goals and objectives. Notably, the security and privacy issues have always been a matter for challenge for the online business companies like Amazon. Despite, the adequate level of security and other facilities provided by the company, many customers decipher reluctance for conducting transactions over the internet. Additionally, the rapidly changing e-commerce environment has offered the company to make constant changes in its strategies in order to grow and adapt to the changing environment. Along with these challenges, the poor logistics and supply chain management has radically affected the ability of the company to earn substantial profits (Singh & Waddell, 2004; University of Washington, 1998). Competencies Required For Success Over the years, the company has been able to meet the needs of its customers more effectively and efficiently, which has rewarded the company to establish itself as one of the world’s largest online retailers. However, the constant changes in the online business environment, along with increasing competition has urged the company to focus on certain specific factors to strengthen its core competencies in order to retain its market position and attain success in the future. Hence, it can be argued that market orientation is a crucial factor for modern management in the e-commerce sector. It is also essential for Amazon to target the relevant needs of the targeted customers rather than emphasizing solely on the advancement of its technology approach. It is also equally important for the company to capture the arising market opportunities after assessing the upcoming risks in an efficient manner. In this regard, it is suggestible that the goals and strategies framed by the company should be in consistent with SMART (i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reliable and Timely). It is thus necessary for the company to establish effective planning, monitoring and controlling of its activities. Furthermore, the company should conduct market analysis as well as competitors’ analysis at regular intervals in order to acquire potential understanding about the prevailing market trends and competitors strategies. The company should also involve in developing leaders for future and ensuring greater success with increased competencies of the future leader to deal with the challenges in the most efficient manner. Nonetheless,

Autism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Autism - Essay Example No info needed. Trends refer to events that re-occur or are in the process of changing. For example the topic might be talked about repeatedly because of new technologies or awareness of problems or solutions. Prevalence rates might be changing. Solutions might be slowly being implemented. No unfortunately I have no way to check if there were issues noted. Issues often refer to impediments to implementing solutions, such as the costs of diagnostic equipment, insurance coverage problems, resistance to change. The various sources definitely do agree with the issues and trends. The issue of autism is selected as the research topic. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a body of law which agrees with the trends and issues related to autism.  Was the law the only resource you used? The assignment was to review four specific types of articles that summarized research.   I especially find the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the book Autism and Asperger Syndrome by Uta Frith (Frith , Uta (1991) Autism and Aspergers Syndrome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) Uta Frith is regarded by many as one of the best developmental psychologists in the UK. She’s associated with University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. She’s also considered an authority on the subject of autism. [Good analysis] On the other hand, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is the foremost law in the US regarding disabilities such as autism and is concerned with any type of discrimination which is based on a person’s disability.   There are a few important criteria which help me in evaluating the sources which are to be used. The first stage for a successful evaluation of sources is pre evaluation or screening of the information. Firstly, one needs to be perfectly clear what exact information one is searching for. Information can range from statistics, reasoned arguments and eyewitness reports to

Statistics Problems Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Statistics Problems - Speech or Presentation Example 32. Dole Pineapple, Inc., is concerned that the 16-ounce can of sliced pineapple is being overfilled. Assume the standard deviation of the process is .03 ounces. The quality control department took a random sample of 50 cans and found that the arithmetic mean weight was 16.05 ounces. At the 5 percent level of significance, can we conclude that the mean weight is greater than 16 ounces? Determine the p-value. 38. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reported that the 30-year mortgage rate is now less than 6 percent. A sample of eight small banks in the Midwest revealed the following 30-year rates (in percent): As the p – value is greater than 0.01, the null hypothesis can be accepted. Hence it can be concluded that there is no significant difference in the mean number of times men and women take – out dinners in a month. 46. Grand Strand Family Medical Center is specifically set up to treat minor medical emergencies for visitors to the Myrtle Beach area. There are two facilities, one in the Little River Area and the other in Murrells Inlet. The Quality Assurance Department wishes to compare the mean waiting time for patients at the two locations. Samples of the waiting times, reported in minutes, follow: 52. The president of the American Insurance Institute wants to compare the yearly costs of auto insurance offered by two leading companies. He selects a sample of 15 families, some with only a single insured driver, others with several teenage drivers, and pays each family a stipend to contact the two companies and ask for a price quote. To make the data comparable, certain features, such as the deductible amount and limits of liability, are standardized. The sample information is reported below. At the .10 significance level, can we conclude that there is a difference in the amounts quoted? 23. A real estate agent in the coastal area of

Hotel Service Operations Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Hotel Service Operations Management - Assignment Example The company intends on becoming a four-star hotel by increasing professionalism as well as the auxiliary services that characterize its dealing in the working calendar. The business is outstanding the test of time with reference to the returns on capital employed index. Thus, the company in the fourth year of its practice will improve on the pricing, the promotion, the distribution, the staffing and the environmental measures. In accordance to the fields, the company anticipates in growing past the mark that is evident in the third-year net income. The HOTS hotel is a three star in the rating of services. The reason is that the services that the hotel offers are much more affordable. The services include a swimming pool, a telephone, a television set, a private bathroom, twenty-four hours front office and an available room service attendant. The hotel also provides a fitness center as well as massage services plus sauna services. In the last three years, the hotel did not quite reach full potential. However, the hotel did have several achievements. The first is the development of careers especially the workers who have become more professional. The hotel has found special links that pose as a vast consumer base. The company is also gaining popularity from the consistent adverts of good services in the services industry. The hotel as per the graph shows a positive growth in terms of the total income in the first year. However, there is no stable income since the seasons in the hospitality industry creates the instability. However, the total revenue tends to increase as the second year of practice. The firm starts at a significant pace but does not sustain the bigger number of the total revenue. Thus, the total revenues drop again as the year elopes. The scenario repeats in the third year thus creating s cyclic history of the practice. The net income tends to be negative since the firm does not reach the cutoff point

Against Solar Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Against Solar Energy - Essay Example Solar energy is harnessed light and, heat from the sun converted in electricity. It has a wide range of uses e.g. heating of water, producing electricity, heating and lighting in buildings, industrial and commercial uses etc. But it also has an opposite side. Some people may say that it is the most effective compared to other types of energy because the light and heat are natural. However, they forget that solar energy is derived from sun. This means that without the sun, no energy can be available. Making of photovoltaic panels there are chemicals used. These chemicals are elements that are harmful to the environment. â€Å"Cadmium† and â€Å"Arsenic† harmful to the environment and can bring bad side effects to people. They require good disposal to avoid pollution of the environment. Solar energy system plants need a lot of space that could otherwise be used for other things. The area needed needs to be free from all sorts of objects that can obstruct light rays. This shows that it can be problematic to people who have small compounds especially the ones who live in cities. It leads to depletion of animal habitats. It is also true to say that production of solar energy is dependent. The operation and effectiveness of solar cells depends on a balanced mixture of some compounds. This mixture harness light energy and then takes it to another contact that works electrically. More so, the life span of organic solar cells in very short. It can only stay for only 5 years in commercial applications.

Week 4 Individual Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Week 4 Individual Assignment - Essay Example Clear Hear manufactures phones at its own facilities. One of the goals of the managers of the company is to optimize production in order to take advantage of idle capacity. The company has an unused production capacity of 70,000 units. The firm has to decide whether or not to take an order of 100,000 units. The current bid is a price of $15 per unit. The firm has to consider the variable and fixed cost of producing the model. Clear Hear produces two types of phone models. The Alpha model is sold at $20. The profit margin on this model is 15% due to the fact that total cost equal $17 per unit. The Beta model is sold at $30 and it has a net market of 26.66%. Due to the fact that the production cost are higher than the price bid of the proposal the company cannot take the order under normal circumstances. To take the order the firm has to outsource the order to produce the phones at $14. The company would make a profit of $100,000 on the transaction. In order to increase revenues Clear Hear can utilize several strategies. The firm can invest money in marketing in order to attract new customers. Advertising campaigns can ignite the demand of the product. Another way to improve revenues is by motivating the sales staff. Increasing commission incentives is a way to motivate the salespeople to produce more. A firm can increase its production capacity by investing in technology such as new machinery for the production line. Increasing the production capacity of the firm can enabled the company to shift its supply curve to the right. Greater production would enable the company to increase its revenues. Another simply solution to increase the demand for the product is to decrease the price of the phones. Due to the thin margin on the Alpha model the company has to be careful with its price decreases because it may hurt profitability. It is important to pay attention to the laws of diminishing return.

