Managing The Human Resources Essay Example for Free

Managing The Human Resources Essay INTRODUCTION: This assignment is based on a case study titled Hot Work at the Aluminium Smelter in Lynmouth, and it examines the current HRM principles being used within the organisation. The HR values that are being investigated are HRM or people management values, team effectiveness and the effect of motivation, communication and the culture in the organisation, and leadership qualities. The overall aim of this assignment is to provide appropriate business solutions that help in improving the effectiveness of the organisation, from the perspective of a HR consultant. HRM PEOPLE MANAGEMENT VALUES: Armstrong (2000) argues that personnel practioners are often confused when asked about the difference between HRM and personnel management. According to Storey (1995) HRM is said to be fundamentally unitarist. This makes the management at Lynmouth more HR than personnel, as although the unions membership levels were low and their influence was weak, they were recognised by management in respect of white-collar staff. Also teamworking was introduced with the cooperation of the plants trade union, and they were asked to recommend the number of posts required for the new line that was to open in 2000. This shows that the management did consider the unions before reaching a decision. The climate of employee relations could be characterized as suspicious and mistrustful, indicating to a model of personnel management (Sisson 1994). In HRM, rules, procedures and contracts are an obstruction to effective performances and there is an emphasis on strategy and devolved responsibility to line management (Storey 1996). At Lynemouth, there were rules and guidelines set for the team leaders and employees worked according to shifts, and pay was not performance related. Read more:  Personnel vs Human Resources Although these values point towards personnel management (Sisson 1994), Lynemouth also inculcates HRM values. Despite each plant having specialist staff that kept the plant within its operating limits, team leaders worked as line managers (Storey 1996) and were responsible for the coordination and scheduling of work. Also there are few job categories and teamwork is preferred to division of labour (Storey 1995). There is a great deal of task flexibility (Sisson 1994) in the teams, and in 2000 they were given greater autonomy. Boxall Purcell (2003) states that HRM can be interpreted as having a soft developmental humanist approach or a hard situational contingent approach. The soft version emphasizes a people-centred approach to HRM, whereas the hard version emphasizes a resource-based approach (Thornhill Saunders 1998). Although the organisation appears to be soft with the implementation of teams, they can be viewed as being hard economically, as the organisation aims were resource focused, there appeared to be low trust between employees, and there was also functional flexibility within the teams (Kane et al. 1999). Responsibility for hiring new staff, and for assessing applications for internal transfers, were devolved to shop-floor workers, thus making them more flexible. A hard approach is often seen as an essential part of cost-minimization strategy (Kane et al. 1999), which appears to be the situation at Lynemouth. TEAM EFFECTIVENSS THE EFFECT OF MOTIVATION: A team is a work group or a unit with a common purpose through which members develop mutual relationships for the achievement of goals/tasks (Harris Harris 1996). Vyakarnam et al (1999) states that a number of studies have confirmed that successful ventures are often established by teams rather than a single person, and the core competence of a successful team is to build and manage relationships around a common vision. The management team at Lynemouth havent clearly described the team goals or each individuals specific task. It is essential that the first step in creating a team is to define the goal or goals that create the direction for the new group (Twomey Kleiner 1996; Arroba 1996). Harris Harris (1996) explain that teams are successful and effective when they overcome difficulties, achieved through interdependence. Teams also promote a sense of confidence and direction among the team members and helps becoming more flexible in nature (Arroba 1996). Among shop-floor workers at Lynemouth with regard to satisfaction and commitment, there was a greater sense of autonomy and participation. With regard to work organisation, there was an increase in multi-skilling, and there were clear examples of improved flexibility. For example, team members would work a crane as required, rather than waiting for a dedicated crane driver. The major difference between successful teamwork and unsuccessful teamwork is largely based upon team members sharing common goals and working together to achieve them (Tarricone Luca 2002). They also state that ineffective communication, lack of resources and lack of trust are the key attributes that hinder the effectiveness of a team. At Lynemouth, the workers were clear that the divide between manager and worker was as sharp as ever and that the enforcement of discipline was not part of the teams duties. There appeared to be low trust between them, and also communication with regard to specific tasks seems to be lacking. It is also advisable to establish a sense of urgency so that the teams dont get complacent (Twomey Kleiner 1996). Ritchie Martin (2001) states that money and tangible rewards, the physical conditions and the structure are the three key factors motivating people in a working environment. Although teamwork was favourable from a shop-floor point of view, middle managers and technical staff had reservations about teamwork, feeling undervalued and lacking determination. Macaulay Cook (2001) states that rewards and recognition processes help to focus attention on priorities, thus motivating individuals. Group leaders felt that the work they were being given was not sufficiently demanding, and technical staff felt that that their job territory was under threat. There seems to be a need for rules and guidelines in the work place, for direction and certainty (Ritchie Martin 2001). Thompson (2004) concludes that people could be motivated further and made more effective if they were given appropriate encouragement and attention. COMMUNICATION CULTURE: According to Connolly (1996) communication is a critical issue and everyone wants better communication within their team, between teams and across their organization. Employee communication should play a strategic role in an organization to work effectively (Barrett 2002). In the early 1990s there was a wide perception at Lynemouth that communication was poor, and the climate of employee relations could be characterized as suspicious and mistrustful. Barrett (2002) also emphasizes that without effective employee communication, change is impossible, and in 1997 with Lynemoths future in doubt, the management realized the importance of communication and set about to win employee consent by reforming the communication system. With regard to this, teamwork was introduced with the cooperation of the plants trade unions, which encouraged further development in employee relations. However, with the success of teamwork, white-collar staff felt undervalued. Peng Litteljohn (2001) asserts that structural arrangements may facilitate communication on the one hand, and create barriers for communication on the other. Group leaders felt that their status and authority were being eroded, and technical staff felt that their job territory was under threat, and changes were made without consulting the people involved, and there was a feeling that the appraisal system was not adequate, as the management did not seem to listen. Connolly (1996) states that to enhance communication, both the employer and the employee should realize the importance of effective communication. The author concludes by saying that perhaps the most effective ways of improving communication are also the simplest taking the time to really notice the employees, listening to how they speak and more importantly to what they say. The management could create a system where employees are rewarded for their good work, as Storey (1995) states that the way in which employees are rewarded is central to the regulation of employment relationship. Handy (1986) states that every organization is different, and each organization has a different culture sets of values and norms and beliefs. In 1990, many workers had been with the plant since it opened, and labour turnover was low. Majority of the workers were male, with few women being employed in clerical posts. There is a close and sometimes unclear relationship between organisational culture and its climate (Wallace, J et al. 1999). Although the climate of employee relations could be characterised as suspicious and mistrustful at Lynemouth, work organisation was considered to be fairly conventional. Handy (1986) argues that if organizations are to survive and meaningful jobs are to be created for all those who want to work, then both organizations and individuals will have to change the way they perceive jobs and careers. He also states that fewer, better-motivated people could create much more added value than large groups of unthinking, demotivated individuals. Lynemouth, with the introduction of teamworking could be seen as incorporating these values. However, the management at Lynemouth should create meaningful jobs for all employees. The structure of Lynemouths employees could be characterized under senior managers, middle managers and workers. Handy (1986) argues that organizations are not owned by anyone, but are a community of people who could be called citizens of the community rather than employees. Ogbor (2001) asserts that organisational culture should discourage dysfunctional work behaviours, and commit members of the organization to do things for and with one another that are in the best interests of the organization. LEADERSHIP QUALITIES: The American general, Dwight Eisenhower, once said that the essence of leadership is to make people do what you want them to with as much will, determination and enthusiasm as if they had decided for themselves (Popper Zakkai 1994). Cacioppe (1997) suggests that recent reviews of the research and theories on leadership have consolidated the key areas of leadership into personality, transactional and transformational forms of leadership. He also states that honesty, inspiration, competent, fair-mindedness and supportiveness are the characteristics that people most admire in leaders, where as Tait (1996) suggests that vision, interpersonal skills, character and drive are the four attributes considered to be necessary personality traits for business