Feminine Mystique for American society in 1960 Essay

Feminine Mystique for American society in 1960 - Essay Example Feminine Mystique for American society in 1960 Feminine Mystique had helped the women to express their irritations and dissatisfactions that have haunted them and with which they have dealt all alone. The spark was ignited by works of Betty Friedan in Feminine Mystique. The publication of such a work became the driving factor of forcing women to think about her own independent lifestyle. They appeared to be content, but a sort of irritation and dissatisfaction was growing within them. They were simply afraid to end up their life totally in this fashion with no recreation. A true feminist at that time was never supposed to demand for a successful working career or financial independence. The deep cultural changes were dragging women to workplaces and there they also ended up with dissatisfaction witnessing huge gender discrimination and more pay for male employees (unequal remuneration). Several protests led to social reforms in America after that. Keeping this at the backdrop, the essay addresses the wave of change that stirred t he American society in 1960s with publication of Feminine Mystique, which created a national debate about women’s roles and over time acknowledged as one of the significant works of the modern women’s movement. Interviews and surveys of contemporaries have been conducted by reputed organizations to find out the life of American women during 1960 i.e. post World War II. The Gallup organization had conducted 18,000 interviews of mainly divorced and aged women all hailing from 1960s.The respondents were mainly in their mid thirties with just basic education. Most of them were having a child or two and were complete homemakers during 1960s. These women were those who had witnessed World War II and got married some years post war. Stephaine Coontz’s opinions about women of 1960 has been captured in her remarks, â€Å"To modern generations these women’s lives seem as outmoded as the white gloves and pert hats they wore when they left the shelter of their homes† (Coontz, xii). Such remarks give an idea of women during the mid 20th century. It also emphasizes the value and credibility of their lives when viewed from the perspective of modern society. Women then were seen only a s taking care of their husbands and parents. She had to do all the household chores hardly getting any time for herself. In one part of The Help the author Kathryn Stockett describes Leefolt saying â€Å"Twenty three years old and she lanky as a fourteen year old boy. Even her hair is thin, brown and see through† (Stockett, 1). The author shows a contrasting feature compared to Feminine Mystique where some women in society had no time for baby care and left them in care of other women. Those other women did the job with utmost devotion irrespective of their physical and mental state. But the approach of both the works has been quite different although they deal with a similar issue. Feminine Mystique talks about the life of women in general during mid 20th century. But in The Help the author has narrated a story where a woman goes on to take care of another’s child after losing her own son. The American society of that time has been depicted therein. Child bearing also came at an early age as women began to get engaged right after high school. The marriage age of 20 had dropped to 17 (Freidan, 58). Such an early marriage affected the

The European Union Essay Example for Free

The European Union Essay The decisions and procedures of the institutions of the EU have failed to achieve the objective of the European Union to promote democracy in Europe and there is a lack of legitimacy and accountability. Moreover, the proposed European Constitutional Treaty was rejected in referendums conducted in France and the Netherlands. Opinion polls have clearly indicated that citizens of Europe are showing indifference and hostility towards the functioning of the European Union’s institutions and its policies . The principal decision making institutions of the EU are the European Parliament and the European Commission, whose members are elected democratically. Legislations proposed by the Commission to the Council are carried out in order to implement the policies of the EU . The Commission dominates over the other institutions of the EU due to its exclusive competence in the executive. National Parliaments face considerable difficulty in complying with the controls and regulations of the EC. In addition, most of the technical and intricate issues have to comply with regulations made by the committees, which consist of technocrats rather than democratic institutions. Moreover, interpretation of the directives and regulations issued by the EC is difficult and requires a deep understanding of the ECJ’s case law. Furthermore, Community law overrides national legislation and national courts have to seek the ECJ’s intervention, while interpreting EU law. In addition, the EU law supersedes primary legislation . The European Commission implements its policies and legislative acts through the process of comitology in which experts from Member States and representatives of the Commission participate. The goal of this process is to enforce supranationalism . However, comitology fails to provide decisional autonomy to the Member States, does not interact with the affected parties who do not have any representation. The net effect is that comitology impedes legitimate governance . Without scrutiny and review of the affected parties’ representations, there can be no compliance with the democratic spirit . The European Parliament was endowed with deliberative qualities and represents the entire European population, which rendered it undemocratic. The European Union is an intricate combination of several frameworks such as the parliamentary system and the regulatory structure. The ECJ, which was instrumental in establishing the EU, strives hard to promote democracy in the EU . BIBLIOGRAPHY 1.Democracy within the European Community, 11 October, 2007, http://www. revision-notes. co. uk/revision/892. html. 2. Erik Oddvar Eriksen and John Erik Fossum, Democracy through strong publics in the European Union? , 11 October, 2007, http://www. arena. uio. no/publications/wp01_16. htm. 3. Joerges, C. and Vos, E. EU Committees: Social Regulation, Law and Politics, Oxford: Hart Publishing, 1999. 4. Professor Vernon Bogdanor, Legitimacy, Accountability And Democracy, January 2007, 11, October, 2007, http://www. fedtrust. co. uk/admin/uploads/FedT_LAD. pdf.