leadership. Transactional leadership is based on the interplay between the leaders guidance or direction and socio-emotional support, and the readiness or developmental level that followers exhibit on a particular task, function, or objective (Avery and Ryan 2002). The third major approach is the Transformational leadership which communicates a vision that inspires and motivates people to achieve something extraordinary (Cacioppe 1997). Transactional leadership remains highly popular among practitioners and it could be applied at Lynemouth. It appeals to managers because of its intuitive simplicity, ease of use, and perceived relevance to managerial roles (Avery and Ryan 2002). In 2000, with the end of direct supervision, management appointed team leaders from existing team members, following a formal application procedure. Team leaders were made responsible for team briefing and the coordination and scheduling of work, and they did receive an additional weekly allowance of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100. The management at Lynemouth could also try to incorporate the transformational leadership values by providing every individual and team with a vision and also motivating them, thus improving leadership effectiveness at the team levels (Cacioppe 1996). Silverthorne (2000) believes that the readiness and willingness of subordinates to perform tasks are the important aspects that contribute to a leaders effectiveness. CONCLUSION: This assignment investigated the current HRM principles being used within the organisation. A few key points in improving the effectiveness of an organisation are effective teams, effective communication between the teams and good leadership skills. Lynemouth could improve the effectiveness of their organisation by motivating each individual, improving the communication between the employers and the management, and also by providing individual, team and organisational goals for the leaders to follow. REFERENCE: Armstrong, M 2000, The name has changed but has the game remained the same?, Journal of Employee Relations, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 576-593. Arroba, T 1996, Why are common objectives so uncommon in top management teams?, Journal of Team Performance Management, vol. 2, no. 1, pp 17-21. Avery, G.C Ryan, J 2002, Applying situational leadership in Australia, The Journal of Management Development, vol. 21, no. 4, pp 242-262. Barrett, D.J 2002, Change communication: using strategic employee communication to facilitate major change, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 7, no. 4, pp 219-234. Boxall, P Purcell, J 2003, Strategy and Human Resource Management, Palgrave, New York. Cacioppe, R 1997, Leadership moment by moment!, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, vol. 18, no. 7, pp 335-345. Connolly, C 1996, Communication: getting to the heart of the matter, Journal of Management Development Review, vol. 9, no. 7, pp 37-40. Handy, C.B 1976, Understanding Organisations, Penguin Group, London. Harris, P.R Harris, K.G 1996, Managing effectively through teams, Journal of Team Performance Management, vol. 2, no. 3, pp 23-36. Kane, B et al. 1999, Barriers to effective HRM, International Journal of Manpower, vol. 20, no. 8, pp 494-516. Macaulay, S Cook, S 2001, Rewarding Service Success, Journal of Team Performance Management, vol. 5, no. 1, pp 4-8. Ogbor, J.O 2001, Critical theory and the hegemony of corporate culture, Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 14, no. 6, pp 590-638. Peng, W Litteljohn, D 2001, Organisational communication and strategy implementation a primary inquiry, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 13, no. 7, pp 360-363. Popper, M Zakkai, E 1994, Transactional, Charismatic and Transformational Leadership: Conditions Conducive to their Predominance, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, vol. 15, no. 6, pp 3-7. Silverthorne, C 2000, Situational leadership theory in Taiwan: a different culture perspective, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, vol. 21, no. 2, pp 68-74. Sisson, K 1994, Personnel Management A comprehensive guide to Theory and Practice in Britain, 2nd edn, Blackwell, Oxford. Storey, J 1995, Human Resource Management A critical text, Thomson, London. Storey, J 1995, Is HRM catching on?, International Journal of Manpower, vol. 16, no. 4, pp 3-10. Storey, J 1996, Blackwell cases in Human Resource and Change Management, Blackwell, Oxford. Tait, R 1996, The attributes of leadership, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, vol 17, no. 1, pp27-31. Tarricone, P Luca, J 2002, Employees, teamwork and social interdependence a formula for successful business?, Journal of Team Performance Management, vol. 8, no. 3, pp 54-59. Thompson, J. L 2004, Innovation through people, Journal of Management Decision, vol. 42, no. 9, pp 1082-1094. Thornhill, A Saunders, M.N.K 1998, What if line managers dont realize theyre responsible for HR?, Personnel Review Journal, vol. 12, no. 6, pp 460-476. Twomey, K Kleiner, B.H 1996, Teamwork: The essence of the successful organisation, vol. 2, no. 1, pp 6-8. Vyakarnam, S et al. 1999, Exploring the formation of entrepreneurial teams: the key to rapid growth business?, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 6, no. 2, pp 153-165. Wallace, J 1999, The relationship between organisational culture, organisational climate and managerial values, International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 12, no. 7, pp 548-564.

Water Security Concept And Factors Environmental Sciences Essay

Water Security Concept And Factors Environmental Sciences Essay Water security simply means availability of water and secure rights to use potable water for the present and future generations. Water security has been recognised as being important enough to be enshrined in UN Human Rights Resolutions and is now a cornerstone of the UNs Millennium Development Goals  [1]  . The concept of water security includes regional and global availability of water, environment issues, access issues and water stress. Water insecurity is all pervasive in the South Asian region, visible in conflicts and tensions erupting within and across countries. Therefore, the need to integrate water security as a key component of human security is crucial. Availability of Water. Water is widely distributed on Earth as freshwater and salt water. The bulk of the water on Earth is regarded as saline or salt water, which amounts to over 98% of the total water on Earth. The remainder of the Earths water constitutes the fresh water; this also happens to be very unevenly distributed. Nearly 70% of the fresh water is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland. Besides this, most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater not accessible to human use. Only less than 0.1% of the worlds fresh water (~0.007% of all water on earth) is accessible for direct human uses  [2]  . This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. Water Consumption. The six billion people of Planet Earth use nearly 30% of the worlds total accessible renewal supply of water. By 2025, that value may reach 70%. Yet, at present billions of people lack basic water services and millions die each year from water-related diseases. Some believe that fresh water will be a critical limiting resource for many regions in the near future. About one-third of the worlds population lives in countries that are experiencing water stress. In Asia, where water has always been regarded as an abundant resource, per capita availability declined by 40-60% between 1955 and 1990. Projections suggest that most Asian countries will have severe water problems by the year 2025. Water Security. Water security is an elusive concept, but consensus is beginning to emerge in the world community as to its dimensions, its parameters, and the best approaches for its achievement. The Second World Water Forum Ministerial Declaration (2000), endorsed that water security implies the following:- Human access to safe and affordable water for health and well-being. Assurance of economic and political stability. Protection of human populations from the risks of water-related hazards. Equitable and cooperative sharing of water resources. Complete and fair valuation of the resource. Sustainability of ecosystems at all parts of the hydrologic cycle. Dimensions of Water Security The issue of water security has several dimensions such as competing uses, degradation of quality and scarcity. World Bank defines it as a combination of increased productivity and diminished destructivity of water. In the past, the competition for water has triggered social tensions and conflicts between water-use sectors and provinces as the domestic demands for water has forced governments to plan and invest in grand water projects such as the River-Linking Project by India and Three Gorges project by China. The water profile of the region with complex interdependencies implies that internal dynamics within a nation may now increasingly manifest itself in an inter-State dimension. Water is arguably one of humanitys most valuable resources and that is why all ancient civilizations grew along rivers be it the Indus or the Nile. It has come under increased demand due to rapid population and economic growth and may become a constant source of conflicts both within the countries as well as between countries. South Asia is an apt case study of water both as a source of cooperation and as well as conflict. The concern for water is more pressing in the South Asian mainland consisting of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Nepal. The China factor and impact of its water policies has added another dimension to the problem. Water scarcity is a serious and growing problem throughout the world, and the twin pressures of Population Growth and Climate Change will only intensify this problem. The United Nations estimates that the number of people living in water-stressed countries will increase from about 700 million today to more than 3 billion by 2035  [3]  . The developing world alone will be home to 90 % of the 3 billion people expected to be added to the global population by 2025. It is estimated that by 2025, over half of the worlds inhabitants will be directly affected by water scarcity. Most of them will live in either China or India. China has access to about 7% cent of the worlds water resources, but is home to around 20% of the global population, while India possesses around 4% of water resources with only a slightly smaller populace  [4]  . Both countries, along with eight other Asian nations and 47% of the worlds people, are heavily dependent on the Tibetan Plateau for water. Any water policies for the region therefore will have a transnational impact. Measured by conventional