Liberal Intergovernmentalism

Liberal Intergovernmentalism What choice for Europe? Reflections on agency and structure in Liberal Intergovernmentalism ABSTRACT This article examines how the relationship between agency and structure is dealt with in Liberal Intergovernmentalism, a prevailing theory of European integration. It demonstrates that, contrary to the widespread view that it is agency-centred, Liberal Intergovernmentalism is in fact a highly structuralist theory in the issue areas it claims to explain best. In these areas integration is ultimately explained in terms of developments in economic structures, leaving no room for agency and ideas. The article also shows that, despite the importance it ascribes to changes in economic structures, Liberal Intergovernmentalism fails to theorise their possible causes. Keywords: Liberal Intergovernmentalism; Moravcsik; Agency; Structure; Integration theory Over the past two decades Andrew Moravcsiks Liberal Intergovernmentalism (LI) has established itself as one of the prevailing theories of European integration. Elegantly combining a liberal theory of preference formation with an intergovernmentalist theory of interstate bargains and a functional theory of institutional choice it explains European integration as the outcome of a series of intergovernmental negotiations. More than any other contemporary theory of integration LI and its application in empirical analyses has provoked discussion in the field of EU studies. Opinions are divided between those who admire LI for its parsimony and predictive power and those who feel that its account of regional integration misses out on too much of importance. Either way, hardly anyone would dispute that it continues to be a theory that it is necessary to relate to in one way or another in theoretically informed work on European integration. The purpose of this article is to critically examine the liberal intergovernmentalist explanation of integration from a meta-theoretical perspective. More precisely, it will be systematically analysed how the relationship between agency and structure is dealt with in LI. Any theorys account of the social world, or delimited parts of it, is based on a particular, albeit often implicit, conceptualisation of the agency-structure relationship and whether or not this conceptualisation is convincing impacts greatly on the quality of the theorys account of social phenomena and change. There is thus much to be learned about a theory, in this case LI, from examining its underlying assumptions with respect to agency and structure. This is even more so because appearances can be deceiving: as it will be argued in this article, LI which appears and is widely assumed to offer an agency-centred account of European integration, turns out to do the opposite on closer scrutiny. In addition to this introduction and a conclusion the article is divided into seven sections. The first two sections set the stage for later analyses by briefly introducing LI and the question of the agency-structure relationship, while also accounting for their respective significance. The following three sections examine how the agency-structure question is dealt with at each of the three stages of LI: preference formation, interstate bargaining and institutional choice. Against this background section six critically examines the liberal intergovernmentalist explanation of European integration before section seven discusses the political implications of LI. 1. Liberal Intergovernmentalism Andrew Moravcsiks Liberal intergovernmentalism (LI) was first presented in the early 1990s and later elaborated and applied in a string of publications of which the monumental book The Choice for Europe (1998) contains the most detailed exposition and test of the theory. LI is presented as a framework for synthesising theories into a coherent account of regional integration. The latter is explained as the result of ‘a series of celebrated intergovernmental bargains (Moravcsik, 1993: 473). More precisely integration is seen as the outcome of a three-stage process where: (1) national interests or goals arise in the context of domestic politics; (2) governments bargain with each other to further their national interest; and (3) governments make an institutional choice to secure credible commitment once a substantive agreement has been reached. LI quickly became a focal point in debates on how to theorise European integration and it has subsequently kept this position. According to Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig (2009: 67), LI ‘has acquired the status of a â€Å"baseline theory† in the study of regional integration: an essential first cut explanation against which other theories are often compared. In their view, ‘it has achieved this dominant status due to its theoretical soundness, empirical power, and utility as a foundation for synthesis with other explanations (2009: 67). To be sure, not everyone would agree with this latter sentiment. As alluded to in the introduction, several scholars have criticised the theory for painting a too incomplete or even misleading picture of the European integration process and the ‘empirical power of the resulting analyses has often been questioned (e.g. Diez, 1999; Smith, 2000; Wincott, 1995; see also Cini, 2007: 112-14 for an overview of some critiques of LI). In asmuch as relatively few scholars besides Moravcsik appear to wholeheartedly embrace LI (Pollack, 2001; however, cf. Laursen, 2002), it is probably fair to say that it has acquired its status as a â€Å"baseline theory† as much because of its perceived weaknesses as because of its strengths. Similar to Waltzs (1979) neorealism LI is a parsimonious and bold theory that lends itself to accusations of neglecting or underestimating the significance of important parameters in the case of LI for instance transnational business groups and activist supranational institutions. Indeed, LI does this deliberately, seeking ‘to simplify EU politics, stressing the essential and excluding certain secondary activities (Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig, 2009: 68). Hereby it follows the neo-positivist recipe for theory construction, according to which theories should take the form of simplified models that can support efforts to make generalisations by singling out as few variables as possible and account for the causal relations between, and the relative weight of, these variables. Falsifiable hypothesises are derived from such theories and subsequently tested against reliable empirical data. On the basis of such tests, theories can then be further refined or occasionally discarded. (1 ) Testing LI is precisely what Moravcsik sets out to do in The Choice for Europe. Here standardised hypotheses derived from LI and competing (albeit for the most part artificial) theories are tested against an overwhelming amount of empirical data in five cases studies. Needless to say, LI comes out on top as the theory with the by far greatest explanatory power. More generally, The Choice for Europe constitutes an example par excellence of research informed by neo-positivist methods and standards. In its early pages Moravcsik informs his readership that the book ‘eschews ad hoc explanation and seeks instead to discover what is generalizable about EC history (1998: 2) and that it ‘is based on methods which, while far from ideal, generate more rigorous, transparent, objective, and reliable tests of competing theoretical claims about European integration than have heretofore been conducted (1998: 10). The bulk of studies of EC decision-making are criticised for biased data se lection and for relying on ‘citations to secondary sources themselves drawn from journalistic commentary or still other secondary sources (1998: 10). In contrast to this, Moravcsik claims to have backed ‘potentially controversial attribution of motive or strategy †¦ by â€Å"hard† primary sources (direct evidence of decision-making) rather than â€Å"soft† or secondary sources (1998: 10, see also pp. 80-84). (2) 2. Agency and structure The question of how to conceptualise the relationship between agency and structure is arguably one of the most important questions facing social scientists (Archer, 1995: 65). This is due to the importance of agency and structures in the social world and to the fact that it is impossible to offer explanations of events in the social world without appealing to some understanding of their relationship. As mentioned in the introduction there is thus much to be learned about the nature and quality of substantive theories from examining their underlying assumptions with respect to this relationship. Yet the way the latter is dealt with is also important for political reasons, to which we will come back in section 7 below. â€Å"Agency† denotes the ability of agents, whether individuals or groups, to act upon situations and it ‘implies a sense of free will, choice or autonomy that the actor could have behaved differently (Hay, 2002: 94). Agency should thus not be confused wit h concepts like â€Å"individuals†, â€Å"actors† or â€Å"agents†: without anticipating the conclusions of this article too much, a theory can refer to plenty of agents, while not allowing for any agency. â€Å"Structure†, on the other hand, refers to the relational context within which agents operate. Structures define the range of options available to agents. Nowadays the vast majority of scholars agree that both agency and structure matter: phenomena and developments in the social world issue not from either one or the other but are a product of both. If this is the case then it is necessary to break with the two ways of conceptualising the relation between agency and structure that have traditionally been dominant within social theory, namely structuralism and individualism. In their pure versions these positions either picture agents as marionettes (structuralism) or as omnipotent puppet-masters (individualism) (Archer, 1995; XXXXX). However, knowing that both agency and structure matter does not in itself take us far. To make a difference the insight needs to be incorporated into substantive theories and this is by no means an easy task. This contributes to explain why many theories end up offering reductionist explanations of the specific social phenomena they are meant to render intelligible. In the discipline of International Relations (IR) a debate over the â€Å"agent-structure problem† was initiated in the late 1980s by scholars such as Wendt (1987) and Hollis and Smith (1990). Later, and certainly no less interesting contributions to this debate included Doty (1997), Bieler and Morton (2001) and Wight (2006). The debate has done much to clarify and in many cases criticise