indicators, water stress, which occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a certain period or when poor quality restricts its use, is increasing rapidly, especially in developing countries like India and China. According to the 2006 Human Development Report  [5]  , approximately 700 million people in 43 countries live below the water-stress threshold of 1,700 cubic meters per person. By 2025, this figure will reach 3 billion, as water stress intensifies in China, India, and South Asia. Factors Determining Water Security The scale of the ever-present societal challenge of achieving and sustaining water security is determined by many factors, of which three stand out. First there is the hydrologic environment, the absolute level of water resource availability, its inter- and intra-annual variability and its spatial distribution, which is a natural legacy that a society inherits. Second, there is the socio-economic environment, the structure of the economy and the behavior of its actors, which will re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ect natural and cultural legacies and policy choices. Third, there will be changes in the future environment, with considerable and growing evidence that climate change will be a major part. These factors will play important roles in determining the institutions and the types and scales of infrastructure needed to achieve water security. The Hydrologic Environment Relatively low rainfall variability, with rain distributed throughout the year and Perennial River  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ows sustained by groundwater base  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ows, results in hydrology that is relatively easy to manage. Achieving a basic level of water security is straightforward and requires comparatively low levels of skill and investment (primarily because water is suf ¬Ã‚ cient, widespread and relatively reliable). Dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrologies are those of absolute water scarcity (i.e. deserts) and, at the other extreme, low-lying lands where there is severe  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ood risk. Even more dif ¬Ã‚ cult is where rainfall is markedly seasonal or where there is high inter-annual climate variability. With increasingly dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrology, the level of institutional re ¬Ã‚ nement and infrastructure investment needed to achieve basic water security becomes signi ¬Ã‚ cantly greater. Not coincidentally, most of the worlds poor face dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrologies. A legacy of trans-boundary waters, hydrologic and political or a trans-boundary hydrologic legacy can signi ¬Ã‚ cantly complicate the task of managing and developing water to achieve water security owing to inter-jurisdictional competition both within and between nations. While this is clearly apparent in federal nations with some state sovereignty over water, it is particularly acute in the case of international trans-boundary waters. Re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ecting this complexity, the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was under preparation for twenty seven years prior to adoption by the UN General Assembly in 1997 and has not been entered into force. Many of todays trans-boundary basins are the result of 20th Century colonial borders that cut across watersheds and created international rivers, particularly in South Asia. The Socio-Economic Environment Water Infrastructure and Institutions. Investments in water infrastructure and institutions are almost always needed to achieve water security. Countries with dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrology will invariably need more infrastructure and stronger institutions, with the development of each of these being greatly complicated where waters are trans-boundary. In almost all societies, man-made assets have also been developed, from simple small-scale check dams, weirs and bunds that became the foundation of early cultures, to, at the other end of the scale, investment in bulk water management infrastructure typically developed by industrializing countries, such as multipurpose dams for river regulation and storage and inter-basin transfer schemes. Macroeconomic Structure and Resilience. The structure of economies plays an important role, with more vulnerable economies requiring more investment to achieve water security. Historical investments in water management institutions and infrastructure, the economys reliance on water resources for income generation and employment and its vulnerability to water shocks will all be relevant. Risk and the Behaviour of Economic Areas. In the poorest countries, where survival is a real concern for large parts of the population and there are few functional social safety nets, economic actors tend to be extremely risk averse, investing only after there is signi ¬Ã‚ cant demonstration of returns. Countries with dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrology, such as India and Pakistan may well face the highest risks; yet have the most risk-averse populations, the lowest infrastructure investment and the weakest institutions. Climate Change Climate change is making water security harder to achieve and sustain. Global climate change is likely to increase the complexity and costs of ensuring water security. Overall, climate change is expected to lead to reduced water availability in the countries that are already water scarce and an increase in the variability with which the water is delivered. This combination of hydrological variability and extremes is at the heart of the challenge of achieving basic water security. The water security challenge will therefore be compounded by climate change and it will require signi ¬Ã‚ cant adaptation by all countries. This will particularly be the case in poor countries which lack the institutions and infrastructure to manage, store and deliver their water resources and where climate change will be superimposed on existing and in some cases extreme vulnerabilities. According to various scientific reports, by 2050 Himalayan glaciers will have receded by 27.2%. Slow depletion of these glaciers would greatly reduce the river water flow especially to India, intensifying existing problems of water scarcity and competition. Similar changes will affect the 11 Asian countries to which Himalayan waters flow  [6]  . A 2009 Purdue University study, predicts an eastern shift in monsoon circulation caused by the changing climate, which today causes more rainfall over the Indian Ocean, Bangladesh and Burma and less rainfall over India, Nepal and Pakistan. This shift raises serious concerns for the countries expecting decreased rainfall. Summer monsoon rainfall provides 90% of India`s total water supply and as the effects of climate change become more pronounced, agrarian populations in India and Pakistan dependent on monsoons and glacial melt for irrigation will be profoundly affected. International Conventions on Water Sharing Water knows no boundaries and flows in keeping with the lay of the ground, requiring Riparian International Water Laws to govern the non navigational use. The 1815 Law for the Navigational Use of International Waters secured the vital sea lines of communication between the western countries and the colonial powers. Ironically, no such laws were created for management of the river courses. United Nations General Assembly Convention. In 1966, the International Law Association adopted the Helsinki Rules, which provide a set of guidelines for reasonable and equitable sharing of common waterways. In 1970, the United Nations General Assembly commissioned is own legal advisory body, the International Law Commission (ILC), to study Codification of the Law on Water Courses for Purposes other than Navigation. The first formal attempt to manage the riparian waters was the 1997 Draft United Nations Convention, which is yet to be ratified by the requisite number of countries. The convention has been criticized as it is practically impossible to have one convention that would incorporate all possible scenarios, as also a specific convention would be unacceptable to all members of the UN as needs and demands defer from region to region and country to country. Generalized Principles of Trans-boundary Water Allocation Water has become a significant source of conflict and has led to differing perceptions between various states such as the Arabs and Israelis, Americans and Mexicans, and among all ten Nile basin co-riparians. The generalized principles to mitigate problems of water allocation include Absolute Sovereignty, Absolute Riverine Integrity, Limited Territorial Sovereignty and Economic Criteria  [7]  . These can be summarized as under:- Absolute sovereignty is based on hydrography and implies unilateral control over waters within a nations territory while the doctrine of absolute riverine integrity emphasizes the importance of historical usage, or chronology, and suggests that every riparian has a right to the waters that flow through its territory. Limited territorial sovereignty reflects the right to reasonable and equitable use of international waters while inflicting no significant harm on any other co-riparian while the principle of economic criteria uses the market to allocate water among competing users in an economically efficient manner. Approaches to Water Security In trying to understand the various actors and their approaches on the issue of water, it is important to recognise at the outset that there are plurality of actors in the water sector-the state which includes governments, bureaucracy and the state machinery, who can also be termed the managers and the market; civil society organisations and groups; water communities or water users; and knowledge institutions. Each group is characterised with its own strategies and approaches, and within each group there are differences and variations. Technology Solutions. As the demand for this scarce resource increases daily, it has become an urgent necessity that water should be conserved and wastage of this scarce resource should be minimized. Some of the important techniques such as rainwater harvesting, recycling, infrared or foot operated faucets, drip irrigation method etc economise the usage of water but there is a requirement to evolve technology solutions to this crisis. Drainage Basin Approach to Water Security. Drainage basins are an essential, if not the only factor in reducing water stress. They have also been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important. It is therefore natural to manage water resources on the basis of individual basins because the drainage basins are coherent entities in a hydrological sense.