the ontological and epistemological assumptions underlying mainstream IR theories, particularly Waltzian neorealism (Waltz, 1979). In EU Studies a similar debate has not taken place, and although in particular some constructivist scholars, have taken an interest in the agency-structure relationship (e.g. Wind, 2001), a comprehensive study of the way the most important theories of European integration and governance deal with it has yet to be published. However, it seems to be a widespread view among EU scholars that many of these theories privilege agency over structure. For instance, Risse ( 2004: 161) writes that the ‘prevailing theories of European integration whether neofunctionalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, or â€Å"multi-level governance† are firmly committed to a rationalist ontology which is agency-centred by definition. In a similar vein, other scholars have noticed ‘the ahistorical and structure-blind assumptions underlying intergovernmentalism (Hix, 1994: 9) and observed that in LI ‘agents are, implicitly or explicitly, considered primary actors ultimately determine the shape of overall structures (Christiansen, 1998: 103). In the next sections, the validity of this widespread view will be examined through an analysis of the way the agency-structure relationship is dealt with at each of the three stages in LI. 3. National preference formation The first stage in explaining the outcome of intergovernmental bargains is to account for the national preferences, which are defined as ‘an ordered and weighted set of values placed on future substantive outcomes †¦ that might result from international political interaction (Moravcsik, 1998: 24). This is done by means of a liberal political economy theory of preference formation, according to which national preferences arise in the context of domestic politics, where national government leaders form them on the basis of the preferences and actions of the most important societal groups. Most important among these are domestic producers: ‘The systematic political bias in favor of existing producer groups and against those, notably consumers, taxpayers, third-country producers, and also potential future producers, stems from the formers more intense, certain, and institutionally represented and organized interests (1998: 36). The state is conceptualised as ‘a rep resentative institution constantly subject to capture and recapture by societal groups (Moravcsik, 1997: 518). Because governments have an interest in remaining in office, they need the support from coalitions of domestic actors. The policies pursued by governments are ‘therefore constrained by the underlying identities, interests, and power of individuals and groups †¦ who constantly pressure the central decision makers to pursue politics consistent with their preferences (ibid: 518). In other words, ‘[g]roups articulate preferences; governments aggregate them and it is through this process that ‘the set of national interests or goals that states bring to international negotiations emerges (Moravcsik, 1993: 483). To evaluate the way the agency-structure relationship is dealt with at this stage in LI it is clearly crucial to understand the origins of the preferences of societal groups. Some of the early critics of LI suggested that the theory fails to account adequately for this. For instance, it was pointed out that ‘the origins of such interests are exogenized (Risse-Kappen, 1996: 56) while others claimed that in LI ‘interests are not structurally derived (Caporaso and Keeler, 1995: 44) and even that they ‘emerge mysteriously (McSweeney, 1998: 101). Had it in fact been the case that LI leaves completely open the question of where the preferences of societal groups come from it would have allowed for an agency-centred perspective on preference formation. That is, preferences could have been formed on the basis of all sorts of ideas and individual inclinations. However, this would have seriously undermined the parsimony and explanatory power of the theory and hence it was in fact never left open where preferences come from. As Moravcsik has made clear, LI perceives preferences to be directly caused by structural circumstances, more precisely economic structures: ‘I employ a structural theory of those preferences. My structural approach†¦employs trade flows, competitiveness, inflation rates, and other data to predict what the economic preferences of societal actors and therefore governments should be (Moravcsik, 1999b: 377). In other words, economic preferences are derived from economic structures: societal groups organise and articulate their preferences ‘on the basis of calculations of net expected costs and benefits resulting from the introduction of new policies (Moravcsik, 1993: 489). It follows as a logical implication that ‘shifts in preferences should follow the onset and precede the resolution of shifts or trends in economic circumstances (Moravcsik, 1998: 50). The assumption that economic structures translate directly into specific preferences is made possible by the rationality assumption underpinning LI. The widespread view that LI is agency-centred is related to this assumption that individuals, groups, governments and even states are rational. This begs the question of what â€Å"rationalism† precisely entails, especially as some scholars have suggested that Moravcsik fails to spell this clearly out (Christiansen et al., 2001: 4). In a recent piece Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig (2009: 68) put it as follows: ‘Rationalism is an individualist or agency assumption. Actors calculate the alternative courses of action and choose the one that maximizes (or satisfies) their utility under the circumstances. Collective outcomes are explained as the result of aggregated individual actions based on efficient pursuit albeit subject to the information at hand and uncertainty about the future. Despite the qualifications at the end of the quote it is clear that whatever this uncertainty pertains to it is not to the consequences of the actions of agents: agents are assumed to be very well-informed about these because, as Moravcsik has put it himself, in ‘a world in which the future consequences of actions are unknown †¦ LI would make little sense (1995: 626). This is an important manifestation, because the more it is assumed that agents know the future consequences of their actions, the more it must also be assumed that they are fully informed about the context in which they currently find themselves. It is quite simply logically inconceivable that an agent can somehow know the future consequences of his or her actions without having perfect or very close to perfect information at hand at the moment of the action itself. Moravcsik is thus significantly underplaying the strength of his rationality assumption when stating that ‘it takes no position on whether states are fully informed, though a framework in which states are assumed to be informed generally performs well (1998: 23). Why not walk the plank? Surely states and other agents can safely be assumed to be blessed full information if it has already been established that no or very few unintended consequences will follow from their actions? At the end of the day the rationality assumption boils down to the view that agents are utility-maximisers with clearly ordered preferences who are (almost?) fully informed, also about the future consequences of actions. However, it should not be concluded from this that LI is an agency-centred theory as the conventional wisdom has it. As we have seen above, preferences are derived from economic structures not just in the weak sense that structures are important in relation to preferences but in the strong sense that they alone dictate preferences (albeit with a minor qualification to which we will return in a moment). Because the rational agents are assumed to be so well-informed their actions become predictable once their structural environment has been mapped. Indeed, only structures matter here inasmuch as ‘[p]references are by definition causally independent of the strategies of other actors (Moravcsik, 1997: 519, see also 1998: 24-25). Moreover, ideas are for the most part not allowed to play any role in relation to preference formation. It is worth dwelling on this for a moment. On one hand, Moravcsik does not hesitate to acknowledge the importance of ideas, as when he proclaims that they ‘are like oxygen or language; it is essentially impossible for humans to function without them (Moravcsik, 2001: 229). On the other hand, ideas do not play a very prominent role in LI, which is also recognized by Moravcsik when he writes that ‘[i]n the LI account of integration, ideas are present but not causally central. They may be irrelevant or random, or, more likely, they are â€Å"transmission belts† for interests (Moravcsik, 2001: 229). The only reason why Moravcsik can correctly maintain that in LI ‘[s]ome national preferences are grounded in ideas (1998: 23) is because some importance is ascribed to the latter in issue areas where the material consequences of policy initiatives are more or less impossible to calculate. For instance, he mentions ‘questions of European institutions and common foreign policy as issues where governments/states will generally not to be under strong pressure from societal groups to pursue particular policies, which creates some room for government leaders to act on the basis of ‘ideologies and personal commitments (Moravcsik, 1993: 494; see also Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig, 2009: 85). According to Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig (2009: 76), ‘LI best explains policy-making in issue areas where social preferences are relatively certain and well defined. In the core areas, like trade, agriculture and monetary policy, ideas are not assumed to influence preference formation at all. When it comes to ‘insignificant, exceptional and speculative issues like those mentioned above or the Open Method of Coordination (ibid.: 85) where the preferences of societal groups are less clear and strong, and where the explanatory power of LI is thus recognised to be limited, ideas are conveniently allowed to play a role. To recapitulate, in LI no importance is ascribed to ideas in the explanation of what is (correctly) considered to be the ‘substantively important issues (ibid.: 85) in the European integration process: here economic structures do the job alone. (3) 4. International bargains Once the national preferences have been formulated, national decision-makers bring them to the intergovernmental bargaining table. At this second stage LI applies an intergovernmentalist bargaining theory in order to explain the outcome of negotiations. As the primary interest of the governments is to remain in office, they have a clear incentive to defend the national interest in the negotiation. Accordingly, ‘[t]he configuration of domestically determined national preferences defines a â€Å"bargaining space† of potentially viable agreements (Moravcsik, 1993: 496-497). The outcome of a concrete negotiation, however, not only reflects the different national preferences but also the relative bargaining power of different states. Moravcsik defines power in terms of asymmetric interdependence: ‘Bargaining leverage stems most fundamentally from asymmetries in the relative intensity of national preferences, which reflect †¦ the relative costs of agreements to remo ve negative externalities (ibid.: 1993: 499). This means that ‘[t]he power of each government is inversely proportional to the relative value that it places on an agreement (Moravcsik, 1998: 62). How, then, is the agency-structure relationship dealt with at this second stage? Or to put it differently: how much freedom does government leaders have to pursue their own preferences or ideas (agency) and how much are they constrained by their context (structure)? First, the answer to this question depends on the issue area. As mentioned, governments are severely constrained by domestic societal groups in core areas: here they can only act within a narrow â€Å"bargaining space† which limits their freedom considerably. In more marginal (non-economic) issue areas this space widens and government leaders enjoy more freedom to pursue their own agendas. Second, any particular government is constrained by the bargaining spaces of other governments. The nature of these determines the extent to which a government leader is capable of realising national interests. Finally, the outcomes of previous bargains serve as the status quo ‘with respect to which societal actors and gove rnments calculate preferences and alternatives to agreement (Moravcsik, 1995: 612). As mentioned above, the outcome of a concrete bargain reflects the relative bargaining power of each state. As bargaining power is defined in terms of asymmetric interdependence it is, in fact, derived from the very same structures as national preferences. These structures determine how attractive a potential policy is to societal groups and thus governments and consequently they also determine the relative bargaining power. Relative power is thus ultimately decided at the structural level not at the level of agents. This brings us back to the point that was raised in the previous section, namely that the rationality assumption underpinning LI does not serve to render it an agency-centred theory. To be sure, there are plenty of agents in LI, and there is no denying that the theory belongs to the tradition of â€Å"methodological individualism†. But by substituting real agents with ‘calculating machines who always know what they want and are never uncertain about the f uture and even their own stakes and interests (Risse, 2009: 147), LI effectively ends up with no notion of agency at all, at least not in its account of integration in core issue areas. That it is apparently unnecessary to study the interaction between state representatives in order to explain the outcome of a bargain tells it all: the creativity, charisma, persuasiveness and negotiating abilities of particular agents are insignificant in LI. By assuming that agents are identical in the sense of being rational it is possible to derive the outcome of bargains simply by looking at the context in which it takes place. This makes LI a structuralist theory also in its second stage. To be sure, the structuralism of LI differs from conventional structuralism inasmuch as the former retains a focus on agents and their free choices. But the point is that the â€Å"methodological individualism† of LI and other rational choice theories does not entail a genuine notion of agency in that a free choice is neither free nor, indeed, a real choice, if it is always already given by the context in which the agent operates (see also Hay, 2002: 103-104; Tsebelis, 1990: 40). (4) 5. Institutional choice Once governments have reached substantive agreement in a bargain, they set up institutional arrangements in order to secure it. At this third stage LI adopts a functional theory of institutional choice according to which governments pool or delegate authority in order to ‘constrain and control one another (Moravcsik, 1998: 9). Authority is â€Å"pooled† when governments for instance agree to take decisions in an issue area by means of qualified majority voting in the Council, whereas â€Å"delegation† refers to the transfer of authority to more or less autonomous supranational institutions (ibid.: 1998: 67). Pooling and delegation are ‘viewed as solutions to the problem of â€Å"incomplete contracting,† which arises when member governments share broad goals but find it too costly or technically impossible to specify all future contingencies involved in legislating or enforcing those goals (ibid.: 1998: 73). By pooling or delegating, the credibility of the commitment to the substantive agreement that has been reached is enhanced. But by giving up authority in an issue area governments clearly run the risk of being either outvoted by other governments (pooling) or of being overruled by supranational institutions (delegation) in future cases. Hence, ‘[t]he specific level of pooling or delegation reflects a reciprocal cost-benefit analysis: governments renounce unilateral options in order to assure that all governments will coordinate their behavior in particular ways (ibid.: 1998: 75). LI predicts that pooling and delegation will vary across issues and countries. Again, the preferences of societal groups are crucial: ‘Governments transfer sovereignty to commit other governments to accept policies favored by key domestic constituencies (ibid.: 1998: 76). As accounted for above the preferences of societal groups are seen as structurally determined, at least in the core issue area s. In the end the governments institutional choices thus become rather mechanical, following more or less automatically from the circumstances in which they are made. According to LI, international institutions are ‘passive, transaction-cost reducing sets of rules (Moravcsik, 1993: 508) that for instance serve to provide states with information ‘to reduce the states uncertainty about each others future preferences and behaviour (Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig, 2009: 72). Somewhat surprisingly, Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig link the existence of such institutions to â€Å"unanticipated consequences† of actions, proclaiming that LI also assumes the existence of the latter: ‘If unanticipated consequences did not exist, there would be no need for international institutions to elaborate â€Å"incomplete contracts† to begin with. The reason for institutions is precisely to elaborate agreements and credibly lock in compliance against defection by future unsatisfied governments (2009: 75). This, to be sure, is a somewhat unorthodox and problematic use of the concept. When, for instance, historical institutionalists are talking about unintended or unanticipated consequences in the context of European integration, their argument is that supranational institutions and policies tend to develop in ways not originally envisaged and subsequently not approved of by member state governments (Pierson, 1996). Due to â€Å"path dependency† and other mechanisms such institutions and the course of the integration process can become impossible for governments to control. Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig clearly have something altogether different in mind when they talk about unanticipated consequences. In fact, what they are talking about can more accurately be denoted ‘anticipated but undesired outcomes. These arise when rational governments anticipate that there is a risk that other rational governments will not comply with the substantive agreement that has been reached in an intergovernmental bargain. To avoid this undesired outcome governments agree on an institutional arrangement to create certainty. On this view, institutions (being ‘passive, transaction-cost reducing sets of rules) only contribute to minimise uncertainty by eliminating the risk of undesired outcomes (see also Moravcsik and Schimmelfennig, 2009: 72) it is unthinkable that they can develop and behave in ways not intended by governments. At the end of the day, it is not unintended consequences that LI assumes the existence of but rather the ability of governments to ver y accurately predict the consequences of their substantive agreement and on this basis chose the most suitable institutional agreements. This dubious assumption can obviously only be made if it is held, as LI does, that agents are blessed with more or less perfect information, also of future outcomes of their actions (see also Pierson, 2004: 115-XXX). 6. What choice for Europe? ‘the motivations and coalitions underlying national preferences in specific decisions reflected the economic interest of sectors as predicted by their structural position in global markets †¦ any feedback must take the form of changes in economic structures, not ideas (Moravcsik, 1999b: 382) The liberal intergovernmentalist explanation of regional integration ultimately comes down to developments in economic structures and it is therefore logical and appropriate that Moravcsik (1998: 501) refers to it as a ‘structural perspective. Although the concept of â€Å"economic structures† is not defined as clearly as other LI concepts, it basically appears to denote the phenomena that economic indicators are expressions of, examples being trade flows, inflation rates, wealth and competitiveness. The method is thus to use economic indicators as expressions of the economic structures determining the preferences of agents. For instance it reads that ‘Taken together, capital mobility, trade flows, and inflationary convergence provide a prima facie explanation of the progressive shift in national preferences away from, then back toward, exchange-rate cooperation over the two decades following the collapse of the Bretton Woods. This period saw an increase in economic openness and, beginning in the late 1970s, convergence toward low inflation (Moravcsik, 1998: 48) But what caused this and other shifts in economic circumstances? What explains the timing of such shifts? Considering the enormous importance it ascribes to economic structures it would be completely reasonable to expect LI to address and tentatively provide a theoretical answer to such questions. But it doesnt! In all fairness, Moravcsik