Conceptual Art Movement Characteristics

Conceptual Art Movement Characteristics Conceptual art is based on the concept that art may exist solely as an idea and not in the physical realm. For supporters of this movement, the idea of a work matters more than its physical identity. While having its roots in the European Dada movement of the early 20th century and from the writings of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, conceptual art emerged as a recognised art movement by the 1960s. When the expression concept art was coined in 1961 by Henry Flynt in a Fluxus publication, it was also adapted by Joseph Kosuth and the Art and Language group (Terry Atkinson, David Bainbridge, Michael Baldwin, Harold Hurrell, Ian Burn, Mel Ramsden, Philip Pilkington, and David Rushton) in England, in which the term took on a different meaning. This group saw conceptual art as a reaction against formalism and commodification and believed that art was created when the analysis of an art object succeeded the object itself and saw artistic knowledge as equal to artistic production. The term gained public recognition in 1967, after journalist Sol LeWitt used it to define that specific art movement. Conceptual artists began the theory by stating that the knowledge and thought gained in artistic production was more important than the finished product. Conceptual art then became an international movement, spreading from North America and Western Europe to South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, and Japan. All these movements came to a major turning point in 20th century art, when the theory that art is idea was reaching a summit debate, challenging notions about art, society, politics, and the media with the theory that art is ideas. Specifically, it was argued that this form of art can be written, published, performed, fabricated, or simply an idea. By the mid 1970s many publications about the new art trend were being written and a loose collection of related practices began to emerge. In 1970, the first exhibition exclusively devoted to Conceptual Art took place at the New York Cultural Centre. It was called Conceptual Art and Conceptual Aspects. Eventually the term conceptual art came to encapsulate all forms of contemporary art that did not utilize the traditional skills of painting and sculpture. Conceptual art also had roots in the works of the father of Dadaism, Marcel Duchamp, the creator of the ready-made. Duchamp had a key influence on the conceptualists for the way he provided examples of artworks in which the concept takes precedence. For example, Duchamps most famous work, Fountain (1917) shows a urinal basin signed by the artist under the pseudonym R.Mutt. When it was submitted to the annual exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in New York it was rejected under the argument that traditional qualities of art making were not being reflected. It was a commonplace object and therefore exceedingly ordinary and not unique. Duchamps focus on the concept of his art work was later defended by the American artist Joseph Kosuth in his 1969 essay Art after Philosophy when he wrote All art (after Duchamp) is conceptual (in nature) because art only exists conceptually. Between 1967 and 1978 Conceptual art rose to its golden age, enabling distinguished conceptualists such as Henry Flynt, Ray Johnson, Robert Morris and Dan Graham to emerge on the art scene. During the influential period of conceptual art, other conceptualists such as Michael Asher, Allan Bridge, Mark Divo, Jenny Holzer, Yves Klein and Yoko Ono also established names for themselves. Conceptual art was intended to convey a concept to the viewer, rejecting the importance of the creator or a talent in the traditional art forms such as painting and sculpture. Works were strongly based on text, which was used just as much if not more often than imagined. Not only had the movement challenged the importance of art traditions and discredited the significance of the materials and finished product, it also brought up the question at the nature of the art form whether art works were also meant to be proactive. Conceptual art was the forerunner for installation, digital, and performance art, more generally art that can be experienced. In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art (1967) Conceptual art is art formed by ideas. It is a form of modern art of which the idea or ideas that a work conveys are considered its crucial point, with its visual appearance being of minor importance. As Sol Lewitt says, What the work of art looks isnt too important. No matter what form it finally have it must begin with an idea. It is the process of conception and realization with which the artist is concerned. Sol Lewitt Paragraphs on Conceptual Art (1967) Conceptual art challenges the validity of traditional art, the existing structures for making, publicizing and viewing art. Moreover it claims that the materials used and the product of the process is unnecessary. As the idea or ideas are of major significance, conceptual art consists of information, including perhaps photographs, written texts or displayed objects. It has come to include all art forms outside traditional painting or sculpture, such as installation art, video art and performance art. Because the work does not follow a traditional form it demands a more active response from the viewer is made to engage the mind of the viewer rather than his eye or emotions., in other words it Marcel Duchamp Fountain 1917 could be argued that the Conceptual work of art in fact only exists in the viewers mental participation. It doesnt really matter if the viewer understands the concepts of the artist by seeing the art. Once out of his hand the artist has no control over the way a viewer will perceive the work. Different people will understand the same thing in a different way. Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art (1967) Conceptual artists deliberately produced works that were difficult if not impossible to classify according to the old traditional format. Some consciously produced work that could not be placed in a museum or gallery, or perhaps resulted in no actual art object which hence emphasize that the idea is more important than the artifact. Conceptual art is not necessarily logical. The ideas need not be complex. Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea the artist is free to even surprise himself. Ideas are discovered by intuition. . Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art (1967) Echoing the difficulty in classification as mentioned above, conceptual art cannot be defined in terms of any medium or style. Rather, it can be defined in the way it questions what art truly is, a piece of conceptual art is recognized in one of the four forms: a readymade, a term devised by Duchamp through his piece Fountain. (photo) Joseph Kosuths One and Three Chairs 1965 Traditionally, an ordinary object such as a urinal cannot be thought to be art because it is not created by an artist or possesses any meaning of art, it is not unique, and it possesses hardly any probable visual properties of the traditional, hand-crafted art object; an intervention, in which image, text or object is positioned in an unpredicted context, hence rousing awareness to that context: e.g. the museum or a public space; written text, where the concept, intention or exploration is presented in the form of language; documentation, where the actual work, concept or action, can only be presented by the evidence of videos, maps, charts, notes or, most often, photographs. Joseph Kosuths One and Three Chairs (photo) is an example of documentation, where the real work is the concept What is a chair? How do we represent a chair? And hence What is art? and What does it represent?. The three elements that we can actually see (a photograph of a chair, an actual chair and the definition of a chair) are secondary to it. They are of no account in themselves. It is a very ordinary chair, the definition is photostatted from a dictionary and the photograph was not even taken by Kosuth it was untouched by the hand of the artist. If a work of conceptual art begins with the question What is art? rather than a particular style or medium, one could argue that it is completed by the intention This could be art: this being presented as object, image, performance or idea revealed in some other way. Conceptual art is therefore reflexive: the object refers back to the subject, it represents a state of continual self-critique. Being an artist now means to question the nature of art The function of art as a question, was first raised by Marcel Duchamp The event that made conceivable the realization that it was possible to speak another language and still make sense in art was Marcel Duchamps first unassisted readymade. With the unassisted readymade, art changed its focus from the form of the language to what was being said. Which means that it changed the nature of art form from a question of morphology to a question of function. This change one from appearance to conception was the beginning of modern art and the beginning of conceptual art. All art (after Duchamp) is conceptual (in nature) because art only exists conceptually Artists question the nature of art by presenting new propositions as to arts nature. Kosuth, Art After Philosophy (1969) Hence runs the famous passage of the serial essay first published in Studio International in 1969 in Art After Philosophy, in which Kosuth set out his stall for purely conceptual art. In it we find transition from the negative questioning inherent in the aesthetic indifference of Duchamps readymades to the positive investigations of Kosuths distinct brand of Conceptual art: a transition from the wide-eyed surprise of This is art? to a new way of claiming This is art. Before standing a chance of entering into the general vernacular, art first must be conceived, then executed and lastly presented to a public, however small. In the 19th century, in France, the Impressionists were all innovative artists imposing themselves on reluctant audience. The same applies to the great art movements of this era. They consisted of artists producing works that the public for art neither wanted or anticipated, but were forced to gulp down because it posed issues of innovation which could not be avoided. The reluctant audience included collectors and critics, and even older artists, who inevitably feel their own pre-eminence being threatened. Who, after all, is not made to feel uncomfortable by the unknown art form, as for the matter in all things? It is normal and effortless to fall in love with what is preconceived to be good, beautiful, right and proper. We now all love the Impressionists because we have come to acknowledge and therefore feel comfortable with th em. But the first and foremost task of the new art is to instigate a sense of comfort. In autumn 1997, the show Sensation subtitled Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection was mounted at the Royal Academy. It was one of the first to focus on shock art. According to the publicity leaflet, Sensation was both an attempt to define generation and to present Charles Saatchis singular vision in an established public forum. On display were 100 works by 42 artists selected from the Saatchi collection. Works that evoked powerful visual and emotional reactions were selected. With the figure of attendance going over 285,000 Sensation undoubtedly created sensation. Among all the artists shown, Damien Hirst was undoubtedly the most successful and sought after at present. Having several records of the highest ever paid living artist, Hirsts works creates a phenomenon in the current art market. Hirsts work falls into seven categories. The first group are his Natural History series, the tank pieces which he calls incorporates dead and sometimes dissected creatures such as, cows and sheep as well as sharks preserved in formaldehyde. Hirst describes these as suspended in death and as the joy of life and inevitability of death. A pickled sheep, said to have sold for 2.1 million, followed by the first shark. The second group is Hirsts long-running cabinet series, where he displays collections of surgical tools or pill bottles usually found in pharmacy medicine cabinets. The Blood of Christ, was paid $3 million, consists of a medicine cabinet installation of paracetamol tablets. In June 2007 a record was set at Sothebys London for the highest price paid at auction for a work by any living artist, $19.1 million for Hirsts Lullaby Spring, a cabinet containing 6136 handcrafted pills mounted on razor blades. Spot paintings were Hirsts third long-running production. Usually named after pharmaceutical compounds, these paintings consist of fifty or more multicoloured circles painted onto a white background, in a grid of rows and columns. The reference to drugs refers to the interaction between diverse elements to create a powerful effect. The spot paintings were produced by assistants. Hirst tells them what colours to use and where to paint the spots, and he does not touch the final art, only to affirm it as a finished product of art with his signature. In May 2007 at Sothebys New York, a 76 x 60in spot painting sold for $1.5 million. The fourth category, spin paintings, are painted on a spinning potters wheel. One account of the painting process has Hirst throwing paint at a revolving canvas or wood base, wearing a protective suit and goggles, standing on a stepladder, shouting turpentine or more red to an assistant. Each spin painting represents the energy of random. The fifth category is butterfly paintings. In one version, tropical butterflies mounted on canvas which has been painted with monochrome household gloss paint. In another version, collages are made from thousands of mutilated wings. The mounted butterflies are intended as another comment on the theme of life and death. Some of Hirsts art incorporates several categories; together with publicity-producing titles, like Isolated Elements Swimming in the Same Direction for the Purposes of Understanding, a cabinet of individual fish in a formaldehyde solution combines stuffed creatures with the cabinet series, but has the same intention as the spot paintings, to arrange colour, shape and form. The sixth category was a collection of 31 photorealist paintings, first shown at the Gagosian Gallery in New York in March 2005. Most canvases depicted violent death. Hirst pointed out that the artworks were, like the shark and the spot and butterfly paintings, produced by a team of assistants. Each painting was done by several people, so no one is ever responsible for a whole work of art. Hirst added a few brushstrokes and his signature. The seventh category was the much-publicized project a life-size cast of a human skull in platinum, with human teeth, from an eighteenth-century skull. Encrusted with 8,601 pave-set industrial diamonds with a total weigh of 1100 carats, the cast is titled For the Love of God, the words supposedly uttered by Hirsts mother on hearing the subject of the project. It was sold for  £50 million. Hirst says that For the Love of God is presented in the tradition of memento mori, the skull depicted in classical paintings to remind us of death and mortality. And most recently, the collection of 25 works, known as The Blue Paintings, are predominantly white images painted on dark blue and black backgrounds, with pictures featuring iguanas, shells, beetles and a still life of a vase of roses, entitled Requiem, White Roses and Butterflies. The collection also includes two self-portraits, two triptychs and several paintings featuring skulls, one of Hirsts favourite motifs. All the paintings were produced by Hirst himself, without the help of assistants who created some of his most famous pieces. The illustrious Australian art critic Robert Hughes, however, isnt buying the hype. This is partly because Hughes who presents The Mona Lisa Curse, a one-off polemic broadcast on Channel 4 this Sunday considers Hirsts work flashy and fatuous. Indeed he has described Hirsts formaldehyde tiger shark, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a tacky commodity, and the worlds most over-rated marine organism. The critic said commercial pieces with large price tags mean art as spectacle loses its meaning and identified the British artists work as a cause of that loss. The idea that there is some special magic attached to Hirsts work that shoves it into the multimillion pound realm is ludicrous, Hughes says. [The price] has to do with promotion and publicity and not with the quality of the works themselves. It is not the first time that Hughes has made public his contempt for Hirsts art. Four years ago making a speech at the Royal Academy of Arts annual dinner, he said: A string of brush marks on a lace collar in a Velazquez can be as radical as a shark that an Australian caught for a couple of Englishmen some years ago and is now murkily disintegrating in its tank on the other side of the Thames. Brian Sewell, art critic of the London Evening Standard, was appalled by Hirsts Turner prize-winning work. I dont think of it as art, he said. I dont think pickling something and putting it into a glass case makes it a work of art It is no more interesting than a stuffed pike over a pub door. Indeed there may well be more art in a stuffed pike than a dead sheep. I really cannot accept the idiocy that the thing is the thing is the thing, which is really the best argument they can produce. Its contemptible. Even at his most recent show of his Blue Paintings at the Wallace Collection early reviews for the show were not good. The Guardian said that at its worst, Hirsts drawing just looks amateurish and adolescent, and The Independent dismissed the paintings as not worth looking at. Hirsts work has drawn criticism from all quarters. Predictably, his work has been ridiculed in the tabloid press. When Hirst won the Turner prize in 1995 with Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away, an exhibition he curated and which featured many of his works including Mother and Child Divided (cow in formaldehyde) and Away from the Flock (sheep in formaldehyde) the Conservative politician Norman Tebbit wrote in the Sun: Have they gone stark raving mad? The works of the artist are lumps of dead animals. There are thousands of young artists who didnt get a look in, presumably because their work was too attractive to sane people. Modern art experts never learn. The Daily Mails verdict on the 1999 Turner Prize also referred to Hirsts work: For 1,000 years art has been one of our great civilising forces, the newspaper commented. Today, pickled sheep and soiled beds threaten to make barbarians of us all. Reviewing Hirsts works and the criticisms made on them engage us in discussion about whether the art work he produced command the power and high prices deserved because it is good, or because it is branded? Is the artist famous because of his work, because the public was awed by the shock value of his work, because Charles Saatchi first made him famous with the high price reported in Physically Impossibility, or is he famous for being famous? Another question is perhaps if Hirst is famous because he, as an artist, or took on the role as a social commentator, who offers a profound meditation on death and decay? All these questions clearly imply that Hirsts work and his talent for marketing and branding cannot be ignored. His brand creates publicity, and his art attracts people who would never otherwise view contemporary art. What must not be overlooked is the originality of Hirsts concept. He shaped shared ideas and interests quickly and easily, his work developing during the decade to reflect changes in contemporary life. He made important art that contained little mystery in its construction by relying on the straightforward appeal of colours and forms. His work is striking at a distance and physically surprising close up. Hirst understood art in its most simple and in its most complex. He eliminated abstractions mystery by reducing painting to its basic elements. During the time when art was a commodity, he made spot paintings saucer-sized, coloured circles on white ground that became luxury designer goods. His art was direct but never empty. In the later spin paintings, Hirst emphasized a renewed interest in hands-on process of making, which is referred as the hobby-art technique, drawing attention to the accidental and expressive energy of the haphazard. Like the spot paintings, the cabinet of ind ividual fish suspended in formaldehyde worked as an arrangement of colour, shape and form. Overcoming an initial distrust of its ease of assembly, the work came to be seen in the popular mind as a symbol of advanced art, people were mesmerized by how stunning and beautiful ordinary things of the world could be created and seen. Hirst creating paintings brought together the joy of life and the inevitability of death. A scene of pastoral beauty became one of languid death: in A Thousand Years, flies emerged from maggots, ate and died being zapped by the insect-o-cutor; in In and Out of Love, newly emerged butterflies stuck to freshly painted monochromes. Soon the emphasis changed from an observation of creatures dying to the presentation of dead animals. A shark in a tank of formaldehyde presented a once life-threatening beast as a carcass: it looks alive when its dead and dead when its alive. Hirst was at his most inventive by elevating the ordinary, the typical and the everyday with his fascination. Art is about experimenting and ideas, but it is also about excellence and exclusion. In a society where everyone is looking for a little distinction, its an intoxicating combination. The contemporary art world is what Tom Wolfe would call a statusphere. Its structured around nebulous and often contradictory hierarchies of fame, credibility, imagined historical importance, institutional affiliation, education, perceived intelligence, wealth, and attributes such as the size of ones collection. Great works do not just arise; they are created not just by artists and their assistants but also by the dealers, curators, critics, and collectors who support the work. Todays rapid pace of [artistic] innovation encourages short-term speculation, and speculation, in turn, enables the market to absorb new directions in art. Artistic innovation feeds speculation and vice versa. Moulin, The French Art Market Why has art become so popular? In the first place, we are more educated than before, and weve developed appetites for more culturally complex goods. Ironically, another reason why art has become so popular is that it is so expensive. High prices command media headlines, and they have in turn popularized the notion of art as luxury goods and status symbols. In a digital world of cloneable cultural goods, unique art objects are compared to real estate. They are positioned as solid assets that wont melt into air. Auction houses have also courted people who might previously felt excluded from buying art. And their visible promise of resale has endangered the relatively new idea that contemporary art is a good investment and brought greater liquidity to the market. But the art market also affects perception. Many worry that the