BinOptics Corporation :: essays research papers

The Company BinOptics Corporation is a privately held high tech start up company located in Cornell’s Business and Technology Park in Ithaca, NY. BinOptics, the company, was based on key technological inventions made at Cornell University. CEO and co-founder, Alex Behfar, worked on the proprietary technology under Professor Valentine during his student tenure at Cornell, while earning his PhD in Electrical Engineering. In November 2000 CEO, Alex Behfar and President, Darius Forghani founded BinOptics. BinOptics received its first round of venture capital funding in January 2001 for an undisclosed amount. Currently, BinOptics houses over twenty employees and they hope to grow to forty by the end of the fiscal year. BinOptics is now in its fourth year of operation and will amassed $2 million in annual revenue. So what does BinOptics produce? BinOptics designs, develops, and manufactures monolithically integrated optoelectronic components based on the proprietary technology developed at Cornell University. It also produces integrated photonic components, which include its lasers. These components can be integrated into indium phosphide and other semiconductor materials, which give BinOptics a competitive advantage. This unique platform allows the company to meet commercial requirements with higher reproducibility, more elasticity for product innovation, considerably lower costs, and higher performance than alternative processes. BinOptics’ products address high growth datacom applications, parallel optical interconnects, PON and CWDM (Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing), as well as advanced non-telecom applications. Its products are sold to technology companies in the tele-communications and data-communications industry. BinOptics does not disclose its customer list but two of its customers are Agilent Technologies and Cisco Systems. What does this mean? In the simplest way, BinOptics produces lasers. These tiny lasers, some the size of a grain of salt, transfer enormous amounts of information to another source immediately. The integrated laser chips are the key part of optical transceivers and transponders. BinOptics’ edge-emitting laser consists of a two-inch wafer that has 20,000 lasers on it. Strategic Investors BinOptics success can be measured by the strength of its strategic investors. These investors facilitate BinOptics path to success and its ability to raise equity. After receiving its initial first round of funding in January 2001 BinOptics was able to receive additional venture capital funding in May 2002, March 2003, and February 2005. The strategic investors include: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Cayuga Venture Fund II, FA Technology Ventures, and ArrowPath Venture Capital and Stanford University. Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a leading venture capital firm out of Silicon Valley, CA. BinOptics Corporation :: essays research papers The Company BinOptics Corporation is a privately held high tech start up company located in Cornell’s Business and Technology Park in Ithaca, NY. BinOptics, the company, was based on key technological inventions made at Cornell University. CEO and co-founder, Alex Behfar, worked on the proprietary technology under Professor Valentine during his student tenure at Cornell, while earning his PhD in Electrical Engineering. In November 2000 CEO, Alex Behfar and President, Darius Forghani founded BinOptics. BinOptics received its first round of venture capital funding in January 2001 for an undisclosed amount. Currently, BinOptics houses over twenty employees and they hope to grow to forty by the end of the fiscal year. BinOptics is now in its fourth year of operation and will amassed $2 million in annual revenue. So what does BinOptics produce? BinOptics designs, develops, and manufactures monolithically integrated optoelectronic components based on the proprietary technology developed at Cornell University. It also produces integrated photonic components, which include its lasers. These components can be integrated into indium phosphide and other semiconductor materials, which give BinOptics a competitive advantage. This unique platform allows the company to meet commercial requirements with higher reproducibility, more elasticity for product innovation, considerably lower costs, and higher performance than alternative processes. BinOptics’ products address high growth datacom applications, parallel optical interconnects, PON and CWDM (Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing), as well as advanced non-telecom applications. Its products are sold to technology companies in the tele-communications and data-communications industry. BinOptics does not disclose its customer list but two of its customers are Agilent Technologies and Cisco Systems. What does this mean? In the simplest way, BinOptics produces lasers. These tiny lasers, some the size of a grain of salt, transfer enormous amounts of information to another source immediately. The integrated laser chips are the key part of optical transceivers and transponders. BinOptics’ edge-emitting laser consists of a two-inch wafer that has 20,000 lasers on it. Strategic Investors BinOptics success can be measured by the strength of its strategic investors. These investors facilitate BinOptics path to success and its ability to raise equity. After receiving its initial first round of funding in January 2001 BinOptics was able to receive additional venture capital funding in May 2002, March 2003, and February 2005. The strategic investors include: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Cayuga Venture Fund II, FA Technology Ventures, and ArrowPath Venture Capital and Stanford University. Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a leading venture capital firm out of Silicon Valley, CA.

Realisations of direct object :: essays research papers fc

In this essay I would like to focus on the possible realisations of a direct object. At the beginning I will try to explain what an object is. I want to make clear difference between direct and indirect objects and I will also write about some other clausal elements which influence objects. Generally, we can distinguish five basic elements within a sentence: subject, verb, complement and object. Let’s imagine we have a sentence in which there is involved some action. If the action or event involves another person or thing which the action affects, relates to or produces, we express it by placing a nominal group referring to them directly after the verbal group (verb). This is called direct object (I-subject- don’t like- verbal group- Jack.-object realised by a nominal group). Clauses which contain a direct object are called transitive clauses. Verbs contained in these clauses which are followed by direct object are called transitive verbs. Direct object is the most frequent kind of object and if there is an indirect object in the sentence, there must be a direct object as well (but there are some exceptions from this rule). An object (both direct and indirect) can be also described as a noun phrase or clause with nominal function which follows subject and predicator (verbal group). For distinguishing objects it is necessary to know that by being made passive they assume the role of subject. Objects can be realised by a nominal group or by finite clauses. The finite clauses can be further divided into â€Å"that† clauses and â€Å"wh-â€Å"clauses. Other way of realising objects are non- finite clauses. We distinguish two types of them: â€Å"to infinitive† clauses and â€Å"-ing† clauses. The example of a direct object realised by a nominal group can be: The police (subject) caught (verb) the murderer (direct object). Direct objects realised by pronouns belong to this category as well. Pronoun is considered to be a nominal group. We use so called object pronouns in these sentences. Object pronouns are: me, us, you, him, her, it and them. Example of such realisation is: Jack (subject) couldn’t find (verb) them (object realised by a pronoun). Usage of â€Å"that† clauses depends on the verb in the preceding clause. Verbs which are often followed by â€Å"that† clause can be divided into verbs of knowing and perceiving (believe, imagine, find, realise, see) - I believe that the situation will improve soon.