validation of a market price has come to overshadow other forms of reaction, like positive criticism, art prizes, and museum shows. Art needs motives that are more profound than profit if it is to maintain its difference from and position above other cultural forms. Nevertheless, collectors demand for new, fresh and young art is at an all-time high. But as Burge (Christopher Burge, Christies chief auctioneer) explains, it is also a question of supply: We are running out of earlier material, so our market is being pushed closer to the present day. We are turning from being a wholesale secondhand shop to something that is effectively retail. The shortage of older goods is thrusting newer work into the limelight. Another Sothebys specialist explains, Our lives are constantly changing. Different things become relevant at different times in our lives. We are motivated by our changing sensibilities. Why can that not be applied to art as well? Art used to embody something meaningful enough to be relevant beyond the time at which it was made, but collectors today attracted to art that holds up a mirror to our times and are too impatient to hang on to the work long enough to see if it contains any timeless rewards. Experts say that the art that wells mos t easily at auction has a kind of immediate appeal or wow factor. On one level, the art market is understood as the supply and demand of art, but on another, it is an economy of belief. Art is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it is the operating clichà ©. Although this may suggest the relationship between a con artist and his mark, the people who do well believe every word they say at least at the moment they say it. The auction process is about managing confidence on all levels confidence that the artist is and will continue to be culturally significant, confidence that the work is a good one, confidence that others will not withdraw their financial support. Amy Cappellazzo from Christies explains what kind of art does well at auctions. Firstly, people have a litmus test with colour. Brown paintings dont sell as well as blue or red paintings. A glum painting is not going to go as well as a painting that makes people feel happy. Second, certain subject matters are more commercial than others: A male nude doesnt usually go over as well as buxom female. Third, painting tends to fare better than other media. Collectors get confused and concerned about things that plug in. Then they shy away from art that looks complicated to install. Finally, size makes a difference. Anything larger than the standard dimension of a Park Avenue elevator generally cuts out a certain sector of the market. These are just basic commercial benchmarks that have nothing to do with artistic merit. With such constraints from the art market, artists would tend to make art that fulfills the criteria to appeal in order to do well in auctions. Collecting is a powerful tactic for making sense out of the material world, of establishing trails of similarity through fields of otherwise undifferentiated material. The drive to acquire more things contains, orders and arranges peoples desires, creating an illusion of mastery through delineating a knowable space within that apparently endless universe of materiality. At whatever scale, collecting is informed by the desire to insure the owner against the inevitability of loss, forgetting and incompletion. (Cummings, N. Lewandowska, M., The Value of Things) Works of art, which represent the highest level of spiritual production will find favour in the eyes of the bourgeois only if they are presented as being liable to directly generate material wealth. Karl Marx on the notion of surplus value in Book IV of Captial When a branded collector like Charles Saatchi purchases an artists work in bulk, displays the work in his gallery, loans the work for display in other museums, or exhibits it in Sensation, the cumulative effect is to validate both the work and the artist. Each stage serves to increase the value of Saatchis own art holdings. Being described both as a supercollector and as the most successful art dealer of our times, Charles Saatchi himself responded, Art collectors are pretty insignificant in the scheme of things. What matters and survives is the art. I buy art that I like. I buy it to show it off in exhibitions. Then, if I feel like it, I sell it and buy more art. As I have been doing this for 30 years, I think most people in the art world get the idea by now. It doesnt mean Ive changed my mind about the art that I end up selling. It just means that I dont want to hoard everything forever. Nevertheless, his practice of buying emerging artists work has proved highly contagious and is arguably the single greatest influence on the current market because so many others, both veteran collectors and new investors, are following his lead, vying to snap up the work of young, and relatively unknown artists. He was also said to be capable of making or breaking an artist. However, his passion for art is not to be overlooked. In pursuit of established and new artists, Saatchi makes a point of visiting both mainstream and alternative galleries, artists studios, and art schools. Moreover, he did fall in love with works that were not saleable but still purchased them, for example, Hirsts A Thousand Years big glass vitrine holding a rotting cows head covered by maggots and swarms of buzzing flies and installation art like Richard Wilsons oil room [both purchased by Saatchi in 1990]. Perhaps Saatchis greatest legacy will be that he, more than any other, have been responsible for pitching modern and contemporary art into the British cultur al mainstream which he set out to achieve from the start. In 2005, British Artist Damien Hirsts work titled The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone living(photo) sold for $12 million dollars. People were asking the same question Why would anyone even consider paying this much money for a shark? Another concern was that while the shark was certainly a novel artistic concept, many in the art world were uncertain as to whether it qualified as art. The problem with conceptual art is that everyone has their own way of imagining it, based on their own fantasies, but perhaps it is not what they thought it is, it is relevant as long as it escapes the strict rules of painting, sculpture, and photography as they prevailed in the past. It thus takes paths that have no rules, where the principle of valorization is not or is only very slightly, based on art history. (Benhamou-Huet, The worth of art, 2008, p.95) But why so much money? What drives these collectors to invest astronomical sums of money as much or more than a working-class man earns in a lifetime in order to possess objects of intrinsic, nonmaterial value? American psychoanalyst Werner Muensterberger explored this quandary in his book Collecting: An Unruly Passion, in which he hints that these avidly amassed objects are like security blankets for grown-ups. The collector, not unlike the religious believer, assigns power and value to these objects because their presence and possession seem to have a modifying usually pleasure-giving function in the owners mental state. The unconscious reasons, then, for what we might call collectors security blankets are manifold. For some, the idea may be that the value of objects they buy will rub off on them. In this way, they may convince themselves that they can be somebody. Money itself is meaningless in the upper classes of the art world everyone has it. What impresses others is the o wnership of precious work. What the rich seemed to want to acquire is what economists call positional goods; possessions that prove to the world that they are really rich. And above all, art distinguishes you. Another part of the answer is that in the world of contemporary art, branding can substitute for critical judgment, and lots of branding was involved here. You are nobody in contemporary art until you have been branded. Saatchi Saatchi believes in global marketing, i.e., the use of a single strate

Fascism Essay -- essays research papers

On the 23 March 1919 after a series of Communist demonstrations, the almost forgotten Mussolini decided to attempt to revive his Fasci movement. A meeting was held in a hall in a Milan and was attended by some fifty malcontents. From this seemingly small and insignificant event the Fascio di Combattimento' (Combat Group) was born. Initially, it would seem that the Fasci were destined for failure with none of their candidates (including Mussolini) winning a single seat in the 1919 elections. How was it that a party with no clear programme, save a belief in action of some sort, became a ruling dictatorship little more than ten years later? By the end of 1919, Mussolini possessed hardly more than 2% of the vote in Milan, less than 5000 votes against 170,000 for the Socialists. Was this a complete disaster? At the time it seemed so; the Socialists were so confident of their success that they staged a mock funeral in Milan stopping outside Mussolini's house to invite him to attend the burial of his party. Incredibly, by 1921 the membership of this previously tiny group was to rival the size of the Socialists. How was this achieved? It was certainly by no easy means; Mussolini's skill and luck played a vital role, but he was also helped by the seemingly blind incompetence of his opponents. Mussolini's path towards the top of Italian Government was hindered by many forms of opposition. However, most of his opposition came from the Government and the rival Socialist (PSI) party. Soon after the summer of 1920 the Fascists and their opposition inevitably clashed. The fact that Gioletti's government was faced with  « million workers sitting in in factories showed that Italy was a far from stable country in 1920. Did an opportunity present itself for Mussolini to gain ground over the Socialist opposition? If it did, Mussolini certainly did not take it. He was still recovering from his party's humiliating election defeat. Eventually the union leaders, evidently surprised by this sudden, spontaneous revolutionary outburst persuaded the workers to give in in return for higher wages. Although initially it would seem that the workers had won, the strikes had sown the seeds of fear amongst Italy's Socialist opposition. The overall effect of this was that many of the opponents of Socialism joined Mussolini's Fascist' party. The Socialist party by... ...ht home the importance of opportunism and action as opposed to inactivity and fixed ideologies. As S. Lee argues, Mussolini was strongly inclined to intuitive behaviour and projected himself as a flexible pragmatist. This allowed him to make full use of the chaotic conditions in Italy, and considerably increased the Fascist party's fortunes. However, we must also consider that to a certain extent, the opposition's continued failures and misjudgments almost pushed Mussolini into power. We must also take account of the fact that Mussolini certainly had his fair share of luck - a prime example is the King's refusal to declare a state of emergency, which would have allowed the army to attack the Fascists. However, it was his ability to act out the role of the Italian people's dream leader that gave him the most success. He played upon the post-war crisis, and made it appear that Fascism was the only way in which socialism would be smashed, and Italy's society and status would be rebuilt. To the Italian people, Mussolini was the great leader they had been desperately searching for - the leader who was going to make Italy a great power, and a respected force in the world.

The Tea Party Movement Essay -- Political Movement, American Social Is

The tea party has been a hot topic in the United States ever since the movement began in 2008, yet many people do not understand what exactly it is. Contrary to what some people may think, the tea party is not a true political party. It can broadly be defined as a gathering of libertarians, conservatives, and other people who want to change Washington. The common ideals of the tea party movement are cutting government spending, limiting taxes, and stopping excessive federal regulations. The most important thing one needs to know about the movement though, is that there is not a single tea party- the movement consists of hundreds of different autonomous groups, each widely varying in priorities and size. The tea party movement began as the result of conservative discontent after the presidential election in 2008. Before President Barack Obama took office, many conservatives went on online chat boards and expressed anger over the banks being bailed out and billions of their tax money being spent on government programs. As a form of protest, one individual suggested that everyone mail tea bags to their elected representative in Congress. The concept behind this idea was that what was happening to America at the time was like what had occurred in America during the colonial era. Revolutionaries had organized the Boston Tea Party because of the British policy of â€Å"taxation without representation†, and many conservatives felt as if this phrase described what the government was doing again. This was the birth of the tea party movement, and it has only greatly expanded since then. (Ed Pikington; Oct 5, 2010) Since the tea party movement is such a diverse mixture of groups, there is a large spectrum of ideals within it. Regardl... ..., P. (2010, July 14). Nasty 'Tea Party'-NAACP Racism Feud: Who's Right? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved September 2, 2011, from SIRS Researcher. Knickerbocker, B. (2010, September 15). What is the 'Tea Party' and How is it Shaking Up American Politics? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved September 2, 2011, from SIRS Researcher. Knickerbocker, B. (2010, September 12). Will the 'Tea Party' Take Over Congress. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved September 2, 2011, from SIRS Researcher. Pikington, E. (2010, October 5). How the Tea Party Movement Began. In The Guardian. Retrieved September 12, 2011, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/05/us-midterm-elections-2010-tea-party-movement Sege, A. (2011, August 8). Third-Party Challenge in 2012? Not Likely, Experts Say. McClatchy-Tribune News Service. Retrieved September 2, 2011, from SIRS Researcher.

Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut Essay

This paper seeks to defend the proposition that that there is a need for individual differences for humanity despite society’s expressed desire to attain equality. The communist and socialist ideologies may have theorized the what is an ideal society, one that is classless or egalitarian but there are simply unacceptable effects if there is all aspects of individualism is excluded. The need for individual differences could be best seen in the short story of ‘Harrison Bergeron’ by Vonneguts, Jr. where the author revealed that a society created to equalize humanity does not always turn out to be the best for the people. Vonnegut did effectively utilized different means to convey his message in the short story. Most of the power of the means is the use of irony and symbolism. Irony has a distinct was of telling people that things could not just be contradicted because it will bring out the most absurd in human understanding. His use of symbolism also complemented his articulate presentation of the roles played by the different characters which the showed the powers and limitations in failing to address what was obvious. He was able to deliver the message the equality is the same as freedom since in the story there was indeed a resemblance of equality, which was made very clear at very first part of the story bur really the irony is that they are not free. Since the short story declares and portrays the equality of people, there was the need to control the tendency of some of the people who were borne with natural abilities and this has the effect of making these people as prisoners to the government. Harrison Bergeron was indeed the main character of the story. Thus as a result of his having an exceptional intelligence and beauty in addition to his good height and strength and beauty he would have to suffer some reduction to bring society to equality. This was therefore done by letting him to carry huge handicaps. The handicaps imposed consisted of having to suffer distracting noises which essentially put him into an individual who will lack focus in what he desired to do. In addition the was also given excess weight of about three hundred pounds, which was enough to almost make immobile as way of restraining his use of intelligence for the purpose of preventing the declared policy that everybody is equal. Because of his many natural gifts as illustrated earlier, it was still necessary to give him eyeglasses to cause him to headaches. Having headache would deprive of the faculties of thinking which could otherwise for productive use. But equality was a greater value than productivity; hence the rule must be enforced. To deprive Bergeron of his beauty he was also added cosmetic changes to make him ugly. What was awaited to the end the story was whether equality declared and implemented by those given the power, would now make things easier for everybody by the attainment of peace in the community since no one is above any body else. If viewed in term of socialism and communism, the society in the story could be viewed as classless or egalitarian. The events in the story metamorphosed into a situation where Bergeron was able to invade A TV station that allowed him to make a declaration for himself as emperor. The event happened despite the many deprivations that every imposed to him by government. Nothing could be more offensive to those guarding him not to shine as physical restraints which should created psychological restrain could have caused Bergeron to remain calm and silent in the name of equality. Perhaps in trying to celebrate his struggle with the deprivations that was imposed on him, story included an event where he had a dance with a ballerina, who had suffered also because of handicaps imposed and who Bergeron helped in discarding said restriction. This event prompted the person who is bound to enforce the law of equality and this resulted to Bergeron and the ballerina who he was dancing being shot by Handicapper General by the name of Diana Moon Glampers and who did not stop to monitor the actions of those who will violate the law of equality. This incident could indeed demonstrate the application of philosophical requirement of duty above everything else. Such misplace â€Å"dedication† to duty could only be the tenable explanation of what society that demands equality would have to attain the goals of society. But viewed in the context of what is human, the simple act of automatic killing without affording Bergeron the right to be heard after a trial could be only considered an act of brutality. Such was the price of attaining the goal of society. Everybody or at least someone will have to a be guard one’s outgrowing another in terms of skills, wealth and even good characteristics. The value of being equal is more important than the value of competition where the best could come out. There is therefore no best among people but every body is co-equal with everybody else. The question that must be answered now is whether the law of equality works for every body. What happened was that despite the handicaps, Bergeron wanted to set free. He wanted the government to be free these handicaps. He wanted to excel and to his potential despite all odds. For the enforcement of the rules, it was necessary to protect state secrets. Such policy also then deprived the right of Bergeron’s parents Hazel and George to know what truly happened to their son. Since the state must be at center of this kind of society, implementation of the strictly was paramount. This therefore gave Diana Moon Glampers to act with her authority to commit the dastardly act of killing Bergeron and the ballerina. Under such society, somebody will have to enforce its rules strictly but human freedom is necessarily sacrificed since the state’s survival was paramount. And to sustain the said principle the Diana Moon Glampers could have only be afraid of not fulfilling her duty for failure to do so could losing her power over the people which the state has bestowed on her. But again the irony of the story was her husband was also in handicapped by being required to wear a bag although such was also big puzzle for Diana Glampers since she knows that her husband was not competing to anybody. So what happened was a failure of the concept of a society where there is equality for almost every part of human endeavor. The system could hold people from to bring out the best in them. It cannot control what was inside the heart and minds of people despite the strict requirement of the law. Vonneguts’s portrayal of the life of Bergeron must also be viewed with symbolism. His being to discard the his own handicaps and that of the ballerina could only speak for releasing the human potentialities that could not be limited and controlled even by governments for such were inherent in human beings. Bergeron’s dance with ballerina also speaks of their freedom to go with the music or environment where men would have to live. Freedom has therefore its end of celebration to go with the limitless tunes of music or limitless opportunities that one could be in the absence of government restrictions. Given the nature of work that Kurt Vonnegut’s has done on â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†, commentaries could not be avoided. In the author’s desire to deliver a point, Vonnegut has chosen to use iron the present the simple meaning of the false theory of equality. In this context, Hattenhauer cited that all commentaries on Kurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† in the latter are attempts to achieve equality as absurd. Hattenhauer, sounding to agree with Kurt Vonnegut, also concluded that believers of Bergeron as a model of freedom would fail to notice the fact that â€Å"he is a would–be dictator† with the latter’s declaration that he is the Emperor and wanting to select his Empress. One could therefore decipher a view that would in a sense endorse monarchy as a form of government. Hattenhauer believed that if such happens, then reversion to medieval monarchy would come out where serfs or the equivalent of slaves would be produced as a result. He therefore saw in addition to previous commentaries a satire not just on mistaken notion of equality but also â€Å"the American definition of freedom as the greatest good to the smallest number. † The fall of communism is a proof that society cannot be class. There is indeed the need to allow individual to rise to reach their full potentials. Walicki in discussing the fate of communism talked of rise of certain classes in a communist state said when he mentioned about Brezhnev regime having deliberately supported the interests of certain level in society’s structure by giving its representatives formal guarantees such as the right personal security and the right to occupy leading state posts. He saw therefore the â€Å"consolidation and emancipation of the nomenklatura as a sign of â€Å"the formation of a â€Å"new class† and the final betrayal of the proletariat that Trotsky had feared.