Labelling Theory

Labeling theory had its origins in Suicide, a book by French sociologist Emile Durkheim. He found that crime is not so much a violation of a penal code as it is an act that outrages society. He was the first to suggest that deviant labeling satisfies that function and satisfies society's need to control the behavior. As a contributor to American Pragmatism and later a member of the Chicago School, George Herbert Mead posited that the self is socially constructed and reconstructed through the interactions which each person has with the community. The labeling theory suggests that people obtain labels from how others view their tendencies or behaviors. Each individual is aware of how they are judged by others because he or she has attempted many different roles and functions in social interactions and has been able to gauge the reactions of those present. This theoretically builds a subjective conception of the self, but as others intrude into the reality of that individual's life, this represents objective data which may require a re-evaluation of that conception depending on the authoritativeness of the others' judgment. Family and friends may judge differently from random strangers. More socially representative individuals such as police officers or judges may be able to make more globally respected judgments. If deviance is a failure to conform to the rules observed by most of the group, the reaction of the group is to label the person as having offended against their social or moral norms of behavior. This is the power of the group: to designate breaches of their rules as deviant and to treat the person differently depending on the seriousness of the breach. The more differential the treatment, the more the individual's self-image is affected. Labeling theory concerns itself mostly not with the normal roles that define our lives, but with those very special roles that society provides for deviant behavior, called deviant roles, stigmatic roles, or social stigma. A social role is a set of expectations we have about a behavior. Social roles are necessary for the organization and functioning of any society or group. We expect the postman, for example, to adhere to certain fixed rules about how he does his job. Deviance† for a sociologist does not mean morally wrong, but rather behavior that is condemned by society. Deviant behavior can include both criminal and non-criminal activities. Investigators found that deviant roles powerfully affect how we perceive those who are assigned those roles. They also affect how the deviant actor perceives himself and his relationship to society. The deviant roles and the labels attached to them func tion as a form of social stigma. Always inherent in the deviant role is the attribution of some form of â€Å"pollution† or difference that marks the labeled person as different from others. Society uses these stigmatic roles to them to control and limit deviant behavior: â€Å"If you proceed in this behavior, you will become a member of that group of people. † Whether a breach of a given rule will be stigmatized will depend on the significance of the moral or other tenet it represents. For example, adultery may be considered a breach of an informal rule or it may be criminalized depending on the status of marriage, morality, and religion within the community. In most Western countries, adultery is not a crime. Attaching the label â€Å"adulterer† may have some unfortunate consequences but they are not generally severe. But in some Islamic countries, zina is a crime and proof of extramarital activity may lead to severe consequences for all concerned. Stigma is usually the result of laws enacted against the behavior. Laws protecting slavery or outlawing homosexuality, for instance, will over time form deviant roles connected with those behaviors. Those who are assigned those roles will be seen as less human and reliable. Deviant roles are the sources of negative stereotypes, which tend to support society's disapproval of the behavior. [edit]George Herbert Mead One of the founders of social interactionism, George Herbert Mead focused on the internal processes of how the mind constructs one's self-image. In Mind, Self, and Society (1934),[1] he showed how infants come to know persons first and only later come to know things. According to Mead, thought is both a social and pragmatic process, based on the model of two persons discussing how to solve a problem. Our self-image is, in fact, constructed of ideas about what we think others are thinking about us. While we make fun of those who visibly talk to themselves, they have only failed to do what the rest of us do in keeping the internal conversation to ourselves. Human behavior, Mead stated, is the result of meanings created by the social interaction of conversation, both real and imaginary. [edit]Frank Tannenbaum Frank Tannenbaum is considered the grandfather of labeling theory. His Crime and Community (1938),[2] describing the social interaction involved in crime, is considered a pivotal foundation of modern criminology. While the criminal differs little or not at all from others in the original impulse to first commit a crime, social interaction accounts for continued acts that develop a pattern of interest to sociologists. Tannenbaum first introduced the idea of ‘tagging'. [3] While conducting his studies with delinquent youth, he found that a negative tag or label often contributed to further involvement in delinquent activities. This initial tagging may cause the individual to adopt it as part of their identity. The crux of Tannenbaum's argument is that the greater the attention placed on this label, the more likely the person is to identify themselves as the label. Kerry Townsend writes about the revolution in criminology caused by Tannenbaum's work: â€Å"The roots of Frank Tannenbaum’s theoretical model, known as the â€Å"dramatization of evil† or labeling theory, surfaces in the mid- to late-thirties. At this time, the ‘New Deal' legislation had not defeated the woes of the Great Depression, and, although dwindling, immigration into the United States continued (Sumner, 1994). 4] The social climate was one of disillusionment with the government. The class structure was one of cultural isolationism; cultural relativity had not yet taken hold. ‘The persistence of the class structure, despite the welfare reforms and controls over big business, was unmistakable. ‘[5] The Positivist School of Criminological thought was still dominant, and in many states, the s terilization movement was underway. The emphasis on biological determinism and internal explanations of crime were the preeminent force in the theories of the early thirties. This dominance by the Positivist School changed in the late thirties with the introduction of conflict and social explanations of crime and criminality†¦ â€Å"One of the central tenets of the theory is to encourage the end of labeling process. In the words of Frank Tannenbaum, â€Å"the way out is through a refusal to dramatize the evil†, the justice system attempts to do this through diversion programs. The growth of the theory and its current application, both practical and theoretical, provide a solid foundation for continued popularity. [6]: [edit]Edwin Lemert It was sociologist Edwin Lemert (1951) who introduced the concept of â€Å"secondary deviance. † The primary deviance is the experience connected to the overt behavior, say drug addiction and its practical demands and consequences. Secondary deviation is the role created to deal with society's condemnation of the behavior. With other sociologists of his time, he saw how all deviant acts are social acts, a result of the cooperation of society. In studying drug addiction, Lemert observed a very powerful and subtle force at work. Besides the physical addiction to the drug and all the economic and social disruptions it caused, there was an intensely intellectual process at work concerning one's own identity and the justification for the behavior: â€Å"I do these things because I am this way. † There might be certain subjective and personal motives that might first lead a person to drink or shoplift. But the activity itself tells us little about the person's self-image or its relationship to the activity. Lemert writes: â€Å"His acts are repeated and organized subjectively and transformed into active roles and become the social criteria for assigning status†¦.. When a person begins to employ his deviant behavior or a role based on it as a means of defense, attack, or adjustment to the overt and covert problems created by the consequent societal reaction to him, his deviation is secondary† [7] [edit]Howard Becker While it was Lemert who introduced the key concepts of labeling theory, it was Howard Becker who became their champion. He first began describing the process of how a person adopts a deviant role in a study of dance musicians, with whom he once worked. He later studied the identity formation of marijuana smokers. This study was the basis of his Outsiders published in 1963. This work became the manifesto of the labeling theory movement among sociologists. In his opening, Becker writes: â€Å"†¦ social groups create deviance by making rules whose infraction creates deviance, and by applying those roles to particular people and labeling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by other of rules and sanctions to an ‘offender. ‘ The deviant is one to whom that label has been successfully applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label. [8] While society uses the stigmatic label to justify its condemnation, the deviant actor uses it to justify his actions. He wrote: â€Å"To put a complex argument in a few words: instead of the deviant motives leading to the deviant behavior, it is the other way around, the deviant behavior in time produces the deviant motivation. â€Å"[9] Becker's immensely popular views were also subjected to a barrage of criticism, most of it blaming him for neglecting the influence of other biological, genetic effects and personal responsibility. In a later 1973 edition of his work, he answered his critics. He wrote that while sociologists, while dedicated to studying society, are often careful not to look too closely. Instead, he wrote: â€Å"I prefer to think of what we study as collective action. People act, as Mead and Blumer have made clearest, together. They do what they do with an eye on what others have done, are doing now, and may do in the future. One tries to fit his own line of action into the actions of others, just as each of them likewise adjusts his own developing actions to what he sees and expects others to do. [10] Francis Cullen reported in 1984 that Becker was probably too generous with his critics. After 20 years, his views, far from being supplanted, have been corrected and absorbed into an expanded â€Å"structuring perspective. â€Å"[11] [edit]Albert Memmi In The Colonizer and the Colonized (1965) Albert Memmi described the deep psychological effects of the social stigma created by the domination of one group by another. He wrote: â€Å"The longer the oppression lasts, the more profoundly it affects him (the oppressed). It ends by becoming so familiar to him that he believes it is part of his own constitution, that he accepts it and could not imagine his recovery from it. This acceptance is the crowning point of oppression. â€Å"[12] In Dominated Man (1968), Memmi turned his attention to the motivation of stigmatic labeling: it justifies the exploitation or criminalization of the victim. He wrote: â€Å"Why does the accuser feel obliged to accuse in order to justify himself? Because he feels guilty toward his victim. Because he feels that his attitude and his behavior are essentially unjust and fraudulent†¦. Proof? In almost every case, the punishment has already been inflicted. The victim of racism is already living under the weight of disgrace and oppression†¦. In order to justify such punishment and misfortune, a process of rationlization is set in motion, by which to explain the ghetto and colonial exploitation. â€Å"[13] Central to stigmatic labeling is the attribution of an inherent fault: It is as if one says, â€Å"There must be something wrong with these people. Otherwise, why would we treat them so badly? † [edit]Erving Goffman Perhaps the most important contributor to labeling theory was Erving Goffman, President of the American Sociological Association, and one of America's most cited sociologists. His most popular books include The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,[14] Interaction Ritual, [15] and Frame Analysis. [16] His most important contribution to labeling theory, however, was Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity published in 1963. [17] Unlike other authors who examined the process of adopting a deviant identity, Goffman explored the ways people managed that identity and controlled information about it.

Examining The Examples Of A Tragic Hero English Literature Essay

A premier illustration of a tragic hero is John Proctor, from Arthur Millers, The Crucible.A Proctor is easy placed in this class of heroes because he has features that define who may be considered such a hero, such as the fact that he is extremely regarded in the community, that he has a tragic defect, that he dies and embraces decease with self-respect and that he is portrayed as a human being like his readers to which causes a katharsis of emotions in them. Leon Golden writes that â€Å" the ideal Aristotelean form of tragedyaˆÂ ¦ the autumn from felicity to wretchedness, caused by a serious rational mistake, on the portion of a hero who is worthy of regard†¦ † ( Golden ) . John makes such â€Å" mistakes † due to his tragic defects, which result in his ruin, but in malice of these defects in his character, he is extremely regarded within his community. He makes a serious mistake in judgement, realizes that he has made an irreversible error, and while he re cognizes that he must be put to decease, maintains his self-respect and trades with his destiny with a step of credence, like a tragic hero is supposed to make. Finally, John has the intrinsic ability to pull out sympathy and commiseration from his readers which is besides a celebrated quality of the authoritative tragic hero. John Proctor is hence the quintessential illustration of a tragic hero.A It is apparent early on thatA John ProctorA wasA extremely esteemed within the community, A because heA wasA called toA Reverend Parris ‘ family toA see howA the Reverend ‘s ailment daughterA was making. The rigorous Puritan members of Salem besides commended him for hanging the door of the church.A Despite the strength in which the Puritans regarded their faith and the contempt they shared for those less â€Å" spiritual † than they were, Arthur Miller writes that â€Å" Proctor, respected and even feared in SalemaˆÂ ¦ † ( Miller 20 ) . John ProctorA wasA s till considered to be an honest, hardworkingA adult male and aA God-fearingA Christian, even though he did n't go to church and was non, in any manner, perfect. James Martine suggests that â€Å" the ideal supporter of calamity, so, says Aristotle, must be a adult male like ourselves, one who does non possess righteousness and virtuousness to flawlessness, but whose character is held in high-esteem by all † ( Martine ) . Therefore, Proctor fits the portion of Aristotle ‘s tragic hero definition which claims he must be a well-respected individual within the narrative ‘s chief community ( even if he is non near to being Godhead ) . However, as is the instance for every tragic hero, a tragic defect that John Proctor possesses finally led to his tragic terminal. One of John Proctor ‘s tragic defects was his unfaithfulness. Like Larry Brown believes, â€Å" Miller created the matter between Proctor and Abigail as a cardinal motivational factor in Proctor ‘ s character † ( Brown ) . Because of the matter he pursues with 17 twelvemonth old, Abigail, the remainder of the events that lead to his day of reckoning unfold. Abigail ‘s green-eyed monster of Proctor ‘s married woman, Elizabeth, cause her to get down a commotion in Salem and to impeach people of take parting in witchery because she believes if she removes Elizabeth, by impeaching her of being a enchantress she could hold the desirable John Proctor all to herself.A Another defect of Proctor that consequences in his decease is his pride. Martine agrees that for a hero to be considered tragic, â€Å" the hero must be a extremely moral person who has a tragic defect, a tragic flaw. This defect is frequently hubris-commonly characterized as prideaˆÂ ¦ † ( Martine ) . Proctor is delayed in the confession of his wickedness because it is of extreme importance to him to keep a good name. Had he owned up to the matter earlier on in the procedure, he could hol d shown the tribunal that Abigail had a sensible alibi and the whole events of the Salem enchantress tests could hold been stopped before they even began. Because of John Proctor ‘s serious defect in character and his awful wickedness, he is hanged upon the gallows of Salem for all to see. Not many people accept decease with such awards and unity as Proctor does. A Out of self-respect and pride in his household and himself, John Proctor decides to be hanged instead than lie and falsely confess to hold practiced witchery and everlastingly be associated with it. Proctor, in mention to the prevarication that subscribing his confession would be, says â€Å" Because I can non hold another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to prevarications † ( Miller Act IV ) . In add-on, he does non desire to subject to the giving over of names of other people in the community, feigning that they were enchantresss, to acquire himself off the hook, or in this instance, gallows. †Å" The tragic terminal of the drama comes at the really point where Proctor found his morality and award that he thought he lost † ( University of Houston- Clear Lake ) . The pride that led to Proctor ‘s ruin is the same pride that causes him to decease in self-respect, without subscribing to prevarications. John Proctor hides his criminal conversation with Abigail from the tribunal for the interest of repute, until he must squeal: â€Å" I have made a bell of my award! I have rung the day of reckoning of my good name. † However, as he is pressured to curse falsely that he dealt in witchery, Proctor realizes it is his name in the sense of personal unity, being true to himself, non his repute among others that affairs most of all ( Brown ) . The concluding facet of a tragic hero that John Proctor undoubtedly encompasses is his relatability, which causes the other characters in the drama and its readers to sympathize with him. Proctor is displayed as a mere human being with defects and battles which in many ways mirror our ain defects and battles. â€Å" This deep-rooted temperament of ‘frailty ‘ is Proctor ‘s ain indispensable humanity and demonstrates him to be ‘a adult male merely like ourselves. ‘ And since this is so, the attendant katharsis arouses, and purgings, our ain commiseration and fright † ( Martine ) . Some of his greatest battles are happening himself and covering with the guilt he feels for holding an matter, which he finally comes to accept as Martine says ; â€Å" John Proctor is heroic because he accepts his guilt and indicts the society that would coerce him to give over his scruples. To make both, he must be self-discovered, self-recognized and eventually self-ac cepting † ( Martine ) . Proctor is at his tallness of ego consciousness when he realizes how of import it is to keep his unity. Robert Heilman explains that Shakespeare made the tragic hero, â€Å" a figure capable of self-awareness and self-judgment † ( Heilman ) . Just as Miller gave John Proctor the ability to hold self-awareness, William Shakespeare gave his tragic heroes the same ability. Because the readers find themselves similar to Invigilate in that they besides are flawed, they are able to to the full sympathize with him and throw themselves into the emotional convulsion of the narrative. Therefore, when the narrative of John Proctor is read, the reader experiences a katharsis of emotions. They feel fear for him, throughout the tests and when his destiny is being determined. They feel sympathy for him as he approaches his decease, right after he and Elizabeth eventually mend their matrimony. A narrative of a tragic hero tends to accomplish that consequence on its readers.

George Alagiah’s Passage To Africa Essay

In a passage to Africa George Alagiah conveys his feelings about journalism during the course of his stay in Somalia through the use of various different language and literary devices. In a passage to Africa George Alagiah uses powerful and emotive language to show is views about journalism. An example of this is shown in the quotation: ‘that went beyond pity and revulsion’ , ‘revulsion’ has strong connotations of horror and disease so it marked the reader sympathise with the nature of the terrible scene that Alagiah is encountering in the village which he is observing. Another quotation that shows this is: ‘normally inured to stories of suffering, accustomed to the evidence of deprivation’, this quotation shows the way that Alagiah is hardened by the experiences that he has faced through the word ‘inured’ meaning immune to in conjunction with the words ‘suffering’ and ‘deprivation’, both of which have extensive connotations of evil and terrible hardship on those that it refers to, overall showing that Alagiah was steadfast to the other horrors that were unfolding around him and that the event he had just witnessed ahs managed to break his immunity of disconnection between him and the subject of his journalism. These quotations all show that Alagiah used emotive and powerfully connotated words to show the disconnection and connections with the journalist and subject. In the text Alagiah also uses a variety of sentence structures to show his views an observational journalist. An example of this is: ‘I saw that face for only a few seconds, a fleeting meeting of eyes’, the use of the above sentence structure shows that this very brief moment had deeply impacted Alagiah’s views on the way that he considered his role as a passive observer. Another example of this is the quote: ‘normally inured to stories of suffering, accustomed to the evidence of deprivation’, the way that the sentence is structured shows that Alagiah is meaning to portray a list to show how he feels about the way that a journalist can be susceptible to becoming accustomed to the terrible scenes that are unfolding before there eyes. In ‘a passage to Africa’ Alagiah uses a range of literary devices to show how he feels about journalism. An example of his use of literary devices on the following quotation: ‘If he was embarrassed to be weakened by conflict and ground down by hunger, how should I feel standing there so strong and confident?’, this reflective anecdote shows that as Alagiah is  there he is still reflecting on the way that he is so content and nourished while the people he is standing amongst are suffering terribly. Another example of literary devices in the quotation: ‘what was it about that smile?’, this rhetorical question shows how Alagiah is inquisitive into the thinking of the people he observes. These literary devices show his beliefs about journalism through the way he writes his reports. In conclusion is a passage to Africa George Alagiah uses a variety of language, sentence structures and literary devices to show his beliefs about journalism and the re lationship between him and the people he writes about.