† But viewed from the right of individuals to rise to power when opportunity allows, there are positive aspects of these events from in terms of the reduction in ideological pressure. This also has the effect of legitimizing the play of interests where large number of managers is involved. Another remarkable effect is limitation that may be approximately estimated on the â€Å"general unpredictability and uncertainty concerning the future. The separation of interests within the nomenklatura was also seen by Walicki to have caused the improved use of the methods of civil law to resolve conflicts and this has the effect of broadening their sphere of application. He also observed central planning having become a fiction, given the showground for the fight for group interests since individuals were now given special roles to play. Thus, the consequent failure the use the same planning as a rational way to control the fate of society. Having witnessed the communist experiment in Russia to have attained its complete cycle, Walicki now wanted to define the historical significance of the Lenin period, which he considered that as â€Å"the time when the sweep of the communist revolution on a world scale was at its peak†. His was basis was the seriousness of Russia trying to take upon itself the task to have all the solution to the majority of social problems, including the promise of giving answers to the most important questions of humanity. Walicki thus asserted that the â€Å"failure of this insanely bold attempt was sufficiently clear by 1921.† He therefore wants humanity to learn from inner defect of process that had to end in the complete failure of communism. What then is the ideal society? Is democracy then the answer to every problem that communism failed to attain? Soros proposed an open society. But his proposal needed some criticism on alternative systems. He cited Popper to have shown about the commonality of fascism and communism, which is using the state’s power to repress the freedom of the individual despite the fact even though one is extreme right while the other is the extreme left. Wanting to extend the argument, Soros contended that even his proposal of an open society is not safe because of the possible threat from the opposite direction. What he meant of course is the chance from excessive individualism that could be generating to much competition and too little cooperation. He feared this to possibly cause bring inequities and instability that could difficult to tolerate. Soros thus exposed also some risks with capitalism as an alternative which strongly believe in the capacity of the market place to solve many ills. He asserted that the doctrine of laissez-faire capitalism which holds that the uncommon good is best served by the unrestrained pursuit of self-interest, poses a great danger if not tempered by the recognition of a common interest. He thus saw an open society that is capable of breaking down if the self-interest is not regulated. In making a comparison of the systems, Soros argued that totalitarianism ideologies which are associated with communism and socialism, is opposed to open society with deliberation while laissez-faire policies under capitalism may just endanger it if there is inadvertence. He however saw more potent danger in capitalism than in communism and even socialism since the latter have already been thoroughly brought into disrepute . Despite what Soros had seen with capitalism, there is basis to consider it better than totalitarianism as proven in history. By his admission of danger, a remedy is still possible which role is assumed by the US constitution and several laws. By the weight of evidence presented, individualism needs to exist in society and it cannot be denied even by very structures of the communist state. It is better then to allow the same under an open society as proposed by Soros. In this context the short story of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut may have assumed a significant despite the commentary in exposing the fallacy of the law of equality. For this reason, Noise may be justified considering Kurt Vonnegut as one of the great humanists of his time . In seeing him as a proponent of humanism and therefore tool for building a better world, Noise took the chance to expose that fact that humanists are skeptical of religious claims, for the most part on claims of prophecy and revelation . He thus found that Vonnegut, like most humanists, had little use for speculation about supernatural realms and saw organized religions that attempted to do such speculation to be creating needless division in the world. Noise thus saw Vonnegut to have provided some guidance where there are differences among Jews, Christians, and Muslims on such issues eternal salvation . It may this be concluded that the proposition about the need to allow for individual differences for humanity despite society’s expressed desire to attain equality must be sustained based on argument and evidence presented.

Diminishing Punjabi

Punjabi (Gurmukhi: à ¨ ªÃ  © °Ã  ¨Å"à ¨ ¾Ã  ¨ ¬Ã  ©â‚¬; Devanagari: à ¤ ªÃ  ¤â€šÃ  ¤Å"à ¤ ¾Ã  ¤ ¬Ã  ¥â‚¬; Shahmukhi: : Ù ¾Ã™â€ Ã˜ ¬Ã˜ §Ã˜ ¨Ã›Å') Is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by 130 million native speakers worldwide, making it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world. It is the native language of the Punjabi people who inhabit the historical Punjab region of Pakistan and India. Punjabi emerged as an independent language in the 12th century.Punjabi emerged as an independent language in the 12th century. The Sikh religion originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region and Punjabi is the predominant language spoken by Sikhs. Guru Nanak himself composed Punjabi verse incorporating vocabulary from Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and other Indic languages as characteristic of the Gurbani tradition. In India, Punjabi is one of the 22 scheduled language of India. It is the first official language of the Indian State of Punjab.In Pakistan, Punjabi has not been granted official status at the national level though it is the most spoken language and is the provincial language of Punjab, Pakistan, the second largest and the most populous province of Pakistan. Punjabi is becoming more acceptable among Punjabis in modern media and communications. Punjabi has always been an integral part of Indian Bollywood cinema. In recent years a trend of Bollywood songs written totally in Punjabi can be observed. Punjabi pop and folk songs are very popular both in India and Pakistan at the national level.A number of television dramas based on Punjabi characters are telecast by different channels. Punjabi cinema in India has also seen a revival and more and more Punjabi movies are being produced. Punjabi music is very popular today throughout the world. Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where Punjabi people have emigrated in large numbers, such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, where it is the second-most-commonly use d language and Canada, where it is the fourth-most-spoken language.There were 76 million Punjabi speakers in Pakistan in 2008, 33 million in India in 2011, 1.3 million in the UK in 2000, 368,000 in Canada in 2006, and smaller numbers in other countries. But now-a-days the trends have changed in India. Western Languages are proving very influential. People try to learn different languages like Spanish, German, French and to prove themselves superior they speak English in gatherings. Even Sikh families have stopped speaking Punjabi because their children learn Hindi and English in their schools and they are not taught Punjabi. Parents when asked that why don’t you speak Punjabi, they have a very simple excuse â€Å" School mein toh hindi sikhate hain bacho ko†¦.punjabi kaha aati hain inhe.†Parents do not take initiative of teaching their child themselves rather put blames on schooling system. Even in Gurdwara’s we find Sikh people talking to each other in Hin di. Whereas this is not the scenario in any other country or even any other States of India. When we go to South of India people speak their native language to everyone they meet. There hardly anyone knows Hindi. In Foreign Countries like France, Spain people speak French and Spanish respectively . They even do not speak English amongst themselves.And this is the only reason why people of different culture and language try and learn their language. Punjabi was very widely spoken in older days when people knew the value of Punjabi Boli. But now number of Punjabi speakers have reduced. If this remains the scenario the time is not far away when Punjabi will be one of the extinct language in the next 15-20 yrs. It should be the responsibility of parents and grandparents to teach children their Mother Tongue and they should not rely only on school and tutions. This will bring children close to their culture and will save Punjabi from becoming extinct.